Hey guys, today I have two interesting verbs for you.
새우다 and 피우다. The reason they are interesting is that you often don’t see them in their “correct” form while talking. Some of you might have even noticed this or wondered why you don’t see 새우다 and 피우다 often or if there is a difference.
In textbooks you’ll learn sentences like:
어제 밤을 새워서 공부했어요. I stayed up all night studying yesterday.
But, you don’t hear that sentence too often in real life conversations with friends. Instead, you hear this:
어제 밤을 새서 공부했어요. I stayed up all night studying.
Or
밤을 샜어요. I stayed up all night./I pulled an all-nighter.
In class, newspapers, and in the dictionary, you will (or should) find the verb as 새우다. But, most people (at least in Seoul) use the verb as 새다. 우 completely disappears. 피우다 is the same. In the dictionary and in your books, you’ll see 담배(를) 피우다 and 바람(을) 피우다. But, many people say 담배(를) 피다 and 바람(을) 피다.
밤을 새다 is technically incorrect. But, you’ll hear it more often than the correct version. It’s kind of like “who and whom” in the US. Most people don’t use “whom” at all. They use “who” incorrectly even if they know it’s wrong. That’s because for some weird reason using “who” wrong sounds more natural than using “whom” correctly.
Here are a few examples of the three most common words I’ve come across.
담배를 안 폈으면 좋겠어요. (*안 피웠으면) I wish you didn’t smoke cigarettes.
밤을 새지 마. 숙제는 내일 해. (*새우지 마) Don’t stay up all night. Do your homework tomorrow.
남자 친구가 바람을 피면 끝이야! (*바람을 피우면) If (my) boyfriend cheats, it’s over/it’s the end.
It’s strange that language sometimes sounds better when it’s wrong, right? Just one more reason to not stress about speaking “perfect Korean.” You should use the correct form when writing papers and on tests, but when you’re talking or texting, feel free to use it “incorrectly.”
Hi guys, today I have a little 말장난 (pun, word play) for you.
In the picture, the guy in green says “석준아, 내 말 좀 들어 줘!” and then gives 석준 a horse. This is a common 짤 (meme) that you can find in google images for Korean puns.
말 means both “words” or “horse.” And the phrase 들어 주다 can mean “to listen to someone” or “to hold something for someone.” (듣다 to listen/들다 to hold something)
So, “내 말 좀 들어 줘” could be translated two different ways. “Please listen to what I have to say” or “please hold my horse.”
But, you know…you will probably never say “please hold my horse.” (unless it’s a toy horse?)
Either way, I recommend looking up the 짤. You can save it and send it to a Korean friend when you want to tell them something.
어떤 사생팬이 A 아이돌 그룹의 기숙사에 몰래 들어가서 B의 팬티를 훔쳤대! Some stalker fan snuck into A idol’s dorm and stole B’s underwear.
미친…제정신이 아닌가 봐. No f**king way…they’re out of their mind.
Notes
*사생팬
사생(활) is one’s private life. And 팬 is the English loan word for “fan” of an artist or something. Together 사생팬 describes a fan that invades the private life of a star or artist (often to an unbelievable degree) (사생팬: 유명한 사람의 사생활을 침해하는 팬). And with Kpop as crazy as it can be, sometimes fans do unacceptable things like sneaking into a famous celebrities house or stalking them. They can be described as a 사생팬.
*훔쳤대 Someone said someone stole (something)/I heard that someone stole (something)
(V-ㄴ/는대(요) or A-대(요)) is the contracted form of ㄴ/는다고 해(요) and 다고 해(요). This grammar point is for conveying speech that one heard from someone else.
For example:
My mom says it’s okay. 엄마는 괜찮대. (엄마는 괜찮다고 해/했어.)
My sister says she isn’t going. 언니는 안 간대요. (언니는 안 간다고 해요/했어요.)
This contracted form is used all the time in casual speech since it’s shorter. It can be used in the past tense 댔어(요), but it’s used in the present more often. It’s the difference between “My mom says it’s okay” and “My mom said it’s okay.” There really isn’t a huge difference in the message you want to convey.
*팬티
The English loan word panty (팬티) can be used for anyone’s underwear regardless of age or gender. I don’t know about other countries, but I had never heard panty used for underwear that wasn’t for adult women. So, I was a little surprised when I first heard it used for men’s underwear.
*미친
미치다 means to be crazy. And 미친 can be used as an abbreviated way to say that’s crazy/insane or respond to something like “no f–ing way” or “holy shit.” (미쳤다, 미친 사건, 미친 새끼) I’m not quite sure how this abbreviated form came to be, but it’s really common. *I would also like to mention here that 미치다 “to be crazy” is quite a bit more negative in Korean than it is in English. It’s used a lot more often as a curse. It’s can be used lightly among friends, but you should be quite close, as the nuance or intonation could hurt someone’s feelings.
*제정신
제정신 is one’s “right mind.” So, 제정신 아니다 would mean “to not be in one’s right mind.” So, if someone does something that’s kind of crazy or unacceptable, you might be able to use this word. 그 사람이 경찰 앞에서 물건을 훔쳤다고요? 제정신이 아닌가 봐요. (You’re saying) that person stole something right in front of the cops? They’re out of their mind.
