-대요, -래요, -냬요, -재요: How Koreans Say “They Said” (and 대 vs 데)

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Korean indirect speech has four short forms, 대, 냬, 래 and 재, and they look so alike that many learners simply guess. There is no need to, because all four come from one small rule.

One rule makes all four short forms

To report a sentence, Korean first puts it into the plain style, the -다 style of books and diaries. A statement ends in -다, a question in -냐, a command in -(으)라 and a suggestion in -자. The command form is not the -아/어라 of a direct order, so 먹어라 is reported as 먹으라고, never 먹어라고. Then it adds 고 해요, “says”. In speech, 고 하 drops out and what is left fuses, so the ㅏ of the plain ending meets 해 and becomes ㅐ:

A statement that ends in a noun uses -(이)라 instead of -다, so 학생이라고 해요 becomes 학생이래요. That is why 래 has two meanings, which comes up again below. Drop the final 요 and you have the casual forms used with friends: 간대, 가냬, 가래, 가재.

The whole system in one table

What was said	Full report	Short form
가요.A verb	간다고 해요	간대요gandaeyo
먹어요.A verb with a final consonant	먹는다고 해요	먹는대요meongneundaeyo
추워요.An adjective	춥다고 해요	춥대요chupdaeyo
갔어요.The past tense	갔다고 해요	갔대요gatdaeyo
학생이에요. / 의사예요.A noun	학생이라고 / 의사라고 해요	학생이래요 / 의사래요haksaengiraeyo / uisaraeyo
가요? / 바빠요?A question	가냐고 / 바쁘냐고 해요	가냬요 / 바쁘냬요ganyaeyo / bappeunyaeyo
가세요. / 먹어.A command	가라고 / 먹으라고 해요	가래요 / 먹으래요garaeyo / meogeuraeyo
가자.A suggestion	가자고 해요	가재요gajaeyo
도와주세요.A favour for the speaker	도와 달라고 해요	도와 달래요dowa dallaeyo

Two things in this table catch most learners. First, verbs and adjectives split. A verb in the present takes -ㄴ다 or -는다 (간대요, 먹는대요), while an adjective keeps the bare -다 (춥대요, never 춥는대요). 있다 (there is, have) and 없다 go with the adjectives, so it is 맛있대요 and 시간 없대요, not 맛있는대요. When 있다 means “stay”, it is a verb: 집에 있는대요, “she says she's staying home”.

Second, Korean keeps the tense of the original words. If Jia said 피곤해요 (I'm tired), you report 피곤하대요 or 피곤하다고 했어요, where English shifts to “she said she was tired”. Only something that was already past when it was said takes the past: 갔대요.

Building the long forms

Every short form is its long form minus 고 하, so it pays to be able to build the long ones. Here is each type with the reporting verb in the past, the way you would tell someone what happened.

Statements: -ㄴ/는다고, -다고, -(이)라고

Verbs ending in a vowel or ㄹ take -ㄴ다고 (가다 → 간다고, 살다 → 산다고), and other verbs take -는다고 (먹다 → 먹는다고). Adjectives take -다고. Nouns take -이라고 after a consonant and -라고 after a vowel. The past is -았/었다고 for all of them.

For the future, report the form that was used: 갈 거예요 becomes 갈 거라고, and 가겠어요 becomes 가겠다고.

Questions: -냐고

Questions take -냐고, usually followed by 묻다 or 물어보다 (to ask) rather than 하다: 가냐고, 바쁘냐고, 학생이냐고, 갔냐고.

Commands: -(으)라고

Verbs ending in a vowel or ㄹ take -라고 (가라고, 만들라고), and other verbs take -으라고 (먹으라고). A negative command, “don't”, is -지 말라고.

Suggestions: -자고

Favours: -아/어 달라고 or -아/어 주라고

When someone asks for something with 주세요, the report depends on who gets the favour. If it is for the person who asked, 주 becomes 달라: 물 좀 주세요 turns into 물 좀 달라고 했어요. If the favour is for somebody else, 주라고 stays.

The short forms in everyday sentences

Here are the same patterns as you will actually hear them. The subject is often left out, because who said it is clear from the context.

With friends, the same forms without 요. 뭐래? is 뭐라고 해?, “what does she say?”, shortened in exactly the same way:

Whether to add 요 follows the usual rules of polite and casual speech, set out in Korean speech levels. In a formal report or presentation, use the full form: 내일 비가 온다고 합니다.

The 래요 trap: two sources and a look-alike

래요 comes from two different places. After a noun, it reports a statement (-(이)라고 해요). After a verb, it reports a command (-(으)라고 해요).

Both are different from -(으)ㄹ래요, which has nothing to do with reported speech. It means “I want to” or, as a question, “do you want to?” The difference is the ㄹ before 래, which you can hear as a long l: 올래요 is ollaeyo, 오래요 is oraeyo.

More on -(으)ㄹ래요 is in how to say what you want in Korean, and the other ways of talking about the future are in Korean future tense: 거예요, 겠어요, 게요.

The everyday meaning: “apparently”

Because the original speaker does not have to be named, -대요 works much like English “apparently”, “I heard” or “they say”. It is the normal way to pass on a forecast, a piece of news, a review or a rumour.

As a question, -대요? asks what the other person heard. It lets you ask about someone's plans without knowing how they phrased them.

대 or 데? The swap test

Now the question in the title: is it 맛있대 or 맛있데? Both are correct Korean, and they mean different things.

-데 reports something you saw or experienced in the past and are now passing on. It means the same as -더라, and -데요 the same as -더라고요, which you may know from Korean sentence endings. The Standard Korean Language Dictionary draws exactly this line: -대 passes on what someone else said, and -데 reports what the speaker experienced directly.

You cannot hear the difference. In most South Korean speech ㅐ and ㅔ are pronounced the same, so 맛있대 and 맛있데 sound identical, and only the spelling and the situation separate them. That is what makes the swap test useful.

If you are writing and still unsure, use the long forms instead: 맛있다고 해요 for something you heard, 맛있더라고요 for something you tried. They mean the same as the short forms and have no spelling trap.

Here are both in one short exchange:

Frequently asked questions

What does 대요 mean at the end of a sentence?

-대요 is short for -다고 해요, “they say” or “I heard”: 내일 비 온대요 means it is supposed to rain tomorrow. As a question it asks what the other person heard: 몇 시에 온대요? means “What time did they say they'd come?”

Is it 맛있대 or 맛있데?

Both are correct, with different meanings. 맛있대 means someone told you it is tasty (= 맛있다고 해). 맛있데 means you tried it yourself and found it tasty (= 맛있더라). If -다고 해 fits your meaning, write 대; if -더라 fits, write 데.

What is the difference between 가래요 and 갈래요?

가래요 is reported speech: someone told you to go (가라고 해요). 갈래요 is -(으)ㄹ래요: “I want to go” or, as a question, “Do you want to go?” The ㄹ before 래 marks the “want to” form.

What do -냬요 and -재요 mean?

-냬요 is short for -냐고 해요 and reports a question: 시간 있냬요 means they are asking if you are free. -재요 is short for -자고 해요 and reports a suggestion: 치킨 먹재요 means they suggest getting chicken.

Is -대요 polite?

-대요 is in the polite 해요 style, so it is fine for most everyday conversations. Drop 요 with friends (-대). In a formal report or presentation, the full form -다고 합니다 is the safer choice.

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