한글
GuidesSign inGet started

Grammar / Level 3 / Lesson 86

다니, 다니까 and 다면서: surprise and insistence

By Daniel Buckley · 14 minute read · TOPIK 4

Vocabulary

  1. 그만두다 - to quit
  2. 벌써 - already
  3. 믿다 - to believe, to trust
  4. 대단하다 - to be amazing
  5. 유학 - studying abroad
  6. 거짓말 - a lie
  7. 글쎄 - well, I'm telling you
  8. 말이 안 되다 - to make no sense
  9. 이사하다 - to move house
  10. 출장 - business trip

A colleague tells you she's quitting tomorrow. 정말요? would do, but what often comes out is 그만둔다니요?, "what do you mean, quitting?" You've taken her sentence, held it up and reacted to it.

Everything here works that way. The base is the quoted sentence from quoting, with a new tail in place of 고: 니 for surprise, 니까 for insisting and 면서 for checking. If your quoted forms are solid, each tail is one new idea.

The base you already have

Take off the 고 from a quote and you have what these endings build on. Here it is with 니까, the most common tail. Swap in 면서 and everything else stays the same. 니 has one exception, which comes next.

What comes before the tail

  • Verb, stem ends in a vowel or ㄹ: ㄴ다, and a ㄹ drops.가다 → 간다니까살다 → 산다니까
  • Verb, stem ends in a consonant: 는다.먹다 → 먹는다니까
  • Adjectives, 있다 and 없다: 다 on the stem.좋다 → 좋다니까없다 → 없다니까
  • Past and future: 았/었다, or ㄹ/을 거라.갔다니까갈 거라니까
  • Nouns: 이라, or 라 after a vowel. The negative is 아니라.학생이라니까친구라니까아니라니까
  • Questions, suggestions, commands: 냐, 자, (으)라.가냐니까가자니까가라니까

다니: I can't believe it

다니 holds something up in disbelief. It might be delight, shock or annoyance, and the rest of the sentence or your voice tells you which. English gets there with "I can't believe", "to think that" or just intonation.

When the thing surprising you is a fact in front of you, there's one change to the base: verbs go straight on the stem, so it's 오다니 and not 온다니. The past is 왔다니, and nouns take (이)라니.

Pick a verb

오다오오다니

  1. 벌써 십이월이라니!

    I can't believe it's December already!

  2. 네가 벌써 대학생이라니!

    To think you're a university student already!

  3. 이렇게 맛있다니!

    Who knew it could taste this good!

  4. 혼자 이걸 다 만들다니, 정말 대단하네요.

    To think you made all this on your own. That's amazing.

  5. 민수 씨가 그런 말을 하다니 믿을 수가 없어요.

    I can't believe Minsu would say something like that.

  6. 약속을 또 잊어버렸다니, 말이 안 돼요.

    You forgot our plans again? That's ridiculous.

When you're reacting to what someone has just told you, the full quoted form comes back: 는다니, ㄴ다니. The line between the two isn't sharp. As I read it, 떠나다니 reacts to the fact, and 떠난다니 reacts to what you've been told.

  1. 회사를 그만둔다니 무슨 말이에요?

    What do you mean, you're quitting?

  2. 미국으로 유학 간다니 정말 부러워요.

    You're going to study in America? I'm so jealous.

다니요?: throwing it back

Add 요 and you're repeating the other person's words back at them. You heard them perfectly well. It means "what do you mean?" or "how can you say that?", and it works on any kind of sentence, which is where 냐니, 자니 and (으)라니 come in.

  1. 그만둔다니요? 왜요?

    What do you mean, quit? Why?

  2. 거짓말이라니요? 정말이에요.

    A lie? It's true.

  3. 왜 왔냐니요? 오라고 하셨잖아요.

    What do you mean, why did I come? You told me to.

  4. 지금 가자니요? 아직 밥도 안 먹었어요.

    Go now? We haven't even eaten yet.

  5. 저 혼자 하라니요? 저는 못 해요.

    Do it on my own? I can't.

Your tone matters here. Said sharply to someone above you, this can come across as an objection, so I'd keep it for real surprise.

  1. 벌써 ___! 시간 정말 빠르네요.

    It's Friday already! Time really flies.

  2. 혼자 ___? 저는 못 해요.

    Your boss has told you to work alone from tomorrow. On my own? I can't.

  3. 지금 ___? 비가 오는데요.

    A friend says 지금 갈까요? You answer: go now? It's raining.

다니까요: I told you

다니까 is 다고 하니까 shortened: "since I'm saying". As an ending, it means you've said this already and you're saying it again. It can sound impatient, so the tone matters, and with 요 it's still polite but it isn't soft.

Pick a verb

가다가간다니까요

Pick a verb

좋다좋좋다니까요

  1. 괜찮다니까요.

    I'm fine, I told you.

  2. 제가 안 했다니까요.

    I didn't do it, I keep telling you.

  3. 정말이라니까요.

    It's true, I'm telling you.

  4. 그 사람 의사가 아니라니까요.

    He's not a doctor, I said.

  5. 어디 가냐니까요?

    I said, where are you going?

  6. 같이 가자니까요.

    I said let's go together.

  7. 빨리 오라니까요.

    I said hurry up and come.

