# 다니다



## idialegre

In the following sentence from Antoine de St. Exupery´s "Le petit prince" (어린왕자), I am uncertain as to the meaning of 다니던.

어쩌다 똑똑한 사람을 만나면, 나는 늘 지니고 다니던 그림 제1호를 보여 주며 시험했다.

Does it mean I always carried the picture with me and "visited" (i.e. looked at) it all the time? I have never seen 다니다 used this way, so I'm a bit confused.

Thanks for any help!


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## Kross

Hello, idialegre

I think the meaning of 다니던 here would be much closer to going about rather than visiting (or looking at). And the verb is used to describe some physical movements on foot like walking on the road. If I were asked to translate the sentence in English, I'd say that when he happened to meet smart people (on the road), he tested them by showing (them) the drawing, his number one treasure, that he always carried with him and went about with. There is one more thing to add. While the usage of 다니던 is a little bit common for Korean-natives, I understand that non-natives might feel the otherwise because I have been going through the same difficulty in learning English. 

Here are some examples using 다니다. 
- 나는 매일 병원에 다닌다. (I go to the hospital every day.)
- 나는 직장을 여러 군데 옮겨 다녔다. (I've changed jobs a lot.)
- 나는 야채를 팔고 다녔다. (I carried vegetables about for sale.)


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## idialegre

Thank you for a very good explanation. I think I understand it pretty well now.


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## mille gateaux

'늘 지니고 다니다' is almost a set of expression, which means you carry sth all the time wherever you go.
ex) "나는 약을 항상 지니고 다닌다." = "I carry my pills with me all the time."


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## idialegre

Thank you. mille gateaux. Now I'm hungry.


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