とのことだ details
write + word is that
kaku to no koto da
word is that; I am told — passes on a message received from a named party
部長より、明日の会議は延期するとのことです。
buchou yori, ashita no kaigi wa enki suru to no koto desu.
Word from the manager is that tomorrow's meeting will be postponed. formal
田中様は、本日は欠席とのことでした。
tanaka-sama wa, honjitsu wa kesseki to no koto deshita.
I was told Mr Tanaka will be absent today. formal
- dictionary form
- past
- negative
- negative + past
- noun
- formal
- polite
- past
Examples
word is that — a message received from someone else, passed on as it was received
部長より、明日の会議は延期するとのことです。
buchou yori, ashita no kaigi wa enki suru to no koto desu.
Word from the manager is that tomorrow's meeting will be postponed. formal
田中様は、本日は欠席とのことでした。
tanaka-sama wa, honjitsu wa kesseki to no koto deshita.
I was told Mr Tanaka will be absent today. formal
先方からは、来週までに返事をするとのことだ。
senpou kara wa, raishuu made ni henji o suru to no koto da.
Word from the other side is that they will reply by next week. neutral
山田様は本日直行なさるとのことです。
yamada-sama wa honjitsu chokkou nasaru to no koto desu.
I am told Ms Yamada will be going straight to the site today. formal
Formation
{P}とのことだattaches to plain form{N}とのことだattaches to noun
Variant notes
- とのこと — だ dropped so the line closes on the noun phrase itself — 本日は欠席とのこと、承知いたしました; this is the shape email and memos use.
Notes
ということ wants だ first (欠席だということ) — the two are opposite
on exactly this point.
Related patterns
Similar
These are the two ends of one job — って lives in speech only and takes the bare noun or the copula alike (中止って／中止だって), while とのことだ has no casual use at all and is what a business email or a phone message writes.
そうだ relays anything secondhand, including something read or overheard; とのことだ presents the content as a message from an identifiable party and collocates with より／から naming them (部長より…とのことです), which そうだ does not.
とのことです passes a message straight on, usually just after taking it; と聞いている says the speaker has been holding the information for a while and is going on it now, which is why it takes 以前から and とのことです does not.
Lookalikes
ということだ does two jobs — it relays, and it draws a conclusion from what was just said — while とのことだ only relays, so it cannot carry the conclusion reading — つまり、中止とのことだ can only be summarising what the speaker was told; the copula splits them too, ということ taking 休みだということ where とのこと takes the bare 休みとのこと.
Combines with
によりますと…とのことです is the standard reportage pair — によると names where the information came from, とのことだ marks the content as relayed rather than as the writer's own claim.