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Responding in Surprise or Displeasure: ~ㄴ/는다니
Adding ~다니 to Adjectives
Adding ~다니 to Adjectives
Adding this Grammatical Principle to Other Endings
Vocabulary
Nouns:
예측 = forecast, prediction
Examples:
손바닥에 있는 손금에 따라 미래를 예측하는 사람이 있어요
= There are people who can predict your future based on the lines on your palm
급상승한다니? 모든 예측은 주식이 내일 다 급락할 거라고 하는데
= Skyrocket? All of the forecasts say that the stocks will all plummet tomorrow
모든 예측은 주식이 내일 다 급락할 거라고 하는데
= All of the forecasts say that the stocks will all plummet tomorrow
미풍 = gentle breeze
Notes: The different speeds on a fan are usually 미풍, 약풍 and 강풍.
Examples:
방이 너무 더워서 선풍기를 미풍으로 틀었어
= The room was too hot, so I turned the fan onto light
미풍이 부는 날씨는 나들이하기에 딱 좋아요
= The weather with a gentle breeze is perfect for a picnic
솜털 = soft, fine hair (“peach fuzz”)
Common Usages:
솜털이 날리다 = for fluff to fly away (from a pillow, for example)
Examples:
다듬고 싶다니? 애기 머리에 솜털밖에 없다
= You want to trim her hair? There is nothing but peach fuzz on her head
아기의 솜털은 너무나도 부드러워요
= The baby’s fine hair is so soft
요약 = summary
Common Usages::
요약본 = complete summary
줄거리 요약 = plot summary
Examples:
이 책을 읽고 줄거리를 짧게 요약하는 게 숙제예요
= The homework is to read this book and shortly summarize the plot
이 책을 요약하라니? 이 책은 너무 길어!
= Did you tell me to summarize this book? This book is too long!
대머리 = bald
Common Usages:
대머리가 되다 = to go bald
Examples:
모자를 벗으라니? 내가 대머리인지 알지?
= Did you tell me to take off this hat? Do you know that I’m bald?
나이가 들면 점점 더 많은 남자들이 대머리가 되요
= As they get older and older, a lot of men become bald
바닷물 = sea water
Examples:
넉넉하다니? 너무 없어서 곧 바닷물을 마셔야겠다
= Enough? There is so little I’m going to have to start drinking sea water soon
이 물을 마셔도 되느냐니? 바닷물이야
= Did you ask if we could drink this water? It’s seawater
다용도 = multi-purpose
Common Usages:
다용도실 = utility room
Examples:
돈을 다용도실에 놔뒀어요
= I put the money in the utility room
이 화장품은 다용도로 사용할 수 있는 제품이에요
= This cosmetics can be used in multi-purpose
다용도실 = utility room
Examples:
돈을 다용도실에 놔뒀어요
= I put the money in the utility room
다용도실은 세탁기와 건조기가 모두 있는 곳이에요
= The utility room is where both the washer and dryer are
Verbs:
베다 = to rest one's head on
Common Usages:
베개를 베다 = to put one’s head on a pillow
무릎을 베다 = to put one’s head on somebody else’s knee
Examples:
이 베개를 베는 것은 찝찝해요
= I feel uncomfortable using this pillow
피곤한 남자가 부드러운 베개에 머리를 베고 잠들었어요
= The tired man rested his head on a soft pillow and fell asleep
조리다 = to boil in sauce, to simmer
Common Usages:
조림요리 = food that has been boiled in sauce
Examples:
너무 짜! 조금 덜 조렸어야지
= It’s so salty! You need to let it simmer less
맛있는 잼을 만들려면 오랜시간 동안 조려야 해요
= In order to make delicious jam, you need to simmer it for a long time
다듬다 = to trim (nails/hair)
Common Usages:
머리를 다듬다 = to trim one’s hair
앞머리를 다듬다 = to trim one’s bangs
손톱을 다듬다 = to trim one’s nails
Examples:
이번 주에 애기 머리를 다듬고 싶어요
= I want to trim the baby’s hair this weekend
다듬고 싶다니? 애기 머리에 솜털밖에 없다
= You want to trim her hair? There is nothing but peach fuzz on her head
좌절하다 = to be frustrated
Examples:
그 학생은 큰 실패로 인해 상당히 좌절했어요
