"조차"와 "마저"의 차이

My friend asked, "What's the difference between "조차" and "마저"?"

I thought I know but I actually don't. So I checked up some reference books and here is what I have learned.

"조차" and "마저" can only be used in negative situation. "조차" can be substituted with "마저" but the reverse is not always true. Their main difference is, "조차" can only be used in negative sentence (부정문, 否定文) while "마저" can be used in both negative and positive sentence (긍정문, 肯定文).

Example:

1. 그 학생은 노래조차 못 불러 (O)

2. 그 학생은 노래마저 못 불러 (O)

Explanation: In 1 and 2, the negative situation mentioned is the inability to even sing a song properly. Also, both sentences are considered negative sentences because they end with "못 불러". Since both situation and sentence are negative, "조차" and "마저" can be used interchangeably.

3. 추운데 바람조차 부네요 (X)

4. 추운데 바람마저 부네요 (O)

Explanation: In 3 and 4, the negative situation mentioned is the wind blowing during cold weather. However, quite different from 1 and 2, 3 and 4 end with "부네요" which makes them positive sentences. Under such circumstance, "조차" cannot be used. What comes after "조차" are always negative things like "못", "않다", "지 않다", "없다", "힘들다", "죽다" etc.

A quick-fix remedy is available for people who cannot differentiate both. Just use "까지". You can replace "조차" and "마저" in 1-4 and they are still grammatically correct. Furthermore, "까지" can also be used in positive situation which I'm not elaborating.

This quick-fix remedy reminds me of something which my teacher "said. If you don't know the correct usage of "(으)로서" and "(으)로써", you can always circumvent the problem by using (으)로".

도대체 왜?

My teacher asked my US classmate to explain the word "도대체" (都大體) in a sentence that we just read. He said it is something like "욕" (辱, expletive). My teacher and the rest of my Chinese classmates was puzzled by his interpretation. I was alone in nodding my head in agreement because I knew exactly how he arrived at that conclusion.

The dictionary's translation of "도대체" is, "(what, how, why) on earth". However, a more crude translation, "what the *beep*" makes sense too, if not more. Sentence like "도대체 뭘 하는 거예요?" can be translated as, "What the *beep* are you doing?" So, if  "what the *beep*" is not "욕" than what is? My US classmate has every good reason to believe so.

My Chinese classmates did not form such connection because "도대체" is translated as "到底" or "究竟" in Chinese and both words are in no way connected to expletives. Sentence "도대체 뭘 하는 거예요?" translated as, "你到底在干什么?", conveys a sense of agitation but nothing profane.

Korean dictionary gives two definitions for "도대체":

1. Definition 1: mainly used in a question to mean "keep to the important points"
e.g.  도대체 뭘 하는 거예요? (Tell me only the important points, what are you doing?)

2. Definition 2: mainly used in negative-tone (부정) sentence to mean "completely"
e.g. 네가 하는 말은 도대체 알 수 없어요 (I totally cannot understand what you say)

Like Chinese, Korean definitions of "도대체" carry the same sense of agitation but nothing more.

The 'Hanja' of  "도대체" - "都大體" is no longer seen in modern Chinese literature. Based on its Chinese characters, 都大體 can be explained in its two root words "都" and "大體". "都" means "all or total" and "大體" means "important points". The meaning of the two root words matches very well with the two Korean definitions of "도대체".

That should explain why my teacher and Chinese classmates were puzzled by my US classmate's unexpected answer. "도대체" is not an expletive but due to translation, it becomes one. What can be say of this episode is, the actual meaning of things can be lost in translation. The more diverse the cultures, the more difficult it is to have faithful translation.

At the end of the class, my US classmate spoke to me, "Isn't 도대체 what a *beep*? Isn't it a expletive?" I agreed with him, "Yes, in some way, it sounds like an expletive but the others won't understand." I misled him but not on purpose, because that was actually what I  thought back then before I checked the Korean definition of the word.

기초부터

After laying off my Korean books for more than a year, I think it's time I reopen them. Fortunately, my Korean language skills weren't wasted away during the 'dormant' period. On the contrary, I think my listening and reading skills are much better now than before. It helps that I watch Korean programmes and read Korean news quite often. To start off, it's back to basics. There's something new which I learn about the word '당신' and '말씀'.

As a beginner, I thought the second-person pronoun 'you' can be translated to either '당신' in honorific speech or '너' in casual speech. Now I know I was misled. I have narrowed down the cause of my misunderstanding to some poorly-published Korean language self-help books which I bought when I first started to have interest in the language. Those books use '당신' so freely as if Koreans use it all the time. Actually, the correct use of '당신' is restricted to only two kinds of situation. Outside of these two situations, the use of it is simply inappropriate.

Situation 1 - Between husband and wife
e.g. 여보, 당신은 어제 뭘 했어요?
(Darling, what did you do yesterday?)

Situation 2 - Between two persons who are in heated argument or are quarrelling
e.g. 당신이 남의 일에 끼어들지마
(Hello, you better don't interfere in other's business)

For '말씀', all this while, I understood it as the honorific form (높임말) of the word '말'. However, what I didn't know is, it can also be the humble form (낮춤말) of '말'. In Korean language, there are two ways one can show respect to other - one is to 'elevate' other by using '높임말', the other is to 'degrade' oneself using '낮춤말'.

