TTMIK6

Question 1

Noun
bicycle 자전거
window 창문
umbrella 우산
box 상자
department store 백화점
midterm exams 중간고사
method, solution 방법
map 지도
country 나라
meaning 뜻
end 끝
walk 산책
freedom 자유
friendship 우정
dream 꿈
world 세상

Verb
to pile up 쌓다
to push 밀다
to untie, to untangle 풀다
to hug 안다
to drive 운전하다
to part, to break up (with someone) 헤어지다
to use 사용하다
to make a mistake 실수하다
to return 반납하다
to explain 설명하다
to mean 의미하다
to quit 그만두다
to change 달라지다
to disappear 없어지다

Descriptive Verb
to be convenient 편리하다
to be inconvenient/uncomfortable 불편하다
to be kind 친절하다
to be unkind 불친절하다
to be simple 간단하다
to be complicated 복잡하다
to be tough/challenging 힘들다
to be close to someone 친하다
to be certain 확실하다
to be salty 짜다

Adverb
slowly 천천히
suddenly 갑자기
just a little while ago, just now 방금
continuously 계속
occasionally 때때로
soon after 금방

Word Builder
1. 님
professor 교수님
customer 고객님
owner of a company/store 사장님

2. 과
overeating 과식
speeding 과속
passing (through) 통과
past 과거

3. 무
free of charge 무료
to overlook, to neglect, to ignore 무시하다
irresponsibility 무책임
unconditionally 무조건
innocent 무죄

Answer 1

복잡하다
I didn’t know it was this complicated. → 이렇게 복잡한 줄 몰랐어요.

the funniest movie = 가장 웃긴 영화
one of the funniest movies → 가장 웃긴 영화 중 하나 (Lesson 3)
to be popular = 인기 있다
It’s one of the most popular movies in Korea. → 한국에서 가장 인기 있는 영화 중 하나예요.

to keep = 가지다
Do you mind if I keep this? → 저 이거 가져도 돼요? (Lesson 4)
Do you mind if I come in? → 들어가도 돼요?
No. We’re still in the middle of cleaning. → 아니요. 아직 청소하는 중이에요. (Lesson 5)
I’m in the middle of taking a bath. → 목욕하는 중이에요.

Anyway, one way or another → 어차피 (Lesson 7)
We are already late anyway. → 어차피 늦었어요.
One way or another, we have to go outside anyway. → 어차피 밖에 나가야 돼요.
to take a walk = 산책하다
While we are outside, let’s take a walk. → 밖에 나온 김에 산책해요. (Lesson 9)

brunch = 아침 겸 점심 (Lesson 14)
to get some breeze/fresh air = 바람 좀 쐬다
(There’s another reason/purpose, too, but) I came outside to get some fresh air. → 바람 좀 쐴 겸 밖에 나왔어요.
I came outside to get some fresh air and also to take a walk. → 바람도 쐴 겸, 산책도 할 겸 밖에 나왔어요.

to close = 닫다
to get closed → 닫히다 (Lesson 21)
to chase = 쫓다
thief = 도둑
I chase a thief.→ 저는 도둑을 쫓아요.
to be chased → 쫓기다
A thief is being chased. → 도둑이 쫓기고 있어요.
It is not seen., I can’t see it. → 안 보여요. (Lesson 23)

mood = 기분
It depends on my mood. → 기분에 따라 달라요. (Lesson 28)
Sometimes it’s fun, but other times it’s not fun. → 어떨 때는 재밌는데, 어떨 때는 재미없어요. (Lesson 29)

Question 2

In Essential Korean Course Level 6, you will learn how to change verbs into a passive form, and many more expressions that spice up your sentences by helping you express different nuances. You will also be able to have more engaging conversations by expressing doubts, abilities, and happenings through the grammar points covered in this level.

Lesson 1. How about …? / ~ 어때요?
In this lesson, let us take a look at how to say “How about…?” in Korean. There are many ways to say this, but the most basic and common way is, “어때요?”.

How about…?
= Noun + 어때요?

Ex)
사과 어때요? = How about an apple?
커피 어때요? = How about some coffee?
= Verb stem + -는 거 어때요?

Ex)
먹다 + -는 거 어때요? → 먹는 거 어때요? = How about eating?
보다 + -는 거 어때요? → 보는 거 어때요? = How about watching?

어때요? comes from the verb 어떻다, which literally means “to be how”. Therefore, when you want to say phrases such as, “How about this one?”, “How about that one?”, “How about eating here?”, etc., you can use the verb 어떻다.

When speaking with friends, you can use 반말 and drop the 요 at the end.

Ex)
어때? = How is it?
이거 어때? = How about this?
커피 어때? = How about some coffee?

Examples with Nouns

1. 이거 어때요? = How about this?
2. 생일 선물로 카메라 어때요? = How about a camera for your/his/their birthday present?
3. 내일 어때요? = How about tomorrow?

Examples with Verbs

1. 다시 하는 거 어때요? = How about doing it again?
2. 다른 사람한테* 물어보는 거 어때요? = How about asking other people?
   * If you want to say “to” other people, you have to add the particle, -한테. -한테 indicates that you are asking those people a question and not asking about those people.
   Ex)
   주연 씨한테 물어보는 거 어때요? = How about asking Jooyeon?
3. 안으로 들어가는 거 어때요? = How about going inside?

Sample Sentences

이거 싫어요? 이거(는) 어때요?
= You don’t like this? How about this one?

• “이거 어때요?” is the plain form. Therefore, you can add the topic marker 는 when you are comparing a number of items and have already asked the person, “How about this one?”.

내일 만나서 이야기하는 거 어때요?
= How about meeting and talking about it tomorrow?

이렇게 하는 거 어때요?
= How about doing it this way?

• You can say this when you want to make a suggestion while doing something or trying to solve a problem. It can almost be interchangeable with, “I have an idea!”

Word Contractions

When you want to make a verb into a noun, you add -는 거. The original form is -는 것.

• 는 거 + Subject Marker (이/가) → -는 것 + 이 → -는 것이 → -는 게
• 는 거 + Topic Marker (은/는) → -는 거 + 는 → -는 건

이렇게 하는 거 어때요? [ Neutral ]
= How about doing it this way?

이렇게 하는 게 어때요? [ + Subject Marker ]
= How about doing it this way?
* The meaning is almost the same as the neutral sentence.

이렇게 하는 건 어때요? [ + Topic Marker ]
= (Since you aren’t too sure about the other ideas,) How about doing it THIS way (then)?

If you want to ask in the past tense you can say:

어땠어요? = How was it?

Answer 2

Lesson 2. What do you think about …? / 어떻게 생각하세요? / 어떤 것 같아요?
In this lesson, let us take a look at how to say “What do you think about…?” in Korean. In our previous lesson, we introduced the expression 어때요?, which means “How about…?”. Sometimes this expression, 어때요?, can also be used to mean, “What do you think?”.

어때요?
= How is it?
= How about …?
= What do you think?

When you want to add more details to the sentence and say, “What do you think about + Noun?” or “What do you think about + Verb-ing?”, you need to use different expressions.

There are various ways to say, “What do you think?” in Korean, so let us take a look at the two most commonly used expressions.

1. 어떻게 생각해요?
   = What do you think?

어떻게 = how, in what manner
생각하다 = to think

2. 어떤 것 같아요?
   = What do you think?

것 같아요 = I think, you think

Ex)
좋은 것 같아요 = I think it’s good.
큰 것 같아요 = I think it’s big.
비 오는 것 같아요 = I think it’s raining.

The word “what” is used for the English translation because you ask “what” is on someone’s mind or “what” are their thoughts about a certain topic, but in Korean, you use the word “how” because you are asking about “how” someone looks at the matter or “how” they think something is.

The basic verb for “to be how” is 어떻다 and when you change it into an adverb, it becomes 어떻게.

어떻게 생각해요? is literally translated as “HOW think?”

어떤 것 같아요? is literally translated as, “HOW it seems?” or “What kind of thing it seems like?”
(* To review -(으/느)ㄴ 것 같다, go back to Level 3 Lesson 9.)

Koreans frequently use, “어떻게 생각해요?” in both written and spoken language, but “어떤 것 같아요?” is used more often in spoken language.

What do you think ABOUT + Noun?
The expression for “about” in Korean is -에 대해서. -에 means “to/at/toward”, and 대해서 means “about”.

about school = 학교에 대해서
about me = 저에 대해서 (formal language), 나에 대해서 (casual language)
about what = 뭐에 대해서

You can add -요 at the end to make a complete sentence: “뭐에 대해서요?” Sometimes, people also drop the 서 at the end and just say -에 대해.

What do you think about _______?
= _______에 대해서 어떻게 생각해요?
= _______ 어떤 것 같아요?

Ex)
What do you think of the school?
= 학교에 대해서 어떻게 생각해요?
= 학교 어떤 것 같아요?

What do you think ABOUT + Verb-ing?
In order to use “about / -에 대해서” after a verb, the verb needs to be changed to the noun form of -는 것.

하다 = to do
하는 것 = noun of 하다

이렇게 하다 = to do it like this
→ 이렇게 하는 것에 대해서 = about doing it this way

물어보다 = to ask
→ 물어보는 것에 대해서 = about asking

Ex)
물어보는 것에 대해서 어떻게 생각해요?
물어보는 것 어떤 것 같아요?

To make this expression easier to pronounce, you can drop the ㅅ consonant in 것에.

물어보는 거에 대해서 어떻게 생각해요?
물어보는 거 어떤 것 같아요?

Sample Sentences

이 책에 대해서 어떻게 생각해요?
= What do you think about this book?

이 책 어떤 것 같아요?
= What do you think about this book?

• Remember, if you use 어떤 것 같아요 you don’t need to add the word “about/-에 대해서” because 어떤 것 같아요 already means, “What does it seem like?”.
• • 어떤 것 같아요 is more commonly used with friends or those you are close with.

어릴 때 유학을 가는 것에 대해서 어떻게 생각해요?
= What do you think about studying abroad at a young age?

어릴 때 유학 가는 거, 어떤 것 같아요?
= What do you think about studying abroad at a young age?

제 아이디어에 대해서 어떻게 생각해요?
= What do you think about my idea?

제 아이디어 어떤 것 같아요?
= What do you think about my idea?

• In English, you can ask someone what they thought in the past tense, such as, “What did you think about my idea?”, but in Korean, you don’t say, “제 아이디어에 대해서 어떻게 생각했어요?” because if you say it in the past tense, it usually implies the person changed their mind.

** You can also say, “어떻게 생각하세요?” if you would like to sound more polite or formal.

Question 3

Lesson 3. One of the most … / 가장 ~ 중의 하나
In this lesson, let us take a look at how to say “one of the most…” in Korean. After studying with this lesson, you will be able to say things such as, “He’s one of my closest friends”, “It’s one of the most popular places in Seoul”, etc.

Now before we talk about how to say this in Korean, we’d like to point out that this expression actually came into widespread use as a result of Korean people being exposed to the English language. At first there were some who tried not to use this expression because it sounded too much like a “translated” sentence, but now it is so commonly used that not many people actually care.

One of the most… = 가장 … 중의 하나

First of all, let’s break down the phrase word by word.

One = 하나
of = -의
* 의 is pronounced as 에[e] in spoken Korean. Even though it is easier to pronounce it this way when speaking, you should write 의 and not 에, like it sounds.
the = It is not translated into Korean in this case.
* The word order for this phrase is different than in English, plus the word “the” is not used since you don’t need it in Korean. You only need it when you want to specify “that person” or “that one” and would use 그.
most + Adjective + Noun = 가장 + Adjective + Noun
* If you’d like to review 가장 (= most), go back to Level 4 Lesson 18.

1. Word order difference between Korean and English for “-의 / of”

In Korean, -의 is the particle that shows possession, belonging, origin, or characteristics, and it basically means “of”. The word order, however, is very different for -의 or “of” in these two languages. If you say “A of B”, in Korean you need to switch it to “B의 A”. To make it simpler, you can just think of -의 as ’s, as in “my friend’s house”, “my teacher’s name”, etc.

It is the same for the expression in this lesson; in English, the word “one” comes at the beginning, but in Korean, “하나 (= one)” comes at the end.

2. 하나 can be replaced by other words

하나 is the most basic form of saying “one” but depending what you are counting, you can use different counting units. Let’s take a look at some of the most commonly used ones.

Person = 한 사람, 한 명, or 한 분 (honorific)
Place = 한 곳, 한 군데
Thing, Kind, Type = 한 가지
* Go back to Level 2 Lesson 9 to review the lesson on counters.

If you want to stick to the most neutral expression, you can use 하나.

