Korean Retrospective Questions: -던, -던가
Three retrospective forms for reflective Korean: -던 marks something you used to do or that was ongoing (내가 자주 가던 카페 — the café I used to frequent), -던가1 asks a wistful self-question (그날이 언제였던가 — when was that day, again?), and -던가2 voices a rhetorical reminiscence (그 시절이 얼마나 좋았던가 — how good those days were).
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Written by Alvin Lim Certified Korean Language Teacher (Level 2)
Reflective Korean looks backward through a small family of -던 forms. -던 is the retrospective adnominal that recalls a past habit or scene (내가 자주 가던 카페 — the café I used to frequent), -던가1 turns a thought into a wistful self-question (그날이 언제였던가 — when was that day, again?), and -던가2 voices a rhetorical reminiscence that expects no answer (그 시절이 얼마나 좋았던가 — how good those days were). Together they are the grammar of remembering aloud.
You met the plain past tense long ago, and the editorial register of op-ed style just before this; here the focus shifts inward, to how Korean writers and speakers question their own memories on the page. These forms are ones you mostly need to recognize — to feel the backward gaze — though the -던 adnominal is easy enough to use yourself. Begin with ten words for memory and reflection.
Ten words for memory and reflection
The retrospective adnominal: -던
Attach -던 to a verb or adjective stem to modify a noun while recalling a past action that recurred, lingered, or was witnessed — usually with a nostalgic glow. It is the everyday workhorse of memory, and the one form here you can comfortably produce yourself.
내가 자주 가던 카페가 문을 닫았다 = the café I used to frequent has closed 어머니가 끓여 주시던 국이 그립다 = I miss the soup Mother used to make for me 우리가 함께 걷던 길을 다시 걸었다 = I walked again the road we used to walk together 어릴 때 부르던 노래가 떠올랐다 = the song I used to sing as a child came back to me
The form frames the action as something the speaker lived through and now looks back on. Pair it with a fond memory and the nostalgia is automatic — which is why reflective prose reaches for -던 constantly.
Reaching for a memory: -던가1
Use -던가1 to close a wh- question turned inward — the speaker is trying to recall a fact that has slipped just out of reach. It is musing, not interrogating; the listener, if any, is incidental.
그날이 언제였던가 = when was that day, again? 그 사람 이름이 무엇이었던가 = what was that person’s name, now? 우리가 처음 만난 곳이 어디였던가 = where was it that we first met? 내가 그때 왜 그런 말을 했던가 = why did I say such a thing back then?
The question searches the speaker’s own memory; the “answer” is whatever surfaces. This inward turn is what makes -던가1 read as contemplative rather than conversational.
Marveling at the past: -던가2
Use -던가2 for a rhetorical reminiscence — a question in form only, voicing wonder or longing about how things once were. No answer is expected; the form simply lets feeling rise.
그 시절이 얼마나 좋았던가 = how good those days were 우리가 얼마나 행복했던가 = how happy we were 그 약속을 얼마나 간절히 기다렸던가 = oh, how earnestly I awaited that promise 내가 그를 얼마나 그리워했던가 = how dearly I longed for him
Often introduced by 얼마나 (“how much / how …”), -던가2 turns the sentence into an exhalation of memory. It belongs to essays and speeches where the writer steps back to feel the weight of the past.
A passage of reminiscence
Here is the reflective register at work — a short essay-style passage leaning on all three forms:
오래된 사진 한 장을 꺼내 본다. 우리가 자주 걷던 골목, 해 질 무렵이면 어김없이 모이던 친구들. 그날이 언제였던가, 이름조차 가물가물하다. 그러나 한 가지만은 또렷하다. 그 시절이 얼마나 눈부셨던가. 덧없이 흘러간 줄만 알았던 날들이, 새삼 가슴 깊이 사무친다.
I take out an old photograph. The alley we used to walk down, the friends who would gather without fail around sunset. When was that day, again? — even the names are growing faint. Yet one thing stays vivid: how dazzling those days were. The days I had thought simply slipped away, fleeting, ache deep in my chest all over again.
Two old friends reminiscing
The same backward gaze, now in casual conversation — note how the friends drop into -던가 self-questions mid-chat:
Read how 가던 and 모이던 recall shared scenes, 무엇이었던가 reaches for a fading name, and 얼마나 좋았던가 lets the longing swell. That inward, backward gaze is the whole texture of reflective Korean — something to recognize and feel before you ever reach for it yourself.
FAQ
What is the difference between -던 and -던가? -던 is a retrospective ADNOMINAL — it modifies a noun and recalls a past action that was habitual or ongoing, often with nostalgia: 내가 자주 가던 카페 = the café I used to frequent, 어머니가 끓여 주시던 국 = the soup Mother used to make. -던가, by contrast, is a retrospective SENTENCE-ENDER that turns a thought into a backward-looking question. -던가1 is a genuine self-query reaching for a memory (그날이 언제였던가 = when was that day, again?), while -던가2 is rhetorical reminiscence (그 시절이 얼마나 좋았던가 = how good those days were). So -던 builds noun phrases; -던가 closes whole sentences as reflective questions.
Is -던가 a real question that expects an answer? Usually not. -던가 is self-directed — the speaker or writer is musing, not interrogating a listener. -던가1 reaches inward to recover a half-forgotten fact (이름이 무엇이었던가 = what was the name, again?), so the ‘answer’ is whatever memory surfaces, not a reply from someone else. -던가2 is openly rhetorical (얼마나 그리웠던가 = oh, how I missed it) and expects no answer at all; it simply colors the sentence with longing or wonder. Because of this introspective stance, -던가 reads as literary and reflective, which is why you meet it in essays, memoirs, and contemplative speech rather than in everyday Q&A.
Why does -던 feel nostalgic? -던 carries a built-in retrospective viewpoint: it frames a past action as something the speaker witnessed or experienced and is now looking back on, often one that recurred or was left unfinished. That ‘I was there, and now it is behind me’ angle naturally invites feeling. When the recalled action is pleasant — 함께 걷던 길 (the road we used to walk), 자주 듣던 노래 (the song I often listened to) — the form glows with nostalgia. It is not that -던 means ‘nostalgic’ on its own; rather, its retrospective stance plus a fond memory produces the wistful tone, which is exactly why reflective writing leans on it so heavily.
Next: the formality spectrum — one sentence, seven outfits. Previous: editorial & op-ed style — 당국은 기다리라던가. Full path: curriculum hub.