haru Korean › Grammar › Level 3A › A/V-던데(요)

A/V-던데(요) — I noticed … · I found … — telling what you saw or tasted yourself

I noticed … · I found … — telling what you saw or tasted yourself. Korean grammar for intermediate learners — Level 3A, lesson 4: 먹어 보니까 맛있던데요 (I tried it and it was good — tasting and recalling).

What it means

-던데(요) takes you back to something you yourself saw, heard, tasted or felt, and brings it into the conversation now. At the end of a sentence, -던데요 says 'I noticed …, I found …' and leaves something unsaid — a tip, a hint or a polite 'but': 그 집 매운탕은 좀 맵던데요 (so be careful). In the middle of a sentence, -던데 sets the scene for advice, a question or an invitation: 사람이 많던데 일찍 가세요 · 그 식당이 맛있던데 같이 가 볼래요? The form is easy: add 던데(요) to the stem of any verb or adjective — 맛있던데요, 맵던데요, 잘하던데요, and ㄹ stays: 팔던데요. Nouns take 이던데요 after a consonant and 던데요 after a vowel: 비빔밥이던데요, 불고기던데요. When what you saw had already happened, use -았/었던데요: 민수 씨가 벌써 왔던데요. Because it reports what you observed, it is not used for your own actions (저는 어제 김치를 먹던데요 ✗), but your own taste and feelings are fine: 저는 좀 맵던데요. Compare -는데(요) (Lesson 2A-9), which is about the situation now.

Forms

Key points

• A/V-던데요 = I noticed … · I found …: stem + 던데요 for every verb and adjective (맛있던데요 · 맵던데요 · 잘하던데요) · N이던데요 / N던데요 (비빔밥이던데요 · 불고기던데요) · past -았/었던데요 (벌써 왔던데요)
• -던데 in the middle of a sentence sets the scene for advice, a question or an invitation: 사람이 많던데 일찍 가세요. -는데(요) (Lesson 2A-9) is about now; -던데(요) is about what you saw before.

Examples

• 전에 내가 보거나 듣거나 먹어 본 것을 지금 다른 사람에게 말해요.
• 동사 · 형용사 + 던데요: 맛있던데요 · 맵던데요 · 잘하던데요. 명사 + (이)던데요: 비빔밥이던데요 · 불고기던데요.
• 끝나지 않고 이어서: 사람이 많던데 일찍 가세요. (부탁 · 질문 · 같이 하자고 할 때)
• 보았을 때 벌써 끝난 일: 민수 씨가 벌써 왔던데요.
• 내가 한 일에는 안 써요: 저는 김치를 먹던데요 ✗ → 먹었어요.

Where university textbooks teach it

This point also appears in: Seoul National University Korean 3A, lesson 4; Yonsei University Korean 2-2, lesson 18; Sogang University Korean 3A, lesson 6; Yonsei University Korean 3-1, lesson 8; Ewha Womans University Korean 3-1, lesson 2; Hongik University Korean 3B, lesson 8; Hongik University Korean 3B, lesson 11; Hanyang University Korean 4-1, lesson 6.

Also in this lesson

• V-아/어 보니(까) — I tried it and found … — what you find out by doing
• V-나 보다 — it seems … · they must be … — guessing from what you see or hear (verbs)
• A/V-(으)니 — because … (written) — the reason on notices, signs and in announcements

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