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

-는구려

-는구려: How…! — Mild Archaic Exclamation

Ending: how…! — a mild, slightly archaic exclamation.

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

How to form it

When Form Example
Action / processive -는구려 가는구려 / 하는구려 / 오는구려
With 있다-type process -는구려 있는구려 / 되는구려

-는구려 is a mild, slightly archaic exclamation — how…! / well…!.

It remarks on what is seen or realised. It is not a command, and it is not the everyday café surprise ending.

Why this is hard

Exclamation endings crowd: -네, -네요, -구나, and later -구려② soft commands. Learners paste -구려 onto every emotion. This page’s job is mild archaic remark, not bossy soft order.

What it does

비가 오는구려.
멀리 가는구려.
잘 하는구려.
벌써 밤이 되는구려.

The ending colours the clause as remarked-upon — often with bookish or period flavour.

Forms

Processive -는구려 is the classroom anchor for this slot. Do not invent every possible archaic twin and claim they are this page.

When not to use it

Do not use it as a soft modern surprise default — -네 / -네요.

Do not use it as a command — that neighbouring -구려 job is separate.

Do not drop it into business email for decoration.

Neighbours — and why they differ

FormWhy it is not this slot
-네Living discovery/exclamation.
-네요Modern soft notice — everyday café favourite.
Soft command -구려Orders gently — different job.

Ask: am I making a mild archaic remark? If yes, -는구려. If modern surprise, stay with -네요.

Do not confuse it with

-네 / -네요

noticing something out loud — mild surprise, said to yourself and to others

-는구먼

oh, so it is… — noticing a newly realised fact

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:

-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 -던2 was it…? — asking about what you experienced before -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.

-는구려-neunguryeohow…! (mild archaic)
비birain
밤bamnight

Quick check

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

1. Looking at the rain, you want a mild archaic remark — not a modern notice and not a soft order.

2. Same mild archaic remark seat, but the process you notice is 가다 — which line matches this page’s forms?

3. You want the soft-command neighbour -구려②, not this page’s archaic exclamation.

Common questions

Register?

Literary, historical drama, or playful archaic colour — not default café speech.

Vs -네요?

-네요 is modern soft notice/surprise. -는구려 is older exclamation coat.

Vs -네?

-네 covers discovery/exclamation in living speech. Different curriculum slot here.

Write it everywhere?

No — overuse sounds theatrical.