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Lesson 53: Quoting Different Endings: ~자고, ~(으/느)냐고

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Vocabulary
Introduction

I said “Lets…”: ~자고
Quoting Questions: ~(느)냐고 (Verbs)
Quoting Questions: ~(으)냐고 (Adjectives)
Quoting Questions with 이다
Direct Quotes

 

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:
냉동실 = freezer

Examples:
냉동실을 닫아 주세요 = Please close the freezer
냉동실에서 왜 열이 나와요? = Why is there heat coming out of the freezer?
얼음을 냉동실에 넣어 주세요 = Please put the ice in the freezer
음식을 냉동실에 넣으면 잘 안 상해요 = If you put food in the freezer, it doesn’t go bad (easily)

반팔 = short-sleeve t-shirt

Notes: “반팔티셔츠” or “반팔티” are often used as well

Examples:
학교에서 반팔을 입으면 안 돼요
= You must not wear a short-sleeved t-shirt at school

오늘 날씨가 너무 추워서 반팔을 왜 입고 있느냐고 물어봤어요
= The weather today is very cold, so I asked why you are wearing a t-shirt

며느리 = daughter in law

Examples:

며느리랑 잘 어울려요? = Do you get along with your daughter in law?

며느리랑 딸을 그렇게 비교하면 안 돼요
= You shouldn’t compare your daughter-in-law and daughter like that

여자가 결혼을 하면 배우자의 가족의 며느리가 돼요
= When women get married, the woman becomes the daughter-in-law of the spouse’s family

사위 = son in law

Examples:
우리 사위가 삼성에서 일해요 = Our son-in-law works at Samsung
사위가 어디 갔느냐고 물어봤어요 = I asked where my son-in-law went
보통 사위들은 장모님의 사랑을 많이 받아요 = Son-in-laws usually get a lot of love from their mother-in-laws

턱받이 = bib

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “턱빠지”

Examples:
애기가 침을 흘려서 애기에게 턱받이를 해 주자
= Let’s put a bib on the baby because he is drooling

아기들은 음식을 먹을 때 음식을 잘 흘려서 꼭 턱받이를 해야 돼요
= When babies eat (food), the food spills easily so they should wear a bib

= spit, saliva

Common Usages:
침샘 = saliva gland
침을 뱉다 = to spit (out spit)
침을 흘리다 = for spit to come out of one’s mouth (to drool)
침을 삼키다 = to swallow one’s saliva
침샘을 자극하다 = for one’s saliva gland to be stimulated (usually said when you see something delicious)

Examples:
반항아가 선생님에게 침을 뱉을 뻔 했어요
= The rebel almost spat (spit) at the teacher

애기가 침을 흘려서 애기에게 턱받이를 해 주자
= Let’s put a bib on the baby because he is drooling

학생에게 학교 안에서 침을 왜 뱉었느냐고 물어봤어요
= I asked the student why he spat inside the school

= other people, stranger

Common Usages:
남의 말 = what other people say
남의 일 = other people’s business
남의 눈 = other people’s view/eyes
남모르게 = for something to be unknown to other people

남보다 못하다 = to treat somebody worse than a stranger. This is kind of like an idiom that is used when talking about somebody who should treat you well – like a family member or close friend – but is treating you terribly, like a stranger. For example:

가끔은 가족이 남보다 못할 때도 있어요 = Sometimes my family treats me worse than a stranger

Other Examples:
남의 일에 신경을 안 쓰는 게 좋아요
= It is good to not care about other people’s business

그 친구는 남의 말만 믿고 저를 무시했어요
= That friend believed what other people said (about me), and ignored me

남에게 더 잘하고 오히려 친한 사람들에게 잘 못하는 사람들이 있어요
= There are folks who treat strangers better, and, instead, treat those they are close with poorly

신사 = gentleman

Notes: Although you are more likely to see the words “남자” and “여자” on the doors of restrooms in Korea, sometimes you will see “신사” and “숙녀” instead – often followed by “용” (用) to indicate who is use which particular room.

Common Usages:
신사적이다 = gentlemanlike
신사 숙녀 여러분 = ladies and gentleman

Examples:
이 신사가 누구냐고 물어봤습니다 = I asked who this gentlemen is/was
진정한 신사라면 언제나 상대방을 배려하고 소중히 대해야 돼요 = If you are a true gentleman, you must always treat others with respect

숙녀 = lady

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “숭녀”

Notes: Although you are more likely to see the words “남자” and “여자” on the doors of restrooms in Korea, sometimes you will see “신사” and “숙녀” instead – often followed by “용” (用) to indicate who is use which particular room.

