✍️ Intermediate Day 23: Quoting Questions – ~냐고 해요
📘 Intermediate Day 23: Quoting Questions – ~냐고 해요
Welcome to Day 23 of the Intermediate Korean series! 🎤 In the previous lesson, we learned how to report statements with ~다고 해요 and ~(이)라고 해요. Today, we’ll take it one step further by learning how to report questions using:
- ~냐고 해요 – “(They) asked if…” or “(They) asked whether…”
This is especially useful for summarizing conversations or quoting someone’s question indirectly in Korean. Let’s explore how to use this structure in various situations!
📘 1. What is ~냐고 해요?
~냐고 해요 is used when you want to quote a question someone asked indirectly. It means “They asked if…” or “Someone said, ‘Did you…?’”
It’s part of Korean indirect speech, and has specific rules depending on whether the verb is an action verb, descriptive verb, or a noun.
📘 2. Conjugation Rules for ~냐고 해요
- Action verbs (present): stem + 냐고 해요
가다 → 가냐고 해요 - Descriptive verbs (present): stem + (으)냐고 해요
예쁘다 → 예쁘냐고 해요 - Past tense: 았/었 + 냐고 해요
먹었어요 → 먹었냐고 해요 - 이다 / 아니다: (이)냐고 해요
학생이에요? → 학생이냐고 해요
📌 Examples of ~냐고 해요
| Original Question | Reported Speech | Romanization |
|---|---|---|
| 오늘 가요? | 오늘 가냐고 해요 | o-neul ga-nya-go hae-yo |
| 배고파요? | 배고프냐고 해요 | bae-go-peu-nya-go hae-yo |
| 어제 먹었어요? | 어제 먹었냐고 해요 | eo-je meo-geot-nya-go hae-yo |
| 학생이에요? | 학생이냐고 해요 | hak-saeng-i-nya-go hae-yo |
📘 3. Real-Life Dialogue
👦 준호: 수지가 뭐라고 했어요?
👧 민지: 내일 학교에 가냐고 했어요.
👦 준호: 아~ 저는 학생이냐고도 물어봤어요.
📘 Practice Sentences
- 선생님이 공부했냐고 물어봤어요.
- 엄마가 배고프냐고 하셨어요.
- 친구가 나한테 한국 사람이냐고 물어봤어요.
- 그 사람이 영화 봤냐고 했어요.
🧪 Mini Quiz – Indirect Questions
- Translate: “She asked if I ate.”
Click to Show Answer
먹었냐고 했어요.
- Translate: “He asked if it was fun.”
Click to Show Answer
재미있냐고 했어요.
- Choose the correct one for a noun:
a) 학생하냐고 해요
b) 학생이냐고 해요
c) 학생느냐고 해요Click to Show Answer
✅ b) 학생이냐고 해요
✅ Conclusion
🎉 Excellent job! Now you can report questions and understand indirect speech in Korean like a pro using:
- ✔️ ~냐고 해요 – “(They) asked if...”
- ✔️ Used for verbs, adjectives, and noun-identifying questions
- ✔️ Very useful in storytelling and conversations!
📘 Coming Up Next
Tomorrow: Intermediate Day 24: Quoting Commands – ~라고 해요 / ~지 말라고 해요 We’ll learn how to report what someone told another person to do or not to do!
Related Keywords:
learn korean, korean grammar, indirect questions, 냐고 해요, korean reported questions, intermediate speech patterns