⌊Ṗ ⽊₆㠪 㰧 Ṩ㧊 䔏䧞 Ⱔ㧊 㡺⯒ ộ ṯ㞚. In my opinion, it seems that especially home prices will increase a lot.
• In short
䞲Ⱎ❪⪲ Ⱖ䟊㍲ Ịṫ 㥶㰖㠦⓪ 㓺䔎⩞㓺 ὖⰂṖ Ṗ㧻 㭧㣪䞮┺. In short, managing stress is the most important thing for your health.
╖䐋⪏㧊 ≦ 䤚㠦☚ 䋆 ⼖䢪⓪ 㧒㠊⋮㰖 㞠㞮┺. 㣪⓪㣪䄾╖ ╖䐋⪏ 䞲 ㌂⧢㧊 ∖ 㑮 㧞⓪ 㧊 ⁎⩝Ợ Ⱔ㰖⓪ 㞠┺⓪ ộ㧊┺.
There weren’t any major changes after the change in presidents. In short, this means that there isn’t much that a president can change. [writtenformal]
• In some respects
☛㔶㦒⪲ ㌂⓪ ộ㧊 ➢⪶ 㣎⫃ἶ 䧮✺㰖Ⱒ, 㠊⟺ Ⳋ㠦㍲⓪㠊⠑Ợ ⽊Ⳋ 㫡㦖 㩦☚ Ⱔ㧊 㧞㠊㣪.
Living as a single person is sometimes lonely and tough; however, in some respects there are many advantages as well.
• In spite of that; even so; nevertheless
㢂䟊 㤆Ⰲ 䣢㌂㦮 䕦ⰺ⨟㦖 Ṧ㏢䟞㔋┞┺. ⁎⩒㠦☚ ῂ䞮ἶ, 䌖 䣢㌂㢖㦮 ἓ㨗㠦 㧞㠊 㡂㩚䧞 㤆㥚⯒ 㹾㰖䞮ἶ 㧞㔋┞┺. [writtenformal]
This year, our company’s sales decreased. In spite of that, in terms of competition with other companies, we still have the upper hand.
⁎ ㌂⧢㧊 ⍞䞲䎢 ⶊ⪖䞮Ợ 䟟☯䞮₊ 䟞㰖. ⁎⧮☚⁎⩝┺ 䞮▪⧒☚ ⁎⩝┺㏦ 䂮▪⧒☚, ⍺Ṗ 㫖 ⍩㦖 Ⱎ㦢㦒⪲ 㧊䟊䟊⧒.
I understand that person was indeed rude to you. Even so, try to be understanding and open-minded.
⍺Ṗ ㊲ Ị 㞚⓪◆, 㞚ⶊⰂ ⁎⧮☚ ⁎⩝㰖 㠊⠑Ợ 㠚Ⱎ ㌳㔶㦚 㧠㦚 㑮Ṗ 㧞┞?
I know you’re busy, but nevertheless how can you forget your mother’s birthday?
• In the end; finally 㰖⋲ 2 ⎚Ṛ ┺㟧䞲 䢣⽊䢲☯㦚 䐋䟊 㧊 㩲䛞㠦 ╖䞲 㧎㰖☚⯒ ⏨㡂
⋮Ṫ㔋┞┺. ἆὒ㩗㦒⪲ 㢂䟊 ⰺ㿲㦖 2 㠋╂⩂⋮ ♮㠞㔋┞┺. For the last two years, various public relations efforts raised the popularity
of the product. In the end, we had 200 million dollars in sales this year.
䤚 2 㦚 ⋾₆ἶ 㤆Ⰲ 䕖㦖 㽳Ὃỿ㦚 䘒㼺㔋┞┺. ἆῃ Ⱎ䂾⌊
㫛⬢ 㰗㩚 ⁏㩗㧎 ☯㩦Ἶ㧊 䎆㪢㔋┞┺. With 2 minutes left in the second half, our team made an offensive strike. Finally,
right before the end of the game, the tying goal was scored.
• In other words; that is to say; so-called
⁎ 䂲ῂ⓪ 㞚㭒 㔳䟊. 㧊⯒䎢ⳊⰦ䞮㧦Ⳋ Ỏ㠊┺┞⓪ ⺇ὒ㌂㩚㧊㟒. That person is very knowledgeable. In other words, he is a walking encyclopedia.