Situation 1. '말씀' as a '높임말' to 'elevate' other
e.g. 부모님의 말씀대로 저는 열심히 공부하겠습니다
(I will study hard according to what my parents said)

Situation 2. '말씀' as a '낮춤말' to 'downgrade' oneself
e.g. 제가 말씀을 드릴게요
(I shall give my speech)

Apparently, my foundation in honorific is still in need of more hard work. I used to lament that Korean language is so 'troublesome' because of the need to use honorific. I didn't mean to be disrespectful by saying that but learning to use the right honorific for the right situation is indeed a lot of hard work for foreigners. It's quite laughable now to know that I once thought honorific is just adding ~세요 to the end of each statements plus changing a few words here and there. That just shows how much I skimmed through the foundation part. But sometimes, certain fundamentals are not easily understood at the beginning. You may have to go one big round and back to really appreciate them. So, that's why I'm back to basics.

자연의 색깔

What is the colour of grass?

What is the colour of sea?

The colour of grass is, of course, green. In Korean, you can say it is '초록색' or '푸른색'. On the other hand, the colour of sea is blue (or is it?). In Korean, you can call it '파란색' or '푸른색'. In case you have not noticed, 푸른색 is used in both cases of grass and sea. So is '푸른색' green, blue or a colour somewhere in between like turquoise?

'푸르다' has its root in the word '풀' which means 'grass' in Korean. Since '풀' is green in colour, it is logical to associate '푸른색' with mountains, fields and trees, all of which are green in colour too. However, what is confusing to foreigners is how did Koreans come to associate blue sky and sea with '푸른색'? Was it a situation where Koreans did not know how to differentiate between green and blue?

This is how I read '푸른색'. It is a spectrum of colours ranging from green to blue and conveys the feel of nature. Imagine green rice field, clear blue sky and transparent turquoise sea - the multi-faceted colours of nature. '푸른색' is, thus, not merely an expression of colours; it also encompasses the beauty and grandeur of nature. If by chance, Vanessa Williams is to ask me to paint the 'colours of the wind', I would have no doubt painting it '푸른색'.

I shall leave you with the song "제주도 푸른 밤" (The blue night of Jeju Island) by Sung Si Kyung. If you are wondering why the night is '푸른색' when it is neither green or blue colour, then you must recall the feeling which '푸른색' conveys. '푸른색', in this instance, is more about '느낌' (feel, impression) than colour. Can you feel the beauty of '푸른색' now?

Enjoy the '감미로운 목소리' (sweet and gentle voice) of Sung Si Kyung ^^

있다 없다

Should it be '없는' or '없은'? 없은 seems more right because 없다 is a descriptive verb and so should go with 'ㄴ/은' but 없는 (pronounced '엄는') sounds more correct. I encountered such dilemma several times during test which was, of course, not very helpful ㅠㅠ.

I thought I understand '있다' because it looks simple enough. However, when I was asked to explain why '있다' appears in '~고 있다' and '아/어 있다', I was tongue-tight. Apparently, there are more to simple verbs '있다 없다' than meet the eyes. I think I may have found the answer to my queries now.


Meanings of 있다

- As an action verb, '있다' means 'to stay or remain' in a fixed place.

1. 가만히 있어라 (Stay still!/Don't move!)
2. 그는 집에 있는다고 말했다 (He said he stays at home)

- As a descriptive verb, '있다' means either 'in existence' or 'in possession'

3. 집에 피아노가 있다 (In the house, there is a piano)
4. 나는 돈이 많이 있다 (I have a lot of money)

Note: '있다' in sentence 3 has the meaning of existence while 4 has the meaning of possession.


'있다/없다' absolutely loathes '은'

Basic grammar teaches that when an action verb becomes a noun modifier, it goes with '는' whilst descriptive verb goes with 'ㄴ/은'. However, this rule does not apply to '있다/없다'. As noun modifier, '있다/없다' behaves like an action verb, i.e. they go with '는' only even though they may be descriptive verb.

- 있다 as action verb

5. 가만히 있는 빌리 (Billy who stays motionless...)
6. 집에 있는 민정 (Minjeong who stays at home...)

- 있다 as descriptive verb

7. 집에 있는 피아노 (The piano which is in the house...)
8. 돈이 있는 나 (I who has money...)

- 없다 as descriptive verb

9. 우리나라 없는 음식 (The food which is not found in my country...)

Note: All the above examples are in present tense. To change to past tense, just replace '는' with '던'. Example,

10. 집에 있던 민정 (Minjeong who stayed at home...)

대박

Woo~~ Cajun chicken omurice, 대박!

Waa~~ Ice crean waffle, 대박! 대박!

What do Koreans mean when they say "대박" (pronounced "tae-bak")? Dictionary gives you meaning like "big win", "great success" and "big hit". Suppose you are well-versed with all these textbook meanings, it is quite likely you will still scratch your head the next time a Korean says "대박". Many a time, "대박" is uttered with hardly any relation to win or success. Ostensibly, there are some other meanings to the word.

To help me memorise, I used to imagine "대박" as a big melon ("대" can mean big and "박" can mean melon like "수박" is watermelon) and an excited farmer shouting "대박 대박" when he discovered one. A big melon, to a farmer, can deliver the same joy as hitting jackpot. Of course, "대박" is not big melon but rather an expression of joy which is much like striking a lottery.

"대박" is similar to the Singlish's expression - "win liao lor". When you see a nice dessert or food in front of you, Koreans says "대박" and we say "win liao lor" (expressing a sense of being overwhelmed). Or when you want to express your shock and excitement when someone throws a surprise party for you, Koreans say "대박" but we say "win liao lor".

"대박" is also similar to another Singlish's expression - "huat ah". In this context, there is no win, loss or joy in the meaning of "대박" but a wish for good luck. Be it "대박" or "huat ah", they are the same to me - different language but same feeling. 대박~ Huat ah~

"좋다"와 "좋아하다"의 차이

Teacher taught me to write "I like drama" as "나는 드라마를 좋아해요" but my Korean friend corrected and rewrote it as "나는 드라마가 좋아요". This sort of situation caused some confusion, especially when I was a beginner struggling to learn Korean as a foreign language.

