Breakdown of geuneun joheun sosigi issdago haesseo.
~이~i
subject particle
~는~neun
topic particle
좋다johda
good
있다issda
to exist
Questions & Answers about geuneun joheun sosigi issdago haesseo.
What does the ending -다고 했어 do?
It marks indirect/reported speech: “said that ….” Here, 있다 + 고 하다 → 있다고 하다, and 했어 puts “said” in the past, casual form. So the sentence reports what he said without directly quoting him.
Why is the particle 이 used on 소식 (소식이), not 을/를?
With 있다/없다 (exist/there is/there isn’t), the thing that exists is marked with the subject marker 이/가. So you say 소식이 있다 (there is news), not 소식을 있다.
Why 좋은 소식 and not 좋다 소식 or 소식이 좋다?
- 좋다 is a predicate (“to be good”). Its adnominal (prenominal) form is 좋은, which modifies a noun: 좋은 소식 = good news.
- 좋은 소식이 있다고 했어 = He said there is good news.
- 소식이 좋다고 했어 = He said the news is good (commenting on specific news). Different meaning.
What’s the difference between 그는 and 그가 here?
- 그는 (topic): sets “he” as the topic; neutral.
- 그가 (subject/focus): emphasizes “HE (as opposed to someone else) said ….” Both are grammatical:
- 그는 좋은 소식이 있다고 했어. (neutral)