Reported speech
って is the casual all-rounder for quoting: "he said", "they call it", "what is that?". It replaces と言った, という and とは in speech.
Someone said
Plain form + って, with or without 言ってた after it. It reports what you heard.
明日来るって。
Reading: あしたくるって。
They said they are coming tomorrow.
田中さん、休みだって。
Reading: たなかさん、やすみだって。
Tanaka is off today, apparently.
美味しいって言ってたよ。
Reading: おいしいっていってたよ。
She said it was delicious.
Called, named, defined
X って Y: X is called Y, or the thing called X. Perfect for asking about words you do not know.
「侘び寂び」って何？
Reading: 「わびさび」ってなに？
What is wabi-sabi?
山田って人、知ってる？
Reading: やまだってひと、しってる？
Do you know someone called Yamada?
As a topic marker
って can replace は when you bring something up casually, often with a feeling about it.
日本語って難しいね。
Reading: にほんごってむずかしいね。
Japanese is hard, isn't it.
東京って、人が多いよね。
Reading: とうきょうって、ひとがおおいよね。
Tokyo is crowded, right?
Ready to start?
A free account keeps your progress: hiragana today, your first kanji this week.