[Learn Korean E48] “-(이)라고 하다 “, “-냐고 하다”

안녕하세요. 토미입니다.

The theme of today’s class is 같이 못 오냐고 해요 “He’s asking if you can come together with us.”

Today, I’ll teach you about indirect quotations such as ‘-(이)라고 하다 “(someone) says that” and ‘-냐고 하다 “asks/suggests.”

Once you can use these indirect quotations, you can deliver a message to a friend about what another friend has told you.

Also, you are almost reaching up to all the grammar you must memorize to pass the TOPIK I.
So, let’s finish it, and be the super master of Korean.

그럼 시작할게요！

Listen to the Conversation

The theme of today’s conversation is 같이 못 오냐고 해요 “He’s asking if you can come together with us.”

Tammy’s friend wants to talk to Sangmin while eating dinner together.
Will Sangmin be able to go with them?

Let’s try to guess as we listen to their conversation.
그럼 들어보세요！

• 토미：상민 씨, 아까 갑자기 친구한테서 전화가 왔어요. 오늘 상민 씨도 같이 못 오냐고 해요.
  Tammy： Sangmin, I suddenly received a phone call from my friend earlier. He’s asking if you can come together with us today.
• 상민：그랬어요? 그 친구는 은행원이라고 했죠?
  Sangmin： Did he? You said your friend is a banker, didn’t you?
• 토미：네, 맞아요.
  Tammy： Yes, that’s right.
• 상민：그럼 몇 시에 어디서 모일 예정이에요?
  Sangmin： Then when and where are you two planning to meet up?
• 토미：지하철역 맞은편에 불고기 식당 있는 거 아시죠? 친구가 거기서 7시에 모이는 게 어떠냬요.
  Tammy： You know there’s the Bulgogi restaurant on the other side of the subway station, right? My friend suggested we meet there at 7 PM.
• 상민：아, 우체국 옆에 있는 그 식당이죠? 여기서 가까우니까 일 끝나면 바로 갈게요.
  Sangmin： Oh, the diner next to the post office, right? It’s close to here, so I’ll go as soon as I finish my work.

Vocabulary and Phrases

• 토미：상민 씨, 아까 갑자기 친구한테서 전화가 왔어요. 오늘 상민 씨도 같이 못 오냐고 해요.

아까 means “earlier/ a while ago.”
아까 친구한테서 전화가 왔어요 would mean, “I got a phone call from my friend earlier.”

갑자기 is “suddenly.”
You can say 갑자기 친구가 찾아왔어요, which means “My friend suddenly came to visit me.”

• 상민：그랬어요? 그 친구는 은행원이라고 했죠?

은행원 is a “banker.” 은행 means a “bank.”
When you say, 저는 은행원입니다, it means “I am a banker.”

• 상민： 그럼 몇 시에 어디서 모일 예정이에요?

모이다 means “to gather/meet up.”
1시에 회사 앞에 모여 주세요 means “Please gather in front of the company at 1.”

예정 is a “plan.”
When you want to say “plan to do something” in Korean, you don’t say -는 예정 but rather -(으)ㄹ 예정.

For example, you will say, 몇 시에 모일 예정이예요? “When do you plan to gather?”
You can see -(으)ㄹ 예정 in this sentence.

• 토미：지하철역 맞은편에 불고기 식당 있는 거 아시죠? 친구가 거기서 모이는 게 어떠냬요.

지하철 means a “subway,” and 역 is a “station.”
Therefore, 지하철역 becomes a “subway station.”

맞은편 is “on the opposite side.”
Here, 편 indicates “side.”
For example, 반대편 also means “the opposite side,” 오른편 is “the right side,” and 왼편 is “the left side.”

불고기 is known as “Bulgogi” in English as well.

• 상민：아, 우체국 옆에 있는 그 식당이죠? 여기서 가까우니까 일 끝나면 바로 갈게요.

우체국 is a “post office.”
I will explain words related to a post office.
우편물 is “postal mail,” and 우편함 is a “mailbox.”

바로 means “immediately/ straight away.”
You can also repeat it twice, like 바로 바로 “quickly, quickly” to emphasize the urgency.

Grammar

Noun + -(이)라고 하다～ “(someone) says that Noun is-“

Now I’ll explain today’s grammar, INDIRECT QUOTATION！
This is such a big topic!
I will explain the definition of indirect quotation first.

Using this grammar, you can quote what someone said without quotation marks.

Usually, direct quotations would be like “Tammy said, ‘I am a Korean teacher.’”
On the other hand, in indirect quotation, you remove quotation marks.

So, it will be like, “Tammy said she is a Korean teacher.”
Can you see the clear difference between them?

From now till lesson 50,  the end of the elementary course, I will teach different kinds of indirect quotations.

Now, let’s take a look at Noun + (이)라고 하다 “(someone) says that Noun is-.”

In Korean, you can omit the subject of a sentence, such as I, s/he, or they.
So, sometimes, it is more natural to translate “I heard that Noun is -.”

Additionally, -(이)래요 is the shortened form of -(이)라고 해요 and is mainly used in conversations.

The application is straightforward.

First, when a noun ends with a final consonant, you add -이라고 하다.
For example, 오늘 “today” ends with ㄹ final consonant.
So it would become 오늘이라고 하다 “(s/he) says it’s today.”

Second, if a noun does not have a final consonant, you add -라고 하다.
For example, 언니 an “older sister” would become 언니라고 하다 “(s/he) says she is an older sister.”

Then, let’s look at some examples.

Ex.1)
그 친구는 은행원이라고 했죠?
You said your friend is a banker, didn’t you?

