TOPIK 3–5The official curriculum lists -던 at level 3 and -었던 at level 5.
Describes a noun by something unfinished or something that used to happen.
제가 읽던 책 어디 있어요?
jega ikdeon chaek eodi isseoyo?
Where is the book I was reading?
어릴 때 자주 가던 공원이에요.
eoril ttae jaju gadeon gongwonieyo.
This is the park I used to go to a lot as a kid.
Checked against the official learner dictionary from the National Institute of Korean Language
- Add 던 to any stem, with no vowel or consonant change: 가던 gadeon, 먹던 meokdeon.
- For one finished event or a memory, add 았/었 first: 갔던 gatdeon, 먹었던 meogeotdeon.
- After a noun ending in a consonant: 이던 ideon or 이었던 ieotdeon. After a vowel: 던 deon or 였던 yeotdeon.
Build it
When to use it
It didn't get finished
You started it and stopped partway.
It used to happen
A habit from the past that has stopped.
It's over now
았/었던 looks back on something finished.
Watch out
던 is for the past. 든 deun means "whatever" or "either".
Add 던 straight to the stem.
In context
9 examples- 1
제가 읽던 책 어디 있어요?
Jega ikdeon chaek eodi isseoyo?
Where is the book I was reading?
- 2
어릴 때 자주 가던 공원이에요.
Eoril ttae jaju gadeon gongwonieyo.
This is the park I used to go to a lot as a kid.
- 3
작년에 갔던 식당에 또 가고 싶어요.
Jangnyeone gatdeon sikdange tto gago sipeoyo.
I want to go back to the restaurant we went to last year.
- 4
여기가 제가 살던 동네예요.
Yeogiga jega saldeon dongneyeyo.
This is the neighborhood I used to live in.
- 5
아까 하던 얘기 계속해요.
Akka hadeon yaegi gyesokaeyo.
Go on with what you were saying earlier.
- 6
자주 듣던 노래가 나왔어요.
Jaju deutdeon noraega nawasseoyo.
A song I used to listen to a lot came on.
- 7
학생이었던 때가 그리워요.
Haksaengieotdeon ttaega geuriwoyo.
I miss the days when I was a student.
- 8
그때 만났던 사람 기억나요?
Geuttae mannatdeon saram gieongnayo?
Do you remember the person we met back then?
- 9
마시던 커피가 다 식었어요.
Masideon keopiga da sigeosseoyo.
The coffee I was drinking has gone cold.
Practice
7 questions쓰다 + 던 + 펜
먹던, 먹은 or 먹었던?
All three can describe food from the past, but they don't say the same thing:
- 먹은 빵 meogeun ppang: the bread I ate. It's done, and it's a plain fact.
- 먹던 빵 meokdeon ppang: the bread I was eating. Some of it may still be there, or it's something I used to eat.
- 먹었던 빵 meogeotdeon ppang: the bread I ate back then. It's over, and it sounds like a memory.
The 은 eun in 먹은 and 았/었던 can often swap for a single past event. The main thing to remember is 던 for something unfinished or repeated, though 았/었던 can describe a past habit too: 자주 갔던 카페 jaju gatdeon kape, "a café I used to go to a lot".
던 or 든?
They're one vowel apart, so they're easy to mix up in writing, even for Koreans. 던 points to the past. 든 deun means "whatever" or "either way": 뭐든 mwodeun, "anything", and 가든 말든 gadeun maldeun, "whether you go or not". If the sentence is about a choice, use 든. There's more in the lesson on 든지.
With adjectives and nouns
던 works there too, and it describes how something used to be. 조용하던 동네 joyonghadeon dongne is "the neighborhood that used to be quiet", and 학생이던 시절 haksaengideon sijeol is "the days when I was a student".
Look it up in the dictionary
The entry for 던 in two trusted Korean dictionaries.
