다가 grammar

다가 grammar, -에다가 grammar meaning

다가 grammar is used when an action or state is stopped and changed to another action or state. 다가 attaches after an adjective or a verb stem. Korean grammar 다가 is a connective ending.

This structure is used when we describe a situation with two or more actions or states. Imagine that you are doing this action watching TV. And you are doing homework. let’s say they are action 1 and action 2. Let’s see an example.

여기에서 앞으로 쭉 가다가 첫 번째 사거리에서 왼쪽으로 가세요.” Go straight ahead and turn left at the first crossroads.
In this sentence, 다가 is attached after the verb 가다 (to go).

숙제 하다가 잠들었어요’ (I did homework and fell asleep.)
In this sentence, 다가 is attached after the verb 하다 (to do).

‘다가’ can be shortened to ‘다.’
소설을 읽다가 잠들었어요.’
You can say: 소설을 읽다 잠들었어요,’

다가 grammar Example

You dont need to add 아요/어요 after 다가.

날씨 맑다 = 날씨 맑다가
보다 = 보다가
오다 = 오다가

바쁘다 – 바쁘다가

살다 – 살다가

좋아하다 – 좋아하다가

요리를 하다 – 요리를 하다가

한국어를 배우다 – 한국어를 배우다가

다가 vs (으)면서

When two actions are happening together (으)면서 is used. Action 1 and action 2 are happening on the same track. For example-
TV를 보면서 숙제를 했어요. I did homework while watching Tv.
운전을 하면서 음악을 들어요. I listen to music while driving.

When two actions are happening one after another 다가 is used. Action 2 happened just after action 1. There might be an overlap of a certain time or both actions happened continuously one after another. For example-
TV를 보다가 숙제를 했어요. I did homework right after watching Tv.
운전을 하다가 음악을 들어요. I listen to music right after driving.

에다가 grammar

에다가 grammar is used just after the noun (noun+ 에다가). 에다가 is used in two situations. 에다가 can be shortened to 에다.

  1. When adding one thing to another thing. For example –

커피에다가 설탕을 넣으세요. Add sugar into coffee.

2. 에다가 is used when changing place. For example-

화분 에다가 꽃을 심으세요. Plant flowers in a pot.

-아/어다가/여다가 grammar

It is connective and used when one does a certain action and does the following action based on the result of the first action.

-아/어다가 grammar is used when sequential actions occur. Two related actions happened one after another. You can simply understand this grammar as “First… and then…” in English. It can be shortened to -아/어다 grammar. Examples –

언니는 을 노트북 사다가 어머니께 보냈어요. (My older sister bought a notebook and sent it to mom.)

책방에서 만화책을 빌려다가 집으로 가져왔다. I borrowed a comic book from a bookstore and brought it home.

장모가 사위를 위해 닭을 잡아다가 음식을 했다. My mother-in-law caught a chicken for her son-in-law and cooked it.

어머니는 저녁 내내 요리를 해다가 휴가를 나온 아들에게 먹였다. The mother had been cooking all evening and fed her son on vacation.

-았/었다가 grammar

This grammar indicates the completion of an action, after which another action occurs in the past tense.

갔다 올게! (I’ll go and come back! / I’ll be back.

Learn 았다가/었다가/했다가 grammar

다가 grammar Summary

다가 grammar is used when we describe a situation with two or more actions or states. 다가 grammar is used when one action or state transfers to another action or state. It can be a shift in action. It can be a result of the first action. No conjugation is necessary.

whether there is (adjective/verb stem has) final consonant or not, ‘다가’ is used.
‘읽다’ becomes ‘읽다가’. ‘가다’ becomes ‘가다가’.

다가 grammar