How to use Korean Grammar V + 는 동안

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Verb + 는 동안 and (으)ㄹ 동안

In Korean, the grammar pattern -는 동안 is used to express the duration of an action in the present and past tenses. To learn about how to use 동안 with nouns, check out this lesson.

See examples,
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제가 집에 없는 동안 택배가 왔어요.

Korean

없다

택배

오다

English

I

home

to be absent

parcel

to come

A delivery came while I was away.

저+는 동안 택배 오++어요.

아들이 밖에서 노는 동안 집을 청소하려고 해요.

Korean

아들

놀다

청소하다

English

son

outside

to play

house

to clean

I'm planning to clean the house while my son is playing outside.

아들에서 놀+는 동안 청소하려고 하+여요.

Verb + / 을 동안

ㄹ - if a word ends in a vowel or ㄹ, 을- if it ends in a consonant (except ㄹ)

-ㄹ / 을 동안 is to describe the duration of an action in the future tense.

See examples,
(click on translation and grammar buttons)

한국에서 살 동안 한국어를 열심히 배워 보세요.

Korean

한국

살다

한국어

열심히

배우다

English

Korea

to live

Korean language

hard

to learn

Study Korean diligently while living in Korea.

한국에서 사+ㄹ 동안 한국어 열심히 배우+어 보+세요.

너를 기다릴 동안 영화나 볼게.

Korean

기다리다

영화

보다

English

you

to wait

movie

to watch

I'll watch a movie while waiting for you.

기다리+ㄹ 동안 영화 보+ㄹ 게.

Quick reference (click to open)

Vowels: a, e, i, o, u

Consonants: b, c, d, f, g, h, j

Syllable: Bra-zil (2 syllables), Ar-gen-ti-na (4), In-di-a (3), Viet-nam (2), thin-king (2), beau-ti-ful (3), good (1)

Batchim: is a final consonant in a syllable. → Bra-zil (batchim: 'l'), Ar-gen-ti-na (batchims: 'r' and 'n'), In-di-a ('n'), Viet-nam ('t', 'm')

Romanization: is a conversion of text (not pronunciation ! ) from different writing system (Korean, Arabic, Russian, etc.) to the Roman (Latin) alphabet.

IPA: is an alphabetic system of phonetic (pronunciation) notation.

Noun: road, user, sister, table, sky

Pronoun: I, my, we, you, they, her

Verb: to go, to study, to think, to feel

Adjective: cold, kind, hungry, curious, expensive

Adverb: quickly, nicely, never, exactly, urgently

Preposition: from, to, on, in, with, till

Conjuction: and, because, if, but, while

Declarative sentence: I learn Korean.

Interrogative sentence: Do you learn Korean?

Imperative sentence: You must learn Korean!

Exclamative sentence: Wow, you learn Korean!

Verb / Adj. stem in Korean: part of a verb or adj. which is left after removing the last syllable -다 ( e.g. 가다 → 가, 예쁘다 → 예쁘, 듣다 → 듣 ).