Click here for a Workbook to go along with this lesson. Jump to: Vocabulary Describing Past Tense with ~던 and ~았/었던
(Verbs) Vocabulary Click on the English word to see information and examples of that word in use. You will probably be able to understand most of the grammar in these example sentences, but some of the sentences might use grammar from later
lessons. Use these sentences to give yourself a feel for how each word can be used. A PDF file neatly presenting these words and extra information can be found here. Nouns: Common Usages: Examples: 저는 제 친구에게 한국으로 이사하고 싶은 이유가 뭐냐고 물어봤어요 그 회사원들이 파업 중인 이유는 월급 문제가 아니라 연금에 대한 문제 때문이다 방법 = way, method Common Usages: Examples: 투자자가 없기 때문에 우리는 다른 방법으로 할 거예요 예술 = art, the arts Common Usages: Examples: 예술은 저의
삶에 항상 큰 부분이었다 =Art was always a big part of my life 예술가 = artist Common Usages: Examples: 내용 = contents Notes: The word “내용” in Korean is much more common than the English word “contents.” 내용 is broadly used to refer to the “contents” in a book, video, story, or any other source of information. In Korean, it would be common to say something like “저는 그 영화의 내용을 안 좋아했어요” which would
translate to “I didn’t like that movie’s content.” In English, it would be more common to just say “I didn’t like that movie.” Common Usages: Examples: 종업원 = employee, server, worker Examples: 종업원을 찾아야 돼요 = I need to find the worker/server/employee 기술 = technology, skill Common Usages: Notes: This word means both “technology” and “skill.” A lot of the times when a word has two difference meanings, their respective Hanja equivalents are different. 기술 is one word, that
means both “technology” and “skill.” It doesn’t make sense to me either. The context can tell you what translation should be best. For example, when used to mean “technology:” 다음 10년의 의료기술개발은 대한민국에 중요하다 On the other hand, when used to mean “skill” 학교를 다닐 때 실용적인 기술을 많이 배우는 게 아주 중요해요 공책 = notebook Examples: 달력 = calendar Notes: The word “음력” is used to refer to the lunar calendar (with is semi-followed in Korea, especially by the older generation), and “양력” technically refers to the solar calendar. The word “달력” is used to refer to
the actual book of the calendar. Examples: 주스 = juice Common Usages: Examples: 우체국 = post office Notes: The Chinese Character “국” (局) is sometimes used to designate some sort of “place” or “office.” Other examples: 약국
(pharmacy); 방송국 (broadcasting station) Common Usages: Examples: 대사관 = embassy Common Usages: Examples: 휴지 = toilet paper Common Usages: Examples: 햄버거 = hamburger Common Usages: Examples: 비누 = soap Common Usages: Examples: 숟가락 = spoon The pronunciation of this word is closer to “숟까락” Common Usages: Examples: 간호사 = nurse Common Usages: Examples: 약국 = pharmacy The pronunciation of this word is closer to “약꾹” Examples: 약사랑 잠깐 얘기하러 약국에 가야 돼요 사회 = community, society Common Usages: Examples: 충격 = shock, impact Common Usages: Examples: 법 = law Common Usages: Examples: 시민 = citizen Common Usages: Examples: 그 땀 = sweat Notes: 땀 is often used with “나다” to indicate that sweat “comes out.” For more information on how/why this is done, see Lesson 14. Common Usages: Examples: 보험 = insurance Common Usages: Examples: 나의 월세는 보험을 포함한다 = My monthly income includes insurance 차이 = difference Notes: The word “차이점” is often used with very little or no difference in meaning. You could translate “차이점” to “difference point,” but “difference” is often sufficient. Common Usages: Examples: 캐나다와 미국은 문화적인 차이가 있다 = Canada and the US have a cultural difference 저와 저의 여자친구는 네 살 차이예요 캐나다와 미국은 비슷하지만 자세히 보면 차이가 나요 손님 = guest, visitor Examples: 식당은 손님으로 가득 찼어요 = The restaurant is filled with customers 승객 = passenger Notes: This is often heard over the broadcasting messages of subways, buses, trains and airplanes in Korea. In these cases, it is often said as “승객 여러분” to be more polite. Common Usages: Examples: 다른 승객들이 편히 탈 수 있도록 신문을 읽지 마세요 지금은 서울 역. 