Menu Close

Lesson 102: Quoted Abbreviations

Click here for a Workbook to go along with this lesson.
This Lesson is also available in Español

Jump to:

Vocabulary
Introduction

Conjugating ~ㄴ/는다고 하다 to ~한대
Abbreviating Quoted Sentences with 이다
Abbreviating a Quoted Imperative Sentence
Abbreviating ~자고 하다 and ~냐고 하다

 

Vocabulary

Click on the English word to see information and examples of that word in use. Use these sentences to give yourself a feel for how each word can be used, and maybe even to expose yourself to the grammar that you will be learning shortly.

A PDF file neatly presenting these words and extra information can be found here.

Nouns:
혼잡 = congestion

Notes: When waiting for a bus in Seoul, there is a display showing when the buses are coming, and a rough estimation of the passengers on board. If there are a lot of passengers on a bus that is about to arrive, it will display “혼잡.”

Common Usages:
교통혼잡 = traffic jam

Examples:
사람이 너무 많아서 서울에서는 교통혼잡이 심해요
= The traffic jams in Seoul are severe because there are too many people

교통혼잡 때문에 약 한 시간 정도 더 걸릴 것 같아요
= Because of the traffic jam, it will probably take about another hour

길이 너무 혼잡해서 다른길로 갈 거예요
= This road is too busy so we will take an another route

글씨 = handwriting

Common Usages:
글씨를 또박또박 쓰다 = to write clearly
글씨체 = handwriting style

Examples:
저의 친구들은 저의 글씨가 예쁘다고 해요
= My friends say that my handwriting is pretty

글씨를 너무 세게 써서 연필이 부러졌어요
= I wrote it so hard that the pencil broke

어느 순간부터 칠판에 글씨가 희미하게 보여서 안과에 갔어요
= I went to the eye doctor because, all of a sudden (from some moment), the words on the blackboard looked blurry

체격 = person’s physical build

Examples:
그 남자가 체격이 좋대요
= They say that man has a good build

그 사람의 체격은 농구 선수와 비슷해요
= His physical build is similar to that of a basketball player

앞줄 = front row

Examples:
눈이 안 좋아서 앞줄에 앉아야 된대요
= His eyes aren’t good so he says he needs to sit in the front row

앞줄에 앉아서 공연을 봐서 너무 좋았어요
= It was so good to see a concert in the front row

노인 = old man

Common Usages:
노인공경= respecting the elderly

Examples:
그 노인이 앞줄에 앉고 싶으시대요
= That old man says he wants to sit in the front row

그 노인은 항상 사람들에게 잔소리를 해요
= That old man always nags at people

연간 = annual

Common Usages:
연간회원권 = annual membership
연간 매출 = annual sales

Examples:
이 회사는 연간 10억을 벌어들여요
= This company makes one million dollars a year

우리 부장님이 연간 매출 목표를 달성했대요
= Our boss says that we met the goal of sales in a year

야시장 = night market

Examples:
여자 친구가 야시장에 가자고 했어
= My girlfriend said “let’s go to the night market”

야시장에서는 다양한 음식을 맛볼 수 있어요
= At the night market, you can taste a variety of foods

미역국 = seaweed soup

Examples:
아들은 미역국을 좋아한다고 해요
= Our son says that he likes seaweed soup

한국에서는 생일에 미역국을 먹어요
= Koreans eat seaweed soup on their birthday

결혼기념일 = wedding anniversary day

Examples:
그 커플이 오늘 결혼기념일이래요
That couple says it is their anniversary today

우리 부부는 결혼기념일마다 서로에게 선물을 주고 있어요
= On our wedding anniversary day, my spouse and I exchange gifts

Verbs:
삶다 = to boil in water

Common Usages:
감자를 삶다 = to boil potatoes
계란을 삶다 = to boil eggs
구워삶다 = to make someone to do things in a way you want by all means

Examples:
삶은 감자를 꺼내도 되냐고 물어봤어요
= She asked if it is okay to take out the boiled potato

물이 끓으면 계란을 삶을 준비해주세요
= When the water boils, please prepare to boil the eggs

붙잡다 = to hold onto, to detain

Examples:
남자친구를 헤어지지 말자고 붙잡았지만 결국 헤어졌어요
= I held onto my boyfriend not to break up with me but we eventually broke up

