Example Sentences#

1. 어느 날 그들은 강 옆에 도착했는데, 그곳에는 젊고 아름다운 여자가 강을 건너려 하다가 어려움을 겪고 있었다.¹
   One day, they arrived beside a river, where there was a young and beautiful woman having difficulty trying to cross the river.

   • 하다 means ‘to do’.
   • The expression -려고 하다 indicates the intention or plan to do the action mentioned in the preceding statement.
   • -다가 is a connective ending indicating the interruption, shift, or progression from one action or state to another.
   • Together, 건너려 하다가 forms a pattern that means ‘intended to cross, but then (something else happened)’.

2. 그러다 도둑은 나뭇가지를 붙잡고 겨우 나무 위로 올라갔습니다.²
   At that moment, the thief grabbed a tree branch and barely managed to climb up the tree.

   • 그러다 is a shortened form of 그러다가, formed from 그러다 (to do so) and -다가, a connective ending indicating the interruption, shift, or progression from one action or state to another, here conveying ‘while doing so…’ or ‘and then…’.