Common Usages:
요조숙녀 = an elegant lady
신사 숙녀 여러분 = ladies and gentleman

Examples:
신사 숙녀 여러분, 곧 행사가 시작될 예정이니 자리에 앉아 주세요
= Ladies and gentleman, the event (is scheduled to) will start soon, so please take your seats

사촌 동생을 오랜만에 보니 어린이에서 벌써 숙녀가 되어 있었어요
= Seeing my cousin after such a long time, the child has already become a lady

지진 = earthquake

Common Usages:
지진파 = a seismic wave
지진 피해자 = earthquake victim
지진이 나다 = for an earthquake to happen/come up
지진으로 인한 피해 = damage due to an earthquake

Examples:
지진이 어떻게 생기느냐고 물어봤다 = I asked how earthquakes happen/occur

지진이 생긴 후에 네팔 전국은 비상 사태였어요
= After the earthquake, the whole country of Nepal was in a state of emergency

정부는 지진 가능성 때문에 적색 경보를 내렸어요
= The government issued a red alert because of the possibility of an earthquake

= heat

Common Usages:
열역학 = thermodynamics

Examples:
냉동실에서 왜 열이 나와요? = Why is there heat coming out of the freezer?

저의 남편은 몸에 열이 많아서 차가운 물을 많이 마셔요
= My husband’s body is always hot, so he drinks a lot of cold water

곳곳 = here and there, everywhere

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “곧꼳”

Examples:
우리가 서울에 가면 서울 곳곳을 구경하자고 했어요
= When we go to Seoul, I said “let’s sightsee everywhere in Seoul”

저는 맛있는 음식을 찾아서 방방곳곳을 돌아다니는 게 취미에요
= My hobby is looking all kinds of places for good food

한국에서는 전철을 타면 편리하게 서울 도심 곳곳을 갈 수 있어요
= You can go everywhere in Seoul conveniently if you ride the subway

앞날 = future

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “암날”

Common Usages:
앞날을 내다보다 = to look into the future

Examples:
그 사람이 나한테 앞날에 뭐 하고 싶으냐고 물어봤어
= That person asked me what I want to do in the future

앞날은 아무도 모르기 때문에 지금 이 순간에 최선을 다해야 돼요
= Nobody knows the future, so you should do your best in this time, the present (moment)

Verbs:
흘리다 = for a liquid to leak out from somewhere

Common Usages:
침을 흘리다 = to be drooling
피를 흘리다 = to be bleeding
땀을 흘리다 = to be sweating
눈물을 흘리다 = to be crying

Examples:

애기가 침을 흘려서 애기에게 턱받이를 해 주자
= Let’s put a bib on the baby because he is drooling

애기가 땀을 많이 흘려서 물을 마시게 했어요
= I made the baby drink water people he was sweating a lot

아플 때 식은땀을 흘리면 뜨거운 샤워를 하는 것 대신에 차가운 샤워를 해야 돼요
= When you are sick, if you have “cold sweats,” instead of having a hot shower, you should have a cold shower

뱉다 = to spit out

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “밷따”

Common Usages:
침을 뱉다 = to spit
가래를 뱉다 = to spit out phlegm

Examples:
실내에서 침을 뱉지 마세요! = Don’t spit inside!
맛이 없으면 먹지 말고 그냥 뱉어 = If it’s not delicious, don’t eat it and just spit it out
반항아가 선생님에게 침을 뱉을 뻔 했어요 = The rebel almost spat (spit) at the teacher
학생에게 학교 안에서 침을 왜 뱉었느냐고 물어봤어요 = I asked the student why he spat inside the school

대하다 = to treat

Common Usages:
함부로 대하다 = to treat somebody poorly

Examples:
사람을 대할 때 편견 없이 대하는 것은 매우 중요해요
= When you are dealing with/treating other people, it is important to treat them without bias

아빠에게 엄마를 왜 함부로 대하고 있느냐고 물어봤어요
= I asked dad why he is treating mom disrespectfully

선생님들이 자기 자녀들을 대하는 것처럼 학생들을 대해요
= Teachers treat students like they treat their own children

진정한 신사라면 언제나 상대방을 배려하고 소중히 대해야 돼요
= If you are a true gentleman, you must always treat others with respect

불평하다 = to complain

The noun form of this word (“불평”) translates to “a complaint.”