ῆṖ㠦Ợ 䋆 㡃䞶㧊 㭒㠊㰚┺⓪ ộ㦖, Ἵ㯟 䟊㟒䞶 㧒㧊 Ⱔ㞚㰚┺⓪ 㦮⹎㧊₆☚ 䞮┺. [writtenformal]
The fact that someone is given a lot of responsibilities means is to say that there
will also be an increased workload for himher. ⳾㝾⓪ Ṗ㰲 ⳛ䛞, 㧊⯎㏢㥚 ‘㰳䒗’ 㩲䛞㦚 䕦 䡦㦮⪲ ῂ㏣
♮㠞㔋┞┺. 㧊⯎: [writtenformal] Mr. Park was arrested for selling imitation name brands, the so-called, ‘tchakt’ung.’
• No wonder; as expected; sure enough
㞚䂾㠦 ⁎⩝Ợ Ợ㦒⯚ 䞒㤆▪┞ 㞚┞⋮ ┺⯒₢, 㰖ṗ 䟞㰖. ㄪ䟊. After being that lazy in the morning, no wonder you were late. It was
totally predictable.
╖䞲⹒ῃ 㿫ῂ ㍶㑮✺ 㡃㔲 Ⱏṫ䞲◆㣪. South Korean soccer players are strong, just as expected.
㤆ⰂṖ ✲㔲 㔏Ⰲ䞶 㭚 㞢㞮㠊, ⁎⩒ ⁎⩝㰖. I knew we were sure to win, and sure enough...
• Now that I think of it A: ㌂ὒ⯒ 䞮⬾㠦 䞲 Ṳ㝿 ⲏ⓪ ộ㧊 ⴎ㠦 㫡╖㣪.
B: ⁎⩂ἶ ⽊┞₢ ⌊Ṗ 㡺⓮ ㌂ὒ⯒ 㞞 ⲏ㠞⍺
A: They say that eating an apple once a day is good for your health. B: Now that I think of it, I didn’t eat an apple today
• On the one hand…on the other hand
㡺⨁☯㞞 㭖゚䟊 㡺▮ ㌂䞯㥚 ⏒ⶎ㦚 ⊳Ⱎ䂮Ợ ♒㍲ 䞲䘎㦒⪲⓪ ᾟ㧻䧞 ₆㊮㰖Ⱒ ⡦ 䞲䘎㦒⪲⓪ Ⱔ㧊 㞚㓓㔋┞┺.
On the one hand, I’m happy now that the dissertation I’ve been working on for a long time is finished; but on the other hand, I feel that I could have done better.
• Otherwise 㟧䁷㧊 㤆䢎㩗㦒⪲ 䡧㌗㦚 ⻢㧎┺Ⳋ ⶎ㩲⯒ 㫆㏣䧞 䟊ἆ䞶 㑮 㧞┺.
⁎⩝㰖 㞠㦒Ⳋ, 㧊 㨗㦖 㧻₆Ṛ 㰖㏣♶ ộ㧊┺. If the two parties jointly engage in friendly negotiations, then problems can be
quickly solved. Otherwise, the dispute will continue for a long time. • Rather; on the contrary
⳾㧦⯒ 㝆⓪ ộ 㧦㼊Ṗ 䌞⳾⯒ 㥶䞮㰖⓪ 㞠⓪┺. 㡺䧞⩺ 㡂⯚㠦⓪ ⳾㧦Ṗ ṫ⪂䞲 㧦㣎㍶㦒⪲䎆 ⲎⰂ⯒ ⽊䢎䟊 㭖┺.
Wearing hats in and of itself does not cause hair loss. On the contrary, in the summer, hats protect the head from UV rays.
䃃㺂㦖䄺⎫ ☚Ⰲ㠊 㟒┾Ⱒ ⰴ㞮㠊㣪. Rather than praise, I just received punishment.
• Speaking of which A: 㣪㯮 䣢㌂ ㌂㩫㧊 Ⱔ㧊 㞞 㫡㞚㰖ἶ 㧞┺㰖?
B: Ⱖ㧊 ⋮㢪㦒┞₢ Ⱖ㧎◆, 㧮䞮Ⳋ ⶊ▪₆⪲ ⳛ䑊⯒ ╏䞶㰖☚ ⳾⯎╖.
