Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 8 - Advanced Korean #1 (Lessons 211 to 240) ᚛ Lesson 226 - Quoting to react in Korean [-(ㄴ/는)다는데] [-(ㄴ/는)다면서(요)]
Quoting to react in Korean [-(ㄴ/는)다는데] [-(ㄴ/는)다면서(요)]
Indirect speech also serves to react to what one has heard. With -(ㄴ/는)다는데, a contraction of -(ㄴ/는)다고 하는데, we report a piece of information and move on to what we make of it: "they say that…, so…". With -(ㄴ/는)다면서(요)?, we ask for confirmation of something we have read, seen or heard: "I heard that…?", "is it true that…?". In the lesson on the contractions of indirect speech, we had already seen -다잖아(요) and -다니까(요); this lesson adds two very frequent uses of the same mechanism.
"They say that…, so" with -(ㄴ/는)다는데
The quotation is put into indirect speech and followed by -는데, which sets the situation and expects what comes next:
[Verb]-(ㄴ/는)다는데 / [Adjective]-다는데 / [Noun](이)라는데 / -았/었다는데 [Suggestion, question, comment]
In the second part of the sentence, the speaker draws a suggestion (같이 갈래요?), a piece of advice (입고 나가는 게 좋을 것 같아요), a request (말려 주세요) or a contrast (집에서는 … 안 먹어요). The source is not named: it is "what people say", what the person concerned said. The other forms of indirect speech follow the same model: -자는데, -(으)라는데, -냐는데.
오늘 날씨가 영하로 내려가서 정말 춥다는데 따뜻하게 롱패딩을 입고 나가는 게 좋을 것 같아요.
→ They say it's really cold today, with temperatures below zero; I think you'd better go out well wrapped up in a long padded coat.
내일 아침에 같이 보러 가기로 한 뮤지컬을 제 친구도 보고 싶다는데 같이 봐도 괜찮을까요?
→ My friend says he'd also like to see the musical we planned to go to tomorrow morning; would it be okay if he came along?
해외에서 직구한 상품이 아직도 도착하지 않아서 문의해 보니 담당자도 모른다는데 어떻게 해야 할까요?
→ The item I ordered from abroad still hasn't arrived; I asked, and the person in charge says he doesn't know either. What should I do?
외국에서 여자 혼자 생활하기가 쉽지 않다는데 다행히 저는 현지 친구들이 많이 도와줘서 혼자서도 잘 지낼 수 있었던 것 같아요.
→ They say it's not easy for a woman to live alone abroad, but luckily, thanks to my local friends, I think I managed fine on my own.
아이가 어린이집에서는 밥을 잘 먹는다는데 집에서는 밥을 잘 먹지도 않고 간식만 먹으려고 해.
→ At daycare they say my child eats well, but at home he barely touches his meals and only wants snacks.
지난주에 개봉한 영화가 정말 재미있다는데 내일 저랑 같이 영화 보러 갈래요?
→ They say the movie that came out last week is really good; would you like to go see it with me tomorrow?
이 집 치즈돈가스가 정말 맛있다는데 오늘 여기로 저녁 먹으러 가는 거 어때요?
→ They say this place's cheese tonkatsu is excellent; how about going there for dinner tonight?
이번 주는 일교차가 크다는데 그렇게 얇은 옷을 입고 나갔다가는 금방 감기에 걸릴 거야.
→ They're forecasting big temperature swings this week; if you go out dressed that lightly, you'll catch a cold in no time.
제가 한 말 때문에 저한테 화가 났다는데 저는 왜 그 말 때문에 화가 났는지 도저히 이해가 안 돼요.
→ He says he's angry at me because of what I said, but I really can't understand why that made him angry.
Asking for confirmation with -(ㄴ/는)다면서(요)?
Learn more
Exercises
Learn more
This printable eBook teaches you Korean writing and includes more than 1,000 Korean vocabulary words divided into 40 categories. Each word comes with audio pronunciation recorded by native Korean speakers (no AI)!
On top of that, you’ll also get access to an online vocabulary learning tool based on the scientifically proven Leitner spaced repetition method.
Learn more