동안 (dongan): How Are '2주 동안 (i-ju dongan)' and '2주 만에 (i-ju mane)' Different?
동안 (dongan)
동안 (dongan) means “the length of time that runs from one moment to another.” Think of English during, while, and for all packed into a single word. 동안 (dongan) is a word you are guaranteed to meet within two or three months of starting Korean — and also one that people who have studied for three years still get wrong now and then. Not because the meaning is hard, but because deciding what goes in front of it is fussy.
Picture a scene. A friend who has just been back to her hometown for the first time in two weeks is standing at the front door with her suitcase. The first thing a Korean speaker reaches for isn’t “잘 다녀왔어? (jal danyeowasseo?)” — “Did the trip go well?” — but “내가 없는 동안 별일 없었지? (naega eomneun dongan byeoril eopseotji?)” — “Nothing happened while I was gone, right?” And on parting, the line is “그동안 고마웠어 (geudongan gomawosseo)” — “Thanks for everything all this time.” Airports, hospital waiting rooms, moving day, a goodbye on your last day at work, the holiday dinner table — wherever a stretch of time has flowed past as one lump, this word is almost always sitting there.
There is one key point. What comes before 동안 is a length, not a point. 세 시 (se si), “three o’clock,” is a point; 세 시간 (se sigan), “three hours,” is a length. 어제 (eoje), “yesterday,” is closer to a point; 어제 하루 (eoje haru), “the whole day yesterday,” is a length. That’s why 세 시간 동안 (se sigan dongan) works but 세 시 동안 (se si dongan) does not. Get this one thing into your bones and you’ll never misuse 동안 again.
One more thing: 동안 is a noun, but it attaches after verbs too. In that case you slip in -는 (-neun). 기다리다 (gidarida) → 기다리는 동안 (gidarineun dongan), 자다 (jada) → 자는 동안 (janeun dongan), 공사하다 (gongsahada) → 공사하는 동안 (gongsahaneun dongan). When a noun comes first, you just attach it directly: 방학 동안 (banghak dongan, “during the school break”), 일주일 동안 (iljuil dongan, “for a week”), 회의 동안 (hoeui dongan, “during the meeting”). Those two ways of joining are the entire grammar of 동안.
Checking it in the National Institute of Korean Language dictionary
The National Institute of Korean Language’s Basic Korean Dictionary explains the word like this.
동안 (dongan) 「명사 (myeongsa) — noun」 한때에서 다른 때까지의 시간의 길이. (hanttae-eseo dareun ttaekkaji-ui sigan-ui giri.) [en] while — The period from one time to another. [ja] あいだ・ま【間】 — ある時から他の時までの時間の長さ。 [es] periodo, duración, intervalo — Duración del tiempo transcurrido entre un momento y otro. [zh] 期间 — 从某一时期另一时期之间的时间长度。 — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)
The Portuguese gloss isn’t included in the dictionary, so the line below is our own rendering (not a dictionary quotation). [pt] período, duração — o intervalo de tempo entre um momento e outro.
Line the four translations up side by side and the true nature of the word comes into focus. English renders it as while (a linking word), while Spanish and Chinese render it as duración and 期间 (nouns that name the span itself). In other words, 동안 has both the connecting function of “in the middle of doing something” and the body of a noun meaning “a period.”
Let’s look at the actual usage examples printed in the dictionary.
다리를 수리하는 동안 가교가 설치되어 차량들이 정상적으로 통행할 수 있었다. (dari-reul surihaneun dongan gagyo-ga seolchidoeeo charyangdeul-i jeongsangjeogeuro tonghaenghal su isseotda.) While the bridge was being repaired, a temporary bridge was put up so that vehicles could pass through normally. — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)
This is the kind of sentence you could hear on the news word for word. Here 동안 points to the entire period in which the event — the repair work — was under way, and something else (installing the temporary bridge) happened on top of that period. That’s what 동안 does most often: it lays down a background.
승규는 며칠 동안 씻지 않았는지 가까이 가니 몸에서 냄새가 났다. (Seung-gyu-neun myeochil dongan ssitji ananneunji gakkai gani momeseo naemsae-ga natda.) Seung-gyu must not have washed for several days — when I got close, he smelled. — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)
What sits in front is 며칠 (myeochil), “a few days” — a length. 며칠 isn’t a date (a point) but a number of days (a length), which is why it can pair with 동안. By contrast, 3일에 동안 (sam-il-e dongan) or 월요일 동안 (woryoil dongan) come out awkward.
나는 면접 순서를 기다리는 동안 초조함을 가누기가 힘들었다. (naneun myeonjeop sunseo-reul gidarineun dongan chojoham-eul ganugi-ga himdeureotda.) While I waited my turn for the interview, I could barely keep my nerves under control. — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)
By the clock this is a short stretch, maybe ten minutes or so, and yet 동안 is used. Regardless of how big the length actually is, 동안 works for any time the speaker felt as one lump. This is where emotion gets loaded in.
