B: 맛있거든요. Masissgeodeunyo. Because it’s delicious.
__________
A: 왜 비빔밥을 또 시켰어요? Why did you order bibimbap again?
B: 맛있어서요. Masisseoseoyo. Because it’s delicious.
새로운 코트를 샀어요. 요즘 날씨가 추워지니까요.
Saeloun koteureul sasseoyo. Yojeum nalssiga chuwojinikkayo.
I bought a new coat. It’s because the weather is getting colder nowadays.
새로운 코트를 샀어요. 요즘 날씨가 추워지거든요.
Yojeum nalssiga chuwojigeodeunyo.
I bought a new coat. It’s because the weather is getting colder nowadays.
새로운 코트를 샀어요. 요즘 날씨가 추워져서요.
Yojeum nalssiga chuwojyeoseoyo.
I bought a new coat. It’s because the weather is getting colder nowadays.
오늘 피곤해요. 어젯밤에 일이 너무 많아서 별로 못 잤으니까요.
Oneul pigonhaeyo. Eojetbame iri neomu manaseo byeollo mot jasseunikkayo.
Today I’m tired. It’s because last night I had too much work, so I hardly slept.
오늘 피곤해요. 어젯밤에 일이 너무 많아서 별로 못 잤거든요.
Oneul pigonhaeyo. Eojetbame iri neomu manaseo byeollo mot jatgeodeunyo.
Today I’m tired. It’s because last night I had too much work, so I hardly slept.
Another important note about 거든: it has a second use which means “of course” and is used to explain something really obvious to people. When you use it in this way the intonation is different (and it’s almost always in 반말). If you’re using 거든 in the first way, to explain a reason, the intonation should go down at the end as if stating a fact. In the second way, it goes up and the emphasis tends to be on 거든 rather than on the rest of the sentence. It shouldn’t be too hard to tell which 거든 Koreans are using: apart from the context, the intonation they use in the second is exactly how it sounds—someone who’s been wrongly accused and is annoyed about it.
숙제를 했거든.
Sukjereul haetgeodeun.
Of course I did my homework!
아침을 먹었거든.
Achimeul meogeotgeodeun.
Of course I ate breakfast!
남자친구가 있거든.
Namjachinguga itgeodeun.
Of course I have a boyfriend!
Ending sentences with (으)ㄴ/는데요 (eu)n/neundeyo Speaking
You can think of this ending as an ellipsis (...). It implies there’s more to the story than what’s just been said, as if you started a sentence that was going to have a second part, but then stopped before you got there. After (으)ㄴ/는데고 you can start a new sentence to explain yourself or if the second part of the story is mutually understood, just stop at 데요. I have heard (으)ㄴ/는데요 used as a more polite version of the second 거든 above.
Please also note that 는데, 는 데, and 는대 are all different. Isn’t grammar fun?! I’ll cover 는 데 on page 170 and 는대 along with the other indirect speech forms on page 304.
A: 소개팅 할래요? Sogaeting hallaeyo? Want to try 소개팅? (a kind of arranged dating)
B: 아니요. 나 남자친구 있는데요. Aniyo. Na namjachingu inneundeyo. No. I already have a boyfriend. (so I don’t need another date)
__________
A: 숙제 했어요? 보여 주세요. Sukje haesseoyo? Boyeo juseyo. Did you do your homework? Show me.
B: 숙제 했는데요… 집에 두고 왔어요. Sukje haenneundeyo...jibe dugo wasseoyo. I did it, but I left it at home.
A: 너, 오늘도 숙제 안 했지? Neo, oneuldo sukje an haetji? You, you also didn’t do your homework today, right?
B: 오늘은 숙제 했는데요. Oneuleun sukje haenneundeyo. I did my homework today. (so why are you accusing me of not having done it?)
Starting sentences with 는데, 어서, and 니까 Speaking = Writing
You’re in the middle of a lengthy explanation of the whys and hows of what happened. Naturally, sometimes you’ll want to pause for breath (or to give your listeners a chance to catch their breath). So how can you do that while explaning things in Korean? 그렇다 geureota is here to help.
I’ll discuss all the forms of 그렇다 further on page 377 along with other ways of putting an argument together, but let’s put it in here also since it’s used very commonly with the verb forms we’re learning. In this section, we will finish one statement and then explain further with:
그래서
geuraeseo
and, so, then, thereupon
그러니까
geureonikka
so, therefore, for that reason
그런데
geureonde
now, by the way, but, and (depending on the context)
Let’s see some examples.
아침을 안 먹었어요. 그래서 배고파요.
Achimeul an meogeosseoyo. Geuraeseo baegopayo.
I didn’t eat breakfast, so I’m hungry.
공부를 열심히 했어요. 그래서 시험에 100점을 받았어요.
Gongbureul yeolsimhi haesseoyo. Geuraeseo siheome baekjeomeul badasseoyo.
I studied hard, so I got 100 on the test.
비가 오고 있어요. 그러니까 우산을 가지고 오세요.
Biga