서울역입니다. 공항철도나 KTX를 타시고 싶은 승객은 이 역에서 갈아타시기 바랍니다 승객 여러분들이 다 탑승했으니 우리는 잠시 후 출발하겠습니다 대통령 = president (of country) The pronunciation of this word is closer to “대통녕” Notes: The word for prime-minister is 총리 Common Usages: Examples: 회원 = member Notes: The word “회원님” is commonly used to be more polite, especially when workers refer to the members of their club. Common Usages: Examples: 오늘 헬스장에서 회원권을 샀으니 내일부터 운동을 시작해야겠어요 오렌지 = an orange Notes: 오렌지 refers to the fruit, not the color. When referring to the color, you can use “주황색” Common Usages: Examples: 저는 평생 동안 오렌지를 세 번밖에 안 먹어 봤어요 = I have eaten oranges nothing but three times in my life Verbs: The pronunciation of this word is closer to “담따” Common Usages: Examples: This word appears in my Korean Sign Explanation Video 5. 서명하다 = to sign The noun form of this word (“서명”) translates to “one’s signature” Notes: The Konglish word “사인” (sign/signature) is often used instead of 서명. Common Usages: Examples: 그리다 = to draw Common Usages: Examples: 밝히다 = to lighten something, to reveal The pronunciation of this word is closer to “발키다” Notes: This word is used when making something brighter. For example: However, in this same sense it can be used to refer to “brightening”
a situation with more information. This is commonly translated to “reveal.” For example: More examples: 발음하다 = to pronounce The noun form of this word (“발음”) translates to “pronunciation” Common Usages: Examples: 그 단어를 어떻게 발음하는지 알아요 = I know how to pronounce that word 포기하다 = to give up The noun form of this word (“포기”) translates to something like “abandonment” Common Usages: Examples: 시험을 네 번 연속으로 못 봐서 포기할 수밖에 없어요 저는 공무원 시험을 준비했다가 포기했어요 지나다 = for something to pass by Notes: This can be used in a variety of situations, each with the same general meaning of something “passing by.” It is often used after an indication of time, for example: 그때부터 시간이 많이 지났어요 = A lot of time has passed since then It can also be used to indicate that one has passed a location. For example: Common Usages: Examples: 실패하다 = to fail The noun form of this word (“실패”) translates to “failure” Examples: 근무하다 = to be employed The noun form of this word (“근무”) translates to “work” Notes: This word is very similar to 일하다. However, when using 일하다, the place where one works should have ~에서 attached to it. For example: I have noticed that ~에 or ~에서 are possible when indicating that place where one works using 근무하다. For example, both of these are fine: 그 선생님이 우리 학교에 10년 동안 근무했어요 Common
Usages: Examples: 환승하다 = to transfer on a bus, subway The noun form of this word (“환승”) translates to “a transfer” Examples: 멈추다 = to stop Notes: 그만하다 is usually used when something/somebody stops something that they will likely not continue again in the future (or somebody hopes that they will not continue it in the future). A good example is when stopping a vehicle. Of course, a vehicle will eventually start again, especially in the situations when riding a bus and the bus always stops and starts again. When describing this, 멈추다 should be used. For example: 버스가 멈추면 문이 완전히 열릴 때까지 기다리세요 = Wait for the door to open completely when the bus stops When stopping, or telling somebody to stop an action (that you don’t want to continue again), 그만하다 is used. For example: Examples: 일단 그가 술을 1잔을 마신 후에는 그가 술을 마시는 것을 못 멈춰요 나는 최대한 내 기쁜 마음을 감추려고 노력했다. 하하하. 하지만 웃음을 멈출 수 없었다 선생님이 조용히 하라고 하자 애들이 웃음을 멈추었어요 Passive verbs: The active form of this word is 담다 (to place onto/into/on/in) Examples: 빵이 그릇에 담겨 있어요 = The bread is in/on the bowl Adjectives: The pronunciation of this word is closer to “외롭따” Common Usages: Examples: 하지만 시간이 흐르면서 나는 점점 더 외로움을 느꼈다. 