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I thought '모레' meant 'the day after tomorrow', but today I heard some Koreans saying '내일 모레'. I confirmed with them that they meant 'the day after tomorrow'.

Is this common? Why add the '내일' ?

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  • i think it just means let's meet sometime in the future, without specifying a date
    – user17915
    Oct 18, 2017 at 22:46
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    @user17915 No Korean would say "내일 모레" to imply sometime in the future. It's "the day after tomorrow" for sure.
    – user7
    Oct 29, 2017 at 17:23
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    "글피" means "the day after 모레" and Korean people usually say "내일 모래 글피" or "모레 글피". I don't know the reason why exactly, but I guess it's just idiomatic usage. If I hear people say "글피 만나자", I would respond, "Huh?", but if I hear people say "모레 글피 만나자", I would respond "Ah, yes.". I don't think there is any rule on this, but I would say it helps you get the clearer picture.
    – user7
    Oct 29, 2017 at 17:31

3 Answers 3

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I'm Korean. I think it is to put emphasis on the meaning.

모레 < 내일 모레

If someone just says "모레 만나자! 모레 뭐할건데?", the word '모레' confuses me.

모레 and 모래(sand) have the same pronunciation.

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I am Korean, and I find it very common to say "내일 모레" to mean the day after tomorrow. I say it almost everytime I need to say the day after tomorrow. It's not like there's an emphasis or anything here. It's just habitual.

In the meantime, it is totally fine to say just "모레." I don't see anything wrong with this either. It actually doesn't confuse me with 모래(sand) because I would be understanding terms in the context of time.

It's just that I happen to say "내일 모레" without thinking whenever I mean the day after tomorrow.

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No, 내일 모레 is a not that definitive. It's just like an English speaker saying "tomorrow or the day after". It means they may do it but are not committing to an exact answer. I may add that 내일 모레 is quick speaking for 내일이나 모레.

If one thinks 모레 and 모래 sound the same, then you need to get a native Korean speaker to say 에 and 애 for you you can listen carefully. They are not the same.

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  • 내일 모레 is "the day after tomorrow", definitively. Apr 24, 2021 at 18:13

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