Unit 9: Quoting Questions (-냐고 하다)

What if you want to report a question someone asked? "Someone asked if..." or "Someone asked what..." In Easy Korean, you use -냐고 하다 or -냐고 묻다 (묻다 = to ask).

Structure

Verb / Adjective Stem + -냐고 하다/묻다

• 가다 (to go) -> 가냐고 했어요 (They asked if I am going)
• 먹다 (to eat) -> 먹냐고 물었어요 (They asked if I am eating)
• 바쁘다 (adj: busy) -> 바쁘냐고 물었어요 (They asked if I am busy)

(Note: In spoken Korean, for verbs ending in a consonant, people often use -으냐고: 먹으냐고. But -냐고 is standard and widely used for everything.)

Quoting Nouns in Questions

For nouns, use -(이)냐고 하다: - 학생 (student) -> 학생이냐고 물었어요 (They asked if I am a student) - 누구 (who) -> 누구냐고 했어요 (They asked who it is)

Examples

• 친구가 저한테 언제 오냐고 했어요. (My friend asked me when I am coming.)
• 엄마가 밥을 먹었냐고 물었어요. (Mom asked if I ate.)