Common Usages:
불평거리 = a complaint

Examples:

사람들이 여기 맛이 없다고 불평해서 다른 식당에 가자
= People complain that (the food in) this place isn’t delicious, so let’s go to another restaurant

학생들이 자기의 점수가 너무 낮다고 불평하지 않았으면 좋겠어요
= I wish students didn’t complain that their score was too low

그 결정에 항의하고 싶은 사람들은 모여서 정부에게 불평했다
= The people who wanted to protest that decision all met and complained to the government

몇몇 아이들은 불평할 수도 있다. 선물이 많지 않다, 음식이 맛이 없다 말 할 수도 있다. 하지만 나는 안다. 함께 할 수 있는 가족과 친구가 있다는 사실로 너무 행복한 것이라는 걸 안다.
= Some kids could complain. There aren’t many presents; you could also say that the food isn’t delicious. But, I knew. I knew the fact that I am very happy with my friends and family.

조르다 = to pester

Examples:
우리 아들은 계속 용돈을 달라고 졸라요
= Our son keeps pestering for pocket money

우리 아들은 나한테 자꾸 부산에 가자고 졸랐어
= My son kept pestering me and said “let’s go to Busan”

슬기는 가지고 싶은 반지가 있어서 남자친구를 볼 때마다 사달라고 졸랐어요
= Seulgi has a ring that she wants, so whenever she sees her boyfriend, she asks (pesters) him to buy it

파괴하다 = to destroy

The noun form of this word (“파괴”) translates to “destruction.”

Common Usages:
가정파괴범 = home-wrecker
환경을 파괴하다 = to destroy the environment
동심을 파괴하다 = to ruin the innocence of one’s childhood

Examples:
우리가 계속 이렇게 환경을 파괴하면 밝은 앞날이 없을 거예요
= If we keep destroying the environment like this, there will not be a bright future

삼촌이 저에게 산타클로스가 없다고 말해서 제 동심을 파괴했어요
= My uncle told me that Santa Claus doesn’t exists and ruined my childhood innocence

Adjectives:
편안하다 = to be comfortable, to be peaceful

Notes: 편안하다 often describes one’s mind being at ease or an atmosphere being peaceful. It usually isn’t used to describe that an object (like a sofa) is comfortable. To describe than an object is comfortable, you can use the word 편하다.

Common Usages:
마음이 편안하다 = for one’s mind to be at ease

Examples:
아빠에게 지금 편안하냐고 물어봤어
= I asked my dad if he is/was comfortable/relaxed

모든 일이 이제 잘 풀리니 저의 마음이 드디어 편안해요
= Now that all of the work is finished, my mind is at ease

여자 친구랑 해돋이를 보러 갔더니 마음이 아주 편안해졌어요
= I went to see the sunrise with my girlfriend, and now my mind is really at ease

쾌적하다 = to be pleasant, to be nice

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “쾌저카다”

Common Usages:
온도가 쾌적하다 = for a temperature to be pleasant
분위기가 쾌적하다 = for a mood/atmosphere to be pleasant

Examples:
공기청정기를 사용하면 집안이 더 쾌적해져요
= When you use an air purifier, the inside of the house gets more pleasant

이곳은 다른 곳에 비해 공기가 맑고 깨끗해서 더 쾌적하게 느껴져요
= Compared to other places, the air is clearer and cleaner, so this place feels nicer

Adverbs and Other Words:
함부로 = disrespectfully/carelessly

Common Usages:
함부로 대우하다 = to treat badly

Examples:
함부로 엄마 지갑에서 돈을 꺼내서 어제 많이 혼났어요
= I took money out of Mom’s purse without permission, so I really got scolded yesterday

아빠에게 엄마를 왜 함부로 대하고 있느냐고 물어봤어요
= I asked dad why he is treating mom disrespectfully

휴가를 쓸 때 말을 하지 않고 함부로 쓰면 모든 사람들이 힘들어요
= When vacation time is used, if used thoughtlessly without announcing it, it’s hard on everyone

우연히 = by chance

Common Usages:
우연히 만나다 = to meet by chance

Examples:
길을 가다가 우연히 본 남자가 수상해서 경찰에 신고했어요
= While walking down the street, a man I happened to see was suspicious, so I reported him to the police

