먹던

In a sentence

• 그가 먹던 음식을 나에게 주었다.

  He gave me the food he was eating.

  Here, "먹던" is used to describe the food that he was in the process of eating in the past.

• 나는 어제 먹던 케이크를 다 먹었다.

  I finished the cake I was eating yesterday.

  In this sentence, "먹던" refers to the specific cake the subject was consuming during the previous day, emphasizing the continuation of the eating action.

• 부엌에 들어가니 누군가 먹던 참기가 있었다.

  Upon entering the kitchen, there was a sesame leaf someone had been eating.

  Here, "먹던" indicates the sesame leaf that someone had previously started to eat, implying the action was incomplete or interrupted.