Here are the words we talk about in this episode! For a more systematic learning experience, please visit us at talktomeinkorean.com 감사합니다!

감기 / 열 / 열이 나다 / 미열 / 고열 / 삼십육 점 오 도 / 섭씨 / 화씨 / 증상 / 두통 / 머리가 아프다 /  편두통 / 기침 / 재채기 / 에취 / 기침이 나오다 / 헛기침을 하다 / 콜록콜록 / 콜록거리다 / 아침부터 콜록거리네. 어디 아파? / 까딱까딱 / 까딱거리다 / 식욕이 없다

해열제 / 진통제 / 두통약 / 기침가래약 / 링거 / 링거 맞았어요. / 수액 / 주사기 / 주사 / 주사 맞다 / 영양 주사 / 비타민 주사 / 생강차 / 꿀물 / 쌍화차 

백신 / 예방 접종 / 예방 주사 / 면역력 / 빨리 나아. 빨리 나으세요. / 푹 쉬세요. / 일 생각하지 말고 푹 쉬세요! / 빨리 회복하세요. / 빠른 쾌유를 빕니다.

Here are the words we talk about in this episode! For a more systematic learning experience, please visit us at talktomeinkorean.com 감사합니다!

가구 / 방 / 침실 / 안방 / 안주인 / 거실 / 리빙 룸 / 침실 / 아이들 방 / 애들 방 / 침대 방 / 공부방 / 서재 / 주방 / 부엌 / 베란다 / 발코니 / 책상 / 높이 조절 책상 / 모션 데스크 / 스탠딩 데스크 / 화장대 / 전자 제품 / 세탁기 / 건조기 / 건조대 / 밥솥 / 전기 밥솥 / 반찬 / 냉장고 / 냉장실 / 냉동실 / 닭 가슴살 / 전자레인지 / 욕조 / 찜질방 / 목욕탕 / 빌라 / 아파트 / 고층 아파트 / 단지 / 커뮤니티 시설 / 세대수 / 오피스텔 / 다세대 주택 / 단독 주택 / 전원 주택 / 복층

Thank you for listening to our podcast to learn more Korean! Here are some essential keywords and expressions mentioned in this episode.

워라밸 / 워라밸을 유지하다 / 애매한 영역 / 대상포진 / 충격을 받다 / 경고 / 내가 즐기는 것 / 심심하다

Please visit us on our website at ttmik.me/3G2F59O for our full systematic Korean curriculum!

Today's topic is "exercise" and some related Korean words and expressions! We hope you enjoy listening : ) Please let us know what you thought of this episode! Leave us comments on Twitter and YouTube!

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Today's topic is "travel" and some related Korean words and expressions! We hope you enjoy listening : ) Please let us know what you thought of this episode! Leave us comments on Twitter and YouTube!

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www.youtube.com/c/TalkToMeInKorean2009/community

Today's topic is "being a fan" of something or someone and some related Korean words and expressions! We hope you enjoy listening : ) Please let us know what you thought of this episode! Leave us comments on Twitter and YouTube!

Something new for our Talk-Talk's! Listen to this pilot episode and please share your thoughts about it with us on Twitter or on YouTube : )

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감사합니다!

The ultimate mood booster for Korean learners. The perfect way to start your day. The best way to get your mind ready for a new Korean study session.

Yes. The rumors were all true.

We have been Korean teachers by day and secretly K-Pop trainees at night for the past 12 years… and we are finally ready to step up our educational music game and share our first digital single with their world.

We may not be K-Pop 아이돌(idols) (because some of us are more like 어른돌s in our 40s) but our music will inspire a sense hope, or in more fancy words, a sense of ITCRASICSKT (= If They Can Release A Song, I Can Speak Korean Too!).

Take a listen to this song now and dive into the world of TTMIK-Pop!

Full lyrics:
어디서든지 한국어를 배울 수 있어. 톡투미인코리안과 함께라면.
(그래서 이 노래를 준비했습니다. 시작하겠습니다.)
어디서든지 한국어를 배울 수 있어. 톡투미인코리안과 함께라면. (라면?)
봄 여름 가을 겨울, 아침 저녁 평일 주말
봄 여름 가을 겨울, 아침 저녁 평일 주말
집 학교 회사에서, 버스 지하철 자동차에서 (빵빵!)
카페 식당 공원에서, 도서관 화장실 거리에서

매일 조금씩 배워
10분도 괜찮아, 5분도 괜찮다구!
학교에 안 다녀도, 한국에 안 살아도
티티믹이 있으면 어디서든 배울 수 있어

(그럼 이제 우리 그동안 배운 걸 복습해 볼까요? / 네. 좋아요.)
(아주 간단해요. / 그냥 이 노래를 따라부르면 돼요.)

물건을 셀 때는 (한 개, 두 개, 세 개, 네 개)
사람을 셀 때는 (한 명, 두 명, 세 명, 네 명)
한 개 두 개 (세 개 네 개)
한 명 두 명 (세 명 네 명)
한 장 두 장 (세 장 네 장)
한 권 두 권 (세 권 네 권)
한 마리 두 마리 세 마리 (어?)
곰 세 마리가~
한 시 두 시 세 시 네 시, 일분 이분 삼분 사분
Let's 기린! 사자! 코끼리!

어디서든지 한국어를 배울 수 있어. 톡투미인코리안과 함께라면. (라면?)
봄 여름 가을 겨울, 아침 저녁 평일 주말
봄 여름 가을 겨울, 아침 저녁 평일 주말
집 학교 회사에서, 버스 지하철 자동차에서 (빵빵)
카페 식당 공원에서, 도서관 화장실 거리에서

매일 조금씩 배워
학교에 안 다녀도, 한국에 안 살아도
티티믹이 있으면 어디서든 배울 수 있어
어디서든지 한국어를 배울 수 있어. 톡투미인코리안과 함께라면.

봄 여름 가을 겨울, 아침 저녁 평일 주말
집 학교 회사에서, 버스 지하철 자동차에서
카페 식당 공원에서, 도서관 화장실 거리에서
하루 10분 하루 5분 매일 조금씩 배워

이상으로 노래를 마치겠습니다.
오늘 하루도 톡투미인코리안과 함께 즐거운 시간 보내시기 바랍니다.
다? 다리미
미? 미용실
실? 실수
수? 수영장
장? 장미

Download the lesson notes for this episode at talktomeinkorean.com

Download the lesson notes for this episode at talktomeinkorean.com

Download the lesson notes for this episode at talktomeinkorean.com

Here are the words we talk about in this episode! For a more systematic learning experience, please visit us at https://talktomeinkorean.com 감사합니다!

큰 결정을 어떻게 내리나요? / 결정을 내리다 / 결론을 내리다 / 생각을 많이 하다 / 한꺼번에 / 결정을 빨리 내리다 / 장점, 단점 / 부작용 / 표를 만들다 / 후회하다 / 신중하다 / 결혼 / n년 단위 / 계약을 깨다 / 최고의 결정을 내리려고 하기보다, 결정을 좋은 것으로 만들면 된다. / 한두 푼 하는 것이 아니다.

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Welcome to another lesson in the Advanced Situational Expressions series. Throughout this series, we go over common situations and some of the advanced Korean expressions you can use in each of them. In this lesson, we will introduce various expressions you can use when you are unhappy or upset about something or a particular situation. 

1. 오늘 기분이 너무 안 좋아요. 

[o-neul gi-bu-ni neo-mu an jo-a-yo.]

= I’m feeling terrible today. 

= I’m so upset today. 

2. 지금 그럴 기분 아니에요. 

[ji-geum geu-reol gi-bun a-ni-e-yo.]

= I’m in no mood to do that.

3. 지금 이야기할 기분 아니에요. 말 시키지 마세요.

[ji-geum i-ya-gi-hal gi-bun a-ni-e-yo. mal si-ki-ji ma-se-yo.]