3. To understand how to use 가장 with adjectives or verbs, there are three lessons that you need to have studied.

• Level 4 Lesson 18 (on how to say “best” or “most” using the superlatives 가장 and 제일)
• Level 3 Lesson 13 + 14 (on how to make adjectives out of descriptive and action verbs in Korean)

Examples:
가장 + 예쁘다 → 가장 예쁜
가장 + 좋다 → 가장 좋은
가장 + 괜찮다 → 가장 괜찮은
* 괜찮다 originally means “to be okay” but it can also be used to mean “to be good”.
가장 + 친하다 → 가장 친한
* 친하다 means “to be close with someone” or “to be close friends”.

You should always include a noun as it doesn’t make sense to only use a verb.

가장 예쁜 친구 = the prettiest friend
가장 좋은 책 = the best book
가장 괜찮은 카페 = the best café
가장 친한 친구 = the best friend

4. How to use 중 as “among” or “of”

중 literally means “middle” or “center”, but when used after a noun and followed by -의, it means “among” or “(one) of (the…)”.

Noun (plural or singular) + 중

Examples:
가장 예쁜 친구 = the prettiest friend
가장 예쁜 친구들 = the prettiest friends
among my prettiest friends = 가장 예쁜 친구들 중(의) = 가장 예쁜 친구 중(의)
one of my prettiest friends = 가장 예쁜 친구들 중의 하나 = 가장 예쁜 친구 중의 하나
(You can even drop “의” and just say “가장 예쁜 친구 중 하나”.)

method/solution = 방법
the best method = 가장 좋은 방법
the best methods = 가장 좋은 방법들
among the best methods = 가장 좋은 방법들 중(의) = 가장 좋은 방법 중(의)
one of the best methods = 가장 좋은 방법들 중의 하나 = 가장 좋은 방법 중의 하나
(You can even drop 의 and just say 가장 좋은 방법 중 하나.)

Now let us look at some examples of the entire structure.

가장 … 중의 하나

가장 좋은 웹사이트들 중의 하나
= 가장 좋은 웹사이트 중의 하나
= 가장 좋은 웹사이트 중 하나
= one of the best websites

가장 빠른 길들 중의 하나
= 가장 빠른 길 중의 하나
= 가장 빠른 길 중 하나
= one of the fastest ways/paths

가장 자주 만나는 친구들 중의 한 명
= 가장 자주 만나는 친구 중의 한 명
= 가장 자주 만나는 친구 중 한 명
= one of the friends that I meet most often

• Note that you cannot always drop whatever word you want in Korean. However, you can do it if the phrase is commonly used and can still be understood. If you use the word 하나, you are talking about many things and then picking just one of them, so you don’t need the plural suffix -들.

Sample Sentences

여기가 제가 제일 자주 오는 카페 중(의) 하나예요.
= This is one of the cafés that I visit most often.
* Since “café” is a place, you can change 하나 to 한 곳/한 군데.
Ex) 여기가 제가 제일 자주 오는 카페 중의 한 곳이에요.
** In spoken Korean, 제일 is used more often but in written Korean, use 가장.

제가 가장 좋아하는 가수들 중(의) 한 명이에요.
= He/She is one of my favorite singers.
= He/She is one of the singers I like the most.

한국에서 가장 인기 있는 영화 중(의) 하나예요.
= It’s one of the most popular movies in Korea.

Answer 3

Lesson 4. Do you mind if I …? / -아/어/여도 돼요?
In this lesson, let’s take a look at how to ask someone if they would mind if you did something, or if it is okay to do something.

In order to say this in Korean, you can use structures -아/어/여도 되다 and -아/여/여도 괜찮다 (you can go back to Level 4 Lesson 8 to review how to use -아/어/여도 되다). Therefore, you literally say, “Is it okay if I…?” or “Is it okay for me to…?”.

Let’s look at the various ways of saying this in Korean.

1. Verb stem + -아/어/여도 돼요?

This is the simplest structure. The verb 되다 here means “to be okay”, “to be doable”, or “to be possible” and -아/어/여도 means “even if…” or “even when”. So all together, -아/어/여도 되다 means “to be okay (even) if…”.

Sample Sentences

여기 앉아도 돼요?
= Do you mind if I sit here?

옆에 앉아도 돼요?
= Do you mind if I sit next to you?

창문 닫아도 돼요?
= Do you mind if I close the window?

창문 열어도 돼요?
= Do you mind if I open the window?

나중에 전화해도 돼요?
= Do you mind if I call you later?

2. Verb stem + -아/어/여도 괜찮아요?

This is almost the same structure as -아/어/여도 되다, except the verb here is 괜찮다. These two structures are interchangeable, but -아/어/여도 괜찮아요 has a slightly softer nuance, whereas -아/어/여도 돼요 tends to be a little more direct. By using -아/어/여도 괜찮아요, you give the other person an impression that you are being more careful. You can use this with people who are older than you or with someone you don’t know.

Sample Sentences

저 먼저 가도 괜찮아요?
= Do you mind if I leave first (before other people)?

여기 앉아도 괜찮아요?
= May I sit here?

이거 열어 봐도 괜찮아요?
= Do you mind if I open this? / Do you mind if I try opening this?

내일 말해 줘도 괜찮아요?
= Do you mind if I tell you tomorrow?
* “내일 말해 줘도 돼요?” is more direct. “내일 말해 줄게요.” is even more direct.

3. Verb stem + -아/어/여도 될까요?

This structure uses the verb 되다 again, but here it is used in the -(으)ㄹ까요 form, which we introduced in Level 3 Lesson 4. By using -(으)ㄹ까요, you can express your curiosity or uncertainty about something, therefore naturally asking for the other person’s response or feedback. Asking 될까요? makes your sentence softer and more polite than simply saying 돼요?

Sample Sentences

여기 앉아도 될까요?
= Do you mind if I sit here?
= Would you mind if I sit here?
= I wonder if I can sit here? (You are not directly asking the other person, but more asking yourself.)

창문 닫아도 될까요?
= Do you mind if I close the window?
= Could I close the window?

나중에 전화해도 될까요?
= Do you mind if I call you later?
= Can I call you later?

4. Verb stem + -아/어/여 주실래요?

With all three structures above, you can express, “Do you mind if I…?” by asking the other person if it would be okay if YOU did something. However, if you want to ask THE OTHER PERSON whether he or she would mind doing something, you can use the structure -아/어/여 주실래요?.

주다 means “to give”, but when you combine it with other verbs, -아/어/여 주다 means “to do something for someone”, and the honorific suffix -시- makes your sentence more polite.

Sample Sentences

조금 기다려 주실래요?
= Do you mind waiting for a bit?
* In casual language, you can say 조금 기다려 줄래?

한 번 더 설명해 주실래요?
= Do you mind explaining one more time?
* In casual language, you can say 한 번 더 설명해 줄래?

Keeping the same kind of nuance, you can change the sentence ending to the following:

(1) -아/어/여 주실래요? → -아/어/여 줄래요?
(줄래요? is a little less formal than 주실래요? without the suffix -시-.)

(2) -아/어/여 주실래요? → -아/어/여 주시겠어요?
(주시겠어요? is interchangeable with 주실래요? but a little more polite and formal.)

Question 4

Lesson 5. I’m in the middle of …-ing / -는 중이에요
In this lesson, let’s learn how to say that you are “in the middle of doing” something in Korean. In Level 2 Lesson 10, we introduced the structure -고 있다 as the plain present progressive, and now let us take a look at some other ways of expressing the present progressive by using the word 중.

중 = middle, center, medium

The word 중 can be used with many other words to form various meanings that are related to middle, center, or medium.

Ex)
중학교 = middle school
중간고사 = midterm exam
중앙 = central

When you want to say, “I am in the middle of doing something”, you can use 중 in the form of -고 있는 중이다.

-고 있는 중이다 = to be in the middle of + Verb-ing

The basic form of the present progressive is -고 있다.

Ex)
먹고 있다 = I’m eating.
뭐 먹고 있어요? = What are you eating?

You can add the ending -는 to change the verb into an adjective to modify the noun 중.

• 고 있 (progressive) + -는 중 (in the middle of Verb-ing)
• 고 있는 중 + -이다 (to be)
• 고 있는 중이다 (to be in the middle of Verb-ing)

You only conjugate the verb -이다 at the end to express the tense of the sentence.

Ex)
Present: -고 있는 중이에요.
Past: -고 있는 중이었어요.
Future: -고 있는 중일 거예요.

Sample Sentences

가고 있는 중이에요.
= I am on my way.
= I am in the middle of going.
* You can say “가고 있어요” to mean the same thing, but -는 중 emphasizes the fact that you are doing something right at this very moment.

뭐 하고 있는 중이었어요?
= What were you doing?
= What were you in the middle of doing?

열쇠를 찾고 있는 중이었어요.
= I was in the middle of looking for the key.

• For all the sentences above, you can change -고 있는 중 to -는 중 to mean the same thing.

가고 있는 중이에요. → 가는 중이에요.
뭐 하고 있는 중이에요? → 뭐 하는 중이에요?
열쇠를 찾고 있는 중이었어요. → 열쇠를 찾는 중이었어요.

Sample Mini Dialogues

1.
A: 공부해요! 언제 공부할 거예요? = Study! When are you going to study?
B: *하는 중이에요! = I am!

• You can say 하는 중이에요 in other forms as well.
  Ex)
  하고 있어요.
  하고 있는 중이에요.

If you are upset, you can add -잖아요.
Ex)
하는 중이잖아요.

2.
A: 뭐 하는 중이었어요? = What were you doing?
B: 아무것도 안 했어요. = I didn’t do anything.

3.
A: 다 샀어요? = Did you buy everything?
B: 아직 고르는 중이에요. = I am still in the middle of choosing.

Answer 4

Lesson 6. Word Builder Lesson 9 / -님
Word Builder lessons are designed to help you understand how to expand your vocabulary by learning and understanding some common and basic building blocks of Korean words. The words and letters introduced through Word Builder lessons are not necessarily all Chinese characters, or 한자. Though many of them are based on Chinese characters, the meanings can be different from modern-day Chinese. Your goal through these lessons is to understand how words are formed and then remember the keywords in Korean to expand your Korean vocabulary from there. You certainly don’t have to memorize the Hanja characters, but if you want to, feel free!

In this lesson, we are looking at a native Korean suffix, -님.

The word 님 basically has the same goal as 씨, which is to show respect to the person being addressed or mentioned, but 님 is much more formal and polite than 씨, and therefore it is used very commonly with formal social titles.

You can use 님 after a person’s name when addressing him or her in the most formal way. For example, if your acquaintance’s name is 현우, and you are speaking casual language with him, you can just say the name alone - 현우. If you want to be more polite and formal, you add -씨 after the name and say 현우 씨. But if you want to be even more formal, you can use 님 instead and say 현우 님.

Sometimes on the Internet, people who don’t know each other but still want to be formal will just use the word 님. This is mostly only common among young people.

The following are some of the most commonly used words in Korean in which you can find the suffix -님. Many of these words are FIXED, which means they CAN’T be used WITHOUT the suffix -님; some of them CAN be used without -님, but the nuance will change.

1. 선생님 = teacher
   * Almost always used with -님 attached. If you only say 선생, you may sound disrespectful. 선생님 is used both when you address a teacher directly and when you talk about a teacher when he or she is not present.
2. 장님 = a blind person
   * Some people think it’s more appropriate to use the term 시각 장애인 (visually handicapped person), but the word 장님 is still commonly used and you can NOT use the word without -님 attached.
3. 의사 선생님 = doctor
   * The job itself is 의사 but when you address and talk to a doctor, you cannot call him/her 의사. You need to use the word 의사 선생님. If you are a doctor, you would say “저는 의사예요. (I’m a doctor.)” because you don’t show respect to yourself.
4. 교수님 = professor
   * The job itself is 교수 but when you talk to a professor, you need to put the suffix -님 and call that person “Name + 교수님” or just 교수님.
5. 어머님 = mother
   * You can call your own mother 엄마 or 어머니 if you want to be more polite, but when you refer to someone else’s mother in a polite way, you use the word 어머님. It is not natural, however, to use the term 어머님 to talk about your own mother to someone else. In that case, 저희 어머니, “my mother”, is better.
6. 아버님 = father
   * The same with 어머님. You can call your own father 아빠 or 아버지, but when you refer to someone else’s father in a polite way, you use the word 아버님. When you get married, you should call your wife/husband’s father, 아버님 and mother, 어머님.
7. 형님 and 누님 = older brother and sister (for a man)
   * When men address an older man, they use the term 형, but when they want to be very polite (not necessarily “formal” in this case), they attach the suffix -님 at the end. The same goes for 누나, a term for men to use to address an older female, except 누나 changes to 누님 instead of 누나님.
8. 손님 = guest
   * In the past, the sino-Korean word 손 could be used on its own to mean “a guest”, but in modern-day Korean, the suffix -님 is ALWAYS attached at the end of the word. In a more business-related context, you can call your customers 고객님. In the case of the word 고객님, it is OKAY to drop -님 when you are NOT addressing a person directly.

