-다고 하다 in Korean: “said that, they say that”

-다고 하다 (-dago hada) means "(someone) said that" or "they say that." It is how Korean reports a statement in your own words, like English "She said she's busy" instead of quoting her exactly.

How to form it

How to use it

Take the plain statement form (바쁘다, 간다, 먹는다, 갔다), add 고, then 하다. 하다 here means "to say." The ending of 하다 shows when it was said and how polite you are: 했어요 (said), 해요 (says, they say).

-다고 해요 in the present often means "I heard" or "they say," like passing on news or a forecast. -다고 했어요 reports what a specific person said.

In conversation, -다고 해요 is very often shortened to -대요: 바쁘대요 (she says she's busy). The future is usually -(으)ㄹ 거라고 하다: 갈 거라고 했어요 (he said he would go).

Examples

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Don’t mix it up with

-대요: The spoken short form of -다고 해요. 비가 온대요 and 비가 온다고 해요 mean the same thing.

-냐고/-자고/-(으)라고 하다: Questions, suggestions, and commands each have their own quoting form. -다고 하다 is only for statements.

Common mistakes

Forgetting the ㄴ/는 with verbs. It is 간다고 and 먹는다고, not 가다고 or 먹다고. Adjectives stay plain: 바쁘다고.

Using 이다고 with nouns. Nouns take (이)라고: 의사라고 했어요, not 의사이다고.