-(느)냐?/-니?

Build it

When to use it

-니? attaches to any stem, with ㄹ dropping: 가니, 먹니, 만드니. It sounds gentle and is what an adult typically uses with a child, or a teacher with a student.

-(느)냐? splits by word class like -(느)ㄴ다: verbs take -느냐, adjectives -(으)냐. In speech it is blunt and can sound confrontational; it is far more at home in writing, and in reported questions.

In ordinary casual conversation neither is the default. Friends ask with -아/어? — 어디 가? rather than 어디 가니? The two forms here matter mainly because reported questions are built on -(으)냐고.

Neither form is ever used upward. To a teacher or a stranger, the question ending is -아요? or -습니까?

How to attach it

In use

1. 밥은 먹었니?

   Have you eaten?

2. 오늘 학교에 가니?

   Are you going to school today?

3. 지금 뭐 만드니?

   What are you making?

4. 몸은 좀 괜찮으냐?

   Are you feeling alright?

5. 그래서 결국 어떻게 됐냐?

   So how did it turn out in the end?

6. 어디 가? — 잠깐 편의점에.

   Where are you off to? — Just to the convenience store.

Compared with

• -아/어?

  This is what friends actually use. -니 and -냐 are marked forms: one soft, one rough. Neither is the neutral casual question.

  어디 가? (neutral casual)  /  어디 가니? (gentle, to a child)

• -니 vs -냐

  Same grammatical job, opposite feel. -니 warms the question; -냐 hardens it and can sound like a challenge.

  밥 먹었니? (kind)  /  밥 먹었냐? (curt)

• Reported questions

  The practical reason to learn -(으)냐 is that indirect questions are built on it, whatever ending the original used.

  어디 가? → 어디 가냐고 물었어요.

Watch out

• 선생님, 지금 어디 가니?

  선생님, 지금 어디 가세요?

  These forms are used downward or between equals only. Addressed to a teacher, even the gentle -니 is out of place.

• 지금 뭐 만들니?

  지금 뭐 만드니?

  Stems ending in ㄹ drop it before -니, as they do before -(으)세요 and -ㅂ니다.

• 날씨가 좋느냐?

  날씨가 좋으냐?

  -느냐 belongs to verbs; adjectives take -(으)냐. The split mirrors -(느)ㄴ다 and -는데.

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