More Examples of Job Titles

9. 사장님 = head of company + -님
10. 과장님 = section chief + -님
11. 부장님 = head of department (or manager) + -님
12. 총장님 = dean or president of a college + -님

Question 5

Lesson 7. One way or the other / 어차피
In this lesson, let’s take a look at the Korean expression 어차피. 어차피 can mean many things in English; it doesn’t translate very well. In most cases, it is used as part of a sentence, but it can be used on its own very often as well.

Various translations of 어차피:

• anyway
• one way or another
• not even ____ to begin with
• in any case
• after all

The basic meaning of 어차피 is “whether you choose this or choose that” or “no matter what choice you make”. You use 어차피 when you have an expected result in your mind or to show your skepticism for someone’s worries or expectations.

The multiple usages of 어차피 can be best explained through examples.

Examples

1. 다시 올 거예요.
   = I will come back.
   = I will come again.
   = They/He/She will come again.

→ 어차피 다시 올 거예요.
= I will come back anyway. (So don’t worry if I forget something. I can take it when I come back.)
= They will come again one way or another. (So don’t even bother asking them to come back.)

2. 제가 할 수 있는 일이 아니에요.
   = It’s not something that I can do.

→ 어차피 제가 할 수 있는 일이 아니에요.
= Even if I try, it’s not something that I can do.
= Don’t bother asking me. It’s not something that I can do.
= It’s already obvious. I can’t do it.

3. 늦었으니까 빨리 와.
   = You’re late, so hurry up!

→ 어차피 늦었으니까 천천히 와.
= You’re late anyway, so take your time.
= Even if you hurry now, you are already very late, so just take your time.

Sample Sentences

어차피 못 해요.
= It’s obvious I can’t do it.

어차피 늦었으니까 오지 마.
= You are already late, so don’t come. (You can say this to a friend who is running late.)

어차피 해야 되는 거니까, 재미있게 해요.
= One way or another, you have to do it anyway, so (you’d better) try to have fun while doing it.

어차피 저도 지금 거기 가는 중이에요.
= I am on my way there anyway.
= Even if you hadn’t asked me, I’m already in the middle of going there anyway, so don’t worry.

Answer 5

Lesson 8. I’m not sure if … / -(으/느)ㄴ지 잘 모르겠어요.
In this lesson, let’s take a look at how to say “I’m not sure if…” in Korean. First of all, you need to remember that this is not going to be translated word for word.

“To be sure” and “to not be sure” in Korean

The word for “to be sure” or “to be certain” in Korean is 확실하다. Therefore, the literal translation of “to not be sure” is 확실하지 않다, but this form is not commonly used in everyday spoken Korean.

확 = certain
실 is used in the word 사실 which means “a fact”.

“Are you sure?”

When asking someone if they are sure or certain of something, you can still use the word 확실하다 and say, “확실해요?”. Sometimes you can also say, “정말이에요?” if you want to say, “Are you serious?” or “Is that real?”.

How to say “I’m not sure”

The most natural Korean expression for “I’m not sure” is, “잘 모르겠어요” The word 모르다 means “to not know” and if you say, “잘 몰라요” it means, “I don’t know well” or “I don’t know much (about it).”

Ex)
스포츠 잘 몰라요. = I don’t know about sports.

The suffix -겠- adds the nuance of assumption or intention (-겠- will be covered in more detail in a future lesson in Level 6), so when you say, “모르겠어요”, you mean, “I don’t seem to know” or “I would like to know, but I really don’t.”

“잘 모르겠어요” means the same thing as “모르겠어요” because you don’t actually need to use the word 잘, but “잘 모르겠어요” is such a common and fixed expression that many Korean people use it to mean “I’m not sure” or “I don’t know for sure.”

How to say “I’m not sure if…”
“If ___ or not” or “whether or not” in Korean is expressed through the structure -(으)ㄴ/는지 (go back to Level 5 Lesson 18 to review).

-(으)ㄴ/는지 잘 모르겠어요 = I’m not sure if…

You can use interrogative words (when/what/where/how/who/why/which) with this structure, too.

Present Tense
-(으)ㄴ/는지 잘 모르겠어요.

Ex)
이거 누구 책인지 잘 모르겠어요.
= I’m not sure whose book this is.

Past Tense
-았/었/였는지 잘 모르겠어요.

Ex)
다 끝났는지 잘 모르겠어요.
= I’m not sure if it all ended.

Future Tense

• (으)ㄹ지 잘 모르겠어요.
• (으)ㄹ 건지 잘 모르겠어요.

Ex)
서점이 내일 문을 열지 잘 모르겠어요.
= I’m not sure if the bookstore will be open tomorrow.
서점이 내일 문을 열 건지 잘 모르겠어요.
= I’m not sure if the bookstore will be open tomorrow.

If you want to add “or not” at the end, you can use the structure Verb stem + -(으)ㄴ/는지 + Verb stem + 안 -(으)ㄴ/는지.

Sample Sentences

어디로 갈지 잘 모르겠어요.
= I’m not sure where we will go.

내일 만날지 안 만날지 잘 모르겠어요.
= I’m not sure if we will meet tomorrow or not.
* If you want to emphasize “we” you can add 우리 at the beginning of the sentence.

여기가 맞는지 잘 모르겠어요.
= I’m not sure if this is the right place.

뭘 해야 될지 잘 모르겠어요.
= I am not sure what to do.
= I am not sure what I (will) have to do.

이게 무슨 뜻인지 잘 모르겠어요.
= I’m not sure what this means.
* 이게 has the same meaning as 이것이 which means “this is”.

Question 6

Lesson 9. While you are at it / -(으)ㄴ/는 김에
In this lesson, let’s take a look at the expression -(으)ㄴ/는 김에 and how to use it to say things like “while you are there”, “while I’m at it”, or “since you are going to do it”.

The word 김 here is a noun that literally means “an opportunity” or “a reason to do something”. It is NOT, however, commonly used on its own to mean “opportunity” or “reason”. It is almost always used in the structure, -(으)ㄴ/는 김에.

-(으)ㄴ/는 김에
= While you are there
= While you are at it
= While I am there
= Since you are already going to do it

Usages

1. You can use -(으)ㄴ/는 김에 when talking about something (usually not originally planned) that you do while you are doing something else because it’s convenient, effective, or easy that way.
   ex) While I was visiting the library, I also stopped by the post office inside it.
2. You can use -(으)ㄴ/는 김에 when you want to ask someone to do something for you while they are going somewhere or while they are already planning to do something.
   ex) While you are at it, can you please make one for me, too?
3. You can use -(으)ㄴ/는 김에 when you want to suggest doing something based on the fact that you are already going to do something similar or near to the place where you already are.

Conjugation
You use -(으)ㄴ 김에 in past tense sentences and -는 김에 in present and future tense sentences.

Examples

1. 백화점에 가는 김에
   = While I am/you are going to the department store…
   * The act of going (= 가다) hasn’t happened yet, so it’s in the present tense, 가는.

+ 영화도 볼 거예요. = I’m also going to see a movie.
→ 백화점에 가는 김에 영화도 볼 거예요.

+ 서점에도 갈까요? = shall we go to the bookstore, too?
→ 백화점에 가는 김에 서점에도 갈까요?

2. 서울에 온 김에
   = While you are/I am visiting Seoul… / Since you/I came to Seoul…
   * The act of coming (= 오다) has already happened, so it’s in the past tense, 온.

+ 친구들을 만났어요. = I met some friends.
→ 서울에 온 김에 친구들을 만났어요.

+ 며칠 더 있을 거예요. = I’m going to stay for a few more days.
→ 서울에 온 김에 며칠 더 있을 거예요.

Sample Sentences

도서관에 가는 김에, 제 책도 반납해 주세요.
= While you are going to the library (Since you are going to the library anyway), please return my book, too.

도서관에 간 김에 제 책도 빌려 주세요.
= While you are at the library, check out some books for me, too.

여기 온 김에 커피 마실까요?
= While we are here, shall we have some coffee?
* You can also say “여기 왔으니까 커피 마실까요?” since it has a similar meaning, but using 김에 can mean you were originally there to do something else.

시작한 김에 제가 끝까지 할게요.
= While I’m doing it (Since I’ve started it anyway), I’ll finish it (I will do it until it’s finished).

밖에 나간 김에 제 부탁 하나만 들어주세요.
= While you are outside, please do me a favor.

말이 나온 김에, 우리 피자 먹을까요?
= Speaking of which, shall we have some pizza?
* 말이 나온 김에 is a fixed phrase and means “speaking of which/now that we are talking about it”.

Answer 6

Lesson 10. Sentence Building Drill 6
In this series, we focus on how you can use the grammatical rules and expressions that you have learned so far to train yourself to comfortably and flexibly make more Korean sentences.

We will start off with THREE key sentences, then practice changing parts of these sentences so that you don’t end up just memorizing the same three sentences. We want you to be able to be as flexible as possible with the Korean sentences that you can make.

Key Sentence (1)
우리 어차피 늦을 것 같은데, 다음에 갈까요?
= It looks like we are going to be late anyway. Shall we go next time?

Key Sentence (2)
일하는 중이어서 전화 못 받으니까 나중에 전화할게요.
= I’m in the middle of working so I can’t take the call, so I’ll call you later.

Key Sentence (3)
여기가 제가 제일 자주 가는 카페들 중 한 곳인데, 같이 가 볼래요?
= This is one of the cafés that I visit most often. Do you want to go there together?

Expansion & Variation Practice with Key Sentence (1)

0. Original Sentence:
   우리 어차피 늦을 것 같은데, 다음에 갈까요?
   = It looks like we are going to be late anyway. Shall we go next time?

• If you want to say “either way/in one way or another”, you can add 어차피.
• • -(으)ㄹ까요? is how to say, “Shall we do [something]?” in Korean.

1.
우리 어차피 늦을 거예요. = We are going to be late anyway.
어차피 *늦었어요. = Whatever we do, we are already late.
어차피 이거 지금 못 해요. = One way or another, I can’t do this now.

• In Korean, when you say you are late, you must use the past tense since you are already in the state of being late.

2.
다음에 갈까요? = Shall we go next time?
내일 할까요? = Shall we do it tomorrow?
같이 할까요? = Shall we do it together?

Expansion & Variation Practice with Key Sentence (2)

0. Original Sentence:
   일하는 중이어서 전화 못 받으니까 나중에 전화할게요.
   = I’m in the middle of working so I can’t take the call, so I’ll call you later.

• -(으)니까 means “since/therefore”.

1.
일하는 중이에요. = I’m (in the middle of) working.
공부하는 중이에요. = I’m (in the middle of) studying.
책 읽는 중이었어요. = I was (in the middle of) reading a book.
뭐 하는 중이었어요? = What were you doing?

2.
지금 전화 못 받으니까 나중에 전화할게요.
= I can’t answer the phone now so I’ll call you later.
오늘 바쁘니까 내일 만나요.
= I’m busy today so let’s meet tomorrow.
밖에 비 오니까 우산 가져가세요.
= It’s raining outside so take your umbrella with you.
이거 무거우니까 같이 들어요.
= It’s heavy so let’s lift it together.
이거 무거우니까 *현우 씨가 들어요.
= It’s heavy so you lift it, Hyunwoo.

• When you want to say, “You lift it”, you should say the person’s name or job title rather than 당신.

Expansion & Variation Practice with Key Sentence (3)

0. Original Sentence:
   여기가 제가 제일 자주 가는 카페들 중 한 곳인데, 같이 가 볼래요?
   = This is one of the cafés that I visit most often. Do you want to go there together?

• This sentence can be broken down into two main parts. The first part is how to say one of the things or places that you do/have/go.
  Ex)
  제가 제일 자주 가는 카페들 중 한 **곳이에요.
  = It’s one of the cafés that I visit most often.
  ** You can use the word 곳 as a counter since it’s a place. If you want to say a person, you can say 한 명.

1.
제가 제일 자주 가는 카페들 중 한 곳이에요.
= It’s one of the cafés that I visit most often.
제가 제일 자주 만나는 친구들 중 한 명이에요.
= He/She is one of my friends that I meet most often.
제가 제일 좋아하는 영화들 중 *하나예요.
= It’s one of the movies that I like the most.

• In this case you would use 하나 as it is the most commonly used.

2.
같이 가 볼래요?
= Do you want to go (check out the place) together?
내일 만날래요?
= Do you want to meet tomorrow?
*친구들 만날 건데, 같이 갈래요?
= I’m going to meet my friends. Do you want to go there together?
이거 마셔 볼래요?
= Do you want to try drinking this?

• If you want to say these phrases separately, you can say, “친구들 만날 거예요. 같이 갈래요?”

