-아/어다가
get it and then, bring it and
Two actions joined by a change of place. You do something somewhere, move, and do the next thing with the result — and the object carries across.
Build it
Pick a verb
When to use it
The vowel follows the -아요/어요 rule: 사다가, 만들어다가, 가져다가. In speech it shortens to -아/어다.
Three conditions hold. The subject is the same throughout, an object carries over from the first action to the second, and there is a change of location between them: 빵을 사다가 친구에게 줬어요.
That last point is what separates it from plain -다가, which interrupts one action with another and involves no object transfer.
A small set of verbs dominates: 사다, 가져오다, 만들다, 빌리다, 얻다 — all things you can fetch and then use elsewhere.
How to attach it
| Stem type | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Last vowel ㅏ or ㅗ | -아다가 | 사다 → 사다가 |
| Any other vowel | -어다가 | 만들다 → 만들어다가 |
| 하다 verbs | 해다가 | 준비해다가 |
| Spoken short form | -아/어다 | 사다 줬어요 |
| Requires | an object and a move | fetch it, then use it |
| Interruption instead | -다가 | 가다가 만났어요 |
In use
빵을 사다가 친구에게 줬어요.
I bought some bread and gave it to a friend.
도서관에서 책을 빌려다가 읽었습니다.
I borrowed a book from the library and read it.
집에서 만들어다가 사무실에서 먹었어요.
I made it at home and ate it at the office.
시장에서 재료를 가져다가 직접 요리했어요.
I brought the ingredients from the market and cooked them myself.
물을 좀 떠다가 주시겠어요?
Could you fetch me some water?
텃밭에서 채소를 뽑아다 김치를 담갔다.
She pulled vegetables from the garden and made kimchi with them.
Compared with
-다가
-다가 interrupts one action to start another, with no object carried over. -아/어다가 completes the first action and moves its result elsewhere.
가다가 친구를 만났어요. (on the way) / 사다가 친구를 줬어요. (bought it, then gave it)
-고 나서
-고 나서 sequences any two actions; -아/어다가 requires the object of the first to be used in the second, somewhere else.
사고 나서 갔어요. (bought, then went) / 사다가 줬어요. (bought and brought it to give)
-아/어서
-아서 also links a completed action to the next, but without the move. 사서 먹었어요 could all happen in the shop.
사서 먹었어요. (bought and ate) / 사다가 먹었어요. (bought, took it away, ate it)
Watch out
학교에 가다가 공부했어요. — meaning “I went to school and studied”
학교에 가서 공부했어요.
-다가 means the first action was interrupted. To link a completed move to what followed, use -아서.
제가 빵을 사다가 동생이 먹었어요.
제가 빵을 사다가 동생에게 줬어요.
Both actions belong to one subject. If someone else performs the second, the clauses must be separated.
집에서 만들다가 사무실에서 먹었어요.
집에서 만들어다가 사무실에서 먹었어요.
Without the -아/어, the sentence says you stopped making it partway. The vowel is what carries the object across.
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