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Grammar Intermediate TOPIK II · Level 3–4 Intermediate Korean 1 · Unit 20

-는다거나①

-는다거나①: Quoting Alternatives — This or That

Quotative choice: present alternatives as things said or claimed (this or that).

Before this, make sure you know: -는다고① , -아요 / -어요

How to form it

When Form Example
Verb with batchim -는다거나 먹는다거나 / 찾는다거나
Verb vowel / ㄹ -ㄴ다거나 간다거나 / 온다거나
Adjective / 이다 -다거나 좋다거나 / 필요하다거나
Paired alternatives …다거나 …다거나 하다 취소한다거나 연기한다거나 해요

-는다거나① packages quoted alternatives: people say A, or they say B — this or that. Its sister lesson -는다거나② uses the same form for looser examples such as things like A or B.

Curriculum gloss: quoting alternatives — saying this or that. Morphologically it sits next to plain statement endings (-는다/-ㄴ다/-다) plus choice 거나, heard as a quotative list rather than a bare or-link.

Shape

StemFormExample
Verb + batchim-는다거나찾는다거나
Verb vowel / ㄹ-ㄴ다거나간다거나, 온다거나
Adjective / 이다-다거나어렵다거나, 문제라거나
일정이 미뤄진다거나 앞당겨진다거나 해요.
자료가 부족하다거나 늦는다거나 해서 걱정이에요.
도움이 필요하다거나 혼자 하겠다거나 말해 주세요.

Often closed with 하다 / 해서 / 말하다.

Versus bare -거나

-거나 chooses among actions or states without a quotation layer:

카페에 가거나 집에서 쉴게요.           plain options
간다거나 안 간다거나 아직 몰라요.     quoted/rumoured alternatives

If nobody is “saying” the options, keep -거나.

Versus single -다고

-는다고① delivers one report. -다거나 expects forked talk:

취소한다고 했어요.                 one quote
취소한다거나 연기한다거나 해요.     alternative quotes

Meeting-prep talk

Office hedges love this shape when plans are unstable:

회의가 길어진다거나 짧아진다거나…
자료가 바뀐다거나 추가된다거나 해서 헷갈려요.

Quick checks

  1. Plain-statement attachment + 거나.
  2. Use it when alternatives are said/claimed, not merely chosen.
  3. Do not replace every -거나 with this form.

Ask: am I listing things people say as option A or option B? If yes, -는다거나① fits.

Do not confuse it with

-거나

or — choosing between actions

-는다고①

quoting what someone said — the plain reported statement

이라고

quoting a noun, or naming something

Taught alongside this

On the jabi learning path, this appears in 내일 회의 준비는 다 됐어요? (Are you ready for tomorrow's meeting?) — Intermediate Korean 1, Unit 20, on the theme of social life. These come with it:

-게 하다 make someone do it — the causative built from scratch 보고 telling someone — the spoken particle for the person addressed

Words used above

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-는다거나-neundageonasaying [V] or…
-다거나-dageonasaying [adj/ida] or…
대안daeanalternative
인용inyongquotation
회의hoeuimeeting

Quick check

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

1. 연기한다거나 취소한다거나 해요 roughly means…

2. How does it differ from bare -거나?

3. Which matches 가다?

Common questions

Why the ①?

Curriculum labels senses. This page follows the slot gloss (quoted alternatives). Other layers stay out of scope.

Must I repeat 다거나 twice?

Pairs are common (A다거나 B다거나). A single …다거나도 해요 also appears when one quoted option is enough in context.

vs -다고?

neundago1 reports one quoted claim. -다거나 sets up choice among quoted claims.

Workplace lines?

회의가 길어진다거나 줄어든다거나… — hedging among rumoured schedules.