글쎄 often comes in front, as in 글쎄 괜찮다니까요, and it adds to the feeling that you've been through this already. One form is friendly, though. 그렇다니까요 is "that's what I've been saying", and you use it to agree with someone who has just said what you think.

In the middle of a sentence, 다니까 keeps its plain meaning: someone says so, so here's what follows. The saying might be yours or anyone else's.

  1. 내일 눈이 온다니까 일찍 출발하세요.

    They say it'll snow tomorrow, so set off early.

  2. 민수 씨도 온다니까 조금만 기다려요.

    Minsu says he's coming too, so let's wait a bit.

  3. 거기가 맛있다니까 한번 가 볼까요?

    They say that place is good. Shall we give it a try?

다면서요?: I hear that's so

다면서요 is 다고 하면서요 shortened. You've heard something, and you're checking it with someone who'd know. 대요 passes news to the listener, while 다면서요 asks the listener to confirm it.

  1. 민수 씨가 결혼한대요.

    Minsu's getting married, apparently.

  2. 민수 씨가 결혼한다면서요?

    I hear Minsu's getting married. Is that right?

Pick a verb

가다가간다면서요

  1. 다음 달에 이사한다면서요?

    I hear you're moving next month.

  2. 어제 많이 바빴다면서요?

    I heard you were really busy yesterday.

  3. 부산은 덥다면서요?

    I hear it's hot in Busan. Is that right?

  4. 민수 씨가 선생님이라면서요?

    I hear Minsu's a teacher. Is that true?

In 반말 it's 다면서?, and often just 다며?: 결혼한다며? You'll hear that a lot in dramas.

The same form can catch someone out. You quote what they told you, then point at what they've done instead. Here it's often not a question at all, and the tone is one of complaint.

  1. 안 간다면서 왜 왔어요?

    You said you weren't going, so why are you here?

  2. 바쁘다면서 영화를 봤어요?

    You said you were busy, and you went to see a film?

  3. 돈이 없다면서 또 샀어요?

    You said you had no money, and you've bought another one?

  4. 같이 가자면서요!

    You said we'd go together!

A third use is plain storytelling, and it's the literal meaning. Someone said something as they did something else.

  1. 민수 씨가 바쁘다면서 먼저 나갔어요.

    Minsu left first, saying he was busy.

  2. 친구가 고맙다면서 선물을 줬어요.

    My friend gave me a present to say thank you.

  1. 유학을 간다면서요?

  2. 안 먹는다면서 왜 먹어요?

  3. 민수 씨가 아프다면서 집에 갔어요.

  4. 어제 일찍 잤다면서요?

  5. 일찍 잔다면서 아직도 안 자요?

  6. 친구가 미안하다면서 커피를 사 줬어요.

Listen and type

1 / 3

Play it as often as you like.

In a conversation

A

민수 씨, 회사를 그만둔다면서요?

Minsu, company you quit, I hear?

B

네? 그만둔다니요? 누가 그래요?

What? Quit, you say? Who says so?

A

지은 씨가 그러던데요.

Jieun was saying so, as I heard.

B

아니에요. 제가 왜 그만둬요?

It's not so. Why would I quit?

A

정말요?

Really?

B

정말이라니까요. 다음 달에 일본에 출장을 가는데 그걸 잘못 들은 것 같아요.

True, I tell you. Next month to Japan on business trip go, and seems that was misheard.

A

또 출장이요? 올해만 벌써 네 번째라니!

Business trip again? This year alone already fourth can't believe!

Common mistakes

  1. 민수 씨가 학생다니요?

    민수 씨가 학생이라니요?

    Nouns take (이)라니, the same 라 you use to quote them.

  2. 내일 눈이 오다니까 일찍 출발하세요.

    내일 눈이 온다니까 일찍 출발하세요.

    다니까 needs the quoted form, and a verb's quoted form is ㄴ다 or 는다.

  3. 이 식당이 좋는다니까요.

    이 식당이 좋다니까요.

    좋다 is an adjective, so there's no 는 in its quoted form.

Check yourself

Quick check

1 / 6

벌써 ___! (십이월) I can't believe it's December already!

A noun takes (이)라니.

Summary

다니 forms
DictionaryStem다니
오다오오다니
먹다먹먹다니
살다살살다니
좋다좋좋다니
ㄴ/는다니까요 forms
DictionaryStemㄴ/는다니까요
가다가간다니까요
살다살산다니까요
먹다먹먹는다니까요
듣다듣듣는다니까요
ㄴ/는다면서요 forms
DictionaryStemㄴ/는다면서요
가다가간다면서요
살다살산다면서요
먹다먹먹는다면서요
듣다듣듣는다면서요

One quote, three tails

  • 다니, (이)라니: I can't believe it.
  • 다니요, 냐니요, 자니요, (으)라니요: throwing someone's words back at them.
  • 다니까요: I told you. Mid-sentence, 다니까 is "they say, so".
  • 다면서요?: I hear that's so, is it? 다면서 can also catch someone out, or just tell a story.

Now you can say

  1. 벌써 십이월이라니!

    I can't believe it's December already!

  2. 괜찮다니까요.

    I'm fine, I told you.

  3. 다음 달에 이사한다면서요?

    I hear you're moving next month.

Sign in to keep track of the lessons you've finished.