what does 미안한데? is 한데 a particle? and 미안 sorry?
“be sorry” is 미안하다. 미안 is almost never used by itself.
미안한데 comes from 미안하다 + ㄴ데, where -ㄴ데 is a connective form.
Here it means “I am sorry but please say that again slowly”.
The meaning of -ㄴ데 is like English “as” or “though”, or the “-ing” (present participle) depending on the context.
- As: 날씨 좋은데 산보나 할까: As (Since) the weather is fine, shall we go walking?
- Though: 체구는 작은데 잘 뛴다: Though he is small, he runs well
- -ing: 추운데 어디가니: It being cold, where are you going? (Where are you going when it’s cold?)
미안한데 can be thought of as the “though” case (Though I am sorry, can you…).
It is equivalent to 미안해요. (그런데)… (I am sorry, but…).
For beginners, this two sentence representation should be easier than 미안한데.
Thank you so much.