우리가 원래 안 만나기로 했는데 길에서 우연히 만나게 되었어요
= We had originally decided not to meet, but ran into each other by chance on the street

생각해보면 내가 잡지를 읽기 시작한 것 고등학교 때부터였다. 친구가 가져온 잡지를 우연히 읽으면서 잡지에 관심을 가지기 시작했다. 그때부터 나는 매월 새로운 잡지가 나올 때마다 사서 읽었다. 그 습관이 지금까지 이어지고 있다.
= If I think about it, me starting to read magazines was from (started in) High School. By chance, while reading a magazine that my friend brought, I started to get an interest in magazines. From that time, every month, when a new magazine came out, I bought it and then read it. That habit/custom continues to this day

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Introduction

In this lesson, you will add to your knowledge of what you learned in the previous lesson by learning more about making quoted sentences. In this lesson, we will look at how to quote sentences of suggestion (~자고) and sentences of question ((~으/느)냐고/). In addition, you will learn how to form direct quotes. Let’s get started.

 

I said “Lets…”: ~자고

In Lesson 44, you learned how to add ~자 to the stems of verbs to make a suggestion. For example:

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

애기가 침을 흘려서 애기에게 턱받이를 해 주자
= Let’s put a bib on the baby because he is drooling

사람들이 여기 맛이 없다고 불평해서 다른 식당에 가자
= People complain that (the food in) this place isn’t delicious, so let’s go to another restaurant

By attaching ~고 to ~자, you can quote these types of sentences. For example:

아빠가 밥을 먹자고 했어
= Dad said “Let’s eat”

여자 친구가 공원에 가자고 했어
= My girlfriend said “let’s go to the park”

선생님이 수업 시간 동안 열심히 공부하자고 했어요
= The teacher said “let’s study hard during class time”

우리가 서울에 가면 서울 곳곳을 구경하자고 했어요
= When we go to Seoul, I said “let’s sight-see everywhere in Seoul”

우리 아들은 나한테 자꾸 부산에 가자고 졸랐어
= My son kept pestering me and said “let’s go to Busan”

여자친구가 산책하자고 했지만 저는 너무 피곤해서 안 갔어요
= My girlfriend said “let’s go for a walk,” but I was too tired, so I didn’t go

 

Quoting Questions: ~()냐고 (Verbs)

When quoting a clause/sentence that is a question, a different quoting addition should be used. For example, if you want to say:

“I asked him what he likes”

You cannot use the regular quoting addition here. For example, this is not correct:

그가 무엇을 좋아한다고 물어봤어요

When a quoted clause/sentence ends with a verb, the addition of ~느냐고 should be used to indicate that the quote is a question. For example, if we were to correct the example from before:

그가 무엇을 좋아하느냐고 물어봤어요 = I asked him what he likes (another translation could be:)
그가 무엇을 좋아하느냐고 물어봤어요 = I asked him “what do you like?”

It is also possible to quote a question that was asking about the past or future. For example:

우리 아빠는 나에게 어디 가느냐고 물어봤어 = My dad asked me where I am going
우리 아빠는 나에게 어디 갔느냐고 물어봤어 = My dad asked me where I went
우리 아빠는 나에게 어디 가겠느냐고 물어봤어 = My dad asked me where I will go

Of course, it is also possible to change the tense of 물어보다 (or 묻다) to indicate that you will ask in the past, present or future. For example:

나는 여자 친구에게 뭐 먹었느냐고 물어봤어 = I asked my girlfriend what she ate
나는 여자 친구에게 뭐 먹었느냐고 물어보고 있어 = I am asking my girlfriend what she ate
나는 여자 친구에게 뭐 먹었느냐고 물어볼 거야 = I will ask my girlfriend what she ate

Below are many more examples:

지진이 어떻게 생기느냐고 물어봤다 = I asked how earthquakes happen/occur
이 반팔을 입어야 되느냐고 물어봤어요 = I asked if I have to wear this t-shirt
사위가 어디 갔느냐고 물어봤어요 = I asked where my son-in-law went

