Skip to content

Easy Korean - Level 6, Unit 11: Quoting Statements (-다고 하다)

In this unit, we begin one of the most important advanced topics in Korean: Indirect Quotations (Reported Speech).

When you want to report what someone else said ("He said that..."), you use a specific set of endings. For plain statements (facts or declarations), we use -다고 하다.

How to Conjugate: Present Tense

The rules depend on whether the word is a Verb, Adjective, or Noun.

1. Action Verbs: -ㄴ/는다고 하다

  • Vowel stem: Add -ㄴ다고 하다
    • 가다 -> 간다고 하다 (They say they are going)
    • 오다 -> 온다고 하다 (They say they are coming)
  • Consonant stem: Add -는다고 하다
    • 먹다 -> 먹는다고 하다 (They say they eat)
    • 읽다 -> 읽는다고 하다 (They say they are reading)
  • ㄹ stem: Drop ㄹ, add -ㄴ다고 하다
    • 살다 -> 산다고 하다 (They say they live there)

2. Descriptive Verbs (Adjectives): -다고 하다

For adjectives, simply attach -다고 하다 to the dictionary stem. No changes needed! * 바쁘다 -> 바쁘다고 하다 (They say they are busy) * 좋다 -> 좋다고 하다 (They say it is good) * 맛있다 -> 맛있다고 하다 (They say it is delicious)

3. Nouns: -(이)라고 하다

For nouns + 이다 (to be), use -(이)라고 하다. * Vowel: 의사 (doctor) -> 의사라고 하다 (He says he is a doctor) * Consonant: 학생 (student) -> 학생이라고 하다 (She says she is a student)

Shortened Conversational Form

In spoken Korean, "-다고 해요" is almost always shortened to -대요. * 간다고 해요 -> 간대요 (He says he's going) * 바쁘다고 해요 -> 바쁘대요 (She says she's busy) * 학생이라고 해요 -> 학생이래요 (He says he's a student)

Example Sentences

  1. 제 친구가 매일 운동한다고 해요. (My friend says he exercises every day.)
  2. 지민 씨가 오늘 너무 바쁘대요. (Jimin says she is too busy today.)
  3. 그 사람이 자기는 의사라고 했어요. (That person said he is a doctor.)