더니 grammar meaning

더니 grammar is used to talk about what I’ve observed in the past. 더니 is the intermediate level of Korean.

This is the concatenation ending used in the middle of the sentence. And “-더니” is an expression that is used more when speaking than when writing.

가다 – 가더니
좁다 – 좁더니
깨닫다 – 깨달더니
도와주다 – 도와주더니
감사하다 – 감사하더니
거대하다 – 거대하더니
엄청나다 – 엄청나더니
가져가다 – 가져가더니

There are many meanings of “-더니 grammar”. Today, we will learn about three of them. As you know, the expression we’re going to learn today is about what I’ve observed in the past. I talk about what I saw or heard in person. Let’s take a closer look at how to use it.

1.
First, “-더니 grammar” in the latter sentence indicates the opposite of what you learned by observing the past.

수지가 예전에는 매일 라면만 먹었어요. 그런데 요즘에는 라면을 안 먹고 샐러드만 먹어요.
Su-ji used to only eat ramen every day. But these days, Su-ji doesn’t eat ramen, but only eats salad.

(I saw it. 제가 봤어요. 수지가 달라졌어요. Su-ji has changed.)

수지가 예전에는 매일 라면만 먹더니 요즘에는 라면을 안 먹고 샐러드만 먹어요. Su-ji used to only eat ramen every day, But these days, She only eats salad.

In the first sentence of “-더니”, I talk about what I learned from observing the past.
The latter sentence of “-더니” tells the opposite of what was observed in the past.

아침에는 눈이 왔어요. 제가 봤어요. 그런데 지금은 눈이 안오고 비가 와요. It snowed in the morning. I saw it. But now it’s not snowing and raining.

아침에는 눈이 오더니 지금은 비가 와요.
It snowed in the morning, but now it’s raining.

In this way, the front of “-더니” refers to what I have observed in the past, and the back of “-더니” refers to facts or actions opposite to the previous content.

I was observing other people’s situations. The subject of the first and second sections is the second or third person. Let’s take a look at a few more sentences using the first meaning of “-더니”.

친구가 평소에 바지만 입더니 오늘은 치마를 입었어요. My friend usually only wears pants, but today she wore a skirt.

은주가 전에는 수영장에 자주 가더니 요즘은 집에만 있어요. Eun-Joo used to go to the swimming pool often before, but these days, she only stays at home.

2.
You can use “-더니 grammar” to tell us what the results of your past observations were.

제가 봤어요. I saw it.
운동 선수가 날마다 열심히 연습 했어요. 그 결과 올림픽에서 금메달을 땄어요. The athlete practised hard every day. So as a result, He won a gold medal at the Olympics.

그 선수가 날마다 열심히 연습 하더니 올림픽에서 금메달을 땄어요. The player practised hard every day and won a gold medal at the Olympics.

Like this, the first sentence of “-더니” indicates the cause. The sentence after that can indicate the result. And this is what I observed. So, the subject of the first and second verses should be the second person or the third person, right?

Let’s look at one more sentence.
제 친구는 공부를 정말 잘했어요. 그래서 그 친구는 나중에 의사가 되었어요. My friend was really good at studying. I saw it. So he later became a doctor.

그 친구는 공부를 잘하더니 의사가 되었어요. He studied well and became a doctor.
In this way, I can use “-더니” to tell the cause and effect of the facts I observed.

제 동생이 똑같은 영화를 매일 보더니 대사를 다 외웠어요. My brother watched the same movie every day and memorized all the lines.

친구가 매일 열심히 운동하더니 살이 빠졌어요. My friend lost weight after working out hard every day.

3.
“-더니 grammar” can be used when an action or situation continues immediately after the facts observed in the past. I use it when something else comes right after something.

친구가 전화를 받았어요 그리고 바로 급하게 밖으로 나갔어요. My friend answered the phone. And he went outside in a hurry.
At this time, what happened before and after was not causal, but accidental.
친구가 전화를 받더니 급하게 밖으로 나갔어요.

The first thing refers to the fact that the subject observes, and the second thing refers to what happened immediately after the first thing happened.

친구가 요리를 시작했어요 그리고 10분 만에 바로 음식을 완성했어요. My friend started cooking. And she finished the food in 10 minutes.
친구가 요리를 시작하더니 10분 만에 바로 음식을 완성했어요.

