When you hear a Korean finish a sentence with -네 [sounds like ’neh’], it is often a soliloquy, i.e., he or she is talking to himself/herself, about something that he or she has just observed, felt, or realized by the new observation or emotion. The particle -네 is added to any conjugated verb or adjective, including past tense (-ㅆ): 

  • 어, 눈이 오네 Oh, it is snowing [ 오다 to come => 오네 coming (lit. snow is coming = snowing ]
  • 예쁘네 It is pretty [ 예쁘다 pretty => 예쁘네 it’s pretty ] 
  • 말도 없이 그냥 갔네 He has just gone without saying a word [ 가다 to go => 갔 (past tense -ㅆ) + 네 = 갔네 went/left ]
  • 아, 미치겠네 Ah, it makes me crazy [ 미치다 to become crazy => 미치겠 (future tense -겠) + 네 = 미치겠네 I’ll become crazy ] 
  • 이 여자, 슬피도 우네 This woman is weeping, so sadly [ 울다 to weep, cry; 우 (ㄹ omission; irregular verb) +네 = 우네 is weeping ]

Of course, this cute-sounding -네 is not only for speaking or murmuring to oneself. You can use it around your close friends or peers, too, telling them about something personal or emotional, as if you were talking to yourself: 

  • 이봐, 나 서운하네 Hey, I’m disappointed
  • 이거 맛있네 This is tasty 

If the person around you is not your close friend/peer, but someone senior or higher in rank, or a stranger, you can add the usual polite register ending -요 after -네, i.e., verb/adjective + 네요: 

  • 이 식당 오늘 문 닫았네요. This restaurant is closed today (I just realized it by looking at the notice on the door = new observation ).

Compare the above with the usual conjugation -어/아요: 

  • 이 식당 오늘 문 닫았어요. This restaurant is closed today (As a repeat customer, I already know it from their weekly schedule, without any particular observation now)
수양버들 춤추는 길에 
꽃가마 타고 가네
아홉 살 새색시가 
시집을 간다네

가네 가네 갑순이 
갑순이 울면서 가네
소꿉동무 새색시가 
사랑일 줄이야 

뒷동산 밭이랑 위 
꼴 베는 갑돌이
그리운 소꿉동무 
갑돌이뿐이건만

우네 우네 갑순이 
갑순이 가면서 우네
아홉 살 새색시가 
시집을 간다네
On the path where weeping willows dance, 
She goes riding in a flower-adorned palanquin;
A nine-year-old bride 
Is getting married

She is going, going away,
Gapsoon, she weeps as she goes
Who would have thought my childhood friend, 
The bride, would be my love?

Gapdol, cutting hay 
On the field of the back hill,
Is the childhood friend she misses;
And Gapdol is the only one

She is weeping and crying, 
Gapsoon, she goes away as she weeps;
The nine-year-old bride 
Is getting married


⁃ 이연실, “새색시 시집가네 The Young Lady Is Getting Married” (1971)

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