에디슨은 “실패는 성공의 어머니입니다.” 라고 했어요.
To paraphrase Edison, “Failure is the mother of success.”
예수님은 “서로 사랑하세요.”라고 말씀했어요.
Jesus said, “Love each other.”
부디 씨는 “문제가 너무 어려워.” 하고 생각했어요.
“This problem is too hard,” Budi thought.
왕징 씨는 저에게 “내일 몇 시에 와요?” 하고 물어봤어요.
Wang Jing asked me, 4, What time will you come tomorrow?”
Grammar Focus:
A direct quotation refers to word-for-word quoting, using (flotation marks, of what someone wrote, said, or thought. In Korean, ‘하고/라고 Verb’ follows the quotation marks.
When asking a question about what someone wrote or said, however, 뭐라고 is used instead of 무엇을: “카일리 씨가 뭐라고 말했어요?” (What did Kylie say?) 하고/라고 is often followed by 이야기하다, 물어보다, 말하다, 생각하다 or 쓰다, but these verbs can be substituted with 하다 or 그러다.
A: 민우 씨하고 얘기했어요? Did you speak with Minu?
B: 네, 민우 씨가 “요즘 너무 바빠서 만날 수 없어요.”라고 그랬어요.
Yes, Minu said, “I’ve been too busy recently to be able to meet you.”
A: 여보, “여기에 주차하지 마세요.”라고 써 있는데요.
Dear, It says, “No parking here”.
B: 그래요? 다른 곳에 주차할게요.
Really? I’ll park somewhere else then.
Notes:
1. 하고 했어요 is not used after a quotation when the part inside the quotation marks ends in 하다. It is also common practice to avoid using 하다 as the verb directly following 하고. These conventions exist because it sounds awkward when 하다 is repeated consecutively.
• 민우 씨는 “운동하세요.” 하고 했어요. (x)
->민우 씨는 “운동하세요.” 라고 (말)했어요. (〇)
->민우 씨는 “운동하세요.” 하고 말했어요. (〇)
Minu said to me, “Exercise.”
• 하영 씨는 “내일 만나요.” 하고 했어요. (X)
->하영 씨는 “내일 만나요.”라고 (말)했어요. (〇)
->하영 씨는 “내일 만나요.”하고 말했어요. (〇)
Hayeong said to me, “See you tomorrow.”
2. Although both 하고 and 라고 are used after a quotation in a sentence, they convey slightly different meanings. 하고 conveys a feeling of including not just the cited text but also the original intonation emotion, and feeling of the cited words. This is why 하고 is used when something must be conveyed vividly, such as in fairy tales, children’s stories, and onomatopoeia. In the case of everyday conversations and speech, however, 라고 is used often.
• 준호 씨가 벨을 누르니까 “딩동” 하고 소리가 났어요.
Junho rang the bell, and it chimed “ding-dong”.
• 그 남자는 “살려 주세요!” 하고 소리쳤어요.
The boy yelled out, “Help me!”
• 왕비는 “거울아. 거울아. 세상에서 누가 제일 예쁘니?” 하고 물어봤어요.
The queen asked, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?”
(The ‘ding-dong’ sound and the accent, intonation, and feeling of the words of the boy and queen are conveyed.