From http://www.howtostudykorean.com/unit-5/lessons-101-108/lesson-104/ When you place ~는/은 (almost always shortened to ~ㄴ in this case) attached to ~기 (to make ~긴) after a verb or adjective, you create a special meaning. This is a very hard meaning to express; and for me to understand it took years of hearing it in everyday speaking. What this does is somehow downplays whatever fact was said in the clause. In what way the fact was downplayed depends on the context of the conversation, but sometimes it can just be due to somebody trying to be modest. Following this usage of ~긴, you can conjugate the sentence either with 하다 or by using the same verb that was behind ~긴 again. Some examples: 생각이 있긴 있어 = I have an idea, or 생각이 있긴 해 = I have an idea I heard this example on TV the other day. A group of people were sitting around a table discussing how they could get their toy back from their neighbor’s house after it flew over the fence. One of the people in the show said “생각이 있긴 있어”. The subtle meaning of this principle instead of just saying “생각이 있어” is that the person may think that his idea isn’t very good, or maybe he is too shy to say his idea (again, possibly because it isn’t very good) – and it somehow downplaying what he is about to say. Another example: 하고 싶은 말이 있긴 있어요, or 하고 싶은 말이 있긴 해요 = I have something I want to say (but it might not be that good, or there is some other reason that is preventing me from wanting to say what I want to say) 날씨가 춥긴 추워요, or 날씨가 춥긴 해요 = It’s cold (but it’s not that cold… it’s just a little bit cold) 공부를 열심히 하긴 했어 = I studied hard (but not that hard)