Question 7

Lesson 11. I mean… / 그러니까, 제 말 뜻은, -라고요, 말이에요
In this lesson, let’s take a look at how to say “I mean…” in Korean. There are many ways of saying this expression in Korean, and it has various usages in English, too. Here, we would like to introduce four main ways to express “I mean…” in Korean.

How to Say “to mean” in Korean

Most English-Korean dictionaries will introduce the word 의미하다 as the first translation of the verb “to mean”, but in Korean 의미하다 sounds very formal, so therefore it isn’t used in everyday conversation. When you want to say, “ABC means XYZ”, you can say, “ABC + -은/는 + XYZ + -라는 뜻이에요”.

Ex)
ABC + -은/는 + XYZ + -라는 뜻이에요.

The word 뜻 is a noun defined as “meaning”, and when used with the verb -이다, it becomes 뜻이다, or, “It is the meaning”. When used with -라는, which works as a quoting marker, -라는 뜻이다 means “It is the meaning of…” or “It has the meaning of…”.

In spoken language, you will hear 뜻 more than 의미. 의미 is more formal and is used more often in written language.

How to Say “I mean/you mean…” in Korean

1. 그러니까
   When you want to reassure someone of what you are saying or to make your point one more time, you can use 그러니까. In this context, 그러니까 can be translated as “so…” in English. After you say 그러니까, you summarize what you said before or make a more detailed explanation. Depending on the context, however, in Korean, this can be used to mean “You mean…” when you are checking with the other person on what he or she has said.
2. 제 말 뜻은 or 제 말은
   When you want to make sure that the other person can understand what you are saying, and you want to rephrase something you’ve already said, you can say, “제 말 뜻은 (= What I mean is…)” or “제 말은 (= What I’m saying is…)”. If you want to say “You mean…” you should say the person’s name.
   Ex) 현우 씨 말은…
3. -(이)라고요 or -(ㄴ/은/는)다고요
   When you start a sentence with 그러니까 or 제 말 뜻은, you normally end the sentence with -라고요 or -다고요. -라고 and -다고 are both verb endings that are used to quote or cite what someone has said. Since you are delivering your point one more time with “I mean…”, you need to use the endings -라고 or -다고. The word -요 at the end is, as you know, used to make your sentence polite. -(이)라고요 is used after nouns and -다고요 is used after verb stems. If your sentence after “I mean…” is an imperative sentence, you should use -(으)라고요.
4. (-(이)라는/-다는) 말이에요
   In addition to -라고요 and -다고요, another commonly used sentence ending for saying “I mean…” in Korean is (-(이)라는/-다는) 말이에요. Here, the word 말 means “words” or “phrases”, and -라는 or -다는 is used to quote or cite what someone has said. -라는 is used after nouns, and -다는 is used after verb stems.

Sample Sentences

정지훈, 그러니까, “비” 좋아해요?
= Do you like Jihoon Jeong, I mean, Rain?

그러니까 이거 저 준다고요?
= You mean you are giving this to me?
= I mean, you are giving this to me?
= So (I mean/you mean) you are giving this to me?

그러니까, 벌써 다 했다고요.
= I mean, I already finished it.
* If you say “벌써 다 했어요”, you are missing the nuance that you are upset or annoyed.

그러니까 제 말은, 이 일에는 이 사람이 최고라고요.
= I mean, for this work, this person is the best.

그러니까 혼자 간다는 말이에요?
= You mean you are going there alone?
= I mean, you are going there alone?

Using “I mean…” to Correct What You’ve Said

When you want to say “I mean” in the middle of a sentence to correct yourself, you can say 아니 in Korean.

Ex)
I went there last Saturday, I mean, Sunday.
= 지난주 토요일에, 아니, 일요일에 갔어요.
Give me this one, I mean, this one.
= 이거, 아니, 이거 주세요.

How to Say “I mean it” in Korean

When “I mean it.” is used as a fixed expression, the most commonly used equivalent in Korean is, “진짜예요” or “진심이에요.”

Answer 7

Lesson 12. What do you mean? What does that mean? / 무슨 말이에요?
In the previous lesson, we introduced the phrase “I mean…” and some various ways to use it in Korean. In this lesson, let’s take a look at how to ask someone in Korean, “What do you mean?”, “What does that mean?”, or “What’s that supposed to mean?” when you can’t believe what you’ve just heard or when you don’t understand someone’s remark or point very well.

무슨 말이에요?
= What do you mean?
= What’s that supposed to mean?
= What does that mean?
= What are you talking about?

무엇 and 뭐 mean the same thing, and if you want to make it into an adjective, you would say 무슨.

무슨 means “what kind of” or “which” and 말 means “word” or “language”. Therefore, 무슨 말 means “what word”, “which word”, or “what kind of things (to be said or written)”.

“무슨 말이에요?” literally means, “What word/language is it?”, but it is more correctly translated as, “What do you mean?” You can use “무슨 말이에요?” when you are in disbelief after you hear someone say something or when you have not clearly understood what they mean.

Between friends, you can say, “무슨 말이야?”

Ex)
A: 카메라 팔 거예요.
(I’m going to sell my camera.)
B: 무슨 말이에요? 카메라도 없잖아요.
(What do you mean? You don’t even have a camera!)

무슨 소리예요?

“무슨 소리예요?” is the same as “무슨 말이에요?” but it is less formal and less polite. Therefore, it is not advised to use it with someone older than you or someone to whom you’re supposed to be polite. This is because 말 means “words”, but 소리 means “sounds”. You don’t want to refer to the words of the other person as mere “sounds”. You can use 무슨 소리예요? more safely, however, when you are literally saying, “What’s that sound?”

무슨 말씀이세요?

In Korean, there are many ways of making a phrase “honorific”, and one of the ways is to use “honorific” nouns. 말씀 is the honorific version of 말.

How to Literally Ask, “What does this mean?”

As we’ve introduced in the previous lesson, when you want to LITERALLY ask what a certain expression means, you can use the expression, “무슨 뜻이에요?”

Sample Sentences

네? 그게 무슨 말이에요?
= What? What do you mean?
= Huh? What does THAT mean?

그만둘 거라고요? 갑자기 무슨 말이에요?
= You are going to quit? What do you mean all of a sudden?

무슨 말이에요? 제가 왜요?
= What do you mean? Why (do) I (have to…)?
= What do you mean? Why me?

무슨 말인지 잘 모르겠어요.
= I’m not sure what you mean.
= I don’t know what you are talking about.

무슨 말인지 알겠어요.
= I know what you mean.
= I understand what you are saying.

Question 8

Lesson 13. Word Builder 10 – 과(過)
Word Builder lessons are designed to help you understand how to expand your vocabulary by learning and understanding some common and basic building blocks of Korean words. The words and letters introduced through Word Builder lessons are not necessarily all Chinese characters, or 한자. Though many of them are based on Chinese characters, the meanings can be different from modern-day Chinese. Your goal through these lessons is to understand how words are formed and then remember the keywords in Korean to expand your Korean vocabulary from there. You certainly don’t have to memorize the Hanja characters, but if you want to, feel free!

In this lesson, we are looking at the key word element 과. When 과 is written in Hanja as 過, it means “to surpass”, “to go over”, “to pass”, or “too much”.

과 (to surpass, too much) + 식 (eat) = 과식 過食 = eating too much, overeating

과 (to surpass, too much) + 음 (drink) = 과음 過飮 = drinking too much, excessive drinking

Ex)
과음하지 마세요.
= Don’t drink too much.

과 (to surpass, too much) + 속 (to be fast) = 과속 過速 = speeding

통 (to go through) + 과 (to pass) = 통과 通過 = pass, passing through, passing (a test)
* Passing a big exam such as a college entrance exam is called 합격, which means “pass”. When it is a simple quiz or physical test, you will hear 통과.

Ex)
터널을 통과하다
= to pass through a tunnel

간 (to see) + 과 (to pass) = 간과 看過 = failure to notice, passing over

과 (too much) + 민 (agile, quick) = 과민 過敏 = being hypersensitive

Related Vocabulary
과민 반응 過敏 反應 = overreaction

Ex)
과민 반응 하지 마.
= Don’t overreact.

과 (too much) + 로 (labor) = 과로 過勞 = working too much, too much labor

Ex)
과로하지 마세요.
= Don’t work too hard.

과 (to pass) + 거 (to go) = 과거 過去 = the past

Related Vocabulary
과거 시제 過去 時制 = the past tense

과 (to surpass, too much) + 대 (to be big) = 과대 過大 = too big, oversized
* This is used with other words, not on its own.

Related Vocabulary
과대 포장 過大 包裝 = oversized package
과대 평가 過大 評價 = overestimate

과 (to pass) + 정 (way, limit) = 과정 過程 = process

과 (to surpass, too much) + 소비 (consumption) = 과소비 過消費 = overspending, excessive consumption

Related Vocabulary
소비자 消費者 = consumer

과 (too much) + 신 (to believe) = 과신 過信 = overconfidence

Answer 8

Lesson 14. “/ (slash)” or“and” / -(으)ㄹ 겸
In this lesson, let’s take a look at the expression -(으)ㄹ 겸 and how it is used. -(으)ㄹ 겸 is used to express something or an action that has dual purposes or positions. It can be translated as “/ [slash]” or “and” when used with nouns, and as “(while doing something else) to do XYZ as well” when used with verbs.

겸

When you want to say “breakfast/lunch” or “singer/actor”, you use the word 겸.

Ex)
아침 겸 점심 = breakfast/lunch, brunch
가수 겸 배우 = singer and actor, singer/actor
화가 겸 작곡가 = painter/composer, painter and composer

-(으)ㄹ 겸

When you want to talk about an action that has two or more purposes, you can list them using -(으)ㄹ 겸. When you just mention one purpose using -(으)ㄹ 겸 in a sentence, the other purpose has to be understood from the context. Since -(으)ㄹ 겸 usually has the nuance of “both at the same time”, you often use the particle -도 (meaning “also”) after the noun that comes before “Verb + -(으)ㄹ 겸”.

Sample Sentences

바람 좀 쐴 겸 밖에 나왔어요.
= (There’s another reason/purpose, too, but) I came outside to get some fresh air.
* 바람 좀 쐬다 = To get some breeze/fresh air.

영어 공부도 할 겸, 영어로 된 소설을 읽고 있어요.
= (I’m doing it because it’s fun, too, but) I’m reading a novel written in English to study English as well.
* You are using -(으)ㄹ 겸 when there are additional or hidden reasons for doing something. However, you wouldn’t use it when there is only one purpose. There should be at least two purposes.

친구 생일 선물도 살 겸, 제 옷도 볼 겸, 백화점에 갈 거예요.
= I’m going to go to the department store to buy a present for my friend’s birthday, and at the same time, look for some clothes for myself.
* If you are only going to buy your friend’s birthday present, you would just say, “친구 생일 선물 사러 갈 거예요.”

산책도 할 겸, 사진도 찍을 겸, 남산에 갔어요.
= I went to Nam Mountain to take a walk and also to take some photos.

-(으)ㄹ 겸 해서

Sometimes, when people feel that just saying -(으)ㄹ 겸 is a little too short, they add the word 해서 after it and say, -(으)ㄹ 겸 해서. It has the same meaning as -(으)ㄹ 겸, but -(으)ㄹ 겸 해서 is usually used with the second verb when there are two verbs used as “purposes” for doing something.

If the other person already knows what you are doing, you don’t have to repeat that part. You can just end the sentence with -(으)ㄹ 겸 해서(요).

Ex)
산책도 할 겸, 사진도 찍을 겸 = 산책도 할 겸, 사진도 찍을 겸 해서.

Question 9

Lesson 15. The thing that is called, what they call … / -(이)라는 것
In Korean, when you are talking about the definition of something or when you want to express what you think is the definition or the nature of something, you can use the expression -(이)라는 것은. It can be followed by various types of sentence endings, including -라고 생각해요 (I think that…), -인 것 같아요 (It seems that…), etc.

• (이)라는 것은
• (이)라는 것은 is a shortened form of -(이)라고 하는 것은. The structure -(이)라고 하다 means “to say…”, and 것 means “thing” or “fact”, so together, -(이)라고 하는 것 means “the thing that is called…” or “what they call…”.

You use this expression when you are trying to define something or when giving advice to younger people. It can also be used to share your own opinion.

Examples

부자라는 것은
= What they call 부자 is…
= A rich man is…
= (I think that) A rich man is…

자유라는 것은
= What they call 자유 is…
= Freedom is…
= (I think that) Freedom is…

우정이라는 것은
= What they call “friendship” is…
= Friendship is…

사람의 마음이라는 것은
= I think a person’s mind/heart is…

More Examples

사랑이라는 것은 = Love is…
삶이라는 것은 = Life is…
꿈이라는 것은 = A dream is…
* These expressions are typically used when someone is teaching or preaching.

