If -더- is the engine, -더라 and -더라고요 are the two cars it drives most often. Both are sentence-final forms that relay to a listener something you personally witnessed and are now reporting — usually with a touch of "turns out / I noticed / I found." 생각보다 어렵더라고요 — "It was harder than I expected, I found." 그 식당 문 닫았더라 — "That restaurant was closed, I saw." One is plain (반말), one is polite; picking between them is a register choice, and using either where you didn't actually witness the event is the classic error.
Two forms, one meaning: -더라 vs -더라고요
The forms sit at different politeness levels but carry the identical retrospective-evidential meaning:
- -더라 — plain/intimate (반말). For close friends, family, younger people, or talking to yourself.
- -더라고(요) — the casual -더라고 plus the politeness particle 요 makes -더라고요, the polite everyday form. This is what you use with most people.
그 식당 어제 문 닫았더라.
geu sikdang eoje mun dadatdeora
That restaurant was closed yesterday (I saw). (반말)
생각보다 어렵더라고요.
saenggakboda eoryeopdeoragoyo
It was harder than I expected, I found. (polite)
거기 생각보다 멀더라.
geogi saenggakboda meoldeora
It was farther than I thought (I went and found out). (반말)
What both package is firsthand evidence + mild newsworthiness for the hearer: "as I personally saw or experienced, (and you may not know this) it was X." That "sharing a discovery" tone is why -더라고요 is everywhere in casual storytelling — you went somewhere, saw something, and you're passing it on.
사람이 진짜 많더라고요.
sarami jinjja manteoragoyo
There were really a lot of people, I found.
그 카페 커피가 진짜 맛있더라고요.
geu kape keopiga jinjja masitdeoragoyo
The coffee at that café was really good (I had it).
How it attaches
The form goes straight onto the stem, with no vowel harmony. Adjectives and 있다/없다 take it directly.
거기 경치가 정말 좋더라고요.
geogi gyeongchiga jeongmal joteoragoyo
The scenery there was really nice, I found.
냉장고에 우유가 하나도 없더라.
naengjanggo-e uyuga hanado eopdeora
There wasn't a drop of milk in the fridge (I looked). (반말)
To report that something had already finished when you witnessed it, add the anterior -았/었- in front, exactly as with the core -더-:
가 보니까 벌써 시작했더라고요.
ga bonikka beolsseo sijakaetdeoragoyo
When I got there, it had already started (I found).
김 선생님 결혼했더라고요.
Kim seonsaengnim gyeolhonhaetdeoragoyo
I found out Mr. Kim got married.
지호 이번에 승진했더라고요.
Jiho ibeone seungjinhaetdeoragoyo
Turns out Jiho got promoted this time.
Why -더라고요 and not just the plain past?
A fair question: if the event is over, why not simply use the plain past, 닫았어요? The two are both grammatical, but they do different pragmatic jobs. The plain past is a neutral statement of fact — it says the thing happened, no matter how you know. -더라고요 adds a layer: "I personally saw it, and I'm reporting my discovery to you." It foregrounds your eyewitness experience and treats the content as fresh news.
어제 그 가게 문 닫았어요.
eoje geu gage mun dadasseoyo
That store was closed yesterday. (plain statement of fact)
어제 그 가게 문 닫았더라고요.
eoje geu gage mun dadatdeoragoyo
That store was closed yesterday — I went by and saw. (eyewitness discovery)
The second invites the listener into your experience: you were there, you noticed, and now you're sharing. That is exactly the tone of casual "so I went and, get this…" storytelling — which is why -더라고요 pours out of people recounting their day.
The sharp line vs -네(요): before vs now
The most useful contrast to nail is -더라(고요) vs -네(요), because both translate loosely as an English exclamation of discovery. The difference is when the perceiving happened:
- -네(요) = you realize/notice something at the very moment of speaking. You are looking at it now.
- -더라(고요) = you recall an observation you made at some earlier time. You saw it before and are reporting back now.
와, 여기 경치 좋네요!
wa, yeogi gyeongchi jonneyo!
