Half-hearted Actions: -는 둥 마는 둥
Grammar Rule in 30 Seconds
Use -는 둥 마는 둥 to describe an action performed so poorly it feels like it wasn't done at all.
- Attach to verb stems: '먹는 둥 마는 둥 하다' (barely ate).
- Always ends with '하다' or a verb of state.
- Implies dissatisfaction or lack of effort in the action.
Overview
The Korean grammatical pattern V-는 둥 마는 둥 (-neun dung maneun dung) is a C1-level idiomatic expression used to describe an action performed half-heartedly, incompletely, or with a marked lack of engagement. It vividly paints a picture of someone merely going through the motions, where the action is either barely initiated, left unfinished, or done so superficially that its proper execution is doubtful. This pattern doesn't just mean "to do something a little"; it critically comments on the manner and quality of the performance, implying distraction, disinterest, or a rush.
Imagine you're worried about a friend who just went through a breakup. You see them at lunch, pushing food around their plate without taking a proper bite. You wouldn't just say, 조금 먹었어요 (they ate a little).
To capture the essence of their disengaged state, you would use this pattern: 점심을 먹는 둥 마는 둥 했어요 (They just picked at their lunch / They ate like they weren't even eating). This single phrase conveys not just the quantity of food eaten, but the person's emotional state and lack of appetite. It’s a sophisticated tool for making nuanced observations about behavior.
Linguistically, the phrase functions as an adverbial, modifying the main verb of the sentence (often 하다, but not always). It is constructed from the action verb stem, the present-tense modifier -는, the dependent noun 둥 (implying semblance or state), and the verb 말다 (to cease or not do). The structure creates a powerful contrast—'the state of doing' versus 'the state of not doing'—which semantically traps the action in a liminal, incomplete space.
Mastering this pattern allows you to move beyond simple descriptions of actions and into the realm of subjective commentary and subtle criticism, a key skill for advanced fluency.
How This Grammar Works
-는 둥 마는 둥 is an idiomatic adverbial phrase that derives its meaning from a structural tension between doing and not-doing. To understand its function, you need to break down its components and the linguistic principle of contrastive pairing that it employs.둥 (dung). While it doesn't have a standalone meaning in modern Korean, it is related to and functions similarly to 듯 (deut), which means 'as if' or 'like'. However, 둥 carries a stronger sense of an ambiguous state or a vague appearance rather than a direct comparison.하는 둥, you get the sense of "in a state that appears to be doing (something)."[Action Verb]-는 둥: "in a state of appearing to do the verb..."마는 둥: "...in a state of appearing to not do it."
말다 (malda) means 'to cease', 'to stop', or 'to refrain from'. Here, its stem 마- is combined with -는 둥 to create the opposing half of the phrase. Therefore, the literal, mechanical translation is something like, "(in a state of) seeming to do and seeming to cease." This inherent contradiction is precisely what produces the meaning of a half-hearted, ineffectual action.학생이 발표를 듣는 둥 마는 둥 했다. (The student was only half-listening to the presentation). The phrase 듣는 둥 마는 둥 modifies 했다 (did), describing how the student 'did' the listening—in a distracted, disengaged manner. The action of listening was technically occurring, but so was the 'action' of not listening (being distracted, thinking of other things).Formation Pattern
이다.
하다 (to do), but other verbs can be used to provide more context. The tense of the entire sentence is controlled by the conjugation of this final main verb, not the -는 둥 마는 둥 pattern itself, which remains fixed.
ㄹ ending | 읽다 (to read) | 읽 | 읽 + -는 둥 마는 둥 | 읽는 둥 마는 둥 |
ㄹ ending | 보다 (to see/watch) | 보 | 보 + -는 둥 마는 둥 | 보는 둥 마는 둥 |
하다 verb | 공부하다 (to study) | 공부하 | 공부하 + -는 둥 마는 둥 | 공부하는 둥 마는 둥 |
ㄹ irregular | 만들다 (to make) | 만들 | 만들 + -는 둥 마는 둥 | 만드는 둥 마는 둥 |
ㄹ irregulars: For verbs ending in ㄹ like 살다 (to live) or 만들다 (to make), the ㄹ drops as it would before other consonants like ㄴ, ㅂ, ㅅ. So, 살다 becomes 사는 둥 마는 둥.
