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what does 안하나 means?

crimsonng4918
New in Town
Posts: 5
Joined: June 5th, 2012 2:16 pm

what does 안하나 means?

Postby crimsonng4918 » July 27th, 2012 8:50 am

As per topic..

looking at the translations makes me confuse O_O

trutherous
Expert on Something
Posts: 870
Joined: February 8th, 2010 8:55 am

Postby trutherous » July 27th, 2012 7:24 pm

Hey how's it going crimsonng :D

I suspect you have come across a combination of the negative verb pattern 안 하다 (to not do) + retrospective conjunctive or question ending marker (나). In this case the context is very important in order to understand the intended meaning:

Used by itself:
안 하나? Don't you do it? Aren't you going to do it? Why don't you get started?
You might hear this terse colloquial form from an older person in Korea.

Used in combination:
그는 일을 안 하나 보죠 - It seems like he doesn't (do any) work.
한국어 공부를 안 하나요? - Don't you study Korean? Why aren't you studying Korean? I thought you were a student of Korean?
It is much more common to hear this pattern combined in a sentence.

Take care and study hard, don't be a stranger.

George -fellow student

***********
The following is a general observation of mine and may not apply to you specifically.

I often see questions about the meaning of some word or phrase that a person has heard frequently, for example, while watching Korean drama. The problem is that sometimes what they think they hear as a distinct and separate word or phrase is actually an incomplete part of a larger expression. The problem is compounded when the word is taken from the lyrics of a song, where poetic prose typically conveys feeling rather than the intrinsic meaning of the vocabulary. This is why it is so important to try and quote as much context as possible when inquiring about the meaning of a word or phrase.

*Where did you hear the word?

*What conversation preceded the word and what came after?

*How was word used in a sentence?

The inclusion of this contextual information should get you an accurate definition nearly every time.

You can imagine if someone just asked 'What does "usedina" mean?' ..Did you mean like 'USED IN A sentence?'

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kc101com
KoreanClass101.com Team Member
Posts: 122
Joined: September 29th, 2008 9:00 am

Postby kc101com » August 13th, 2012 12:05 pm

Thank you to trutherous for always great help!

That is true that we use 안하나 just like we are re--asking in English as "isn't it" or "doesn't it?"

Hope this grammar helped you a bit and please ask us anytime if you have further questions!:)




Thank you

Madison
Team Koreanclass101.com

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