tonari no hito ni konnitiha to iimasita.

Literally, 隣の人 means the person next to (someone) or the neighboring person.

• 隣（となり） = next to, neighboring side
• の = links nouns together, like of or an apostrophe-s in some cases
• 人（ひと） = person

So 隣の人 is a noun phrase meaning the person next to me/us/the speaker, depending on context.

In natural English, it might be translated as:

• the person next to me
• the person beside me
• my neighbor
  depending on the situation.

の connects one noun to another.

Here, it links:

• 隣 → next door / next to
• 人 → person

So 隣の人 means something like:

• the person of next door
• more naturally: the person next to me/us

This is a very common pattern in Japanese:

• 日本の車 = a Japanese car / a car from Japan
• 学校の先生 = the school’s teacher / teacher at the school
• 隣の席 = the seat next to me

So in this sentence, の is just turning 隣 into something that describes 人.

The particle に marks the person that the action is directed to.

In this sentence:

• 隣の人に = to the person next to me
• こんにちはと言いました = said hello

So に shows the target/recipient of the speech.

Compare:

• 先生に言いました = I said it to the teacher
• 友だちに話しました = I spoke to my friend

With 言う, the person you say something to is often marked by に.

と is the quotation particle here. It marks the exact words that were said.

So:

• こんにちは = hello
• こんにちは と 言いました = said hello

You can think of と as functioning a bit like quotation marks plus said in English.

Examples:

• ありがとうと言いました = (someone) said thank you
• 行きますと言いました = (someone) said I will go

In your sentence, こんにちは is the quoted content, and と marks it as what was said.

Because こんにちは is not being treated as a direct object here. It is being treated as quoted speech.

Japanese usually uses:

• quoted words + と + 言う

So:

• こんにちはと言いました = said hello not
• こんにちはを言いました ❌

With 言う, what is said is normally marked with と, not を.

言いました is the polite past form of 言う (to say).

Forms:

• 言う = dictionary form
• 言います = polite non-past
• 言いました = polite past

So 言いました means:

• said

The sentence describes a completed action: someone said hello.

If you changed it to 言います, it would sound like:

• (someone) says / will say hello to the person next to them

言いました is read いいました.

That can be confusing, because the dictionary form is:

• 言う（いう）

When it becomes the polite -ます form:

• 言います（いいます）

And the polite past:

• 言いました（いいました）

So the reading changes in a way that may not look obvious from the kanji alone.

Full reading of the sentence:

• となり の ひと に こんにちは と いいました。

This is a very common beginner question.

こんにちは is pronounced konnichiwa, but it is written with は at the end because of historical grammar.

Originally, it came from a longer expression where は was the topic particle, and topic は is pronounced wa.

So:

• spelling: こんにちは
• pronunciation: konnichiwa

This is just something you need to memorize as a standard greeting.

Yes, the subject is omitted.

Japanese often leaves out the subject when it is clear from context. So this sentence could mean:

• I said hello to the person next to me
• He said hello to the person next to him
• She said hello to the person next to her
• etc.

The sentence itself does not specify who did it. Context tells you.

This is very natural in Japanese. English usually requires a subject, but Japanese often does not.

Yes. Japanese word order is different.

English:

• I said hello to the person next to me.

Japanese:

• 隣の人に こんにちは と 言いました。
• literally: To the person next to me, hello, said.

Japanese often puts:

1. the target/location/etc.
2. the quoted content or object
3. the verb at the end

So the verb 言いました comes last, which is very normal in Japanese.

Often, yes, in natural English.

Literally, it is:

• said “hello”

But in smoother English, depending on context, you might translate it as:

• greeted the person next to me
• said hello to the person next to me

Both can work.

The Japanese sentence specifically uses 言う (to say), so the literal structure is about saying the word こんにちは.

Yes, depending on context.

こんにちは is commonly taught as hello, but it can also correspond to good afternoon in some situations.

So possible translations include:

• I said hello to the person next to me.
• I said good afternoon to the person next to me.

If the meaning has already been given to the learner, that chosen translation is probably the intended one, but the Japanese greeting itself can cover both.

Normally, に is the natural choice here.

With 言う, the person you say something to is usually marked by に:

• 先生に言いました
• 友だちに言いました

Using へ here would sound unusual or unnatural in most basic contexts.

So:

• 隣の人にこんにちはと言いました ✅ natural
• 隣の人へこんにちはと言いました ❓ not the normal choice

Japanese often does not need quotation marks when using と with verbs like 言う.

The particle と already shows that こんにちは is the quoted content.

So:

• こんにちはと言いました naturally means said “hello”

Japanese can use quotation marks such as 「 」, but they are not required in a simple sentence like this.

For example:

• 「こんにちは」と言いました
  means the same thing, just with visible quotation marks added.