Easy Korean - Level 6, Unit 12: Quoting Past & Future (-았/었다고, -(으)ㄹ 거라고)

In the previous unit, we learned how to quote present tense statements. Now, let's look at how to quote things that happened in the past, or plans for the future.

Good news: The rules here are much easier because Verbs and Adjectives are treated exactly the same!

1. Past Tense: -았/었/였다고 하다

To quote a past event ("He said that he DID..."), conjugate the verb or adjective into the past tense stem (-았/었/였), and simply attach -다고 하다.

• 먹다 -> 먹었 -> 먹었다고 하다 (He said he ate)
• 가다 -> 갔 -> 갔다고 하다 (She said she went)
• 바쁘다 -> 바빴 -> 바빴다고 하다 (They said they were busy)

Short form: -았/었대요 * 어제 피자를 먹었대요. (He says he ate pizza yesterday.)

2. Future Tense: -(으)ㄹ 거라고 하다

To quote a future plan ("She said that she WILL..."), use the future tense structure -(으)ㄹ 거다, and change it into a quote. Since 거 is a noun, it becomes -(으)ㄹ 거라고 하다.

• 가다 -> 갈 거 -> 갈 거라고 하다 (She says she will go)
• 먹다 -> 먹을 거 -> 먹을 거라고 하다 (He says he will eat)

Short form: -(으)ㄹ 거래요 * 내일 비가 올 거래요. (They say it will rain tomorrow.) * 내일 갈 거래요. (She says she will go tomorrow.)

Example Sentences

1. 수진 씨가 어제 영화를 봤다고 했어요. (Soo-jin said that she watched a movie yesterday.)

2. 민수 씨가 내일 파티에 올 거라고 했어요. (Minsoo said that he will come to the party tomorrow.)

3. 지민 씨가 어제 너무 아팠대요. (Jimin says she was very sick yesterday.)

4. 다음 달에 이사할 거래요. (They say they will move next month.)