But it is no big deal even if such 'confusion' is not resolved, so long as you can accept both sentences are of the same meaning. Koreans can understand what you mean when you say "드라마를 좋아해요", although they may find it awkward.

Such trivial omission will not be a stumbling block later and I know it because I never quite find the answer to my query before moving on to higher level learning. My query was, "How can action verb (좋아하다, means to like) and adjective (좋다, means good or fine) be the same?"

I think I have finally found my answer after many years.


Among the adjectives, there are some adjectives that are always directly link to the inner feeling and thinking of the people who use them. Adjective like 좋다, 싫다, 기쁘다, 슬프다 and 무섭다 describes the "me" in I. They can be called the "psychological adjectives" (심리형용사, 心理形容詞). For example,

나는 슬프다 (I am sad)
나는 기쁘다 (I am happy)

Such "psychological adjectives" must always take the first person perspective because it describes the speaker's personal feeling. For example,

나는 빌리의 승진이 매우 기쁘다.
"I am very happy about Billy's promotion." - This sentence uses 기쁘다 from the first person perspective, so it is correct.

너는 빌리의 승진이 매우 기쁘다.
"You are very happy about Billy's promotion." - This sentence uses 기쁘다 from the second person perspective and it is wrong.

그는 빌리의 승진이 매우 기쁘다.
"He is very happy about Billy's promotion". - This sentence uses 기쁘다 from the third person perspective, so it is also wrong.

나는 빌리의 승진이 매우 기뻤니?
"Was I happy about Billy's promotion?" - This sentence is wrong as it does not make sense since 기쁘다 is used to express my (the first person) feeling and not to question my own feeling.

너는 빌리의 승진이 매우 기뻤니?
"Were you happy about Billy's promotion?" - This sentence is correct because you are asking someone directly about his feeling. When the person responds, he is very likely to use 기쁘다 from the first person perspective as in "네, 나는 매우 기뻤어요." (Yes, I was very happy)

그는 빌리의 승진이 매우 기뻤니?
"Was he happy about Billy's promotion?" - This sentence is wrong because it is not asking for a first person's response.


In the situation when psychological adjective is changed to verb by adding "아/어 하다", it also 'loses' its "psychological" aspect. What this means is verb 기뻐하다, which is formed from adjective 기쁘다, is no longer restricted to the first person perspective; it is applicable to all perspectives. For example, the following six sentences are all grammatically correct.

나는 빌리의 승진을 매우 기뻐했다.
너는 빌리의 승진을 매우 기뻐했다.
그는 빌리의 승진을 매우 기뻐했다.
나는 빌리의 승진을 매우 기뻐했니?
너는 빌리의 승진을 매우 기뻐했니?
그는 빌리의 승진을 매우 기뻐했니?

At this point, I finally understood why my teacher would only teach me to use "좋아하다" and not "좋다", "싫어하다" and not "싫다", to express my likes and dislikes. I cannot be wrong in any circumstances if I use "좋아하다" but I can be wrong in some circumstances if I use "좋다". This is perhaps one of the many compromises that has to be introduced in order to make the Korean language easier to understand for foreigners.

돼지의 이야기

When my friend left Korea, she left behind quite a number of things for me. There were cloth hangers, cotton buds, toiletry, a gift card with 50,000won value and lotsa story books. She also left behind her notebook which she used for note-taking during her intermediate Korean lessons. She thought that it might be of help to me.

Frankly, there is nothing much inside her notebook which I do not know but I still found one very interesting example which she jotted down.

What is the difference between the following two sentences?

돼지처럼 먹어요. (Eat like a pig)
돼지만큼 먹어요. (Eat as much as a pig)

The difference is quite obvious when you learn Korean using Korean. However, it may become confusing when you try to use English to understand Korean. The confusing part here is "eating like a pig" can be the same as " eating as much as a pig" because eating a lot is how pig will eat. So if a person eats a lot, you can say that he eats like a pig. But you will be wrong to describe his eating habit as "돼지처럼 먹어요".

~처럼 refers to 'appearance' while ~만큼 refers to 'amount or quantity'. So "돼지처럼 먹어요" means eating sloppily like a pig while "돼지만큼 먹어요" means eating a lot like a pig.

The moral of this 'pig story' is that if you try to learn Korean using English, there may be a lot of confusions to contend with along the way and it may not be the fault of the language that it is confusing.

설명하'겠'습니다

My first Korean language book explained '겠' as a future tense marker. I thought it was an easy word, so I ignore finding out more about it. At one time, I even used '겠' and '을 것' interchangeably. My teacher corrected me without leaving an explanation. I realised now that If she was to explain, she would require many lessons just to clarify everything on '겠'.

'겠' is not easy to explain simply but it is also not difficult to understand. All that is required is a lot of time.

I have no intention to explain '겠' in much details because I doubt my explanation will make anyone clearer. Just look at the words that can be associated with '겠' explanation: 의향 (inclination), 의도 (intention), 의지 (will), 추축 (guess), 조심스럽다 (cautious), 부드럽다 (softness), 곧 (soon), 가능성 (probability), 능력 (ability).

To make thing easy, I shall compare and contrast some very similar sentences.

Pair 1

1. 내일 내가 학교에 가겠어요
2. 내일 내가 학교에 갈 거예요.

The pair of sentences above means I will go to school tomorrow. Despite the same meaning, there is subtle difference between them. For sentence 1, what it means is I am definitely going to school tomorrow regardless of anything. It shows my intention and will. For sentence 2, what it means is I am going to school tomorrow but it can also turn out that I may not go, since no one can predict for sure what will happen in future. In this case, I didn't express much of my thought except a possible action of going to school.

