Question 1

What does -던 mean in 읽던, and how is it different from 읽는 책 or 읽은 책?

Accepted Answer

-던 is the attributive past-progressive ending. It shows that the action was ongoing at a past time.  
- 읽던 책: “the book I was reading” (ongoing in the past)  
- 읽는 책: “the book I am reading” (ongoing now)  
- 읽은 책: “the book I read” (completed action)

Question 2

Could I say 지난번에 읽던 책 instead of 지난번 읽던 책? What’s the difference?

Accepted Answer

Both are acceptable.  
- 지난번 읽던 책: more colloquial; 지난번 directly functions as “last time.”  
- 지난번에 읽던 책: slightly more explicit; -에 marks the time point “at the last time.”  
The nuance is minimal; Koreans often drop -에 in casual speech.

Question 3

Why is it 책이 (subject marker) instead of 책을 (object marker)? I thought the book was being read.

Accepted Answer

The relative clause 읽던 modifies 책, but the main clause is “(the book) was interesting and moving.” In that main clause, 책 is the subject of 재미있고 감동적이었어, so it takes 이/가 (여기서는 이).

Question 4

What does the connective -고 do in 재미있고 감동적이었어? Shouldn’t both adjectives show past tense?

Accepted Answer

-고 simply links two predicates (“and”). With descriptive verbs (adjectives) in Korean, you use the dictionary stem plus -고 regardless of tense, and then apply the tense ending only on the final predicate.  
Hence:
- 재미있고 (stem 재미있다 + -고)  
- 감동적이었어 (past tense on the second adjective)

Question 5

Why is it 감동적이었어 and not just 감동적였어 or 감동적이야?

Accepted Answer

감동적 is a noun-like adjective (nominal). To make it a predicate, you attach the copula -이다, which in past informal becomes -이었어.  
- 감동적이야: present informal (“is touching”)  
- 감동적이었어: past informal (“was touching”)  
- 감동적였어 is less common because after a consonant stem we usually write 이었어.

Question 6

Could I say 재미있었고 감동적이었어 with both in past tense?

Accepted Answer

Although grammatically possible, it sounds redundant. Native speakers normally mark tense only on the final clause when using -고:  
- Natural: 재미있고 감동적이었어  
- Less natural/redundant: 재미있었고 감동적이었어

Question 7

Why didn’t the speaker use 그리고 to connect the two adjectives?

Accepted Answer

그리고 (“and,” a coordinating conjunction) is typically used between full sentences or noun lists. For linking predicates in one sentence—especially adjectives—-고 is more natural and concise.

Question 8

What level of politeness is 재미있고 감동적이었어?

Accepted Answer

This uses the informal low style (반말). To make it polite (존댓말), you would say:  
- 지난번 읽던 책이 재미있고 감동적이었어요.

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