= That student was greatly frustrated by a major failure
이 시험을 한번에 통과하지 못해서 좌절했어
= I’m frustrated that I couldn’t pass the test on the first try
차단하다 = to block, to obstruct, to stop
Common Usages:
연락처를 차단하다 = to block a contact
번호를 차단하다 = to block a number
자외선을 차단하다 = to block UV rays
원천 차단하다 = to block the source
Examples:
피부를 보호하기 위해 여름에는 자외선 차단제를 발라 야 돼요
= In order to protect your skin, you need to apply sunscreen in the summer
자국의 농산물 보호를 위해 외국의 값싼 농산물 수입을 차단하고 있어요
= In order to protect domestic agriculture, there is a ban on cheaply imported foreign agriculture products
불법정차단속이 끝났으니까 거기에 잠깐 멈췄어도 됐어요
= They (the police) have finished the illegal no-stopping crack-down, so you could have left me off there
지금부터 싫어하는 친구들을 메신저에서 차단할 거야
= I’m going to block the friends I don’t like on messenger from now on
소송하다 = to sue
Common Usages:
소송인 = a person involved in a lawsuit
민사소송 = civil lawsuit
형사소송 = criminal lawsuit
Examples:
피해자는 가해자를 상대로 소송을 제기했어요
= The victim sued the perpetrator
그 회사에 소송하자니? 변호사가 얼마나 비싼지 알아?
= Let’s sue that company, you say? Do you know how expensive a lawyer is?
상승하다 = to rise/increase
Examples:
매년 지구의 기온이 상승하고 있어요
= The temperature of the earth is increasing every year
주식시장에서 주식 가격이 상승했어요
= Stock prices rose in the stock market
급락하다 = to plummet
Common Usages:
가격이 급락하다 = for prices to plummet
Examples:
주식시장에서 주식 가격이 급락했어요
= Stock prices plummeted in the stock market
모든 예측은 주식이 내일 다 급락할 거라고 하는데
= All of the forecasts say that the stocks will all plummet tomorrow
급상승하다 = to soar
Common Usages:
가격이 급상승하다 = for prices to soar
Examples:
주식시장에서 주식 가격이 급상승했어요
= Stock prices soared in the stock market
급상승한다니? 모든 예측은 주식이 내일 다 급락할 거라고 하는데
= Skyrocket? All of the forecasts say that the stocks will all plummet tomorrow
급강하하다 = to plummet
Examples:
주식시장에서 주식 가격이 급강하했어요
= Stock prices plummeted sharply in the stock market
비행기가 급강하 할 때마다 너무 무서웠어요
= Every time the airplane dropped suddenly was very scary
Adjectives:
흐릿하다 = to be blurry/cloudy/gray/faint
Common Usages:
기억이 흐릿하다 = for one’s memory to be blurry
Examples:
날씨가 너무 흐릿해서 안 나가고 싶어
= It’s so cloudy, I don’t want to go outside
그림이 흐릿해서 무엇인지 알아보기 힘들어요
= The picture is so blurry that it’s hard to make out what it is
넉넉하다 = to be sufficient/enough
Common Usages:
형편이 넉넉하다 = for things to be easy
Examples:
넉넉하다니? 너무 없어서 곧 바닷물을 마셔야겠다
= Enough? There is so little I’m going to have to start drinking sea water soon
커피를 더 마시자니? 돈이 넉넉하지 않잖아
= Let’s drink coffee, you say? We don’t have enough money
찝찝하다 = to feel uncomfortable/awkward
Examples:
습기 때문에 옷이 찝찝해요
= The clothes feel uncomfortable and sticky because of the humidity
이 베개를 베는 것은 찝찝해요
= I feel uncomfortable using this pillow
담백하다 = to be light/clean in taste
Notes: This is a word we don’t really have in English. It’s kind of like the opposite of 느끼하다, which is also difficult to describe in English. There used to be this pizza franchise called “Mr. Pizza.” Well, it still exists, but I don’t see it around as much anymore. It would claim that women liked Mr. Pizza because the pizza was very “담백하다.” I never really understood what that meant.
