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Grammar / Level 3 / Lesson 57

대요, 래요 and 다는: quoting, shortened

By Daniel Buckley · 13 minute read · TOPIK 3

Vocabulary

  1. 소문 - rumour
  2. 소식 - news (of someone)
  3. 문자 - text message
  4. 연락 - contact, getting in touch
  5. 사실 - fact
  6. 행복 - happiness
  7. 뜻 - meaning
  8. 그만두다 - to quit
  9. 유학 - studying abroad

Watch any Korean drama and you'll hear 그렇대요 and 뭐래요?, and neither is in the last lesson. Both are quotes. In speech, the 고 하 in the middle of 다고 해요 wears away and leaves 대요.

Something similar happens before a noun, where 다고 하는 소문, a rumour that says, shrinks to 다는 소문.

다고 해요 becomes 대요

Everything before 고 stays as it was, so the work you did in the last lesson carries over. Only the join changes: 다고 해요 becomes 대요, and 라고 해요 becomes 래요.

Shortening a quoted statement

  • Verbs: ㄴ대요 or 는대요.간다고 해요 → 간대요먹는다고 해요 → 먹는대요
  • Adjectives, 있다 and 없다: 대요 on the stem.좋다고 해요 → 좋대요없다고 해요 → 없대요
  • Past: 았/었대요.갔다고 해요 → 갔대요
  • Future: ㄹ/을 거래요.갈 거라고 해요 → 갈 거래요
  • Nouns: 이래요, or 래요 after a vowel. The negative is 아니래요.학생이라고 해요 → 학생이래요친구라고 해요 → 친구래요아니라고 해요 → 아니래요

Pick a verb

가다가간대요

Pick a verb

바쁘다바쁘바쁘대요

대요 often isn't about one person's words at all. It's how you pass on anything you got from someone else: the weather forecast, a friend, a rumour. English says "apparently" or "I hear", and that's often the better translation.

  1. 내일 비가 온대요.

    They say it's going to rain tomorrow.

  2. 저 식당이 정말 맛있대요.

    Apparently that restaurant's really good.

  3. 민수 씨가 어제 결혼했대요.

    I hear Minsu got married yesterday.

  4. 지수 씨가 회사를 그만둘 거래요.

    Apparently Jisu's going to quit her job.

  5. 저분이 새 선생님이래요.

    I hear that's the new teacher.

  6. 오늘은 회의가 없대요.

    Apparently there's no meeting today.

As a question, it asks what the other person heard. 뭐래요? is "what did they say?", and it's worth learning as a chunk.

  1. 민수 씨가 뭐래요?

    What did Minsu say?

  2. 지수 씨는 언제 온대요?

    When did Jisu say she's coming?

  3. 그 영화 재미있대요?

    Is that film supposed to be good?

※ With friends, drop 요: 간대, 좋대, 뭐래? The whole family below works the same way.

래요, 재요 and 냬요

Commands, suggestions and questions shrink the same way, and each one keeps a trace of its original ending: 라 gives 래, 자 gives 재, and 냐 gives 냬. 냬요 is much less common than 대요 and 래요, and many people keep the long form, 냐고 해요.

The other three

  • Command: (으)라고 해요 → (으)래요.가라고 해요 → 가래요먹으라고 해요 → 먹으래요가지 말라고 해요 → 가지 말래요
  • Suggestion: 자고 해요 → 재요.가자고 해요 → 가재요먹자고 해요 → 먹재요
  • Question: 냐고 해요 → 냬요.가냐고 해요 → 가냬요좋냐고 해요 → 좋냬요

Pick a verb

가다가가래요

  1. 의사 선생님이 좀 쉬래요.

    The doctor says I should rest.

  2. 어머니가 빨리 오래요.

    Mum says to come quickly.

  3. 지수 씨가 걱정하지 말래요.

    Jisu says not to worry.

  4. 민수 씨가 같이 먹재요.

