ㄴ데

nde

Grammarheard in 2,870 videos · 35,892 times

sets up a clause; often "but"

Ends a clause to hand the listener background before the real point arrives: it can mean "but" (리허설인데 리허설 같지 않은 — a rehearsal, but it doesn't feel like one) or just "and here's the situation" (계절마다 특징이 다른데 — each season is different, and now let's look at them). It is glued to the stem of an adjective or the copula, so it usually shows up fused inside a word rather than as a separate piece. Speakers also leave a sentence hanging on it to soften a request or an opinion, as in 미안한데… "sorry, but…". After a consonant-ending adjective stem the same ending appears as -은데.

Register: neutral; very common in speech

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