A: I hear that our company situation is getting very bad these days, is that right? B: Speaking of which, I heard that if we are unlucky, we may be faced with a call
for massive ‘voluntary’ retirements. • That’s why; so
A: ⺆Ṗ ἶ䕢㍲ 㧊ộ㩖ộ Ⱏ ⲏ㠞▪┞ ⺆Ṗ 㞚䝚⍺.
B: ⁎⩂Ợ ⌊Ṗ ⶦ⧒ ⁎⨂㠊? 㫆⁞Ⱒ ⲏ㦒⧒ἶ 䟞㧬㞚. A: I was hungry, so I ate anything I could get my hands on
and now my stomach hurts.
B: So what did I say? I told you to just eat a little. • Therefore
㠊㩲 ⡦ ⓼Ợ 㧺ῂ⋮. ⁎⩂┞₢ ⓮ 㞚䂾㠦 㧒㹣 ⴑ 㧒㠊⋮㰖. I bet you went to bed late again last night. That’s why you can never
get up early in the morning.
⁎ ╏㔲 ⋮⓪ ㎇ỿ㧊 ⰺ㤆 㣎䟻㩗㧊㠞┺. ⁎⧮㍲ ⌊ 㭒⼖㠦⓪ ⓮ Ⱔ㦖
䂲ῂ✺㧊 㧞㠞┺. At that time, my personality was very outgoing. Therefore, I always had many
friends around me.
㧎Ṛ㦖 Ⱖ㦚 䞶 㑮 㧞┺. ⁎⩂⸖⪲ἶ⪲ ☯ⶒὒ ῂ⼚♲┺. [writtenformal] Humans can speak. Therefore, they can be distinguished from animals.
• Too; also 䡫㧊 Ὃ⯒ 㧮 䞮▪┞ ☯㌳☚ 㡃㔲 㧮 䞲┺.
The older brother did well in school, and the younger brother is doing well too.
䌲䛣㦒⪲ ⺙₎㧊 ⳾⚦ ⊠₆ἶ ῃ⌊㍶ 㡂ṳ₆ 㤊䟃 ⡦䞲 㭧┾♦㔋┞┺. [writtenformal]
A typhoon caused sea routes to be closed and also domestic flights to be cancelled. • Perhaps; maybe; in all likelihood
㞚Ⱎ ⍺Ṗ 㧊 䝚⪲㩳䔎⯒ ⰷ㞮㠊☚ 㧮 䟞㦚 Ệ㟒. Perhaps, if you had taken on this project, you would have done just as well.
㠊㲢Ⳋ 㧊⻞ Ỿ㤎㠦 䞲ῃ㠦 㿲㧻 Ṟ㰖 ⳾⯛┞┺. I may go to Korea on a business trip this winter.
㧊 㔲⩻ᾦ㩫㑮㑶㧊 䢏㔲 㧧㣿㦚 ⌉㦚㰖⓪ 㫖 ▪ 㰖䅲 ⽒ 㧒㧛┞┺. It remains to be seen whether there will be side effects from the LASIK surgery.
⳾⯊Ⳋ ⴆ⧒☚ ⁎ 䂲ῂ⓪ 㩗㠊☚ ⋾㦚 ㏣㧊㰖⓪ 㞠㦚 Ệ㟒. In all likelihood, that person will not deceive other people at least.
5.3 Interjections
Interjections are typical of the spoken language, and are most common in more casual speech. As in English, their appropriateness varies with the speaker’s
personality and with the setting.
• Go when cheering someone or a team 㤆Ⰲ 䕖, 䢪㧊䕛
Go team, go
䧮⌊㧦, 㞚㧦㞚㧦 䢪㧊䕛
Cheer up, let’s fight • Cheers when making a toast
Ị⺆
Bottoms up.
㤦㍍ one shot Bottoms up.
㥚䞮㡂 Cheers; To our health, etc.
• Hurrah
㤆㢖 Ⱒ㎎, 㤆ⰂṖ 㧊ἒ┺ Hurrah, we’ve won
• Go to hell
㡒⼧䞶, 㠒㠊 㭓㦚, ア㠊 ⲏ㦚
• No way ㍺Ⱎ, ⁎⩊ⰂṖ.
