言っていた Conjugation


I tried to find this answer in other questions in order to not duplicate it,
but i couldn't find one answer for that.

So I was trying to make the following sentence

> There's a ramen restaurant in my town. My friend said that there it is
> delicious, so I want to go there.

People on hellotalk helped to make my sentence more natural, like changing
レストラン for 屋, and the sentence came out like this:

> 僕の街にラーメン屋があります。僕の友達がおいしいと言っていたので、そのラーメン屋に行きたい。

I understood the whole sentence but one part "言っていた" this is supposed to mean
that my friend told me something right. I just don't get the whole "verb te
form+いた".

Can you help me with that? Thanks in advance.




> "verb te form + いた"

～ていた has several meanings/usages, which include:

  * A continuous action in the past (Past progressive tense) -- for action verbs 

>     * 彼が来たとき、私はテレビを見 **ていた** 。I **was watching** TV when he came.
>     * そのころ、私はピアノを弾い **ていた** 。I **was playing** piano around that time.

  * A state in the past -- for verbs that describe changes in state, eg 死ぬ, 知る, 持つ, 結婚する etc. 

>     * 彼は死ん **でいた** 。 He was dead.  
>  (Not "He was dying." 彼は死んだ would be "He died.")
>     * 彼は車を持っ **ていた** 。 He had a car.  
>  (He was in the state of having a car, not in the middle of the action of
> having a car. 車を持った would indicate the action of having/getting a car.)
>     * 彼女は結婚し **ていた** 。 She was married.  
>  (彼女は結婚した would be "She got married.")

  * An action that occurred before another action occurred in the past (Something similar to the past perfect tense in English) 

>     * 駅に着くと、もう電車は出発し **ていた** 。  
>  The train **had** already **left** when I got to the station.
>     * 彼が来たときには、私は宿題を終え **ていた** 。  
>  I **had finished** my homework when / by the time he came.
>     * パーティはすでに始まっ **ていた** 。  
>  The party **had** already **begun**.

And, in your example:

  * In reported speech (especially in conversation) -- When you tell someone what another person has said to you. 

>     * 山田さんは、東京に行くと言っ **ていた** よ。(≂ 行くそうだよ。)  
>  Yamada-san said / I heard Yamada-san say that he was going to Tokyo.  
>  (rather than 山田さんは、東京に行くと言ったよ。)
>     * 彼はなんと言っ **ていました** か？ -- 今日は来ないと言っ **ていました** 。(≂ 来ないそうです。)  
>  What did he say? -- He said he would not come today.  
>  (rather than 彼はなんと言いましたか？ -- 今日は来ないと言いました。)
>     * ニュースで、大きな地震があったって言っ **てた** よ。  
>  I heard on TV news that there was a big earthquake.

* * *

> 僕の街にラーメン屋があります。僕の友達がおいしいと言っ **ていた** ので、そのラーメン屋に行きたい。

Here, おいしいと言っ **ていた** ので is more natural than おいしいと言ったので, since it's reported
speech. This is like "I heard my friend say..." or "My friend told me..."

I think it'd be even more natural to say it this way:

> 僕の街に **は** ラーメン屋があります。(僕の)友達がおいしいと言っていたので、そのラーメン屋に行きたい **です** 。

  * Add the topical は. 「僕の街に **は** ～～」 
  * Leave out the second 僕の. It's obvious whose friend you're talking about here. 
  * Add です at the end, since you used polite あります in the first sentence. 
  * Alternatively, you could say 行きたいと思っています。 or 行ってみたいです。




> "verb te form + いた"

～ていた has several meanings/usages, which include:

  * A continuous action in the past (Past progressive tense) -- for action verbs 

>     * 彼が来たとき、私はテレビを見 **ていた** 。I **was watching** TV when he came.
>     * そのころ、私はピアノを弾い **ていた** 。I **was playing** piano around that time.

  * A state in the past -- for verbs that describe changes in state, eg 死ぬ, 知る, 持つ, 結婚する etc. 

>     * 彼は死ん **でいた** 。 He was dead.  
>  (Not "He was dying." 彼は死んだ would be "He died.")
>     * 彼は車を持っ **ていた** 。 He had a car.  
>  (He was in the state of having a car, not in the middle of the action of
> having a car. 車を持った would indicate the action of having/getting a car.)
>     * 彼女は結婚し **ていた** 。 She was married.  
>  (彼女は結婚した would be "She got married.")

  * An action that occurred before another action occurred in the past (Something similar to the past perfect tense in English) 

>     * 駅に着くと、もう電車は出発し **ていた** 。  
>  The train **had** already **left** when I got to the station.
>     * 彼が来たときには、私は宿題を終え **ていた** 。  
>  I **had finished** my homework when / by the time he came.
>     * パーティはすでに始まっ **ていた** 。  
>  The party **had** already **begun**.

And, in your example:

  * In reported speech (especially in conversation) -- When you tell someone what another person has said to you. 

>     * 山田さんは、東京に行くと言っ **ていた** よ。(≂ 行くそうだよ。)  
>  Yamada-san said / I heard Yamada-san say that he was going to Tokyo.  
>  (rather than 山田さんは、東京に行くと言ったよ。)
>     * 彼はなんと言っ **ていました** か？ -- 今日は来ないと言っ **ていました** 。(≂ 来ないそうです。)  
>  What did he say? -- He said he would not come today.  
>  (rather than 彼はなんと言いましたか？ -- 今日は来ないと言いました。)
>     * ニュースで、大きな地震があったって言っ **てた** よ。  
>  I heard on TV news that there was a big earthquake.

* * *

> 僕の街にラーメン屋があります。僕の友達がおいしいと言っ **ていた** ので、そのラーメン屋に行きたい。

Here, おいしいと言っ **ていた** ので is more natural than おいしいと言ったので, since it's reported
speech. This is like "I heard my friend say..." or "My friend told me..."

I think it'd be even more natural to say it this way:

> 僕の街に **は** ラーメン屋があります。(僕の)友達がおいしいと言っていたので、そのラーメン屋に行きたい **です** 。

  * Add the topical は. 「僕の街に **は** ～～」 
  * Leave out the second 僕の. It's obvious whose friend you're talking about here. 
  * Add です at the end, since you used polite あります in the first sentence. 
  * Alternatively, you could say 行きたいと思っています。 or 行ってみたいです。