Wow, the view here is great! (realizing it right now — -네요)
어제 갔는데 거기 경치 좋더라고요.
eoje ganneunde geogi gyeongchi joteoragoyo
I went yesterday, and the view there was great (recalled — -더라고요).
A quick diagnostic: if the sentence carries a past time word (어제, 아까, 그때), it wants -더라고요, not -네요. Saying 어제…좋네요 clashes, because -네요 insists on now.
Common Mistakes
1. Using -더라고요 for secondhand information. If you only heard it and didn't witness it, use the quotative -대요/-았대요 instead — see relaying -더라고요 vs -대요.
❌ 그 영화 진짜 무섭더라고요.
geu yeonghwa jinjja museopdeoragoyo
Wrong if you're relaying a friend's opinion of a film you haven't seen.
✅ 그 영화 진짜 무섭대요.
geu yeonghwa jinjja museopdaeyo
I hear that movie is really scary.
2. Using -더라고요 for a present-moment realization. Noticing something as you speak takes -네요.
❌ 이거 진짜 맛있더라고요.
igeo jinjja masitdeoragoyo
Wrong if you're tasting it right now — that needs -네요.
✅ 이거 진짜 맛있네요.
igeo jinjja masinneyo
Wow, this is really good! (tasting it now)
3. Using -더라(고요) about your own deliberate action. You don't witness your own will; report your own past actions with the plain past.
❌ 나 어제 열심히 공부하더라고요.
na eoje yeolsimhi gongbuhadeoragoyo
Wrong — your own intentional studying isn't something you 'witnessed.'
✅ 나 어제 열심히 공부했어요.
na eoje yeolsimhi gongbuhaesseoyo
I studied hard yesterday.
4. Dropping the 요 with someone who is owed 존댓말. Plain -더라 to a superior sounds too familiar; keep -더라고요.
❌ 팀장님, 회의실에 사람 많더라.
timjangnim, hoeuisire saram manteora
Too casual for a boss — 반말 -더라 with a superior.
✅ 팀장님, 회의실에 사람 많더라고요.
timjangnim, hoeuisire saram manteoragoyo
Team leader, the meeting room was packed (I saw).
Key Takeaways
- -더라 (반말) and -더라고요 (polite) both relay a personally-witnessed past discovery with a "turns out / I noticed" flavor.
- They attach straight to the stem; add -았/었- (시작했더라고요) to report something that had already happened when you saw it.
- -더라고요 vs -네요: -네요 notices something now; -더라고요 recalls something from before — so past time words force -더라고요.
- Firsthand only (heard → -대요), not for your own willed actions, and mind the register: keep the 요 for anyone you owe 존댓말.
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Start learning Korean→Related Topics
- -더-: The Retrospective / Evidential MarkerTOPIK 3 — The pre-final ending -더-, unique to Korean, reports something the speaker personally witnessed in the past and now recalls — 'as I saw / found.' Its hard evidential restriction and first-person limits are the seed of a whole family: -더라, -더라고요, -던, -더니, -던데.
- -네(요): Noticing Something Right NowTOPIK 2 — -네(요) marks spontaneous realization or mild surprise about something perceived at the moment of speech — 비가 오네요 'oh, it's raining!' — contrasting on one side with neutral -아요 and on the other with the past-recollection -더라고요.
- -던데(요): Retrospective Background and Soft ContrastTOPIK 4 — -던데(요) fuses the retrospective -더- with the background ending -ㄴ데 to supply a personally-witnessed past circumstance — used to set up a contrast, or, sentence-finally, to trail off and invite the listener's reaction.
- Relaying What You Saw vs What You Heard: -더라고(요) and -대(요)/-래(요)TOPIK 4 — Korean bakes the source of information into the ending — -더라고(요) for what you personally witnessed, -대(요)/-래(요) for what you heard from someone else.
- -군(요) / -구나: Realization and ExclamationTOPIK 3 — The endings of dawning realization — polite -군요 and plain -구나. The form split learners botch: present-tense verbs take -는구나/-는군요, but adjectives, 이다, and 있다/없다 take plain -구나/-군요; past is -았/었구나 for all.