No way, it cannot be true. • Oh; oh by the way
㞚, 㞢㞮┺. Oh, I see.
㺎, 㡺⓮ ⳾㧚㧊 ⳝ 㔲㰖㣪? Oh, what time is our meeting today?
• Oh dear; oh boy; oh no
㞚㺎㞚㹾, ₲ 㧠ἶ 㰖ṧ㦚 㞞 Ṭἶ ⋮㢪⍺. Oh dear, I forgot to bring my purse.
㧊⩆, Ṗ㓺㦚 ⊚ἶ ⋮㡾┺⓪ Ợ. Oh no, I should have turned off the gas before coming out.
㠊䦊, ╋╋䟊. 㑮㕃⻞ ㍺ⳛ㦚 䟊☚ 㧊䟊⯒ ⴑ䞮┞. Oh boy, how frustrating. You just don’t get it no matter how many times I explain.
㠊㧊 㩫Ⱖ, 㟓㏣㦚 䟊 ⏩ἶ 㞞 ⋮䌖⋮Ⳋ 㠊⟷䟊 Oh boy, how can he not show up after having made an appointment
㩖⩆, 㠊Ⰶ ộ㧊 㧒 䞮Ⳋ㍲ Ὃ䞮ⓦ⧒ 㠒Ⱎ⋮ 䧮✺₢? Oh dear, how tough it must be for a little child to study while working.
㠊⟷䟊, 㩖⩝Ợ 㠊Ⰶ ⋮㧊㠦 ⳾┮㧊 ☢㞚Ṗ㎪㍲…
Oh no, to lose parents at such a young age…
㠊Ⲏ⋮, 㕣䟊⧒. [feminine] Oh no, how sad, I feel so sorry for them.
㠦⁎, ➇䞮₆☚ 䞮㰖.
Oh no, how sad, I feel so sorry for them.
• Oh fuck; damn it 㩲₆⧚, ⻫ 㭒㹾 ➇㰖⯒ ⡦ 㞮⍺.
Oh fuck, I got another parking ticket. 㩶㧻, 㡺⓮㦖 㢲 㧊⩝Ợ ♮⓪ 㧒㧊 㠜㰖?
Damn it, how come nothing’s going well today? • Oh my goodness; oh my god
㞚㧊ἶ, 㧊Ợ ῂ㟒? 㠊㍲ 㡺㎎㣪. Oh my goodness, who is this? Welcome.
㠊Ⲏ⋮, Ṗ㤢⧒. 㧊Ợ 㥂㧒㧊㟒? [feminine]
Oh my goodness, I’m so glad to see you. What brought you here? 㞚┞, ⡦ ⓼㠞㠊?
Oh my god, you’re late again? 㠊? ╖ⶎ㧊 㡊⩺ 㧞⍺ ⋮Ṟ ➢ ⳛ䧞 㧶Ṫ⓪◆.
Oh my god, the door is open I swear I locked it when I went out. • Jesus Christ
㤦 ㎎㌗㠦, 㧊⩆ 䟊ᾊ䞲 㧒㦚 ⽺⋮. Jesus Christ, I’ve never seen such a weird thing.
䞮ⓦ┮ Ⱟ㏢㌂, ㌞䂮Ṗ 㧊⩝Ợ Ⱔ㧊 ⋮┺┞… Oh lord, so much gray hair…
⌊ 㤦 㺎 ₆Ṗ Ⱏ䡖, 㧦₆Ṗ 㧮ⴑ䟊 ⏩ἶ ῂ䞲䎢 䋆 ㏢Ⰲ㟒? Jesus Christ, how can he be yelling at me when he is the one at fault?
• Oops 㞚㧊ἶ,
⹎㞞䟊㣪. ㌞⪲ ㌆ Ṗ㠦 䄺䞒⯒ 㘵㞚㍲… Oops, I’m so sorry. I poured coffee on your new purse…
㠚Ⱎ㟒 ⍮㠊㰞 ㄪ䟞⍺. [feminine]
Oops, I almost tripped. • Ouch
㞚㟒 㠦 ☢㧊 㧞⍺. Ouch There’s a rock in the rice.
㞚㧊䈶, 㞚䗒 Ouch, it hurts
• Ta-dah 㰶 㺔㞮┺.
