～ということだ — Which Means / I Hear That
Has two main uses. As hearsay it reports information heard from a source ('I hear that ~'). As a conclusion it restates or interprets what something amounts to ('that means ~ / in short'). Context and the presence of a source distinguish which reading applies.
Structure
[Plain form / clause] + ということだ
Examples
天気予報によると、明日は雪が降るということだ。
Tenki yohou ni yoru to, ashita wa yuki ga furu to iu koto da.
According to the forecast, it's going to snow tomorrow.
によると + ～ということだ = hearsay, reporting a source
返事がないということは、興味がないということだ。
Henji ga nai to iu koto wa, kyoumi ga nai to iu koto da.
No reply means (that) there's no interest.
～ということだ here draws a logical conclusion ('it means')
つまり、もう間に合わないということだ。
Tsumari, mou ma ni awanai to iu koto da.
In short, it means we won't make it in time.
つまり + ～ということだ = restating/summarizing the upshot
• Hearsay use often pairs with によると or によれば and cites a source. • Conclusion use often pairs with つまり ('in other words') to summarize. • For hearsay, ～そうだ is a common lighter alternative.
Commonly confused with
The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones ～ということだ is tested against.
vs ～そうだ (hearsay)
～そうだ simply reports hearsay; ～ということだ can also mean 'that is to say / it means' as a conclusion, which ～そうだ cannot.
vs ～というわけだ
～というわけだ stresses a logical consequence that follows from reasoning; ～ということだ more neutrally reports or restates information.
More hearsay & conjecture
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