특히 친하게 지냈던 친구들이 각 자 자기 나라로 돌아가기 시작하자 더 외로움을 느꼈다. 소중하다 = to be significant, precious Common Usages: Examples: 민호는 나에게 아주 소중한 친구일 뿐만 아니라 애인이다 내년에도 이렇게 행복하게 엄마와 소중한 시간을 보내고 싶다! 처음에는 혼자 여행을 갈까 생각했지만, 친구와 함께 소중한 추억을 만드는 것도 좋은 생각 인 것 같아서 친구에게 먼저 물어보기로 했다 Adverbs and Other words: Notes: This word is often said as “따로따로” Common Usages: Examples: 우리는 그 답을 따로따로 썼어요 = We wrote that answer separately 영원히 = forever Examples: 나는 너를 영원히 사랑할 거야 = I will love you forever 한때 = once, at one time Examples: 한때 포기했던 시험을 다시 공부할 거예요 한때 저의 손님이었던 사람이 이제는 유명한 예술가가 되었다 그 남자는 한때 그녀를 잠깐 사랑했었다 For help memorizing these words, try using our Memrise tool. Introduction In the previous lesson, you learned how ~는 것 can:
Now, let’s build on what you learned and apply the ~는 것 principle in other ways. Describe Past Tense with ~던 and ~았/었던 Before I even begin this lesson, I want to point out that I will be describing things that most Korean people can’t distinguish. When learning about subtle differences in a foreign language, it is often difficult to fully grasp because native speakers of that language can intuitively feel the difference, but not express it. I will do my best to describe this feeling, but keep in mind that most Korean people would probably have difficulty expressing what I will attempt to describe in this lesson. For a long time now, you have been able to describe upcoming nouns with adjectives. For example: 예쁜 여자 = pretty girl In the previous lesson, you learned to describe upcoming nouns with verbs. For example, in the present tense: 영어를 공부하는 학생 = the student that/who studies English … the future tense: 영어를 공부할 학생 = the student that/who will study English … and the past tense: 영어를 공부한 학생 = the student that/who studied English As you learned in the previous lesson (and as you can see in the two example sentences immediately above), you can attach ~ㄴ/은 to the stem of a verb to describe an upcoming noun in the past tense. In addition to ~ㄴ/은, there are other ways that you can describe upcoming nouns in the past tense. The two additional ways to describe an upcoming noun in the past tense include the grammatical principle ~더~. Notice that there is a “~” both before and after the syllable “더.” I include ~ both before and after to “더” to indicate that not only is ~더~ attached to things, but things are also attached to it. ~더~ is a fairly advanced grammatical principle and has multiple applications. I discuss ~더~ and introduce the various ways that it can be used in the later lessons of Unit 5; where I introduce ~던가 (Lesson 117), ~더라 (Lesson 118) and ~더니 (Lesson 119). For now, I will concentrate on the nuance that ~더~ adds by showing you how it can be used to describe an upcoming noun. When you see ~더~ used as part of a grammatical principle, it signifies that the speaker is recalling/remembering some fact from the past that was experienced. ~더~ can be attached to the stem of a verb, and ~ㄴ/은 (the same ~ㄴ/은 that describes upcoming nouns in the past tense as learned in the previous lesson) can be attached to ~더~. Simply put, one use is: Verb stem + ~더~ + ~ㄴ/은 What comes out is Verb stem + ~던 – and this can be used to describe an upcoming noun in the past tense. For example: 내가 입던 옷 Now, the difficult part of this lesson is trying to understand the difference between the following: I’m not going to make full sentences yet because I’m still in the process of explaining the subtle difference between various ways to describe a noun in the past tense. Once we get all the grammar under our belt, I’ll start making real sentences.
