Partial Acknowledgment
This expression of contrast can be expressed with two forms: -기는 하지만 and -기는 -지만. Note that the latter form uses the same verb or adjective twice. The expression is used when the speaker recognizes or acknowledges the content of the first clause but then wants to express a different view or stance in the following clause.
1. This expression is often used in its contracted forms in conversation. -기는 하지만 contracts to -긴 하지만 and -기는 -지만 contracts to -긴 -지만.
2. The past tense form of this expression is -기는 했지만, not -았/었기는 했지만.
The two forms -지만 and -기는 하지만 are different in the following ways.
In the form 기는/긴 하다, the speaker acknowledges that something is true or is indeed the case. It is often followed by -지만 or -는데/ㄴ데 grammar to form a partial acknowledgment with an objection.
Instead of the full version 기는(요) (Gentle refutation) can be shortened to 긴(요).
긴 can also be used in reduplicative expressions such as -긴 -구나 (좋긴 좋구나) or -긴 -ㄴ가/나 보다 (힘들긴 힘든가 보다). The former adds emphasis to a -구나 expression, and the latter adds emphasis to a -ㄴ가/나 보다 expression, with the added nuance that the speaker has experienced or noticed several things that have confirmed their impression of a situation being a certain way.