• -기 짝이 없다 ‘very…’ used only for negative conditions
미안하기 짝이 없다. = 정말 미안하다. I’m
terribly sorry.
불편하기 짝이 없네요. = 굉장히 불편하네요. It’s
awfully inconvenientuncomfortable.
•
Double negation
As in English, two negatives can create a positive. It is useful to treat each of the following examples as a simple fixed expression.
없는 게 없어요. = 다 있어요. They have everything.
비 이 아닐 수 없다. = 비 이다. It’s a tragedy.
하지 않을 수 없다. = 해야 된다. I have to do it.
가지 않으면 안 돼. = 가야 돼. I have to go.
18.4 Expressions that require negative verbs
Certain expressions can be used only if the verb is negated or at least has a negative meaning.
다시는 너를 못 볼 줄 알았어. I didn’t think I could ever see you again.
미처 상상도 못 할 일이야. It’s beyond the stretch of my imagination.
아 껏 여자 친구도 없냐? Don’t you have a girlfriend yet?
이 비디오 카메라는 성능이 별로 안 좋은 거 같아요. This camcorder doesn’t seem to have very good performance.
요즘은 그리그다지 바쁘지 않습니다. I’m not that busy these days.
면종류를 과히 좋아하지 않는 편이에요. I kind of don’t like noodles that much.
드라마 결말이 어떻게 됐는지 전혀 몰라요. I have zero idea as to how the drama ended.
남자친구가 먼저 사과할 기미가 도무지 안 보여. I don’t see the slightest inkling of my boyfriend’s intention to apologize to me first.
무슨 말을 하는지 도무지 알아 들을 수가 있어야지. I couldn’t possibly understand what he was saying.
담배에 중 이 돼서 도저히 못 끊겠어. I can’t possibly quit smoking because I’m addicted to it.
시차가 바뀌어서 잠이 좀처럼 오질 않아요. I can hardly sleep because of jet lag.
이 소문 퍼뜨리면 절대 안 된다. You should not spread the rumor by any means.
무슨 바쁜 일이 있는 지 영 전화를 안 받아요. He may be busy with something; he doesn’t answer the phone at all.
호주로 유 간 그 친구한테서 통 소 이 없어. There’s been no news whatsoever from the friend who moved to Australia to study.
이번에 들어온 신입사원이 여간 똑똑한 게 아냐. The recently hired guy in our office is extremely smart [smart beyond ordinary].
물이 안 나와서 이만저만 불편한 게 아니에요. There’s a water stoppage, so I can’t describe just how inconvenient things are.
고통을 이루 다 말로 표현할 수 없다. I can’t possibly describe the pain in words.
중요한 전화 기다리느라 꼼짝 못 해. I can’t budge because I’m waiting for an important phone call.
부모님 은혜를 결코 잊어선 안 된다. We should never forget what our parents have done for us.
일이 밀려서 조금도 쉴 틈이 없어요. I don’t have even a minute for a break because of the backlog of work.
그건 한낱 변명에 지나지 않는다. That’s nothing but an excuse.
네 자존심을 상하게 할 생 은 추호도 없었어. I didn’t mean to hurt your pride, not in the least.
내 말이 채 끝나기도 전에 전화를 끊어 버리는 거 있지. You know what? He hung up on me before I even finished what I was saying.
미래는 아무도 모른다.
No one knows the future.
맥주 겨우 두 잔밖에 안 마셨어. I had no more than two glasses of beer.
지도 보지도 못하던 이름인데요. That’s a name I neither heard of nor saw.
19 Particles
Particles also called suffixes are typically attached at the end of a noun or a noun phrase. Some carry information about grammar is the noun a subject or
direct object? and others carry information about meaning, including subtle nuances that are expressed in English by means of stress, intonation, and so on.
19.1 Omission of particles
Unless they carry information that cannot be inferred from other sources, particles may be omitted. The most frequently omitted ones are -㧊Ṗ, -㦚⯒,
and -㦮, but given the right context, it is also possible to leave out certain other particles as well.