    Minsu wants us to eat together.

  5. 친구가 내일 만나재요.

    My friend wants to meet tomorrow.

  6. 선생님이 왜 늦었냬요.

    The teacher's asking why you're late.

Past tense goes on the end, and it's a different sentence. 갔대요 says someone went, and I hear so. 간댔어요 comes from 간다고 했어요: someone said they would go, and you can't assume they did.

  1. 민수 씨가 부산에 갔대요.

    I hear Minsu went to Busan.

  2. 민수 씨가 부산에 간댔어요.

    Minsu said he'd go to Busan.

주다 in a quote: 달라고

Say someone asks for water. 물 주세요 looks as if it should become 물을 주라고 했어요, and it doesn't. When the person speaking wants the thing for themselves, 주다 turns into 달라고.

주라고 is still a word, but it means giving to somebody else. So the question to ask is who ends up with the thing. The same split runs through 아/어 주다, when someone asks for a favour.

달라고 or 주라고

  • For the person asking: 달라고.물 주세요 → 물을 달라고 했어요도와주세요 → 도와 달라고 했어요
  • For someone else: 주라고.민수한테 주세요 → 민수한테 주라고 했어요민수를 도와주세요 → 민수를 도와주라고 했어요
  • Shortened: 달래요 and 주래요.물을 달래요민수한테 주래요

Pick a verb

돕다도와요도와 달라고

  1. 친구가 물을 달라고 했어요.

    My friend asked for some water.

  2. 민수 씨가 저한테 도와 달라고 했어요.

    Minsu asked me to help him.

  3. 동생이 문을 열어 달라고 했어요.

    My brother asked me to open the door.

  4. 어머니가 이걸 지수 씨한테 주라고 하셨어요.

    My mother told me to give this to Jisu.

  5. 선생님이 친구를 도와주라고 하셨어요.

    The teacher told me to help my friend.

※ 달라 is one of only two forms of the verb 달다 that are left. The other is 다오, which you'll mostly see in old stories. Don't try to conjugate it any further: 달아요 means "it's sweet", and 달라요 means "it's different".

Before a noun: 다는

A quote can also describe a noun. Take 다고 하는 소문, a rumour that says this, and it shortens to 다는 소문. The nouns this suits are ones with content you could write out: a rumour, the news, a text, a fact, a thought.

Shortening before a noun

  • Statement: 다고 하는 → 다는.온다고 하는 소식 → 온다는 소식먹는다고 하는 말 → 먹는다는 말
  • Noun: (이)라고 하는 → (이)라는.학생이라고 하는 사실 → 학생이라는 사실
  • Question: 냐고 하는 → 냐는.가냐고 하는 질문 → 가냐는 질문
  • Command: (으)라고 하는 → (으)라는.오라고 하는 연락 → 오라는 연락
  • Suggestion: 자고 하는 → 자는.가자고 하는 말 → 가자는 말

  1. 내일 눈이 온다는 뉴스를 봤어요.

    I saw on the news that it's going to snow tomorrow.

  2. 민수 씨가 결혼한다는 소문을 들었어요.

    I heard a rumour that Minsu's getting married.

  3. 오늘 회의가 없다는 문자를 받았어요.

    I got a text saying there's no meeting today.

  4. 지수 씨가 학생이라는 사실을 몰랐어요.

    I didn't know that Jisu was a student.

  5. 언제 오냐는 전화를 받았어요.

    I got a call asking when I was coming.

  6. 일찍 오라는 말을 못 들었어요.

    Nobody told me to come early.

  7. 같이 가자는 연락이 왔어요.

    I got a message suggesting we go together.

Why not the 는 modifier from ~는 것? 책을 읽는 사람 describes a person by what they do. 다는 says what's in a rumour or a text, and that's why those nouns want it.