Examples:
담백한 요리는 건강에 좋아요
= Light and clean-tasting food is good for health
이 음식은 매우 담백해서 부담없이 아침으로 먹을 수 있어요
= This food isn’t very rich, so you can eat it without guilt in the morning
민망하다 = to be embarrassed/ashamed
Examples:
우리가 같이 있어서 민망해요
= I’m embarrassed because I am with you
부모님이랑 영화를 보는데 갑자기 키스신이 나와서 민망했어요
= I got embarrassed when I was watching a movie with my parents because there was a kissing scene
못마땅하다 = to be unhappy/displeased with
Examples:
저는 제가 남편으로부터 받은 선물이 못마땅했어요
= I wasn’t happy with the present I got from my husband
내 남자친구를 부모님이 못마땅해해서 속상해
= My parents aren’t happy with my boyfriend, so I’m upset
Adverbs:
기껏 = at most
Example:
기껏 한번 도와주는 건데 너무 생색을 내서 기분이 안 좋았어요
= He helped me one time at most and he took credit for doing so much so I was a bit annoyed
기껏해야 = at most
Examples:
선생님이 기껏해야 30살이실 것 같아
= The teacher seems like he is barely 30 years old
지금 금방 갔다 올게! 기껏해야 10 분 걸릴 거야
= I’ll be back soon! It’ll barely take 10 minutes
For help memorizing these words, try using our mobile app.
Introduction
In this lesson, you will learn a simple and common way to end your sentences with a bit of attitude. You will learn the subtle meaning of ending your sentences ~ㄴ/는다니, ~다니, ~(이)라니, ~자니, ~(느)냐니 and ~(으)라니. Let’s get started.
Responding in Surprise or Displeasure: ~ㄴ/는다니
Imagine your friend comes to your house. He has been at your house for an hour, and you expect him to stay for a while longer because the two of you are having a lot of fun. Suddenly, your friend says he is going to leave. He says to you;
내가 이제 갈게! = I’m leaving now
You’re surprised. You’re a little shocked. You’re a little displeased. Why is he leaving so early? He just got here! Do you even believe him? In one very quick response, it is possible to express all of this emotion to your friend:
지금 간다니? = You’re going now? You just got here! Why are you leaving so early?
The grammatical principle that is added to the stem of 가다 in this case is technically ~ㄴ다니. However, a simple way to look at this is simply the plain form conjugation followed by ~니. By adding ~ㄴ다니 to the stem of verbs ending in a vowel you can create a meaning that implies the speaker’s surprise, displeasure, or astonishment to what was said immediately before. Let me provide another situation.
——
Imagine you are talking to your friend on the phone at 1:00 in the morning. You assume that your friend is in bed. All of a sudden, he says that he is out at a restaurant eating by himself. You’re surprised. You’re a little shocked. (You probably aren’t displeased in this situation). Why is your friend eating by himself at 1:00 in the morning? Do you even believe him? It sounds like there is no background noise over the phone. In one very quick response, it is possible to express all of this emotion to your friend:
지금 먹는다니? = You’re eating now? There’s no way! It’s 1:00am. I don’t hear any background noise!
The grammatical principle that is added to the stem of 먹다 in this case is technically ~는다니. However, a simple way to look at this is simply the plain form conjugation followed by ~니.
——
Below are more examples:
지금부터 싫어하는 친구들을 메신저에서 차단할 거야
차단한다니? 그 친구들이랑 연락해야 하면 어떻게 할 건데?
= I’m going to block the friends I don’t like on messenger from now on
= Block? What happens if you need to contact them?
Conversation Audio
내일 주식이 다 급상승할 거예요
급상승한다니? 모든 예측은 주식이 내일 다 급락할 거라고 하는데
= All of the stocks are going to skyrocket tomorrow
= Skyrocket? All of the forecasts say that the stocks will all plummet tomorrow
Conversation Audio
It is also possible to add this grammatical principle to verbs conjugated to the past tense. Imagine your friend comes over to your house again. You planned to have dinner together. He comes over and informs you that he already ate. You’re surprised. You’re a little shocked. You’re a little displeased. Why did he already eat? You were supposed to eat together! In one very quick response, it is possible to express all of this emotion to your friend:
이미 먹었다니! = You already ate! We were supposed to eat together! Why did you already eat?