Shortening -(이)라는 것은 to -(이)란

To make it easier to say, people often shorten -(이)라는 것은 to -(이)란.

Ex)
사랑이라는 것은 → 사랑이란
삶이라는 것은 → 삶이란
꿈이라는 것은 → 꿈이란
자유라는 것은 → 자유란
우정이라는 것은 → 우정이란
사람의 마음이라는 것은 → 사람의 마음이란

Sample Sentences

사랑이란 무엇일까요?
= What is love?

사랑이란 쉽지 않아요.
= Love is not easy.

자유라는 것은, 아무거나 마음대로 하는 것이 아니에요.
= Freedom doesn’t mean doing whatever (you want to do) in any way you like.

진정한 친구란 어려울 때 도와주는 친구예요.
= A true friend is a friend who helps (you) when things are difficult.

Answer 9

Lesson 16. Suffix -겠-
In this lesson, let’s take a look at the suffix -겠-. It is commonly used in everyday Korean, but often not understood very well by learners, mainly because it has so many different meanings and usages.

Various Usages of -겠-

You can use -겠- to ask someone’s intention, to express what you are going to do, to talk about something that will happen, to show your assumption about something, or to talk about possibilities or capabilities. It is also often used in fixed expressions such as “처음 뵙겠습니다 (= Nice to meet you)”, “잘 먹겠습니다 (= Thank you for the food)”, and *“다녀오겠습니다. (= I will see you later.)”
* 다녀오겠습니다 is typically said by kids to their parents when they leave the house.

Basically, -겠- is used to express one’s intention or assumption.

1. -시겠어요? / -시겠습니까? = Would you…?, Would you like to…?

This phrase is only used in very formal Korean. In more casual Korean, you can use -(으)ㄹ래(요)? (review Level 4 Lesson 2 for this grammar point). The honorific suffix -시- is always used with -겠- in this case.

Ex)
어디로 가시겠어요?
= Where would you like to go?

2. -겠- (used to express one’s intention) = I’m going to…, I’d like to…

Mostly used in formal Korean, -겠- can also express one’s intention to do something. In more casual Korean, the same meaning can be expressed through -(으)ㄹ게(요) (review Level 3 Lesson 6 for this grammar point).

Ex)
제가 하겠습니다.
= I’ll do it.

말하지 않겠습니다.
= I won’t tell you.
= I will not speak to you.

3. -겠- (used to express one’s opinion/idea/assumption) = I think…, I guess…, I assume…

This is the most common usage of -겠- for casual and everyday conversation in Korean. You can use -겠- to show your opinion or assumption about something or what will happen, but you also give a nuance that you are somewhat careful with your opinion.

Ex)
아프겠어요.
= That must hurt.
* If you are wanting to show an exclamation, you would say, “아프겠다!”
** You can also say, “아플 것 같아요” to mean, “That must hurt” or “I think it must be hurting a lot.”

이게 좋겠어요.
= I think this will be good.
* You can plainly say, “이게 좋아요 (= This is good)” to say the same thing, but if you would like to add your own assumption or opinion that this will be good for someone, you should say, “이게 좋겠어요.”

늦겠어요.
= (I think) You’ll be late.
* If you are already late, you can say, “늦었어요” which means, “I am late.”

When you want to express your assumption or ask someone else’s opinion about a possibility or a capability, you can use -겠-.

Ex)
혼자서도 되겠어요?
= Do you think you could handle it on your own?

이 상자 진짜 크네요. 저도 들어가겠어요.
= This box is so big. Even I would (be able to) fit in it.
* To a friend, you would say, “나도 들어가겠다. (= Even I would be able to fit in it.)”

4. -겠- used in fixed expressions

In addition to the usages above, -겠- is also commonly used in some fixed expressions.

Ex)
잘 먹겠습니다.
= (lit.) I will eat well.
= Thank you for the food.
* This is sort of showing your intention but is more of a fixed expression.

알겠습니다.
= I got it. I understand.

모르겠어요.
= I don’t get it. I don’t know. I am not sure.

힘들어 죽겠어요.
= I’m so tired. This is so tough.
* This expression isn’t saying you are really going to die. It’s just expressing how hard something is.

졸려 죽겠어요.
= I’m so tired, I’m going to die.

Question 10

Lesson 17. let me tell you… / -거든(요)
In this lesson, let’s take a look at the commonly used verb ending -거든(요). It has a very subtle meaning, and when used correctly and appropriately, it can make your Korean sound much more natural and fluent.

Usages of -거든(요)

1. -거든(요) can be used to express a reason or some background explanation for something, except -거든(요) forms a separate sentence from the sentence expressing a result. Other expressions that can express reasons for something are -아/어/여서, -(으)니까, and -기 때문에, but these are used in the same sentence with the result. However, -거든(요) is mostly added separately to your statement about what happened or will happen.

Ex)
저도 모르겠어요. 저 방금 왔거든요.
= I don’t know either. I just got here.

You could say, “저 방금 왔어요” but by adding -거든요, you are adding flavor to your sentence and making it sound more natural. It is also showing a reason for your answer.

If you use -아/어/여서, -(으)니까, or -기 때문에 to say “because” or “since”, the clause that explains the reason comes before your answer; with -거든요, the result usually comes first and the sentence that explains the reason comes next.

Ex)
저 방금 와서 저도 모르겠어요.
= I just got here so I don’t know.

People sometimes say the -거든요 part of the sentence alone just to explain the reason for something, as long as the result is clear.

Ex)
저 방금 왔거든요. = Because I just got here.

2. -거든(요) can also be used when you are implying that your story is continued. When you mention one thing in a sentence that ends with -거든(요), the other person will expect you to mention another thing that’s related to what you just said in the next sentence.

Ex)
제가 지금 돈이 없거든요. 만 원만 빌려주세요.
= I don’t have any money now. (So…) Please lend me just 10,000 won.

“제가 지금 돈이 없어요. 만 원만 빌려 주세요” has the same meaning, but by using -거든요, you are implying that you aren’t finished with your story.

Sample Sentences

제가 지금 좀 바쁘거든요.
= I’m a little busy now, so…

아까 효진 씨 만났거든요. 그런데 이상한 말을 했어요.
= I met Hyojin earlier. But she said something strange.
* If someone ends a sentence with -거든요, you don’t want to interrupt them as they want to say more.

아직 말할 수 없어요. 비밀이거든요.
= I can’t tell you yet. (Because) It’s a secret.

지난주에 제주도에 갔거든요. 그런데 계속 비가 왔어요.
= I went to Jeju Island last week. But it kept raining.

내일은 안 바빠요. 오늘 일을 다 끝냈거든요.
= I’m not busy tomorrow. (Because) I finished all the work today.

Generally, -거든요 is used when you want to soften your speech or express a reason for something indirectly, but sometimes when you are upset, you can use -거든요 as the sentence ending to express the reason that supports or explains your anger.

Sample Sentences

필요 없거든요!
= I don’t need it!

이미 늦었거든요!
= It’s already too late!

됐거든요!
= It’s over. / I don’t need that.

Answer 10

Lesson 18. Either A or B, Or / -거나, -(이)나, 아니면
Welcome back to another TalkToMeInKorean lesson. Sometimes very simple words in English can become something more complicated in Korean and vice versa. Today’s key expression is an example of that. In this lesson, let’s learn how to say “or” in Korean.

The word “or” can be used to link nouns, adverbs, adjectives, verbs, or even sentences. You don’t need multiple expression to say “or” in English, but in Korean, depending on what kind of word you are linking, the translations for “or” can be different.

Noun + OR + Noun

In order to link two nouns, you can use -(이)나.

After nouns that end with a consonant, add -이나.
After nouns that end with a vowel, add -나.

Ex)
공원이나 영화관 = a park or a movie theater
학생이나 선생님 = a student or a teacher
여기나 저기 = here or there

You can also use the word 아니면, which literally means “if not”.

Ex)
공원 아니면 영화관
학생 아니면 선생님
여기 아니면 저기

Verb + OR + Verb

Since adjectives are essentially “descriptive verbs” in Korean, adjectives and verbs are linked in the same manner. After verb stems, you can use -거나.

Ex)
먹거나 = eat or…
전화하거나 = make a phone call or…
집에 가거나 = go home or…

The tense (present, past, or future) is expressed through the last verb, so the last verb has to be conjugated accordingly to show the tense of the entire sentence.

Ex)
집에 가거나 친구를 만날 거예요. = I will (either) go home or meet a friend.

가다 is changed to 가거나 but you don’t add -거나 to 만나다.

Sometimes people add -거나 to all of the phrases (Ex: 집에 가거나, 친구를 만나거나) and in that case, they use the verb 하다 (= to do) to finish the sentence.

Ex)
집에 가거나 친구를 만나거나 할 거예요.

In addition to using -거나 at the end of the sentence, you can add 아니면 as well between the two actions.

Ex)
집에 가거나 아니면 친구를 만날 거예요.

• There are other ways of saying “or” with verbs, such as -든지 and -든가 but more on those in future lessons!

Sentence + OR + Sentence

In previous usages, we’ve seen that -(이)나 is used with nouns and -거나 is used with verbs. When you want to say “or” between two sentences, you simply use 아니면. 아니면 can be broken down into “아니다 (= to be not) + -(으)면 (= if)”. 아니면 literally means “if not” or “if that’s not the case”.

Ex)
집에 갈 거예요? 아니면 친구를 만날 거예요?
= Are you going to go home? Or are you going to meet a friend?

이거 살 거예요? 아니면 다른 거 살 거예요?
= Are you going to buy this? Or are you going to buy something else?

You could say these sentences without 아니면, but it sounds more natural including it between the two sentences.

Question 11

Lesson 19. To improve, to change, to increase / -아/어/여지다 Part 2
In Level 4 Lesson 28, we introduced the verb ending -아/어/여지다 and how it is used to express “to become + adjective”.

Examples:

예쁘다 = to be pretty
예뻐지다 = to become pretty

조용하다 = to be silent
조용해지다 = to become silent

Some adjective words (or descriptive verbs) are so commonly used in the -아/어/여지다 form though that they are almost considered as independent verbs and have a single-word translation in English as well.

1. 달라지다

다르다 = to be different
다르 → 달라 + -아지다 = 달라지다 = to change, to become different

Sample Sentences

여기 많이 달라졌어요.
= This place has changed a lot.

뭔가 달라진 것 같아요.
= I feel like something has changed.

2. 좋아지다

좋다 = to be good, to be likeable
좋 → 좋 + -아지다 = 좋아지다 = to get better, to improve, to be enhanced, to start to like

Sample Sentences

이 가수가 좋아졌어요.
= I started to like this singer. = I like this singer now.
* The verb literally means “to become better”, but in this sentence, that doesn’t really make sense. Therefore, you can say, “I like this singer now.”

노래 실력이 좋아졌어요.
= My singing skills have improved.
* It could mean going from bad to good, but in most cases, it tends to mean going from good to better.

3. 많아지다

많다 = to be a lot, to be abundant
많 → 많 + -아지다 = 많아지다 = to increase

Sample Sentences

한국으로 여행 오는 사람들이 많아졌어요.
= The (number of) people who come to Korea for tourism have increased.
* 증가하다 also means to increase, however, this word isn’t used as commonly as 많아지다.

학생이 많아졌어요.
= The (number of) students have increased.

4. 없어지다

없다 = to be not there, to not exist, to not have
없 → 없 + -어지다 = 없어지다 = to disappear

Sample Sentences

제 핸드폰이 없어졌어요.
= My cellphone has disappeared.

아까 여기 있었는데 없어졌어요.
= It was here earlier but it disappeared.

Answer 11

Lesson 20. Sentence Building Drill 7
In this series, we focus on how you can use the grammatical rules and expressions that you have learned so far to train yourself to comfortably and flexibly make more Korean sentences.

We will start off with THREE key sentences, then practice changing parts of these sentences so that you don’t end up just memorizing the same three sentences. We want you to be able to be as flexible as possible with the Korean sentences that you can make.

Key Sentence (1)
쇼핑도 할 겸, 친구도 만날 겸, 홍대에 갈 수도 있어요.
= I might go to Hongdae so I can do some shopping as well as meet a friend while I’m there.

Key Sentence (2)
내일 다시 오거나, 아니면 다른 사람에게 부탁할게요.
= I will either come again tomorrow or ask someone else.

Key Sentence (3)
그러니까, 누구하고 같이 갈 거라고요?
= So I mean, who did you say you were going to go with?

Expansion & Variation Practice with Key Sentence (1)

0. Original Sentence:
   쇼핑도 할 겸, 친구도 만날 겸, 홍대에 갈 수도 있어요.
   = I might go to Hongdae so I can do some shopping as well as meet a friend while I’m there.

