Usage
i) Conditional conjunctive
질문이 있거든 연락하세요.
Contact me if you have any questions.
ii) Sentence-final
날씨가 안 좋았거든.
The weather wasn’t good, you see.
Conjugation
| Type | Example | Past | Present (processive) |
Future (prospective) |
Retrospective |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AV (vowel) | 하다 | 했거든 | 하거든 | 할 거거든 | 하던 거든 |
| AV (cons.) | 듣다 | 들었거든 | 듣거든 | 들을 거거든 | 듣던 거든 |
| DV (vowel) | 빠르다 | 빨랐거든 | 빠르거든 | 빠를 거거든 | 빠르던 거든 |
| DV (cons.) | 어둡다 | 어두웠거든 | 어둡거든 | 어두울 거거든 | 어둡던 거든 |
| Noun (vowel) | 남자 | 남자였거든 | 남자이거든 | 남자일 거거든 | 남자던 거든 |
| Noun (cons.) | 사람 | 사람었거든 | 사람이었거든 | 사람일 거거든 | 사람이던 거든 |
Where:
AV = action verb / processive verb.
DV = descriptive verb / ‘adjective’.
Nouns take the copula (이다) and this becomes a DV.
*NB: -ㄹ & -던 endings are rare because this form is typically used with present and past tense.
Contents
Introduction
i) Conditional conjunctive
ii) Sentence-final
Expanded forms
Additional details
Associated grammar
See also
Bibliography
User examples
Introduction
-거든 has two very different usages depending on whether it’s used as a connective or sentence-final feature. As a connective, it functions as a conditional — similar to -(으)면 (if/when) but with restricted usage. As a sentence-final feature, it serves to manage the flow of information in conversations.
i) Conditional conjunctive
-거든 is used as a conditional conjunctive where the first clause is the basis for the contents of the second clause.
질문이 있거든 연락하세요.
Contact me if you have any questions.
The second clause here is limited to either a command, suggestion or promise. This is because -거든 is closely related to speaker interactions. It is particularly unnatural for the second clause to be a statement. Here we see how connective -거든 is more restrictive than the connective -(으)면.
Command:
날씨가 좋아지거든 산에 가라.
Go to the mountain if the weather gets better.
Suggestion:
날씨가 좋아지거든 산에 가자.
Let’s to the mountain if the weather gets better.
Promise:
날씨가 좋아지거든 산에 가마.
I promise to go to the mountain if the weather gets better.
More examples:
철수가 오거든 점심 같이 먹자.
Let’s have lunch when 철수 gets here.
언제든지 도움이 필요하거든 찾아오세요.
Come find me whenever you need help.
돈의 여유가 없거든 내가 낼게.
I’ll pay if you don’t have the money.
In addition, the second clause can express the speaker’s intent or conjecture when it features the endings: -겠-, ㄹ 것이다, -(으)려고 하다 or ㄹ테다.
늦거든 택시를 타야겠다.
I’ll have to take a taxi if I’m running late.
일찍 일아나거든 또 연습할 거야.
I’ll do some more study if I wake up early.
올해 한국에 오거든 나도 한국에 있을 텐데.
If you come to Korea this year, I’ll be there too.
Compared with -(으)면, connective -거든 conveys the speaker’s feeling that the contents of the first clause are likely or expected to occur.
Compare:
배가 아프면 다시오세요.
If (by chance) you’re still in pain, come back.
배가 아프거든 다시오세요.
If you’re still in pain, come back.
Moreover:
마트가 닫혔으면 그냥 돌아와.
If the store’s closed, then just come back.
Possibility
마트가 닫혔거든 그냥 돌아와.
If the store’s closed, then just come back.
Greater expectation
The examples above show that -거든 is less hypothetical than -(으)면. Though rare in modern Korean, a combination of these two conditionals is found with -거드면 where it is more similar to the ordinary conditional -(으)면.
Finally, -거든 is often used when asking rhetorical questions.
니가 그렇게 공부해야 하거든, 나야?
If you need to study hard, (how much more) must I do?
