4 · Linking clauses, further
I saw it, and then: -더니, -았/었더니
an observed change or a discovered result
-더니 links something the speaker observed with what followed; -았/었더니 links the speaker's own action with what they found as a result.
At a glance
- Remember
- Deoni: I watched it happen. Atdeoni: I did it, and this is what I found.
- Form
- 흐리다 → 흐리더니observed, then
- Signal words
- -더니
- -았/었더니
- 결국
- 그러더니
- Trap
- Wrong:제가 아침에 운동을 하더니 기분이 좋아졌어요.Right:아침에 운동을 했더니 기분이 좋아졌어요.
Your turn
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The form
From the base form to the new form
Each row first says what the form expresses, then shows it in Korean: the base form before the arrow, the result after it.
| observed, then | 흐리다 → 흐리더니 |
| observed contrast | 춥다 → 춥더니 |
| my action, then I found | 열다 → 열었더니 |
| 하다 verbs | 전화하다 → 전화했더니 |
| after a consonant | 먹다 → 먹었더니 |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
-더니 links something the speaker saw with what followed.
동생이 아침부터 기침을 하더니 결국 열이 났어요.My brother had been coughing since the morning, and then he got a temperature.
It can also set two observed states against each other.
어제는 그렇게 덥더니 오늘은 쌀쌀하네요.It was so hot yesterday, and today it is chilly.
-았/었더니 links the speaker's own action with what they found.
푹 잤더니 피곤이 다 풀렸어요.I slept well, and now I am not tired at all.
The second half is past or a present state, never a request.
가게에 갔더니 문이 닫혀 있었어요.I went to the shop, but it was shut.
Example sentences
하늘이 흐리더니 눈이 오기 시작했어요.The sky clouded over, and then it began to snow.
민수 씨가 열심히 공부하더니 장학금을 받았어요.Minsu studied hard and ended up getting a scholarship.
아이가 하루 종일 놀더니 일찍 잠들었어요.The child played all day and then fell asleep early.
약을 먹었더니 좀 나아졌어요.I took some medicine, and I feel a bit better.
오랜만에 운동했더니 온몸이 아파요.I exercised for the first time in ages, and now I ache all over.
친구한테 물어봤더니 모른다고 했어요.I asked my friend, but she said she didn't know.
7 more example sentences
그 가수는 데뷔 초에는 무명이더니 지금은 아주 유명해졌어요.That singer was unknown when she started, and now she is very famous.
형이 갑자기 웃더니 방으로 들어갔어요.My brother suddenly laughed and went into his room.
아침에는 맑더니 오후에 비가 왔어요.It was clear in the morning, but it rained in the afternoon.
문을 두드렸더니 아무도 없었어요.I knocked on the door, but nobody was there.
매일 걸었더니 살이 빠졌어요.I walked every day, and I have lost weight.
소금을 넣었더니 훨씬 맛있어졌어요.I added some salt, and it tasted much better.
친구가 한참 생각하더니 고개를 끄덕였어요.My friend thought for a while, then nodded.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
-더니 reports what the speaker watched somebody else do, so it cannot describe the speaker's own exercise. For your own action and what you found afterwards, the past comes first: 했더니.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
-더니 goes straight onto the stem: 흐리더니, 공부하더니, 좋더니. The first half is something the speaker saw happen to somebody or something else; the second is what came next. 하늘이 흐리더니 비가 오기 시작했어요, “the sky clouded over, and then it started to rain”. The link can be a sequence, a cause, or a contrast: 아침에는 춥더니 오후에는 따뜻해졌어요.
The subject of -더니 is not the speaker. As with -더라고요, the syllable 더 marks an observation, and you do not observe your own actions. Very often the subject is a third person, and the sentence describes how they changed: 민수 씨가 열심히 공부하더니 시험에 합격했어요.
With the past first, -았/었더니 is the speaker's own action, and the second half is what they discovered when they did it: 창문을 열었더니 시원한 바람이 들어왔어요, “I opened the window, and a cool breeze came in”. 친구한테 전화했더니 안 받았어요, “I rang my friend, but she didn't answer”.
In both, the second half is in the past or a present state; neither takes a request or a suggestion. The difference to keep is simple: -더니for what you watched-았/었더니for what you did
A closer look
Two pictures of the same storm
바람이 불더니 비가 왔어요 is a narrator watching the weather: first wind, then rain. 창문을 열었더니 비가 들어왔어요 is the speaker acting and getting a result: I opened the window, and the rain came in.
In conversation 그러더니, “and then he …”, links two observations in a story: 민수 씨가 웃었어요. 그러더니 갑자기 울기 시작했어요.
Worth knowing (1)
-
A hint of reproach
Because -더니 links a past observation with what came of it, it is also used to point out that something turned out as expected: 매일 늦게 자더니 감기에 걸렸구나, “you went to bed late every night, and now you've caught a cold”.
그렇게 많이 먹더니 배탈이 났네요.You ate so much, and now you have an upset stomach.
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