= I’m not in the mood to talk now. Please leave me alone.

4. 진짜 열 받는 일이 있었어요.

[jin-jja yeol bat-neun i-ri i-sseo-sseo-yo.]

= Something really upsetting happened.

= I’m so upset now because of what happened earlier.

5. 사람이 어떻게 그래요? 

[sa-ra-mi eo-tteo-ke geu-rae-yo?]

= How can someone be so mean? 

= How can they do that to me?

6. 진짜 어이가 없네. 

[jin-jja eo-i-ga eop-ne.]

= I don’t even know what to say. I’m so mad.

7. 저 지금 너무 화 나는데 참고 있는 거예요.

[jeo ji-geum neo-mu hwa na-neun-de cham-gi it-neun geo-ye-yo.]

= I’m so upset now but I’m trying not to show it. 

8. 진짜 속상해요. 

[jin-jja sok-sang-hae-yo.]

= I’m so upset. 

= I’m so sad. 

9. 너무 서운해요. 

= I’m so disappointed. 

10. 이번에는 믿고 있었는데 완전 실망했어요. 

= I trusted them this time but I am really disappointed. 

In this lesson, we are going to take a look at the grammar structure, -아/어/여 버리다. This structure is used to express the completion of a certain action. In addition to the fact that an action is completed, this structure also includes the speaker’s feeling, which can be 1) a happy feeling about finally completing a task and getting rid of a burden, or 2) a sad feeling that something happened in a way that the speaker did not want or expect. 

Construction:

Verb stem + -아/어/여 버리다 

Ex)

끝나다 = to finish; to end

→ 끝나 버리다 = to finish; to come to an end

→ 끝나 버렸어요. = It ended (and I am sad about it). / It ended (and it’s completely over). 

Although the construction is fairly simple, it will take some time to get used to the actual meaning behind this grammar structure, especially when you want to determine whether the feeling contained in the sentence is a happy one about completing a task or a sad one about something ending.

Examples of a happy feeling attached to -아/어/여 버리다 

1. 다 끝내 버렸어요! 

= I’ve finished everything!

2. 고민하다가, 사 버렸어요! 

= I was hesitating, but I’ve (finally) bought it! 

Examples of a sad feeling attached to -아/어/여 버리다 

1. 잃어 버렸어요. 

= I’ve lost it (and I’m not happy about it).

2. 떨어져 버렸어요. 

= It dropped (and I didn’t want it to).

Sample Sentences

1. 어제 산 핸드폰을 잃어 버렸어요.

= I lost the cell phone I bought yesterday. (And I didn’t want that to happen.)

2. 안 좋은 일은 다 잊어 버렸어요.

= I’ve forgotten all the bad things. (I am done with them.)

3. 빨리 끝내 버리세요.

= Get it over with quickly. 

= Finish it quickly and be done with it already.

4. 벌써 다 말해 버렸어요. 

= I’ve already told them everything. (It’s done. It’s over.)

5. 10분 더 기다려도 안 오면 저 혼자 가 버릴 거예요.

= If I wait for 10 more minutes (and) you don’t come, I will just go by myself. 

6. 어제 쓴 글이 마음에 안 들어서 다 지워 버렸어요.

= I didn’t like what I wrote yesterday, so I’ve erased it all. 

7. 효진 씨한테 기다려 달라고 했는데, 그냥 가 버렸어요.

= I asked Hyojin to wait, but she just left.  

8. 컴퓨터가 멈춰 버렸어요.

= My computer has stopped. (And it’s causing me trouble.)

9. 시작한 김에 오늘 다 끝내 버리는 거 어때요?

= Now that we’ve started it, why don’t we just get it all done today?

10. 영화가 벌써 시작해 버렸어요. 

= Oh, no! The movie has already begun! 

This is an Advanced Idiomatic Expressions lesson related to 손, the hand. In order to fully understand and use the expressions introduced in this series, it is essential that you understand the grammatical structure of the sentences. When you come across a grammar point that you are unfamiliar with, please go back and review the related TTMIK lessons.

Keyword:

손 = hand

1. 손에 익다 = get accustomed to something

(익다 = to be ripe, to be experienced)

→ You might be familiar with the word 익숙하다, which means “to be used to” something. Here, the verb 익다 has the same meaning as 익숙하다, but with the word 손, the expression is always used in the form 손에 익다. Think of it as a task or skill being “comfortable” or “accustomed” to the hand.

Ex) 아직 일이 손에 익지 않아서, 시간이 오래 걸려요.

= I haven’t become accustomed to the work yet, so it takes me a long time.

2. 손을 씻다 = to be through with something (bad); to quit doing something (bad)

(씻다 = to wash)

→ The verb 씻다 means “to wash,” so the literal meaning of 손을 씻다 is “to wash one’s hands.” While it really is used in that sense, the expression 손을 씻다 can also be used to mean “to quit doing something bad,” such criminal or illegal acts.

Ex) 저는 그 일에서 손 씻은 지 오래 됐어요.

= It’s been a long time since I quit doing that.

3. 손이 크다 = to have an open hand; to be very generous (usually with food that one cooks)

(크다 = to be big)

→ When someone tends to make a lot of food when cooking, you can say that the person is 손이 크다. When this expression is used in an idiomatic way, it has nothing to do with the actual size of the person’s hand. 손이 크다 is often, if not always, used to refer to mothers always cooking more food than necessary.

Ex) 저희 어머니는 손이 커서 항상 음식을 너무 많이 하세요.

= My mother has an open hand, so she always cooks too much food.

4. 손에 땀을 쥐다 = to be thrilled (while experiencing or watching something)

(땀 = sweat, 쥐다 = to grab)

→ Literally, 손에 땀을 쥐다 means to “grab sweat in one’s hand.” The actual meaning of this phrase is that you are so excited and thrilled that your hands start sweating, therefore you have some sweat in your hands. This expression is commonly used in the forms 손에 땀을 쥐고, meaning “while being very thrilled,” and 손에 땀을 쥐게 하는, meaning “to be thrilling.”

Ex) 축구 경기가 너무 재미있어서 정말 손에 땀을 쥐고 봤어요.

The soccer match was a lot of fun, so I felt really thrilled while watching it.

The soccer match was a lot of fun and I was really on the edge of my seat.

5. 손에 안 잡히다 = can’t concentrate on something (usually work)

(잡히다 = to be grabbed, to be caught)

→ When you say that something is 손에 안 잡히다, it literally means that something is “not caught by one’s hands” but the actual meaning behind it is that you can’t get your hands on some task or can’t concentrate on something because you are distracted by other worries or exciting things.

Ex) 걱정돼서 일이 손에 안 잡혀요.

= I can’t concentrate on work because I am worried.

6. 손을 놓다 = to stop working on something; to get one’s hands off something

(놓다 = to let go)

→ When you have your hands off something, it means you are not working on it anymore. You can say 손을 놓다 when you are either distracted or discouraged and not working on something anymore.

Ex) 요즘 비디오 만드는 것에 손을 놓고 있었어요.

= Recently, I haven’t been making any videos.

7. 손이 닳도록 빌다 = to beg as if one’s life depended on it; to beg and plead

(닳다 = to be worn down, 빌다 = to beg, to plead)

→ 빌다 is to beg or to plead, and 손이 닳도록 means “to the point where your hands will be worn out”, so all together, 손이 닳도록 빌다 means to plead or beg as if your life depended on it.

Ex) 손이 닳도록 빌었는데도, 안 된다고 했어요.

= I begged and begged, but he still said no.