나 안 잊었거든 넌들 설마 잊었겠느냐?
Since I haven’t forgotten it, how could you?
ii) Sentence-final
Sentence-final -거든 is far more common than connective -거든 in spoken language. Its most basic usage is to manage the flow of information in the conversation. This typically means adding information which the listener needs to consider moving forward.
날씨가 안 좋았거든.
The weather wasn’t good, you see.
Here the speaker is adding an explanation for something missing in the conversation. For some reason, it was suddenly necessary to explain that they didn’t go to the market due to bad weather.
Since sentence-final -거든 has a conversational function rather than a particular meaning, it can only be understood by analysing conversations in which it occurs. Analysis of such conversations can be found [here] (dialogues here). A summary is provided below.
Basically, speakers often don’t know what they are going to say at the onset of the conversation. New topics arise and the flow of conversation meanders between the participants. Communication is complex and speakers need to take into account what the other person knows about when adding new information to the conversation. -거든 functions as a way to manage the flow of information and helps the speaker repair any gaps in details. This is how it often gets translated to “you see” in English.
Storytelling:
나 보고… 니가 똘똘이냐고 말했어.
He looks at me… and asks “Are you 똘똘이?”
내 별명이 똘똘이였거든.
My nickname used to be 똘똘이, you see.
그래서, 내가 똘똘이라고…
So, I said I’m 똘똘이 (continues with story)…
-거든 can be used to preface or introduce new information. Here the speaker explains what their nickname used to be in order to explain their stance and move forward with the conversation.
Explaining reasons:
박물관엔 못 가. 월요일이거든.
We can’t go to the museum. It’s Monday, you see.
-거든 can be used to explain reasons to the listener. Here the speaker explains why they can’t go to the museum today (because such public facilities are closed on Mondays).
Direct response to a question:
A: Why don’t you study in Korea?
B: 돈이 없거든.
B: I don’t have the money.
-거든 gives many nuances when used to answer a question. This ranges from politeness to sarcasm.
Disagreements:
사투리 아니거든.
It’s not a dialect thing.
-거든 makes disagreements and rebuttals more forceful. Here the speaker strengthens their objection.
Impoliteness:
A: Do you want some cake?
B: 됐거든!
B: I’m fine!
-거든 can be used when being belligerent. Here the speaker criticises someone for asking what may have been a vexatious question.
Politeness:
A1: ↑저 내일 저녁에는 선약이 있어요.
A2: ↑저 내일 저녁에는 선약이 있거든요↓.
A : I already have an appointment tomorrow night.
-거든 can be used to soften the force of the sentence. The second sentence sounds more polite because -거든 mitigates the refusal to participate in an event.
Expanded forms
-거든 is sometimes expanded with the following forms:
-려거든
Conditional connective -거든 can combine with the intention pattern -(으)려고 to create the form -려거든. -(으)려고 is basically used to expresses the speaker’s intention to do an action.
-(으)려고 example:
한국어를 공부하려고 한다.
I intend to study Korean.
As with other conditional connective examples, this form is limited commands, suggestions, promises. This pattern is always used with action verbs.
같이 공부하려거든 계획을 세우자.
Let’s make a plan if we intend to study together.
담양에 가려거든 광주부터 가야 해.
If you intend to go to 담양, you need to go from 광주.
운전을 배우려거든 일단 도로법을 외워봐요.
Memorise the road rules first if intend to learn to drive.
-거들랑 (걸랑)
Both connective and sentence-final -거든 (albeit rarely) can be emphasised with -거들랑 or its colloquial shortening -걸랑. -거들랑 is -거든 combined with particle (이/으)ㄹ랑. This particle is very similar to P은/는 in that it highlights nouns and delivers an emphatic effect.
P(이/으)ㄹ랑 example:
그런 나쁜 말을랑 하지 마라.
Don’t say such nasty things.
The biggest difference between -거든 and -거들랑 is the latter is more colloquial and isn’t normally used with superiors.
-거들랑 examples:
날씨가 좋거들랑 낚시를 가자.