Let’s focus on 은행원이라고 했죠? in the sentence.
은행원 is “a banker.”
It has a final consonant, so you add -이라고 하다 to make 은행원이라고 하다.

Let’s take a look at the shortened form of -(이)라고 해요, which is -(이)래요.

Ex.2)
상민 씨 생일이 내일이 아니라 모레래요.
I heard Sangmin’s birthday is not tomorrow but the day after tomorrow.

모레 “the day after tomorrow” doesn’t have a final consonant.
So, you add -래요 to the noun to make 모레래요 “(I heard) it is the day after tomorrow.”
You can also say 모레라고 해요. “It’s the same meaning.”

Quiz

・토미 씨가 동생은 유학생 (   ) 했어요.
Tammy said Tammy’s brother is an international student.

(1)이라고 (2)라고

The answer is (1).
유학생 “an international student” has a final consonant.
So you add -이라고 했어요 to make 유학생이라고 했어요.

The whole sentence would be 토미 씨가 동생은 유학생 (이라고) 했어요.

-냐고 하다 “asks /suggests”

-냐고 하다 “asks/suggests” is an indirect quotation.

You use it when you want to say someone’s question or suggestion to somebody else.

-냬요 is the shortened form of -냐고 해요.
Korean people use it commonly in conversations.

The pronunciation is -냬요 [nyae-yo].
Like the previous grammar, the application of the grammar is as simple as ABC.

You add -냐고 하다 to verbs and adjectives regardless of a final consonant.
For example, 먹다 becomes 먹냐고 하다 “asks if you’ll eat,” and 보다 becomes 보냐고 하다 “asks if you’ll watch (something).”

Now, let’s confirm this with today’s conversation.

Ex.1)
오늘 상민 씨도 같이 못 오냐고 해요.
He’s asking if you can come with us today.

In this sentence, let’s focus on 못 오냐고 해요.
못 오다 is “cannot come.”
You attach -냐고 하다 to the stem to make 못 오냐고 하다.
You can also say 못 오냬요, which has the same meaning, but we use 못 오냬요 more in conversations.

Ex.2)
친구가 거기서 모이는 게 어떠냬요.
My friend suggested that we gather there.

I will explain 어떠냬요 in this sentence.
어떻다 is “how.”
But, unfortunately, this word has ㅎ final consonant.
So, you have to apply ㅎ irregular.
So you have to take away ㅎ, goodbye ㅎ and add -냬요 to the stem to make 어떠냬요.

Quiz

・우리 오빠가 내일 몇 시에 (               ).
My older brother is asking what time you’re leaving tomorrow.

(1)떠나냬요  (2)떠났어요

The answer is (1).
떠나다 is “to leave.”
You add -냬요 to the stem to make 떠나냬요.
You can also say 떠나냐고 해요.

The whole sentence would be 우리 오빠가 내일 몇 시에 (떠나냬요).

Conversation (Korean only)

Please pay attention to the indirect quotations that you have just learned.

• 그럼 확인해 보세요！
• 토미：상민 씨, 아까 갑자기 친구한테서 전화가 왔어요. 오늘 상민 씨도 같이 못 오냐고 해요.
• 상민：그랬어요? 그 친구는 은행원이라고 했죠?
• 토미：네, 맞아요.
• 상민：그럼 몇 시에 어디서 모일 예정이에요?
• 토미：지하철역 맞은편에 불고기 식당 있는 거 아시죠? 친구가 거기서 7시에 모이는 게 어떠냬요.
• 상민：아, 우체국 옆에 있는 그 식당이죠? 여기서 가까우니까 일 끝나면 바로 갈게요.

Conversation Practice

그럼 큰소리로 읽어 보세요！

• 토미：상민 씨, 아까 갑자기 친구한테서 전화가 왔어요. 오늘 상민 씨도 같이 못 오냐고 해요.
  Tammy： Sangmin, I suddenly received a phone call from my friend earlier. He’s asking if you can come together with us today.
• 상민：그랬어요? 그 친구는 은행원이라고 했죠?
  Sangmin： Did he? You said your friend is a banker, didn’t you?
• 토미：네, 맞아요.
  Tammy： Yes, that’s right.
• 상민：그럼 몇 시에 어디서 모일 예정이에요?
  Sangmin： Then when and where are you two planning to meet up?
• 토미：지하철역 맞은편에 불고기 식당 있는 거 아시죠? 친구가 거기서 7시에 모이는 게 어떠냬요.
  Tammy： You know there’s the Bulgogi restaurant on the other side of the subway station, right? My friend suggested we meet there at 7 PM.
• 상민：아, 우체국 옆에 있는 그 식당이죠? 여기서 가까우니까 일 끝나면 바로 갈게요.
  Sangmin： Oh, the diner next to the post office, right? It’s close to here, so I’ll go as soon as I finish my work.

Homework

I will give you two assignments.
First, please use the grammar we learned today to write two sentences.

For the first sentence, use -(이)래요 to tell me about something somebody told you.
By the way, please make sure to use a noun.
For example,

• 호떡이 지금 한국에서 가장 인기가 많은 음식이래요.
  I heard Hoeddeok is currently the most popular food in Korea.

For the second sentence, use -냬요 to tell me about a question a loved one or friend asked you.
For example, it could be something like

• 친구가 오늘 시간이 있냬요.
  My friend is asking if you have time today.

The second homework is vocabulary memorization.
Please memorize the 40 words from No.1521~ No.1560 on p.20 of your Beginner’s Vocabulary List.
You can take a quiz on these words through this website, so please try challenging yourself.

That’s all for today.
그럼 오늘도 행복 가득, 웃음 가득한 하루 되세요！ 한국어 화이팅, 화이팅, 화이팅！！