-데(요)

A spoken ending that passes on something the speaker personally saw or experienced in the past, like -더라(고요): 'I found that …, it turned out …'. With rising intonation it asks about what the listener saw. -데요 is the polite form.

문장 끝·말투Endings & speech style

Han: You tasted it yourself, so use -데요 (own experience); -대요 would mean someone told you.

Examples

가: 어제 면접 본 회사 분위기는 어떻데? 나: 생각보다 자유롭더라.A: So what was the atmosphere like at the company you interviewed with? B: More relaxed than I thought.

어제 그 식당에 가 봤는데 음식이 생각보다 괜찮데요.I went to that restaurant yesterday, and the food was better than I expected.

오랜만에 고향에 가 보니 동네가 많이 변했데.I went back home after a long time, and the neighbourhood had changed a lot.

Don’t mix up

-데(요)vs-대(요)-대(요) passes on what someone else said; -데(요) what you saw yourself: 그 식당 비싸대 (I heard) vs 그 식당 비싸데 (I went and saw).

-데(요)vs-더라고(요)Same evidential meaning; -더라고(요) is more common and a little more vivid: 사람이 많데요 ≈ 사람이 많더라고요.

How to build it

V/A+데(요)

N+이데(요)

past: V/A+았/었데(요)

크다 → 크데; 많다 → 많데요; 맛있다 → 맛있데요; 어떻다 → 어떻데?; 변하다 → 변했데; 학생 → 학생이데요

It reports what the speaker directly saw or felt, so it is not used for the speaker's own actions: 나는 어제 운동했데 (X).
Do not confuse it with -대(요), hearsay from -다고 해(요): 맛있데요 (I tried it and found it good) vs 맛있대요 (people say it is good). They sound alike, so the spelling matters.
With rising intonation it asks what the listener experienced: 그 영화 재미있데? / 분위기는 어떻데?
It is colloquial and sounds a little older; younger speakers more often say -더라(고요).

Classic mistake

Wrong: ~~제가 어제 먹어 봤는데 정말 맛있대요.~~

Right: 제가 어제 먹어 봤는데 정말 맛있데요.

You tasted it yourself, so use -데요 (own experience); -대요 would mean someone told you.

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