modality N4 common casualpolitewritten
〜と言ってもいい — you could say that ~
〜と言ってもいい ・ といってもいい
Meaning
- you could say that ~ / it's fair to say ~ — softens a strong claim as a reasonable way of putting it
Key sentence
彼はこの分野の天才と言ってもいい。
You could call him a genius in this field.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Plain-form clause / Noun + と | [clause(plain)] / N + と + 言ってもいい | 完璧だ → 完璧だと言ってもいい |
Examples
この映画は今年最高の作品だと言ってもいい。
It's fair to say this is the best film of the year.
準備はほぼ終わったと言ってもいいだろう。
You could say the preparations are pretty much done.
二人は親友と言ってもいい関係だ。
Their relationship is what you could call best friends.
Easily confused with
Notes
- The stronger 〜と言っても過言ではない ('it's no exaggeration to say') is the emphatic, formal cousin — same move, more force.
See 〜と言ってもいい in real sentences
Jengo shows 〜と言ってもいい the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled from published Japanese grammar references.