저는 부장님에게 우리가 그렇게 해야 하느냐고 물어봤어요
= I asked our boss if we had to do it like that

냉동실에서 왜 열이 나오느냐고 물어봤어요
= I asked why there is heat coming out of the freezer

학생에게 학교 안에서 침을 왜 뱉었느냐고 물어봤어요
= I asked the student why he spat inside the school

우리가 남들을 왜 잘 대해야 하느냐고 물어봤어요
= I asked why we need to treat others/strangers well

All of the examples above show ~느냐고 attached to the final verb in the quoted portion of the sentence – sometimes following the past tense ~았/었, and sometimes following the future tense ~겠. Korean dictionaries indicate that ~느냐고 is the correct addition when quoting a question that ends in a verb. That being said, Korean people will be more inclined to say that ~냐고 (without ~느) looks and sounds more natural (well, they sound quite similar). For example, all of the sentences above could also be written or said as:

지진이 어떻게 생기냐고 물어봤다
저는 부장님에게 우리가 그렇게 해야 하냐고 물어봤어요
냉동실에서 왜 열이 나오냐고 물어봤어요
이 반팔을 입어야 되냐고 물어봤어요
사위가 어디 갔냐고 물어봤어요
학생에게 학교 안에서 침을 왜 뱉었냐고 물어봤어요
우리가 남들을 왜 잘 대해야 하냐고 물어봤어요

I asked a Korean grammar teacher about this. She said that both would be correct, even though I showed her that the correct usage for a verb is ~느냐고. I asked her if a student uses ~냐고 (without ~느) on her Korean language exam, would she mark it as incorrect. She said “No, because that’s the way we use it all the time.”

I’m not sure what to make of this, and it is difficult for me to suggest which one you should use. Personally, I suggest that you use the simple ~냐고 which is the form that is more commonly said by Korean speakers. ~냐고 is also the form that I have always used whenever I quote a question. However, you should keep in the back of your mind that the official usage is ~느냐고.

Okay, let’s move on to adjectives.

 

 

Quoting Questions: ~()냐고 (Adjectives)

When a quotation ends with an adjective, the addition of ~(으)냐고 should be used to indicate that it is a quoted question. ~으냐고 is added to adjectives ending in a consonant (except ㄹ) and ~냐고 is added to adjectives ending in a vowel (or if the final consonant is ㄹ). For example:

저는 친구에게 그 여자가 예쁘냐고 물어봤어요 = I asked my friend if that girl was pretty
아빠에게 지금 편안하냐고 물어봤어 = I asked my dad if he is/was comfortable/relaxed
너의 며느리가 아름다우냐고 물어보고 싶어 = I want to ask if your daughter-in-law is beautiful
냉동실이 왜 이렇게 추우냐고 물어봤어 = I asked why the freezer is/was so cold
이런 반팔이 집에 많으냐고 물어봤어 = I asked if there were many of these types of t-shirts at home

As with verbs, the usage that you will hear in everyday speech/writing and the official usage is sometimes different. In speech, Korean people often eliminate the “으” that should be included if the adjective ends in a consonant. For example:

  1. 이런 반팔이 집에 많으냐고 물어봤어
  2. 이런 반팔이 집에 많냐고 물어봤어

Officially a) is the correct form, but you will often see and hear b) used. Most Korean people wouldn’t be able to tell you which one is correct – or they would assume that both are correct.

싶다 was first introduced in Lesson 17 but was also discussed in the previous lesson. 싶다 is also an adjective and therefore the above rules apply here as well. For example:

그는 뭐 먹고 싶으냐고 물어봤어 = He asked what do you want to eat
그 사람이 나한테 앞날에 뭐 하고 싶으냐고 물어봤어 = That person asked me what I want to do in the future

있다 and 없다 are very confusing in this usage. As you know, depending on the usage of 있다 and 없다, they can be adjectives or verbs. Typically, adjective conjugations are applied when they are adjectives, and verb conjugations are applied when they are verbs (makes sense). However, regardless of if they are being used as a verb or adjective, the verb-addition of ~느냐고 should be attached when quoting a question with 있다 or 없다. You can treat this as an irregular to this rule. I tried to get clarification from Korean grammar teachers as to why this happens, and they all told me “it’s just an irregular.”

Just like with other verbs, 있느냐 and 없느냐 are often spoken/written as 있냐 and 없냐 and would be seen as correct by Korean people.

