という
“The knowledge that we consider knowledge proves itself in action. What we now mean by knowledge is information in action, information focused on results.” – Peter Drucker
You’ll notice that という is the same いう as the last page (言った) except it’s not in past tense. Though when used this way it tends to be written in hiragana alone (just like I wrote it above). The concept behind という however is a little tricky (and also a little hard to explain).
It’s official explanation is “a phrase marking information which identifies or explains the noun following the phrase.”
I think we can simplify this a little bit. Basically, という is like saying “known as” – it identifies what it is you’re talking about. I think it’s best to look at examples.
ハリーポッター という えいが
The movie known as Harry Potter
H2G2 という しょうせつ
The novel known as H2G2
ひとみさん が いく という はなし を きいた
I heard the story that Hitomi will go
Basically, it’s identifying the thing you’re about to talk about for someone who might not know what it is you’re talking about. If someone doesn’t know Harry Potter, you can’t just say “Harry Potter” because they won’t understand. Instead, you say “The movie Harry Potter” so that they know you’re talking about the movie Harry Potter and not something else. If you just said 「はなし を きいた」and the other person doesn’t know what はなし you’re talking about you’re out of luck. That’s why we added the という there as well.
The whole という concept is mostly going to take practice and seeing it to make sense, I think. It’s one of those subtle (but important) grammar points that take a lot of seeing to understand. Will definitely try to help you with that. You’re almost to the practice sentences page anyways.