Let’s go fishing if the weather is good
모르는 사람이거들랑 문을 열어주지 마.
Don’t open the door if it’s someone you don’t know.
-(다|냐|라|자)거든
Both conditional connective and sentence-final -거든 can be used with the quotative forms.
자리가 없다거든요.
He said there are no seats left.
걔가 고양이를 키우자거든.
She suggested we get a cat, you see.
사장님이 열심히 하라거든 이젠부터 일찍 퇴근하지 말고.
If the boss says to work harder, then perhaps don’t leave early from now on.
경찰이 내가 어디 있냐거든 여기 있다는 것을 말하지 마라.
If the police ask for my whereabouts don’t tell them I’m here.
Additional details
General
• Since sentence-final -건든 has a conversational function, it’s less commonly used in written forms. This is because written language is more carefully planned and edited while sentence-final -거든 is used to manage and repair conversations on the fly. That’s not to say it can’t be found in written language. -거든 can be used to mimic conversational style and create a personal connection between the writer and reader.
• Sentence-final -거든 can be considered as having the basic function of managing information flow in conversations. More specifically, -거든 presents new information as if it were presupposed (old info, roughly). In the storytelling example for instance, the speaker adds a line with -거든 where the details are to be treated as they’re known by the listener. This can be interpreted as like saying “Although this is new to you, you should treat it as old information because it should be presupposed for what I am about to say”. In the impoliteness example, the speaker is expressing: “What I’m telling you right now, this may be news to you, but it should already have been presupposed”.
Tone
• Speakers can use either a rising or falling tone with -거든. When explaining reasons and storytelling, speakers normally use a falling tone upon -거든; although high tones can be used for drawing attention and signalling that they wish to continue holding the stage. When being impolite, a rising tone (similar to when asking a question) is always used to put the listener on the spot.
• -거든 is at times pronounced as 거덩 in colloquial speech.
Origin
• -거든 was a clausal connective in Middle Korean (10th to 16th centuries). After the 16th century it gradually also became a sentence-final feature through grammataticalisation. An overview of this process is as follows:
‘if’ > ‘because’ > ‘background’, ‘reason’, ‘common ground’, ‘reluctance’, ‘now it’s your turn’
A more detailed explanation is demonstrated here.
Over this period, -(으)면 became exclusively a connective while -거든 attained certain restrictions from its grammaticalisation. Connective -거든 is now a conditional with specialised usages (command, suggestion and promise) and has lost its generality.
Associated grammar
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See also
Bibliography
Affiliate links help support uK.
— Ihm, H.B., Hong, K.P., & Chang, S.I. (2001). Korean Grammar for International Learners. Seoul: Yonsei University Press.
— King, R., Yeon, J., Kim, C., & Baker, D. (2015). Advanced Korean. Boston: Tuttle Publishing.
— Kim, A. Utterance-final -ketun in spoken Korean: A particle for managing information structure in discourse. (2015). Journal of Pragmatics, 88, 27–54.
— Kim, A.H. Rhetorical questions as catalyst in grammaticalization: Deriving Korean discourse marker KETUN from conditional connective. (2010). Journal of Pragmatics, 43(4), 1023-1041.
— Kim, E. Genesis of Korean sentence-ending suffixes: Grammaticalization of -canha, -ketun, and –nikka. (2015). 언어정보, 20, 21-42.
— Lee, K. (1993). A Korean Grammar on Semantic-Pragmatic Principles. Seoul: Hanʼguk Munhwasa.
— Min, J., & Ahn, J. (2011). Korean Grammar in Use: Intermediate. Paju-si: Darakwon.
— Rhee, S. (2017). Grammaticalization and Pragmatic Inference: The Case of Insubordination, presented at East Asian Special International Symposium: Pragmatics in East Asia; Its Practice & Contribution, December 16-17, 2017. Kyoto, Japan.
User examples
ii) Sentence-final
Context: A woman describing her possession by a ghost.
저한테 잘 실리는 영은 나이가 어려요.[Submitted by 주호]
The spirit inside of me is young.
여섯 살짜리거든요.
It’s aged seven, you see.