㧊 㺛
㦖
㍶㌳┮
℮
Ṭ┺ ✲⩺. Take this book to your teacher.
䂲ῂ
㦮
☯㌳
㧊
䞯ᾦ
㠦
Ṫ㠊㣪. My friend’s younger sister went to school.
When permitted, most particle omission takes place only in colloquial speech, not in formal writing. In fact, particles should be retained in any kind of writing,
since they can do the work of pauses and intonation when it comes to breaking sentences into smaller chunks.
Ⱎ㧊䋊ὒ ☯′⓪ ゚㧦 㧎䎆う⯒ 䞮⩂ ╖㌂ὖ㠦 Ṫ┺. in writing
Ⱎ㧊䋊䞮ἶ ☯′, ゚㧦 㧎䎆う䞮⩂ ╖㌂ὖ Ṫ┺. in speaking Michael and Tongkyu went to the Embassy to do a visa interview.
Even in speaking, particles are best retained for the purpose of rhythmic balance and the syntactic grouping of words when the sentence is long. The short
sentences in the first column sound natural without particles but if the same particles are omitted in the second column, the sentences would sound lopsided.
㹾 㠜㠊. 㡂㧦䂲ῂṖ 㹾Ṗ
Ṗ 㠜㠊.
I don’t have a car. My girlfriend doesn’t have a car.
㩚₆ ⋮Ṫ┺. 㞚䕢䔎 㩚㼊㠦 㩚₆Ṗ
Ṗ ⋮Ṫ┺. The power went out.
The power went out in the entire apartment complex. ㏢ⶎ ⻢㖾 䗒㪢㠊㣪.
㏢ⶎ㧊 㧊 㧎䎆⎍㦚 䐋䟊㍲ ⻢㖾 䗒㪢㠊㣪.
The rumor spread already. The rumor spread already via the Internet.
19.2 -㧊Ṗ
The particle -
㧊Ṗ is primarily used to mark a subject, but it can also mark certain non-subjects.
19.2.1 Use of -㧊VṖ to mark subjects
Subjects marked by -㧊Ṗ can be divided into two types – those with no added meaning and those with an added meaning
. •
With no added meaning -㧊Ṗ indicates a ‘neutral’ subject.
䞲ῃ ἓ㩲Ṗ 䋂Ợ 㩚䟞┺. The Korean economy made great progress.
⍺Ṗ Ⲓ㩖 Ṗ. You go first.
㔳╏㧊 㧮 ♒㣪. The restaurant has good business.
This type of subject is commonly omitted when its referent can be inferred from the context. This is especially true when the referent is a person. Even
when the noun is retained, the particle can easily be omitted.
• With an added meaning
-㧊Ṗ adds a sense of focus, newness, or exhaustive listing ‘this and only this’ to the subject. This type of subject
CANNOT
be omitted. A: 㬚㏷䞿┞┺.
I’m sorry. B: 㞚┯┞┺. 㩲Ṗ 㬚㏷䞮㬶.
Not at all. I’m the one who is sorry. A: 㠊ⓦ ⋮⧒Ṗ 㤪✲䅋㦚 㭒㾲䟞㬶? Which country hosted the World Cup?
B: 䞲ῃὒ 㧒⽎㧊 䟞㠊㣪.
Korea and Japan did. The following pairs of examples illustrate the contrast between the two types of
subjects. The first subject in each pair is neutral – it does not receive any phonetic focus and refers to a specific entity. In contrast, the second subject has an added
meaning – it is focused with high pitch. Moreover, when it is a common noun rather than a name or a pronoun, it refers to a general class rather than to a
single thing.
㔳╏㧊 㧮 ♒㣪.
The restaurant has good business .
㔳╏㧊 㧮 ♒㣪. Restaurants not other things have good business.
㧦⚦Ṗ ⰱ㧞㠊㣪.
This plum is delicious. 㧦⚦Ṗ ⰱ㧞㠊㣪.
Plums not other fruit are delicious. In all the examples considered so far, -㧊Ṗ can be replaced by the honorific
particle -℮㍲ when the referent of the subject is worthy of special deference see
