Recollection -더라고요

What it means

-더라고요 is used to tell someone what you personally saw, heard or felt in the past, as something you found out. It's like saying "I noticed that..." or "It turned out...". You were there and experienced it yourself, and now you're passing it on.

How to make it

• Verb or adjective stem + 더라고요 (no sound change): 맛있다 → 맛있더라고요, 많다 → 사람이 많더라고요, 춥다 → 춥더라고요
• Noun + (이)더라고요: 학생 → 학생이더라고요, 의사 → 의사더라고요
• Something already finished when you saw it: + 았/었더라고요: 가다 → 벌써 갔더라고요 (he had already left)
• Casual speech: -더라: 재미있더라.
• Not for your own deliberate actions (✗ 제가 가더라고요), because you can't "discover" what you did on purpose. Your own feelings are fine: 영화를 보니까 슬프더라고요 (I found it sad).

When to use it

• Sharing an experience: 그 영화 정말 재미있더라고요. (That movie was really fun, I found.)
• Telling about a trip: 제주도에 갔는데 바다가 정말 예쁘더라고요. (I went to Jeju Island, and the sea was really beautiful.)
• Reporting what you noticed about someone: 민수 씨가 요즘 많이 바쁘더라고요. (I noticed Minsu is really busy these days.)
• Something different from what you expected: 한국 겨울은 생각보다 춥더라고요. (Korean winters turned out to be colder than I thought.)

Compare

• -았/었어요 just states a past fact: 영화가 재미있었어요. (The movie was fun.) -더라고요 shares your own discovery and sounds more vivid, like a story: 영화가 재미있더라고요. (I found the movie fun, you know.)
• -더라고요 vs -았/었더라고요: 민수 씨가 가더라고요 = I saw Minsu leaving. 민수 씨가 갔더라고요 = When I got there, Minsu had already left.

Common mistakes

• ❌ 어제 제가 도서관에 가더라고요 → ✅ 어제 도서관에 갔어요 (you can't report your own planned action as a discovery)
• ❌ 그 식당 음식이 맛있었더라고요 → ✅ 그 식당 음식이 맛있더라고요 (-더- already points to the past; add 았/었 only for something already finished when you saw it)
• ❌ 그 사람이 의사더라고요 (about someone you never met or heard about) → ✅ 그 사람이 의사래요 (use -더라고요 only for what you experienced yourself; for hearsay use -(이)래요)