What's the difference between って and って言ってた


I'm guessing it's a matter of direct vs. indirect?

> 兄は「１分だけ、くださいね」って  
>  My older brother said "Just a minute, please"

> 兄は１分だけと言ってた。  
>  My older brother said just a minute.




Both って and と are quotative particles and are grammatically interchangeable.
While the former is colloquial and casual, the latter is not particularly
formal nor casual (and it's thus "safer" while you're a learner). In your
first example, 言ってた is omitted because it can be inferred from the context.
This omission can happen regardless of whether it's preceded by って or と.

By "direct vs indirect", do you mean [direct and indirect
speech](https://web.archive.org/web/20170721192233/http://www.ef.com/english-
resources/english-grammar/direct-and-indirect-speech/)? Then that does not
matter here. Both って and と are used with or without quotation marks. See [this
answer](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/30585/5010), too.

Therefore, the following sentences are all valid and equally natural:

>   * 兄は「１分だけ、くださいね」と。
>   * 兄は「１分だけ、くださいね」と言ってた。
>   * 兄は１分だけって言ってた。
>




Both って and と are quotative particles and are grammatically interchangeable.
While the former is colloquial and casual, the latter is not particularly
formal nor casual (and it's thus "safer" while you're a learner). In your
first example, 言ってた is omitted because it can be inferred from the context.
This omission can happen regardless of whether it's preceded by って or と.

By "direct vs indirect", do you mean [direct and indirect
speech](https://web.archive.org/web/20170721192233/http://www.ef.com/english-
resources/english-grammar/direct-and-indirect-speech/)? Then that does not
matter here. Both って and と are used with or without quotation marks. See [this
answer](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/30585/5010), too.

Therefore, the following sentences are all valid and equally natural:

>   * 兄は「１分だけ、くださいね」と。
>   * 兄は「１分だけ、くださいね」と言ってた。
>   * 兄は１分だけって言ってた。
>