Despite their similar (/identical) translations, there is a difference between the two constructions above. First of all, remember that the function of ~더~ is to indicate that the speaker is recalling/remembering some fact that was experienced. In the second example, the speaker is explicitly expressing that this thought is coming from memory – something that the person remembers doing or experiencing. The first example is just a simple fact, and this additional “memory” feeling isn’t present. This doesn’t mean that the first example above isn’t being “recalled/remembered,” it just isn’t being explicitly expressed. I realize that this sounds ambiguous. I’ve talked about this with Korean people for years. When I try to get Korean people to explain the image they have in their brain when hearing ~더~ (and specifically ~던 compared to ~ㄴ/은) they move their hands in a way that shows that something is popping or exploding out of their head. In theory, you could translate the usage of ~던 in a sentence differently. For example, you could say: 내가 입던 옷 = The clothes I recall wearing However, I would never translate that sentence this way. The “recalling” feeling of ~더~ in these cases is very subtle – more of a feeling – and unless the context indicates otherwise, the focus is most likely on the clothes than on the recollection. In addition to having this “memory from experience” feeling, the use of ~던 in the construction above indicates that an action occurred repeatedly in the past. I specifically chose the construction “내가 입던 옷” because it is an excellent example to describe this usage. The clothes that are being described are clothes that the speaker wore on multiple occasions (this makes sense, because they are clothes). When you say “내가 입은 옷,” again, you are just stating a simple fact, and there is no additional information regarding “memory” or if you wore the clothes once, or many times. All that is being stated is that – at some time in the past, you wore those clothes – and no additional information is given. ~ㄴ/은 is a very simply way to express that you wore these clothes in the past. So, now we know that adding ~던 gives the meaning of personal experience/memory and that the action occurred repeatedly. Knowing this, look at the following examples and think about which one would be correct:
In the first example, the act of “wearing” an article of clothing can happen
repeatedly over time. Therefore, this construction is possible. The difference between the two constructions above clearly illustrate this “repeated” meaning of ~던. In the constructions above, I attached ~던 to two different verbs to illustrate this difference. Below, I have used the same verb, but this time have attached ~던 to the first one, and ~ㄴ/은 to the second one. Look at the following examples and think about which one would be correct:
In the first example, ~ㄴ/은 indicates a simple past-tense fact, and there is no additional meaning attached unless implied within the sentence. Here, the speaker is describing the city as “the city that I was born in.” I realize that I just keep piling on the meanings hidden behind ~던, but there is another subtlety that you should be aware of. When ~던 is used, we know that the speaker is recalling something from memory, and that the action occurred repeatedly in the past. It is also possible that this “repeated” action is still reoccurring into the present (or whatever current time is being described in the sentence). Unless otherwise specified in other parts of the sentence, this repeated action hasn’t been stopped and is still re-occurring. Let’s look at our classic “clothes” example and outline this specifically: 내가 입은 옷 내가 입던 옷 With the constructions I have shown so far, there is no additional context given. In real situations with full sentences, you will most likely have additional information that will allow you to distinguish the sentence better. For example, I can put the construction above into a sentence: 내가 지금까지 입던 옷을 내일 버릴 거야 = Tomorrow, I am going to throw out the clothes that I have been wearing until now The use of ~던 in the sentence can tell us the following:
Here are many more examples: 내가 읽던 책은 재미없었어 = The book I was reading wasn’t funny 2015년에 쓰던 달력을 내일 버릴 거예요 제가 자주 가던 약국이 오늘부터 문을 닫을 거예요 In the examples above, the object is being described by some action that “I” did. I mentioned earlier that one of the subtleties of ~던 is the feeling of “remembering/recalling.” In the examples above, of course I am remembering them, because “I” am the person who performed the action. This subtle meaning of “remembering/recalling,” although present, seems irrelevant. Nonetheless, you should remember that ~더~ contains this meaning. In situations where the object is being described by some action that another person did, the subtleties of ~던 seem more apparent. For example, I could say these sentences: 이 빵은 슬기가 자주 먹던 빵이야 = This bread is bread that Seulgi eats often 이곳에 근무하던 우체국 직원이 삶을 영원히 포기했어요 길을 밝히던 불이 꺼지고 나서 길이 어두워졌어요 방금 들어온 사람은 우리 가게에 자주 오던 손님이야 I use the present tense “come” in the English translation above. You could argue than “came” or “used to come” would be more appropriate because we are describing the person as a customer who came in the past. However, because of the context of the sentence – they also “just came in” and are probably still there now – indicating that it could be used in the present tense. Again, it is difficult to translate these sentences in English. Pay more attention to the Korean sentence and use the English translation as a reference. Because ~던 (through the usage of ~더~) indicates that one is “remembering/recalling” something, the bread is not only “bread that Seulgi eats often” but more specifically “bread that I specifically remember/recall/experienced Seulgi eating often.” Again, these types of translations are nonsense. I would never write a translation of these types of sentences to include “remember/recall/experienced.” It’s always better to just understand the subtle meanings that they can have and forget about English translations. I can’t really think of a great translation for ~던. If you think about it, with all you know about ~던, how would you translate the following: 내가 입던 옷 Would you translate it to: The clothes I wore These sentences could all be possible in English to describe ~던 in this case, but in my mind don’t accurately describe the subtleties that exist within ~던. To add to the confusion, there is another way to describe an upcoming noun that looks similar to ~던 and has a similar meaning. Let’s talk about this next. ———————————– So far, you have seen how ~던 can be used to describe an upcoming noun and have compared it to ~ㄴ/은. For example: 내가 입은 옷 = The clothes I wore – (Simple description of the clothes in the past tense) It is also possible to add ~았/었~ between the verb stem and ~던. For example: 내가 입었던 옷 = The clothes I wore Alright, now it’s time to explain the difference between ~았/었던 and ~던 or ~ㄴ/은. When ~았/었던 is added to a verb to describe an upcoming noun, the speaker is indicating that the action has completely finished and is not currently occurring. For example, if we go back to our tried and tested example: 내가 입었던 옷 The meaning and feeling of ~았/었던 is similar to the meaning and feeling of ~ㄴ/은. Most Korean people would tell you at first glance that they are the same. I will do my best to distinguish them for you. As I mentioned before, when you say “내가 입은 옷,” you are stating a simple fact, and there is no additional information regarding “memory” or if you wore the clothes once, or many times, or if you still wear those clothes these days too. All that is being stated is that – at some time in the past, you wore those clothes – and no additional information is given. ~ㄴ/은 is a very simple way to express that you wore these clothes in the past. Saying “내가 입었던 옷” is similar, but the usage of ~더~ describes that the speaker is “remembering/recalling” this from memory/experience. Saying “내가 입었던 옷” is also specifically indicating that the action of “wearing the clothes” is finished and doesn’t happen anymore. It is possible that ~ㄴ/은 can be used to express this, but its meaning is more broad and doesn’t state this explicitly. Korean people often incorrectly assume that the use of ~았/었던 indicates that a lot of time has passed since the last action. Many Korean people have described this to me, so it is hard to call it “incorrect” because if Korean people feel that way about their own language, than in a way, it is correct. However, the time interval from when the action stopped happening to the present time is irrelevant. For example, you could say: 오늘 아침에 입었던 바지 The use of ~았/었던 is not used to show that the pants were worn a long time ago (of course, “this morning” was not a long time ago). Rather, it is used to show that the pants were worn, and are currently not being worn anymore. If you were to say the sentence above, at some point since the morning, you would have had to change or take off the pants being described because the use of ~았/었던 indicates that you are no longer wearing them. Compare the construction above to the following: 오늘 아침에 입은 바지 Because the pants were worn (or put on) in the morning, it’s likely that you are still wearing these pants. This sentence does not explicitly state if you have taken them off or if you are still wearing them. Below are examples of ~았/었던 in use. Notice that it is difficult to