In short

To report what someone said, put their words into the plain style you met in lesson 58, then add -고 하다 (-go hada, “says that…”). The plain-form ending depends on the sentence type: statement -(느)ㄴ다고, question -(느)냐고, command -(으)라고, suggestion -자고. In speech these fuse with 해요 into -대요 / -냬요 / -래요 / -재요.

The rule

Step 1 - Build the quote in the plain style, then add -고 하다

Korean does not backshift like English. You take the reported sentence, rebuild its ending in the 한다체 plain style (lesson 58), and clip -고 하다 onto it. The plain ending is chosen by the sentence type of the original words:

• Statement (평서문). Verb + -(느)ㄴ다고: 가다 -> 간다고 하다 (gandago hada, says that … goes), 먹다 -> 먹는다고 하다 (meongneundago hada). Adjective + -다고: 좋다 -> 좋다고 하다 (jotago hada, says that … is good). 이다 -> (이)라고: 학생이다 -> 학생이라고 하다 (haksaengirago hada), 친구(이)다 -> 친구라고 하다. Never 이다고. Its negative 아니다 follows 이다 and not the adjectives - 아니라고 하다 (anirago hada), never *아니다고 - and in a reported question the copula is -(이)냐고: 학생이냐고 (haksaenginyago), 친구냐고 (chingunyago).
• Question (의문문). Stem + -(느)냐고: 가다 -> 가냐고 하다 (ganyago hada, asks whether … goes). The prescriptive split is verb -느냐고 / adjective -(으)냐고 (가느냐고, 좋으냐고), but everyday speech just says -냐고 on any stem.
• Command (명령문). Verb + -(으)라고: 가다 -> 가라고 하다 (garago hada, tells … to go), 먹다 -> 먹으라고 하다 (meogeurago hada). This is the reported form of the -(으)세요 of lesson 21 - including its prohibition, where -지 마세요 reports as -지 말라고 하다 (가지 말라고 하다, gaji mallago hada) and 말다 keeps the ㄹ it drops before -세요.
• Suggestion (청유문). Verb + -자고: 가다 -> 가자고 하다 (gajago hada, suggests they go), 먹다 -> 먹자고 하다.

Past and future live inside the quote, on the stem before -고: 갔다고 하다 (gatdago hada, said that … went), 가겠다고 하다 (gagetdago hada, said … will go).

Step 2 - Contract -고 해요 into -대요 / -냬요 / -래요 / -재요

When the outer verb is present-tense 해요, spoken Korean fuses -고 해요 into a single ending. The quote’s vowel survives and picks up -애요:

• statement -다고 해요 -> -대요: 간다고 해요 -> 간대요 (gandaeyo), 학생이라고 해요 -> 학생이래요 (haksaengiraeyo).
• question -냐고 해요 -> -냬요: 가냐고 해요 -> 가냬요 (ganyaeyo).
• command -(으)라고 해요 -> -(으)래요: 가라고 해요 -> 가래요 (garaeyo).
• suggestion -자고 해요 -> -재요: 가자고 해요 -> 가재요 (gajaeyo).

These are contractions, not new endings - when unsure, expand them back to -고 해요.

Step 3 - 달라고 하다 vs 주라고 하다: who receives?

A reported request with 주다 (to give) splits by who gets the thing. If it comes back to the requester (the person who spoke), 주다 becomes the suppletive 달다 -> 달라고 하다. If it goes to a third party, use 주라고 하다:

• 친구가 책을 달라고 했어요. - my friend asked me to give the book to them.
• 친구가 동생에게 책을 주라고 했어요. - my friend told me to give the book to my sibling.

Step 4 - Tense, verbs of speech, and the noun-modifier form

The tense inside the quote marks the event; the outer verb marks when the saying happened, and they move independently: 내일 온다고 했어요 (naeil ondago haesseoyo, said [past] that … comes [present] tomorrow). Swap 하다 for any verb of speech - 말하다 (say), 듣다 (hear), 물어보다 (ask), 전하다 (pass on), 대답하다 (answer): 간다고 들었어요 (I heard that … goes).

To hang the report on a noun, drop -고 하- and use -는: 간다고 하는 -> 간다는 말 (gandaneun mal, the claim that … goes), 온다는 소식 (the news that … is coming), 결혼한다는 소문 (the rumour that … is marrying); likewise -냐는 질문, -라는 말, -자는 제안. And a report embeds under other frames: 온다는데요 (they say … is coming, but…, the -는데요 of lesson 41) and 온다고 하는 것 같아요 (it seems they say … is coming). For an exact quotation, keep the original words and add the quotative particle -(이)라고 (or 하고, the -고 form of 하다, which replays the original voice): “갈게요”라고 했어요.

Forms & patterns

Statement -(느)ㄴ다고 하다 - the ending is chosen by the stem’s 받침:

Question, command, suggestion - one ending each:

Noun-modifier form (drop -고 하-, add -는):

Examples

Common mistakes

• 친구가 내일 가다고 했어요. (Chinguga naeil gadago haesseoyo.) -> 친구가 내일 간다고 했어요. (Chinguga naeil gandago haesseoyo.) - a reported verb needs the plain declarative -(느)ㄴ다, not the dictionary form: 가다 -> 간다고, 먹다 -> 먹는다고.
• 학생이다고 했어요. (Haksaengidago haesseoyo.) -> 학생이라고 했어요. (Haksaengirago haesseoyo.) - 이다 reports as (이)라고, never 이다고: 학생이라고, 친구라고.
• 친구가 빨리 갈래요. (Chinguga ppalli gallaeyo.) -> 친구가 빨리 가래요. (Chinguga ppalli garaeyo.) - 가래요 = “(he) tells me to go” (< 가라고 해요); 갈래요 = “I’ll go” (the -(으)ㄹ래요 of lesson 43). Different endings.
• 친구가 도와주라고 했어요. (Chinguga dowajurago haesseoyo.) -> 친구가 도와 달라고 했어요. (Chinguga dowa dallago haesseoyo.) - when the favour comes back to the requester, use 달라고; 주라고 sends it to a third party.
• 어디 간다고 물어봤어요. (Eodi gandago mureobwasseoyo.) -> 어디 가냐고 물어봤어요. (Eodi ganyago mureobwasseoyo.) - a reported question takes -(느)냐고, not the statement ending -ㄴ/는다고.

Tips

• Match the vowel. The contraction keeps the quote’s own vowel: statement 다 -> 대요, question 냐 -> 냬요, command 라 -> 래요, suggestion 자 -> 재요. If you can rebuild the -고 해요, you can always un-contract.
• No English-style backshift. Keep the quote in its original tense; only the outer 하다/말하다 moves to the past. 내일 온다고 했어요 stays present inside even though the saying was in the past.
• -대요 is not -데요. -대요 reports what someone else said (< -다고 해요); the look-alike -데요/-더라고요 (lesson 57) reports what you yourself witnessed. Same sound, opposite source.
• The -(느)ㄴ다는 modifier is everywhere. News and writing lean on 간다는 말, 온다는 소식, 결혼한다는 소문 - just 간다고 하는 with -고 하- squeezed out to -는.