어려웠다고

In a sentence

• 그 시험이 정말 어려웠다고 선생님이 말씀하셨어요.

  The teacher mentioned that the exam was really difficult.

  In this sentence, "어려웠다고" is used to indicate reported speech, referencing a past instance in which difficulty was acknowledged.

• 어머니께서 그 경험이 참 어려웠다고 하셨습니다.

  My mother said that the experience was truly challenging.

  Here, "어려웠다고" references a past experience being challenging, with the context of someone else's reported speech.

• 그 프로젝트가 예상보다 너무 어려웠다고 학생들이 이야기했어요.

  Students said that the project was much harder than expected.

  In this instance, "어려웠다고" conveys the students' reported opinion regarding the unexpected difficulty of the project.