Korean

Suffix

는데 • ‎(neunde)

1. mentions relevant circumstances before explaining, commanding, or suggesting

   떡 줄 사람은 생각도 않는데 김칫국부터 마신다.‎

   Tteok jul sarameun saenggakdo anneunde gimchitgukbuteo masinda.

   to count one's chickens before they are hatched; (lit.) to drink kimchi soup in advance, while the person, who may give rice cake, is not going to.

   야, 밖에 눈 오는데 눈싸움하자!‎

   Ya, bakke nun oneunde nunssaumhaja!

   Hey, it's snowing outside! Let's have a snowball fight!

2. an intimate style exclamatory or interrogative suffix, expressing unexpectedness or anticipating the listener's responses

   없었는데?‎

   Eopseonneunde?

   But there was nothing!

   이야, 맛있겠는데?‎

   Iya, maditgenneunde?

   Wow, it looks delicious, isn't it?

Usage notes

The suffix -는데 (-neunde) is directly attached to the stem of a verb, or existential adjectives 있다 (itda, “to exist”), 없다 (eopda, “not to exist”), or 계시다 (gyesida, “to exist (honorific)”), or adjectives and 이다 (ida, “to be”) with past or future tense. If the stem ends in the consonant ㄹ (l), it drops out.

To denote the present tense for an ordinary adjective and 이다 (ida, “to be”), use -ㄴ데 (-nde) instead.

Not to be confused with -는 데 (-neun de), meaning the place where the event -는 (-neun) indicates happened, or the event itself. See 데 (de).

Alternative forms

• -ㄴ데 (-nde)
• -던데 (-deonde, past retrospect)
• -ㄹ 텐데 (-l tende, future tense), the contraction of -ㄹ 터인데 (-l teoinde), which uses the dependent noun 터 (teo, “inference or intention”)