1.
친구도 만날 겸 = so I could meet a friend as well
공부도 할 겸 = to do some studying (as well as do something else)
인사도 할 겸 = to say hi (to someone while I’m there)
가격도 알아볼 겸 = to check the prices as well (while I’m there doing something else)

2.
홍대에 갈 수도 있어요. = I might go to Hongdae.
친구를 만날 수도 있어요. = I might meet a friend.
제 친구가 알 수도 있어요. = (I don’t know, but) My friend might know.
제 친구를 알 수도 있어요. = You might know my friend.
다시 올 수도 있어요. = I might come back again.

Expansion & Variation Practice with Key Sentence (2)

0. Original Sentence:
   내일 다시 오거나, 아니면 다른 사람에게 부탁할게요.
   = I will either come again tomorrow or ask someone else.

1.
내일 다시 오거나 = come again tomorrow or
친구를 만나거나 = meet a friend or
친구한테 물어보거나 = ask a friend or
여기에서 기다리거나 = wait here or

2.
아니면 다른 사람에게 부탁할게요. = or I will ask someone else.
아니면 나중에 다시 할게요. = or I will do it again later.
아니면 그냥 제가 할게요. = or I will just do it myself.
아니면 여기에 있을 수도 있어요. = or it might be here.

Expansion & Variation Practice with Key Sentence (3)

0. Original Sentence:
   그러니까, 누구하고 같이 갈 거라고요?
   = So I mean, who did you say you were going to go with?

1.
그러니까, 누구하고 갈 거예요? = So, who are you going to go with?
그러니까 이거 뭐예요? = I mean, what is this?
그러니까 혼자 왔다고요? = You mean you came here alone?
그러니까 제가 안 했어요. = What I’m saying is, I didn’t do it.

2.
누구하고 같이 갈 거라고요?
= You said you were going to go with who? / Again, who are you going with?
언제 할 거라고요?
= You said you were going to do it when? / Again, when are you going to do it?
이게 뭐라고요?
= What did you say this was? / Again, what is this?

Question 12

Lesson 21. Passive Voice – Part 1
In this lesson, let’s take a look at how to make sentences in the passive voice.

What is Passive Voice?

Passive voice is a form of sentence in which the focus is on the recipient of an action, rather than the subject. For example, when you make something, that something is made by you. When you recommend a book to someone, the book is recommended by you. That is passive voice, and the opposite of passive voice is active voice.

Something that is done, sold, bought, etc. by someone are all being talked about in the passive voice. Active voice is, “I do something.”

How to Make Passive Voice Sentences in Korean

In English, to make passive voice you can change the verb into its “past participle” form and add it after the BE verb, but in Korean you need to conjugate the verb in the “passive voice” form by adding a suffix or a verb ending.

There are two ways to make passive voice in Korean.
Verb stem + -이/히/리/기-
Verb stem + -아/어/여지다

Passive voice in English and passive voice in Korean are a little different; just by adding one of these suffixes to the verb stem, the “passive voice” verb itself can actually work like a stand-alone active verb in Korean.

Meanings

In English, passive voice sentences are just “passive voice” sentences. However in Korean, the verbs take on the meaning of “can/to be possible/to be doable/would” as well. Therefore, it’s almost even incorrect to call it the “passive voice” in this case. For Part 1, let’s look at the “passive voice” meaning of these verb endings.

Difference Between -아/어/여지다 and -이/히/리/기-

There is no clear rule about which verb stem should be followed by -아/어/여지다 and which should be followed by -이/히/리/기-. Native speakers usually determine which ending to use based on their previous experience of hearing the words being used. Using and hearing these over and over will help you determine how to use them.

Conjugation Rule #1: Verb stem + -아/어/여지다

In Level 4 Lesson 28, we introduced -아/어/여지다 as the conjugation for changing an adjective into the “to become + adjective” form, but when you use -아/어/여지다 with ACTION verbs, the verbs take on the passive voice meaning.

1. Change the verb into the present tense.
2. Drop -(아/어/여)요.
3. Add -(아/어/여)지다.

Example 1

자르다 = to cut

자르다 is a “르 irregular” verb, so it’s conjugated to 잘라요 in the present tense. You drop -요 and add -지다, and you have 잘라지다.

자르다 → 잘라(요) → 잘라지다 = to get cut (by a knife or scissors)

Example 2

주다 = to give
주다 → 주어(요) → 주어지다 = to be given

Example 3

보내다 = to send
보내다 → 보내(요) → 보내지다 = to be sent

Conjugation Rule #2: Verb stem + -이/히/리/기-

There is no ‘single’ rule that determines which verb stem or letter is followed by which among 이, 히, 리 and 기, but the general rule is as follows:

(1) -이-

When the dictionary form of the verb ends in -ㅎ다, -이- is added to the verb ending and it is changed to -ㅎ이다.

Ex)
놓다 (to put down) → 놓이다 (to be put down)
쌓다 (to pile up) → 쌓이다 (to be piled up)

(2) -히-

When the dictionary form of the verb ends in -ㄱ다, -ㄷ다 or -ㅂ다, -히- is added to the verb ending and it is changed to -ㄱ히다, -ㄷ히다 or -ㅂ히다.

Ex)
먹다 (to eat) → 먹히다 (to be eaten)
닫다 (to close) → 닫히다 (to get closed)
잡다 (to catch) → 잡히다 (to get caught)

(3) -리-

When the dictionary form of the verb ends in -ㄹ다, -리- is added to the verb ending and it is changed to -ㄹ리다.

Ex)
밀다 (to push) → 밀리다 (to be pushed)
풀다 (to untie) → 풀리다 (to come untied)

(4) -기-

When the dictionary form of the verb ends in -ㄴ다, ㅁ다, ㅅ다 or ㅊ다, -기- is added to the verb ending and it is changed to -ㄴ기다, -ㅁ기다, -ㅅ기다 or -ㅊ기다.

Ex)
안다 (to hug) → 안기다 (to be hugged)
담다 (to put something in a basket/bag) → 담기다 (to be put into a basket/bag)
씻다 (to wash) → 씻기다 (to be washed)
쫓다 (to chase) → 쫓기다 (to be chased)

-이/히/리/기- + -아/어/여지다 (Double Passive Voice)

Sometimes, these two types of verb endings are used TOGETHER in one verb.

Ex)
놓다 → 놓이다 → 놓여지다
안다 → 안기다 → 안겨지다

There is no ‘standard’ explanation, but this is most likely because people want to clarify and emphasize the passive voice of the verb. Some grammarians argue that this ‘double passive voice’ is incorrect, but it is already being widely used.

Passive Voice of 하다 Verbs

하다 verbs are combinations of other nouns and 하다, such as 이용하다 (to use), 연구하다 (to research), etc. In order to change these 하다 verbs into the passive voice, you need to change 하다 to 되다.

이용하다 → 이용되다 (to be used)
연구하다 → 연구되다 (to be researched)

Even for 하다/되다, double passive voice is often used.

이용되다 = 이용되어지다
연구되다 = 연구되어지다

This is Part 1 of the Passive Voice lesson. In Part 2, we will look at how passive voice in Korean takes on the meaning of “possibility” or “capability”.

Answer 12

Lesson 22. Word Builder 11 / 무 (無)
Word Builder lessons are designed to help you understand how to expand your vocabulary by learning and understanding some common and basic building blocks of Korean words. The words and letters introduced through Word Builder lessons are not necessarily all Chinese characters, or 한자. Though many of them are based on Chinese characters, the meanings can be different from modern-day Chinese. Your goal through these lessons is to understand how words are formed and then remember the keywords in Korean to expand your Korean vocabulary from there. You certainly don’t have to memorize the Hanja characters, but if you want to, feel free!

Today’s keyword element is 무.

The Chinese character for this is 無.

The word 무 is related to “none”, “nothing”, and “non-existence”.

무 (none) + 공해 (pollution) = 무공해 無公害 = pollution-free, clean

무 (none) + 료 (fee) = 무료 無料 = free of charge

Related Vocabulary
공짜 空- = free
* 짜 is not based on a Chinese character.
요금 料金 = fee
* 料 is pronounced as 요 when it comes at the beginning of a word.

무 (none) + 시 (to see) = 무시 無視 = to overlook, to neglect, to disregard

Related Vocabulary
시력 視力 = eyesight

Ex)
무시하지 마세요. = Don’t ignore me.

무 (none) + 책임 (responsibility) = 무책임 無責任 = irresponsibility

무 (none) + 조건 (condition) = 무조건 無條件 = unconditionally

무 (none) + 죄 (sin, guilt) = 무죄 無罪 = innocent, not guilty

Related Vocabulary
유죄 有罪 = guilty

무 (none) + 능력 (ability) = 무능력 無能力 = incapability, incompetence

Related Vocabulary
무능하다 無能– = to be incompetent
유능하다 有能– = to be competent

무 (none) + 한 (limit) = 무한 無限 = infinite, limitless

무 (none) + 적 (enemy) = 무적 無敵 = unbeatable, invincible

무 (none) + 사고 (accident) = 무사고 無事故 = no accident

무 (none) + 관심 (interest) = 무관심 無關心 = indifference, showing no interest

무 (none) + 명 (name) = 무명 無名 = not popular, unknown

Related Vocabulary
이름 = name
* 이름 is a native Korean word.
성명 姓名 = surname, family name

무 (none) + 인 (person) = 무인 無人 = unmanned, uninhabited

Related Vocabulary
무인도 無人島 = uninhabited island

Question 13

Lesson 23. Passive Voice – Part 2
Welcome to Part 2 of the Passive Voice lesson! In Part 1, we learned how sentences in the passive voice are generally made. In this part, let us take a look at how the passive voice in English and in Korean are different, as well as some more example sentences.

Let’s review a little bit first.

Suffixes for passive voice in Korean:
Verb stem + -이/히/리/기-
Verb stem + -아/어/여지다

Again, there is no fixed rule for which verb stem should be followed by one of the -이/히/리/기- suffixes and which should be followed by -아/어/여지다. Some verbs even have an identical meaning when followed by either of these two grammar points!

Ex)
자르다 = to cut
+ -이/히/리/기- → 잘리다 = to be cut
+ -아/어/여지다 → 잘라지다 = to be cut

풀다 = to untie, to solve
+ -이/히/리/기- → 풀리다 = to come untied, to be solved
+ -아/어/여지다 → 풀어지다 = to come untied, to be solved

Another Meaning for Passive Voice Sentences in Korean

In Korean, in addition to the meaning of an action “being done”, the meaning of “possibility” or “capability” is also very commonly used with passive voice sentences (The basic idea is that, when you do something, if something gets done, it is doable. If something doesn’t get done when you do or try to do it, it’s not doable or not possible to do).

This meaning of “possibility” or “capability” does not signify YOUR ability or capability so much as it does the general “possibility” of that certain action being done.

Examples

만들다 is “to make”, and when you say 만들어지다, in the standard passive voice sense, it would mean “to be made.” However 만들어지다 can not only mean “to be made”, but it can also mean “can be made”.

Ex)
이 핸드폰은 중국에서 만들어져요.
= This cell phone is made in China.

케이크를 예쁘게 만들고 싶은데, 예쁘게 안 만들어져요.
= I want to make this cake in a pretty shape, but I can’t make it pretty.

In the 2nd example sentence, you can see that the person is NOT directly saying that he or she CAN’T make a pretty cake, but that the cake DOESN’T get made in a pretty shape.

If you just say, “예쁘게 못 만들어요”, it might mean that you lack the ability to make it pretty.

More Examples

이거 안 잘라져요.
= This doesn’t get cut.
= I can’t cut it. (more accurate)

안 들려요.
= It is not heard.
= I can’t hear you. (more accurate)

안 보여요.
= It is not seen.
= I can’t see it.

하다 vs. 되다

Since the passive voice represents “possibility” or “capability”, the passive voice form of 하다, which is 되다, takes on the meaning of “can” as well.

하다 = to do (active voice)
되다 = to be done, to get done (passive voice)
되다 = can be done, can do (possibility/capability)

Ex)
이거 안 돼요.
= This doesn’t get done.
= I can’t do this. (more accurate)
= I can’t seem to do it. (more accurate)

이해가 안 돼요.
= Understanding is not done.
= It is not understood.
= I can’t understand. (more accurate)
= I don’t understand. (more accurate)

More Examples With 되다

From there, we can create additional patterns with 되다.

Originally, 되다 means “to be done”, but it can also mean things like:

• can be served
• to be available
• can be spoken
• can be done
• can be made
• can be finished
• etc.

Ex)
여기 김밥 돼요?
= Do you have/serve kimbap here?

영어가 안 돼서 걱정이에요.
= I’m worried because I can’t speak English.

오늘 안에 돼요?
= Can you finish it today?

So how often does the passive voice take on the meaning of “possibility”?

