Grammar
-는 데 성공하다/실패하다
Meaning
Expert-neun de seonggonghada/silpaehada
-는 데 nominalizes the preceding verb phrase into 'in (the act of) ~ing', and combined with 성공하다 ('succeed') or 실패하다 ('fail'), it states whether the subject succeeded or failed at carrying out that action. Common in news about achievements, experiments, or negotiations.
Form
Verb stem + -는 데 성공하다/실패하다 — 는 attaches directly regardless of the final sound and doesn't change for tense (always -는 데, even for past events); tense is carried by 성공하다/실패하다 itself (성공했다, 실패했다, 성공할 것이다, etc.). Example: 진입하다 → 진입하는 데 성공하다.
Examples
그때는 목표 궤도에 진입하는 데 성공하지 못했다.
At that time, it failed to enter the target orbit.
회사는 새로운 시장에 진출하는 데 성공했습니다.
The company succeeded in entering the new market.
정부는 물가를 안정시키는 데 실패했다.
The government failed to stabilize prices.
연구팀은 백신을 개발하는 데 성공했다.
The research team succeeded in developing a vaccine.
Common mistakes & nuance
This -는 데 (with a space, a nominalizer meaning 'in doing ~') looks almost identical to the connector -는데 (no space, 'but/and, background information') but is a completely different grammar point — spacing is the only visual clue. -는 데 also pairs with other predicates besides 성공하다/실패하다, such as 어려움을 겪다 ('have difficulty ~ing').
Similar grammar
- -는데
-는데 (no space) is a connector for background information or a mild contrast ('It's raining, but I'm going out'), while -는 데 (with a space, seen here before 성공하다/실패하다) is a nominalizer meaning 'in the act of ~ing' — the two look almost identical but work completely differently.