어제 너무 피곤해서 씻는 둥 마는 둥 하고 바로 잤어. / ...잤습니다. | Yesterday I was so tired I barely washed up and went straight to bed. |
요즘 일이 많아서 점심을 먹는 둥 마는 둥 해요. / ...합니다. | I have so much work these days that I barely eat lunch. |
내일 마감이라 오늘 밤은 잠을 자는 둥 마는 둥 해야 할 것 같아. / ...같습니다. | The deadline is tomorrow, so it looks like I'll have to barely sleep tonight. |
-는 둥 마는 둥 is a fixed adverbial block that describes the action, while the main verb carries the sentence's temporal information.
When To Use It
-는 둥 마는 둥 lies in its ability to convey specific, nuanced situations beyond what simpler adverbs like 대충 (carelessly) or 조금 (a little) can express. You should use it in the following contexts:청소를 하는 둥 마는 둥 해서 방이 여전히 지저분하다.(He only pretended to clean, so the room is still messy.)그는 사과를 하는 둥 마는 둥 하더니 그냥 가버렸다.(He mumbled something like an apology and then just left.)
애인이 내 얘기를 듣는 둥 마는 둥 해서 화가 났다.(I got angry because my partner was only half-listening to me.)관심 없는 책이라서 앞부분만 읽는 둥 마는 둥 했다.(It was a book I wasn't interested in, so I just skimmed the first few pages and that was it.)
기차 시간이 다 돼서 아침을 먹는 둥 마는 둥 하고 역으로 뛰어갔다.(My train was about to leave, so I bolted for the station after barely touching my breakfast.)면접 준비를 하는 둥 마는 둥 해서 잘 볼 자신이 없다.(I rushed through my interview prep, so I'm not confident I'll do well.)
- To a child:
그렇게 숙제를 하는 둥 마는 둥 하니까 성적이 안 오르지.(Your grades won't improve because you keep doing your homework so half-heartedly.) - Self-reproach:
운동을 하는 둥 마는 둥 하니 살이 빠질 리가 있나.(How could I possibly lose weight when I only ever go through the motions of exercising?)
Common Mistakes
- Incorrect:
*날씨가 더운 둥 마는 둥 하다.(The weather is half-heartedly hot.) - Why it's wrong: Hotness is a state, not an action. You can't 'do' hotness in a perfunctory way.
- Correction: To express fluctuation, you must use a different structure, like
날씨가 더웠다가 시원했다가 한다.(The weather goes from being hot to cool.)
-(으)ㄹ까 말까 하다 (To deliberate doing something)말다, these patterns describe different stages of an action. -는 둥 마는 둥 is about poor execution during the action, whereas -(으)ㄹ까 말까 하다 is about indecision before the action even starts.공부를 하는 둥 마는 둥 했다. (I studied half-heartedly.) |공부를 할까 말까 망설였다. (I hesitated about whether to study or not.) |- Incorrect usage:
*어제 공부를 할까 말까 해서 시험을 망쳤다.This sounds like your hesitation caused you to fail, not your poor studying. If you studied poorly, you must say:어제 공부를 하는 둥 마는 둥 해서 시험을 망쳤다.
-는 둥 마는 둥 is a fixed, fossilized block. It does not change. All tense and mood conjugation must happen on the final verb of the sentence (e.g., 하다, 지내다, 보이다).- Incorrect:
*어제 책을 읽었던 둥 말았던 둥 했다. - Why it's wrong: The past tense infix
-었-cannot be inserted into the pattern itself. - Correction:
어제 책을 읽는 둥 마는 둥 했다.(The past tense is correctly placed on하다->했다.)