Through Part 1 and 2 of this lesson, we have looked at how passive voice sentences are formed and used. First, you need to figure out (by being exposed to a lot of Korean sentences or by memorizing the suffixes that go with each verb) which of the endings is used in the passive voice form. Also, you need to tell from the context of the sentence whether the verb is used in the original “passive” voice form or in the sense of “possibility/capability”.

Often times, though, sentences that would certainly be in the passive voice are written in the active voice in Korean. This is because, in English, you use the passive voice in order to NOT show the subject of a certain action in a sentence; in Korean, you can easily drop the subject, so you don’t have to worry about it as much.

For example, when you say, “This was made in Korea”, who are you referring to? Who made it? Do you know? Probably not. Therefore, in English, you just say that “it” was made in Korea. In Korean, you don’t have to worry about the subject of the verb, so you can just use the active voice form and say, “한국에서 만든 거예요” or “한국에서 만들었어요.” In these two sentences, the verbs are in the active voice, but no one asks, “So who made it?” as it is understood that, “It was made (by somebody) in Korea.”

Answer 13

Lesson 24. I DID do it, I DO like it / -기는 하다
When you want to emphasize an action or state in English, you either do it by adding more stress to the verb in the intonation, or by adding the word “do” in front of the verb.

Example #1
A: It’s not easy.
B: No, it IS easy!

Example #2
A: Why didn’t you go there?
B: I DID go, but I came back early.

Example #3
A: Do you think you can do it?
B: Well, I COULD do it, but I don’t want to do it.

In this lesson, let’s take a look at how to express this emphasis in Korean.

The simplest way to do this is by changing the intonation.

A: 왜 안 했어요? = Why didn’t you do it?
B: 했어요! = I DID do it!

This example is when you are simply disagreeing with the other person and presenting a different fact.

If you want to add some conditions or premises to your sentence and say, “I did do it, but…” or “I do like it, but…”, you need to use a different verb ending.

Example #1
A: So you didn’t even do it?
B: I did!! I DID do it, but I had some help.

Example #2
A: Can you do it?
B: I COULD do it, but I don’t want to do it.

Now let’s look at how to express these in Korean.

The key is -기는. This is the noun form -기 plus the topic marker -는. The topic marker is used to show contrast.

Example #1
갔어요. = I went (there).
→ 가기는 갔어요. = I DID go (there) but…
If you don’t want to repeat the 가다 verb, you can change it to 하다.
→ 가기는 했어요. = I DID go (there) but…
→ 가기는 갔는데, 일찍 왔어요. = I DID go there, but I came back early.
→ 가기는 갈 거예요. = I WILL go, but… (+ other premises)

Example #2
봤어요. = I saw (it).
→ 보기는 봤어요. = I DID see (it) but...
→ 보기는 했어요. = I DID see (it) but...
→ 보기는 봤는데 기억이 안 나요. = I DID see it, but I don’t remember.
“봤어요. 그런데...” is changed to 봤는데.

How to Say “I COULD do it but…”

To say that you can do something, you use the structure -(으)ㄹ 수 있다. Here, -(으)ㄹ 수 is a Noun Group that literally means “a method for doing something” or “possibility/ability”. Therefore, you can JUST use the topic marker without having to change it again into the noun form. It’s already a noun.

Example

할 수 있어요. = I can do (it).
→ 할 수는 있어요. = I COULD do it, but…
→ 할 수는 있는데, 안 하고 싶어요. = I COULD do it, but I don’t want to.
→ 할 수는 있는데, 안 해 줄 거예요. = I COULD do it, but I’m not going to do it for you.
→ 할 수는 있는데, 조건이 있어요. = I COULD do it, but there’s a condition.
→ 할 수는 있는데, 시간이 걸려요. = I COULD do it, but it will take some time.

Sample Sentences

어제 친구를 만나기는 했는데, 금방 헤어졌어요.
= I DID meet a friend yesterday, but we parted soon after.
* “어제 친구를 만났는데, 금방 헤어졌어요” means that you aren’t upset and are just stating the facts. If you say the one above, though, you are showing that you are upset.

시간 맞춰서 도착하기는 했는데, 준비를 못 했어요.
= I DID manage to get there on time, but I couldn’t prepare (it).
* Again, with this phrase you are showing emphasis that you got there on time but just couldn’t prepare for something in a timely manner.

읽기는 읽었는데 이해가 안 돼요.
= I DID read it, but I don’t understand it.

좋기는 좋은데, 너무 비싸요.
= It IS good, but it’s too expensive.

맛있기는 맛있는데, 좀 짜요.
= It IS delicious, but it’s a bit salty.

Question 14

Lesson 25. Easy/difficult to + V / -기 쉽다/어렵다
In this lesson, let’s take a look at how to say that something is easy or difficult to do. To say this, you need to use the noun form of verbs, ending with -기.

To be easy to + Verb = -기 쉽다

Ex)
하기 쉽다 = to be easy to do
잊기 쉽다 = to be easy to forget
먹기 쉽다 = to be easy to eat
사기 쉽다 = to be easy to buy

To be difficult to + Verb = -기 어렵다

Ex)
하기 어렵다 = to be difficult to do
찾기 어렵다 = to be difficult to find

“Verb stem + -기” is a noun form; in principle, there has to be a marker after it, but in the forms above, the marker is dropped.

Q: Which markers were dropped?
A: It depends on the context, but -기 쉽다/어렵다 can be written either as -기에 쉽다/어렵다 or -기가 쉽다/어렵다.

-기에 쉽다/어렵다
When you use the marker -에, it means that something is easy/difficult FOR + Verb-ing.

-기가 쉽다/어렵다
When you use the marker -가, it means that DOING something is easy/difficult.

Let’s look at some examples.

Example #1

제 이름은 발음하기(가) 어려워요.
= My name is difficult to pronounce.
= As for my name, pronouncing it is difficult.

Example #2

이건 만들기(가) 어려워요.
= This is difficult to make.
= As for this, making it is difficult.

Example #3

이건 어린이가 사용하기(에) 어려워요.
= This is difficult for a child to use.
= Using this is difficult for a child.
* In this example, since the subject of the verb 사용하다 is 어린이 and 어린이 is followed by -가, the subject marker, it sounds rather repetitive to use -가 again, so in this kind of sentence, people tend to use -에 instead of -가 before 쉬워요/어려워요.

Example #4

사용하기가 쉬워요.
= It’s easy to use.

사용하기에 쉬워요.
= Using it is easy.

• In this case, -가 쉬워요 and -에 쉬워요 both work because the sentences are short.

In all of the above sentences, you can drop -가 or -에 from -기가 or -기에.

1. 제 이름은 발음하기가 어려워요.
   → 제 이름은 발음하기 어려워요.
2. 이건 만들기가 어려워요.
   → 이건 만들기 어려워요.
3. 이건 어린이가 사용하기에 어려워요.
   → 이건 어린이가 사용하기 어려워요.
4. 사용하기가 쉬워요.
   → 사용하기 쉬워요.
5. 사용하기에 쉬워요.
   → 사용하기 쉬워요.

Other words can also be used with “Verb stem + -기(가/에)”.

Examples

-기(가) 편리하다 / -기(에) 편리하다
= to be convenient to + Verb / to be convenient for + Verb-ing

-기(가) 좋다 / -기(에) 좋다
= to be good to + Verb / to be good for + Verb-ing

-기(가) 불편하다 / -기(에) 불편하다
= to be inconvenient to + Verb / to be inconvenient for + Verb-ing

Answer 14

Lesson 26. I thought I would …, I didn’t think you would … / -(으)ㄴ/ㄹ 줄 알다
In this lesson, let’s take a look at how to say things like, “I thought you would do it”, “I didn’t think you would do it”, “I thought I was…”, etc.

The key structure used for this is -(으)ㄴ/ㄹ 줄 알다.

• (으)ㄴ 줄 알다 = to know/think that someone has done something
• (으)ㄹ 줄 알다 = to know/think that someone will do something
• Note that -(으)ㄴ is usually associated with the past tense and -(으)ㄹ is usually used associated with the future tense.

Even though -(으)ㄴ/ㄹ 줄 알다 could be used in present tense or future tense sentences, this grammar point is mostly used in the past tense. That means the verb 알다 is mostly used in the form, 알았어요.

Ex)
비가 올 줄 알았어요.
= I knew it was going to rain.
= I thought it was going to rain.

사람이 많을 줄 알았어요.
= I knew there would be a lot of people.
= I thought there would be a lot of people.

How to Tell Whether It Means “I knew” or “I thought”?

The meanings can be very different between, “I knew you would like it” and “I thought you would like it.” The written form for both of these in Korean is the same, but the intonation in spoken Korean is different. When you have more stress on the verb 알다, it means “I knew” and when the stress is on the -(으)ㄴ/ㄹ 줄 part, it means “I thought”.

Ex)
제가 말할 줄 알았어요?
(with emphasis on 알았어요?) = Did you know that I would tell you?
(with emphasis on 말할 줄) = Did you think that I would tell you?

Ex)
어디로 갈 줄 알았어요?
(with emphasis on 알았어요?) = Did you know where he/she/they would go?
(with emphasis on 어디로) = Where did you think he/she/they would go?

Difference Between -(으)ㄴ 줄 알다 and -(으)ㄹ 줄 알다

Basically -(으)ㄴ 줄 알다 expresses your knowledge or assumption about a PAST ACTION or a PRESENT STATE, whereas -(으)ㄹ 줄 알다 expresses your knowledge or assumption about a FUTURE action or state. To express your knowledge or assumption about a PRESENT ACTION, you need to use -는 줄 알다.

예쁜 줄 알다
= (with emphasis on 알다) to know that something/someone is pretty
= (with emphasis on 예쁜 줄) to think that something/someone is pretty

Ex)
제 친구는 자기가 세상에서 제일 예쁜 줄 알아요.
= My friend thinks that she is the prettiest in the world.

간 줄 알다
= (with emphasis on 알다) = to know that someone has gone somewhere
= (with emphasis on 간 줄) = to think that someone has gone somewhere

Ex)
제가 학교에 간 줄 알았어요?
= (with emphasis on 알았어요?) = Did you know that I had gone to school?
= (with emphasis on 간 줄) = Did you think that I had gone to school?

How to Say “I didn’t know I would…” and “I didn’t think I would…”

There are two ways to make the -(으)ㄹ 줄 알았어요 a negative sentence. One is to change 알았어요 to 몰랐어요. The other is to add 안 to the original sentence.

Ex)
오늘 눈이 올 줄 알았어요.
= I knew it would snow today.
= I thought it would snow today.

→ 오늘 눈이 올 줄 몰랐어요.
= I didn’t know it would snow today.

→ 오늘 눈이 안 올 줄 알았어요.
= I thought it would not snow today.

Sample Sentences

이게 여기 있을 줄 몰랐어요.
= I didn’t know it would be here.

저는 경화 씨도 온 줄 알았어요.
= I thought Kyung-hwa also came.

이렇게 비싼 줄 몰랐어요.
= I didn’t know it was this expensive.

저는 안 어려울 줄 알았어요.
= I thought it would not be difficult.

제가 뭐라고 할 줄 알았어요?
= What did you think I would say?

Question 15

Lesson 27. Can, to be able to, to know how to / -(으)ㄹ 수 있다, -(으)ㄹ 줄 알다
In the previous lesson, we learned how to use -(으)ㄹ 줄 알다 to say “to think/know that something will happen”. This sentence ending can be also used to express “can”, “to be able to”, or “to know how to”. The same meaning can also be expressed through -(으)ㄹ 수 있다; through this lesson, let’s find out how these two verb endings are used similarly or differently to express “can” or “to be able to”.

-(으)ㄹ 수 있다

This ending was introduced in Level 2 Lesson 17. This is the basic way to say “can” or “to be able to”. 수 basically means “possibility” or “method”.

Ex)
이거 할 수 있어요? = Can you do this?
언제 올 수 있어요? = When can you come?
여기에서 뭐 살 수 있어요? = What can I buy (it) here?

How to Say “can NOT”
If you want to say “can NOT”, you can change 있다 to 없다 or add 못 to the sentence.

Ex)
갈 수 없어요. = I cannot go.
못 가요. = I cannot go.

-(으)ㄹ 줄 알다

This structure was introduced in the previous lesson as a sentence ending that means “to think/know that something will happen/be in a certain state”. When you are talking about “knowing how to do something” or “being able to do something”, 줄 here means “method” or “how”.

-(으)ㄹ 줄 = how/method
알다 = to know

-(으)ㄹ 줄 알다 = to know how to + Verb / to be able to + Verb

Ex)
운전할 줄 알아요?
= Do you know how to drive?
= Can you drive?
* “운전할 수 있어요?” has the same meaning.

김치 만들 줄 알아요?
= Do you know how to make kimchi?
= Can you make kimchi?

