Telling a news story
Vocabulary
- 伝(つた)えるto convey / report
- 起(お)きるto occur / happen
- 事故(じこ)accident
- 地震(じしん)earthquake
- 被害(ひがい)damage
- 救助(きゅうじょ)rescue
- 避難(ひなん)evacuation
- 目撃(もくげき)witness
- 原因(げんいん)cause
- 調査(ちょうさ)investigation
Telling a News Story in Japanese
To narrate events, Japanese uses specific time-related patterns:
〜たら (when / if — conditional)
Describes what happened after a certain event.
- 家(いえ)に帰(かえ)ったら、地震(じしん)が起(お)きた。 (When I got home, an earthquake occurred.)
〜ている最中(さいちゅう)に (in the middle of)
Describes an interruption during an action.
- 会議(かいぎ)をしている最中に、火災(かさい)報知器(ほうちき)が鳴(な)った。 (In the middle of the meeting, the fire alarm went off.)
〜そうです (hearsay)
Reports what you heard from others. Attach to the plain form.
- ニュースによると、被害(ひがい)は少(すく)なかったそうです。 (According to the news, the damage was reportedly minor.)
Note: Don't confuse hearsay そうです (plain form +) with appearance そうです (stem +), which means "looks like."
Expressions
- 〜たら、〜が起(お)きたNarrate a sequence of events
- 〜ている最中(さいちゅう)にDescribe what was happening when interrupted
- 〜そうです（伝聞）Report hearsay information
- 〜が原因(げんいん)でState the cause of an event
- 現在(げんざい)調査中(ちょうさちゅう)ですSay something is under investigation
- 〜の被害(ひがい)が出(で)たReport that damage occurred
Common mistakes
被害は少ないだそうです。被害は少なかったそうです。Hearsay そうです attaches to plain past form. Use 少なかった, not 少ないだ.
ニュースで聞いたそうです。ニュースによると〜そうです。When citing a source, use によると at the beginning, not で聞いた at the end.
Quick quiz
Question 1 of 5
How do you say “evacuation” in Japanese?
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