-(느)ㄴ다고 하다

Use it to retell a statement someone made in your own words, like English 'he said that…'.

인용·전달Quoting & reporting

Han: 바쁘다 is an adjective, so it takes plain -다고; ㄴ/는 is added only to verbs.

Examples

민수 씨가 내일 회의에 못 온다고 했어요.Minsu said he can't come to the meeting tomorrow.

친구가 그 영화가 정말 재미있다고 했어요.My friend said that movie is really fun.

언니가 어제 그 책을 다 읽었다고 했어요.My older sister said she finished reading that book yesterday.

일기예보에서 주말에 비가 많이 온다고 했어요.The weather forecast said it will rain a lot over the weekend.

Don’t mix up

-(느)ㄴ다고 하다vs-냐고 하다/묻다Use -냐고 when you report a question, not a statement: 친구가 언제 오냐고 물었어요.

-(느)ㄴ다고 하다vs-(으)라고 하다Use -(으)라고 when you report an order or request: 의사가 푹 쉬라고 했어요.

-(느)ㄴ다고 하다vs"..."라고 하다 (direct quotation)Direct quotation repeats the exact words in quotation marks; indirect -다고 changes them into your own sentence: 민수 씨가 "배고파요."라고 했어요 vs 민수 씨가 배고프다고 했어요.

How to build it

V+(느)ㄴ다고 하다

A+다고 하다 (past: V/A + 았/었다고 하다)

먹다 → 먹는다고 해요, 가다 → 간다고 해요, 바쁘다 → 바쁘다고 해요

-는다고 is for verb stems ending in a consonant, -ㄴ다고 for verb stems ending in a vowel or ㄹ (만들다 → 만든다고). Adjectives take plain -다고 with no ㄴ/는, and 있다/없다 usually take 있다고/없다고.
Tense goes inside the quote: past is -았/었다고, future is -(으)ㄹ 거라고 or -겠다고. The tense of 하다 shows when the person said it.
This form reports statements only. Questions, commands and suggestions need -냐고, -(으)라고 and -자고.
In speech -다고 해요 is very often shortened to -대요 (간다고 해요 → 간대요).

Classic mistake

Wrong: ~~친구가 오늘 바쁜다고 했어요.~~

Right: 친구가 오늘 바쁘다고 했어요.

바쁘다 is an adjective, so it takes plain -다고; ㄴ/는 is added only to verbs.

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