Lesson 33 (Beginner 2B Lesson 1): This Lesson is Surprising

It's the same 6 people in this new term. At least for now. We are still having the lessons online until at least the end of July.

Since the lockdown measures have eased, there was a poll to ask whether we'd want to have lessons at the school after June, but I chose (and apparently so did the majority) to have the classes online.

I think apart from the commute taking time, it's the whole having to go out and being on public transport for an extended period, plus you still have to wear a mask and practise safe distancing. It's just that much easier online.

We are almost done with Chapter 8 (as far as I can tell, we only have the pronunciation and the self-check left), which is the last chapter in the 1A textbook.

And yes, we had another writing assignment which I've yet to complete. It really feels like we flew by this chapter.

Grammar

3. 이[그, 저] + N

Attach 이, 그, 저 to nouns to indicate their location.

Previously, we learnt 이거, 그거 and 저거 which are used to indicate "this (thing)", "that (thing)", and "that (thing) over there" respectively.

Actually, 거 literally means "thing" or "(that) one", so you can remove 거 in the 3 cases and replace it with any noun.

However, you need to include a space between 이, 그 and 저 and any noun.

Examples:

• 이 차 = this car
• 그 책 = that book
• 저 가방 = that bag over there

As a reminder:

• 이 (this): close to the speaker
• 그 (that): close to the listener, or not in sight, or previously mentioned in conversation
• 저 (that over there): far from speaker and listener, but still in sight

4. A/V-네요

This is used to express the feeling of surprise about a fact that the speaker has come to know.

It will not be something that the speaker already knows. There is no exact English translation for this, as it would simply translate to the present (or past) tense form.

Regardless if there is batchim (받침) or not, you simply add -네요 to the stem for present tense. (This means from the dictionary form, you remove 다.)

For the past tense, you conjugate the past tense form, and replace 어요 with 네요.

Examples:

• 날씨가 덥네요. (The weather is hot.)
• 사진을 잘 찍네요. (He takes good pictures./He is a good photographer.)
• 하늘이 맑네요. (The sky is clear.)
• 우유가 없네요. (There's no milk.)
• 눈이 왔네요. (It snowed.)

Note the pronunciation, due to 네, there's quite some changes:

• 덥네요: [덤네요]
  • See pronunciation rule in Lesson 31
• 찍네요: [찡네요]
• 맑네요: [망네요]
  • Since 맑 usually is [막], you have ㄱ + ㄴ resulting in the ㅇ (-ng) sound, as per [찡네요].
• 없네요: [엄네요]
  • See pronunciation rule in Lesson 31
• 왔네요: [완네요]

Culture Note

The culture note for this chapter is about blind dates. Perhaps more accurately, it's about dating culture?

There are 3 types of blind dates:

1. 미팅
2. 소개팅
3. 선

미팅 (Group Blind Date)

The first, 미팅, is taken from the English word "meeting", but means a group blind date.

It is most common among university students. Usually it's one a guy and a girl who knew each other previously (such as in high school) invite their friends to go for this date together.

So the girl will invite her friends, and the guy his friends, and they come together for this date. If any of the friends are interested in each other, they would exchange numbers.

소개팅 (Blind Date)

The second is called 소개팅, which means "introduction" (소개) + "meeting" (팅, from "meeting" 미팅).

This is common for both university students and for people who have just started working.

Usually it's a friend or colleague that will suggest for his two friends (who have not met each other) to go on such a date, and the pair go on the date by themselves, meeting one-on-one.

선 (Blind Dating for Marriage)

This is the serious one, and the setting is much more formal. Usually such a meeting is set up by a family member (naturally a senior member, e.g. parents or grandparents and not siblings), and the people who go on such a date do so with the intention of marriage.

The verb for this is 선을 보다. I couldn't find the 선 that this 선 refers to since there's quite a few things that 선 can mean...

Vocabulary

About the Title

"This lesson" refers to the third grammar point for attaching 이 to nouns. "Surprising" refers to the last grammar point. I think it would have been confusing to indicate the culture note about dating, so I left that out.