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I read some of your post (very very helpful!) and I was wondering if you could write a post about the difference between よると and よれば. Which one is used to mean "according to"?

hippietrail
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user5348
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1 Answers1

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Both ～によると and ～によれば can be used to mean "according to".

"A Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar" defines it as:

"According to", "based on". A compound particle that is used to identify the source of the information provided in the sentence.

As for the difference between the two, it states:

Ni yoreba can replace ni yoru to without changing the meaning of the sentence.

And gives examples of two sentences with the same meaning, e.g.

その温泉{おんせん}は旅行雑誌{りょこうざっし}によると神経痛{しんけいつう}にいいそうだ。
その温泉は旅行雑誌によれば神経痛にいいそうだ。
One of the travel magazines said (= According to one of the travel magazines) that hot springs are good for arthritis.

Szymon
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  • I've also heard 〜によりますと used by newscasters. – istrasci May 14 '14 at 14:41
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    @snailboat ... I'll delete my comment above. But you should note that nearly all of the papers are from 紀要 which means they're the lowest tier of academic writing in Japan (non peer-reviewed, right to publish if you are faculty or a graduate student at that school). – virmaior May 14 '14 at 23:56