-노라고
I did my best, but …
Claims a genuine effort and then admits it fell short. Easily confused with -느라고, which is a different ending entirely.
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When to use it
Attach -노라고 to an action verb stem — no vowel rule, ㄹ stays, no tense in front.
The subject is normally first person. You are reporting your own effort: 하노라고 했는데 결과가 신통치 않다 — I did what I could, but the result is poor.
The second clause must record a shortfall. That is the whole point: the effort was real, the outcome disappointing.
The frame -노라고 한 것이 is common, and the phrase 하노라고 하다 is close to a set expression.
How to attach it
| Situation | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Action verb | -노라고 | 하다 → 하노라고 |
| ㄹ stems keep the ㄹ | -노라고 | 만들노라고 |
| Subject | first person | your own effort |
| Second clause | a shortfall | 결과가 신통치 않다 |
| Never takes tense | plain stem only | 했노라고 — different construction |
| Different ending | -느라고 | 일하느라고 못 갔어요 |
In use
하노라고 했는데 결과가 신통치 않습니다.
I did what I could, but the result is nothing special.
준비하노라고 했지만 부족한 점이 많았다.
I prepared as best I could, yet there were many shortcomings.
돕노라고 나선 일이 오히려 방해가 되었다.
I stepped in meaning to help, and only got in the way.
쓰노라고 쓴 글이 이 모양입니다.
I wrote it as carefully as I could, and this is what came out.
직접 만들노라고 애썼지만 시간이 모자랐다.
I laboured to make it myself, but there was not enough time.
아끼노라고 아꼈는데도 살림은 늘 빠듯했다.
We scrimped as much as we could, and money was always tight.
Compared with
-느라고
The pair to keep straight. -느라고 says your activity used up the time and something else failed. -노라고 says you tried your best and the outcome disappointed.
일하느라고 못 갔어요. (busy working) / 하노라고 했는데 부족하다. (tried, fell short)
-고도
-고도 points out a gap between action and behaviour, often critically. -노라고 is self-deprecating about one’s own effort.
알고도 말 안 했다. (knew and said nothing) / 하노라고 했지만 모자랐다. (tried but fell short)
나름대로
The everyday way to say the same thing. 나름대로 했는데 defends an effort without the archaic ending.
나름대로 했는데 부족했어요. (speech) / 하노라고 했지만 부족했다. (writing)
Watch out
일하노라고 모임에 못 갔어요.
일하느라고 모임에 못 갔어요.
To say an activity took up your time, the ending is -느라고. -노라고 claims an effort that fell short.
하노라고 했더니 결과가 훌륭했다.
하노라고 했는데 결과가 신통치 않다.
The second clause has to record a shortfall. A good outcome removes the ending’s reason for existing.
그 사람은 하노라고 했지만 부족했다.
저는 하노라고 했지만 부족했습니다.
The subject is normally the speaker. Applied to someone else it reads oddly, since you cannot vouch for their effort from inside.
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