と + verb, why is it necessary

Japanese Language
1

i’ve encountered this use of と now the second time. Once in “と申す” and once in “と思う”. How can i recognize that i need a と in those cases.

I’d like to know because I always need to understand why something is used so that I can really memorize it.

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2

There are many uses of と (and most other particles). This usage functions to make a quotation. It renders what came before it into a quote.

You can also use those verbs without a quotation. In those cases you would use another particle or no particle.

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3

I think the other thing worth mentioning here is that whether you can use this quotation と depends on the verb. (This is true for various particles: they work to connect the thing in front of them to the verb, and the verb determines what you can connect to it. The most obvious case is that you can only connect up a direct object marker を to a transitive verb.)

So you can use this と with verbs like いう、考える、思う、叫ぶ, but you can’t use it with 話す, for example. (Compare English: “He said ‘stop’” and “He yelled ‘stop’” are fine but “He talked ‘stop’” is not.)

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4

I feel like almost every NHK easy news article I have read so far ends with “「qoute」と話しました” though, so I don’t think that is quite right.

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5

Yes, と話す has a nuance that makes it suitable for news articles, but would likely not be heard much in everyday conversations (obviously, I just mean in the quotative sense, 人と話す is a difference usage of と and is unrelated).

Here’s a stack exchange question about と話す

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