Japanese Sentence:
彼はとても親切だと聞きました。
(かれは とても しんせつだ と ききました)
Vocabulary:
彼 (かれ, kare) - he
とても (totemo) - very
親切 (しんせつ, shinsetsu) - kind
だ (da) - copula, equivalent to "is" in informal speech
と (to) - quoting particle, used to quote speech or thoughts
聞きました (ききました, kikimashita) - polite past form of 聞く (きく, kiku), meaning "to hear" or "to listen"
Grammar Breakdown:
彼は (かれは, kare wa):
彼 (kare) means "he."
は (wa) is the topic marker, indicating that "he" is the topic of the sentence.
とても親切だ (とても しんせつだ, totemo shinsetsu da):
とても (totemo) means "very."
親切 (しんせつ, shinsetsu) means "kind."
だ (da) is the informal copula, equivalent to "is." It is used to state that "he is very kind."
と (to):
This is the quoting particle. It is used to mark the preceding clause as something that was heard or said.
It functions like quotation marks in English, but it's not limited to direct speech; it can also introduce indirect information.
聞きました (ききました, kikimashita):
聞きました is the polite past form of 聞く (きく, kiku), which means "to hear" or "to listen."
Here, it indicates that the speaker heard the information from someone else in the past.
Translation:
"Heard that he is very kind."
Summary:
The structure [Sentence] + と + 聞きました is used to express that you heard something from someone else.
だ is used here as an informal copula, connecting the subject "he" with the adjective "kind."
The sentence overall conveys indirect information, attributing the quality of kindness to "him" as something the speaker heard.
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