-더

deo

Grammar · 1 sense

witnessed, realization, recall, indicating experience

Examples

그날은 다들 신이 나더라.

As I remember, everyone was excited that day.

어제 그 식당 음식이 참 맛있더군요.

I experienced that the food at that restaurant yesterday was really delicious.

아이들이 놀이터에서 재미있게 놀더라.

I saw that the children were playing happily at the playground.

When you'd hear it

-더- is common in spoken recollections and observations, especially in forms such as -더라, -더군요, and -더라고요. It appears in casual conversation, personal storytelling, and polite conversation, but is less common in formal writing.

What learners get wrong

Unlike the simple past, -더- highlights the speaker’s remembered firsthand observation or realization. It also differs from -던, which more often frames a past action or state as ongoing, habitual, or unfinished.

You looked up -더 — Ipsae makes sure you still know it in three weeks.

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