Skip to content

Easy Korean - Level 6, Unit 13: Quoting Questions (-냐고 하다)

Now we know how to quote statements (He said...). But what if you want to report a question? ("He asked if..." or "She asked what...")

To quote a question, we use the ending -냐고 하다 or -냐고 묻다 (묻다 = to ask).

How to Conjugate

For quoting questions, the rules are very simple and mostly the same for Verbs and Adjectives!

1. Verbs and Adjectives: Add -냐고 하다 * 가다 -> 가냐고 물었어요. (He asked if I'm going.) * 먹다 -> 먹냐고 물었어요. (She asked if I eat.) * 바쁘다 -> 바쁘냐고 물었어요. (They asked if I'm busy.) * 작다 -> 작냐고 물었어요. (He asked if it is small.)

Note: In writing, you might sometimes see -(으)냐고 for adjectives or -느냐고 for verbs, but in modern spoken Korean, everyone simply attaches -냐고 to the stem for both!

2. Nouns: -(이)냐고 하다 * 학생 -> 학생이냐고 물었어요. (He asked if I am a student.) * 누구 -> 누구냐고 물었어요. (She asked who it is.)

3. Past Tense: -았/었느냐고 -> -았/었냐고 하다 * 갔다 -> 갔냐고 물었어요. (He asked if I went.) * 먹었다 -> 먹었냐고 물었어요. (She asked if I ate.)

Shortened Conversational Form

In spoken Korean, "-냐고 해요" is shortened to -냬요. * 어디 가냐고 해요 -> 어디 가냬요. (He is asking where I'm going.) * 뭐 먹었냐고 해요 -> 뭐 먹었냬요. (She's asking what I ate.)

Example Sentences

  1. 엄마가 언제 집에 오냐고 하셨어요. (Mom asked when I am coming home.)
  2. 친구가 저한테 돈이 있냐고 물었어요. (My friend asked me if I have money.)
  3. 선생님이 숙제를 다 했냐고 물어보셨어요. (The teacher asked if I did all my homework.)