저 아직 대답 안 했는데요 — Um, I haven't answered yet, though

Word by word

The line, explained

Here is a rom-com moment you have seen a dozen times. Someone confesses, then immediately starts making plans, as if the answer is obviously yes. The other person stops them, cheeks red but voice perfectly polite: 'Um, I haven't answered yet, though.' The magic of this line is the ending -는데요. It turns a flat correction into something softer, leaving the sentence hanging so the other person can react. It is polite, a little awkward, and very Korean.

저 is the humble, polite word for 'I', the one you use with people you are not close to, or at work. Its casual partner is 나. Using 저 tells you this scene is still formal, maybe between coworkers or near-strangers. 아직 means still or yet, and in a negative sentence like this one it means 'not yet'. So 저 아직 sets up a polite 'I, not yet…', and you already know a correction is coming.

대답 means an answer or a reply, especially to a question or a proposal. 대답하다 is the verb, to answer. In this line the noun and the verb are split by 안, the short negation word: 대답 안 하다, to not answer. That is a common way to negate 하다 verbs in speech, putting 안 right before 하다 instead of at the very front. In the past it is 대답 안 했다, 'did not answer'.

-는데요 is a soft polite ending. It comes from -는데, which normally links two clauses with a sense of 'and, but, so'. When you end the sentence there and add 요, you get a polite statement that trails off, as if saying 'just so you know' or 'though'. It goes on action verbs and past forms: 했 plus 는데요 gives 했는데요, pronounced haen-neun-de-yo because ㅆ before ㄴ turns into a nasal sound. Describing words use -(으)ㄴ데요: 바쁜데요, I'm busy, though.

Say it like the flustered lead: jeo a-jik, a tiny pause, dae-dap an haen-neun-de-yo, with the last syllables rising gently. Then try other polite pushbacks: 아무 말 안 했는데요, I haven't said anything; 결정 안 했는데요, I haven't decided; 시작도 안 했는데요, I haven't even started. You will hear -는데요 constantly in real Korean, at shops, on the phone, at work. It is how Korean says no without ever saying no.

Grammar · -는데요

“…, though” — the soft polite trailing ending

Ending a sentence with -는데요 leaves it hanging politely, as if the speaker expects a reaction: it softens a correction, a complaint, or new information. Use -는데요 after action verbs, 있다/없다 and past forms (했는데요, 있는데요), and -(으)ㄴ데요 after describing verbs and 이다 (좋은데요, 학생인데요). Drop the 요 for casual speech: 안 했는데.

지금 바쁜데요.I'm a bit busy right now, though.
저 여기 처음 왔는데요.Um, it's my first time here.
그건 제 건데요.That's mine, actually.

Why it hits

Rom-com dramas love the moment someone assumes a yes and the other person, red-faced but polite, says 저 아직 대답 안 했는데요. The -는데요 ending lets them contradict without being rude, and it leaves room for the next beat. It is also one of the most common endings you will hear in real Korean service and workplace talk.

Practice

Make it yours

Swap one word and the line becomes your own.

저 아직 대답 안 했는데요

Um, I haven't answered yet, though

Quick check

What does 지금 바쁜데요 sound like?