Korean

Suffix

던데 • ‎(deonde)

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

   걔 예쁘던데, 누구냐?‎

   Gyae yeppeudeonde, nugunya?

   Who was she? Was quite pretty...

   집에 안 계시던데, 경비실에 맡겨 두면 되겠습니까?‎

   Jibe an gyesideonde, gyeongbisire matgyeo dumyeon doegetseumnikka?

   You were not home, so, will it be okay if I leave this in the janitor's office?

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

   성격도 참 좋아 보이던데요.‎

   Seonggyeokdo cham joa boideondeyo.

   He looked kind, too!

   아까 보니 그거, 조금만 손보면 꽤 쓸 만하겠던데?‎

   Akka boni geugeo, jogeumman sonbomyeon kkwae sseul manhagetdeonde?

   About the item we saw a minute ago, I think it will be fairly useful if we touch it up a bit?

Usage notes

The suffix 던데 (deonde) is directly attached to the stem of a verb, an adjective, or 이다 (ida, “to be”), and if the stem ends in the consonant ㄹ (l), it does not drops out.

See also

• ㄴ데 (nde, present tense for adjectives}}
• 는데 (neunde, present tense for verbs}}
• ㄹ 텐데 (l tende, future), the contraction of ㄹ 터인데 (ㄹ teoinde), which uses the dependent noun 터 (teo, “inference; intention”)