Lesson 17
Let us take a look at how to say, “They say...”, “I hear that...”, or how to re-tell someone what you have heard from someone else. There are mainly two ways of saying this in Korean, through the endings -(ㄴ/는)대요 and -(이)래요. These endings might sound complicated, but in fact, they are just combinations of grammar points that you have already learned before.
In Level 5 Lesson 17, you learned the following grammar points:
-(ㄴ/는)다고
-(이)라고
These are used for quoting what someone has said and are also used with verbs related to speech. In that lesson, we introduced the following sample sentences:
뭐라고 했어요? = What did they say?
내일 온다고 했어요. = (Someone) said they would come tomorrow.
언제 온다고 했어요? = When did they say they would come?
이거 재미있다고 들었어요. = I heard that this is fun.
You can make all of the above sentences shorter by using the endings -(ㄴ/는)대(요) and -(이)래(요).
-(ㄴ/는)다고 해요 → -(ㄴ/는)대요
-(이)라고 해요 → -(이)래요
Although it is basically the same thing, the latter forms are more commonly used in everyday spoken Korean because they are shorter and much easier to pronounce.
Construction
[Present Tense]
Action Verbs + -(느)ㄴ대요
Ex) 지금 간대요. (= They say they are going now.)
Descriptive Verbs + -대요
Ex) 바쁘대요. (= He says that he is busy now.)
Nouns + -(이)래요
Ex) 친구래요. (= She says that he is a friend.)
[Past Tense]
Action Verbs + -았/었/였대요
Ex) 어제 만났대요. (= I heard they met yesterday.)
Descriptive Verbs + -았/었/였대요
Ex) 아팠대요. (= I heard she was sick.)
Nouns + -이었/였대요
Ex) 학생이었대요. (= They said they were students.)
[Future Tense]
Action Verbs + -(으)ㄹ 거 + 래요
Ex) 내일 만날 거래요. (= He says he will meet them tomorrow.)
Descriptive Verbs + -(으)ㄹ 거 + 래요
Ex) 추울 거래요. (= They say it will be cold.)
Nouns + -일 거 + 래요
Ex) 마지막일 거래요. (= They say it will be the last time.)
When you use the -(ㄴ/는)대요/-(이)래요 endings, you usually deliver a piece of information that the other person does not know or that you think they do not know. If you want to emphasize the fact that YOU, at least, have heard something but it might not be the exact truth, you need to use verbs such as “듣다 (= to hear)” and say -다고/라고 들었어요.
Ex)
바쁘다고 들었어요. (= I heard that he is busy.)
어제 만났다고 들었어요. (= I heard that they met yesterday.)
추울 거라고 들었어요. (= I heard that it will be cold.)
Sample Sentences
이게 제일 좋대요.
= They say that this is the best.
여기 정말 유명하대요.
= They say this place is really famous.
몰랐대요.
= He says he did not know.
벌써 다 끝났대요.
= They say it has ended already.
어딘지 모른대요.
= He says he does not know where it is.
이 사람 정말 유명한 사람이래요.
= They say this person is a very famous person.
친구가 내일 이사 간대요.
= My friend says she is moving tomorrow.
제 친구가 한국에 올 거래요.
= My friend says he will come to Korea.
* If you say, “제 친구가 한국에 올 거라고 했어요”, you are saying your friend actually said it him/herself, but by using -래요, you are implying that you may have heard or seen this fact from somewhere else and not your friend.
그 사람은 한국에 와 본 적이 없대요.
= He says he has never come to Korea.
주연 씨는 어제도 집에 안 갔대요.
= They say Jooyeon did not go home again yesterday.