TOPIK II Grammar · Ch.4 Time, Experience & Recollection 04

TOPIK II Grammar · Ch.4 Time, Experience & Recollection 04

'-던 · -았/었던 · -곤 하다' - Describing and Recalling the Past

제가 마시던 커피예요 - the coffee I was drinking, still half full. 어릴 때 살았던 동네 - the neighborhood I used to live in, not anymore. 주말마다 등산을 가곤 했어요 - I would often go hiking on weekends. English needs a whole clause for each of these; Korean does the first two with one syllable in front of a noun.

Key point -던 = a past left unfinished, or one you kept repeating - placed before a noun. -았/었던 = a finished past, with a "not anymore" feeling. -곤 하다 = a repeated habit - English "would often".

How to use it

You already build relative clauses in front of nouns with -(으)ㄴ/-는. -던 is the retrospective member of that family: it gives the noun a past that didn't finish or that kept recurring - 읽던 책 (= the book I was reading - not finished), 다니던 회사 (= the company I used to work at). English needs a full relative clause - "the book that I was reading" - while Korean needs only one syllable.

-았/었던 looks at a completely closed past from a distance: 작년에 갔던 바다 (= the beach we went to last year), 학생 때 좋아했던 노래 (= a song I liked in my school days). It quietly adds "and that's over now".

-곤 하다 recalls a habit - the natural match for English "would often": 방학이면 할머니 댁에 가곤 했어요 (= on school vacations I would often go to my grandmother's). For a present habit, the present form works too: 주말에는 늦잠을 자곤 해요 (= I often sleep in on weekends).

At a glance

Pattern	Feeling	Example
-던	left unfinished · recalled repetition	아까 보던 영화 계속 볼까요?
-았/었던	finished past · not anymore	예전에 자주 만났던 친구예요
-(으)ㄴ (for comparison)	plain past fact	어제 본 영화
-곤 하다	repeated habit ("would often")	비 오는 날이면 부침개를 먹곤 했어요

Also worth knowing  -더라고요 recalls and reports something you saw or felt yourself: 그 식당 정말 맛있더라고요 (= that restaurant was really good - I tried it myself). Where -대요 passes along what you heard, -더라고요 passes along what you witnessed - the same retrospective -더- that also appears inside -던.

One syllable, different cup  마신 커피 is a cup you finished; 마시던 커피 is a cup you left half full. The line between -(으)ㄴ and -던 is measured in what's left in the cup.

Examples

이건 제가 쓰던 노트북이에요. 아직 잘 돼요. This is the laptop I've been using. It still works fine. - here -던 recalls use that continued over time, rather than use that was interrupted.

여기가 우리 가족이 살았던 집이에요. This is the house my family used to live in. - a closed past: we don't live there anymore.

대학 시절에는 밤새 이야기하곤 했어요. In my university days, we would often talk all night. - a habit recalled from a distance.

Common mistakes

⚠️ 책상 위에 있는 게 제가 마신 커피예요. 반쯤 남았어요. → ⭕ 책상 위에 있는 게 제가 마시던 커피예요. Not a grammar error - 마신 is a well-formed past modifier. But it says the drinking is done, and "half is still left" contradicts that. An unfinished cup calls for -던.

❌ 어릴 때 바다에 자주 가는 곤 했어요. → ⭕ 어릴 때 바다에 자주 가곤 했어요. -곤 하다 attaches straight to the bare stem - no modifier form, nothing in between: 가곤, 먹곤, 만나곤.

Quick check

Fill each blank with -던, -았/었던, or -곤 했어요.

1. 아까 제가 먹(      ) 과자 어디 있어요? 아직 남았는데요.
2. 이 노래는 고등학교 때 매일 들(      ) 노래예요. (you don't listen to it now)
3. 스트레스를 받으면 혼자 영화를 보(      ).

Show answers

1. 던 (먹던 - "some is still left" shows the action was not finished)   2. 었던 (들었던 - a finished past, not anymore)   3. 곤 했어요 (보곤 했어요 - a repeated habit)

💡 Study tip - Pick one object full of memories. An old phone, a school bag, a mug - and build three sentences around it: 제가 쓰던 ~, 자주 가곤 했던 ~, 좋아했던 ~. The speaking test regularly asks about memories, and these retrospective endings are exactly the grammar that topic requires.