Pair 2

3. 선생님이 케이크를 사겠어요.
4. 선생님이 케이크를 살 거예요.

In pair 2, sentence 3 is not a correct sentence. While you can know your own intention, you won't be able to tell the intention of your teacher or someone else. Hence, sentence 3 is incorrect. To say that our teacher will be buying us a cake, sentence 4 is the correct way to do it. Since we can't tell others' intention, we can always ask, e.g. 선생님, 케이크를 사시겠어요? (Teacher, will you be buying us a cake?)

Pair 3

5. 네, 알겠습니다
6. 네, 알았습니다

In pair 3, '겠' takes on a different meaning. It is no longer about intention and will. In this case, '겠' takes on some element of 'guess' and 'softness'. Pair 3 can be simply translated as "Yes, I know." However, the mood of the listener can vary drastically depending on which sentence you choose to say. If I am to translate sentence 5 literally, it means " Yes, I guess I know it". "I guess I know it" doesn't mean the person doesn't quite understand, rather it is a 'softer' or indirect way of telling others that I have understood without sounding conceited. For sentence 6, what it means literally is, "Yes, I know it already' (so stop checking with me again). To a listener, the speaker can appear irritated and disrespectful. So if you want to sound 'gentle' and respectful, use '알겠습니다' or '모르겠습니다'. Appropriate use of '겠' is good manner.

왜냐하면

I have been taught to use '왜냐하면' like '그래서', and for a long time, I thought that '왜냐하면' is a word like 'because'. Of course, it is not, if you know indirect speech form. '왜냐하면' is the short form of '왜냐고 하면' and is literally translated as 'if you ask why' or 'in case you wanna know why. It looks simple now but it wasn't when I was a beginner.

왜냐하면' is not the only expression I stumbled upon, there are also similar expressions like '뭐냐면' (if you ask what it is), '어떻게 되냐면 (if you ask how it become), 어디 있냐면 (if you ask where it is), which baffled me. As a beginner, I really had a hard time deciphering their meanings.

When providing explanation or information which is not being asked, foreigners usually don't start with "if you ask..."; we just go straight to the point. However, culturally, Koreans are obliged to make an assumption that you may want to know more before they continue with what they want to say. In this way, even if the listener doesn't really want to know more, the speaker will not appear rude because he is speaking on the basis of an assumption.

There is one more thing which I learned about '왜냐하면'. To use it like 'because', I have to start a sentence with it and end with '때문이다' like "왜냐하면... 때문이다." (If you ask why, it is because of ...).

Beginning is always tough. In learning, I am always encouraged by the thought that 'I will know it one day.'

쉬워 보이지만 설명하기 어렵다

It's time to exercise the brain a bit. Look at the picture below and guess a common Korean phrase. (Hint: The phrase has 4 characters and commonly used during exclamation.)

If the picture doesn't ring a bell, get over it because this is not the main focus of this post. What I am going to talk about is 'simplicity' and 'difficulty' or something like that. Time to switch channel if you don't want anymore of 'brain exercise'.


Never-before-seen or what I like to call 'difficult' words, do not usually impede my understanding of an article I read. I can either guess the meaning or check up the dictionary. So, in some way, problem with 'difficult' words is actually an easy problem. But what I found most confusing, is those common and 'simple' word like 고, 도, 더, 야, 니 etc. I could misinterpret, at worst, the whole thrust of an article because of some simple words which I misunderstood. Sometimes, I thought I know but actually, I don't.

I like how my teachers explained 'simple' words. Their explanation is so precise and simple.

'고' indicates '완료' (completion, conclusion)
'도' indicates '양보' (give way, compromise)
'더' indicates '회상' (recall, look back)
'야' indicates '조건' (condition, term)
'니' indicates '자기 생각, 주장' (own thought, opinion, observation)

Despite such simple explanation, I found them most useful and enlightening. Take for example, the grammar ~더니, a combination of '더' and '니', which I have problem understanding previously. I can now guess that when a person uses 더니, he is saying about his opinion, thought or observation on someone or something while recalling his past experience. In brief, whatever is said by the speaker, can be taken as personal and subjective view. Dictionary definitely can't help much in such situation.

Life is a paradox. Simple-looking thing is difficult to explain but difficult-looking thing is easy to explain. An amateur has difficult explanation for what's seemed simple while an expert has difficult explanation for what's seemed difficult. It would thus take a wise man to explain both simple and difficult things simply.

If you think you can easily lead a simple life, think again. That, by itself, is difficult because life is a paradox. We are all more likely to be caught up in a 'difficult' life. What to do? Think simply: That's life.

[Answer: 큰일났다. Big 'One' = 큰일]

욕심쟁이

Some time ago, I saw an advertisement inside a subway train. It caught my eyes because it was special in that it uses Korean proverbs to sell its message. Proverbs which are associated with great ease and benefits are printed all over the advertisement space. Basically, the marketing message is you can have your cake and eat it and that you can do it with great ease.

There are 3 new proverbs about benefit which I learned incidentally from looking at that advertisement.

1. 누이 좋고 매부 좋다 - Both sister and brother-in-law like it.
It is used to describe a win-win situation which is mutually beneficial to both parties concern.

누이: A term used by man to refer to his sister or female cousin (in the same household)
매부: A term used by man to refer to his sister's or female cousin's husband or sister-in-law's husband.


2. 도랑 치고 가재 잡는다 - Catching crayfish while clearing the ditch.
It means getting 2 benefits from just doing 1 job. In the proverb, the task is clearing the ditch and the benefits are a cleared ditch and crayfish for dinner.

도랑: ditch or drain
가재: crayfish


3. 꿩 먹고 알 먹는다 - Eating the pheasant as well as the eggs.
It means getting 2 or more benefits from just doing 1 job. Isn't it good to have both grilled pheasant and omelette for dinner?

