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Conjugating ~ㄴ/는다고 하다 to ~한대
Abbreviating Quoted Sentences with 이다
Abbreviating a Quoted Imperative Sentence
Abbreviating ~자고 하다 and ~냐고 하다
Vocabulary
Nouns:
혼잡 = congestion
글씨 = handwriting
체격 = person’s physical build
앞줄 = front row
노인 = old man
연간 = annual
야시장 = night market
미역국 = seaweed soup
결혼기념일 = wedding anniversary day
Verbs:
삶다 = to boil in water
붙잡다 = to hold onto, to detain
떠오르다 = to come into somebody’s head
조퇴하다 = to leave work early
징수하다 = to collect money, fees
인상하다 = to raise a price
삭감하다 = to lower a payment
달성하다 = to achieve a goal
Adjectives:
훌륭하다 = to be excellent
Adverbs and Other Verbs:
예순 = sixty
혹은 = or
마리 = counter for animals
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!