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N3

という

Called, Named, Known as, As much as

ローラというモデルさんを知しっていますか?

Do you know the model called Rola?

Explanation

「Aという B」 means 'a B called A'. Use it to introduce a name the listener may not know: 「『君の名は』という映画」 (a movie called 'Your Name'), 「田中さんという人」 (a person named Tanaka). It can also follow a whole sentence to give the content of a rumor, news or opinion: 「会社を辞めるという噂を聞いた」 (I heard a rumor that he's quitting the company).

Mixed up with

In speech it often becomes 「っていう」: 「田中っていう人」.

Adding 「という」 to something the listener knows well sounds unnecessary, as if you took them for a beginner.

After an amount, 「という」 stresses that it is a lot: 「一万頭という牛」 (as many as ten thousand cattle).

Examples

  1. 本山もとやまという駅えきで降おりてください。

    Please get off at a station named Motoyama.

  2. 「何なにも見みなかった」という話はなしは嘘うそです。

    The story that you "didn't see anything" is a lie.

  3. しりとりというゲームを知しっている?

    Do you know the game called shiritori?

Tested 3 times in past papers

N3 · Jul 2021, Q50N3 · Jul 2013, Q36N4 · Jul 2013, Q55