No. 170 in Japanese
言う
To say; to tell.
In a sentence
彼は「こんにちは」と言った。
He said 'hello'.
The verb '言う' is used in its standard form to indicate saying something, often followed by a direct quote with quotation marks.
彼は本当のことを言っています。
He is telling the truth.
Here, '言う' means to state or tell something, often used with abstract nouns to indicate communicating a particular fact or truth.
日本ではこのことを「おにぎり」と言います。
In Japan, this is called 'onigiri'.
In this context, '言う' is used in a passive-like construction ('と言います') to specify what something is called or named.
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