갑자기 남자 친구가 헤어지재서 여자가 붙잡을 거래요
= All of a sudden the boyfriend said “let’s break up,” so the girl says she will try to get him back

떠오르다 = to come into somebody’s head

Common Usages:
생각이 떠오르다 = for a thought to come to one’s mind
머릿속에 떠오르다 = for something to come to one’s mind
영감이 떠오르다 = for inspiration to come to one’s mind

Examples:
우리 아빠가 그 사진을 보면 엄마 생각이 머릿속에 떠오른대요
= Our dad says that when he looks at that picture, he thinks of mom

불현듯 과거의 나쁜 기억이 떠오르면 일부러 신나는 음악을 듣곤 했어요
= When bad memories of the past suddenly pop up, I used to deliberately listen to exciting/uplifting music

옛 기억을 떠오려 보려고 했지만 오래 전 일이라 가물가물 해서 기억나지 않았어요
= When trying to think of my old memories, it was so long ago that I couldn’t remember

사막을 생각하면 자연스럽게 낙타가 떠올라요
= If you think about deserts, camels naturally come to one’s mind

옛날 일을 떠올려 보려고 노력했지만 기억이 너무 희미해서 아무것도 생각이 나지 않았어요
= I tried thinking about a job/work/task from a long time ago, but my memory was very blurry so I couldn’t think of anything

조퇴하다 = to leave work early

Examples:
선생님이 오늘 조퇴하겠대요
= The teacher says he will leave early today

갑자기 몸이 좋지 않아서 회사에서 조퇴하고 집에 갔어요
= I didn’t feel well all of sudden so I left work early and went home

징수하다 = to collect money, fees

Common Usages:
원천징수 = withholding tax
세금을 징수하다 = to collect taxes

Examples:
정부가 그 세금을 내일부터 징수할 거래요
= The government says that it will collect that tax starting from tomorrow

원천징수영수증이란 번 돈에 대한 세금을 얼마나 냈는지를 증명해주는 서류이다
= A withholding tax receipt is a document that proves/shows how much tax one has paid on the money they earned

인상하다 = to raise a price

Common Usages:
가격을 인상하다 = to raise a price

Examples:
커피의 가격을 10% 인상했어요
= The price of coffee went up by 10%

지금 버는 돈이 많지 않아서 내일 회사에 도착하자마자 연봉 인상을 요구할 거예요
= The money I make isn’t a lot, so as soon as I arrive at the office, I am going to request/demand a raise in my salary

삭감하다 = to lower a payment

Common Usages:
월급을 삭감하다 = to cut down one’s salary
임금을 삭감하다 = to cut down one’s wages

Examples:
회사 매출이 줄어서 직원들의 월급을 삭감할 거래요
= The company’s sales are lower, so they say they will cut workers’ pay

달성하다 = to achieve a goal

Common Usages:
목적을 달성하다 = to achieve a goal
목표를 달성하다 = to achieve a goal

Examples:
다음 1년 안에 달성하고 싶은 목표가 뭐예요?
= What goal do you want to accomplish within the next year?

우리 부장님이 연간 매출 목표를 달성했대요
= Our boss says that we met the goal of sales in a year

Adjectives:
훌륭하다 = to be excellent

Examples:
저는 미래에 훌륭한 음악가가 되고 싶어요
= I want to be a great musician in the future

훌륭한 건축가가 되기 위해서는 끊임없이 설계도를 많이 그려 봐야 해요
= In order to become a good architect, you have to constantly try to draw a lot of blueprints

몇몇 훌륭한 화가들의 작품은 아직도 미완성으로 남아 있어요
= The works of some great artists are still left incomplete

Adverbs and Other Verbs:
예순 = sixty

Notes: When you turn 60 years old, it is very common for families to hold a big 60th birthday party. This event is called a 환갑잔치.

