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

-는다니①

-는다니①: What Are They Telling Me To…? — Order Content Q

Ending/frame for questioning the content of an order or reported demand.

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

How to form it

When	Form	Example
Order-content question feel	-라느니 / -라다니 / related -다니 family	하라니? / 오라니? / 뭐 하란 말이야?
Reported demand pushback	-는다니 / -다니	지금 가라니? / 그걸 하라니?

-는다니① asks what are they telling me to…? — questioning the content of an order or claim you just heard.

It reacts to reported speech or instruction: surprise, pushback, or clarification-seeking. Not the same as every -다니 surprise ending in Korean.

Why this is hard

-다니 forms look alike. Learners treat them as one “shock” particle. This curriculum slot focuses on asking back about an order/statement’s content — they said to do WHAT?

It also sits near quotation patterns. Keep the reacting-question flavour on this page.

What it does

You echo disbelief or request clarity about what was said / commanded.

지금 가라니?
그걸 혼자 하라니?
내일까지 끝내라니?
돈이 없다니?

Tone: “repeat that — I can’t believe the order/claim.”

Forms

Quoted or reported predicate + -다니 in the reacting question pattern (classroom -는다니① and kin).

When not to use it

Do not use it as a calm neutral because (-으니까).

Do not fire it at a boss as your only clarification tool — soften upward.

Do not merge every surprise -다니 into this order-content question without checking the sense.

Neighbours — and why they differ

Form	Why it is not this slot
-다니 (other senses)	Broader surprise / reaction family — check which job.
-으려고?	Challenges a plan you infer; not always “what did they say.”
-는다고	Reports speech; does not itself ask back.

Ask: am I asking back about an order or claim I just heard? If yes, this -다니. If you only report speech, use a quote pattern.

Do not confuse it with

-는다니

hearing that — surprise or disbelief at news

-는다고①

quoting what someone said — the plain reported statement

-으세요

polite command — and the honorific present tense

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:

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

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

-는다니-neundaniquestioning reported order/content (this slot)

하라니haranithey tell me to do…?

명령myeongnyeongorder

내용naeyongcontent

질문jilmunquestion

Quick check

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

1. Someone just told you to leave this second — you push back on the order itself, not on random news. Which line?

2. They told you to come — you can’t believe the demand. Which forms-table line asks back about that order?

3. You are questioning what you were told to do — not firing a surprise ending at verb news. Which line?

Common questions

Textbook overlap?

-는다니 (junggeup4) is surprise/exclamation family. This godeup5 slot is 명령 내용 질문. PLAN: write separately — different curriculum labels.

Dictionary?

Related -는다니 entries include surprise 「001」 and reduced quote frames 「002」「003」「004」. Teach the order-content question use from the curriculum gloss; do not collapse into surprise-only.

Form focus?

Classroom lines like 하라니?, 가라니? — questioning what one is being told to do.

Tone?

Often disbelief or pushback about the order.