[Grammar] ~(은/ㄴ)데

~(은/ㄴ)데 (-de) – but

~(은/ㄴ)데 is probably one of the most versatile particle.

You can either add it in the middle of a sentence or at the end of the sentence.

And if you noticed in dramas, variety shows or any Korean conversation, you will hear ~(은/ㄴ)데 a lot.

Regardless where you place ~(은/ㄴ)데, more often than not it would mean “but”.

Example: 난 공부했는데 왜 시험을 잘 못 봤니?
I studied but why did I not do well for the test?

Example 2: 누나가 잡채를 다 먹었어. 나 너무 좋아하는데…
My elder sister ate all the stir-fried noodles. I really like it but… (she ate all and there’s none left for me)

In the second example, ~(은/ㄴ)데 is used to express some sort of pity, which is common for Koreans. They would tend to use ~(은/ㄴ)데 to end off a statement that they would rather not express explicitly out of politeness, etc.

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