Question on "로 되어 있다."
I'm trying to make sure as I am studying that I am using the more modern forms of the language while understanding the more classic forms. Sometimes, the book I have doesn't give the more modern.

In the pattern "로 되이 있다", with a book example being:

한국 사람의 식사는 밥과 반찬으로 되어 있다.

is this the more modern, or more often used form of the phrase? or can I form a contraction makeing it "로 대 있다"?

In that case, the example from the book would be:

한국 사람의 식사는 밥과 반찬으로 대 있다.

That sounds awkward - mainly because it is hard to say like that.

Is there anything else you could give me as a pointer on the use of this pattern?I hate that I can't go back and correct my errors when I see I made them :(

The contraction I am asking about would be 돼 있다 rather than the 대있다 that I wrote. Please answer this rather than my errant question.

Question

Question on "로 되어 있다."
I'm trying to make sure as I am studying that I am using the more modern forms of the language while understanding the more classic forms. Sometimes, the book I have doesn't give the more modern.

In the pattern "로 되이 있다", with a book example being:

한국 사람의 식사는 밥과 반찬으로 되어 있다.

is this the more modern, or more often used form of the phrase? or can I form a contraction makeing it "로 대 있다"?

In that case, the example from the book would be:

한국 사람의 식사는 밥과 반찬으로 대 있다.

That sounds awkward - mainly because it is hard to say like that.

Is there anything else you could give me as a pointer on the use of this pattern?I hate that I can't go back and correct my errors when I see I made them :(

The contraction I am asking about would be 돼 있다 rather than the 대있다 that I wrote. Please answer this rather than my errant question.

Answer

I agree with Joshua that it's a stylistic choice. 

한국 사람의 식사는 밥과 반찬으로 되어 있다 sounds natural in formal writing since -의 is more common in written Korean and so -과/와 is. 

If I rephrase it the way people say in daily conversation, it would read 한국 사람 식사는 밥이랑 반찬으로 돼 있다. In spoken Korean, -의 is often dropped, and -(이)랑, -하고 are much more common. 

The "돼" looks a bit odd because I always hear it spoken than see it written. :)

Answer

I wouldn't consider '돼' to be a more modern form of '되어'. It's just a contraction and thus perhaps a bit less formal, so it's a stylistic issue. In the example given, the non-contracted version sounds more natural to me.

Answer

i agree joshua and Hailey's saying that both are correct and it is a bit relate in formal style.
되어 있다 and 돼 있다 are no problem when you say it in conversation. because everybody understand what you are saying. no problem.
in writing, also the same. but!
되어 있다 sounds telling more in detail. because 되어있다 is using more letter '어'. 
돼 있다 is short as you see.

anyway, both are completely the same. but i like '되어 있다.' it is more clear for me.
:)
즐!

Answer

I think it's not right to me as an example of "되어 있다" in your textbook. 
It should be "한국 사람의 식사는 밥과 반찬으로 이루어진다(or 이루어져 있다)" or 
"한국 사람의 식사는 밥과 반찬으로 구성되어있다" 
(This one is more close to a general description.) 

"~ 로 이루어 진다(to be composed of something)" is more natural, 
because "~ 로 되어있다" is more often found in "something should/will be ~" or "something is supposed/expected to ~" in English. 

"~로 되어있다" sounds like quoting a sentence in a book or historical records. 

For example, 
"(역사적) 기록에 의하면(According to historical records), 
or 알려진바에 의하면(As far as is known) 
한국사람의 식사는 밥과 반찬으로 되어있다" 

As for "돼", I totally agree with Joshua.

^___^