-던-
-deon
was ...-ing (retrospective modifier)
As an adnominal ending, '-던' attaches to a verb or adjective stem to modify a following noun, marking a past action or state that was ongoing, repeated, or left unfinished. In old-fashioned casual speech it can also form a friendly yes/no question about the listener's own past experience (e.g., '...있던?').
Form
- Attaches to
- Verb, Adjective, 이다, Auxiliary
Meanings
- 1
(formal, highly addressee-lowering) A sentence-final ending used to ask about the listener's personal experience of the past in a friendly manner.
(아주낮춤으로) 듣는 사람이 과거에 직접 경험한 사실에 대해 답하도록 친근하게 물을 때 쓰는 종결 어미.
※ 주로 구어에서 친구나 아랫사람에게 쓰고, ‘이다’, 동사와 형용사 또는 ‘-으시-’, ‘-었-’, ‘-겠-’ 뒤에 붙여 쓴다.
- 2
An ending of a word that makes the preceding statement function as an adnominal phrase and implies that an event or action has not been completed in the past but has been stopped.
앞말이 관형어의 기능을 하게 만들고 사건이나 동작이 과거에 완료되지 않고 중단되었음을 나타내는 어미.
※ ‘이다’, 동사와 형용사 또는 ‘-으시-’, ‘-었-’, ‘-겠-’ 뒤에 붙여 쓴다.
Examples
결혼하니 신랑이 잘해 주던?
Now that you're married, does your husband treat you well?
할아버지께서는 안녕하시던?
Was your grandfather doing well?
누가 너한테 이러라고 시키던?
Who told you to do this?
새로 취직한 직장은 다닐 만하던?
Is the new job you started okay to work at?
그러게, 조금만 더 기다리지 누가 먼저 가라던?
Right, you should have waited a bit longer -- who told you to leave first?
그래, 선생님이 뭐라고 하시던? 거짓말을 한 것은 잘못이지만 이번이 처음이니 봐주신다고 하셨어요.
So, what did the teacher say? She said lying was wrong, but since it was the first time, she'd let it go.
Examples: 한국어기초사전, CC BY-SA 2.0 KR.
Don’t confuse with
Forms with a close meaning — a favourite source of wrong answers on TOPIK.
Quick check
1. What does ‘-던-’ mean?
2. Which form means “was ...-ing (retrospective modifier)”?