～という
called / named
～という comes from と (the quotation particle) plus 言う（いう）“to say”, and it names or identifies the noun that follows. Put a name or a clause before という and a noun after it: 田中さんという人 = “a person called Tanaka”.
It matches English “called ...”, “named ...”, or “the ... that ...”. Unlike a direct quotation with ～と言いました, which reports what someone actually said, ～という simply attaches a label or content to a noun.
1. Naming a person, place, or thing
Use ～という to introduce a name your listener may not know yet.
田中さんという人を知っていますか。
“Do you know a person called Tanaka?”
- 田中さん（たなかさん）= Mr./Ms. Tanaka
- という = called, named
- 人（ひと）= person
- を = object marker
- 知っていますか（しっていますか）= do (you) know?
2. Identifying the content of a noun
A whole clause can also come before という. Then it spells out the content of the following noun, like English “the news that ...”.
彼が結婚するという話を聞きました。
“I heard the news that he is getting married.”
- 彼（かれ）= he
- が = subject marker
- 結婚する（けっこんする）= to get married
- という = that (introduces the content)
- 話（はなし）= news, story
- を = object marker
- 聞きました（ききました）= heard
How to form it
Name / clause + という + noun
- 田中さん（たなかさん）→ 田中さんという人（たなかさんというひと）= a person called Tanaka
- さくら → さくらという店（さくらというみせ）= a shop called Sakura
- 結婚する（けっこんする）→ 結婚するという話（けっこんするというはなし）= the news that (he) is getting married
Key idea
～という hangs a label on a noun: the part before という is the name or content, and the noun after it is what kind of thing it is. Reach for it whenever English would say “a ... called ...”.
Built on the same stem
Updated .