8. 손을 떼다 = to pull out of something

(떼다 = to detach)

→ 떼다 means “to detach something off another thing.” So, when you say that you detach your hands off something, it means you’ve stopped doing something. Whereas 손을 놓다, 손을 떼다, and 손을 씻다 have similar meanings, 손을 씻다 usually means to stop doing something that is bad or illegal, 손을 놓다 means “to be too distracted or tired to continue working on something,” and 손을 떼다 means “to decide to stop being involved in something from a certain moment.”

Ex) 저는 이 일에서 손 뗄게요.

= I will pull out of this.

= I will stop being involved in this project.

We have already introduced how to say “as soon as” or “right after” in Korean through a previous lesson, but there is more than one way to say these phrases in Korean. In this lesson, we are introducing a more advanced and more figurative way of saying “as soon as”.

1. Verb + -기가 무섭게
The word 무섭다 literally means “to be scary” or “to be scared”, but -기가 무섭게 has nothing to do with being scared or scary in its translation. When you say that something happens right after you do something,  or even “as” you are doing it, you can say “verb + -기가 무섭게” and then say what happened.

Ex)
수업이 끝나기가 무섭게
= as soon as the class ended
(using -자마자) = 수업이 끝나자마자

말이 끝나기가 무섭게
= as soon as he finished talking
(using -자마자) = 말이 끝나자마자

2. Verb + -기가 바쁘게
-기가 바쁘게 and -기가 무섭게 are almost always interchangeable and are used depending on personal preferences. Some people say 무섭게 more often, some say 바쁘게, and others may not use either of them at all and could just use -자마자 for everything.

Ex)
문을 열기가 바쁘게
= as soon as I opened the doors
(using -자마자) = 문을 열자마자

밥을 다 먹기가 바쁘게
= as soon as he finished eating
(using -자마자) = 밥을 다 먹자마자

Sample Sentences
1. 아침에 눈을 뜨기가 무섭게 집에서 나왔어요.
= 아침에 눈을 뜨기가 바쁘게 집에서 나왔어요.
= As soon as I woke up in the morning, I left the house.

2. 문을 열기가 무섭게 손님들이 들어왔어요.
= 문을 열기가 바쁘게 손님들이 들어왔어요.
= As soon as we opened the door, customers came in.

3. 음식이 주문하기가 무섭게 나왔어요.
= 음식이 주문하기가 바쁘게 나왔어요.
= The food came out as soon as we ordered it.

4. 수업이 끝나기가 무섭게 학생들이 교실 밖으로 나갔어요.
= 수업이 끝나기가 바쁘게 학생들이 교실 밖으로 나갔어요.
= The students left the classroom as soon as the class was over.

5. 사람들은 공연이 끝나기가 무섭게 밖으로 나갔어요.
= 사람들은 공연이 끝나기가 바쁘게 밖으로 나갔어요.
= As soon as the performance was over, people went outside.

This is part 2 of the Advanced Idiomatic Expressions lesson related to 눈, the eyes! In order to fully understand and use the expressions introduced in this series, it is essential that you understand the grammatical structure of the sentence. When you come across a grammar point that you are unfamiliar with, please go back and review the related lessons.

Keyword:
눈 = eye

In Part 1, you learned the following expressions. (See Level 8 Lesson 1)
1. 눈이 높다 = to be picky
2. 눈 밖에 나다 = to get on one’s bad side
3. 눈을 붙이다 = to get some sleep, to take a nap
4. 눈빛만 봐도 알 수 있다 = can know with just one glance (at someone’s eyes)
5. 눈 앞이 캄캄하다 = to not know where to start; to not have hope
6. 눈썰미가 좋다 = to learn things fast; to pick up things fast

Part 2

7. 눈에 넣어도 아프지 않다 = to be the apple of one’s eye
(넣다 = to put in, 아프다 = to hurt)

→ 눈에 넣다 literally means “to put something into one’s eyes”, which is not a very common thing to do, but it is just part of “눈에 넣어도 아프지 않다” which means “someone is so precious that it won’t hurt even if you put him/her into your eyes”. It might be a bit scary to think about the literal meaning of this sentence, but think of it as “wanting to keep the person in one’s sight all the time”. This is usually used toward children.

Ex) 아이들은 그 나이 때 정말 귀여워서 눈에 넣어도 아프지 않아요.
(= Kids at that age are so cute that they are the apple of your eye.)

8. 눈에 띄다 = to be difficult to miss; to stand out
(띄다 = to be spotted)

→ The verb 띄다 itself means to be spotted, but it’s almost always used with the noun “눈” to form the phrase “눈에 띄다”. When you say that something or someone is “눈에 띄다”, it not only means that it catches your eyes and is remarkable, but it can also mean that something is difficult to miss because it’s either very good or terrible. When someone’s fashion stands out because it’s either amazing or weird, you can say “눈에 띄는 패션”, and when someone’s Korean speaking skills have gone up impressively, you can say that the person’s Korean has “눈에 띄게 늘었어요”.

Ex) 한국어 어떻게 공부해요? 실력이 눈에 띄게 늘었어요.
(= How do you study Korean? Your Korean skills have improved so much!)

9. 눈을 마주치다 = eyes meet
(마주치다 = to run into each other; to bump into each other)

→ 마주치다 means “to bump into” or “to run into someone” by chance. When you use this verb with 눈, it means that two people’s eyes meet. When you say “눈을 마주치다”, 눈 is the object of the verb 마주치다, and you can also say “눈이 마주치다”, with 눈 as the subject of the verb 마주치다.

Ex) 그 사람하고 눈이 마주쳤는데, 창피해서 고개를 돌렸어요.
(= My eyes met with his, and I felt embarrassed so I looked away.)

10. 눈이 멀다 = to be blinded by something
(눈이 멀다 = to go blind)

→ Here, the verb 멀다 sounds the same as the verb for “to be far away”, but when 멀다 is used with 눈, it means that your eyes are either blind or temporarily blinded by something. This expression is often used along with what caused you to be blinded in the form “Noun + -에 눈이 멀다".

Ex) 그 사람은 욕심에 눈이 멀었어요.
(= He is blinded by his greed.)

11. 눈이 부시다 = to be radiant
(눈이 부시다 = to be dazzling; to be too bright)

→ 눈이 부시다 means that something is so bright that you can’t open your eyes to see it directly. You can use this expression to talk about light, but you can also say this about someone’s beauty.

Ex) 눈이 부시게 아름다워요.
(= Your beauty is dazzling.)

12. 눈 하나 깜짝하지 않다 = to not bat an eye
(하나 = one, 깜짝하다 = to blink)

→ When someone is not surprised or affected by a threatening or shocking remark or action, you can say that the person doesn’t even blink at it, by using the expression 눈 하나 깜짝하지 않다. A similar expression is 눈 깜짝할 사이에, which means “in the blink of an eye”.

Ex) 그 사람은 그런 말을 들어도 눈 하나 깜짝하지 않을 거예요.
= Even if you tell him that, he wouldn’t bat an eye.

Welcome to the first lesson in the Advanced Idiomatic Expression series! By studying with this series, you will learn many idiomatic expressions that are based upon a certain Korean word and used in everyday Korean conversation. In order to fully understand and use the expressions introduced in this series, it is essential that you understand the grammatical structure of the sentence. When you come across a grammar point that you are unfamiliar with, please go back and review the related lessons.

Keyword:
눈 = eye

1. 눈이 높다 = to be picky
(높다 = to be high)

→ 눈이 높다 literally means that your “eyes are high”, but in Korean, if you say that your eyes are 높다, it simply means that you have high standards for things or people. When someone is very picky about the type of person they want to date or the kind of things they want to buy, you can say “눈이 높다”.  

Ex) 저 눈 안 높아요. 저는 그냥 성격 좋은 사람이면 다 좋아요.
(= I’m not picky. Anyone who has a good personality is fine for me.)

