Lesson 26
In this lesson, let us take a look at how to say “in addition to + Verb-ing” or “on top of + Verb-ing” in Korean. The structure for this is -(으)ㄴ/는 데다가.
How It Is Formed
데 by itself means “a place” or “a spot”, but it is always attached to another Korean word, like in 아픈 데, which means a place that hurts (on your body).
Ex) 좋은 데 데려가 줄게요. = I will take you to a good place.
-다가 means “adding to this” or “to this place” as in, “Put it over here (= 여기에다가 놓으세요)” or, “I left it at home. (= 집에다가 두고 왔어요.)” You could also just say, “여기에 놓으세요” or “집에 두고 왔어요”, but by using -다가, it adds more direction to the meaning.
By adding 데 to -다가, you form 데다가, which means “on the place of...” or “adding to the spot where...”.
When you add -(으)ㄴ/는, you can connect other verbs to 데다가.
All together, -(으)ㄴ/는 데다가 means “on top of...” or “in addition to...”
Construction
[Present tense]
Action verb + -는 데다가
Ex) 먹다 → 먹는 데다가
Descriptive verb + -(으)ㄴ 데다가
Ex) 예쁘다 → 예쁜 데다가
[Past tense]
Verb stem + -(으)ㄴ 데다가
Ex) 먹다 → 먹은 데다가
Examples
1.
예쁘다 = to be pretty
예쁜 데다가 = in addition to being pretty
2.
바쁘다 = to be busy
바쁜 데다가 = in addition to being busy
3.
비싸다 = to be expensive
비싼 데다가 = in addition to being expensive
When using -(으)ㄴ/는 데다가 in a sentence, it is usually followed by a clause that is consistent with the previous phrase. Therefore, the two clauses in the sentence should be consistent with each other. -도 (also) is often used in the second clause as well.
Sample Sentences
석진 씨는 잘생긴 데다가 키도 커요.
= In addition to being handsome, Seokjin is also tall.
주연 씨는 똑똑한 데다가 공부도 열심히 해요.
= In addition to being smart, Jooyeon studies hard too.
경은 씨는 예쁜 데다가 성격도 좋아요.
= In addition to being pretty, Kyeong-eun also has a nice personality.
이 식당은 시끄러운 데다가 맛도 없어요.
= In addition to being noisy, this restaurant’s food is also not good.
경화 씨는 친구가 많은 데다가 하는 일도 많아서 만나기 어려워요.
= In addition to having a lot of friends, Kyung-hwa also does lots of things, so it is difficult to meet her.
* You could simplify this by saying, “경화 씨는 친구가 많아요. 그리고 하는 일도 많아요. 그래서 만나기 어려워요” but it is better to combine them all into one sentence.