(는/ㄴ)다고

Quote declarative sentence

Explanation

Used to pass along what the speaker heard from another person, or to present the subject's thoughts, opinions, etc.

Details

Usage

For direct quote:

  • "quoted statement" + 다고

For indirect quote:

Sentence type Word type Form
Declarative (Present) Action verb (느)ㄴ다고
Declarative (Present) Descriptive verb 다고
Declarative (Past) Verb (았/었/했)다고

Shortened form

For indirect quote:

Sentence type Word type Full form Shortened form
Declarative (Present) Action verb (느)ㄴ다고 해요 (느)ㄴ대요
Declarative (Present) Descriptive verb 다고 해요 대요
Declarative (Past) Verb (았/었/였)다고 해요 (았/었/였)대요

Korean Grammar in Use

An indirect quotation refers to the citing, without the use of quotation marks, of what someone wrote or said. After changing the form of the content to be quoted, - is attached and used along with a verb such as 말하다 (to speak, to say), 전하다 (to tell, to convey) or 듣다 (to listen, to hear). These verbs can be substituted with 하다 or 그러다.

Details

1. Suggestive Sentences

민우 씨는 "내일 산에 가지 맙시다."라고 말했어요.
Minu said, "Let's not go to the mountain tomorrow."

2. Imperative Sentences

의사 선생님이 "담배를 피우지 마세요."라고 하셨어요.
The doctor said, "Don't smoke."

When the first person pronoun 나/내 or 저/제 appears inside an indirect quotation, it changes to 자기.

왕징 씨가 "저한테 얘기하세요."라고 말했어요.
Wang Jing said, "Please tell me."
리처드 씨가 "제 고향은 뉴욕이에요."라고 말했이요.
Richard said, "My hometown is New York."

When indirect quotations are made from sentences that originally end in 주세요 or -아/어 주세요, these parts change to 달라고 하다 and -아/어 달라고 하다 or 주라고 하다 and -아/어 주라고 하다, respectively. Specifically, when the speaker is making the request directly to the listener, then 달라고 하다 and -아/어 달라고 하다 are used, but when the speaker is asking the listener to help a third party, then 주라고 하다 and -아/어 주라고 하다 are used.

Examples
내일 한국에 <span class='focus'>간다고</span> 들었는데요.
I heard that you're going to Korea tomorrow.
비가 <span class='focus'>온다고요</span>? 스키 타러 가려고 했는데 못 가겠네요.
Is it going to rain? I was going to go skiing but I can't go now.
회의가 조금 있으면 <span class='focus'>끝난다고</span> 하니까 끝나자마자 빨리 갈게요.
They said the meeting will end soon, so I'll leave as soon as it's over.

8 more sentences in the app — free account.