아/어 가다, 아/어 오다, 아/어 내다, 아/어 대다: going on and coming along
By Daniel Buckley · 11 minute read · TOPIK 3
Vocabulary
- 식다 - to cool down
- 떨어지다 - to run out, to fall
- 적응하다 - to adapt, to get used to
- 늘다 - to improve, to increase
- 참다 - to hold back, to put up with
- 이기다 - to win, to overcome
- 떠들다 - to make noise, to chatter
- 짖다 - to bark
- 놀리다 - to tease
- 밤새 - all night
Someone calls through the door, 다 됐어요? You're not quite done. The natural answer is 다 돼 가요, nearly there. Word for word, it's going along towards done.
After another verb, 가다 and 오다 can stop being about moving through space and start being about moving through time. Picture the action on a line with now in the middle. 오다 comes towards now, out of the past. 가다 heads away from it, towards where the action is going to end up.
아/어 가다: nearly there
아/어 가다 says a change is under way and hasn't finished. With 다 or 거의 in the sentence it means nearly done, and that's the use you'll need first. Without them, it's a slow change going on.
Making 아/어 가다
- Take the 해요 form, drop 요, and add 가다.끝나요 → 끝나 가요식어요 → 식어 가요돼요 → 돼 가요
Pick a verb
끝나다끝나요끝나 가요
일이 거의 다 끝나 가요.
The work is nearly finished.
밥이 다 돼 가요.
The rice is almost ready.
커피가 식어 가요.
Your coffee's going cold.
휴대폰 배터리가 다 떨어져 가요.
My phone battery is running out.
이제 한국 생활에 적응해 가고 있어요.
I'm gradually getting used to life in Korea.
한국어 실력이 조금씩 늘어 가요.
My Korean is slowly getting better.
※ The same words can also be plain movement. 커피를 사 가요 is "I'll buy a coffee and take it with me". Context tells you which one you've got, and a thing you can carry is usually the clue.
아/어 오다: up to now
오다 comes towards you, so 아/어 오다 says the action has been travelling from the past up to now. It's built the same way as 아/어 가다, it usually has a stretch of time with it, and it's mostly in the past form. English says "have been doing".
10년 동안 이 일을 해 왔어요.
I've been doing this job for ten years.
어릴 때부터 피아노를 배워 왔어요.
I've been learning the piano since I was little.
오랫동안 이 문제를 고민해 왔어요.
I've been agonising over this problem for a long time.
저희 회사는 30년 동안 이 제품을 만들어 왔습니다.
Our company has been making this product for thirty years.
~고 있다 points at what's going on now. 아/어 오다 takes in the whole stretch that led here. Put the two directions in one sentence and the line is easy to see.
지금까지 이 일을 해 왔고 앞으로도 계속 해 갈 거예요.
I've been doing this job until now, and I'll keep at it from here on.
※ With aches and feelings, 오다 can mean something is starting to arrive: 머리가 아파 와요, I can feel a headache coming on. As with 가다, it can also be plain movement: 커피를 사 왔어요, I bought a coffee and brought it here.
벌써 열두 시네요. 점심시간이 다 ___.
It's twelve already. It's nearly lunchtime.
5년 동안 매일 한국어를 ___.
I've been studying Korean every day for five years.
아/어 내다: see it through
내다 means to put out or produce. After another verb, it says you pushed through something hard and got to the end, or dug something out with effort. It attaches the same way as 아/어 가다. Where 아/어 버리다 is about something being gone, 아/어 내다 gives you credit for it.
그 힘든 시간을 이겨 냈어요.
I got through that hard time.
아파도 끝까지 참아 냈어요.
It hurt, but I stuck it out to the end.
새로운 방법을 생각해 냈어요.
I came up with a new way of doing it.
결국 혼자서 그 일을 해냈어요.
In the end I pulled it off on my own.
잃어버린 열쇠를 찾아냈어요.
I tracked down the lost key.
문제의 원인을 알아냈어요.
I figured out the cause of the problem.
※ 해내다, 찾아내다 and 알아내다 are in the dictionary as single words, so they take no space. The others are spaced here, though the spelling rules also let you join them. 해냈어요! on its own is "I did it!"
아/어 대다: again and again
아/어 대다 says an action keeps being repeated, or is done too much. It attaches like the others. It's usually a complaint, and usually about somebody else, so keep it away from people above you.
옆집 개가 밤새 짖어 댔어요.
The dog next door kept barking all night.
아이들이 하루 종일 떠들어 대요.
The kids make a racket all day long.
동생이 계속 저를 놀려 대요.
My little brother keeps teasing me.
왜 그렇게 웃어 대요?
Why do you keep laughing like that?
그렇게 먹어 대면 배탈이 나요.
If you keep stuffing yourself like that, you'll get an upset stomach.
Now sort these by what the second verb is doing.
일이 거의 다 끝나 가요.
20년 동안 이 일을 해 왔어요.
끝까지 참아 냈어요.
개가 계속 짖어 대요.
커피가 다 식어 가요.
그 힘든 시간을 이겨 냈어요.
어릴 때부터 피아노를 배워 왔어요.
왜 계속 떠들어 대요?
Listen and type
1 / 3
Play it as often as you like.
In a conversation
- A
보고서 다 됐어요?
Report all became?
- B
거의 다 돼 가요. 옆자리 사람들이 계속 떠들어 대서 좀 늦어졌어요.
Almost all going along to done. Next-seat people keep chattering on, so got a bit late.
- A
혼자 다 했어요?
Alone all did?
- B
네, 3년 동안 이 일을 해 왔으니까요.
Yes, three years this work have been doing, so.
- A
대단해요. 혼자서 거의 다 해냈네요.
Impressive. Alone almost all did it through.
Common mistakes
10년 동안 이 일을 해 가요.
10년 동안 이 일을 해 왔어요.
Those ten years are behind you, so the action is coming up to now.
밥이 다 되 가요.
밥이 다 돼 가요.
되 plus 어 is 돼, and 가다 needs the 아/어 form.
제가 해 냈어요.
제가 해냈어요.
해내다 is one word in the dictionary, so there's no space.
Check yourself
Quick check
1 / 6
일이 거의 다 ___. (끝나다, use 아/어 가다) The work is nearly finished.
끝나요 loses its 요.
Summary
| Dictionary | 해요 | 아/어 가요 |
|---|---|---|
| 끝나다 | 끝나요 | 끝나 가요 |
| 식다 | 식어요 | 식어 가요 |
| 되다 | 돼요 | 돼 가요 |
| 늘다 | 늘어요 | 늘어 가요 |
| Dictionary | 해요 | 아/어 왔어요 |
|---|---|---|
| 하다 | 해요 | 해 왔어요 |
| 배우다 | 배워요 | 배워 왔어요 |
| 만들다 | 만들어요 | 만들어 왔어요 |
| 고민하다 | 고민해요 | 고민해 왔어요 |
What the second verb adds
- 아/어 가다: under way, heading towards the end.
- 아/어 오다: from the past up to now.
- 아/어 내다: pushed through to the end.
- 아/어 대다: again and again, and it's annoying.
Now you can say
거의 다 돼 가요.
It's nearly done.
10년 동안 이 일을 해 왔어요.
I've been doing this job for ten years.
옆집 개가 밤새 짖어 댔어요.
The dog next door kept barking all night.
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