——
Here is another situation:
이 시험을 한번에 통과하지 못해서 좌절했어
좌절했다니? 그 시험을 한번에 통과하는 사람은 거의 없어
= I’m frustrated that I couldn’t pass the test on the first try
= Frustrated? There aren’t many people who pass that test on the first try
Conversation Audio
Adding ~다니 to Adjectives
Earlier, you saw how the additions of ~ㄴ다니 and ~는다니 are simply ~니 added to the plain form conjugation of verbs. This same idea can be applied to adjectives. Remember that the plain form conjugation adjectives is simply the dictionary form of that word. Therefore, when using this grammatical principle with adjectives, you don’t need to do anything but attach ~니 to 다. For example:
우리가 같이 있어서 민망해요
민망하다니?
= I’m embarrassed because I am with you
= Embarrassed?
Conversation Audio
이번 주에 애기 머리를 다듬고 싶어요
다듬고 싶다니? 애기 머리에 솜털밖에 없다
= I want to trim the baby’s hair this weekend
= You want to trim her hair? There is nothing but peach fuzz on her head
Conversation Audio
이 피자가 느끼하지 않고 아주 단백해요
단백하다니? 기름이 엄청 많은데
= This pizza isn’t greasy, it’s very clean/light
= Light? There is so much grease
Conversation Audio
걱정하지 마! 물이 아주 넉넉해
넉넉하다니? 너무 없어서 곧 바닷물을 마셔야겠다
= Don’t worry, there is more than enough water
= Enough? There is so little I’m going to have to start drinking sea water soon
Conversation Audio
내 남자친구를 부모님이 못마땅해해서 속상해
못마땅하다니? 너 남자친구보다 더 좋은 사람이 어디 있어
= My parents aren’t happy with my boyfriend, so I’m upset
= Aren’t happy? Who could possibly be better than your boyfriend?
Conversation Audio
너무 짜! 조금 덜 조렸어야지
짜다니? 소금을 아예 안 넣었어
= It’s so salty! You need to let it simmer less
= Salty? I didn’t put any salt in it at all
Conversation Audio
날씨가 너무 흐릿해서 안 나가고 싶어
흐릿하다니? 아주 맑은데
= It’s so cloudy, I don’t want to go outside
= Cloudy? It’s really clear
Conversation Audio
이 베개를 베는 것은 찝찝해요
찝찝하다니? 어제 빤 건데
= I feel uncomfortable using this pillow
= Uncomfortable? I washed it yesterday
Conversation Audio
Adding ~라니 to Nouns
In Lesson 52, you learned how to quote sentences. You may be thinking that the rules for quoting a verb or adjective are very similar to the rules for adding the grammatical principle that we are using in this lesson. A table will help show these similarities.
Notice that I have four types of words in this table. A verb with a stem ending in a vowel; a verb with a stem ending in a consonant; an adjective with a stem ending in a vowel; and an adjective with a stem ending in a consonant.
| 가다 | 먹다 | 행복하다 | 작다 | |
| Quoting | 간다고 | 먹는다고 | 행복하다고 | 작다고 |
| Responding with surprise | 간다니 | 먹는다니 | 행복하다니 | 작다니 |
In Lesson 52, you also learned how to quote 이다. As you can expect, the rules for adding our new grammatical principle to 이다 are the same as when we want to quote with 이다. The only difference is the 니 and the 고. For example we can see how this works when 이다 is attached to a noun that ends in a vowel and when it is attached to a noun that ends in a consonant.
| 머리 | 밥 | |
| Quoting | 머리라고 | 밥이라고 |
| Responding with surprise | 머리라니 | 밥이라니 |
You can see how ~(이)라니 is added to nouns by looking at the table above, but I will state it just to be sure:
If the noun that 이다 is attached to ends in a consonant, “이” is placed between ~라니 and the noun.
선생님이 기껏해야 30살이실 것 같아
30살이라니? 지금 45살이야!
= The teacher seems like he is barely 30 years old
= 30? He is 45 years old!
Conversation Audio
If the noun that 이다 is attached to ends in a vowel, “이” is not used and ~라니 is attached directly to the noun.
그 사람은 나의 여자 친구야
여자 친구라니? 어제 만났잖아
= That person is my girlfriend
= Girlfriend? You met her yesterday
Conversation Audio
In the two exchanges above, 이다 was actually part of the meaning of what the speaker wanted to say.
What do you mean I am thirty years old?
What do you mean she is your girlfriend?
