이메일이나마 쓰세요.
Kim seonsaengnimeul chatji mothamyeon imeilinama sseuseyo.
If you can’t find Mr. Kim, you can send an email or something.
Here are some commonly used expressions with (이)나:
누구나
nuguna
anyone
언제나
eonjena
any time
어디서나
eodiseona
anywhere (used only with 가다, 오다 and other verbs of motion)
어디에서나
eodi-e-seona
anywhere
무엇이나
mueosina
anything
아무거나
amugeona
anything
누구나 갈 수 있어요.
Nuguna gal su isseoyo.
Anyone can go.
언제나 할 수 있어요.
Eonjena hal su isseoyo.
We can do it any time.
어디서나 하면 돼요.
Eodiseona hamyeon dwaeyo.
We can do it anywhere.
어디에서나 하면 돼요.
Eodi-e-seona hamyeon dwaeyo.
We can do it anywhere.
아무거나 주세요.
Amugeona juseyo.
Just give me anything.
This is the most basic way to say “or” when you’re talking about verbs. Put it after each of two verbs to mean “A or B.” You don’t need any past tense markers on your verbs; the verb at the end of your sentence tells people all they need to know about when it happened. What you’re really doing here is changing a verb into a noun using (으)ㄴ/는 것, adding 이나 (see page 60), and then shrinking the whole expression to 거나.
수영하거나 자전거를 타거나
suyeonghageona jajeongeoreul tageona
go swimming or go biking
영화를 보거나 쇼핑을 하거나
yeonghwareul bogeona syopingeul hageona
see a movie or go shopping
커피를 마시거나 식사를 하거나 할까요?
Keopireul masigeona siksareul hageona halkkayo?
Shall we drink coffee or eat dinner?
지금 은행에 가거나 내일 인터넷 뱅킹을 하거나 해야 해요.
Jigeum eunhaenge gageona naeil inteonet baengkingeul hageona haeya haeyo.
I have to either go to the bank now or log on to online banking tomorrow.
You can use A거나 말거나 geona malgeona B to say that whether or not you do A, B will happen.
서두르거나 말거나 늦을 거예요.
Seodureugeona malgeona neujeul geoyeyo.
Whether you hurry or not, you’ll be late.
아이들이 듣거나 말거나 선생님은 계속 말했어요.
A-i-deuri deutgeona malgeona seonsaengnimeun gyesok malhaesseoyo.
Whether or not the children were listening, the teacher kept talking.
그녀가 예쁘거나 말거나, 저는 그녀를사랑해요.
Geunyeoga yeppeugeona malgeona, jeoneun geunyeoreulsaranghaeyo.
Whether or not she’s beautiful, I love her.
This can best be translated as “or something” as in “Do you want to get some coffee or something?” It implies that “something” is not necessarily the first choice, but it will do.
커피라도 먹을래요?
Keopirado meogeullaeyo?
Do you want to get some coffee or something? (I don’t really care if we get coffee or something else.)
이번 주말에 부산이라도 갈까요?
Ibeon jumare Busanirado galkkayo?
Shall we go to Busan or something this weekend? (I’m not that excited about Busan, but I’d like to go somewhere.)
이거라도 주세요.
Igeorado juseyo.
Just give me this one. (It’s not my first choice, but it’ll do.)
It can also be used after question words like 누구, 언제, nugu, eonje, or 어디 eodi or after 아무 amu to mean “any.”
누구라도
nugurado
anyone
아무라도
amurado
anyone
언제라도
eonjerado
any time
어디라도
