13
votes
Accepted
Reference frame for come and go
In short: "오다" and "가다" represent the speaker's viewpoint, while "I come" and "I go" represent the listener's.
So when ㄱ is asking ㄴ to come over and ㄴ responds,...
- 395
8
votes
Problems in 에게서, 한테서 and (으)로부터
As a native Korean, X(으)로부터 feels like that a certain event or object originates from, arises from, or occurs because of X, whereas X에게서/한테서 feels just like the plain old English word 'from' with ...
- 141
8
votes
Accepted
불안(不安) 부(不), 안(安) why is this liul inserted?
First, Hangeul was not originally written as Kanji.
Kanji is the term for Chinese characters used in the Japanese language; Hanja is the term for these characters used in Korean language. Hangeul is ...
- 6,004
7
votes
Accepted
Use of 주시다 and 드리다
There are two distinct differences between 주시다 and 드리다:
(해)드리다 is used instead of (해)주다 when the person for whom the favour is done needs to be shown politeness in that particular speech situation.
(...
- 13.5k
7
votes
Accepted
What is the meaning of 까 in the song Gangnam Style?
The correct spelling is 지금부터 갈 데까지 가 볼까?
-까 is mostly some kind of deliberation or suggestion. The example roughly translates to,
"Shall we try and go all the way from now on?" or "Do you want to try ...
- 969
7
votes
Accepted
How to decide which to use from 라고 and 다고?
My dictionary says both functions like a conjunction that in English.
They could both be translated as 'that' in some circumstances, but I'm not sure that's very useful information, as 'that' is a ...
- 13.5k
7
votes
Differentiating 아주, 너무, 매우, 무척
Let me roughly translate those words into English. My English is not fluent enough, so the translation may be awkward or have different nuance. Please correct the sentences if so. The following is my ...
- 471
7
votes
Accepted
Is there a difference between 가지고 오다/가다 and 가져가다/가져오다?
The verb '가지다' conjugates to '가지어-' which can be contracted to '가져'.
'가지고' is a contracted form of '가지다' + '고' (and), connecting two verbs.
They are two different ways to connect the two verbs '가지다' ...
- 1,349
7
votes
Accepted
Difference between usage of 에 and 에서?
Generally,
To indicate a noun is a place in which an action takes place, use 에서. Examples:
아침에는 학교에서 공부하고, 낮에는 카페에서 수다 떨고, 저녁에는 집에서 잠을 잡니다.
(I study in school in the morning, chitchat in a cafe in ...
- 706
6
votes
Problems in 에게서, 한테서 and (으)로부터
First, I wanted to leave a comment, but I've just joined and it seems that I am not allowed to do so.
Second, I'm almost Korean "only" speaker. So please bear with my incorrect English.
Stephen's ...
- 346
6
votes
Accepted
What does 제 mean in this sentence?
you are right. 제 has meaning of 'my', but not here. It also has another meaning in '제 시간', '제 정신' and '제 역할'.
"제 + something" indicates not being out of its own purpose or state.
So usually, 제 정신 ...
- 322
6
votes
Accepted
What is the difference between 지 and 걸?
The way I see it, 지 when used without a pronoun like '어디'(where) generally stands for an unknown or uncertain thing, whereas 것 usually stands for something that is known. (걸 is just a contraction of ...
- 13.5k
6
votes
Accepted
Responding to unfortunate news in Korean
As you say, 미안 합니다 and 죄송합니다 aren't quite right, as they're more for taking responsibility for your own actions.
In my local culture (UK), we often respond by showing concern and asking some somewhat ...
- 13.5k
6
votes
Accepted
Are 씨 or 님 appropriate name suffixes to be polite in an Internet forum?
님 is practically the standard way to address people's usernames on the Internet. I've never seen/used 씨 before, though.
- 7,412
6
votes
Accepted
What is the difference between 현실 and 실제?
