Opening a Korean Debate: -건대 (I ask/declare that) and -는가 (the essay question)
Pose a thesis like a Korean debater. The performative preface -건대 announces your speech act (묻건대, 무엇이 공정인가 — I ask: what is fairness?), and the essayistic -는가 turns a statement into a rhetorical written question (정의란 무엇인가 — what is justice?), with the family 묻건대 / 바라건대 / 단언컨대.
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Written by Alvin Lim Certified Korean Language Teacher (Level 2)
A Korean debate opens with two formal moves. The performative preface -건대 announces your speech act (묻건대, 무엇이 공정인가 — I ask: what is fairness?), and the essayistic -는가/-(이)ㄴ가 turns a claim into a rhetorical written question (정의란 무엇인가 — what is justice?). Together they let you stand up, name the issue, and pose the thesis like a seasoned debater. Welcome to Chapter 2 of Grade 6 — the language of argument, where Korean turns rhetorical and precise.
This is the register of debate motions, opening statements, and op-ed leads. You already practiced the formal connectors of academic prose in science discourse; now we learn how to open an argument. Start with the words that frame any debate.
Ten words for opening a debate
I ask, I hope, I declare: -건대
Attach -건대 to a speech-act verb stem to announce, before you continue, exactly what you are about to do — ask, hope, or assert. It is a formal performative preface that lives at the very front of a sentence in essays, speeches, and debate.
묻건대, 무엇이 진정한 공정인가 = I ask: what is true fairness? 바라건대, 이 토론이 결실을 맺기를 = it is my hope that this debate bears fruit 단언컨대, 그 전제는 처음부터 틀렸다 = I declare: that premise was wrong from the start 청컨대, 끝까지 들어 주시기를 = I beg you to hear me out to the end
Watch the spelling: stems in 하다 fuse the 하 into the ending, so 단언하다 → 단언컨대 and 청하다 → 청컨대 (not 단언하건대). Treat the four above as fixed openers.
묻건대 — I (hereby) ask … → opens a thesis as a question: 묻건대, 무엇이 공정인가. 바라건대 — it is my hope that … → prefaces a wish: 바라건대, 우리가 합의에 이르기를. 단언컨대 — I declare / I assert with certainty … → prefaces a firm claim: 단언컨대, 이대로는 안 된다.
Three speech acts — question, hope, assertion — each flagged before the clause even begins. That is what makes a Korean opening sound deliberate and authoritative.
The essay question: -는가 / -(이)ㄴ가
Attach -는가 to a verb, or -(이)ㄴ가 to an adjective or noun, to pose a rhetorical, written question — one aimed at the reader and the argument rather than expecting an immediate answer. It is the classic way to state a thesis.
정의란 무엇인가 = what is justice? 우리는 어디로 가는가 = where are we headed? 이 제도는 과연 공정한가 = is this system truly fair? 무엇이 진보이고 무엇이 퇴보인가 = what is progress and what is regress?
Because the essay question does not demand a reply on the spot, it frames the whole piece: you pose 무엇이 공정인가 at the top, then spend the rest of the argument answering it. Contrast it with the spoken 공정해요? (“is it fair?”), which simply asks the person in front of you.
A debate essay opens
Here is the formal register doing its job — the first lines of a debate essay on fairness, prefaced and posed exactly as a Korean writer would:
묻건대, 우리 사회에서 공정이란 무엇인가? 누구에게나 같은 출발선을 주는 것이 공정인가, 아니면 처지가 다른 사람을 다르게 대우하는 것이 공정인가? 단언컨대, 이 질문에 답하지 않고서는 어떤 제도도 정당성을 얻을 수 없다. 바라건대, 오늘의 토론이 그 답에 한 걸음이라도 다가가기를 바란다.
I ask: what is fairness in our society? Is it giving everyone the same starting line — or is it treating people in different circumstances differently? I declare that no system can earn legitimacy without answering this question. It is my hope that today’s debate moves us even one step closer to that answer.
Setting up the motion
The same forms, now in a prep chat before a debate round — semi-formal, but the rhetorical register slips in:
Notice how 묻건대 raises the thesis as a question, 단언컨대 plants the firm claim, and 바라건대 lands the hopeful close — while 무엇인가 and 공정인가 keep posing the issue rather than answering it. That is the architecture of a Korean opening statement.
FAQ
What does -건대 do, and why does it sound so formal? -건대 is a performative preface: it attaches to a small set of speech-act verbs and announces, in advance, what the speaker is about to do. 묻건대 = I (hereby) ask, 바라건대 = I hope, 단언컨대 = I declare/assert. You meet it at the head of a sentence in essays, speeches, editorials, and formal debate — never in casual chat. The effect is that the speaker steps onto a podium for a moment: 묻건대, 무엇이 공정인가 reads as ‘Let me ask you this: what is fairness?’ Note the spelling shifts after certain stems — 단언하다 contracts to 단언컨대, and 청하다 to 청컨대 — because the 하 fuses with -건대. Treat the common ones (묻건대, 바라건대, 단언컨대, 청컨대) as fixed openers you recognize and can deploy to sound like a practiced debater.
How is the essay question -는가 / -(이)ㄴ가 different from a normal spoken question? It is the written, rhetorical register of a question. A spoken question expects an answer right now (공정해요? = is it fair?); the essayistic -는가 poses the question to the reader and to the argument itself, often as a thesis the whole piece will then explore: 무엇이 공정인가 = what is fairness?, 우리는 어디로 가는가 = where are we headed? Use -(이)ㄴ가 after a noun or adjective (무엇인가, 옳은가) and -는가 after a verb (어디로 가는가). Because it does not expect an immediate reply, it is the standard way to open a debate essay or a serious column — it states the problem as a question and signals that the rest of the text will answer it.
What is the difference between 논제, 쟁점, and 주장 in a debate? They mark three layers of an argument. 논제 is the overall topic or motion up for debate (‘Should AI be regulated?’). 쟁점 is the specific point at issue inside it — the crux where the two sides actually clash (‘whether regulation slows innovation’). 주장 is your claim or position on that point (‘regulation is necessary’), which you then back with 근거 (grounds/evidence). A clean thesis statement usually names all three: it states the 논제, isolates the real 쟁점, and declares your 주장. Keeping them distinct stops a debate from drifting, because you can always ask which layer a speaker is really addressing.
Next: the art of rebuttal — -건만, -기로서니, -으련마는. Previous: legal Korean — -은들, 는 마당에. Full path: curriculum hub.