않긴

In a sentence

• 그는 그렇게 하지 않긴 했지만 상황이 달랐다.

  He didn't do it like that, but the circumstances were different.

  Here, '않긴' combines '않다' (to not do) with '긴' (a shortened form of '기는', often used for marking contrast or acknowledgment). It acknowledges he did not perform the action as described but implies there's something relevant about the differing circumstances.

• 우리는 그 길로 가지 않긴 했어도 충분히 조사했어요.

  We didn't take that route, but we thoroughly investigated.

  In this sentence, '않긴' again combines negation with an element of contrast, stressing the action that was not performed while highlighting the investigation done as an alternative.

• 시도가 좋지 않긴 해도 배우는 과정이 중요하다.

  The attempt might not be good, but the learning process is important.

  Here, '않긴' reflects the speaker acknowledging the negative aspect of the attempt (not being good), but contrasts this with the importance of the learning process.