-아/어 가다, -아/어 오다 progress or continuation

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-아/어 가다 : an action has done and keeps going
-아/어 오다 : an action has done until now

As you already know, 오다 means ‘to come’ and 가다 means ‘to go’. So as you can see on the picture above, -아/어오다 means an action has happened in the past and has been continued until right now(so far) and -아/어가다 means an action has happened in the past and has been continued until now and keeps continuing to the future. For example,

저는 일기를 10년 동안 써 왔어요. (I have been writing journals for 10 years so far.)
저는 일기를 10년 동안 써 왔고 앞으로도 계속 써 갈 거예요. (I have been writing journals for 10 years so far, and I will keep writing in the future)
12시가 다 되어 가네요. (It is almost 12 o’clock. ; It is probably 11:57 and time will keep going to 12.)
꽃이 시들어 갑니다. (The flower is withering. ; and it will keep withering)
해가 점점 사라져 가고 있어요. (The sun is disappearing.)
민영 씨를 대학에 보내려고 힘들게 살아오신 부모님을 생각해 보세요. (Please think of you parents who have worked hard to send you to a college.)
지금까지 살아오면서 제일 좋았던 일이 뭐예요? (What was the best memory of yours in your life (so far).)
살아가면서 힘든 일도 많겠지만 반드시 포기하지 않을 거예요. (There are many difficult things in life, but I will not give up.)
와, 이제 숙제 거의 다 해 가네. (Wow, you are almost done your home!)
하는 일은 잘 되어 가니? (Is your work going well?)

  • -아/어오다 and -아/어가다 also mean ‘do and come’ and ‘do and go’ like their literal meanings. For example,
    집에 오다가 치킨 한 마리 사 왔어. (I bought (and came) a chicken on the way home.)
    내일 소풍 갈 때 뭐 만들어 갈 거야? (What are you going to make (and go) for the picnic tomorrow?)
    그 친구를 진짜 따라 갈 거야? (Are you really going with (follow and go) your friend?)
    도둑이 우리 집 담을 넘어 왔다. (A thief climbed over (over and came) our wall.)

    Please reply to this post if you have any questions!

-게 되다

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verb+게 되다

Verb+게 되다 means ‘become’ or ‘turned out’, the nuance is the circumstance is changed but it is not your intention. And please remember it is only with verbs, not adjectives. If you have not learned ‘adjective change : adj+아/어/해지다”, you can click here and learn more.

Examples>>
이번 달 말에 이사를 가게 됐어요. I happened to move at the end of this month.
이 영화 때문에 영어를 좋아하게 됐어요. I fell in love with (happened to like) English because of this movie.
졸업앨범을 보고 그 사람이 제 옛날 친구인 것을 알게 됐어요. I saw a year book and I found out she was an old friend of mine.
다음 달부터 ㅇㅇ회사에서 일하게 됐어요. (It turned out) I will be working at OO company starting next month.
교통 사고로 크게 다쳐서 수술을 하게 됐어요. I got seriously injured in a car accident, I happened to have surgery.
이 일을 꼭 하고 싶다는 생각을 하게 됐어요. I happened to think I really want this job.
이번에 학교에서 달리기 대표로 나가게 됐어요. It turned out I am going to the competition as the track and field leader at school.
버스가 안 와서 지하철을 타게 됐어요. Because the bus didn’t come, (It turned out) I had to take subway.

Please reply to this post if you have any questions!

#게 되다 #되다 #게되다 #become #게 되다 meaning #게 되다 grammar

어찌나 / 얼마나 -은지 Emphasize, exaggerate

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Present : 어찌나 / 얼마나 adj+(으)ㄴ지, verb+는지
Past : 어찌나 / 얼마나 adj/verb+았/었/였는지

얼마나 -은/는지 알다/모르다 can express two different meaning. First, it is literally asking “how much —-adjective/verb” like its literal meaning. For example.
민수가 술을 얼마나 자주 마시는지 알아요? Do you know how often does Minsu drink?
어제 아이가 사탕을 얼마나 많이 먹었는지 알아요? Do you know how much candy the kid ate yesterday?

