# can you use 더라 to describe sth/sby right in front of you?



## 82riceballs

Hi all!

I once saw this saw this in a drama scene
너 진짜 빨리 먹더라
You eat really fast!

But I remember that my Korean friend said it's really weird to use 더라 to describe things right in front of you- 
E.g. it would be weird to bring a melon that you bought from Emart back there, show it to a worker, and say 이거 어제 사간 멜론인데요 집에 가서 잘라봤더니 속이 다 상했더라고요.

So I was wondering when can you use 더라 to describe something/someone right in front of you?

E.g. can I say to a friend, 너 영어 진짜 잘 하더라?


----------



## surreystreet

no it's not really weird.
이거 어제 사간 멜론인데요 집에 가서 잘라봤더니 속이 다 상했더라고요.  doesn't sound awkward.
you can say '너 영어 진짜 잘하더라' right in front of your friend. probably you would say this because you watched him speaking good English.


----------



## Kross

82riceballs said:


> 너 진짜 빨리 먹더라
> You eat really fast!


 Because the speaker is telling the hearer how he/she felt when seeing the hearer ate something probably in the near past, I think ate is a better choice for 먹더라. 



82riceballs said:


> But I remember that my Korean friend said it's really weird to use 더라 to describe things right in front of you-


 The pattern ~더라 can often be used to give honest previous thoughts, how you felt in the past, about something/someone that is right in front of you. As for the melon case here, the speaker is trying to explain to the worker about what it was like inside when it was cut yesterday.



82riceballs said:


> So I was wondering when can you use 더라 to describe something/someone right in front of you?


 In fact, when you want to describe something/someone using ~ 더라, they don't have to be located right in front you. It's optional. You can use ~더라 to describe something/something out of your sight. For example, 너 왕좌의 게임 미드 봤어? 이거 너무 재미있더라. 그래서 주말에 시즌 1 몰아서 다 봤어. (Have you ever watched the U.S show, Game of Thrones? It was so exciting that I binge-watched the first season of the show during the weekend.)


----------



## 82riceballs

Thanks for your speedy answers



Kross said:


> Because the speaker is telling the hearer how he/she felt when seeing the hearer ate something probably in the near past, I think ate is a better choice for 먹더라.



So let's say I'm having dinner with a friend who eats SUPER fast. 
Is there a difference between the following:
너 진짜 빨리 먹는다!
너 진짜 빨리 먹더라!

Would 먹더라 imply that I've ate with this friend many times in the past and observed that he always eats fast? whereas 먹는다 just means that I am making a judgement from the moment, without previous observation?

Thanks for your help!!!


----------



## Kross

82riceballs said:


> Is there a difference between the following:


 Yes, 너 진짜 빨리 먹는다! means, "you are eating so fast". But 너 진짜 빨리 먹더라! means, "you were eating so fast." In both cases, there is no telling about how fast the person, you, usually eats 



82riceballs said:


> Would 먹더라 imply that I've ate with this friend many times in the past and observed that he always eats fast?


 No, 먹더라 simply describes how your friend ate at the moment. So we don't know how often both of you eat meals together and how fast the friend usually eats.




82riceballs said:


> whereas 먹는다 just means that I am making a judgment from the moment, without previous observation?


 Yes,


----------



## 82riceballs

Kross said:


> Yes, 너 진짜 빨리 먹는다! means, "you are eating so fast". But 너 진짜 빨리 먹더라! means, "you were eating so fast."



OH INTERESTING. Yeah a lot of Koreans keep telling me that 더라 is past tense. So would 너 진짜 빨리 먹더라 imply that the speaker already finished eating, whereas 넌 진짜 빨리 먹는다 implies that the speaker is still eating?


----------



## Kross

82riceballs said:


> So would 너 진짜 빨리 먹더라 imply that the speaker already finished eating


 The speaker here is talking about the past experience of having a meal together with the hearer. So as a lot of your Korean friends pointed out, ~ 먹더라 itself is past tense. But what's different here, I think, is that the speaker is speaking this topic sentence, remembering some moments that the hearer was eating so fast, not the moment that the hearer finished eating the meal. That's why I said, "You were eating so fast."

여기서 화자는 청자와 함께 식사한 과거 경험을 지금 청자에게 하고 있는 거에요. 그러니 친구분들이 지적한 것처럼 당연히 화자가 먹던 상황은 과거인거죠. 하지만 여기서는 화자가 눈앞에서 벌어지고 있는 청자의 엄청나게 빠른 속도로 식사하는 순간을 생생하게 머리에 떠올리면서 애기하는 것이기에 과거 진행형인 것으로 말했습니다. 



82riceballs said:


> whereas 넌 진짜 빨리 먹는다 implies that the speaker is still eating?


 Half-yes, still eating is not the speaker, but the hearer(너) in this case. We don't know what the speaker is doing at the moment of speaking, to be precise. but we can assume from past experiece that the speaker is probably eating something, too.


----------



## Rance

Kross gave really nice explanation.
The past tense is 먹었더라, not 먹더라.

You may also want to check out this link.


----------



## 82riceballs

Wow thanks for all your explanations!!

and also checking the video where I found "너 진짜 빨리 먹더라," I now see that the speaker is referring to all the past experiences seeing the listener eat and NOT the current one. Thanks everyone


----------