Examples:
그 노인이 예순 아홉 살이래요
= That old man says he is sixty nine years old

할아버지는 이미 예순을 넘으셨지만 아직도 건강하게 살고 계십니다

혹은 = or

Examples:
Harry Potter의 독자들은 보통 중학교 혹은 고등학생이에요
= Most readers of Harry Potter are middle or high school students

여자 친구는 반지 혹은 목걸이 사라고 했어
= My girlfriend says/said “buy a ring or necklace”

마리 = counter for animals

Notes: The first line of a famous nursery rhyme in Korea called “올챙이와 개구리” is “개울가에 올챙이 한 마리 꼬물꼬물 헤엄치다.”

Examples:
그 집에는 개 세 마리가 있어요
= There are three dogs at that house

우리 아빠가 쥐를 집에서 한 마리씩 쫓아냈어요
=Our dad chased the rats out of our house one by one

그 농장에는 염소 세 마리가 있어요
= There are three goats at/on that farm

우리 아들은 강아지 두 마리를 키우고 싶대요
= Our son says he wants to raise two puppies

For help memorizing these words, try using our mobile app.

 

 

Introduction

In this lesson, you will learn more ways to abbreviate Korean sentences. In the previous lesson, you learned common ways that Korean people shorten their sentences in messaging or when talking on the internet. In this lesson, you will learn how to abbreviate conjugations of quoted sentences. Let’s get started.

 

 

Conjugating ~ㄴ/는다고 하다 to ~ㄴ/는대

In Lesson 52, you started learning about quoted sentences, and how you can add ~ㄴ/는다고 to indicate that something is said, written or thought. The predicating verb is typically something like 말하다 (to speak), 생각하다 (to think) or some other verb that can indicate that words or thoughts were expressed.

For example, when quoted in the present tense:

아들은 미역국을 좋아한다고 해요 = Our son says that he likes seaweed soup

This abbreviation can only be used when you are relaying a quote that was said by another person. For example, it would be unnatural to say something like this:

우리가 가기 전에 나는 배고프대

The same thing can be done with adjectives in the present tense, but remember the different rules for quoting adjectives from Lesson 52 (and more generally for conjugating adjectives in general from Lesson 5). For example:

저의 친구들은 저의 글씨가 예쁘다고 해요 = My friends say that my handwriting is pretty

In both of those situations (with verbs and adjectives), ~다고 해(요) can be contracted to ~대(요). See how this abbreviation is done by examining the sentences below, which are adapted to reflect this new grammatical principle:

아들은 미역국을 좋아한대요 = Our son says that he likes seaweed soup
저의 친구들은 저의 글씨가 예쁘대요 = My friends say that my handwriting is pretty

The tense of the quoted clause is irrelevant. ~대(요) is a contraction of ~다고 해(요). This means that the part before ~다고 해(요) could be the stem of an adjective, ~ㄴ/는~, ~았/었~, or ~겠~ . In other words:

~하다고 해요 can contract to 하대요
~한다고 해요 can contract to 한대요
~했다고 해요 can contract to 했대요
~하겠다고 해요 can contract to 하겠대요

Below are more examples of the first two listed above, where the quote is referring to something in the present tense:

야시장에 가기 싫대요
= He says he doesn’t want to go to the night market

그 남자가 체격이 좋대요
= They say that man has a good build

그 노인이 앞줄에 앉고 싶으시대요
= That old man says he wants to sit in the front row

눈이 안 좋아서 앞줄에 앉아야 된대요
= His eyes aren’t good so he says he needs to sit in the front row

우리 애들은 강아지 두 마리를 키우고 싶대요
= Our son says he wants to raise two puppies

저의 선생님이 저의 한국어 실력이 아주 훌륭하대요
= My teacher says that my Korean skills are very good/excellent

우리 아빠가 그 사진을 보면 엄마 생각이 머릿속에 떠오른대요
= Our dad says that when he looks at that picture, he thinks of mom

Below are some examples where the quote is in the past tense:

감자를 아직 안 삶았대요
= He says that he hasn’t yet boiled the potatoes

우리 부장님이 연간 매출 목표를 달성했대요
= Our boss says that we met the goal of sales in a year

And here is an example of it being used in the future tense:

선생님이 오늘 조퇴하겠대요
= The teacher says he will leave early today

You can also attach grammatical principles to ~대~. For example, sometimes you want to specifically state that the actual act of speaking the quote happened in the past. In this case, you can attach ~었다 to it. For example:

애가 밥을 다 먹었댔어요

This allows you, then, to conjugate either the action, the act of speaking, both, or neither. For example:

야시장에 가기 싫대요 = He says that he doesn’t want to go to the night market
야시장에 가기 싫댔어요 = He said that he doesn’t want to go to the night market
야시장에 가기 싫었대요 = He says that he didn’t want to go to the night market
야시장에 가기 싫었댔어요 = He said that he didn’t want to go to the night market

That being said, I feel that all four examples are trying to convey the same information (both in English and Korean). In Korean, even if the speaker wants to indicate that the quote was spoken in the past, it is still common to use the present tense contraction ~대~ and not ~댔~. When using these contractions, you are relaying what somebody else has already said. Therefore, by default, the spoken portion of the sentence is already in the past. As a result, even if you use the present tense contraction ~대요, context can indicate that this quote was spoken in the past.

You might be looking at this and thinking “wait a minute, he showed us examples at the beginning of the lesson where the spoken portion of the sentence occurs in the present.” Look at those sentences again:

아들은 미역국을 좋아한대요 = Our son says that he likes seaweed soup

Maybe your son likes seaweed soup now, but when did he say that? In order for you to know that he said it (and to be conveying it as is the purpose of this sentence), you must have heard this in the past. The Korean sentences at the beginning of the lesson shown in the present tense could be interpreted (and translated) to the past tense. It doesn’t really matter.

아들은 미역국을 좋아한댔어요

These contractions (and the ones discussed below) are very common in speech, but you will almost never see them written, unless it is a direct quote of what somebody said. Note that because of the way these constructions are pronounced (specifically with verbs in the present tense), to an untrained ear they could be very easily mistaken for ~는데 (which you studied in Lessons 76 and 77). For example:

아들은 미역국을 안 먹는데
아들은 미역국을 안 먹는대

This contraction can be applied to 이다, but the rules are a little bit different. Let’s look at this next.

 

 

Abbreviating Quoted Sentences with 이다

This same type of contraction can be done to abbreviate quoted sentences ending in 이다. In Lesson 52, you learned how to quote with verbs, adjectives and 이다. You learned that when quoting a sentence that ends in 이다, ~(이)라고 can be added to the final noun. For example:

너무 어려운 문제라고 해요 = He says it is a difficult problem/question
그 사람은 선생님이라고 해요 = That person says he is a teacher

“~(이)라고 해(요)” can abbreviated to “(이)래(요). For example:

너무 어려운 문제래 = He says it is a difficult problem/question
그 사람은 선생님이래요 = That person says he is a teacher
그 노인이 예순 아홉 살이래요 = That old man says he is sixty years old
그 커플이 오늘 결혼기념일이래요 = That couple says it is their anniversary today

As we saw earlier ~대~ can change to ~댔~ to suggest the words were expressed in the past. ~래~ can change to ~랬~. For example:

너무 어려운 문제랬어 = He said it is a difficult problem/question
그 사람은 선생님이랬어요 = That person said he is a teacher

That being said, even if the speaker indicates that the quote occurred in the past tense, it is still common to use the present tense contraction ~(이)래(요). For example:

In Lesson 9, you learned how to create the indication of future tense by adding ~ㄹ/을 것이다 to a noun. For example:

저는 밥을 먹을 것이에요 = I will eat rice
저는 밥을 먹을 거예요 = I will eat rice

As the final conjugating word of these sentences is 이다, ~(이)래(요) can be used to abbreviate them when they are quoted. For example:

슬기가 내일 학교에 갈 것이에요 = Seulgi will go to school tomorrow, or
슬기가 내일 학교에 갈 거예요 = Seulgi will go to school tomorrow

슬기가 내일 학교에 갈 것이라고 했어요 = Seulgi said that she will go to school tomorrow, or
슬기가 내일 학교에 갈 거라고 했어요 = Seulgi said that she will go to school tomorrow

슬기가 내일 학교에 갈 것이래요 = Seulgi said that she is going to school tomorrow, or
슬기가 내일 학교에 갈 거래요 = Seulgi said that she is going to school tomorrow

Here are more examples:

그 가게가 물건 가격을 다 인상할 거래요
= That store says they will continue to raise the prices of goods

정부가 그 세금을 내일부터 징수할 거래요
= The government says that it will collect that tax starting from tomorrow

회사 매출이 줄어서 직원들의 월급을 삭감할 거래요
= The company’s sales are lower, so they say they will cut workers’ pay

Due to the similar structure with quoted sentences with 이다 (Lesson 52) and quoted imperative sentences (Lesson 54), the abbreviated forms of both look very similar. Let’s talk about this next.