But it is more often used to emphasize or stress a situation or an action, it is like “I can’t even describe how–“, “words can’t describe how–” or “I can’t even believe how–” For example,
숙제가 얼마나 많은지 힘들어 죽겠어요. I can’t even describe how much homework I have, I feel like I am dying!!.
민호 씨가 얼마나 멋있는지 알아요? Can you believe how handsome Minho is?
서울 날씨가 얼마나 더운지 몰라요. Words can’t describe how hot it is in Seoul.
어제 제가 얼마나 오래 기다렸는지 아세요? You don’t even know how long I waited for you yesterday? (I waited for long time.)
내가 너를 얼마나 사랑하는지 너는 알까? I wonder if you know how much I love you.
얼마나 빠른지 정말 치타 같았어요. I can’t even believe how fast he(she) is, he(she) looks like a cheetah.


#얼마나ㄴ지 #얼마나는지 #얼마나은지 #얼마나 #얼마나 adjective #얼마나verb

Plain ending(conversational) – 반말

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Conversational plain speech 비격식체 반말

Plain ending is used when you talk to a person who is younger than you and very close to you. I divided 반말 as two types of endings for plain speech(반말) which are ‘formal plain ending'(격식체)’ and ‘conversational plain ending'(비격식체)’.

In this post, we are going to learn ‘conversational plain ending’, please click here if you want to learn ‘formal plain ending’.

Conversational plain ending(비격식체 반말) is easy, you can just drop -요 from conversational polite speech -아/어/해요.

1. For present tense -아/어/해요. => -아/어/해. For example,
뭐 해요? -> 뭐 해?
밥 먹어요. -> 밥 먹어.
민수 어디에 있어요? -> 민수 어디에 있어?

2. For past tense -았/었/했어요. => 았/었/했어. For example,
뭐 했어요?-> 뭐 했어?
어제 친구 만났어요? -> 어제 친구 만났어?
지난 주에 학교에 못 갔어요. -> 지난 주에 학교에 못 갔어.

3. For future tense -(으)ㄹ 거예요. => -(으)ㄹ 거야.
뭐 할 거예요?-> 뭐 할 거야?
오늘 몇 시에 집에 갈 거예요? -> 오늘 몇 시에 집에 갈 거야?
잊지 못할 거예요. -> 잊지 못할 거야.
기억할 거예요. -> 기억할 거야.

4. For noun+이에요 => -(이)야. For example,
저는 민수예요. -> 나는 민수야.
선생님이 한국 사람이에요? -> 선생님이 한국 사람이야?
오랜만이에요. -> 오랜만이야.
누구예요? -> 누구야?

5. Names : When you speak to someone with the casual form, you are suppose to call someone’s name.(we are not allowed to call someone’s name if they are older than us).  Instead of ㅇㅇㅇ 씨, you can add -아 or -야 after their names.  For example,

민성 씨 => 민성아 (-아 is for the name ending with a consonant)
주아 씨 => 주아야 (-야 is for the name ending with a vowel)

6. 저 -> 나, 제가-> 내가
저 is an humble way to say ‘I’ and ‘me’, so we don’t used it when we use ‘plain form’. In ‘plain speech’, we say 나. For example,
저하고 같이 저녁 먹어요. -> 나하고 같이 저녁 먹어.
저는 이주아예요. -> 나는 이주아야.
제가 카메라를 가지고 갈게요. -> 내가 카메라를 가지고 갈게.

7. 너, ㅇㅇ씨가 -> 네가 [니가]
At the beginning level, I told you not to use 너 until you understand the situation when you can use 너. Finally, you can use 너!!! Congratulations! ^^
민수 씨, 내일 뭐 할 거예요? -> 민수야, 너 내일 뭐 할 거야?
정아 씨, 이거 정아 씨한테 온 편지예요. -> 정아야, 이거 너한테 온 편지야.
민주 씨, 이거 민주 씨가 만들었어요? -> 민주야, 이거 네가[니가] 만들었어?
** Koreans read 네가 as [니가] because 내가 and 네가 are so similar.

