expression (see page 232) and it means that something that was expected finally happened. 고요 goyo is an expression used at the end of a sentence to add information. Neither of these expressions has much relevance to 고 말고요 go malgoyo, which always goes at the end of a sentence.
HOW IT’S CONJUGATED
| Past | Present | Future | ||
| Action verbs ending in a vowel | 하다 ha-da | 하고 말고요 ha-go mal-go-yo했고 말고요 haet-go mal-go-yo | 하고 말고요 ha-go mal-go-yo | 하고 말고요 ha-go mal-go-yo할거고 말고요 hal-geo-go mal-go-yo |
| Action verbs ending in a consonant | 먹다 meok-da | 먹고 말고요 meok-go mal-go-yo먹었고 말고요 meo-geot-go mal-go-yo | 먹고 말고요 meok-go mal-go-yo | 먹고 말고요 meok-go mal-go-yo먹을거고 말고요 meo-geul-geo-go mal-go-yo |
| Descriptive verbs (adjectives) ending in a vowel | 예쁘다 ye-ppeu-da | 예쁘고 말고요 ye-ppeu-go mal-go-yo예뻤고 말고요 ye-ppeot-go mal-go-yo | 예쁘고 말고요 ye-ppeu-go mal-goyo | 예쁘고 말고요 ye-ppeu-go mal-go-yo |
| Descriptive verbs (adjectives) ending in a consonant | 작다 jak-da | 작고 말고요 jak-go mal-go-yo작았고 말고요 ja-gat-go mal-go-yo | 작고 말고요 jak-go mal-go-yo | 작고 말고요 jak-go mal-go-yo |
| Nouns ending in a vowel | 남자 nam-ja | 남자이고 말고요 nam-ja-i-go mal-go-yo남자였고 말고요 nam-ja-yeot-go | 남자이고 말고요 nam-ja-i-go mal-goyo | 남자이고 말고요 nam-ja-i-go mal-go-yo남자일거고 말고요 nam-ja-il-geo-go mal-go-yo |
| Nouns ending in a consonant | 물 mul | 물이고 말고요 mul-i-go mal-go-yo물이었고 말고요 mul-i-eot-go mal-go-yo | 물이고 말고요 mul-i-go mal-go-yo | 물이고 말고요 mul-i-go mal-go-yo물일거고 말고요 mu-lil-geo-go mal-go-yo |
TAKE NOTE
This expression is used only at the end of very short sentences. If you want to explain yourself further, start a new sentence and do so.
While you can use go 고 말고요 mal-go-yo with nouns, it’s not very common; people generally prefer one of the expressions listed at the beginning of this section.
고 말았다 Go ma-rat-da (see page 233) is not at all the same as 고 말고요. 고 말았다 means that something happened accidentally and/or unfortunately. Likewise, 고 말겠다 go mal-get-da (see page 232) is used to talk about definite plans—it has nothing to do with 고 말고요.
EXAMPLE SENTENCES
일을 벌써 끝냈어요?
I-leul beol-sseo kkeun-nae-seo-yo?
Have you already finished your work?
끝냈고 말고요. 다섯시간 전에 그 일을 시작했어요.
Kkeun-naet-go mal-go-yo. Da-seot si-gan jeon-e geu i-leul si-jak-hae-seo-yo.
Of course I’ve finished. I started five hours ago.
__________
미스 코리아가 예쁜가요?
Miseu koriaga yeppeungayo?
Is Miss Korea beautiful?
예쁘고 말고요. 모델이잖아요.
Yeppeugo malgoyo. Moderijanayo.
Of course she’s beautiful! She’s a model.
Disagreement/Negatives
Why can’t we all just get along? Sometimes you need to object to or disagree with something someone else has said or to state that something is untrue. This section will show you how to do that.
First, however, let’s review basic negatives. The simplest way to negate something in Korean is to simply add 지 않다 ji anta to the end of the verb. This works with any kind of verb and after either a vowel or a consonant.
| 먹다 meokda | to eat | 먹지 않다 meokji anta | to not eat |
| 하다 hada | to do | 하지 않다 haji anta | to not do |
| 작다 jakda | to be small | 작지 않다 jakji anta | to not be small |
| 예쁘다 yeppeuda | to be pretty | 예쁘지 않다 yeppeuji anta | to not be pretty |
Another option is to put 안 an in front of the verb. This negates the verb. It’s not really used much in formal situations or in writing. In common, everyday speech, either 안 or 지 않다 ji anta is usually fine.
| 먹다 meokda | to eat | 안 먹다 an meokda | to not eat |
| 하다 hada | to do | 안 하다 an hada | to not do |
| 작다 jakda | to be small | 안 작다 an jakda | to not be small |
| 예쁘다 yeppeuda | to be pretty | 안 예쁘다 an yeppeuda | to not be pretty |
If what you’re talking about has to do with capability, 지 못하다 should be used. This is covered on page 297 in the section on Possibility.
Another expression which can also belong in this section is (으)ㄴ/는/(으)ㄹ걸요. It’s often used for guesses as well, so it appears in that section on page 149. When used as a negative, it’s quite similar to 기는요.
What’s with All These 말s?
You’ll see a few expressions here and there that look kind of like this:
A(expression) 말 mal (expression) 하다 hada
In these cases the 말 is negating A, so the expression will have something to do with “A or not”. The table below summarizes and briefly explains these expressions; I hope it clears up any confusion.
| Expression | Page | Meaning | Example |
| ~(으)ㄹ락 말락 하다 (eu) r-rak mallak hada | ~ almost, but not quite, happened/is happening | 그 사고에서 죽을락 말락 했어요. Geu sagoeseo jugeullak mallak haesseoyo. I was hovering on the verge of death after that accident. | |
| ~다가 말다가 하다 daga maldaga hada | Doing ~ on and off | 운동을 하다가 말다가 하면 근육에 무리가갈 거예요. Undongeul hadaga maldaga hamyeon geunnyuge muriga gal geoyeyo. If you keep exercising on and off like that, it will be too stressful for your muscles. | |
| ~(으)ㄹ지 말지 하다 (eu)r-ji malji hada | I can’t decide whether to ~ or not. | 운동을 할지 말지 결정 못했어요. Undongeul halji malji gyeoljeong motaesseoyo. I couldn’t decide whether or not to exercise. | |
| ~(으)ㄹ까 말까 하다 (eu)r-kka malkka hada | I can’t decide whether to ~ or not. | 운동을 할까 말까 해요. undongeul halkka malkka haeyo. I can’t decide whether to exercise or not. | |
| ~는 둥 마는 둥 하다 neun dung maneun dung hada | ~ almost didn’t happen, but ultimately did | 비가 오는 둥 마는 둥 했어요. Biga oneun dung maneun
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