2. 눈 밖에 나다 = to get on one’s bad side
(밖에 = outside of something / 나다 = to get out, to be out)

→ When you have done something to make a person upset with you and that person doesn’t like you very much any longer, you might have some disadvantages compared to other people. In that case, you can say that you are “outside” someone’s eyes, meaning that the person will not be happy to help you or give you any benefit.

Ex) 저는 지각을 많이 해서, 선생님 눈 밖에 났어요.
(= I am frequently late, so my teacher doesn’t like me.)

3. 눈을 붙이다 = to get some sleep; to take a nap
(붙이다 = to paste; to glue things together)

→ When you take a nap, you can use the expression “눈을 붙이다”. The literal translation is “to glue one’s eyes together”, but it is actually closer in meaning to “gluing one’s eyelids shut”, meaning that one sleeps. This is not very commonly used to refer to sleeping at night.

Ex) 피곤하면 눈 좀 붙여요. 나중에 깨워 줄게요.
(= If you are tired, get some sleep. I’ll wake you up later.)

4. 눈빛만 봐도 알 수 있다 = can know with just one glance
(빛 = light, 보다 = to see, 알다 = to know)

→ When you automatically know what a person wants or wants to tell you just by looking at his/her eyes, you can say 눈빛만 봐도 알 수 있다. The word 눈빛 doesn’t literally refer to light that comes out of one’s eyes, but rather the way someone looks at something, or the emotion that you can feel from the eyes.

Ex) 말 안 해도, 눈빛만 봐도 알 수 있어요.
(= Even if you don’t say it, I can know just by looking at your eyes.)

5. 눈 앞이 캄캄하다 = to not know where to start; to have no hope
(앞 = front, 캄캄하다 = to be dark; to be pitch black)

→ When it’s dark in front of your eyes, it means that you can’t see; when you can’t see, you will panic. When you are confronted with a situation where you don’t know what to do or you can’t think of a way to get out of it, you say 눈 앞이 캄캄하다.

Ex) 눈 앞이 캄캄했었는데, 석진 씨가 도와줬어요.
(= I was in panic because I didn’t know how to solve the problem, but 석진 helped me.)

6. 눈썰미가 좋다 = to learn things quickly; to pick up things fast
(좋다 = to be good)

→ 눈썰미 refers to the ability to learn or understand how something is done just by looking at someone else doing it. For example, when someone can learn how to cook a Korean dish mainly by watching others, or when someone can pick up a dance move very quickly by imitating what they saw, you can say that the person has good 눈썰미.

Ex) 한 번만 보고 어떻게 따라해요? 눈썰미가 좋으시네요.
(= How do you follow the moves just by looking at them once? You pick up things very fast!)

Here are the words we talk about in this episode! For a more systematic learning experience, please visit us at https://talktomeinkorean.com 감사합니다!

고민 / 요즘 생각하는 것 / 내가 바라는 하루 일과 / 바라다 / 일찍 일어나다 / 운동하다 / 회의 / 저녁을 먹다 / 아이들과 놀다 / 불평할 여지가 없다 / 시간 관리 / 포기하다 / 자기 계발 / 아이들 교육 / 용기 / 예쁘게 봐 주다 / 내 주변에는 어떤 사람들이 있나? / 친절하다 / 다른 사람을 욕하다 / 특이한 직업 / 기업가 / 소셜 미디어  / 시간을 정해 두고 보다

In this lesson we are looking at the structure -(으)ㄹ 만하다. This structure has a variety of meanings and it is very important to pay close attention to the context in order to understand what kind of meaning is intended.

Generally, -(으)ㄹ 만하다 means that there is enough reason or justification for a certain situation or that something is doable or possible, but mainly in the sense of being "bearable" to do.

Examples
가다
→ 갈 만하다 [gal man-ha-da]
= to be possible to go
= to be worth going (and checking out the place)
= there is enough justifiable reason for one to go

먹다
→ 먹을 만하다 [meo-geul man-ha-da]
= to be edible
= to taste okay (the taste is bearable)
= the taste is acceptable

늦다
→ 늦을 만하다 [neu-jeul man-ha-da]
= to be forgivable for being late
= there is enough reason for being late

놀라다
→ 놀랄 만하다 [nol-lal man-ha-da]
= to be natural to be surprised/shocked
= there is enough reason for being surprisd/shocked


Sample Sentences
1. 그럴 만해요.
[geu-reol man-hae-yo.]
= It’s understandable to be so.
= It’s possible.
= There is enough reason for it to be so.

2. 그 사람은 인기가 있을 만해요.
[geu sa-ra-meun in-gi-ga i-sseul man-hae-yo.]
= There is enough reason that he is popular.
= It’s understandable why he is popular.

3. 이 책 읽을 만해요?
[i chaek il-geul man-hae-yo?]
= Is this book worth reading?
= Is this book good?
= Do you recommend this book?

4. 괜찮아요. 참을 만해요.
[gwaen-cha-na-yo. cha-meul man-hae-yo.]
= I’m okay. It’s endurable.
= I’m okay. It’s bearable.

5. 가족끼리 한 번쯤 갈 만해요.
[ga-jok-kki-ri han beon-jjeum gal man-hae-yo.]
= (The place) is worth visiting once (or twice) with family.

In this lesson, we look at how to say “to pretend” to do something in Korean. The key words that you need to know are 척 [cheok] and 체 [che]. They are a little bit different in usage, but they can be basically used in the following form.

Verb stem + -(으/느)ㄴ 척 하다

or

Verb stem + -(으/느)ㄴ 체 하다

In the structures above, both 체 and 척 have the meaning of “the act of pretending” or “acting as if”. Therefore the part before 척/체, which is -(으/느)ㄴ has the role of changing a verb into the adjective form, and the verb 하다 means “to do”.

1. -(으/ㄴ)ㄴ = adjective ending
2. 척/체 = the act of pretending
3. 하다 = to do

→ -(으/느)ㄴ 척/체 하다

Examples
1. 알다 = to know
→ 아는 척 하다 = to pretend to know
→ 아는 체 하다 = to pretend to know
** Here, 알다 is a ㄹ irregular verb so ㄹ drops.

2. 자다 = to sleep
→ 자는 척 하다 = to pretend to sleep
→ 자는 체 하다 = to pretend to sleep

3. 예쁘다 = to be pretty
→ 예쁜 척 하다 = to pretend to be pretty, to act as if one was pretty
→ 예쁜 체 하다 = to pretend to be pretty, to act as if one was pretty


You can use -(으/느)ㄴ 척/체 하다 with past tense and present progressive too.

Examples
1. 알다 → 알고 있다 (present progressive)
→ 알고 있는 척/체 하다 = to pretend to be aware of something

2. 자다 → 자고 있다 (present progressive)
→ 자고 있는 척/체 하다 = to pretend to be sleeping/asleep

3. 하다 → 한 (past tense adjective form)
→ 한 척/체 하다 = to pretend to have done something

4. 먹다 → 먹은 (past tense adjective form)
→ 먹은 척/체 하다 = to pretend to have eaten something

** You can’t use -(으/느)ㄴ 척/체 하다 with future tense. In that case you need to different structures, such as -(으)ㄹ 것처럼 행동하다, etc.


Difference between 척 and 체

척 and 체 are almost the same and almost always interchangeable, but only 척 can be followed by verbs other than 하다, which is usually 행동하다 (to behave) or 이야기하다 (to talk). You can also use the part “-(으/느)ㄴ 척” (without finishing with sentence with 하다) as a clause.

Ex)
모르는 척, 조용히 나갔어요.
= (While) Pretending as if they didn’t know, they went out quietly.

Sometimes, 척 and 체 will be followed by verbs that are not 하다, but even in those cases, those verbs are mostly “related” to the verb 하다.

For example, when you want to say “Stop pretending you know.” you can say 아는 척 하지 마세요 but also 아는 척 그만하세요. Here, 그만하다 means to stop, but it basically comes from 하다.


