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Grammar Advanced TOPIK II · Level 5–6 Advanced Korean 2 · final ending

-던2

-던②: Was It…? — Past Experience Question Ending

Ending: was it…? — asking about what you experienced before.

Before this, make sure you know: -던 , -아요 / -어요

How to form it

When Form Example
As ending question -던? 가던? / 하던? / 먹던?
Past experience ask stem + 던? 거기 살던? / 그 사람 만나던?

-던② asks about prior experience — was it…? / did you…?

Same letters as adnominal -던. Different job. PLAN: 각각 쓴다.

Why this is hard

Shape overlap. 가던 길 (the road you used to take) is not 가던? (were you going / did you go?). Curriculum tags this slot 의문.

What it does

거기 가던?
그 노래 듣던?
예전에 거기 살던?
그 사람하고 만나던?

The sentence ends as a question about experienced past.

Forms

Stem + -던? as ending.

가다 → 가던?
하다 → 하던?
살다 → 살던?

When not to use it

Do not use this page for noun modifiers — -던.

Do not invent it as a soft future.

Do not ignore neighbouring -던가 coats when the ask expands.

Neighbours — and why they differ

FormWhy it is not this slot
-던Past-looking adnominal.
-던가①/②Expanded past-question coats.

Ask: does the line end asking about experienced past? If yes, -던②. If modifying a noun, adnominal -던.

Do not confuse it with

-던

that was unfinished / used to do / recalled from the past

Taught alongside this

On the jabi learning path, this appears in 종결어미 (final ending) — Advanced Korean 2, Unit 3, on the theme of final ending. These come with it:

-는구려 how…! — a mild, slightly archaic exclamation -는구먼 oh, so it is… — noticing a newly realised fact -그려 you know / indeed — particle stressing the point to the listener -으리라 I shall… / it will… — resolve, or speculation about the situation -으오 …o — the old polite ending of formal speech -으니4 how dare… / some…! — blaming or scolding with -으니 -거들랑2 you should know… — telling the listener something they do not know (종결) -게3 do it — the 하게체 command -게4 mind you / see here — drawing the point back into view -구려2 do it, won't you — a soft command -네1 plain statement — the 하게체 -네 that just reports -는구만 so it is… — noticing a newly realised fact (casual) -는가2 the question is… — raising the issue rather than asking casually -나2 …? — a bare question to yourself or someone close -던가1 was it…, from experience? — past question from what you lived -던가2 was it…, I wonder? — past question as a guess -라2 plain statement — -라 after 이다-type stems -으리오 how could it…? — rhetorical pushback, often with lament -소 …so — the old polite style of shopkeepers and elders

Words used above

Tap the speaker to hear it read aloud by your browser.

-던-deonwas it…? (experience question)
의문uimunquestion
노래noraesong

Quick check

No sign-up, no score saved — just see if it stuck.

1. The line should end by asking if you used to go there. It should not name a road. Which line?

2. You are asking whether they used to hear that song. The sentence ends there. Which line?

3. You want the short ending about who they used to meet, not a noun and not a guess. Which line?

Common questions

Sense?

의문 — ending that asks about what was experienced.

Vs junggeup -던?

-던 adnominal marks past-looking modifiers. This ② is ending question.

How to tell?

Noun after -던? Modifier. Sentence ends at -던?? This slot.

Register?

Spoken recall questions — checking memory of shared past.