-는다
-는다: The Plain Written Ending of Books and News
Plain haera-style statement ending for present facts — the voice of writing, diaries, and reporting.
How to form it
| When | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb stem with batchim (not ㄹ) | -는다 | 먹다 → 먹는다 / 읽다 → 읽는다 |
| Vowel or ㄹ verb stem | -ㄴ다 | 가다 → 간다 / 살다 → 산다 |
| Adjective or 이다 | -다 | 예쁘다 → 예쁘다 / 학생이다 → 학생이다 |
| Past | -었다 / -았다 | 먹었다 / 갔다 |
-는다 (with its siblings -ㄴ다 and -다) is the plain statement ending you meet in diaries, novels, and a lot of news-style Korean. It is not “more polite 해요.” It is a different speech level: 해라할 자리 narration.
우리말샘 lists -는다 / -ㄴ다 for verb statements in that seat, and -다 after adjectives, 이다, and endings like -었-. Classroom labels (“한다체”) bundle the family; the dictionary chops the forms by stem type.
The attachment map
| Stem | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb with batchim (not ㄹ) | -는다 | 먹는다, 읽는다 |
| Verb vowel / ㄹ | -ㄴ다 | 간다, 산다 (살다) |
| Adjective / 이다 | -다 | 춥다, 학생이다 |
| Past | -었다 family | 먹었다, 갔다 |
오늘도 운동을 한다. I work out today too. (diary / plain)
비가 온다. It’s raining. (narration)
그 영화는 재미있다. That film is fun. (adjective: -다, not *재미있는다)Do not write *간는다 or *예쁘는다. Those are the two errors this page exists to kill.
Not 해요, not 합니다
| Ending | Job |
|---|---|
| -아요 / -어요 | Polite talk to someone |
| -습니다, -습니까 | Formal address / announcements |
| -는다 family | Plain statement — writing, reporting, self-talk narration |
운동해요. (to a classmate)
운동합니다. (to an audience)
운동한다. (in a diary or a story)English formal collapses the last two. Korean does not. -는다 can feel “serious” because books use it — that is register of narration, not listener honorifics.
Where learners meet it
Self-development unit Korean loves this voice in goals and routines written down:
매일 아침 달리기를 한다.
책을 읽으면 생각이 넓어진다.
오늘은 일찍 잔다.Same unit pairs this voice with state change — -어지다 (becomes…): 운동을 하면 건강해진다.
News headlines and body copy lean on the same plain statement kit. You are not chatting with the article; the article is stating.
Versus 잖아(요)
-잖아(요) pulls the listener in (“you know…”). -는다 just states. Mixing them in one paragraph without a reason makes the voice wobble.
오늘 회의가 있어. 너도 알잖아. spoken, shared ground
오늘 회의가 있다. plain written factQuick checks
- Verb with batchim → -는다; vowel/ㄹ → -ㄴ다; adjective/이다 → -다.
- Do not glue -는다 onto adjectives.
- For a person in front of you, prefer -아요 / -어요 or -습니다, -습니까 — not diary endings by default.
Ask: am I narrating a fact in plain style, or talking to someone? If narrating, -는다. If talking, leave the diary voice on the page.
Do not confuse it with
Taught alongside this
On the jabi learning path, this appears in 꾸준히 운동을 하면 건강해져요 (If you exercise regularly, you will become healthy.) — Intermediate Korean 1, Unit 4, on the theme of self-development. These come with it:
Words used above
Quick check
No sign-up, no score saved — just see if it stuck.
1. Which is the correct plain present for 가다?
2. Where does -는다 usually belong?
3. What is wrong with *예쁘는다?
Common questions
Is -는다 the same as formal Korean?
No. hamnida-che raises the listener. -는다 is plain statement style — common in writing — not a polite addressee form.
Can I mix -어요 and -는다 in one diary entry?
Readers notice the swing. Pick a voice: diary often stays in -는다/-다; speech to a friend stays in haeyo-che or banmal.
What about questions like 뭐 하니?
Different endings. This page is the statement set (-는다/-ㄴ다/-다). Casual questions use forms like -니?.
Does past still use this family?
Past statements close with -었다/-았다 (still plain -다), not *먹었는다. See past-eot.
Seen in the wild
Lessons where this pattern showed up in real Korean — news, slang, drama lines.
