Speak Japanese Naturally | いってます vs いいます What's the Difference? @SpeakJapaneseNaturally | Uploaded July 2024 | Updated October 2024, 12 hours ago.
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A subscriber wants to know the difference between these two sentences:

1. 田中さんは、京都に行きたいと言っていました
2. 田中さんは、京都に行きたいと言いました

Can you tell the difference in meaning?
If not, I’ll explain it to you.

The difference lies in the ending: と言っていました and と言いました.

言いました is simply a statement, while 言っていました indicates that there’s a listener and the speaker is conveying this information to them.
So, 田中さんは京都に行きたいと言っていました means that the speaker is reporting to the listener that Tanaka-san said they wanted to go to Kyoto.
The English translation would be the same: "Tanaka-san said they wanted to go to Kyoto."
But there’s a difference.