jeohuin저걸로 주세요. Jeogeollo juseyo. Give me that.
이건 어때요? Igeon eottaeyo? How about this?
More Contractions:
이렇다/그렇다/저렇다/어떻다 ireota/geureota/jeoreota/eotteota
As you may know, these mean “to be a certain way.” 이렇다 means “to be this way,” 그렇다 means “to be that way” and 저렇다 means “to be that way over there” and isn’t really used that much. These are very versatile expressions that you’ll see. and they are used in all kinds of ways. 어떻다 by itself doesn’t translate well, but you’ll see it all the time as 어떻게 (how).
The most common way you’ll probably see them conjugated is by adding the ending 게, which turns a verb into an adverb. We don’t have these adverbs in English, at least not as single words, but if “thisly,” “thatly,” and “that over therely” were words, they’d be translated this way.
어떻게
eotteoke
How?
이렇게
ireoke
Like this.
그렇게
geureoke
Like that.
저렇게
jeoreoke
Like that over there.
Let’s try making some sentences:
어떻게 하면 돼요?
Eotteoke hamyeon dwaeyo?
What’s a good way to do it? (How can I do this?)
그렇게 하면 안 돼요.
Geureoke hamyeon an dwaeyo.
You can’t do it like that.
이렇게 어려운 책을 읽지 못 해요.
ireoke eoryeoun chaegeul ikji mot taeyo.
I can’t read such a difficult book.
And here’s how to abbreviate 이렇다, 그렇다, 저렇다, and 어떻다 using the tense markers ㄴ and ㄹ. (See page 235 for more information on tense markers).
| Original word | 이렇다 ireota | 그렇다 geureota | 저렇다 jeoreota | 어떻다 eotteota |
| +ㄴ | 이렇 + ㄴ | 그렇 + ㄴ | 저렇 + ㄴ | 어떻 + ㄴ |
| Contraction | 이런 ireon | 그런 geureon | 저런 jeoreon | 어떤 eotteon |
| +ㄹ | 이렇 + ㄹ | 그렇 + ㄹ | 저렇 + ㄹ | |
| Contraction | 이럴 ireol | 그럴 geureol | 저럴 jeoreol |
이런 헤어 스타일은 어떠세요?
Ireon heeo seu-ta-i-reun eotteoseyo?
What do you think about this hairstyle?
어떤 헤어 스타일을 좋아하세요?
Eotteon heeo seu-ta-i-reul joahaseyo?
What kind of style do you like?
저런 헤어 스타일을 좋아해요.
Jeoreon heeo seu-ta-i-reul joahaeyo.
I like that kind of hairstyle.
More ways to use 이렇다, 저렇다 and especially 그렇다 are on page 377. For now, let’s look at 어떻다 and its unique contractions.
When you add 어떻게 plus 하다, you can keep on using 어떻게 하다 or you can contract the whole thing to 어쩌다. This contraction happens in many commonly used expressions.
■ 어쩔 수 없다 Eojjeol su eopda
A: 저기 버스가 가네요! Jeogi beoseuga ganeyo! The bus is leaving!
B: 어쩔 수 없죠, 뭐. 다음 버스 타요. Eojjeol su eopjo, mwo. Daeum beoseu tayo. Oh well, it can’t be helped. Let’s take the next one.
■ 어쩌면 eojjeomyeon Maybe
내일 어쩌면 비가 올 지도 몰라요. Naeil eojjeomyeon biga ol jido mollayo. Maybe it’ll rain tomorrow.
■ 어쩐지 eojjeonji Somehow
A: 저 감기 걸린 것 같아요. Jeo gamgi geollin geot gatayo. I think I caught a cold.
B: 어쩐지, 얼굴이 안좋아보이더라고요. Eojjeonji, eolguri an-jo-a-bo-i-deo-ra-go-yo. Somehow, your face doesn’t look that good.
(Here “somehow” means “in some vague way.” And while it’s strange to tell people in English that their face doesn’t look so good, it’s done in Korean all the time.)
How to Talk to People Without Being Rude
반말 and 존댓말 and All Their Permutations
There are seven levels of speech in Korean. There used to be many more, but thankfully they’ve been greatly simplified. Even more thankfully, most of the seven aren’t that commonly used. 반말 banmal is the lowest form, used toward children or people very close to you, and it actually covers five of the seven levels, including all the ones you don’t need to worry about. The next two levels are both called 존댓말 jondaenmal. One is what I’ll refer to as “informal polite” and is by far the most common and useful level. It’s used toward strangers, people you don’t know well, or people older than you. The other is super-polite and is used when speaking to people higher in rank or status or when addressing crowds. Just as an example, I use 반말 to my students and informal polite