그동안 바빠서 못했던 집안일을 하다 보니 하루가 다 갔네요. (geudongan bappaseo motaetdeon jiban-il-eul hada boni haru-ga da ganneyo.) I started catching up on the housework I’d been too busy to do all this time, and the whole day was gone. — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)
This is 그 (geu) + 동안 (dongan) hardened into a single word. It grabs some period mentioned earlier, or “all the time up to now,” as one whole. It’s also the form that shows up most often in Korean greetings.
A real conversation
Situation: the evening of the day Emily gets back from visiting her family home in Canada for the first time in two weeks. Jun-kyung has come to her front door to return the key he’d been keeping.
Jun-kyung: 어, 왔네. 자, 열쇠. Oh, you’re back. Here, your key.
Emily: 고마워. 나 없는 동안 별일 없었지? Thanks. Nothing happened while I was gone, right?
Jun-kyung: 응, 화분은 다 살아 있어. 근데 고양이가 사흘 동안 밥을 안 먹더라. Yeah, the plants all survived. But the cat didn’t eat for three days.
Emily: 헐, 진짜? 지금은 괜찮고? What, seriously? Is he okay now?
Jun-kyung: 어제부터 잘 먹어. 네 냄새 나는 티셔츠 꺼내 놨더니 그때부터 딱. He’s been eating since yesterday. I put out a T-shirt that smells like you, and he started right then.
Emily: 야, 너 진짜… 그동안 고생 많았다. 들어와, 커피라도 마시고 가. Hey, you’re really something… thanks for putting up with all that. Come in, at least have a coffee.
Take a good look at that last line. Emily doesn’t say 2주 동안 (i-ju dongan) again — with the single word 그동안 she picks up the whole two weeks that just passed. In Korean conversation this word is less a calculator than a bowl for holding feelings.
These sound off
✗ 회의는 세 시부터 다섯 시 동안 해요. (hoeui-neun se si-buteo daseot si dongan haeyo.) ✓ 회의는 세 시부터 다섯 시까지 해요. (hoeui-neun se si-buteo daseot si-kkaji haeyo.) / 회의는 두 시간 동안 해요. (hoeui-neun du sigan dongan haeyo.) → 세 시 (se si) and 다섯 시 (daseot si) are points in time. Linking one point to another is the job of 부터~까지 (-buteo ~ -kkaji), and 동안 is only used when a length like 두 시간 (du sigan, “two hours”) comes in front. This is the mistake learners make most.
✗ (to a department head who is retiring) 부장님, 그동안 고생 많았어요. (bujangnim, geudongan gosaeng manasseoyo.) ✓ (to a department head who is retiring) 부장님, 그동안 정말 감사했습니다. (bujangnim, geudongan jeongmal gamsahaetseumnida.) → There’s nothing wrong with 그동안. The problem is what follows it: 고생 많았어요 (gosaeng manasseoyo). That phrase is used by someone senior to acknowledge a junior’s hard work, so saying it to your boss makes the air go cold in an instant. With people above you, 그동안 감사했습니다 (geudongan gamsahaetseumnida, “thank you for everything all this time”) or 그동안 많이 배웠습니다 (geudongan mani baewotseumnida, “I’ve learned a lot from you all this time”) is the safe choice.
Example sentences by situation
① At the hair salon, waiting with the perm solution on The stylist says “삼십 분만 기다리실게요 (samsip bunman gidarisilgeyo)” — “Just thirty minutes, please” — and walks off. Here’s a natural thing to say.
약 바르는 동안 잡지 좀 봐도 될까요? (yak bareuneun dongan japji jom bwado doelkkayo?) Can I read a magazine while the solution sets?
The verb 바르다 (bareuda, “to apply”) takes -는 동안 (-neun dongan). This same pattern works exactly as is in every place where “waiting time” exists — salons, clinics, repair shops.
② At the front door on moving day, speaking casually to a friend A hectic morning with the lift truck outside and boxes going up and down. The dog keeps trying to slip out the door.
짐 옮기는 동안 강아지 좀 봐 줄래? (jim omgineun dongan gangaji jom bwa jullae?) Can you watch the dog while we move the boxes?
“A하는 동안 B해 줘 (A-haneun dongan B-hae jwo)” is the basic skeleton of a request. Because you first draw a time frame — “until this task is finished” — around it for the other person, the favor sounds much less burdensome.
③ First day back at the office after a week of sick leave Before you even open your inbox, the first thing you say to the senior colleague next to you.
제가 자리를 비운 동안 대신 처리해 주셔서 감사합니다. (jega jarireul biun dongan daesin cheori hae jusyeoseo gamsahamnida.) Thank you for handling things while I was away.
Even in polite speech, the shape of 동안 stays the same. Here the past modifier form of 비우다 (biuda, “to leave empty”), 비운 (biun), comes in front. For a period that’s already over, use -은/-ㄴ 동안 (-eun/-n dongan); for one still going on, use -는 동안 (-neun dongan).
