據說grammar point · tier 1 · reportative 據說 (it is said / reportedly)
· jùshuō
Sentence-front phrase marking the whole statement as secondhand report — the speaker passes it on without vouching for it.
字源 FORM what the parts do
據 is a hand (扌) bracing its weight on something to hold a position, 豦 on loan for the sound jù; 說 is words (言), 兌 on loan for the sound. The pair leans the claim on what was said, so it stands on another's words.
故事 STORY a scene to remember it by
A hand puts no weight on its own feet and braces against a far wall; the whole stance rests on that distant support.
字源記憶法
框 · Frame
據說 [whole reported clause]
觸 · Trigger
You are passing on something you heard or read, and you want it clear the claim is not your own.
序 · The move
1Open with 據說, then state the reported claim as a full clause behind it.Everything after 據說 is what someone else said, not your own observation.
2Leave the source unnamed inside 據說 itself.To name who said it, switch to 據 + source + 說 (據老師說) or 根據…; 據說 alone keeps the source anonymous.
3Keep yourself out of the claim — no first-hand stake.If you witnessed it or you stand behind it, drop 據說 and assert plainly. 據說 marks distance, not certainty.
例 · Examples
1據說jùshuō — it is said, reportedly這個地方本來běnlái — originally, at first沒有湖，是大地震dìzhèn — earthquake之後才出現的。
It is said this place had no lake before; it only appeared after the great earthquake.
聽說 puts a hearer in it — I heard (我聽說…), tied to the speaker's own ear, everyday and spoken. 據說 names no hearer and no source, the report floats free of anyone; it reads more written and detached.
根據 + source names what a judgment rests on (根據報導 — according to the report) and the speaker reasons from it. 據說 leaves the source anonymous and only flags the clause as hearsay. Named grounds vs unnamed report.
好像 marks the speaker's own guess from what they sense (it seems). 據說 marks someone else's words, not the speaker's impression. Other people's report vs my own hunch.
✗ 我據說他要走了 → ✓ 我聽說他要走了 (據說 takes no subject; to put yourself as the hearer, use 聽說)
✗ 這件事據說得很清楚 → ✓ 這件事說得很清楚 (據說 is a fixed front-marker, it cannot take a degree complement)
✗ 據說老師，明天放假 → ✓ 據老師說，明天放假 (to name the source, split 據 and 說 around it; 據說 keeps the source unnamed)
English 'according to' both reports a source and names it ('according to him'). Chinese splits these: anonymous report is 據說; a named source is 據 + source + 說 or 根據…. Do not slot a source straight after 據說.