-(느)ㄴ다던가

Short for -(느)ㄴ다고 하던가: asks to confirm what someone said that the listener heard — 'did he say …?', 'what did they tell us to …?'. A 하게체 question from an older speaker to an adult junior, or a question to oneself while trying to recall.

인용·전달Quoting & reporting

Han: Bare -던가 is 하게체, used to juniors; to a senior ask -(느)ㄴ대요? or -(느)ㄴ다던가요?

Examples

자네 친구가 언제 미국으로 떠난다던가?When did your friend say he's leaving for America?

자네 아버님께서도 이번 모임에 오신다던가?Did your father say he'd be coming to this gathering too?

가만있자, 보고서를 금요일까지 내라던가, 월요일까지 내라던가?Hold on — did they say to hand in the report by Friday, or by Monday?

Don’t mix up

-(느)ㄴ다던가vs-(느)ㄴ대요?The modern polite hearsay question: 언제 온대요? -(느)ㄴ다던가 is the old-fashioned 하게체 version: 언제 온다던가?

-(느)ㄴ다던가vs-(느)ㄴ다면서?-(느)ㄴ다면서? checks news the speaker heard: 이사 간다면서? -(느)ㄴ다던가 asks what the listener heard: 그 사람이 이사 간다던가?

How to build it

V+(느)ㄴ다던가

A+다던가

N+(이)라던가

command: V+(으)라던가

question: -냐던가

suggestion: V+자던가

오다 → 온다던가; 먹다 → 먹는다던가; 바쁘다 → 바쁘다던가; 의사 → 의사라던가; 내다 → 내라던가; 가다 → 가자던가

The -더- inside means the listener heard it earlier; the question asks what exactly was said: 그 친구가 언제 떠난다던가?
For a reported command use -(으)라던가: 서류를 언제까지 내라던가? 'by when did they say to hand in the papers?' — a typical way to double-check an instruction.
Register is 하게체 or self-talk. Politely ask -(느)ㄴ다던가요? or, more commonly today, -(느)ㄴ대요? / -(으)래요?
A different -다던가 lists hearsay excuses inside a sentence: 바쁘다던가 아프다던가 하면서 안 왔다. That one is not a question.

Classic mistake

Wrong: ~~부장님, 사장님께서 내일 오신다던가?~~

Right: 부장님, 사장님께서 내일 오신대요?

Bare -던가 is 하게체, used to juniors; to a senior ask -(느)ㄴ대요? or -(느)ㄴ다던가요?

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