Abbreviating a Quoted Imperative Sentence

In Lesson 54, you learned how add ~(으)라고 to quote a command. For example:

엄마가 빨리 오라고 했어요 = Mom says/said “come quick!”
엄마가 천천히 먹으라고 했어요 = Mom says/said “eat slowly”
여자 친구는 반지 혹은 목걸이 사라고 했어 = My girlfriend says/said “buy a ring or necklace”

Again, the final “했어요” in the sentences above are conjugated in the past tense. When abbreviating this, context allows it to often be used in the present tense. I talked about this already in the two previous sections.

These quoted commands can also be abbreviated. The manner in which it is done is very similar to how quoted sentences with 이다 are abbreviated. When abbreviating quoted imperative sentences, “~(으)라고 해요” can abbreviate to “~(으)래(요). The three sentences above can be abbreviated to:

엄마가 빨리 오래요 = Mom says/said “come quick!”
엄마가 천천히 먹으래요 = Mom says/said “eat slowly”
여자 친구는 반지 혹은 목걸이 사래 = My girlfriend says/said “buy a ring or necklace”

 

Abbreviating ~자고 하다 and ~냐고 하다

In Lesson 44, you learned how to add ~자 to a verb to suggest that an action be done together. For example:

밥을 먹자! = Let’s eat!
내일 공원에 가자! = Tomorrow, let’s go to the park!

In Lesson 53, you also learned that you can quote these types of sentences by attaching ~고 to ~자. For example:

아빠가 밥을 먹자고 했어 = Dad said “Let’s eat”
여자 친구가 야시장에 가자고 했어 = My girlfriend said “let’s go to the night market”
교통 혼잡 때문에 걸어가고 했어 = He says “says/says “because of the traffic congestion, let’s walk.”

“~자고 해(요)” can abbreviated to “~재(요). For example:

~자고 했어(요) can abbreviate to ~쟀어(요). When abbreviating this, context allows it to often be used in the present tense. For example:

아빠가 밥을 먹재요
= Dad says/said “Let’s eat”

여자 친구가 야시장에 가재
= My girlfriend says/said “let’s go to the night market”

교통 혼잡 때문에 걸어가재
= He says “says/says “because of the traffic congestion, let’s walk.”

갑자기 남자 친구가 헤어지재서 여자가 붙잡을 거래요
= All of a sudden the boyfriend said “let’s break up,” so the girl says she will try to get him back

In Lesson 53, you also learned that you can quote questions by using ~(느)냐고 (for a verb) and ~(으)냐고 (for an adjective). For example:

그 여자가 예쁘냐고 물어봤어요 = He asked “is the girl pretty.”
삶은 감자를 꺼내도 되냐고 물어봤어요 = She asked if it is okay to take out the boiled potato

In these cases, “냐고 물어보다/하다” can be contracted to “냬”. For example:

그는 여자가 예쁘냬 = He asked “Is the girl pretty?”
삶은 감자를 꺼내도 되냬 = She asked if it is okay to take out the boiled potato

This type of grammar often shows up on the TOPIK tests. A question like this is quite common:

Which of the following is incorrect?

(1)    엄마는 나한테 밥을 많이 먹지 말래
(2)    엄마는 나한테 밥을 먹재
(3)    엄마는 나한테 밥이 있냬
(4)    엄마는 밥을 빨리 먹었대 했어
(5)    엄마는 밥을 먹을 거래

The answer being number (4). 했어 shouldn’t be placed after “먹었대” because “먹었다” already includes this conjugation.

That’s it for this lesson!

Click here for a Workbook to go along with this lesson.

Okay, got it! Click here to go to the next lesson!