At a glance
A すなわち B means "A, that is to say, B" or "namely". It restates A as B, where B is the same thing said more exactly or more clearly. It is formal and used mainly in writing.
A、すなわち B
A。すなわち、B。
日本の首都、すなわち東京には多くの人が住んでいます。 Many people live in the capital of Japan, that is, Tokyo.
How to form it
| Position | Pattern | Example | Register |
|---|---|---|---|
| Between two nouns | A、すなわちB | 父の兄、すなわち私のおじ | Formal, written |
| Start of a sentence | A。すなわち、B。 | 年中無休だ。すなわち、一年中営業している。 | Formal, written |
| Inside a sentence | AはすなわちBだ | 学ぶことはすなわち生きることだ。 | Formal, written |
すなわち does not conjugate. A and B are usually the same kind of word, for example noun and noun, or sentence and sentence.