[Korean grammar] -아/어 대다 Expressing Habits and Attitude

가: 어머, 케빈 씨네 강아지예요? 너무 귀엽네요. 만져 돼요?
Oh, my. Is that your dog, Kevin? It’s so cute. Can I pet it?

나: 조심하세요. 물릴지도 몰라요. 요즘 이가 나려는지 보는 것마다 물어 대서 집 안 물건들이 다 엉망이에요.
Be careful. He might bite you. I don’t know if the reason is that he’s teething, but, recently, he has been biting everything he sees, so all of the fumiture in the house is a mess.

가: 그래요? 그래도 혼자 살다가 강아지가 있으니까 외롭지 않고 좋죠?
Really? But since you live alone and now have a dog, isn’t it nice that you’re not lonely anymore?

나: 좋기는 한데 누가 오기만 하면 하도 짖어 대서 옆집 사람들한테 미안해요.
Yes, it’s nice, but he barks whenever anyone comes by, so I really feel bad for my neighbors.

This expression is used to indicate that an action is done excessively and continuously. It is usually used to describe negative situations, so it sounds awkward in positive situations, and it shouldn’t be used when in polite or formal situations. It only attaches to verbs.
• 아이는 장난감 가게 앞을 지날 때마다 사 달라고 졸라 댄다.
My kid constantly nags us to buy him a toy whenever we go by the toy store.

• 학교 선배의 친구가 한 번만 만나 달라고 자꾸 전화를 해 대서 귀찮아 죽겠다.
I’m sick of my school (older/senior) classmate’s friend calling me constantly to ask me to meet up with him.

• 신영아, 다이어트한다면서 그렇게 과자를 먹어 대면 어떡하니?
Shinyoung, how can you eat so many snacks after saying you were going on a diet?

>> You can click on the title of each grammar below to see other grammars which also express ‘Habits and Attitude’