더니 grammar examples

Let’s take a look at some more example sentences.

아버지께서 지갑에서 돈을 꺼내시더니 저에게 주셨어요. My father took the money from his wallet and gave it to me.

친구가 급하게 뛰어가더니 다른 사람과 부딪혔어요. My friend ran in a hurry and bumped into someone else.

you can use adjectives, verbs, and nouns for “-더니”. Adjectives and verbs all use “-더니” when they have or don’t have consonants.
먹다 먹더니
덥다 덥더니
가다 가더니
크다 크더니

If there’s a consonant in a noun, use “이더니” and If there is no consonant in the last syllable of the noun, you can use all of “-이더니,-더니”.
모양이다 모양이더니
눈치이다 눈치이더니/ 눈치더니
아니다 아니더니
“아니다” is expressed as “아니더니”.

This grammar is what we observed in the past, but we don’t use “-았/었” but uses “-더니”. At this time, the meaning changes when you use “-았/었더니”.

더니 grammar summary

First, use it when contradictory facts come after observation.

It snowed in the morning, but now it’s raining. 아침에는 눈이 오더니 지금은 비가 와요.

Second, it is used to tell the results of what you have observed.
The player practised hard every day and won a gold medal at the Olympics. 그 선수가 날마다 열심히 연습 하더니 올림픽에서 금메달을 땄어요.

Third, it is used when something else appears following the observation.
My friend answered the phone and went outside in a hurry. 친구가 전화를 받더니 급하게 밖으로 나갔어요

Let me tell you a few things to be careful about when using this grammar.

First, the subject of the first and second verses is the third person. It also uses the second person.

And the subject of the first and second verses is usually the same.

However, when connected to the same topic, the subject of the first and second verses may be different. For example-
아침에는 눈이 오더니 지금은 비가 와요. “It snowed in the morning, but now it’s raining.”
In this sentence, we say “snow” in the front and “rain” in the back.
At this time, the subject is different, but it’s okay because it connects to the same topic.
But “It snowed in the morning, but now I’m tired.” 아침에는 눈이 오더니 지금은 비가 와요. This is an incorrect sentence.
Like this sentence, the topics before and after should not be different.

This grammar is not used in the sentences ordered or recommended. For example-
친구가 전화를 받더니 급하게 밖으로 나가세요/ 나갑시다/ 나갈까요.
It is not used like this.

And I’m talking about what I’ve observed in the past. The future tense cannot come to the later part of the sentence.
“제 친구가 전화를 받더니 급하게 밖으로 나갈 거예요.” This is incorrect sentence.

When using adjectives representing a person’s psychology심리, mood 기분, emotions 감정, and senses 감각, use the first-person subject. For example, I was hungry earlier. But now my stomach hurts.
It expresses a person’s sense and feeling of “배가 고프다”. So the subject of this sentence is me, first-person.

제가 아까 배가 고팠어요. 그런데 지금은 속이 쓰려요.I was hungry earlier, but now I have a stomachache.
I was hungry earlier, but now my stomach hurts. 제가 아까 배가 고프더니 지금은 속이 쓰려요.
The subject hidden here is “I”.

더니 grammar usages

Now let’s look at how to use “-더니” in the following situations.

The baby used to be very small. The baby drank a lot of milk. 아기가 예전에는 많이 작았어요. 아기가 우유를 많이 먹었어요.

The baby used to drink milk well, but now he’s grown a lot. 아기가 우유를 많이 먹더니 지금은 많이 자랐어요.

In the past, the baby couldn’t eat alone. Now he can eat well alone. 아기가 예전에는 밥을 혼자 못 먹더니 지금은 혼자서도 잘 먹어요.

The baby went to see the chicken. The baby was surprised when the chicken sound. 아기가 닭소리를 듣더니 깜짝 놀랐어요.

The baby plays at home. The baby woke up and started dancing. 아기가 일어나더니 춤을 추기 시작했어요.

The baby is playing outside. The baby had fun outside and fell asleep as soon as he got home. 아기가 밖에서 신나게 놀더니 집에 오자마자 잠이 들었어요.

-더니 grammar used to talk about what I observed in the past. It may be difficult to understand everything after seeing it once because it has many meanings.