8. Answer
네 -> 어, 응
아니요. -> 아니.

Remember!  

Please do not use 반말 to elders or people who you just met. You can only use 반말 to people who are friends(the same age), younger people who are very close to you like family.

(으)ㄴ/는 척하다 pretend to

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verb+는 척하다(present)
verb+(으)ㄴ 척하다(past)
adj+(으)ㄴ 척하다

-(으)ㄴ/는 척하다 is attached to a verb, it means ‘to pretend” or “act like(fake)”. For example,
자는 척하지 마. Don’t act like you are sleeping.
너 괜히 아픈 척하는 거지? You are pretending to be sick, right?
다 알면서 모르는 척하고 있어요. (she/he) is pretending not to know, even though (she/he) knows everything.
먹었으면서 안 먹은 척하고 있네. You are acting like you didn’t eat even though you ate.
나 안 좋아하면서 그 동안 좋아하는 척한 거였어? Did you pretend to like me even though you didn’t like me?
곰을 만났을 때 죽은 척하고 있으면 안 돼요. You shouldn’t pretend to be dead when you see a bear.

As you can see, (으)ㄴ 척하다 often comes with (으)면서 because (으)면서 means ‘have two opposite actions/situations at the same time”. If you want to learn more about (으)면서, please click here.

-를 위하다 / -기 위하다

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-를 위한, -를 위해서, -기 위한, -기 위해서

위하다 means ‘for’ or ‘in order to’. It can take an object or a noun clause. When it takes an object, it is ‘-을/를 위하다’ and when it takes an noun clause, it is ‘-기(를) 위하다’.

When 위하다 modifies a noun, we use 위한 or 위하는. For example, -를 위한, -기(를) 위한. When 위하다 modifies a verb, we use as 위하여 or 위해(서).

noun를 위한 + noun
noun를 위해서 + verb
verb기(를) 위한 + noun
verb기(를) 위해서 + verb = verb(으)려고 + verb (click here to learn 으려고)

For example,
너를 위한 기도 pray for you
너를 위해서 나는 내 삶을 버렸어. I gave up my life for you.
집을 사기 위해서 열심히 돈을 벌었어요. I worked hard to buy a house.
컴퓨터 엔지니어가 되기 위해 컴퓨터 공학을 공부하려고 합니다. I am going to study computer science to become an computer engineer.

위해서라면

You probably heard 위해서라면 in K-songs a lot.
-(이)라면 means ‘if’, thus 위해서라면 means ‘if it is for (someone)’. For example,

널 위해서라면 난 슬퍼도 강한 척할 수가 있었어. For you(If it is for you), I could pretend to be strong even though I was sad. (Fake Love by BTS)
나라를 지키기 위해서라면 제 목숨까지 바치겠습니다. If it is for protecting our country, I can devote my life.



-은/는 comparison/emphasize

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I think you already know about 은/는 as topic particle or comparison particle. If you haven’t learned 은/는 topic particle, please click here and learn more.

-은/는 are also used as ’emphasize’ a noun, an adverb or an ending. For example,
내 이름을 보고는 그냥 가 버렸어요. (Someone) looked at my name, and then just left.
바빠도 밥은 먹어야지요. Even if you are very busy, you should eat food.
한테도 잘못은 있어. It is also your fault too.
사랑 따위는 없어. There is no such thing, love.
그렇게 빨리는 못 가. I can’t go that fast.
너무 멀리는 가지 마. Don’t go too far.
너무 힘들어 하지는 마. Don’t be too hard.