Here are some examples:

저는 그에게 수영할 수 있느냐고 물어봤어요
= I asked him if he could swim

아빠에게 엄마를 왜 함부로 대하고 있느냐고 물어봤어요
= I asked dad why he is treating mom disrespectfully

동생에게 환경을 왜 파괴하고 있느냐고 물어봤어요
= I asked my brother why he is/was destroying the environment

그 숙녀가 남의 눈을 피하고 싶어서 우연히 호텔을 찾아서 혹시 잠깐 들어갈 수 있느냐고 물어봤어요
= The lady wanted to avoid other people(‘s eyes), so she fatefully found a hotel and asked if she could go inside

 

 

 

Quoting Questions with 이다

As with adjectives, when a quotation ends with 이다, the addition of ~(으)냐고 is added to 이다. Because the stem of 이다 is always “이” (i.e. always ends in a vowel) the addition of “~냐고 is always added and we never need to worry about the “~(으). For example

나는 그 사람이 의사이냐고 물어봤어 = I asked if that person is a doctor

As usual, if the noun that 이다 is attached to ends in a vowel (as above), the 이 can be eliminated:

나는 그 사람이 의사냐고 물어봤어 = I asked if that person is a doctor

If the noun ends in a consonant, 이 must be included. For example:

나는 그 사람이 우리 선생님이냐고 물어봤어 = I asked if that person is our teacher
You might want to read my discussion about why is included in these cases. I discussed this in the previous Lesson.

In Lessons 21 and 22 you learned about various question words. In those lessons, you learned how 이다 can be used with 누구, 뭐, 어디 and 언제. For example:

방학은 언제야? = When is vacation?
그곳이 어디야? = Where is that place?
이것이 뭐야? = What is this?
그 사람은 누구야? = Who is that person?

~냐고 can also be attached to these words when used with 이다. For example:

방학이 언제(이)냐고 물어봤어 = I asked when vacation is
그곳이 어디(이)냐고 물어봤어 = I asked where that place is
그것이 뭐(이)냐고 물어봤어 = I asked what that thing is
그 사람이 누구(이)냐고 물어봤어 = I asked who that person is

Below are more examples of ~냐고 being used with 이다:

이 신사가 누구냐고 물어봤습니다
= I asked who this gentlemen is/was

저는 제 친구에게 한국으로 이사하고 싶은 이유가 뭐냐고 물어봤어요
= I asked my friend ‘what is the reason you want to move to Korea?’

제가 점원에게 그 핸드폰이 좋은 핸드폰이냐고 물어봤지만 그는 모른다고 했어요
= I asked the salesperson if that cellphone is good, but he said that he didn’t know

저 학교를 다니는 학생들이 똑똑한 학생들이냐고 물어봤어요
= He asked if the students who attend that school are smart students

Also notice that by adding ~(이)냐고 to 이다, you can ask questions in sentences that use the ~ㄹ 것이다 future tense conjugation. For example:

나는 그들에게 결혼식에 갈 거냐고 물어봤어 = I asked if they were going to go to the wedding
나는 그에게 어디 갈 거냐고 물어봤어 = I asked where he is going to go
저는 그에게 앞날에 뭐 할 거냐고 물어보고 싶어요 = I want to ask what he will do in the future
그는 저한테 여자친구랑 언제 결혼할 거냐고 물어봤어요 = He asked me when I will marry my girlfriend

 

 

Direct Quotes

Direct quotes are fairly easy now that you have the knowledge that was presented in the past two lessons. If you want to say something as a direct quote, the only difference is that the quoted sentence is conjugated the way it was originally said. For example, if I wanted to quote:

제가 하고 싶지 않습니다 = I don’t want to do it

An indirect quote would be:
그는 하고 싶지 않다고 했다 = He said he doesn’t want to do it

But a direct quote would be:
그는 “제가 하고 싶지 않습니다” 라고 했어요 = He said “I don’t want to do it”

If you were to write the sentence above, you would need to include the use of quotations, but in speech (obviously), that is not necessary. Other example:

Indirect quote: 그는 너를 사랑한다고 했어 = He said I love you
Direct quote: 그는 “너를 사랑해”라고 했어 = He said “I love you”

To me this type of sentence always made sense to me. I always imagined that the directly quoted clause was acting as a noun, and therefore would require ~라고/이라고 being attached to it (usually ~라고 because most completed sentences end in a vowel).

That’s it for this lesson!

There are 1200 example sentences in Unit 3.
All entries are linked to an audio file. You can download all of these files in one package here.

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