Sample Sentences
1. 모르는 척 하지 말고 빨리 말해 줘요.
[mo-reu-neun cheok ha-ji mal-go ppal-li mal-hae jwo-yo.]
= Please don’t pretend you don’t know and tell me quickly.

2. 자는 척 그만하고 일어나요.
[ja-neun cheok geu-man-ha-go i-reo-na-yo.]
= Stop pretending to be asleep and get up.

3. 술 마신 척 하지 마세요.
[sul ma-sin cheok ha-ji ma-se-yo.]
= Don’t pretend that you drank.

4. 그 사람은 예쁜 척을 너무 많이 해요.
[geu sa-ra-meun yeo-ppeun cheo-geul neo-mu ma-ni hae-yo.]
= She behaves (too much) as if she’s pretty.

5. 아는 척 하지 마세요.
[a-neun cheok ha-ji ma-se-yo.]
= Don’t pretend to know.
= Don’t be a know-it-all.

In this lesson, we are looking at the sentence ending -(는)구나 and -(는)군요. -(는)구나 is used in 반말 (casual, informal language) and -(는)군요 is only used in 존댓말 (polite, formal language).

When are they used?
You use -(는)구나 and -(는)군요 when you just realized or found out about something for the first time, mainly to express your realization. You can sometimes use them to show that you are surprised, but this depends on the intonation of your sentence.

Let's compare some sentences using the -(는)구나 or -(는)군요 ending with some plain sentences.

1.
여기 있었어요. [yeo-gi i-sseo-sseo-yo.] = It was here.

(존댓말) 여기 있었군요. [yeo-gi i-sseot-gun-yo.] = (I see that) it was here.
(반말) 여기 있었구나. [yeo-gi i-sseot-gu-na.] (same meaning as above)

2. 
생각보다 비싸요. [saeng-gak-bo-da bi-ssa-yo.] = It's more expensive than I thought.

(존댓말) 생각보다 비싸군요. [saeng-gak-bo-da bi-ssa-gun-yo.] = (I see that) it is more expensive than I thought.
(반말) 생각보다 비싸구나. [saeng-gak-bo-da bi-ssa-gu-na.] (save meaning as above)

3.
여기 살아요. [yeo-gi sa-ra-yo.] = I live here. She lives here. They live here. etc.

(존댓말) 여기 사는군요. [yeo-gi sa-neun-gun-yo.] = (I see that) you live here.
(반말) 여기 사는구나. [yeo-gi sa-neun-gu-na.] = (same meaning as above)

Construction
[Past Tense]
Verb stem + -았/었/였군요
Verb stem + -았/었/였구나

[Present Tense]
- Action Verbs: Verb stem + -는군요/는구나
- Descriptive Verbs: Verb stem + -군요/구나

-(는)군요 and -(는)군
Generally, when you drop the -요 at the end of a Korean sentence, it becomes a 반말 sentence and it is the same with -(는)군요. Therefore, instead of saying -(는)군요, if you say -(는)군, it becomes the same level as -(는)구나. Even though the basic meaning is the same, however, -(는)구나 is more commonly used in spoken language and among females than -(는)군. Sometimes people would say -(는)군, but saying this will make your sentence sound a bit like written language and more masculin.

Ex)
이거 맛있구나.
[i-geo ma-sit-gu-na]
= (I didn't know before but I just realized that) this is delicious!

이거 맛있군.
[i-geo ma-sit-gun.]
--> This sentence has the same basic meaning as the one above, but it sounds a litte more masculin and like written language.

Nouns + -군요/구나
When you want to say "Noun + -이다", if the noun ends with a consonant, you keep the -이 and add -군요 or -구나.

Ex)
학생이군요. / 학생이구나.

But if the noun ends with a vowel, you drop the -이 and just add -군요 or -구나.

Ex)
이거군요. / 이거구나.

More Sample Sentences
1. 여기 진짜 넓구나!
[yeo-gi jin-jja neolp-gu-na!]
= This place is so big!

2. 이게 그거였군요!
[i-ge geu-geo-yeot-gun-yo!]
= So this was what you were talking about!

3. 이렇게 하는 거군요.
[i-reo-ke ha-neun geo-yeot-gun-yo.]
= So this is how you do it!

4. 벌써 11월이구나!
[beol-sseo si-bi-rweol-i-gu-na!]
= (I didn't realize before but) it's already November!

5. 어제도 만났군요.
[eo-je-do man-nat-gun-yo.]
= (I didn't know before but I just found out that) you met yesterday too.

TTMIK Level 6 Lesson 3 - One of the most … / 가장 ~ 중의 하나

In this lesson, we are taking 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 started being used as a result of many Korean people being exposed to the English language. At first there were some people 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.

1. one = 하나 [ha-na]
2. of = ~의 [-ui]
3. “The” is not translated into Korean in this case.
4. most + adjective + noun = 가장 + adjective + noun

** If you’d like to review on 가장 (= most), go back to Level 4 Lesson 18.

Word order difference between Korean and English around “-의 / of"

In Korean, -의 [-ui] is the particle that makes possession, belonging, origin or characteristics, and it basically means “of”. The word order, however, is very different around -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.

So in English, the word “one” comes at the beginning of this expression, but 하나 (= one) comes at the end of it.

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 [han sa-ram], 한 명 [han myeong], or 한 분 (honorific) [han bun]
Place = 한 곳 [han got], 한 군데 [han gun-de]
Thing, Kind, Type = 한 가지 [han ga-ji]

* Go back to Level 2 Lesson 9 to review a lesson on counters.

Using 가장 with adjectives or verbs

To understand how to use this, 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

1. 가장 예쁜 친구
[ga-jang ye-ppeun chin-gu]
= the prettiest friend

2. 가장 좋은 책
[ga-jang jo-eun chaek]
= the best book

3. 가장 괜찮은 카페
[ga-jang gwaen-cha-neun ka-pe]
= the best cafe

How to use 중 as “among” or “of”
중 [jung] literally means “middle” or “center” but used after a noun and followed by -의 [-ui], it means “among” or “(one) of (the …)”.

→ Noun (plural or singular) + 중

Examples
1. 가장 예쁜 친구들 중(의)
= 가장 예쁜 친구 중(의)

2. 가장 좋은 방법들 중(의)
= 가장 좋은 방법 중(의)

가장 ~ 중의 하나
Now let us look at some examples of the entire structure.

1. 가장 좋은 방법들 중의 하나
= 가장 좋은 방법 중의 하나
= 가장 좋은 방법 중 하나
= one of the best methods

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

3. 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

Sample Sentences
1. 여기가 제가 제일 자주 오는 카페 중(의) 하나예요.
[yeo-gi-ga je-ga je-il ja-ju o-eun ka-pe jung(ui) ha-na-ye-yo.]
= This is one of the cafes that I visit most often.

2. 제가 가장 좋아하는 가수들 중(의) 한 명이에요.
[je-ga ga-jang jo-a-ha-neun ga-su-deul jung(ui) han myeong-i-e-yo.]
= He/she is one of my favorite singers.
= He/she is one of the singers I like the most.

3. 한국에서 가장 인기 있는 영화 중(의) 하나예요.
[han-gu-geo-seo ga-jang in-gi in-neun yeong-hwa jung(ui) ha-na-ye-yo]
= It’s one of the most popular movies in Korea.

TTMIK Level 6 Lesson 2 - What do you think about ...?

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? [eo-ttae-yo?], which means “How about …?”. Sometimes this expression, 어때요?, can also be used to mean “What do you think?”.

어때요?
[eo-ttae-yo?]
= How is it?
= How about …?
= What do you think?

But 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, but here let us take a look at the two most commonly used expressions.

1. 어떻게 생각해요?  
[eo-tteo-ke saeng-ga-kae-yo?]
= What do you think?

