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Word 290 of 2920

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言い出す

いいだす

to bring up, start saying

By Nihongo PathUpdated

Examples

  1. 彼が急に旅行を言い出した。

    かれがきゅうにりょこうをいいだした。

    He suddenly brought up a trip.

  2. 言い出しにくいことだが、正直に話そう。

    いいだしにくいことだが、しょうじきにはなそう。

    It's hard to bring up, but let me be honest.

  3. 最初に言い出したのは私です。

    さいしょにいいだしたのはわたしです。

    I'm the one who first suggested it.

Common patterns

急に言い出す
to bring up out of nowhere
言い出しにくい
hard to bring up
言い出したら聞かない
once he says it, he won't listen

Memory tip

言い出す is being the first to raise a topic, which is why 言い出しっぺ means the one who suggested it and therefore has to do it. It often hints the timing was awkward.

Kanji in this word

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What does 言い出す mean?