TOPIK II · LEVEL 3
-고 나다
Marks that an action has been fully completed before what follows; used in -고 나면 'once A is done', -고 나니(까) 'after A, (I found)…' and -고 난 후/뒤/다음에.
시간·순서Time & sequenceHan: No tense marker goes before -고 나다; completion is already in 나다.
Examples
이 약을 먹고 나면 졸릴 수 있으니까 운전하지 마세요.You may get drowsy after taking this medicine, so don't drive.
일을 다 끝내고 난 뒤에 동료들과 저녁을 먹으러 갔다.After finishing all the work, I went to dinner with my colleagues.
시험이 끝나고 나니까 갑자기 힘이 쭉 빠졌어요.Once the exam was over, I suddenly felt completely drained.
Don’t mix up
-고 나다vs-고 나서-고 나서 is a neutral 'after doing'; -고 나니 adds what the speaker discovered: 자고 나서 일을 했어요 'slept, then worked' vs 자고 나니 머리가 맑아졌어요 'after sleeping, my head cleared'.-고 나다vs-(으)니까 (발견)-(으)니까 marks discovery after any action; -고 나니까 stresses that A was finished first: 집에 가니까 아무도 없었어요 vs 다 먹고 나니까 배가 너무 불렀어요.
How to build it
V+고 나면 / 고 나니(까) / 고 난 후(에) · 뒤(에) · 다음(에) / 고 나서
먹다 → 먹고 나면, 먹고 나니까; 끝내다 → 끝내고 난 후에; 자다 → 자고 나니
- Only with action verbs, not adjectives or 이다; the verb before -고 takes no tense marker (먹었고 나니 ✗).
- -고 나니(까): after finishing A, the speaker noticed or felt B; it often introduces a change of feeling: 이야기를 하고 나니까 마음이 편해졌어요.
- -고 나면: once A is done, B follows, in general truths or future situations: 운동을 하고 나면 기분이 좋아요.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 숙제를 다 했고 나니까 기분이 좋아요.
Right: 숙제를 다 하고 나니까 기분이 좋아요.
No tense marker goes before -고 나다; completion is already in 나다.
Practise -고 나다 on real TOPIK questions
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All TOPIK grammar- -(으)며-(으)며 is a formal, written 'and' (listing) or 'while' (two actions at once).
- -(으)ㄴ 채(로)-(으)ㄴ 채(로) means doing something while a previous state is still kept: 'with … still on / still …ing'.
- -(으)ㄴ 다음에'After doing A, B': the second event follows the first. It means the same as -(으)ㄴ 후에 / -(으)ㄴ 뒤에 but sounds more conversational.
- -(으)ㄴ/는 김에Use it when you take the chance of doing one thing to also do another thing: 'while I'm at it, I'll also…'.
- -(으)ㄴ/는 대로Shows that an action is done exactly the way something was said, done, seen or planned.
- -고 나서-고 나서 means "after (fully) finishing A, then B" and stresses that the first action is completed before the next begins.
- -는 길에-는 길에 means 'on the way to / while going somewhere': doing B along the way.
- -는 동안-는 동안 marks the whole stretch of time an action lasts, during which something else happens or continues.
- -는 사이에-는 사이에 means 'while (A is going on), B happened' — often B happens without the subject noticing.