2. 어떤 것 같아요?
[eo-tteo-ke saeng-ga-kae-yo?]
= What do you think?

The word “what” is used in English 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 for “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 [eo-tteo-ta] and when you change it to the adverb form, it becomes 어떻게 [eo-tteo-ke].

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 on the -(으/느)ㄴ 것 같다, go back to Level 3 Lesson 9.)

What do you think ABOUT + NOUN?
The expression for “about” in Korean is -에 대해서 [-e dae-hae-seo].

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

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

What do you think ABOUT + VERB-ing?
In order to use “about / -에 대해서" after it, the verb needs to be changed to the noun form of -는 것 [-neun geot].

이렇게 하다 = to do it like this
→ “이렇게 하는 것”에 대해서 = about doing it this way

물어보다 = to ask
→ “물어보는 것"에 대해서 = about asking

Sample Sentences
1. 이 책에 대해서 어떻게 생각하세요?
[i chae-ge dae-hae-seo eo-tteo-ke saeng-ga-ka-se-yo?]
= What do you think about this book?

이 책 어떤 것 같아요?
[i chaek eo-tteon geot ga-ta-yo?]
= What do you think about this book?

2. 어릴 때 유학을 가는 것에 대해서 어떻게 생각하세요?
[eo-ril ttae yu-ha-geul ga-neun geo-se da-hae-seo eo-tteo-ke saeng-ga-ka-se-yo?]
= What do you think about studying abroad at a young age?

어릴 때 유학 가는 거, 어떤 것 같아요?
[eo-ril ttae yu-hak ga-neun geo, eo-tteon geo ga-ta-yo?]
= What do you think about studying abroad at a young age?

3. 제 아이디어에 대해서 어떻게 생각하세요?
[je a-i-di-eo-e dae-hae-seo eo-tteo-ke saeng-ga-ka-se-yo?]
= What do you think about my idea?

제 아이디어 어떤 것 같아요?
[je a-i-di-eo eo-tteon geot ga-ta-yo?]
= What do you think about my idea?

TTMIK Level 6 Lesson 1 - How about ...?

Welcome to Level 6 of TalkToMeInKorean. You have already come a long way in learning the Korean language and we are really looking forward to helping you take your Korean to the next level.

From Level 6, we will be introducing more “sentence patterns” than in the previous lessons, as well as still introducing some new grammar points. In “grammar point” lessons, we start from a Korean grammar point and introduce how it is used, but in “sentence pattern” lessons, we will start from an English sentence pattern and explain how to say that in Korean.

In this lesson, let us take a look at how to say “How about …?” in Korean. There can be many ways to say this, but the most basic and common translation is “어때요?”.


How about …?
= Noun + 어때요?
= Verb stem + -는 거 어때요?

어 때요? comes from the verb 어떻다 [eo-tteo-ta], 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 this verb, 어떻다.

Examples (with nouns)
1. 이거 어때요?
[i-geo eo-ttae-yo?]
= How about this?

2. 생일 선물로 카메라 어때요?
[saeng-il seon-mul-lo ka-me-ra eo-ttae-yo?]
= How about a camera as your/his/their birthday present?

3. 내일 어때요?
[nae-il eo-ttae-yo?]
= How about tomorrow?

Examples (with verbs)
1. 다시 하는 거 어때요?
[da-si ha-neun geo eo-ttae-yo?]
= How about doing it again?

2. 다른 사람한테 물어보는 거 어때요?
[da-reun sa-ra-man-te mu-reo-bo-neun geo eo-ttae-yo?]
= How about asking other people?

3. 안으로 들어가는 거 어때요?
[a-neu-reo geu-reo-ga-neun geo eo-ttae-yo?]
= How about going inside?

Sample Sentences
1. 이거 싫어요? 이거(는) 어때요?
[i-geo si-reo-yo? i-geo(-neun) eo-ttae-yo?]
= You don’t like this? How about this one?

2. 내일 만나서 이야기하는 거 어때요?
[nae-il man-na-seo- i-ya-gi-ha-neun geo eo-ttae-yo?]
= How about meeting and talking about it tomorrow?

3. 이렇게 하는 거 어때요?
[i-reo-ke ha-neun geo eo-ttae-yo?]
= How about doing it this way?


Word contractions
-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)?

TTMIK Level 5 Lesson 3 - “수고"

Welcome to the 3rd lesson in Level 5 at TalkToMeInKorean! After studying the lengthy previous lesson on the honorific suffix -시- (Level 5 Lesson 2), it is time to take a little break from grammar rules and have a light lesson. In this lesson, we are going to look at an expression that Koreans say very often that is somewhat difficult to be translated into English.

The keyword is 수고 [su-go].

Literally, the word 수고 itself is a noun that means “trouble”, “effort” or “hard work”. But 수고 is rarely used on its own and is usually used inside some fixed expressions. These expressions using 수고 are used in everyday Korean conversations so often that we decided that they need a separate TalkToMeInKorean lesson on them.

Fixed expressions using 수고
1. 수고하세요. [su-go-ha-se-yo.]

This expression literally means “continue working hard”, “keep up the effort”, “keep doing the work you are doing” or “continue taking the trouble to do it” but it is not taken as such meanings.

When you want to comment on the fact that someone is makinf a lot of effort to do something, and you want to show either your appreciation or your support for that person by saying something as you leave the place or see someone leave, you can say 수고하세요. Sometimes 수고하세요 almost means “Good-bye” or “See you”.

** To someone younger than you, you can say 수고해요 [su-go-hae-yo] or even 수고해 if you are close friends with that person. 수고하세요 is much more polite than 수고해요.

Possible situations
- You received a parcel or a letter from a mailman. You want to say “thanks” but add something after that meaning “Thank you for the effort. Keep it up!”.
- You visit or pass by someone who is working at the moment. As you walk away, you want to say “See you again and I know you are working hard. Continue doing what you do.”

Inappropriate situations
- When you are talking to someone much older than you or someone you need to show respect toward, it is inappropriate to say 수고하세요. If you are much younger than the other person, he or she might think that you are rude and arrogant.

2. 수고하셨습니다.

This expression literally means “you made a lot of effort” or “you went through a lot of trouble doing this”.

You can use this expression to someone who just finished doing some work. If you are the one who made that person work, 수고하셨습니다 could mean “Thank you for the great job you did”. If you are just commenting on the fact that this person worked hard and has just finished something, it means “Good work” or “Congratulations on finishing it”.

** To someone younger than you, you can say 수고했어요 [su-go-hae-sseo-yo] or even 수고했어 if you are close friends with that person. But if you are not the oldest member of the group, it is still better to say 수고하셨습니다.

Possible situations
- You worked with other people as a group on a task or a project. The work is now finished. You want to casually celebrate the fact that the work is over and lightly thank the others for working so hard.
- Other people did some work and you became aware of it. You want to say “I know you put a lot of effort into it. It’s finished now.” as a gesture of acknowledgement.

3. 수고 많으셨습니다. / 수고 많았어요.

This expression literally means “your effort has been a lot”.

You can use this expression in situations similar to those where you would say 수고하셨습니다, but 수고 많으셨습니다 is more specifically said in order to appreciate the effort. After finishing a task as a group, you would say 수고하셨습니다 all together, but individually, you can go up to someone and say 수고 많으셨습니다.

TTMIK Level 5 Lesson 2 - -시- (honorific)

Welcome everybody to the 2nd lesson of Level 5. In this lesson we are going to introduce how the honorific suffix -시- [-si-] is used in "politer" and "more formal" situations. Even if this is the first time you have heard about this "honorific suffix", you probably have already seen some expressions before that have this word -시- in them, such as 안녕하세요, 안녕히 가세요 or 주세요.

What is -시-?

