-는데

Korean

Alternative forms

• 은데 (-eunde) — see Usage notes
• ㄴ데 (-nde) — see Usage notes

Etymology

Possibly grammaticalized from 는 (neun, “that, which is”, present-tense adnominal suffix) +‎ 데 (de, “place”, dependent noun).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [nɯnde̞]
• Phonetic hangul: [는데]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	neunde
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	neunde
McCune–Reischauer?	nŭnde
Yale Romanization?	nuntey

Suffix

는데 • (-neunde)

1. since; used to convey current relevant circumstances before an explanation, suggestion, question, etc.

   밖이 시끄러운데 무슨 일 있나?

   Bakk-i sikkeureounde museun il inna?

   It's noisy outside; is something going on?

   날이 좋던데 어디 놀러 안 갈래?

   Nar-i joteonde eodi nolleo an gallae?

   I saw that it was nice outside, why don't we go have fun?

   야, 밖에 눈 오는데 눈싸움하자!

   ya, bakk-e nun o-neunde nunssaum-haja!

   Hey, it's snowing outside! Let's have a snowball fight!

2. In the "intimate" speech level used between friends, by superiors to inferiors, etc., a verb-final suffix:
   1. An exclamatory suffix conveying surprise or hesitation.

      여, 제법인데?

      Yeo, jebeob-i-nde?

      Oh, nice performance; better than I expected!

      그렇지만 나이도 있으신데...

      Geureochiman nai-do isseu-si-nde...

      But he's quite old...

      이러다 금메달도 따겠는데?

      ireoda geummedal-do tta-gen-neunde?

      At this rate, you're going to get the gold medal!

   2. An interrogative suffix urging the listener to respond, used with an interrogative.

      뭐를 먹었는데?

      mwo-reul meog-eon-neunde?

      So what did you eat?

Usage notes

• 는데 (-neunde) causes stem-final ㄹ (l) to drop out.
• 는데 (-neunde) is used for all verbs, for the existential adjectives 있다 (itda), 없다 (eopda), and 계시다 (gyesida), and for adjectives with tense marking with 었 (-eot-) and 겠 (-get-).
• The grammatical principle of 는데 (-neunde) can be applied to adjectives. However, instead of attaching 는데 (-neunde), you must attach ㄴ데 (-nde)/은데 (-eunde), where 은데 (-eunde) comes after an adjective that ends in a consonant, and ㄴ데 (-nde) attaches directly to an adjective that ends in a vowel (or with the consonant ㄹ (l)). This applies to the copula 이다 (-ida) as well. Note that 싶다 (sipda, “to want”) is an adjective.