Example Sentences#

1. 근데 간신히 도착했더니 비까지 오고, 줄도 정말 길고 입구 찾기도 힘들었어.¹
   But when I finally managed to get there, it even started raining, the line was super long, and even finding the entrance was hard.
   • 도착하다 means ‘to arrive’.
   • -였- is a past tense marker.
   • -더니 is a connective ending used to link a past situation directly observed or experienced by the speaker to a subsequent change or result, typically expressing the connection as a cause-and-effect relationship, a contrast with the current state, or a discovered outcome. It is composed of -더-, a retrospective suffix conveying the speaker’s recollection of a past personal experience or observation, and -니, a connective ending that marks the speaker’s recognition of the preceding clause as the contextual basis (cause, reason, or relevant information) for the following statement.
   • When the subject is in the first person, -더니 is typically used with the past tense marker as in -였더니, creating temporal distance and allowing the speaker to reflect on their own completed action and what resulted from it.