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Grammar Advanced TOPIK II · Level 5–6 Advanced Korean 1 · expression

-어 내다

-어 내다: Manage To… — Push Through Until Done

Auxiliary 내다 after -어: the action is carried through by one’s own power, often through difficulty.

Before this, make sure you know: -어 버리다 , -아서 / -어서 , -아요 / -어요

How to form it

When Form Example
Verb + -아/어 내다 -아/어 내다 참아 내다 / 이겨 내다 / 막아 내다
하다 (hada) verbs 해 내다 해 내다 / 견뎌 내다

-어 내다 means manage to… — pushing through until it is done.

Why this is hard

It adds effort and completion colour to the verb. Learners treat it as bare -다 or confuse it with benefactive -어 주다. The 내다 piece is ‘bring it out / see it through.’

What it does

You mark an action completed through difficulty or persistence.

참아 냈어요.
찾아 냈어요.
견뎌 냈어요.
알아 냈어요.

Forms

Verb stem + -아/어 내다.

When not to use it

Do not use it for easy, effortless actions. Do not confuse it with -어 주다 giving. Do not stack it on every verb for emphasis.

Neighbours — and why they differ

FormWhy it is not this slot
-어 주다Do for someone — benefactive.
-어 버리다End up doing — completion with emotion.
-고 말다End up doing — different path.

Survival, discovery, and endurance stories love this. Keep a real obstacle in the scene.

Classroom examples should keep the meaning concrete: one clear scene beats three vague glosses. If a neighbour form already says the same thing more lightly, prefer the lighter tool unless register demands this one.

Ask: did someone push through until it was done? If yes, -어 내다. If they did a favour, use -어 주다.

Do not confuse it with

-어 버리다

did it completely (with feelings of regret or relief)

-고 말다

ended up doing it — usually regret, sometimes relief

-았-/-었-

past tense — built on the same stem rule as 해요체

Taught alongside this

On the jabi learning path, this appears in 표현 (expression) — Advanced Korean 1, Unit 4, on the theme of expression. These come with it:

-는다니1 what are they telling me to…? — asking what the order was -었던 that had been… — past modifier with a lingering sense 에 관하여 regarding, about — the written 에 관하여 / 관한 -자기에 because one decides to… — contracted -자고 하기에 (청유 인용 + 이유), pair of -는다기에 -게 마련이다 bound to be — naturally so (-기/게 마련이다) -게 생겼다 have ended up (badly)… — negative predicament with -게 생기다 -기 나름이다 depends on how you… — the outcome varies with the method -기가 바쁘게 as soon as — barely finishing one thing before the next -기가 쉽다 easy to… / prone to — a tendency that comes naturally -기만 하다 only does… — limiting the action to just that -기에 따라 depending on… — outcomes that change with the condition -기에 앞서(서) before doing… — prior to the step you name -은 나머지 as a result of… — the outcome that follows from that act -는 데다가 and on top of that — stacking one fact onto another -는 동시에 at the same time as — two things in the same moment -는 듯하다 seems to… — a soft guess from appearance -는 법이다 it is natural that… — a general rule of how things go -는 이상 now that / given that — already being in that state -은 채로 while still… — leaving it in the state it already has -는 척하다 pretend to… — acting as if -는 가운데 in the midst of — while that situation continues 는 말할 것도 없고 not to mention — A goes without saying, and B too (는/은 말할 것도 없고) -을 만하다 worth doing / decent enough — worth the effort or acceptable -을 법하다 likely to… — a reasonable prediction -을 테다 will (for sure) — a strong expectation about what follows -을 테면 if you are going to… — setting a condition for a plan -을 테지만 will, but… — expecting one thing and contrasting another -으려나 보다 I guess they mean to… — reading someone's likely intention 를 가지고 with, using — taking that as the means or topic -으면 몰라도 only if… — the following holds only under that (unreal / opposite) condition 에도 불구하고 despite — in spite of that noun situation -는데도 even though — contrast after a clause, softer than 지만 -는다기에 because they say… — the reported claim is the reason -는다는 것이 meant to…, but — intention (-는다고 하는 것이) whose result diverged -는데도 불구하고 even so — despite the whole preceding clause

Words used above

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-어 내다-eo naedamanage to… / push through
참다chamdato endure
이기다igidato win / overcome
막다makdato block
힘들다himdeuldato be hard

Quick check

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

1. A long illness is over and you want to credit the person for getting through it under their own power. Which line does that?

2. Which sentence uses the auxiliary on a 하다 verb the way the forms table shows?

3. A draft you hated is finally out of your hands and you feel lighter. Which auxiliary carries that release?

Common questions

Dictionary?

보조 동사 내다: in -어 내다 — the action is finally accomplished by one’s own power, often showing it was hard.

Vs -어 버리다?

버리다 finishes with attitude (regret/relief). 내다 stresses pushing through.

Spacing?

원칙 띄어 쓰기(참아 내다); 붙여 쓰기도 허용. Fixed compounds like 찾아내다 may be one word.

Feeling?

Often praise or grit: 해 냈다.