- 시- is a "suffix" so it is never used on its own. When combined with other verbs, -시- makes a sentence "honorific", which means that the speaker is showing respect for the person that he or she is talking about. If the speaker wants to show respect for the other person talking with him or herself, he or she can show respect for that person, too, by using this honorific suffix, -시-.

How is it used?

-시- can be used in any tense. You add -시- between the verb stem and other verb endings.

PLAIN
Present tense: verb stem + -아/어/여요
Past tense: verb stem + -았/었/였어요
Future tense: verb stem + -ㄹ 거예요

HONORIFIC
Present tense: verb stem + -시- + -어요
Past tense: verb stem + -시- + -었어요
Future tense: verb stem + -시- + -ㄹ 거예요

** When the verb stem ends with a consonant, you need to add 으 [eu] in front of 시 to make the pronunciation easier.

Examples

1. 보다 [bo-da] = to see

Present tense
[plain] 보 + -아요 = 봐요 [bwa-yo]
[honorific] 보 + -시- + -어요 = 보셔요 [bo-syeo-yo]

Past tense
[plain] 보 + -았- + -어요 = 봤어요 [bwa-sseo-yo]
[honorific] 보 + -시- + -었- + -어요 = 보셨어요 [bo-syeo-sseo-yo]

Future tense
[plain] 보 + -ㄹ 거예요 = 볼 거예요 [bol geo-ye-yo]
[honorific] 보 + -시- + ㄹ 거예요 = 보실 거예요 [bo-sil geo-ye-yo]

2. 웃다 [ut-da] = to laugh, to smile

Present tense
[plain] 웃 + -어요 = 웃어요 [u-seo-yo]
[honorific] 웃 + -으시- + -어요 = 웃으셔요 [u-seo-syeo-yo]

Past tense
[plain] 웃 + -었- + -어요 = 웃었어요 [u-seo-sseo-yo]
[honorific] 웃 + -으시- + -었- + -어요 = 웃으셨어요 [u-seu-syeo-sseo-yo]

Future tense
[plain] 웃 + -을 거예요 = 웃을 거예요 [u-seul geo-ye-yo]
[honorific] 웃 + -으시- + -ㄹ 거예요 = 웃으실 거예요 [u-seu-sil geo-ye-yo]


Honorific subject marker

You already know what subject markers are. They are 이 [i] and 가 [ga] and they show “WHO” did the action or “WHO” is the subject of the verb.

Ex)
A: 누가 했어요? (Who did it?)
B: 제가 했어요. (I did it.)

In honorific sentences, the subject markers change to 께서 [kke-seo]. You can only use 께서 after subjects that you are being honorific to, showing respect toward and lowering yourself against.

Ex) A가 → A께서

Often times, the word for the subject itself can change accordingly. For example, the word 선생님 is already in the honorific form because it has the word “님" but in casual situations you can use 이 or 가 as subject markers. But other words need to change forms when they are used in honorific sentences.

Ex)
친구가 → 친구분께서 (adding the word 분 [bun])
사장이 → 사장님께서 (adding the word 님 [nim])
현우 씨가 → 현우 님께서 (changing the word 씨 [ssi] to 님 [nim])

But in everyday conversations, if you are talking with people that you are somewhat close to, you can drop 께서 while still keeping the basic honorific forms using -시-.

Ex)
1. 현우 씨, 언제 오실 거예요? = Hyunwoo, when are you going to come here?
2. 선생님이 주셨어요. = My teacher gave it to me.
3. 아빠 오셨어요. = My father is here.

Irregular verbs exampls
1. 듣다 [deut-da] = to listen
→ [honorific] 들으시다 [deu-reu-si-da]

2. 팔다 [pal-da] = to sell
→ [honorific] 파시다 [pa-si-da]

3. 먹다 [meok-da] = to eat
→ [honorific] 드시다 [deu-si-da]

4. 마시다 [ma-si-da] = to drink
→ [honorific] 드시다 [deu-si-da] (** the same as 먹다)

Fixed expressions (noun + 하시다)
There are some nouns that are only used in honorific situations. They are used with 하시다 to form utmost honorific and polite expressions.

말 [mal] = talk, speech, story, speaking
→ 말씀 [mal-sseum]
→ 말씀하시다 [mal-sseum-ha-si-da] = to talk

먹다 [meok-da] = to eat
→ 식사 [sik-sa] = meal
→ 식사하시다 [sik-sa-ha-si-da] = to have a meal

-셔요 becoming -세요
Originally, when -시- is combined with -아/어/여요, the present tense ending, it becomes -셔요. But over time, people have started pronouncing it and even writing it as -세요 because it’s easier to pronounce. This is only found in present tense sentences and imperative sentences.

Present tense:
Ex) 어디 가셔요? → 어디 가세요?
(어디 가셔요 is still correct, but people say 어디 가세요 more commonly.)

Imperative:
Ex) 하지 마셔요. → 하지 마세요.
(하지 마세요 is still correct, but people say 하지 마세요 more commonly.)

TTMIK Level 5 Lesson 1 - almost did - -(으)ㄹ 뻔 했다

Welcome to Level 5!!! In the first lesson of Level 5, we are going to look at how to say that you “almost did” something or “nearly did” something. This is used both in situations where you “wanted” to do something (but only almost did it) and in situations where you “didn’t want” to do something and fortunately didn’t do it but almost did it.

Ex) I almost lost my keys.
Ex) I almost passed the exam!

Conjugation
Verb stem + -(으)ㄹ 뻔 했다

The word 뻔 is a noun that describes “nearly getting into a situation where something happens” and in order to use a verb with 뻔, you need to change the verb into the future tense conjugation and add 뻔 after that.

Examples
사다 [sa-da] = to buy
→ 살 뻔 했어요. [sal ppeon hae-sseo-yo.] = I almost bought it.

믿다 [mit-da] = to believe
→ 믿을 뻔 했어요. [mi-deul ppeon hae-sseo-yo.] = I almost believed it.

울다 [ul-da] = to cry
→ 울 뻔 했어요. [ul ppeon hae-sseo-yo.] = I almost cried.

Sample sentences
1. 무서워서 울 뻔 했어요. [mu-seo-wo-seo ul ppeon hae-sseo-yo.]
= It was scary so I almost cried.
= I almost cried because I was scared.

2. 무거워서 떨어뜨릴 뻔 했어요. [mu-geo-wo-seo tteo-rreo-tteu-ril ppeon hae-sseo-yo.]
= It was heavy and I almost dropped it.

3. 돈을 잃을 뻔 했어요. [do-neul i-reul ppeon hae-sseo-yo.]
= I almost lost money.

4. 죽을 뻔 했어요. [ju-geul ppeon hae-sseo-yo.]
= I almost died.

5. 갈 뻔 했는데, 안 갔어요. [gal ppeon haet-neun-de, an ga-sseo-yo.]
= I almost went there, but I didn’t go.

안녕하세요! In this TalkToMeInKorean lesson, we are looking at how to say "it's impossible that..." or "No way ..." in Korean! Listen in to find out how to use this -(을) 리가 없어요 ending in natural context and be sure to practice with us by leaving us comments! Thank you!

Here are the words we talk about in this episode! For a more systematic learning experience, please visit us at https://talktomeinkorean.com 감사합니다!

신체 부위  / 몸 / 머리카락 / 머리 / 손톱 / 발톱 / 톱 / 전기톱 / 손톱을 자르다 / 손톱을 깎다 / 네일 케어, 네일 아트 / 네일 하다 / 손 / 손바닥 / 발바닥 / 손등 / 발등 / 손목 / 발목 / 무릎 / 팔꿈치 / 발꿈치 / 주름 / 팔자 주름 / 눈가 주름 / 주름 잡다 / 굳은살 / 애교 살 / 볼살 / 입술산 / 동공 지진 / 간 / 간이 크다 / 간이 콩알만 해지다 / 눈에는 눈, 이에는 이 / 발끝에도 못 미치다

안녕하세요! Welcome to another lesson brought to you by TalkToMeInKorean.com! This lesson is about the verb ending -(으)ㄹ래요. This is a very useful verb ending to know because you can ask your friends what they want to do, and also express what you want to do.