뀡: pheasant
알: egg


I believe in this adage - "If it is too good, then it is too good to be true." I will not even bother to ask the question, "If it is so good, why don't you keep it for yourself." Because any question can always be answered convincingly by others who are out to deceive me. In short, just don't be too greedy.

물고기와 생선

Until this morning, I thought I knew the difference between "물고기" and "생선" but the truth is, I have yet to see the complete picture.

What I have understood about "물고기" is that it means fish that is alive and "생선" is fish that is died. However, I became uncertain when my teacher asked the following questions:

1. What do you call those fishes that are died and floating on the river?
2. What do you call those live fishes that are sold in a fish market?

For question one, the answer is "물고기" although the fish is died. For question two, it is "생선" despite the fish being alive.

Dead or alive does not clearly differentiate "물고기" from "생선" and neither do the place, where the fishes are seen, differentiate them. The answer actually lies in how a person perceive a fish. Is a fish an animal or food? If he is looking at a fish as an animal, then the fish is "물고기" to him. However, when he starts to see a fish as a food which he has intention of eating, then the fish becomes "생선" to him.

I am writing this post not really to record what I have learnt today but more to highlight the 'peculiarity' of Korean language. In this instance, there are two Korean words which describe the word 'fish' but there is also situation whereby one Korean word describes two 'different' things. For example, "푸르다" can mean both blue and green colour. If I am to explain this 'peculiarity' briefly, "푸르다" is not exactly a word for colour but rather a perception of colour. Perception is not something exact, hence "푸르다" gains its 'duality' nature once after being translated into English.

I perceive Korean as 'peculiar' because I am looking at it from English language's perspective but if I am to change my perspective to that of a native Korean, I guess, what used to be peculiar would become something natural. Everything is about perception here.

낮과 밤의 사이

Wangsuk River (왕숙천) in Guri (구리)

The above photo is just an ordinary river flowing through a housing estate. However, I think it looks good because I took it at the point when day and night meets. Because of that, there is a balance of light and darkness and hence harmony is achieved. Light and shadow are the basics of photography but I am not about to talk about photography because I am not into it. My interest is in Korean language study so I shall talk about the 'light and shadow' in the language.

When I was learning my basics Korean, my teacher used to call '아' and '오' as the 'chicken sound' whilst '어' and '우' as the 'duck sound'. Back then, I couldn't understand why they are called and differentiated as such although I knew it has something to do with 'ying' and 'yang'.

To help me to understand which vowel is 'ying' and which is 'yang', I made a drawing of the four vowels and differentiated them based on their structure.


However, for the next 3 years, I couldn't form the relationship between chicken and duck and the vowels. The point of enlightenment came when I learned about the characteristics of 'ying' and 'yang' in my language class last semester.

"Yang" has the characteristics of small, soft, thin, bright, light, bubbly, cheery, cute.
"Ying" has the characteristics of big, loud, thick, dark, heavy, dull, gloomy, dreary.

Here is what I have realised. When I try to shout out chicken, 아 or 오, my voice will naturally reach very high pitch. No matter how hard I try, I cannot make them sound very loud. The explanation, I guess, is because, they bear the 'yang' characteristics. Sound that is 'yang' in nature is soft and light. In contrast, when I try to shout out duck, 어 or 우, I can go very loud with the sound. This is in accordance with the 'ying' characteristics which is loud and heavy.

Just to further confirm the identity of 'chicken' and 'duck' sound, 'chicken' when spoken sounds cuter than 'duck'. That is in line with the 'yang' characteristics that I have earlier associated with it.

To bring the explanation a bit further, I attempted to group Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck into 'ying' and 'yang'. Mickey Mouse bears the 'yang' characteristics because I cannot shout out its name very loud unlike Donald Duck. Since Mickey Mouse has the 'yang' characteristics, it is cute and cheery unlike Donald Duck which is gloomy and grumpy. Despite their differences, both cartoon characters are pivotal in making what Walt Disney is today. It is a manifestation of the effect of harmony.

Relating back to Korean language, since there lies a balance between the 'ying' and 'yang' elements in the language, harmony is achieved within the language itself. Harmony usually manifests itself in the form of calmness which is appropriately reflected in the photo above. I have long felt this 'calmness' in the Korean language but for a long time I could not put a finger to what causes it. Perhaps now I can more or less attribute it to the balance between the 'ying' and 'yang' vowels.

생각보다 많다

My first encounter with the grammars ~(이)나 and ~거나 was in basic level Korean. I was taught that they both mean 'or'.

1. ~(이)나 is attached to the back of a noun in the form - Noun + (이)나. For example,

버스나 지하철을 탈 거예요. / 지하철이나 버스를 탈 거예요.
I will take either bus or subway.

2. ~거나 is attached to the back of an action verb in the form - Avst + 거나. For example,

시간이 있으면 책을 읽거나 음악을 들어요.
When I have time, I either read book or listen to music.

[To say that ~(이)나 and ~거나 has the meaning of 'or' is more like giving an approximate to their meaning. What I have come to realise is that they both convey a sense of "it doesn't really matter which is which". This sense is the strongest in words like 아무거나 and 아무때나. 아무거나 means it doesn't matter what is the thing. In other words, it means anything and everything. Similarly, 아무때나 means it doesn't matter what is the time and hence, it means any time and every time. 다 상관 없어요.

When you understand the full meaning of ~(이)나, the following sentence is easy to explain:

시간이 없의니까 빵이나 먹읍시다.
There is no time so let's eat bread.

Sentence explained: When (이)나 is attached to 빵, it means eating bread is fine with the speaker although it is not something he would have eaten if given a choice. To translate the sentence with the nuance included, it will be: There is no time so it doesn't matter what is the food available out there, let's just eat bread and I am fine with it.

