〜といえば
JLPT N3:speaking of
Introduces a familiar association or a related thought prompted by a topic: "speaking of X".
How to form it
- Put といえば directly after the topic, usually a noun, and follow it with an association or related comment.
- Use an affirmative or negative predicate as needed in the comment; といえば itself does not make the comment conditional.
Examples
夏といえば、海です。
Speaking of summer, the sea comes to mind.
京都といえば、古いお寺が有名です。
Speaking of Kyoto, its old temples are famous.
北海道というと、雪が浮かびます。
When Hokkaido is mentioned, snow comes to mind.
夏といったら、やっぱり海です。
Speaking of summer, it has to be the sea.
Notes
- というと can also introduce an association, especially what comes to mind when a topic is mentioned. It can instead ask for clarification; those uses are not interchangeable with といえば.
- といったら can introduce a familiar association with stronger emphasis, but it also occurs in emotional exclamations. This lesson covers its topic-association use.
- The same forms can be ordinary conditionals of the verb meaning "say". Decide from the whole sentence whether a mention prompts an association or an actual act of saying is a condition.
Common mistakes
- Translating every といえば as "if someone says".
- Replacing every というと or といったら with といえば without checking the context.