보고 / 더러: The Spoken 'Tell / Ask' Dative | Korean Grammar

Korean has two extra dative particles that textbooks often skip but that you will hear constantly in real conversation: 보고 and 더러. Both translate as "to (a person)," which makes them look like casual synonyms of 에게/한테 — but they are far narrower. 보고 and 더러 mark only the person you are speaking to: the addressee of a telling, asking, or reported command. You can say them in "someone told me to go," but never in "I gave my friend a gift." Learning where the line falls is the whole point of this page, because 보고 is one of those forms that instantly makes your Korean sound like a native's spoken register rather than a translated textbook.

What they mean and where they come from

보고 derives transparently from 보다 ("to see/look at") — historically "facing (a person)," hence "directed at a person's face when speaking." 더러 is an older, somewhat rustic-sounding particle with the same job. Neither has an allomorph: 보고 and 더러 attach unchanged whether the noun ends in a vowel or a consonant (나보고, 친구보고, 동생더러, 나더러). Both are firmly spoken and casual — you will not find them in formal writing.

엄마가 나보고 방 좀 치우래요.

eommaga nabogo bang jom chiuraeyo

Mom's telling me to clean my room. (나보고 = to me, the one being told)

친구더러 좀 일찍 오라고 했어요.

chingudeoreo jom iljjik orago haesseoyo

I told my friend to come a bit early.

Notice both sentences involve reported speech — someone telling someone else to do something. That is the natural habitat of 보고 and 더러.

They mark the addressee of speech — and nothing else

Here is the rule that keeps you out of trouble: 보고 and 더러 can only mark the person who is being spoken to, with verbs of saying, telling, asking, and (very often) relaying a command or quotation — 말하다, 그러다, 묻다, and the quotative 하다 of reported speech. They are the "to" in say to me, ask me, tell my friend.

누가 너보고 그랬어?

nuga neobogo geuraesseo

Who said that to you? (반말 — 너보고 = to you)

친구가 저보고 같이 가자고 했어요.

chinguga jeobogo gachi gajago haesseoyo

My friend said to me, let's go together.

자꾸 나보고 뭐라고 하지 마.

jakku nabogo mworago haji ma

Stop nagging at me. (lit. don't keep saying things to me)

In every one of these, the 보고-marked person is the target of the utterance. This is why 보고/더러 pair so naturally with the reported-command ending -(으)라고 하다 and its contractions (가래요 = 가라고 해요, 오라고 = "to come"). If you are relaying an order or a quotation, 보고 is the spoken particle of choice for the person you told.

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보고 = "in someone's face / directed at someone as speech." If you can replace it with English "at/to (a person), saying…," it fits. If the verb is give, send, or hand over — not a speech act — it does not fit.

The boundary: 보고/더러 are NOT the general dative

This is the mistake to avoid. Because 보고 feels like a casual 한테, learners over-extend it to any recipient. But 보고/더러 cannot mark the recipient of a thing. You give a gift to someone, but that is not speech, so 보고 is impossible there.

✅ 친구에게 선물을 줬어요.

chinguege seonmureul jwosseoyo

I gave a present to a friend. (giving → 에게/한테)

The following is simply wrong, because 주다 ("give") is not a verb of speaking:

❌ 친구보고 선물을 줬어요.

Wrong — giving a thing is not a speech act; use 에게/한테.

So the two systems divide cleanly. For handing over objects, sending, teaching — use 에게/한테/께 (see the dative particle page and giving & receiving). For the person you address when telling or asking, spoken Korean adds the option of 보고/더러 on top.

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보고/더러 are a subset, not a replacement. Anything 보고 can do, 한테 can also do (친구한테 가라고 했어 = 친구보고 가라고 했어). But most things 한테 can do — give, send, phone — 보고 cannot. When unsure, fall back to 한테.

Register: casual, and watch who you aim it at

Both particles are spoken and informal, so keep them out of essays, emails, and reports. Between them, 보고 is extremely common in everyday Seoul speech, while 더러 sounds a touch older or regional — you will hear it, but it is the marked choice. There is also a politeness catch: because 보고/더러 point at the addressee somewhat bluntly, they clash with an honored target. You would not aim 보고 at a teacher or elder; that pairing sounds disrespectful. For a superior, use 께 with proper humble/honorific verbs instead.

동생더러 설거지 좀 하라고 했어.

dongsaengdeoreo seolgeoji jom harago haesseo

I told my little brother to do the dishes. (casual, to a junior)

✅ 선생님께 여쭤봤어요.

seonsaengnimkke yeojjwobwasseoyo

I asked the teacher. (honorific — not 선생님보고)

How Korean carves this up differently from English

English gives you one flat "to" for both tell to me and give to me — the recipient of words and the recipient of a gift wear the same preposition. Korean, in its spoken register, has evolved a dedicated marker for the addressee of an utterance that is separate from the give-recipient dative. That is a distinction English has no word for. So when you meet 나보고 가래 ("[they]'re telling me to go"), resist mapping 보고 onto English "to" in general — it is specifically the "at-me, as speech" marker, and trying to reuse it for giving or sending is exactly where it breaks.

Common Mistakes

1. Using 보고/더러 for a thing-recipient. They mark only the addressee of speech, not the receiver of an object.

❌ 동생보고 돈을 보냈어요.

Wrong — sending money isn't speech; use 에게/한테.

✅ 동생한테 돈을 보냈어요.

dongsaenghante doneul bonaesseoyo

I sent money to my younger sibling.

2. Aiming 보고 at an honored person. It is too blunt for a superior; use 께 with honorific verbs.

❌ 부장님보고 물어봤어요.

Disrespectful — don't point 보고 at a superior; use 께.

✅ 부장님께 여쭤봤어요.

bujangnimkke yeojjwobwasseoyo

I asked the department head.

3. Writing 보고/더러 in formal text. They are spoken-casual only; formal registers want 에게.

❌ 회의에서 담당자더러 보고를 요청했다.

Off-register for writing — use 에게 in formal prose.

✅ 회의에서 담당자에게 보고를 요청했다.

hoeuieseo damdangjaege bogoreul yocheonghaetda

At the meeting, they requested a report from the person in charge.

4. Treating 더러 as fully current and neutral. It works, but it reads as older/regional; default to 보고 (or 한테) in modern Seoul speech.

✅ 친구보고 나오라고 했어.

chingubogo naorago haesseo

I told my friend to come out. (natural, current spoken form)

Key Takeaways

보고 and 더러 mean "to (a person)" only as the addressee of speech — with tell, say, ask, and reported commands. No allomorph.
They are a narrow subset of the dative: 보고/더러 ⊂ 한테/에게. Anything 보고 does, 한테 can do; but giving, sending, and phoning take 에게/한테, never 보고.
Both are spoken and casual; 보고 is very common, 더러 sounds older/regional. Neither belongs in formal writing.
Do not aim them at a social superior — that clashes with honorific speech; use 께 instead.
They pair naturally with reported commands (-(으)라고 하다) — see reported commands and the quotative 고/라고.

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