Lesson 21
For the past few lessons, we have been looking at the various ways to make reported speech sentences. In this lesson, let us take a look at the verb endings -(ㄴ/는)다잖아요 and -라잖아요. We introduced a similar ending, -잖아요, in Level 5 Lesson 27, which is used to express “Don’t you see that...”, “Come on, isn’t it...”, etc. By adding the -(ㄴ/는)다 or -라 before -잖아요, you can add a “reported speech” function to it, such as “Don’t you see this person is saying…” or “Don’t you hear me saying…”.
Review of -잖아요
1. 석진 씨 지금 여기 없어요. = Seokjin is not here now.
→ 석진 씨 지금 여기 없잖아요. = Don’t you see that Seokjin is not here now?
2. 오늘 일요일이에요. = Today is Sunday.
→ 오늘 일요일이잖아요. = Come on, it is Sunday.
Usage of -(ㄴ/는)다잖아요 and -라잖아요
The construction is the same as other structures that use -(ㄴ/는)다 or -라. In the present tense, you add -ㄴ/는다 for action verbs and just -다 with adjectives/descriptive verbs. With nouns, you add -이 from 이다 and add -라.
The meaning of this structure is a combination of -(ㄴ/는)다고/라고 (reported speech, quotation) and -잖아요. Therefore, you can use this structure when you want to say “Don’t you see that...” or “Come on...” while quoting someone.
Examples
1.
좋아요. = It is good.
좋잖아요. = Come on, it is good. / Isn’t it good?
좋다잖아요. = Come on, they say it is good. / Come on, they say they like it.
2.
여기 없어요. = He is not here.
여기 없잖아요. = Don’t you see he is not here?
여기 없다잖아요. = Don’t you hear them say he is not here? / Didn’t you hear them say he is not here?
3.
혼자 가요. = I go there by myself.
혼자 가잖아요. = You know I go there alone.
혼자 간다잖아요. = Don’t you hear me saying that I am going there alone? / Didn’t you hear me saying that I am going there alone?
4.
친구 만날 거예요. = He will meet a friend.
친구 만날 거잖아요. = You know he will meet a friend.
친구 만날 거라잖아요. = Come on, he says he will meet a friend.
* 만날 거 is actually a noun group due to the -거.
Sample Sentences
싫다잖아요. 하지 마세요.
= She says she does not like it. Do not do it.
주연 씨 지금 바쁘다잖아요.
= Come on, Jooyeon says she is busy now.
= Don’t you hear Jooyeon saying she is busy now?
실수였다잖아요. 용서해 줘요.
= He says it was a mistake. Forgive him.
아니라잖아요. 왜 그 사람 말을 안 믿어요?
= Don’t you hear him saying it is not true? Why do you not believe what he says?
맞다잖아요!
= You see? He says it is true!