Korean grammar · Level 2 · 2급
-(으)ㄴ/는데요
Leaving it open
Ending a sentence with -는데요 makes it softer. It can leave a “but…” hanging, show mild surprise, or give some background and wait for the other person to reply — which is why you hear it all the time on the phone: 저 호야인데요. The forms are the same as -는데 in Unit 8.
| When | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| verbs · 있다 · 없다 | -는데요 | 쓰는데요 · 있는데요 |
| adjectives | -(으)ㄴ데요 | 많은데요 · 작은데요 |
| nouns | 인데요 | 호야인데요 · 학생인데요 |
| past | -았/었는데요 | 읽었는데요 · 왔는데요 |
Examples
까치는 많은데요.
There are a lot of magpies, though.
저는 아직 한글을 잘 못 쓰는데요.
I still can't write Hangul very well…
여보세요? 저 호야인데요.
Hello? It's Hoya.
Practise it in context · Level 2, Unit 10
A reply to a letter
A dialogue with audio, practice that checks itself, Hoya’s mistakes, a reading and a writing task.
Open the unit →