I hope you enjoyed this post. Let me know if you have any questions!
It’s been a while since my last post, but I’m going to get back into the rhythm of things!
Hi guys! Today’s post is about worries–more specifically three words that get translated to “worry” but are not the same.
고민 and 걱정 are two words that always confuse beginner Korean learners and even intermediate students.
고민 is a worry or trouble, but it’s typically used when you’re trying to make a decision. When you need to make a decision, you tend to worry about it, right? It’s also typically a decision that you can’t make right away, so it might cause you discomfort, which is why it’s translated to “a trouble.” It gets used in serious situations or lightly, like when choosing what to eat or wear.
Like the picture, 딸기를 먹을까 포도를 먹을까…고민되네. Should I eat some strawberries? or should I eat some grapes? I’ve gotta think about it.
I typically translate 고민되다 to “thinking about” something in light situations because that’s what is happening. English would not typically use the word “worry” when deciding what fruit to eat (at least in my experience).
걱정 on the other hand is a bit more serious than 고민. It’s normally something that’s causing discomfort or panic in some sense (severe or not). I think it’s more in line with the English definition of “worry.”
Like the worried girl in the picture, 연락이 안 돼서 걱정했잖아! I was worried because you didn’t answer my message(s). (연락이 안 되다 - to not be able to get in touch/contact with someone)
So, if you are worried about not being accepted into college, that’s a 걱정. If you’re trying to decide which college to go to, that’s a 고민.
Usage:
Both 고민 and 걱정 can be used with the verbs 하다 and 되다.
고민/걱정하다 is used to refer to something that you are actively thinking/worrying about. It’s also used in active constructions like 해야 하다 “have to” or 하지 마 “don’t” do something.
고민/걱정되다 is used to refer to more passive worries or something that is worrisome, but usually not keeping you up at night.
They can also both be used as nouns(고민이다/걱정이다) to say “this is a worry.”
*Note the following are not direct translations. (I usually try to balance them, but I decided to go with mostly natural translations for this to demonstrate their differences.)
뭐 먹을까? 고민되네. What should we eat? Gotta think about it…
고민하지 말고 결정해! Don’t think/worry about it and just decide.
내일 도서관에 갈까 말까 고민이야. I’m thinking about whether I should go to the library tomorrow or not.
그 여자랑 사귈까 말까 많이 고민했는데…안 만나는 것이 나을 것 같아요. I considered(thought about) whether I should date her or not a lot…and I think it would be better not to meet her.
—————————————————————
오늘도 많이 안 먹었어? 걱정되네. 무슨 일 있어? You didn’t eat a lot today either? That’s worrisome. (I’m getting worried) Is anything going on?
어제 연락이 없어 가지고 걱정했거든! 무슨 일 생긴 줄 알았어. I didn’t hear from you yesterday, so I worried, you know! I thought something happened.
걱정하지 마. 괜찮을 거 야. Don’t worry. It will be okay.
우려 is our last “worry.” Luckily, you don’t have to worry about 우려 too much, because it’s quite advanced, but I wanted to add it to balance these words. 우려 means “worry,” but it’s used in formal situations (presentations, news etc). It’s often used as 우려가 되다/우려가 있다 and 우려의 목소리가 크다/우려하는 목소리가 크다 (the voices of worry are big/the voices expressing worry are big –which means that a lot of people have expressed being worried about a certain topic).
Like in the picture, someone is giving a presentation with the title “멸종된 동물 증가” (extinct animals increase). He would probably use the word 우려 during his presentation instead of 걱정.
Here are some examples, but please don’t worry if they’re hard to read. These are the kinds of sentences that might be seen in news papers.
과학자들이 지구 온난화에 대한 우려의 목소리를 내고 있다. Scientists are voicing their concerns about global warming.
물가 상승이 우려된다. The rising cost of living is worrisome.
물가가 계속 올라가서 시민들이 우려하고 있다. Citizens are worried because the cost of living keeps going up.
I hope you guys are having a nice weekend without any worries.
Hello everyone, so this is basically me reviewing basic stuff. One of the hardest things to remember when I just started to learn korean was the structure of the sentences so I will share some of my notes with you.
The 2 basic structures are:
S.O.V : Subject - Object - Verb
S.A : Subject - Adjective
*The subject:
-does the action of the Verb
-it’s something that is acting. So it can be a person, a thing or a noun.
*The object: it’s to whatever the Verb is acting on.
Always remember:
Sentences with adjectives WILL NOT have an Object
EVERY sentence must to end with a Verb or an Adjective
동의 agree/consent 투표 vote 뜻 wish/opinion 여부 whether or not 에 앞서(서) ahead of 적립되다 to be raised/saved 공개하다 to make public/release to people 숫자 number N + 당 per N 걸리다 to hang/be at stake 액수 amount 따라서 therefore 돼지 저금통 piggy bank 포기하다 to give up 유가족 bereaved family 각각 each 씩 each 전달되다 to be delivered 빈손 empty hand 총 total