V-거나 V-거나 (doing one thing or another)-거나 presents two distinct, separate choices or actions. -는 둥 마는 둥 describes a single, ambiguous, and incomplete action.주말에 영화를 보거나 책을 읽어요.(On weekends, I watch movies or read books.) -> Two separate, complete activities.주말에 영화를 보는 둥 마는 둥 했어요.(On the weekend, I just sort of half-watched a movie.) -> One incomplete activity.
Real Conversations
Textbook examples are clean, but this pattern truly comes alive in the slightly messy, informal contexts of daily life. Its tone can shift from self-deprecating humor to sharp criticism depending on the situation.
Scenario 1
A
어제 10시까지 도서관에 있었다며? 공부 많이 했겠네.(Heard you were at the library until 10 PM yesterday. You must have studied a lot.)
B
아니야... 그냥 앉아만 있었어. 필기를 정리하는 둥 마는 둥 하다가 결국 폰만 봤어. ㅋㅋ(Nah... I was just sitting there. I pretended to organize my notes for a bit and then ended up just looking at my phone. lol)
Analysis
B uses the pattern for self-deprecating humor. It perfectly captures the universal student experience of being physically present for studying but mentally checked out.*Scenario 2
Manager to Team
이번 프로젝트, 박 대리가 책임지고 진행하기로 했습니다.(For this project, Assistant Manager Park will be in charge.)
Later, Colleague 1 to Colleague 2 (whispering):
박 대리? 저번에 시킨 일도 하는 둥 마는 둥 해서 결국 우리가 다 마무리했잖아. 걱정된다.
(Park? The last time we gave him a task, he barely touched it and we ended up finishing it all. I'm worried.)
Analysis
Scenario 3
(A picture of a person on a treadmill, looking bored and tired.)
Caption
새해 다짐 3일차... 헬스장에 와서 운동하는 둥 마는 둥 시늉만 하다 갑니다. #작심삼일 #운동스타그램 #의지박약(Day 3 of my New Year's resolution... Came to the gym and am now leaving after just going through the motions of a workout. #ThreeDayResolution #WorkoutGram #WeakWilled)
Analysis
Quick FAQ
-는 둥 마는 둥 ever be used in a positive context?Almost never. The expression is fundamentally negative, as it implies an action was performed poorly, incompletely, or insincerely. Using it for a positive outcome would almost always be interpreted as sarcasm. For example, if a genius student says 시험공부를 하는 둥 마는 둥 했는데 만점 받았어요 ("I just half-studied and got a perfect score"), they are either being sarcastic or humble-bragging by downplaying their effort.
대충 하다 and -는 둥 마는 둥 하다?They are similar but not identical. 대충 하다 (daechung hada) means "to do something roughly" or "carelessly." It's a general-purpose adverb describing a lack of precision. -는 둥 마는 둥 하다 is a more descriptive and vivid idiomatic phrase that specifically visualizes the process of being disengaged. 대충 청소했다 means "I cleaned carelessly." 청소를 하는 둥 마는 둥 했다 conjures an image of someone weakly wiping one spot, staring into space, and then stopping. The latter is more dramatic and judgmental.
V-는 둥 by itself?In the context of this specific "half-hearted" meaning, no. The entire phrase V-는 둥 마는 둥 is required to create the contrast that gives the idiom its meaning. The standalone form -는 둥 can appear in other, less common grammatical structures (e.g., 그는 무언가 말하려는 둥 입만 뻐끔거렸다 - "He just opened and closed his mouth as if trying to say something"), but it doesn't carry the "incomplete action" meaning on its own. For this idiom, always use the full form.
You can and absolutely should use it for both. It is very common to use it for self-reproach or to explain why you performed a task poorly, as seen in several of the examples. Saying 어제 잠을 자는 둥 마는 둥 했더니 오늘 너무 피곤해요 ("I barely slept at all last night, so I'm exhausted today") is a perfectly natural and common way to describe your own experience.
