# -는데



## neonextract

I've been studying Korean for a only a couple of months, and I am stuck on this. I can't seem to find the meaning of this, yet I hear it all the time. 

I hear things like "없는데" and "사랑하는데" and I just can't figure out what the "데" part is. 

감사합니다 ^_^


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## Warp3

*Native Speakers:  Feel free to correct me on this if I'm mistaken, but this is the general impression I've gotten from a variety of examples and explanations regarding this ending.*

Unfortunately, ~(으)ㄴ데/~는데 doesn't really translate well directly.  It is generally used to signify that the attached sentence is providing background information.  If you find it in the middle of the sentence, that usually means that the part before ~(으)ㄴ데/~는데 is given as background information for the rest of the sentence that follows (similar to using a conjunction like "so", "thus", or "therefore" in English).  If it ends a sentence, instead, then it may be providing the background information for another sentence in the conversation instead or possibly as a response to a question (where the answer provides background info as a reason).


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## wingedfire

Warp3 said:


> *Native Speakers: Feel free to correct me on this if I'm mistaken, but this is the general impression I've gotten from a variety of examples and explanations regarding this ending.*
> 
> Unfortunately, ~ㄴ데/~는데 doesn't really translate well directly. It is generally used to signify that the attached sentence is providing background information. If you find it in the middle of the sentence, that usually means that the part before ~ㄴ데/~는데 is given as background information for the rest of the sentence that follows (similar to using a conjunction like "so", "thus", or "therefore" in English). If it ends a sentence, instead, then it may be providing the background information for another sentence in the conversation instead or possibly as a response to a question (where the answer provides background info as a reason).


 
So, if I wanted to say "I like milk, therefore I like cheese," It would be "나는 우유가 좋아하요는데 치즈가 좋아하요.", rigth?


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## Gijoe

wingedfire said:


> "I like milk, therefore I like cheese,"


 
means,

1. 나는 우유를 좋아하기 때문에 나는 치즈를 좋아합니다.
2. 나는 우유를 좋아하니, 나는 치즈를 좋아합니다.
3. 나는 우유를 좋아해서, 치즈를 좋아합니다.
4. 나는 우유를 좋아함으로, 고로, 나는 치즈를 좋아합니다.(직역)


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## Gijoe

neonextract,

Can you provide more complete sentences using the word, ~는데?


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## Warp3

Liking milk isn't necessarily a background reason for liking cheese (since some people like cheese but not milk) so that may not be the best example, but you do have the basic idea.  (As Gijoe noted in example #3, though, ~서 is probably a better connector for that particular sentence.)

Regardless, your Korean was a bit misworded there, so it would be something more like this instead, anyway:
나는 우유를 좋아한데 치즈를 좋아해요.

Reasons for the changes I made:
- When you use 좋아하다 the direct object (을/를) is what is liked, not the subject.
- ~(으)ㄴ데/는데 attaches to the verb stem form, not the fully conjugated form.
- ~는데 is only added to 있/없, (ㅏ/ㅓ)ㅆ (past tense), and 겠 (future).  ~(으)ㄴ데 is used otherwise.
- Verbs ending in 하다 conjugates to 해 (in base form and ~요 form, anyway), so this must be reflected at the end of the sentence.


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## Gijoe

Warp3 said:


> Regardless, your Korean was a bit misworded there, so it would be something more like this instead, anyway:
> 나는 우유를 좋아한데 치즈를 좋아해요.


 
If you use 좋아하는데(instead of 좋아한데--it doesn't sound natural), the sound becomes comparison for the two things, milk and cheese.
If you don't make them into comparison and leave it instead as you have written, it starts to sound strange when cheese part starts to be spoken.

나는 우유를 좋아하는데, 치즈를 더 좋아해요.
I like milk, but like cheese more.


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## Warp3

It appears I misread the grammar guide I was using and thought that only those particular syllable blocks could proceed 는데, however I have several examples in my SRS (from very trusted sources) containing words like "가는데", so obviously that isn't the case.  Thanks for the correction, Gijoe.


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## kenjoluma

Do you know '그런데'? If you do, it wouldn't be a problem at all.
그런데 = but, however, even though... (something contrary or unexpected, therefore a bit surprised or frustrated)

밥 먹는데 왜 말을 시켜?
I am having a meal (and I don't expect/appreciate someone talking to me) but why do you talk to me?

널 사랑하는데 왜 나한테 화를 내?
I love you (and I don't expect you to be angry) but why are you being angry at me?

Sometimes, it can be used without any further sentence after -는데. In this case, you can say that a speaker, either deliberately or not, did not finish the sentence. 

A: 돈 있어?
B: 없는데.

A: You got some money?
B: No. (...but can I ask you why you are asking that question? or ...but I got some back in my place but not right now on me... You need more context to figure that out)

널 사랑하는데.
I love you.

(but you don't love me back
or but I am afraid I am not good enough for you
or anything frustrating...)


Hope you can understand my poor English.


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## wingedfire

Ah, I'm sorry for my atrocious grammar, looks like I just confused everyone even more. The only way I have of learning korean are wordlists, and a crash course in grammar, and since I don't have a human teacher.... well....

Thanks for helping both me and neonextract so much, everyone!


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## Warp3

wingedfire said:


> Ah, I'm sorry for my atrocious grammar, looks like I just confused everyone even more. The only way I have of learning korean are wordlists, and a crash course in grammar, and since I don't have a human teacher.... well....
> 
> Thanks for helping both me and neonextract so much, everyone!



Check out the videos of "Let's Speak Korean" on Youtube (the ones hosted by Lisa Kelley and Stephen Revere).  I've actually learned most of my grammar from that series and it's interesting to watch as well.  The show originally aired on Arirang TV in South Korea and there are 260 total episodes of it (each episode is about 10min long).


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