Listen in and find out how to use it in natural context and as always, if you have any questions, feel free to ask the teachers in the comment!

Thanks for studying with us!

안녕하세요! Welcome to Level 4! In this lesson, we look at how to say "the more [A], the more [B]" in Korean. The key expression/verb ending we will be using is "을수록".

Listen in to learn how to use it, and be sure to practice with us through comments!

안녕하세요! In this lesson, we are looking at how to ask someone where someone or something is and also how to talk about relative locations like "in front of" "behind" "next to" "on top of" and "under". Listen in to find out more!

And when you memorize new words in a foreign language, what do you do to help the words stick? We tried giving you some mnemonic tips for the words toward the end of the lesson. Let us know what you think!

안녕하세요! Welcome back to another exciting lesson at TalkToMeInKorean.com! Today in this lesson we are going to look at how to 'link' two or more verbs together in one sentences. There are many different ways of doing this, but we are going to start from the most commonly used form, which is -고 (-go). Listen in to find out more!

Welcome to Level 3, everyone! And congratulations on finishing Level 1 and Level 2. In this lesson, we are introducing an expression that is very commonly used, and in two opposite meanings, too. The expression is 너무 [neo-mu] and it can be used to mean both "very" in positive sentences and "too much" in negative sentences. Listen in to learn more about how it is used!

TalkToMeInKorean.com

Hello everyone, we are back with another lesson! Like many languages in the world, there are many conjuctions in the Korean language. In this lesson we are introducing two of them: 그리고 and 그래서. 그리고 [geu-ri-go] has the meaning of "and" and "and then", depending on the context. 그래서 [geu-rae-seo] has the meaning of "therefore" and "so". If you have any questions, please feel free, as always, to leave us a comment! 감사합니다.

안녕하세요. ^^ In this lesson, we are looking at the object marking particles. As we mentioned a few times through our previous lessons, there are different types of particles in Korean, and these particles (subject marking particles, topic marking particles, location marking particles, and so on) are what make it easy to understand Korean sentences, even when the word order changes. If you have any questions, please feel free, as always, to leave us a comment! 감사합니다.

Congratulations on finishing Level 1 and advancing to Level 2! You have already learned a lot, but you can't stop there, right? Stay with us and don't forget that practice makes perfect and we are always here to talk with you in Korean!

Level 2 Lesson 1 introduces the future tense. Future tense is very easy to use once you learn how, so let's get right into it! Listen to the audio podcast and be sure to check out the PDF as well! Thank you! 감사합니다!

TTMIK Level 1 Lesson 3

After listening to this lesson, you will be able to say good-bye in Korean.

Do you remember how to say "Hello." in Korean?

안녕하세요. [an-nyeong-ha-se-yo]

If you remember 안녕하세요, that is fantastic. And if you even remember that "안녕" in 안녕하세요 means "peace" and "well-being", that is even more fantastic.

안녕 [an-nyeong] = well-being, peace, health

And in Korean, when you say "Good-bye" in formal/polite Korean, 존댓말 [jondaetmal], there are two types of expressions, and both of these expressions have the word 안녕 [an-nyeong] in them.

One is when you are the one who is leaving.

And the other is when you are the one who is staying.

If you are leaving, and the other person is (or the other people are) staying, you can say:

안녕히 계세요. [an-nyeong-hi gye-se-yo]

If you are staying, an the other person is (or the other people are) leaving, you can say:

안녕히 가세요. [an-nyeong-hi ga-se-yo]

For now, don't worry about the literary meaning of the expressinos and just learn them as they are, but if you are really curious and if we were forced to translate these greetings, they would be translated like this.

안녕히 계세요. = Stay in peace.

안녕히 가세요. = Go in peace.

But again, don't worry about the literal meaning of these greetings JUST YET!

** One tip Hyunwoo would like to give you:

When Korean people say 안녕하세요 [an-nyeong-ha-se-yo], 안녕히 계세요 [an-nyeong-hi gye-se-yo] or 안녕히 가세요 [an-nyeong-hi ga-se-yo], they don't always pronounce EVERY single letter clearly. So often times, what you would hear is just the ending part, "세요" [se-yo].

So you can deliberately sound more fluent by just saying 세요 [se-yo] for all of these occasions.

http://TalkToMeInKorean.com

After listening to this lesson, when you are asked a YES/NO question, you will be able to answer that question with either YES or NO in Korean.

네. [ne] = Yes.
아니요. [aniyo] = No.

But in Korean, when people say "네", it is not the same as saying "Yes." in English. The same goes for "아니요" too. This is because the Korean "네" expresses your "agreement" to what the other person said. And "아니요" expresses your "disagreement" or "denial" to what the other person said.

Please read more about it in the PDF file attached to this lesson.

TalkToMeInKorean.com

Here are the words we talk about in this episode! For a more systematic learning experience, please visit us at https://talktomeinkorean.com 감사합니다!

메달 / 금메달 / 은메달 / 동메달 / 메달을 따다 / 이기다, 승리하다 / 지다 / 비기다, 동점 / 선수 / 코치 / 감독 / 경기 / 경기장 / 종목 / 관중 / 응원 / 관중석 / 국가 대표 / 국대 / 승부 / 진땀 승부 / 명승부 / 승부를 가르다 / 하계 올림픽, 동계 올림픽 / 겨울 스포츠 / 졌잘싸 / 경기 내용 / 연패(연달아 지다, 연달아 이기다) / 매매 / 손에 땀을 쥐다 / 경기가 흥미진진하다

Learn to speak Korean at TalkToMeInKorean.com!

- TTMIK Level 1 Lesson 1 -


안녕하세요. [an-nyeong-ha-se-yo]

= Hello. / How are you? / Good morning. / Good afternoon. / Hi.

감사합니다. [gam-sa-ham-ni-da]

= Thank you.



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Here are the words we talk about in this episode! For a more systematic learning experience, please visit us at https://talktomeinkorean.com 감사합니다!

식곤증 / 장보기 / 장 보다 / 일(을) 보다 / 볼 일이 있다 / 애를 보다 / 슈퍼마켓 / 마트 / 대형 마트 / 카트 / 장바구니 / 가격 / 할인, 세일 / 코너 / 식품 코너 / 육류, 고기 / 과일 / 야채 / 유제품 / 해산물 / 시식 코너 / 시음, 시승, 시착 / 생활 용품 코너 / 주류 코너 / 잔, 오프너 / 유통기한 / 소비기한 / 유기농 / 원산지 / 국내산 / 무인 판매점 / 무인도, 무인기 / 1인 가구 / 밀키트 / 무인 카페 / 무인 문구점 / 무인 아이스크림 가게 / 새벽 배송 / 일반 배송 / 새벽 배송 안 함

Here are the words we talk about in this episode! For a more systematic learning experience, please visit us at https://talktomeinkorean.com 감사합니다!

초능력 superpowers / 초감각, 시력, 청력 (enhanced senses, vision, hearing) / 하늘을 나는 능력, 비행 (flight) / 투시 능력 (x-ray vision) / 괴력 (superstrength) / 회복 능력 (healing) / 재생 능력 (regeneration) / 전기 (electricity) / 사이코메트리 (psychometry) / 요원 (agent) / 안기부 (Korean Central Intelligency Agency; 국가안전기획부) / 국정원 (National Intelligence Service) / 중앙정보부(1961~1981) → 안기부(1981~1999) → 국정원(1999~현재) / 북한말 (North Korean accent) / 능력자 ➝ 기력자 / 초능력자 ➝ 초인민 / -겠 = -갔 (알겠지? - 알갔디?)