영어 할 줄 알아요?
= Do you (know how to) speak English?
= Can you speak English?

How to Say “can NOT”

If you want to say “can NOT”, you need to change 알다 to 모르다. 모르다 means “to not know”.

Ex)
영어 할 줄 알아요? = Can you speak English?
영어 할 줄 몰라요. = I don’t know how to speak English.

김치 만들 줄 알아요? = Can you make kimchi?
김치 만들 줄 몰라요. = I don’t know how to make kimchi.

운전할 줄 알아요? = Can you drive?
운전할 줄 몰라요. = I don’t know how to drive.

Difference Between -(으)ㄹ 수 있다 and -(으)ㄹ 줄 알다

-(으)ㄹ 수 있다 is the basic way to say “can” or “to be able to”, so it usually refers to one’s actual “capability” of doing something. On the other hand, -(으)ㄹ 줄 알다 means that you know how to do something, and you can do it, but in most cases, you have LEARNED how to do it. Therefore there are some things that you CAN (-을 수 있다) do (potentially), but CAN’T do it yet because you still don’t know how to do it.

Ex)
아직 할 줄 몰라요. 그런데 할 수 있어요.
= I don’t know how to do it yet. (I can’t do it yet.) But I am able to do it.

Sample Sentences

이거 할 줄 알아요?
= Do you know how to do this?
= 이거 할 수 있어요?

저는 영어 할 줄 몰라요.
= I don’t speak English.
= I don’t know how to speak English.
= I can’t speak English.
* If you know how to speak English, but can’t speak English at that moment, you would say, “영어 못 해요. = I can’t speak English (now).”

그거 한국어로 말할 수 있어요?
= Can you say that in Korean?
* You would use this if you know they can speak in Korean, but are asking them to say what they said again in Korean.

그거 한국어로 말할 줄 알아요?
= Do you know how to say that in Korean?

자전거 탈 줄 알아요?
= Do you know how to ride a bike?
= Can you ride a bike?

자전거 탈 수 있어요?
= Can you ride a bike?
= Can you ride a bike (now/like that)?

How to Tell Which Meaning -(으)ㄹ 줄 알다 Takes

-(으)ㄹ 줄 알다 can mean either “to know how to” and “to know/think that something will happen”. There is no certain rule for this, but you can usually figure it out by context.

Examples

제가 올 줄 알았어요?

In the example above, if you interpret it as, “Did I know how to come here?”, it is a bit weird. So you know it SHOULD mean, “Did you know I would come here?” or “Did you think I would come here?”

이거 만들 줄 알아요?

In the example above, if you interpret it as, “Do you think…” or “Do you know…”, you don’t have enough information to figure out who’s going to make “this”. The meaning is usually not commonly used in the present tense, so you know it’s easier to understand it as a question asking, “Do you know how to make this?”

Answer 15

Lesson 28. It depends on … / -에 따라 달라요
In this lesson, let’s look at how to say “It depends on…” or just “It depends…” in Korean.

The verb “to depend” is literally translated as 의지하다 or 의존하다, but this is only when you are talking about actually being “dependent” on someone about a certain matter.

For example, if you want to say something like, “Don’t depend on your parents”, you can use the verb 의지하다 or 의존하다 and say, “부모님한테 의지하지 마세요.”

However, when you want to say, “It depends on the situation”, “It depends on the person”, or “It depends on how soon you finish this”, you need to use the structure -에 따라 다르다 or -마다 다르다.

• 에 따라 다르다
• 에 따라 means “according to”, “in compliance with”, or “in accordance with”. 다르다 means “to be different”. Literally, this structure means, “It changes/becomes different in accordance with (something).”

Sample Sentences

때에 따라 달라요.
= It depends on the time.
= It depends on when it is.

상황에 따라 달라요.
= It depends on the situation.

사람에 따라 달라요.
= It depends on the person.

You can also say -에 따라서 다르다 as it means the same thing.

Ex)
때에 따라 달라요.
= 때에 따라서 달라요.

상황에 따라 달라요.
= 상황에 따라서 달라요.

You can choose whichever structure you are more comfortable with saying. They are both correct.

• 마다 다르다
• 마다 means “every”, so 아침마다 is “every morning”, and 밤마다 is “every night”. When you use -마다 with 다르다, it means “It is different for every…”.

Ex)
사람마다
= every person

해마다
= every year

달마다
= every month

주말마다
= every weekend

Sample Sentences

사람마다 달라요.
= For every person, it’s different.
= It depends on the person.

나라마다 달라요.
= It depends on the country.

해마다 달라요.
= It depends on the year.
= It’s different every year.

Difference Between -에 따라 and -마다

These two phrases are usually interchangeable, but -마다 can only be used with nouns, whereas -에 따라 can also be used with a clause. In order for -에 따라 to be used with a clause, however, you need to conjugate the verb into the -는지 form.

Also, while -에 따라 has a stronger meaning of, “It depends on the certain item/circumstance”, -에 마다 can also have the meaning that something constantly changes, even if it’s not really “in accordance with” the item or circumstance.

For example, 해마다 달라요 can mean, “It depends on that year” or “It changes every year.”

Verb Stem + -는지에 따라(서) 다르다

Sample Sentences

언제 가는지에 따라 달라요.
= It depends on when you go there.

어디서 사는지에 따라 달라요.
= It depends on where you buy it.

누구한테 이야기하는지에 따라서 달라요.
= It depends on whom you talk to.

-는지에 따라 = -느냐에 따라

Sometimes you will also hear people saying -느냐에 따라 instead of -는지에 따라. They are interchangeable, but -느냐에 따라 is slightly more commonly used in spoken Korean.

Ex)
언제 가는지에 따라 달라요.
= 언제 가느냐에 따라 달라요.

달라요 vs. 달라져요

You will also often hear people saying, “달라져요” instead of “달라요” to put stress on the nuance that it “becomes” different, but usually just saying “달라요” is clear enough.

Question 16

Lesson 29. Sometimes I do this, sometimes I do that / 어떨 때는 -고, 어떨 때는 -아/어/여요
In this lesson, we are going to look at how to say, “Sometimes I do this, sometimes I do that” or “Sometimes it’s like this, other times it’s like that” in Korean.

In order to say this, there are a few things you need to know. First of all, you need to know how to use the -(으)ㄹ 때 ending, which means “when + Subject + Verb”. You also need to know how the topic marker -는 is used to show contrast.

How to Say “sometimes” in Korean

When the word “sometimes” is used just to show the frequency of an action, you can say 가끔, 가끔씩, or 때때로. 가끔 and 가끔씩 are more common in spoken Korean than 때때로. 때때로 is very formal and used in written language.

When you want to literally say “sometimes” and “other times”, you can use the expression, 어떨 때. 어떨 때 comes from 어떻다 + -(으)ㄹ + 때.

어떻다 means “to be how” or “to be in what kind of state”, -(으)ㄹ marks a future action or state, and 때 means “time” or “when”. So literally, 어떨 때 means “when what state will happen” or “when things are how”. Therefore, when more naturally translated, 어 떨 때 means “in what kind of situation”, “in what kind of times”, or even just “when”.

Ex)
어떨 때 영화 보고 싶어요?
= When do you (usually) feel like watching a movie?

어떨 때 제일 힘들어요?
= When do you (usually) have the hardest time?

As you can notice from the examples above, 어떨 때 is commonly used when you are asking about a general pattern or habit, whereas 언제 has a simpler meaning of “when”.

어떨 때 can also be used to mean “sometimes”, but this is when you want to show contrast between “sometimes” and “other times”. Therefore, you usually use 어떨 때 with the topic marker, -는.

어떨 때는 = sometimes + certain state/action
+
어떨 때는 = other times + another state/action

Like shown above, you can repeat 어떨 때는. Let’s take a look at some examples.

Ex)
커피요? 어떨 때는 마시는데, 어떨 때는 안 마셔요.
= Coffee? Sometimes I drink it, but other times, I don’t drink it.

어떨 때는 혼자 있는 것이 좋은데, 어떨 때는 싫어요.
= Sometimes I like being alone, but other times, I don’t like it.

If you want to be more specific and say “other times” in Korean as well, you can use the expression 다른 때는 with the verb 다르다; however, 어떨 때는 is used more than 다른 때는 (Although 어떨 때는 is more commonly used, some people also use 어떤 때는, since it is in the present tense).

Sample Sentences

그 사람은 어떨 때는 친절한데, 어떨 때는 정말 불친절해요.
= Sometimes he is kind, but other times, he is very unkind.

어떨 때는 일을 그만두고 싶은데, 어떨 때는 일하는 게 좋아요.
= Sometimes I feel like quitting my job, but other times, I like working.

You can also use the ending -(으)ㄹ 때도 있어요 after the second 어떨 때는 clause. For example, the above sentence can be changed to, “어떨 때는 일을 그만두고 싶은데, 어떨 때는 일 하는 게 좋을 때도 있어요.”

-(으)ㄹ 때 means “a time when…” and -도 있어요 means “There are also…”. Therefore, this is to express the meaning “There are also times when…”.

Ex)
어떨 때는 운동하는 게 재미있는데, 어떨 때는 운동하고 싶지 않을 때도 있어요.
= Sometimes working out is fun, but other times, there are also times when I don’t feel like doing exercise.

You can also make this shorter.
어떨 때는 운동하는 게 재미있는데, 운동하고 싶지 않을 때도 있어요.
어떨 때는 운동하는 게 재미있는데, 어떨 때는 운동하고 싶지 않아요.

Answer 16

Lesson 30. Sentence Building Drill 8
In this series, we focus on how you can use the grammatical rules and expressions that you have learned so far to train yourself to comfortably and flexibly make more Korean sentences.

We will start off with THREE key sentences, then practice changing parts of these sentences so that you don’t end up just memorizing the same three sentences. We want you to be able to be as flexible as possible with the Korean sentences that you can make.

Key Sentence (1)
별로 안 어려울 줄 알았는데 생각보다 어려웠어요.
= I thought it wouldn’t be so difficult, but it was more difficult than I had thought.

Key Sentence (2)
그 사람 알기는 아는데 자주 안 만나는 편이에요.
= I DO know him, but I don’t really meet him often.

Key Sentence (3)
제 이름은 발음하기가 어려워서 잊어버리기 쉬워요.
= My name is difficult to pronounce, so it’s easy to forget.

Expansion & Variation Practice with Key Sentence (1)

0. Original Sentence:
   별로 안 어려울 줄 알았는데 생각보다 어려웠어요.
   = I thought it wouldn’t be so difficult, but it was more difficult than I had thought.

1.
별로 안 어려울 줄 알았는데 = I thought it wouldn’t be so difficult, but…
아무도 없을 줄 알았는데 = I thought nobody would be here, but…
여기에 있을 줄 알았는데 = I thought it would be here, but…
괜찮을 줄 알았는데 = I thought it would be okay, but…

2.
생각보다 어려웠어요. = it was more difficult than I thought.
생각보다 빨리 끝났어요. = it finished earlier than I thought.
생각보다 간단했어요. = it was simpler than I thought.
생각보다 비쌀 수도 있어요. = it might be more expensive than you think.

Expansion & Variation Practice with Key Sentence (2)

0. Original Sentence:
   그 사람 알기는 아는데 자주 안 만나는 편이에요.
   = I DO know him, but I don’t really meet him often.

1.
그 사람 알기는 아는데 = I DO know him, but...
이거 좋기는 좋은데 = This IS good, but...
비싸기는 비싼데 = It IS expensive, but...
하기는 할 건데 = I AM going to do it, but...

2.
자주 안 만나는 *편이에요. = I don’t really meet him often.
별로 안 좋아하는 편이에요. = I don’t really like it.
다른 사람들보다는** 잘하는 편이에요. = I am rather good at it, compared to other people.
가끔씩 가는 편이에요. = I go there sometimes.
* 편이다 shows a tendency to do/not do a trend or habit. By adding 편이다 you are being a little more indirect.
** We added -는 to show contrast.

Expansion & Variation Practice with Key Sentence (3)

0. Original Sentence:
   제 이름은 발음하기가 어려워서 잊어버리기 쉬워요.
   = My name is difficult to pronounce, so it’s easy to forget.

1.
제 이름은 발음하기가 어려워요.
= My name is difficult to pronounce.
이건 혼자서 만들기가 어려워요.
= This is difficult to make by yourself.
지도가 복잡해서 찾아 가기 어려워요.
= The map is complicated so it’s difficult to find the place.
한국어는 배우기 어렵지 않아요.
= Korean is not difficult to learn.

2.
잊어버리기 쉬워요.
= It is easy to forget.
실수하기 쉬워요.
= It is easy to make a mistake.
포기하기 쉬워요.
= It is easy to give up.
찾기 쉬워요.
= It is easy to find.