(이)라는 and (이)란

After a noun, (이)라는 usually means "called". It's how you bring up something the listener may not know, and it often shrinks to (이)란: 란 after a vowel, 이란 after a consonant.

  1. 김민수라는 사람을 아세요?

    Do you know someone called Kim Minsu?

  2. '기생충'이라는 영화를 봤어요.

    I saw a film called Parasite.

  3. 김민수란 사람을 아세요?

    Do you know someone called Kim Minsu?

  4. '기생충'이란 영화를 봤어요.

    I saw a film called Parasite.

(이)란 has a second job, and it's a formal one. It picks out a word as the topic, much like (이)라고 하는 것은, "the thing we call X", to define something or to ask what it really is. You'll meet this in essays and speeches.

  1. 행복이란 뭘까요?

    What is this thing called happiness?

  2. 친구란 힘들 때 옆에 있어 주는 사람이에요.

    What we call a friend is someone who stays with you when things are hard.

Which one fits?

Two of these sound alike and mean very different things: 갈래요 is what you want to do, and 가래요 is what you were told to do.

  1. 엄마가 집에 ___.

    Mum says to come home.

  2. 친구가 저한테 책을 ___ 했어요.

    My friend asked me to lend him a book.

  3. 내일 비가 ___.

    Apparently it's going to rain tomorrow.

  4. 민수 씨가 ___ 소문을 들었어요.

    I heard a rumour that Minsu's moving.

Listen and type

1 / 3

Play it as often as you like.

In a conversation

A

들었어요? 민수 씨가 회사를 그만둔대요.

Heard? Minsu company quits, I hear.

B

정말요? 왜 그만둔대요?

Really? Why quits, do they say?

A

미국으로 유학을 간대요.

To America study abroad goes, I hear.

B

저는 지난주에 결혼한다는 소문을 들었는데요.

I last week is marrying, that rumour heard, though.

A

그건 잘 모르겠어요. 어쨌든 지수 씨가 아무한테도 말하지 말래요.

That well don't know. Anyway Jisu to anybody say not told.

Common mistakes

  1. 내일 비가 온데요.

    내일 비가 온대요.

    대요 is 다고 해요. Koreans mix up the spelling in texts too, but 데요 with ㅔ belongs to 는데요, which reports nothing. On 오다 that's 오는데요, not 온데요.

  2. 민수 씨가 물을 주라고 했어요.

    민수 씨가 물을 달라고 했어요.

    If Minsu wants the water himself, it's 달라고. 주라고 tells you to give it to someone else.

  3. 민수 씨가 결혼하는 소문을 들었어요.

    민수 씨가 결혼한다는 소문을 들었어요.

    What a rumour says takes 다는, not the plain 는 modifier.

Check yourself

Quick check

1 / 6

내일 비가 ___. (오다, shortened) Apparently it's going to rain tomorrow.

온다고 해요, shortened.

Summary

The long form and its short forms

  • Statement: 다고 해요 → 대요. Before a noun, 다는.간대요, 먹는대요, 좋대요, 갔대요, 온다는 소식
  • Noun: (이)라고 해요 → (이)래요. Before a noun, (이)라는 or (이)란.학생이래요, 친구래요, 민수란 사람
  • Command: (으)라고 해요 → (으)래요. Before a noun, (으)라는.가래요, 먹으래요, 오라는 말
  • Suggestion: 자고 해요 → 재요. Before a noun, 자는.가재요, 먹재요, 가자는 말
  • Question: 냐고 해요 → 냬요. Before a noun, 냐는.가냬요, 오냐는 전화
  • 주세요, for the asker: 달라고.물을 달라고 했어요, 도와 달라고 했어요

Now you can say

  1. 오늘은 회의가 없대요.

    Apparently there's no meeting today.

  2. 민수 씨가 뭐래요?

    What did Minsu say?

  3. 민수 씨가 결혼한다는 소문을 들었어요.

    I heard a rumour that Minsu's getting married.

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