と言われている details
write + it is said that — a standing reputation with nobody in particular behind it
kaku to iwarete iru
it is said that — a standing reputation with nobody in particular behind it
この寺は日本で最も古いと言われている。
kono tera wa nihon de mottomo furui to iwarete iru.
This temple is said to be the oldest in Japan. neutral
緑茶は体にいいって言われてるよね。
ryokucha wa karada ni iitte iwareteru yo ne.
Green tea's supposed to be good for you, right? casual
- dictionary form
- past
- negative
- negative + past
- na-adjective
- noun
- noun
- formal
- contraction
- polite
- past
Examples
it is said that — a claim in general circulation, with no speaker and no hearer named
この寺は日本で最も古いと言われている。
kono tera wa nihon de mottomo furui to iwarete iru.
This temple is said to be the oldest in Japan. neutral
緑茶は体にいいって言われてるよね。
ryokucha wa karada ni iitte iwareteru yo ne.
Green tea's supposed to be good for you, right? casual
この辺の水は昔から薬になると言われています。
kono hen no mizu wa mukashi kara kusuri ni naru to iwarete imasu.
The water around here has long been said to be medicinal. neutral
当時の資料の多くは戦火で失われたと言われております。
touji no shiryou no ooku wa senka de ushinawareta to iwarete orimasu.
Most of the records from that period are said to have been lost in the fighting. formal
is known as N — と marks a name people give the thing rather than a claim about it, so the noun goes in bare
この町は昔から水の都と言われている。
kono machi wa mukashi kara mizu no miyako to iwarete iru.
This town has long been known as the city of water. neutral
あの人、業界では天才って言われてるらしいよ。
ano hito, gyoukai de wa tensaitte iwareteru rashii yo.
Apparently they call her a genius in the industry. casual
Formation
{P}と言われているattaches to plain form{NA-stem}だと言われているattaches to na-adjective{N}だと言われているattaches to noun{N}と言われているattaches to noun
Variant notes
- と言われております — おる for いる — 丁重語, politeness aimed at the listener rather than humility about the subject, which is why a guide or an announcer uses it about anything at all.
- って言われてる — と→って and ている→てる together, the everyday spoken squeeze — 緑茶は体にいいって言われてるよね.
Notes
reads as no longer held (かつては安全だと言われていた); on its
own it is plain narrative past.
Related patterns
Similar
そうだ relays one statement made on one occasion, and the source is usually nameable in the same breath (天気予報によると); と言われている names no occasion at all and reports what is generally held, which gives it an expository, written skew そうだ does not have.
Both hide the speaker for expository prose, but と考えられる presents the content as something reasoned to, and と言われている as something merely repeated — a paper's own finding takes 考えられる, received wisdom takes 言われている.
Lookalikes
Same verb, different cast — と言われた has a speaker and a hearer, and the hearer is the one doing the reporting (先生に言われた); in the reputation reading と言われている has neither, which is why no に-phrase ever appears in it.
Combines with
によると supplies exactly the source と言われている leaves out, so pairing them is a deliberate move — the writer names where the talk comes from and still keeps the passive distance (地元の伝承によると…と言われている).