Is it ok to use the contracted version of quotationals ( 대, 래...) when you'd normally need an honorific?

Question

Instead of saying

없다고 하셨어요

I think this has the same meaning:

없대요

However, would it normally be a problem that the honorific particle is left out? If so, is there a way of incorporating the honorific?

Answer 1

Constructions

Basic forms _기본형

• Quotative, present, and non-honorific: _⚫“없다고 하여요.”
• Quotative, present, and honorific: _🔵“없다고 하시어요.”
• Quotative, past, and non-honorific: _⚪“없다고 하였어요.”
• Quotative, past, and honorific: _🔴“없다고 하시었어요.”

_{Bold text means it has the corresponding conjugation.}

Contractions _준말

• Quotative, present, and non-honorific: → _⚫“없다고 해요.” (“-하여-” → “-해-”)
• Quotative, present, and honorific: → _🔵“없다고 하셔요.” (“-시어-” → “-셔-”)
• Quotative, past, and non-honorific: → _⚪“없다고 했어요.” (“-하여-” → “-해-”)
• Quotative, past, and honorific: → _🔴“없다고 하셨어요.” (“-시어-” → “-셔-”)

_{Bold text marks where the contraction's taken place.}

More contractions: “-고 하-”/“-고” omission. _{“-고 하-”/“-고” 생략}

In Korean, “-고 하-” or “-고” often gets elided to contract. National Institute of Korean Language is aware of this and it's considered standard, but is not in Standard Korean Language Dictionary yet. However, some in the dictionary reflect this: “-대” means “-다고 해” by the standard definition.

• Quotative, present, and non-honorific: → _⚫“없다 해요” (“-고” omission) → _⚫“없대요.” (“-고 하-” omission)
• Quotative, present, and honorific: → _🔵“없다 하셔요” (“-고” omission) → _🔵“없다셔요.” (“-고 하-” omission)
• Quotative, past, and non-honorific: → _⚪“없다 했어요” (“-고” omission) → _⚪“없댔어요.” (“-고 하-” omission)
• Quotative, past, and honorific: → _🔴“없다 하셨어요” (“-고” omission) → _🔴“없다셨어요.” (“-고 하-” omission)

Papers

• ‘-고 하-’의 생략과 씨끝의 융합 (Ellipsis of “-go ha-” and fusion of the endings) (2001) (ISSN 1225-0449)

• A Study on the Contraction in Quotative Connective Sentences (2017) (ISSN 1229-3946)

---

Should it keep honorifics when contracted?

Yes.

You said you thought _🔴“없다고 하셨어요” has the same meaning with _⚫“없대요,” but it's not. _🔴“없다고 하셨어요” is quotative, past, and honorific; _⚫“없대요” is quotative, present, and not honorific. Not taking the tense into account, honorifics still matter. After all, they're just contractions; their forms may vary, but their meanings hold the same.

_🔴“없다고 하셨어요” should be contracted into either _🔴“없다 하셨어요” or _🔴“없다셨어요,” not _⚫“없대요.”

And a note about contraction itself: this is obvious, but the more you contract, the more it gets informal. It's not that it'll sound rude, so just make sure you're in the right tense and using proper honorifics.