던 ③ — Past action

Implies that an event or action might have not been completed in the past and has been stopped since.

Korean Grammar in Use

This expression can also be used to indicate that something is not new but rather something that has been used from a certain time in the past until the present.

Details

1. This expression is also used to indicate something that was often done in the past but is not anymore. In such cases, it is used together with expressions of repetition such as 여러 번, 자주, 가끔, and 항상.

우리가 자주 가던 카페에 다시 가 보고 싶어요.

I want to go to that cafe that we used to frequent.

Here, the expression refers to the cafe that the speakers used to go to often but do not visit anymore.

2. This expression is also used to indicate the recollection of something that was started in the past but has not ended yet. In such cases, it is used together with a word indicating a specific time or day in the past, such as 지난달, 지난주, 어제, 아까 and 저번에.

아까 제가 마시던 커피를 버렸어요?

Did you throw away the coffee I was drinking earlier?

Here, the expression refers to the fact that the speaker had not finished drinking the coffee.

4. This expression is not used for things that have only occurred once and do not repeat.

이곳은 제가 결혼하던 곳이에요. ✕

5. This expression is also used to refer to a behavior or act that has often been repeated from a certain point in the past.

오늘도 우리가 자주 가던 카페에서 만납시다.

Let's meet at the cafe where we' often met.

Here, the expression means that the speakers have been going to the cafe often from some time in the past.

The differences between -던 and -(으)ㄴ which expresses the past tense, are summarized as follows.