Grammar
N 동안
Meaning
Beginnerdongan
After a noun of duration, 동안 says how long something lasts: 사흘 동안 = 'for three days'. It needs a length, not a point in time — 사흘 동안 works, but a date like 12일 동안 would mean 'for twelve days', not 'on the 12th'. With a verb, use -는 동안 ('while ~ing') instead.
Form
Attaches directly to a noun of duration: 사흘 동안, 5일 동안, 한 시간 동안. To use it with a verb, put the verb in the -는 form first: 기다리는 동안 = 'while waiting'. It can be dropped after a duration in casual speech (사흘 기다렸어요) but written Korean keeps it.
Examples
5일 동안 다니는 기차입니다.
They are trains that run over five days.
일주일 동안 비가 내렸습니다.
It rained for a week.
Common mistakes & nuance
동안 needs a length, not a point. 사흘 동안 is 'for three days'; if you attach it to a date it stops meaning what you intended, since 12일 동안 reads as 'for twelve days' and never 'on the 12th'. That trap catches learners constantly, because Korean writes durations and dates with the same counter.
Similar grammar
- N 만에
동안 measures a stretch that something filled. 만에 measures the gap before something finally happened: 3년 만에 만났다 = 'we met after three years apart'.
- N 내내
내내 means throughout the whole of it, with emphasis — 하루 종일에 가까운 강조. 동안 is neutral about whether the action filled every moment.