라고/다고 (rago/dago) is how you quote what someone said.
Marks quoted speech or thoughts.
Checked against the official learner dictionary from the National Institute of Korean Language
- Exact words in quote marks: "…"라고 rago.
- Reported speech: 는다고 neundago after verbs (간다고 gandago after a vowel), 다고 dago after adjectives, (이)라고 (i)rago after nouns.
Build it
By sentence type
Statement
간다고gandagosaid they were goingQuestion
가냐고ganyagoasked if they were goingSuggestion
가자고gajagosuggested goingCommand
가라고garagotold them to goWhen to use it
Exact words
Quote marks, then 라고 rago.
Reported speech
Retelling what someone said.
Names
What something is called.
Thoughts
With 생각하다 saenggakada, "to think".
Watch out
In reported speech, no 라 ra: just 다고 dago.
After a noun, use (이)라고 (i)rago.
Questions take 냐고 nyago.
In context
8 examples- 1
안녕이라고 말해요.
Annyeongirago malhaeyo.
Say 'Hello'.
- 2
바쁘다고 했어요.
Bappeudago haesseoyo.
He said he is busy.
- 3
선생님이 내일 시험이 있다고 하셨어요.
Seonsaengnimi naeil siheomi itdago hasyeosseoyo.
The teacher said there's a test tomorrow.
- 4
친구가 같이 저녁 먹자고 했어.
Chinguga gachi jeonyeok meokjago haesseo.
My friend suggested we have dinner together.
- 5
이름이 뭐냐고 물어봤어요.
Ireumi mwonyago mureobwasseoyo.
She asked me what my name was.
- 6
엄마가 일찍 들어오라고 했어.
Eommaga iljjik deureoorago haesseo.
Mom told me to come home early.
- 7
그 사람이 뭐라고 했어요?
Geu sarami mworago haesseoyo?
What did he say?
- 8
저는 그 영화가 재미있다고 생각해요.
Jeoneun geu yeonghwaga jaemiitdago saenggakaeyo.
I think that movie is good.
Practice
8 questions가다 + 다고 (statement)
The short forms you'll hear
In speech, 다고 해요 dago haeyo shrinks to 대요 daeyo, and (이)라고 해요 shrinks to (이)래요 (i)raeyo. They mean "they say" or "I heard":
- 민수가 내일 온대요. minsuga naeil ondaeyo "Minsu says he's coming tomorrow."
- 그분이 선생님이래요. geubuni seonsaengnimiraeyo "I hear she's a teacher."
You'll hear these all the time, so it's worth learning to spot them.
달라고 vs 주라고
When you report "give me", Korean has two forms. 달라고 dallago is when the speaker wants it for themselves. 주라고 jurago is when it should go to someone else:
- 친구가 물을 달라고 했어요. chinguga mureul dallago haesseoyo "My friend asked me for some water."
- 엄마가 동생한테 물을 주라고 했어요. eommaga dongsaenghante mureul jurago haesseoyo "Mom told me to give my little brother some water."
Mixing these up changes who gets the water, so it's one to get right.
Hanja in this lesson
Words from the examples that are written with Chinese characters. Tap a character to see its page.
Look it up in the dictionary
The entry for 이라고 in two trusted Korean dictionaries.
