TOPIK II · LEVEL 4
-더라
-더라 reports, in plain casual style, something the speaker personally saw or experienced in the past.
문장 끝·말투Endings & speech styleHan: -더라 is casual; to a teacher use the polite -더라고요.
Examples
그 식당 진짜 맛있더라.That restaurant was really good (I found).
어제 가 보니까 사람이 정말 많더라.When I went yesterday, there were so many people.
민수가 요즘 많이 바쁘더라.Minsu seemed really busy these days (from what I saw).
Don’t mix up
-더라vs-더라고요Same meaning; -더라고요 is the polite form for adults/strangers, -더라 is for friends.How to build it
V/A+더라
맛있다 → 맛있더라, 많다 → 많더라
- Casual (반말) only; the polite version is -더라고요.
- Normally not about the speaker's own actions (except feelings): 나는 갔더라 is unnatural.
Classic mistake
Wrong: 선생님, 그 영화 재미있더라.
Right: 선생님, 그 영화 재미있더라고요.
-더라 is casual; to a teacher use the polite -더라고요.
Practise -더라 on real TOPIK questions
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All TOPIK grammar- -(으)리라-(으)리라 is a literary ending that expresses the speaker's firm resolve ('I will surely…') or a confident guess ('it will surely…'), usually in writing or before verbs like 다짐하다, 생각하다 and 믿다.
- -더군(요)Recalls something the speaker saw, heard or felt in the past and voices the realization it brought: 'I found that…, I noticed…'. -더군요 is polite; bare -더군 sounds like a monologue or an older speaker.
- -다니까(요)-다니까(요) repeats or insists on what you already said: 'I told you …! / I'm telling you …'.
- -(으)나-(으)나 is a formal written 'but / however', linking two contrasting clauses.
- -(으)되-(으)되 states or allows a first action and then adds a condition or limit to it, in a formal or written style.
- -(이)면 (조사)Attaches to a noun to mean 'if it is N / whenever it is N'; repeated as N(이)면 N, it means 'in every field, whatever you name'.
- -(으)ㄹ 게 아니라Use it to say that doing X is not the right move, so you should do Y instead: "rather than doing X, do Y."
- -(으)ㄹ 무렵-(으)ㄹ 무렵 means 'around the time when …'.
- -(으)ㄹ 리가 없다Use -(으)ㄹ 리가 없다 when you are convinced that something cannot possibly be true or happen, based on what you know.