Often times, you just want to express your surprise or displeasure to a noun and don’t necessarily need the “이다.” However, you can’t just add ~라니 directly to a noun. In these cases, “이다” is used, but the meaning of 이다 isn’t really there. Instead, the speaker is simply showing his/her surprise/displeasure to a particular noun that was just spoken. For example:
돈을 다용도실에 놔뒀어요
다용도실이라니?! 거기 놔두면 아무나 가져갈 수 있잖아
= I put the money in the utility room
= Utility room?! If you put it there, anybody could just take it
Conversation Audio
Notice how I wouldn’t translate the response in the example above to “What do you mean it is a utility room!” In the first sentence, Person 1 never said that is a utility room. Person 1 said to put it into the utility room. Even though “이다” was used, it’s really only used because ~라니 can’t attached directly to the noun. In these situations, I would simply translate the response to the word itself, but with an exclamation mark and question mark. For example:
돈을 다용도실에 놔뒀어요 = I put the money in the utility room
다용도실이라니?! = Utility room!?
Below are many more examples:
다음 주에 소개팅할 남자가 대머리야
대머리라니?
= The man you are going on a blind date with tomorrow is bald
= Bald?
Conversation Audio
방이 너무 더워서 선풍기를 미풍으로 틀었어
미풍이라니? 바람이 너무 센데!
= The room was too hot, so I turned the fan onto light
= Light? It’s blowing really hard!
Conversation Audio
이 책자에서 그 영화의 줄거리 요약을 찾을 수 있어
요약이라니? 이 책자에서 그 영화에 대한 내용이 백 페이지인데!
= You can find that movie’s plot summary in this booklet
= Summary? The content in this booklet about that movie is 100 pages!
Conversation Audio
지금 금방 갔다 올게! 기껏해야 10분 걸릴 거야
10분이라니? 거기 가는 데만 15분 걸려
= I’ll be back soon! It’ll barely take 10 minutes
= 10 minutes? It takes 15 minutes just to get there
Conversation Audio
Adding this Grammatical Principle to Other Endings
In Lesson 52, you learned how to quote with verbs, adjectives and 이다. In Lesson 53, you learned how to quote suggestions using ~자고. By replacing 고 with 니, you can your surprise/displeasure to a suggestion. Let’s see how this pattern compares to the quoting rules you learned in Lesson 53.
| 가다 | 먹다 | |
| Quoting suggestions | 가자고 | 먹자고 |
| Responding with surprise to a suggestion | 가자니 | 먹자니 |
Here are some examples of ~자니 in use:
지금 나가자니? 날씨가 너무 추워
= Let’s go outside, you say? The weather is so cold
커피를 더 마시자니? 돈이 넉넉하지 않잖아
= Let’s drink coffee, you say? We don’t have enough money
그 회사에 소송하자니? 변호사가 얼마나 비싼지 알아?
= Let’s sue that company, you say? Do you know how expensive a lawyer is?
——
In Lesson 53, you learned how to quote questions using ~(느)냐고. By replacing 고 with 니, you can your surprise/displeasure to a question. Let’s see how this pattern compares to the quoting rules you learned in Lesson 53.
| 가다 | 먹다 | 행복하다 | 작다 | |
| Quoting questions | 가느냐고 | 먹느냐고 | 행복하냐고 | 작으냐고 |
| Responding with surprise to a question | 가느냐니 | 먹느냐니 | 행복하냐니 | 작으냐니 |
Here are some examples of ~(느)냐니 in use:
그 사람이 누구냐니? 우리가 그 남자를 어제 만났잖아
= Did you ask who that person is? We met that man yesterday
이 물을 마셔도 되느냐니? 바닷물이야
= Did you ask if we could drink this water? It’s seawater
내가 포기했냐니? 새벽부터 이 문제를 고치려고 일하고 있었어
= Did you ask if I gave up? I was working on fixing this problem since sunrise
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In Lesson 54, you learned how to quote commands using ~(으)라고. By replacing 고 with 니, you can your surprise/displeasure to a command. Let’s see how this pattern compares to the quoting rules you learned in Lesson 54.
| 가다 | 먹다 | |
| Quoting questions | 가라고 | 먹으라고 |
| Responding with surprise to a command | 가라니 | 먹으라니 |
Here are some examples of ~(으)라니 in use:
모자를 벗으라니? 내가 대머리인지 알지?
= Did you tell me to take off this hat? Do you know that I’m bald?
이 책을 요약하라니? 이 책은 너무 길어!
= Did you tell me to summarize this book? This book is too long!
That’s it for this lesson!