And -은/는 also often come with partial negation such as 모두/다/항상 + -지는 않다, 지는 못하다, ㄹ 수는 있다/없다, 것은-아니다. For example,
돈이 많다고 해서 모든 사람이 행복한 것은 아니다. Not every one is happy even if they are rich.
내가 그것까지 해 줄 수는 없어. That is the final straw. (I can do anything but not that one)
그것이 좋은 결과를 가져 오지는 않았다. That didn’t bring a good result.
돈이 모든 일을 해결해 주지는 않아. Not everything you can solve with money.


Do not -지 말다

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-지 말다 is attached to a verb, it means ‘do not’, it makes a imperative sentence. -지 말다 can be used with these endings depending on who you are talking to. A good thing is that you don’t need to worry about the conjugation!!! You can simply put a verb with -지 말다.

  1. -지 마 is 반말(plain form), so it is used to someone who is your friend and younger people. If you haven’t learned 반말, please click here. And sometimes you will hear -지 마라 in a K-drama, -지 마라 form is more formal than -지 마.
  2. -지 말아요( is used for when you talk to someone who is similar age(maybe older than you). And you will hear -지 마요 in K-songs, it is short form for -지 말아요.
  3. -지 마세요(-지 말+(으)세요 => ㄹ drop) is an honorific form, so it is used to someone who are older than you or public.

For example,
to a friend or young person
하지 마. Don’t do.
가지 마. Don’t go. (Let’s watch 가지 마, 가지마 by 브라운 아이즈.)
떠나지 마. Don’t leave.


to a person who is a little older than you.
그런 말하지 말아요. Don’t say that.
가지 말아요. Don’t go.
잊지 말아요. Don’t forget. (You can hear it in “잊지 말아요.Don’t forget” by 백지영)

For someone who are way older than you.
들어가지 마세요. Do not enter.
담배를 피우지 마세요. Do not smoke.
울지 마세요. Do not cry.
떠나가지 마세요. Do not leave. (I found an old song that I listened to when I was young ^^. 떠나가지 마세요 by 언타이틀)

#지마 #지마라 #지마세요 #마세요 #말아요 #말다 #지말다 #마요 #하지마 #가지마 #지말으세요 # 그런말하지마 #do not in Korean #don’t in Korean #말다 don’t #지말다 don’t #지 마세요 grammar #지 마 meaning

Particle -(이)나

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Noun(vowel)+이나
Noun(consonant)+나

In this post, we are talking about (이)나, (이)나 is very common particle that comes on TOPIK. Let’s find out!


1. ‘choice’ , ‘A or B’.
차나 주스를 주세요. Please give me tea or juice.
중국이나 미국에 갈 거예요. I am going to China or U.S.
경제학이나 경영학을 공부하고 싶어요. I want to study economics or business.

2. The previous noun is not the best choice or my favorite, but I still choose it.
밥은 없는데 그냥 이거나 먹어. We don’t have rice, just eat this. (this is not the best choice, but I still give it to you.)
할 일도 없는데 영화나 보지요. 뭐. I don’t have things to do, well, let’s watch a movie. (movie is not the best choice, but it is okay. )
밥이나 먹자. Let’s eat. (Eating is not my favorite thing to do now, but let’s do it.)

3. 이나 is attached 몇, 며칠, 얼마, it expresses “to ask/guess the number/amount” (Most cases you can omit 이나, because there is already a question word.)
사람이 몇 명이나 모였어요? How many people were there?
상하이를 여행하려면 며칠이나 걸려요? How many days does it take to travel Shanghai?
아이가 몇 살이나 됐어요? How old is the kid?

4. 이나 is attached to a number, it express that the number is more than the speaker expected.
어제 거기서 한 시간이나 기다렸어요. I waited for one hour over there yesterday. (one hour was very long time.)
비용이 백만 원이나 들어요? Does it cost one million Won? (one million Won is too much.)
** It is often compared with -밖에, please click here to learn the difference.

