Lesson 93 (Intermediate 3 Lesson 8)

We started on Chapter 12, and went through the entire handout. This covered all the grammar points. We also reviewed the Quizlet sentence deck.

Originally, there should be a test after Chapter 12, so I figured the test would be in about 2 weeks from today (i.e. 3 lessons after this one, since I am writing this a week late), but… well, I will talk about that in Lesson 94’s post.

Grammar

1. A-아/어 보이다

This is used to express one’s guess or judgment about something based on its appearance.

Literally translated, it will be “you look…” or “it looks…”.

This is used with adjectives only.

• For nouns, that is covered in the next grammar point (처럼/같이 보여요).
  • There is another grammar used for verbs (V-나 봐요), but that is something that we will learn another time.

So how does this differ from A-(으)ㄴ 것 같다? The key is that A-아/어 보이다 is based on appearance, whereas the conjecture from A-(으)ㄴ 것 같다 might be based on something else.

2. N처럼[같이]

This is used to express that some action or thing appears similar to the noun. It would be translated as “like” in English.

The caveat here is that you must follow up with an adjective or verb behind this. You need to specifically mention what it is about the noun that is similar.

• 가수처럼이에요. (X)
  • An incorrect way to say ”He is like a professional singer.”
• 가수처럼 노래를 잘 불러요. (O)
  • He sings well like a professional singer.

처럼 and 같이 essentially mean the same thing and are interchangeable. There is no difference in formality.

처럼/같이 are also used to express characteristics metaphorically by comparing them to animals or other things in nature. (English has this too in the form of similes.)

• 호랑이처럼 무섭다 (fierce like a tiger)
• 거북이처럼 느리다 (slow like a turtle)
• 토끼처럼 귀엽다 (cute like a rabbit)
• 바다처럼 마음이 넓다 (big-hearted like the ocean)

3. A-(으)ㄴ/V-는 편이다

This is used to express something that has a tendency toward a certain condition.

편 literally means “side”. You find it in words such as 건너편 (“opposite side”) but using it in this structure with an adjective or verb is used to say that something/someone is rather (tall) or somewhat (thin) , or that they tend to (be introverted).

This is used when usually there are two words that describe opposite traits (e.g. tall vs short) and you are trying to categorise everyone neatly into 2 groups. Since not everyone can easily be said to be tall or short (is someone who is 1.7m really tall?), but it is a scale, this is where you use this structure to say that they are in one category over another, but it is not as though they would necessarily belong otherwise (if we were not being forced to make do kind of classification into two groups).

Note: You cannot use this if someone falls into a clear category. For example, if the person is over 2m tall, you would not say they are 키가 큰 편이에요 (equivalent to saying they are somewhat tall), but simply that 키가 커요 (they are tall)!

For adjectives, you can simply use them as seen in the example above. For the negative form, there are two ways to do it:

1. 키가 큰 편이 아니에요.
2. 키가 안 큰 편이에요.

Though for negative forms, I have a feeling that it is more used for verbs, since it would be more natural to simply find another adjective e.g. 작다 instead of 크다.

1. 많이 먹는 편이 아니에요.
2. 많이 안 먹는 편이에요.

For verbs, it is usually necessary to add an adverb that modifies the verb, such as 자주, 잘, etc.

Examples:

1. 나나 씨는 치마를 자주 입는 편이에요.
2. 스티븐 씨는 매운 음식을 잘 먹는 편이에요.
3. 저는 많이 자는 편이에요.

4. A-게

This is used to express some degree or means of an action. Basically, this is how you convert an adjective into an adverb.

Naturally, being an adverb, it is followed by a verb.

Examples:

1. 마리코 씨는 머리를 짧게 잘랐어요.
2. 오늘 아침에 늦게 일어났어요.
3. 더 크게 쓰세요.

Now, there are some exceptions to this. Not all adjectives have the corresponding adverb formed like this but instead have special forms.

1. 많다 → 많이 (not 많게)
2. 이르다 (to be early) → 일찍 (not 이르게)

For the following three, while the special forms are much more common, it is not wrong to also use -게 forms.

1. 빠르다 → 빨리/빠르게
2. 적다 → 조금/적게
3. 느리다 → 천천히/느리게

Vocabulary

Homework

• Chapter 12 Worksheet (entire)
• Quizlet Chapter 12 Word and Sentence Sets

Stats

• Students: 4 out of 5 (newest girl wasn’t here)
• Breakout room activities: Yes, full rotation for 3.