# 찾아갔었는데



## wonlon

김수진: 일요일에 보고서 때문에 너를 찾아*갔었*는데 네가 집에 없더라.
소피아: 어제 아는 친구가 결혼해서 결혼식에 *갔었*어. 전통혼례식이라서 참 신기하고 재미있었어.

It is from passage of my textbook.

Why is it *갔었 *and not just *갔*? Can I just use *갔 *here?


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## Superhero1

Yes, you can use 갔 only there.

We aren't actually strict on that matter of tense.


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## wonlon

Superhero1 said:


> Yes, you can use 갔 only there.
> 
> We aren't actually strict on that matter of tense.


What is the nuance in meaning if it is 갔었?


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## Superhero1

갔었 is the past. 갔 can be used the past too. 

갔었 is a way to stress the fact that occurred in the past.


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## kenjoluma

Sometimes, with certain verbs, we Koreans use past(perfect) tense twice.
(In this case, the second past tense is always with yin vowel, therefore, 었)

This way, we believe we can stress that the action had happened in the past, and the action in the past has not lasted until now.
For example, 갔어 sounds like you went to somewhere and you are still there, but 갔었어 sounds like you went there but you came back. (Not lasted until now. Stressed separation from the present)

Please note that it is NOT a strict rule. You can be back from where you had gone and still use '갔어'. 

Just one thing you should know is, if someone decides to use 'double past', then s/he tries to stress its nuance of 'past'.


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