5. 이나 is attached to question words, 언제, 어디, 누구, 무엇, 아무, 아무 noun, it expresses ‘every’. We can translate as ‘—ever’
민수는 언제나 친절하게 사람을 대해요. Minsu always(whenever) treat people very friendly.
누구나(아무나) 들어올 수 있습니다. Anyone(Whoever) can come in.
무엇이나 물어보세요. Ask me anything(whatever).
공기는 어디에나 있어요. Air is everywhere(wherever).
아무 거나 다 잘 먹어요. I can eat any thing(whatever).

6. It doesn’t matter whether it is A or B.
예나 지금이나 변한 게 별로 없네요. There is not much different before and now.
샌드위치나 피자나 다 괜찮아요. I am okay with sandwich or pizza, it doesn’t matter.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment in this post. 아무 질문이나 상관없어요! ^^

답다 vs 스럽다

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답다 and 스럽다 both are used attached to a noun, make a noun into an adjective, but they slightly have different meanings, and nouns with 답다 and 스럽다 are quite different. (** 답다 and 스럽다 both have ㅂ irregular, please click here to learn more ㅂ irregular.)

답다 means a person, animal or an item has their own characters or quality.
For example,
남자답다 -> (to a man) 남자답게 말해! (Speak like a man!)
여자답다 -> (to a woman) 연주는 정말 여자다운 사람이에요. (Yeonju has such a feminine person. 답다+(으)ㄴmodifying)
사람답다 -> 요즘은 사람다운 사람이 별로 없어요. (There are not many people like true human in theses days.)
철수답다. -> A: 어제 철수가 또 늦게 왔어요. B: 철수답네. (철수 is always late, so it is quite true 철수.)
너답다. -> A: 어제 길에서 어떤 할머니 무거운 짐을 들어 드렸어요. B: 정말 너답다. (B always helps other people)
여름 날씨답다 -> 이번 주는 여름 날씨다운 날이 계속되겠습니다. (The summer weather is quite like the summer weather.)
어른답다 -> (to an adult) 그 사람은 나이를 40이나 먹었는데도 어른답게 말할 줄을 몰라요. (She is 40 years old, but she doesn’t know how to speak like an adult. In this case, 어른스럽다 is wrong because she is actually an adult.)

스럽다 means a person or an item has the quality or feeling of the noun, nouns with 스럽다 can be personality, character, situation or feelings. And a lot of ‘noun스럽다’ words can be changed into ‘noun하다(adjective)’, but 스럽다 feels less strong than 하다.
For example,
어른스럽다(like an adult)-> (to a kid) 와, 저 아이는 정말 어른스럽게 말하네요. (아이 is like an adult. In this case, 어른답다 is wrong because a kid is not an adult.)
사랑스럽다(has loving feeling) -> 너는 정말 사랑스러워. (You are so lovable. )
실망스럽다(disappointed) -> 실망스럽게 해서 미안해. (I am sorry because I made you disappointed.)

Also, these nouns below often come with 스럽다, bold texts are frequently used words.

감격/갑작/거만/게걸/고민/고생/고통/고풍/곤혹/괴상/구차/궁상/극성/근심/

급작/까탈/난잡/남사/넉살/다정/다행/대견/맛깔/망신/망측/명예/민망/믿음직/밉살/바람직/

번잡/변덕/별/복/사치/새삼/소란/송구/수상/수선/수치/신통/신비/실망/쌍/쑥/악착/안/

야단/야만/어른/염려/영광/영악/예/요란/요망/요사/우람/우스광/우악/원망/유감/

을씨년/음흉/의문/의심/의아/익살/자랑/자비/자연/

자유/장난/정성/조심/조잡/좀/죄송/주접/짐/

천박/천연덕/천연/촌/추잡/충성/치사/치욕/탐/탐욕/

평화/포악/표독/한/한심/한탄/행복/허망/험상/험악/혐오/호강/호기/

호들갑/흉물/흉악/흉측/

If you have any questions about 답다 and 스럽다, please leave a comment in this post!