Polite vs. casual, and similar expressions
Because 동안 is a noun, it doesn’t itself shift between polite and casual speech. Politeness is always handled by the predicate at the end of the sentence. In 며칠 동안 쉬었어 (myeochil dongan swieosseo, casual) and 며칠 동안 쉬었습니다 (myeochil dongan swieotseumnida, polite), the part 며칠 동안 doesn’t change by a single letter. What matters far more is knowing the distance between 동안 and its look-alike neighbors.
| Expression | Tone / intensity | Where it’s used |
|---|---|---|
| 동안 (dongan) | Neutral. Calmly points to the whole length of a stretch of time | Formal or informal, anywhere. The most basic form |
| 사이 (sai) | Neutral, but with a sense of “a gap.” Short and momentary | When something happened in that gap: 잠깐 사이에 다 팔렸다 (jamkkan sai-e da pallyeotda, “it sold out in no time”) |
| 내내 (naenae) | Strong. From beginning to end, without a single break | When you’re stressing that it kept going: 하루 종일 내내 비가 왔다 (haru jongil naenae bi-ga watda, “it rained all day long”) |
| 만에 (mane) | Brings out the waiting, the interval | 3년 만에 만났다 (sam-nyeon mane mannatda, “we met after three years”) — it points not to a length but to “cut off, then resumed” |
| 그동안 (geudongan) | Carries warmth. The temperature of a greeting | Well-wishing, farewells, thanks. 그동안 잘 지내셨어요? (geudongan jal jinaesyeosseoyo?) |
The pair that confuses people most is 동안 and 만에. 2주 동안 못 만났어 (i-ju dongan mot mannasseo) means the state of not meeting continued right through those two weeks, while 2주 만에 만났어 (i-ju mane mannasseo) means that at the moment two weeks had passed, you finally met. The first draws a line; the second marks a point.
Cultural background — 그동안 as a greeting
Korean has separate greetings for asking about “right now” and for asking about “all the time that has passed.” If you say only 잘 지내? (jal jinae?) to someone you haven’t seen in ages, that’s asking how they are today; but if you say 그동안 잘 지내셨어요? (geudongan jal jinaesyeosseoyo?), the phrase wraps its arms around the months or years you haven’t seen each other, all at once. That’s why this word comes out almost automatically at holiday family gatherings, school reunions, a departing colleague’s last day, or a reunion with a friend back from studying abroad.
It’s the same in reunion scenes in Korean dramas. When two people who haven’t crossed paths in years recognize each other, the first words out of their mouths are usually short — one line asking how the other has been all this time, and a brief reply that they’ve been fine. Rather than explaining, Korean dialogue hands the entire blank stretch over to this one word. In breakup scenes, on the other hand, 그동안 고마웠어 (geudongan gomawosseo, “thank you for everything all this time”) often becomes the final sentence. It’s the phrase that, at the place where a relationship ends, gives a name to all the time that came before.
One last thing. Search 동안 online and you’ll be flooded with cosmetics ads and phrases like 동안 피부 (dongan pibu) and 동안 외모 (dongan oemo). That’s a completely different word. It’s the Sino-Korean word 童顔 (child + face), meaning “a face that looks younger than one’s age” — a total stranger to the native Korean 동안 that means a length of time, sharing nothing but the sound. 저 배우 진짜 동안이다 (jeo baeu jinjja dongan-ida) is a compliment meaning “that actor really looks young,” with nothing to do with time. As you learn Korean you’ll run into these homonym traps fairly often, and this pair is one of the ones you’ll meet most.
Today’s quiz
Which of the following sentences is natural?
① 저는 아홉 시부터 여섯 시 동안 일해요. (jeoneun ahop si-buteo yeoseot si dongan ilhaeyo.) ② 저는 하루에 여덟 시간 동안 일해요. (jeoneun haru-e yeodeol sigan dongan ilhaeyo.) ③ 저는 어제 동안 계속 일했어요. (jeoneun eoje dongan gyesok ilhaesseoyo.)
See the answer
The answer is ②.
In ①, both 아홉 시 (ahop si) and 여섯 시 (yeoseot si) are points in time, so 동안 can’t follow. It has to be fixed to 아홉 시부터 여섯 시까지 일해요 (ahop si-buteo yeoseot si-kkaji ilhaeyo). In ③, 어제 (eoje) is also closer to a point naming a single day, so it sounds off as it stands. You need to put in a length: 어제 하루 종일 일했어요 (eoje haru jongil ilhaesseoyo, “I worked all day yesterday”) or 어제 다섯 시간 동안 일했어요 (eoje daseot sigan dongan ilhaesseoyo, “I worked for five hours yesterday”). In ②, the length 여덟 시간 (yeodeol sigan, “eight hours”) sits in front, so it’s perfect.
Today’s takeaway is short. If it’s a point, use 까지 (kkaji); if it’s a length, use 동안 (dongan). And when you want to gather up past time and hold it as one whole, the single word 그동안 (geudongan) is all you need.
Definitions and example sentences are from the National Institute of Korean Language’s Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr); that portion of this post, including our translations, is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 KR.