translate the nuance of ~았/었던 to English. Using the past perfect “had” is a common way to express this feeling in English, but depending on the context this doesn’t always need to be the case. When reading the sentences below, try not to pay attention to the English translations and try to remember the purpose of ~았/었던: 그 컴퓨터는 작년에 썼던 거예요 = That is the computer I had used last year 우리가 지난 주에 배웠던 내용을 다시 공부할 거예요 작년에 사업에 실패했던 남자가 새로운 기술을 발견했어요 한때 저의 손님이었던 사람이 이제는 유명한 예술가가 되었다 고장으로 계속 멈추는 버스를 탔던 승객들이 다른 버스를 탔어요 Let’s organize everything that has been presented so far: ~ㄴ/은: Attached to a verb to describe a noun where the action occurred sometime in the past. There is no additional meaning given to it. All we know is that at some point in the past, the action happened. ~던: Attached to a verb to describe a noun where the action is recalled to have occurred repeatedly in the past, and is continually repeating to the present (or to the time described in the sentence). ~았/었던: Attached to a verb to describe a noun where the action is recalled to have occurred in the past, but has finished occurring and currently does not occur. I don’t like distinguishing these grammatical principles based on their English translations. Given the number of possible situations that could come up, there is no perfect way to accurately translate any of them. However, the examples below show common translations for each of these grammatical principles in use: 내가 입은 바지 = the pants I wore Here is an image that I drew to show the picture I have in my head of each one placed along a timeline. I also included other additions that you learned in Lesson 26: I deliberately didn’t include English translations because using words to describe when the pants are worn in either language heavily depends on the context of the sentence. Also notice that I included an exclamation mark “!” for the last two to depict that there is a feeling that those actions are being recalled from experience. Describing Past Tense with ~던 and ~았/었던 (Adjectives) I think you might be comfortable with this now. Unfortunately, we need to discuss how ~던 and ~았/었던 can be added to adjectives. As you know, adding ~ㄴ/은 to an adjective allows you to describe a noun. For example: 예쁜 여자 = (a) pretty girl Although “예쁜” is indicating that the girl is currently pretty, we can infer that she also was pretty in the past. Most of the time, if a noun is described a certain way by an adjective in the present, the same could be true of that noun in the past. Earlier in the lesson you learned about adding ~았/었던 to verbs. ~았/었던 can also be added to adjectives, and it has a similar function as when used with verbs. When used with a verb, the speaker is indicating that the action happened in the past, but has since finished and does not occur anymore. If you attach ~았/었던 to an adjective to describe a noun, you are indicating that the noun was that way in the past, but is no longer that way anymore. For example, think about how unfortunate of a situation this would be: 예뻤던 여자 This would indicate that this girl was (or “had been”) pretty. However her being “pretty” has finished and she is no longer pretty anymore. The use of ~더~ also carries this “remembering/recalling” from experience subtlety. As you know, I hate translating these types of constructions; but if I were to translate the construction above: 예뻤던 여자 = The girl who I recall being pretty, but is not pretty anymore Up until now, I have been able to describe the subtle difference in nuance between ~ㄴ/은, ~던 and ~았/었던 when added to verbs. I have also been able to describe the subtle difference in nuance between ~ㄴ/은 and ~았/었던 when added to adjectives. Adding ~던 to an adjective is possible but is very confusing. I had a lengthy discussion with a Korean grammar teacher recently. After writing everything you see above (i.e. this whole lesson until now) I discussed every point with her to hear her opinion about my observations. We discussed the differences between ~ㄴ/은, ~던 and ~았/었던 when added to verbs. We then talked about ~ㄴ/은 and ~았/었던 when added to adjectives. All of this led me to this question: “If ~던 is added to verbs to indicate that one ‘remembers/recalls’ an action occurring repeatedly in the past and continuing to the present, how can this meaning be transferred to adjectives?” I figured this would not make sense, but I showed her this construction: 예쁘던 여자 She said that this would not be used. She then said that it would be incorrect to add “~던” directly to adjectives because an adjective can’t “occur” repeatedly in the past. Puzzled, I looked at her and said “absolutely, ~던 can be added to adjectives.” She challenged me and said “okay, come up with a situation where ~던 can be added to an adjective.” Remember, this conversation happened between a Korean person who, as her profession, teaches Korean language to Korean high school students and a dude from Canada. The example is a little bit above your level, but I started singing the song “나에게 넌” in front of her: 소중했던 우리 푸르던 날을 기억하며 Notice that ~던 is added directly to two adjectives in the short lyrics above. It is attached to 푸르다 in the first line and to 외롭다 in the third line. The first word, 소중하다 has ~았/었던 attached. After she heard my amazing singing, she realized she was wrong. She then thought about it more and said that adding ~던 to an adjective has the same meaning as when adding ~았/었던, but the latter would be much more common. I figured that explanation was nonsense. There is no way that ~았/었던 and ~던 could have identical meaning. The only reason why I’m sharing this story with you is so you can realize that even Korean people, including those you would call “experts” in their own language, have a hard time distinguishing these things. I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on ~던 being attached to adjectives and how I can present it to you. It’s not that simple because when used separated from a sentence just shown with one noun, it often sounds very unnatural. For example: 예쁜 여자 = the pretty girl However, there are cases where the adjective and noun being used could make it appropriate. For example: 시끄러운 교실 = the noisy classroom 시끄러웠던 교실 = the classroom that I recall being noisy, but is not noisy anymore 시끄럽던 교실 – This construction is possible. Although the “repeated” function of ~던 can’t really be applied, the function of indicating that something occurs to the present tense can be applied. If you said “시끄럽던 교실” to a Korean person, they would assume that the classroom was loud up until the present, but it just stopped being loud. If we compare this to “시끄러웠던 교실,” Korean people would say that the classroom was loud further in the past, and there is a gap between when it stopped being loud until the present. This could explain why a construction like “예쁘던 여자” would be unnatural. It’s not really possible for you to recognize that a girl was pretty in the past, and notice that this continues all the way until present and for her to all of a sudden not be pretty anymore. However, it could be possible (however unfortunate) for a girl to have been pretty in the past, and for some time to pass, and then (presumably during that time period) for the girl to stop being pretty. Because of this, I can use some adjectives to describe some nouns using ~던, but it wouldn’t be appropriate with others. For example: Again, please don’t pay too much attention to the English translations: 조용하던 길 = The street that I recall being quiet until now For example: 맑던 하늘이 갑자기 어두워졌어요 따뜻하던 날씨가 비가 오고 나서 추워졌어요 조용하던 길이 사람들이 집에서 나오기 시작하고 나서 시끄러워졌어요 ——————————— There is something that I want to discuss in the midst of all of this confusion. In most cases – in both English or in Korean (or in any language, I guess), these subtle differences don’t need to be distinguished. For example, if I said: “The clear sky became dark” Was the sky clear until the present and then became dark? The answer to all of these questions – and any other questions you can think of – is irrelevant. As learners of Korean, we often find ourselves overthinking things and getting worked up over the meaning of something away from context. In reality, context will usually explain everything for you. For example, look at the ambiguous way that I describe “the sky” (하늘) in the following example: 맑? 하늘이 갑자기 어두워졌어요 Regardless of what replaces the “?” in the example above, the context from the rest of the sentence would be able to clarify the meaning and result of the sentence for you. Much like how the English sentences below, in effect, have the same result: The sky that was clear all of a sudden became dark ———————————– That’s as far as I’m going to go. As I said at the beginning of this lesson – the difference between ~던 and ~았/었던 (compared with other grammatical principles that you learned in the previous lesson) is very confusing. If you have reached this point and think to yourself “I am still a little bit unclear of the difference” – Congratulations! You’re just like a typical Korean person. As I have discussed, Korean people – including those who you would consider “experts” in their own language – can’t describe the difference precisely. I hope that you have enjoyed my discussion about these, and I hope that you are able to distinguish them a little bit. Above all, I hope that this lesson hasn’t completely turned you off of Korean forever! That’s it! Okay, I got it! Take me to the next lesson! Or, |