Formation Table
| Verb Stem | Pattern | Full Phrase |
|---|---|---|
|
먹
|
는 둥 마는 둥
|
먹는 둥 마는 둥 하다
|
|
자
|
는 둥 마는 둥
|
자는 둥 마는 둥 하다
|
|
듣
|
는 둥 마는 둥
|
듣는 둥 마는 둥 하다
|
|
하
|
는 둥 마는 둥
|
하는 둥 마는 둥 하다
|
|
읽
|
는 둥 마는 둥
|
읽는 둥 마는 둥 하다
|
|
쓰
|
는 둥 마는 둥
|
쓰는 둥 마는 둥 하다
|
Meanings
This pattern describes an action that is performed in such a perfunctory or incomplete manner that the speaker feels it is almost as if the action did not occur.
Negligent Action
Doing something with so little effort it is negligible.
“숙제를 하는 둥 마는 둥 했다.”
“잠을 자는 둥 마는 둥 해서 피곤하다.”
Reference Table
| Form | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
|
Affirmative
|
V-는 둥 마는 둥 하다
|
먹는 둥 마는 둥 했다
|
|
Past
|
V-는 둥 마는 둥 했다
|
자는 둥 마는 둥 했다
|
|
Present
|
V-는 둥 마는 둥 한다
|
듣는 둥 마는 둥 한다
|
|
Future
|
V-는 둥 마는 둥 할 것이다
|
하는 둥 마는 둥 할 것이다
|
Formality Spectrum
식사를 하는 둥 마는 둥 했습니다. (Daily life)
밥을 먹는 둥 마는 둥 했어요. (Daily life)
밥 먹는 둥 마는 둥 했어. (Daily life)
밥 대충 먹는 둥 마는 둥. (Daily life)
The Meaning of Half-heartedness
Physical
- 먹다 Eat
- 자다 Sleep
Mental
- 듣다 Listen
- 하다 Do
Examples by Level
밥을 먹는 둥 마는 둥 했어요.
I barely ate my meal.
잠을 자는 둥 마는 둥 했어.
I barely slept.
숙제를 하는 둥 마는 둥 하고 놀러 갔다.
He did his homework half-heartedly and went out to play.
그는 일을 하는 둥 마는 둥 해서 팀에 도움이 안 된다.
He works so half-heartedly that he's no help to the team.
시험 공부를 하는 둥 마는 둥 했더니 결과가 뻔하다.
I studied for the exam so half-heartedly, the result is obvious.
그녀는 대답을 하는 둥 마는 둥 하고 방으로 들어갔다.
She gave a half-hearted answer and went into her room.
그는 내 말을 듣는 둥 마는 둥 하며 스마트폰만 쳐다봤다.
He barely listened to me, only staring at his smartphone.
Easily Confused
Both imply incomplete actions.
Common Mistakes
먹는 둥 마는 둥이다
먹는 둥 마는 둥 했다
예쁜 둥 마는 둥
예쁘게 하는 둥 마는 둥
공부를 둥 마는 둥
공부를 하는 둥 마는 둥
숙제를 하는 둥 마는 둥 해버렸다
숙제를 하는 둥 마는 둥 했다
Sentence Patterns
___을/를 ___는 둥 마는 둥 했다.
Real World Usage
오늘 잠을 자는 둥 마는 둥 해서 피곤해.
오늘 운동하는 둥 마는 둥 했네..
N/A
배가 고파서 밥을 먹는 둥 마는 둥 했어요.
비행기에서 잠을 자는 둥 마는 둥 했어.
학생들이 수업을 듣는 둥 마는 둥 한다.
Focus on the Verb
Not for Formal Settings
Use for Complaints
Native Nuance
Smart Tips
Always use '자는 둥 마는 둥' for maximum impact.