Ta-dah I found it. 㰶, ₆╖䞮㔲⧒.
Ta-dah, guess what you are going to see. • What a bastardbitch
ⰳ䞶 ⏞⎚, ⹎䂲 ⏞⎚, ⴑ♲ ⏞⎚
• What the heck; I don’t care
♶ ╖⪲ ♮⧒㰖, ₢㰩ộ.
Que sera sera, what the heck. 㠦⧒, ⳾⯊Ỷ┺. ⌊㧒 䞮㰖 ⶦ. What the heck, I don’t care. I will do it
tomorrow, I guess. • Whew; phew
㞚䦊, 㧊㩲 ㌊㞮┺ Whew, I survived
䦊㤆, 㕃 ⎚ Ṧ㑮䟞⍺.
Phew, I got so scared that I lost 10 years of my life.
• Wow, yeah 㟒 㔶⋲┺, ✲❪㠊 䞯㧊┺ Wow, exciting, it’s a vacation at last
㢖, ⻞㰖㩦䝚 㩫Ⱖ 㨂⹎㧞┺. Wow, isn’t the bungee jump fun?
㠊㲲, ⍞ⶊ ⲡ㧞┺ Wow, how cool [feminine]
㞚㕎, ⡦ 㧊ἒ⍺. Yeah, I won again.
• Yikes 㦒, 㰫⁎⩂.
Yikes, it’s gross. Here are some additional examples expressing emotion or a strong reaction.
䦻, 㰖Ṗ 㧮⌂㦒Ⳋ 㠒Ⱎ⋮ 㧮⌂㠊? Give me a break – who does he think he is?
㼊䂮䞒, 㤙₆ἶ 㧞㠊 㩫Ⱖ. Shhhh – give me a break.
㞶Ẫ, Ỿ㤆 㻲㤦㦚 㭒㎎㣪? So little – are you giving me just
1,000? 㞚㶞, ỗ☚ 㠜㧊 ⋮䞲䎢 ╖✺㠊 ⽊Ỷ┺⓪ Ệ㟒?
How dare you – are you starting a fight with me? 㠒㝾ῂ, ⏖ἶ 㧞⍺.
Look at you – how ridiculous 㠦㧊, 㧊⩆ ╖㤆⯒ ⓦ┞ 㹾⧒Ⰲ ⁎Ⱒ⚦⓪ Ợ ⌁Ỷ┺.
Gee – it would be better to quit than be treated like this.
6 Softening strategies
A vital feature of courteous communication in Korean is the avoidance of directness, especially with respect to commands, requests, and queries.
6.1 Use of questions in place of commands and proposals
Commands and proposals tend to be softened especially when the speaker is not close to the addressee, unless the action being requested is for the benefit of that
person 㧮 㧦㣪, 㞞⎫䧞 Ṗ㎎㣪, etc.. This is very commonly achieved by expressing requests as questions.
Command forms:
㏢⁞ 㫖 㭒⧒㭮㭮㣪㭒㎎㣪. See 1.5 about 㭒⧒. Please pass the salt.
Question forms:
㏢⁞ 㫖 㭚⧮?㭚⧮㣪?㭒㔺⧮㣪?㭒㔲Ỷ㠊㣪? Could you pass the salt?
The contrasts among the various sentence endings in these examples, and even the presence of the honorific suffix -㔲, don’t have much to do with softening.
Rather, the softening effect is associated with the use of the question. A word of caution is in order here. The English patterns ‘WouldCould
you…?’ typically used to translate Korean formal endings and honorific verb forms are misleading. Whereas these patterns can be used in English to
anyone, including close friends or even children, the Korean formal endings and honorific
verb forms are inappropriate for close friends or children. For example, you never say ㏢⁞ 㫖 㭒㔲Ỷ㠊㣪? to a five-year-old child, even though you
could say ‘Could you pass me the salt?’ in this situation in English. It is always appropriate to be courteous and polite no matter who you are speaking to, be it a
child or a close friend, but it is not appropriate to be formal and deferential to such a person.
Proposal forms such as ⹕㦒㕃㔲┺, with both the formal 䞿㔲┺ style and honorific -㔲, are not used, except by quite old, mostly male speakers. Where
additional deference is called for, the proposal is usually made indirectly, by changing it into a suggestion or a question.
