~ㄴ/는다고 하다 / 라고 하다 nuances

[norepeat]

Hi everyone,

I've been learning Korean for a little while, but haven't really gotten to the point where I need guidance on finer grammar points until now!

Last night, we went over the {noun} (이)라고 하다 / {verb}(ㄴ/는)다고 하다 construction. I understand the conjugation well enough, but am still a little hazy on two points of the meaning(s)/nuances.

As I understand it, this is used to say something about someone else. Let's say, "Ji-Hyeon drinks/is drinking coffee": "지현 씨는 커피를 마신다고 해요."

1: How is this different from: "지현 씨는 커피를 마셔요."?

2: What's the difference between "지현 씨는 커피를 마신다고 해요." and "지현 씨는 커피를 마신다고 했어요."? If you wanted to use this construction in the past tense, it would be: "지현 씨는 커피를 마셨다고 해요/했어요."

[cheri]

As I understand it, this is used to say something about someone else. Let's say, "Ji-Hyeon drinks/is drinking coffee": "지현 씨는 커피를 마신다고 해요."

1: How is this different from: "지현 씨는 커피를 마셔요."?

2: What's the difference between "지현 씨는 커피를 마신다고 해요." and "지현 씨는 커피를 마신다고 했어요."? If you wanted to use this construction in the past tense, it would be: "지현 씨는 커피를 마셨다고 해요/했어요."

I'll take a shot...
The difference is that the first is reported speech and the second is just stating the fact.
지현 씨는 커피를 마신다고 해요. Jihyeon says she drinks coffee.
지현 씨는 커피를 마셔요. Jihyeon drinks coffee.

Re: past tense...
지현 씨는 커피를 마신다고 했어요. Here, the "say" now becomes "said" - Jihyeon said she drinks coffee.
지현 씨는 커피를 마셨다고 해요/했어요. Here, since the 마시다 is in past tense, it means that Jihyeon says/said that she drank the coffee.

Hope this makes sense?

[norepeat]

Wow, thanks for such a quick reply! That makes sense now.