If you just memorise the meaning of (이)나 to be 'or', it will be difficult explaining the above sentence sensibly.]

My next encounter with ~(이)나 was in intermediate level Korean. Then, I was taught that it can also mean "to that much" or "as much as". What on earth does that means (도대체 무슨 뜻)? I cannot make full sense of the following sentence. 소주를 한 병이나 마셨어요 (I drank as much as one bottle of soju). Actually, what I mean is I can understand the sentence but I can't grab the sense which ~(이)나 conveys in the sentence. Why emphasise one bottle when it is just only one bottle? I can understand if it is ten bottles but why use ~(이)나 when it is only one bottle of soju? At one time, I even thought that ~(이)나 is similar to 쯤 and 정도. But ~(이)나 is not at all similar to them. It is not an approximate. "소주를 한 병이나 마셨어요" means I drank one bottle of soju exactly and not about one bottle of soju.

The moment of enlightenment came this week when my teacher drew something like what is shown below on the white board.

Both sentences above mean exactly the same thing, which is, there is half a cup of water. However, if you notice the expression to the right, one smiley is sad and the other is happy. The sentences above don't even say that the cup of water is half emptied or half-filled but yet as a reader, I know instantaneously the feeling of the person depending on what he writes. If I may put in some emotion after translating the two sentences, it would be like,

물이 반밖에 없어요 - There is only half a cup of water and nothing else :(
물이 반이나 있어요 - Wow~ there is half a cup of water :)

We all have a ruler of different graduations in us which we use to measure the world we live in. What is too much for some is too little for others. As a result, more often than not, there is a difference between what we think or expect and the actual truth. The grammar ~(이)나 is thus used in a situation when the actual truth is more than what one expects.

Back to the "one bottle of soju" example. When a person say, "소주를 한 병이나 마셨어요", what he actually means is I didn't think that I could even drink a bottle of soju because I am a weak drinker. However, the truth is I did drink one bottle of soju and that is beyond my expectation. I am quite surprised by what I did.

It would be very difficult to understand what the person actually mean if I just translate the sentence to be "I drank one bottle of soju". It is not wrong though but the '느낌' (feeling or sense) is completely lost and there is no knowing about the feeling and thought of the person who said it. From another angle, if the person is to omit using ~(이)나 and says "소주를 한 병 마셨어요", he is not conveying any of his feeling but a fact. In some way, ~(이)나, when used, tells us more about a person himself rather that the fact he is trying to convey.

Just to prevent confusion, (이)나 only carries the nuance of 'more than one's expectation' when it is attached to a quantitative noun or noun that is measurable.

~(이)나 is not as easy as it seems because it is used to convey human thought and feeling which are complicated in the first place. If I am to describe ~(이)나 in one word, it is about '차이' (difference) - the difference between one's thought and the reality. Below are three advanced usage of ~(이)나 which conveys the sense of '차이'. ~(이)나, in this instance, is attached to the noun which is not the reality.

1. 그 분은 프로 선수나 되는 것처럼 골프를 잘 져요.
That person plays golf so well as if he is a professional golfer.
(Note: (이)나 is attached to 프로 선수. The truth is the person is not a 프로 선수.)

Sentence Explained: That person in reality is not a professional golfer. However, when I saw him played, his skill is much better than thought, if not, as good as a professional golfer. When I think he is as good as a pro, there exists a difference or '차이' between my thought and the reality and hence ~(이)나 can be used.

2. 그런 짓은 어린애나 한는 거예요.
That is thing which only kid will do. [this is a common expression to tell people to grow up and stop behaving like a kid]

Sentence Explained: The person being remarked on is actually an adult but the thing he does, makes him seems like a kid in another person's eyes. Since difference exists, ~(이)나 can be used to convey the message - "Hey, you are an adult not a kid. Those are things which only kids will do. Grow up!"

3. 사람이 양심도 없으면 짐승나 다름없어요.
If a person don't even have conscience, he is no different from a beast.

Sentence Explained: In reality, nobody is a beast. However, in a situation when a person forsakes his conscience and does something bad, we would think that he is no different from a beast. So there exists a difference between what is reality and what we think. Again, ~(이)나 is quite useful in conveying the difference between our thought and the reality.

If you can follow me until here, good, if not, it doesn't really matter because you can't learn Korean well using English anyway. Language has a lot to do with '느낌' rather than grammars or other technical aspects of the language. I learned ~(이)나 back home but I never got the '느낌' until I came Seoul. Instead of saying that I am studying Korean in Seoul, I would rather say that I am trying to find the '느낌' of the language here. I am glad to say that what I have gained here until now is more than what I have expected. Although I wish to, I cannot use ~(이)나 to form a sentence in this instance because the difference is between before and after thought and there is no reality involved.

Last night, I dreamed a Korean correcting my broken Korean. I cannot remember the exact words he said but it was something that I could tell is proper Korean. Perhaps, the '느낌' of the language has begun to sit in my mind.

부정적인 결과

We were asked to make 3 sentences each for the grammar ~(으)ㄴ 나머지, ~(으)ㄴ/는 탓에 and ~는 통에. The 3 grammars are all used to give reason for a negative outcome.

One of my classmates made 3 sentences with ~(으)ㄴ 나머지 which I thought was quite funny.

1. 배가 너무 고픈 나머지 과식했어요.
(As I was very hungry, I over ate.)

2. 과식한 나머지 체했어요.
(As I over ate, I have indigestion.)

3. 체한 나머지 구토했어요
(As I have indigestion, I vomited.)

They are grammatically correct by the way. I was asking myself why I didn't think of that.