Use this to emphasize your busy schedule.
Use it to sound disappointed.
Use '듣는 둥 마는 둥' to show you weren't paying attention.
Pronunciation
Liaison
The '둥' is pronounced clearly. Ensure the '마는' flows into '둥'.
Frustrated
먹는 둥 마는 둥 (falling tone)
Conveys annoyance.
Memorize It
Mnemonic
Think of a 'Do-not-do' sandwich: You do it, then you don't do it, then you finish with 'do' (하다).
Visual Association
Imagine a student staring at a book, flipping pages but not reading. That is '읽는 둥 마는 둥'.
Rhyme
는 둥 마는 둥, 대충 하는 둥.
Story
Min-su was so tired he ate his breakfast '먹는 둥 마는 둥'. Then he went to work and '일하는 둥 마는 둥' all day. Finally, he came home and '자는 둥 마는 둥' all night.
Word Web
Challenge
Describe your morning routine using this pattern for at least three actions.
Cultural Notes
In high-pressure work environments, this is often used to describe 'quiet quitting' or lack of motivation.
Derived from the verb '말다' (to stop/cease) and '하다' (to do).
Conversation Starters
오늘 아침 식사 하셨어요?
Journal Prompts
Common Mistakes
Test Yourself
어젯밤에 잠을 ___ ___ ___ ___ 했어.
Which is correct?
Find and fix the mistake:
그는 일을 하는 둥 마는 둥.
먹는 / 둥 / 밥을 / 마는 / 둥 / 했다
Match each item on the left with its pair on the right:
밥을 조금 먹었다.
A: 오늘 왜 이렇게 피곤해? B: ___.
Can this be used with '예쁘다'?
Score: /8
Practice Exercises
8 exercises어젯밤에 잠을 ___ ___ ___ ___ 했어.
Which is correct?
Find and fix the mistake:
그는 일을 하는 둥 마는 둥.
먹는 / 둥 / 밥을 / 마는 / 둥 / 했다
Match '듣다' with the pattern.
밥을 조금 먹었다.
A: 오늘 왜 이렇게 피곤해? B: ___.
Can this be used with '예쁘다'?
Score: /8
Practice Bank
12 exercises그는 내 이야기를 ___ 둥 마는 둥 했다. (듣다)
When would you use '먹는 둥 마는 둥'?
How do you say 'I barely slept' (using 자다)?
비가 / 마는 / 오는 / 둥 / 둥 / 해요
Choose the weird sentence:
Match the 'half-hearted' action to the situation.
TV를 ___ 둥 마는 둥.
Which phrase is essentially the opposite of 'working hard'?
대답을 ___.
어제 잠을 잔 둥 마는 둥 했어.
Unscramble the sentence.
가는 둥 ___ 둥.
Score: /12
FAQ (8)
Only action verbs. You cannot use it with descriptive verbs like '예쁘다' or '크다'.
No, it is informal and colloquial.
The sentence will be grammatically incomplete.
It means you did it, but so poorly it feels like you didn't.
Yes, e.g., '먹는 둥 마는 둥 할 거야'.
Generally no, it's too casual.
'대충' is an adverb meaning 'roughly', while this is a specific verb pattern.
It's a contraction of '듯이' (as if).
Scaffolded Practice
1
2
3
4
Mastery Progress
Needs Practice
Improving
Strong
Mastered
In Other Languages
hacer algo a medias
Korean uses a repetitive verb structure.
〜するのしないの
Korean is more commonly used for physical needs.
半做半不做
Korean is more idiomatic.
halbherzig
Korean focuses on the action itself.
faire quelque chose à moitié
Korean is more colloquial.
بشكل غير مكتمل
Korean is a fixed idiomatic pattern.
Learning Path
Prerequisites
Connected Grammar
Verb-다 만다
ContrastConfused with incomplete actions.
Verb-고 자시고
Advanced FormMore advanced frustration expression.
