-다 보니
da(ga) boni(kka)
Grammar · 2 senses
since it kept happening - and so
Examples
일이 많다 보니 운동할 시간이 없어요.
With so much work piling up, I've no time to exercise.
혼자 살다 보니 요리를 배우게 됐어요.
Living alone, I ended up learning to cook.
When you'd hear it
This is common in spoken Korean, from casual conversation to polite explanations at work or in class. It also appears in written interviews and personal writing, especially when explaining how a situation led to a result or realization.
What learners get wrong
The same shape used to give a reason built from repetition: 바쁘다 보니 연락을 못 했어요. It excuses gently, because the cause is presented as something that accumulated rather than a decision you made.
doing it repeatedly, I came to notice
Examples
자주 만나다 보니 정이 들었어요.
Seeing each other often, I grew fond of them.
한국에 살다 보니 매운 음식에 익숙해졌어요.
Living in Korea, I got used to spicy food.
When you'd hear it
This pattern is common in spoken Korean, including conversations, interviews, and dramas, with both polite and casual endings. 보니까 is especially frequent in speech, while 보니 also appears in reflective or written narration.
What learners get wrong
Where -고 보니 turns on a single action, this one turns on repetition: 매일 듣다 보니 이제 알아들어요. The realisation arrives gradually, as a by-product of keeping at something.
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