However, our teacher discourages us from writing short sentences. She reminded that coming to class is like paying a visit to a hospital. In order for a doctor to treat his patient well, the patient must be able to say a lot about his conditions. Similarly, the more we write, the more she will get to know about our 'conditions' and hence more effective 'treatment' for our learning problems.

눈과 눈의 차이점

I don't need more than my two hands to count the number of times it snows this winter. I miss the day when it snowed in the morning while I was walking to school for my mid-term test. That was probably the most beautiful day this winter.

The only proper snow this winter came on Jan 16 morning.

Anyway, I just learned how to differentiate 눈 (snow) from 눈 (eyes) in class. When Koreans prolong the sound of 눈, they mean snow. But when they mean eyes, 눈 is pronounced short and quick. It is not difficult to guess why the sound of 눈, as in snow, is lengthen. Since snow falling from sky is longer than the length of eyes, Koreans emphasise that they mean snow by lengthening the sound of 눈.

The same logic is applied to other similar instances like 다리, 말 and 새. As you may have known, 다리 can mean both bridge and leg. Koreans prolong the sound of 다리 to mean bridge since bridge is longer than leg. As for 말, which can mean either horse or speech, a lengthened 말 pronunciation means speech since horse cannot be as long as those speech made by people with "long breath". Finally, 새 can mean new or bird. Bird can fly great distance, so naturally when Koreans want to mean bird, they lengthen the sound of 새 slightly. Take 새 집 for example, when you want to mean bird's nest, you will have to say 새~집, but when you mean new house, 새 집 is to be pronounced short and quick.

Lengthening the sound is just one way to differentiate the meanings of the same word. In the case of 잠자리, which can mean both sleeping place and dragonfly, the way to differentiate them is to change the sound of 자 to 짜. When Koreans mean sleeping place, they emphasise 자리 and pronounce 잠자리 as [잠짜리]. In the case of dragonfly, 잠자리 is simply pronounced as 잠자리. It is easy to understand why pronunciation changes for sleeping place but not dragonfly. 잠자리, as in sleeping place, is made up of two words which is 잠 and 자리. So when Koreans want to emphasise that it is 잠의 자리 that they are talking about, the sound [잠짜리] naturally surfaces.

Actually, I am much less concern about the technicalities of pronunciation these days. They may be interesting to know but barely helpful. I have come to realise that the best way to improve my pronunciation is to just listen and repeat after my textbook CD.

명사화

One great thing about Advanced Korean is that we get to learn to differentiate some very similar grammars. I really like the way my teacher explains those grammars because she can explain them together with their '느낌' very well. Probably because of this, she remarked jokingly that our school textbook is really bad at explaining grammars - the more you read its explanation, the more you are confused. I cannot agree with her more on this point.

I think it should be useful to share what I have learnt in class. So starting from this post, I shall update my lesson notes periodically.

There are 2 ways of changing a verb into a noun. Actually, it will be more correct to say changing a sentence from its verb form to noun form. This can happen either by attaching ~(으)ㅁ or ~기 but they cannot be used interchangeably. One general difference between the two is that ~(으)ㅁ is used in situation which is formal and of importance (like law and verdict) while ~기 is used more in casual situation (like agreement and plan).


~(으)ㅁ

1. ~(으)ㅁ is used in situation involving some form of judgment (판단, 判斷) or realisation (인식, 認識). You can tell if a situation involves 판단 or 인식 by looking at the verb used in the sentence.

Verbs relating to 판단: 분명하다, 증명되다, 주장하다
Verbs relating to 인식: 알다, 모르다, 기억하다, 느끼다, 발견되다


2. Specific situations where ~(으)ㅁ is used: sentence in dictionary, verdict, memo, warning, notice and where there is a certain truth or information to be made known.

기상 악화로 비행기 출발 시간이 지연되였음 (Notice)
(The flight departure time has been delayed due to worsening weather)

피고를 징역 1년에 처함 (Verdict)
(The accused is sentenced to 1 year jail)


~기

1. ~기 is used when an opinion (의경) is to be made of a casual situation. It is also used when plan (계획) or agreement (약속) is involved. In addition, it is used with verbs like 시작하다 and 끝나다.

Verbs relating to 의경: 좋다, 싫다, 에 알맞다
Verbs relating to 계획 or 약속: 로 결심하다, 바라다, 기원하다


2. Specific situations where ~기 is used: Tagline, Regulation and Proverb.

반찬은 먹을 만큼만 가져가고 남기지 않기 (Regulation)
(For 반찬, take only what you can eat and do not leave left-over)

식은 죽 먹기 (Proverb)
(Eating cold porridge. It means 'piece of cake' or its an easy task.)


숙제

Below are some homework to check your understanding. As I am taking the sentences directly from my lesson, the vocabulary may be slightly difficult. The correct answer is given within the bracket below each sentence. Just highlight it to view.

다음 문장을 '~(으)' 또는 '~기'를 이용하여 완성하십시오.