Even though their meaning is similar, they don't always appear with the same syntax: 실제 is more often used to modify the following noun (실제 상황, 실제 구성, etc.). 현실 is less commonly used in such a way: ...
- 7,352
6
votes
Accepted
Structure of a Korean maths question (단, 대하여)
대하여 is a very common word, meaning "concerning/on/with respect to". It is actually derived from verb 대하다 (although it's probably best regarded as a separate word), and can take forms as 대하여/...
- 7,352
6
votes
Accepted
What's the difference between 최저시급 versus 최저임금?
임금 means 'pay'. It includes all kinds of income; annual pay, monthly pay, weekly wage, daily wage and hourly wage.
시급 only means hourly wage.
Thus, 최저임금 means minimum wage and 최저시급 means minimum ...
- 1,564
6
votes
What's a natural way to say that someone works somewhere (for a job)?
To me, at talking a job, childish is natural.
I work in a publishing company
출판사에서 일합니다.
I am in a publishing company 출판사에 있어요
I go to a publishing company 출판사 다녀요
If we have a particular job, ...
- 3,041
5
votes
Use of the pseudo-noun 한
Actually, as a native speaker of the language, '-한' is often used. But it's not something that can be written by itself. It's similar to 'as long as'.
법과 어긋나지 않는 한 기꺼이 양보합니다.
Therefore, the above ...
5
votes
Accepted
Difference between 대해서 and 대한?
대한 is a modifier, whereas 대해서 acts as a conjunction.
so -에 대한 will always be followed by a noun, whereas -에 대해서 should be followed by a verb phrase (the verb phrase might begin with a noun, but ...
- 6,004
5
votes
Accepted
Two lines of 사랑해 당신을
The correct spelling is 멀리 떠나버린 못 잊을 님이여.
멀리 – far
떠나버린 – (who) has left (past adjective form of 떠나버리다. 떠나다 means "leave" and the -버리다 ending intensifies the feeling.)
못 – cannot
잊을 – (who) will ...
- 969
5
votes
How can I tell if 시키다 means 'let' something happen or 'cause' something to happen?
시키다(1)
[동사Verb]
1.어떤 일이나 행동을 하게 하다.
To have someone do an action.
2.음식 따위를 만들어 오거나 가지고 오도록 주문하다.
To order someone to cook or bring a food.
시키다(2)
‘사동’의 뜻을 더하고 동사를 만드는 접미사.
Suffix that adds ...
- 51
5
votes
Accepted
Why use 가 in 의사가 되세요?
I'm learning about the usage on (으)세요, but my textbook explains that
you cannot use 이다 in (으세요) form. So the following sentence is invalid:
의사이세요
You can add the honorific particle (으)시 to 이다 ...
- 13.5k
5
votes
Accepted
Difference 동일한 vs 똑같은
They are largely used interchangeably, and 똑같은 can be used instead of 동일한 in your example. There are some subtle differences however.
When comparing two or more objects (either abstract or concrete), ...
- 706
5
votes
Accepted
Not sure when to use 씨?
There are usually three ways to identify a name: adding 님, adding 씨, and just using the name. For example, if you call a close friend named 영수 Young-soo:
영수야 sounds good. (Similar to Hey Young-soo!)
...
- 166
5
votes
Not sure when to use 씨?
In my experience, the term 씨 is used for people who you do not know well, but who are roughly in your peer group or sometimes lower. It is used when you desire to be respectful, but not TOO respectful....
- 3,934
5
votes
제가 김밥을 준비할까요? 그럼 부탁해요 or 준비합시다
I can't see a situation where this conversation will take place with these exact phrases and honorific conjugations, but let me take a stab at why (a) is better than (b).
Since the question is, "...
- 3,285
5
votes
How to say "I work for" without implying "I work at"
In Korean, there is no single phrase that works for every meaning of English "for". 위해서 is like "for the good/sake of", and doesn't really work in the sense of "work for a ...
- 2,362
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