Hi, Maomaochong. I should explain the change of the termination in Korean. The expression you are asking is 되찾았구나 As I'm sure you know what 되찾았다 means. I'd like to explain it to make it clear though. The original form is 되찾다(to take back), 되 is a prefix which means 'back' , 'again' Example : 되묻다 - to ask again 되돌아가다 - to turn back(돌아가다 - to turn to go) 되찾았다 - the past form of 되찾다. It could be the present perfect as well. 되찾았구나 - '~구나' is derived from '~군' The termination '~구나' and '~군' sounds like you think aloud. It's not actually used in real. It'd rather be a literary expression you can see in a book. (It's my opinion as I don't really use this expression in real even when I'm thinking aloud) It's rearely used when an elderly talks to a younger like his/her grandchildren. (it's open to discussion about the use of this way though.) Example : 너무 비싸군 - It's very expensive(thinking aloud) 너무 비싸구나 - It's very expensive(thinking aloud or talking to someone who younger or than you) So the expression '그 환자가 드디어 정신을 되찾았구나 하고 기뻐했다' can be translated as follows : He was delighted saying that the patient eventually got back his mind. Grammatically, It's just a gerund phrase. The sentence can be "'그 환자가 드디어 정신을 되찾았구나' 라고 말하며 기뻐했다." Hope this helped.