Lesson 82 (Intermediate 2 Lesson 9)

This is now two weeks overdue, since I got caught up with work and being on course the last two weeks.

We finished up the rest of the vocabulary for Chapter 8 (last week, we stopped at number 20), and then completed the entire handout. That’s right, we went through all 4 grammar points.

Grammar

1. A/V-겠-

It is used to indicate the speaker’s supposition or conjecture based on the current situation or condition that the speaker is in.

This is frequently used when you sympathise with another person’s situation. If you think something sounds good, you would say 좋겠어요.

This grammar corresponds to “must”, “looks like”, “sounds“, or “appears”. The exact translation would probably be different depending on the context in which the reply was given.

Examples (with possible situations where such a reply could be warranted):

1. 좋겠어요! (That sounds good!)
   • Friend says that they are going on vacation next week.
2. 재미있겠어요. (That looks fun.)
   • You observe some people doing something and they are laughing.
3. 힘들겠어요. (It must be hard.)
   • Someone tells you that they have to study after work every day.

1.1 Past Tense: A/V-았겠/었겠-

If you are speculating about past events or completed events by the subject, you need to use ‘-았겠/었겠-’:

• 어제 손님이 많이 오셔서 정말 힘들었겠어요.

1.2 First Person Subject

In most of the examples, the speaker is speaking about the experience of someone else. If the speaking is talking about themselves, then ‘V-겠’ conveys a strong intention to do something soon.

• 늦어서 죄송합니다. 내일 꼭 일찍 오겠습니다.

V-겠습니다 is the formal. For casual, you would use V-(으)ㄹ 게요, which we have already seen.

2. N 때문에

This is used to express a cause or reason.

It is translated as “because of N”.

That is how it differs from N(이)라서, which means “because (it is) N”. This is a potential pitfall to watch out for.

N 때문에 is used more commonly with negative situations. You could still use N 때문에 in a positive situation, but usually, you would use N 덕분에 (“thanks to N”) for something positive.¹

덕분에 can also be used without the noun, for example, when someone asks if you are well. Then, you can reply: 네, 덕분에.

Examples:

1. 아이들 때문에 피곤해요.
2. 일 때문에 바빠요.
3. 감기 때문에 학교에 못 갔어요.

3. V-아/어 버리다

This one is fun. 버리다 by itself means “to throw away”, but this expression has two distinct feelings associated with it.

One is the feeling of relief from a burden by completing an action, while the other is a feeling of dissatisfation with the result of an action.

Important to note that in either case, the feeling comes from something happening, so you do not use 안 or 못 with this.²

Examples (dissatisfied with result):

1. 표가 팔려 버렸어요.
2. 자전거가 고장 나 버려서 자전거를 탈 수 없어요.
3. 나나 씨가 아무 말도 없이 그냥 가 버렸어요.
4. 친구의 전화번호를 잊어버렸어요.
5. 시장에서 지갑을 잃어버렸어요.

For 4 and 5, they are a bit special in that there isn’t a space between the verb and the 버리다. Kind of like how 도와주다 is special for V-아/어 주다.

Previously, we have already learnt these verbs as one unit (잊어버리다 and 잃어버리다). This is the grammr behind them, and I guess also explains why 잊다 on its own also means “to forget”.

It was only when I saw the example sentences did I realise that the words were actually formed with this grammar.

Examples (relieved from burden):

1. 숙제를 다 끝내 버렸어요.
2. 필요 없는 옷들을 정리해 버렸어요.
3. 집을 청수해 버렸어요.

4. A/V-(으)ㄹ 때, N 때

This is used to express the time when an action or state occurs, or its duration.

For nouns, it is actually N일 때, but it is much more common to leave out the 일.

I won’t go into the conjugation because it is essentially the same as the future tense noun modifier and slapping on 때 at the end. Plus, by this time, conjugation is not hard; it is when to use the grammar that is hard.

Examples:

1. 혼자 있을 때 뭐 해요?
2. 친구하고 이야기할 때 기분이 좋아요.
3. 한국어 공부가 어려울 때 스트레스를 받아요.
4. 학생 때 공부를 못해요.

4.1 Comparison with 면

This question came to my mind some time in the last two weeks, not during the lesson itself: What is the difference between A/V-(으)ㄹ 때 (when) and A/V-(으)면 (when/if)?

Is it that 면 is also conditional (“if”) and not just “when”?

I did some Googling and this video came up. In essence:

• 면 is used to refer to hypothetical situations
• 때 is used to refer to an actual event. It means “time” (literally, “the time when…”)

Vocabulary

Homework

• Worksheet Chapter 8, 전부 (all)
• Quizlet Chapter 8 sentence set

Stats

• Students: 5 out of 5
• Breakout room activities: Yes. Mixed groups.