Indirect Speech: Reporting What Was Said

Use ~다고 하다 to report a statement. Verbs take ~ㄴ다고/는다고 in the present (먹는다고, 간다고), adjectives take plain ~다고 (예쁘다고), and nouns take ~(이)라고 (학생이라고). Past tense uses ~았/었다고 for all. The contraction ~대(요) is very common in casual speech: 간대요 = '(they) say (someone) is going.'

Use ~냐고 하다 (often ~느냐고/~으냐고 in formal writing, but ~냐고 is standard in speech) to report a question. It works the same for verbs, adjectives, and nouns: 가냐고, 예쁘냐고, 학생이냐고. Past: ~았/었냐고. The contraction ~냬(요) reports a question casually: 언제 오냬요 = '(They) asked when (you)'re coming.'

Use ~자고 하다 to report a suggestion or proposal (the original sentence ended in ~자, 'let's'). Only verbs take this form: 가자고, 먹자고, 만나자고. The negative is ~지 말자고 하다 ('suggested we not...'). Contraction: ~재(요), as in 같이 가재요 = '(They) say let's go together.'

Use ~(으)라고 하다 to report a command or request. Verbs ending in a vowel take ~라고 (가라고), consonant-final take ~으라고 (읽으라고). For requests directed at the speaker ('do it for me'), use ~아/어 달라고 하다; for requests benefiting a third person, use ~아/어 주라고 하다. Contraction: ~래(요), e.g. 빨리 오래요 = '(They) tell me to come quickly.'

For a direct quote, wrap the exact words in quotation marks and attach ~라고 하다: "배고파"라고 했어요. To remember the four spoken contractions: statement ~대(요), question ~냬(요), suggestion ~재(요), command ~래(요). These are extremely frequent in everyday Korean and often carry a nuance of 'I heard that...' or relaying gossip.