Let's Learn Korean - ~던데요/~고 하던데요

Total words: 269

Last week or maybe the week before in class we went over ~던데요/~고 하던데요. I have no problem conjugating or using this structure except that I can’t really figure out what it means. The text book includes this explanation in English:

~던데요is used when informing someone of what was made known from personal experience or observation.

[마이클 씨 안나 씨가 도서관에셔 공부하고있는 것을 봤다].
다게시: 마이클씨, 안나 씨가 지금 어디에 있는지 아세요?
마이클: 안나 씨는 도서관에서 고부 하던데요.

This seems straitforward enough with the last sentence probably meaning I saw Anna studying in the library.

This also matches up with the The Green Book’s explanation.

~*던데요: I noticed/observed that…
여름에 아리조나가 아주 덥던대됴.
I noticed that Arizona is very hot in the summer.

Though in this case it is used at the end of the sentence rather than as a conjunction.

In Korean Grammar for International Learners (I have an older edition than the one in the link), there is a rather cryptic explanation:

The content of the second clause is induced from the first clause which is a recollection of a past event related with the content of the second clause.
그 색이 잘 어울리시던데, 바꿔 입으쎴군요.

I don’t understand this last sentence at all, nor see how it fits in with the other examples above. Additionally when I encounter this grammar I’m not sure exactly how to understand it. I’ve been noticing it quite a bit, but when I do I don’t understand what is said. Obviously I’m not ready to use it in natural speech, but I would like to understand it when I hear it.

Posted by 王音癡 on Monday Feb 5, 2007 in Grammar | |

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트랙백:

I’m not sure if I can really help you understand this but I’ll try.
It sure is really confusing.

‘-던데’ has 2 different roles.
1. conjuntion
2. ending of a sentence

NAVER dictionary says

-던데
1【연결 어미】though;although;in spite of;notwithstanding;but
사람은 젊던데 아주 똑똑하더라 Young though he was, he was very wise.
그들은 쌍동이던데 전혀 다르더라 Although they´re twins, they are as different as night and day.
2【종결 어미】I found...;you see[know]
책은 쉽던데 I found the book easy.
그는 관대하고 아주 공손하던데 He is generous and, you know, very polite.

This explanations is not perfect or enough but still, I guess it can be helpful.
I think , for no. 1 explanation, it gives you the impression that two sentences linked should be including opposite stories but it doesn’t have to be, they can be just related.

I’ll give you more Korean examples of ‘-던데’
그 사람 괜찮아 보이던데 한 번 만나 봐라
내일이 엄마 생신인데 무슨 선물을 해드리면 좋을까요?
그 사람 정말 노래 잘 부르던데.
어제 밤에 눈이 왔던데.

‘-던데요’ is a honorific for of ‘-던데’,
if you speak to older people or something,
어제 밤에 눈이 왔던데요.

Posted by future-kteacher on Monday Feb 12, 2007 at 11:08 PM
If I may be so forward, I believe that 왕음치님’s real question is how “던데” is different from other constructions, i.e. what is it that makes this the conjunction of choice in certain circumstances.

Eg. Why not “그 사람은 젊었지만 아주 똑똑했어” or “그 사람은 젊어, 근데 아주 똑똑해” or something else instead of “사람은 젊던데 아주 똑똑하더라.” What is uniquely being addressed by the “던데” construction in these sentences?

Perhaps treading on thin ice, I posit that it is because ~더~ conveys the feeling of “when I experienced...” or “I seem to recall...”

사람은 젊던데 아주 똑똑하더라 = As I recall, he was young but I also recall he was very bright.

그들은 쌍동이던데 전혀 다르더라 = I recall they were twins, but they seemed totally different.

And at the end of a sentence, the ~는데 frequently but not always conveys the feeling of mild disagreement.

책은 쉽던데 = [You think it is difficult but] I recall that book as being easy.

FWIW…

Posted by 태민 on Tuesday Feb 13, 2007 at 08:35 PM