Short Form in Quoted Speech

🧩 Pattern 1: ～と思います (～とおもいます) — “I think…”

• Use the short (plain) form of a sentence + と思おもいます。 to say what you (or someone else) thinks.
• Structure: [Short form] + と思います
• 📘 Example: 彼かれは来くると思おもいます。。 (I think he will come.)
  Short form of verb: 来る (kuru) — to come
  と = quotation particle (like “that” in English)
  思おもいます = “I think”

🙅‍♀️ Negating Thoughts:

In Japanese, it’s more natural to say “I think it’s NOT…” rather than “I DON’T think…”. To say you think something is not true, use the negative inside the quote:

• ✅彼かれは来こないと思おもいます。 (Formal) I think he won’t come.
• ✅ 彼かれは来こないと思おもう。 (Casual) I think he won’t come.
• ❌ 彼かれは来くると思おもいません。 I don’t think he’ll come. (sounds awkward in Japanese.)

😎 Casual Versions:

✔️ Standard casual:

• 来くると思おもうよ。
  I think he’ll come.

✔️ Even more casual with って:

• Example:
  • 来くるって思おもうよ。I think he’s coming.
  • 明日あしたは雨あめって思おもう。I think it’ll rain tomorrow.

• In this case:
  • って is a casual version of と
  • Used a lot in conversation
  • Sounds very natural, especially among friends

🧩 Pattern 2: ～と言っていました (～といっていました) — “They said…”

Use the short (plain) form + と言っていました to report what someone else said.

Structure: Short form] +と[言いっていました。

• Example:
  あのレストランはおいしいと言いっていました。
  (Someone) said that restaurant is delicious.

• 言いっていました is the past progressive form of 言いう (to say)— used when you’re reporting speech.
• Keep the quote in short/plain form, even if you’re being polite overall.

❗️Notes:

• This grammar is great for indirect quotes (someone said something).
• If you weren’t present when they said it (e.g., reading it in a book or hearing it secondhand), you can also use と言いました instead of と言っていました.

😎 Casual version:

• おいしいって言いってたよ。→They said it’s tasty (casual, spoken).
  Here, って is the casual form of と.
  言いってた = casual/slurred form of 言いっていました.

 💡 Notes:

• ⏰ Tense Preservation: You preserve the original tense of the quoted sentence, unlike in English where you often shift it (e.g., “There will be a test” stays as that even if it’s in the past).
• と = formal/neutral, common in writing or polite speech
• って = casual, super common in speech
• Both go before 思う・思います, and also before 言う・聞く, etc.
• You can combine it with casual contractions too:
  • って思おもってる (I’m thinking…)
  • って思おもってた (I thought…)