봄이 되어 grammar: 봄이 되어 산에 올라가 봤습니다

Question

봄이 되어 산에 올라가 봤습니다.

Could anyone explain the grammar point relating to 되어 here? I read that when dealing with 하다 verbs, most of the time you can simply exchange 하다 with 되다, to make that verb passive. For example:

포함하다 = to include 포함되다 = to be included

제공하다 = to provide 제공되다 = to be provided

대체하다 = to replace 대체되다 = to be replaced

However, does the part "봄이 되어" have anything to do with passive? Also why do we add 어 to 되 in this example?

Thanks.

Answer 1

On its own, 되다 means "to become" or "to be made". So "봄이 되어" is literally "it became spring," or "spring has/had come."

The way that 되다 gives a verb a passive meaning is similar to how English word "be" does to passive voice. For example, 포함되다 ≈ 포함이 되다 ≈ it became/happens to be included ≈ it is included.

-어 in 되어 is like a conjunction with many possible meanings. It links between "it became spring" and "I hiked a mountain", but the meaning of which could be ambiguous as it could be interpreted as one of, but not limited to, the following:

• "It became spring, and I hiked a mountain." ( ≈ "I hiked a mountain in the (next) spring.")
• "It became spring, so I hiked a mountain." (cf. 봄이 되어서 산에 올라가 봤습니다. / 봄이라서 산에 올라가 봤습니다.)
• "It was not until spring that I hiked a mountain." (cf. 봄이 되어서야 산에 올라가 봤습니다.)