1. 새해에 하시는 일이 _____(모두 잘 되다)을/를 기원합니다.
[모두 잘 되기를]

2. 3시 이후에 다시 전화하겠다 → _____(전화 내용 메모)
[3시 이후에 다시 전화하겠음]

3. 요즘 공공장소에서는 _____(한 줄로 줄 서다)이/가 확산되고 있다.
[한 줄로 줄 서기가]

4. 이번 일은 모두 _____(그 사람의 단독 범행이다)이/가 드러났다.
[그 사람의 단독 범행임이]

5. 부모님은 _____(내가 거짓말을 했다)을/를 아셨다.
[내가 거짓말을 했음을]

6. 내일부터는 _____(일찍 일어나다)(으)로 결심했다.
[일찍 일어나기로]

7. 나는 전에 _____(그를 만난 적이 있다)을/를 기억했다.
[그를 만난 적이 있음을]

8. 선생님은 학생들이 _____(학습동기를 가져야 한다)을/를 주장하셨다.
[학습동기를 가져야 함을]

9. 그 아이가 갑자기 _____(큰 소리로 울다)을/를 시작해서 당황했다.
[큰 소리로 울기를]

10. 이 논문은 이번 발표 준비하는 데 _____(참고하다)에 적당하지 않습니다.
[참고하기]

11. 앞 차와의 간격 문제로 열차가 다소 _____(지연되고 있다)을/를 알립니다.
[지연되고 있음을]

12. 나오코는 빌리에게서 _____(메시지가 왔다)을/를 알고 기뻐했다.
[메시지가 왔음을]

13. 이 집은 아담해서 _____(혼자 살다)에 딱 알맞은 것 같아요.
[혼자 살기]

14. 그 지문이 _____(영수 씨의 것이다)이/가 증명되어 영수 씨의 알리바이는 거짓말인 것으로 드러났다.
[영수 씨의 것임이]

15. 한국 생활에 익숙해졌지만 한국 문화를 _____(재대로 이해하다)은/는 쉽지 않다.
[재대로 이해하기는]

"동안" 대 "만에"

What is the difference between (시간) 동안 and (시간) 만에?

Nobody asked me this question. It was a question that I used to ask myself. There was a time when I could not tell them apart. The two grammars were confusing because both indicate time duration. But today, their difference is as clear as daylight to me.


(시간) 동안

The grammar "(시간) 동안" is elementary-level Korean. It simply means a period of time and we are interested in what goes on during this period of time. I believe every beginner should have no problem with this grammar because it is used commonly.

Example:

1년 동안 한국어를 공부했어요.
(I studied Korean for 1 year)

10년 동안 싱가포르에서 살았어요
(I lived in Singapore for 10 years)


(시간) 만에

The culprit responsible for causing the confusion is actually the grammar "(시간) 만에", introduced during intermediate-level Korean. While this grammar also indicates a period of time, we are actually not interested in what is going on during this period but rather what goes on after it. An important point to note is that whatever happens after that period of time, must also have happened before the time starts to lapse. See the examples below for better clarity. Otherwise, "(시간) 후에" may be more appropriate if you want to describe something that may not have happened before "after a period of time has lapsed".

Example:

1년 만에 좋은 친구를 만났어요.
(After 1 year (interval or lapse), I met my good friend (again).)
Full meaning of the sentence: The last time I met my good friend was 1 year ago. After 1 year interval (1년 만에), I met my good friend again.

3년 만에 한국어를 공부했어요.
(After 3 years (break), I studied Korean (again).)
Full meaning of the sentence: The last time I studied Korean was three years ago. Then I stopped for 3 years. After 3 years break (3년 만에), I studied Korean again.

(으)면과 다면

In Elementary-level Korean, I learnt how to use the grammar ~(으)면. In Intermediate-level Korean, I learnt how to apply ~다면. But there is always this question that has been bugging me. What is the difference between the two grammars? It seems like this question will only be answered in Advanced-level Korean.


~(으)면
(Making an assumption, based on known facts or accepted belief, which is quite probable to happen )

The conjunction (으)면 is normally used when a person knows a certain fact, truth or information which is probably true. By making certain assumption using (으)면, the person can emphasise a fact, give a warning, an advice or an encouragement. (으)면 is also used when time is being talked about (for e.g. 시간이 나면, 밤이 되면).

Example 1: 계속해서 운동을 하지 않으면 건강이 나빠질 것이다.
The known fact here is that exercise is good for health and the lack of it means health will deteriorate. The assumption made is, if that somebody continues not to exercise, then let him be warned that his health will deteriorate. In this situation, (으)면 is used to give a warning because it is already known that the lack of exercise will eventually mean deteriorating health.

Example 2: 나이가 들면 누구나 흰머리가 생긴다.
In this example, the truth is that everyone will have white hairs when we grow old. (으)면 is used in this situation to emphasise the fact to those who may not have fully accepted the fact that if we grow old, we will naturally have white hairs.


~다면
(Making an assumption, based on personal feeling or belief, which is quite improbable to happen)

Example 1: 네가 도와주지 않았다면 일을 그렿게 빨리 끝낼 수 없었을 거야.

What this sentence is trying to say is, "I believe that if you had not helped, the task would not have completed so expeditiously." The speaker is trying to give credits to someone else for a task well done. The truth may be that 'someone' did not actually contribute much and the speaker is fully deserving of all the credits except that he chose not to accept them out of humbleness.

Example 2: 내가 너라면 이번에 받은 장학금으로 영행을 갈 거야.
(Note: ~다면 includes (Action Verb + (은/는)다면), (Stative Verb + 다면) and (Noun + (이)라면). In this sentence, "너" is a noun, hence "라면".)

In this example, the assumption made is definitely not probable since 'I' cannot be 'you'. However, this improbable assumption is still made to create a scenario for the speaker to express his thought on what he will do in that particular scenario. It may sound strange for someone to assume a scenario in order to speak out his intention, but it won't be strange if you know that the speaker (in this context) is trying to tell the other person indirectly that you are not using your scholarship for what it is worth. '다면' can be used to tell someone about your opinion or proposal in an indirect and subtle way so as to avoid offending someone who may not like to be told what to do directly.

The grammar 아/어서 may be my most frequently-used grammar but (으)면 and 다면 are the grammars that "witness" my progression from Elementary to Advanced-level Korean. For this reason, I have to write this post ^^

이퀴녹 축가해. 여기까지 닿을 수 있는 건 쉬운 건 아니야. 나도 너무나 놀랐어. 그래서 잘 했어. 파이팅!