80. Days of the Week and the Solar System; 애 Intestines vs. 애 Child; 마스크 걸 Mask Girl (2023), Ep. 4
In many languages, days of the week are named after words of various etymological origins. English days, for example, have both words from Norse and…
Tag: K-Drama
79. 인생의 갈림길에서 At a Crossroads in Life; 어쩔 수 없었어 I Didn’t Have Any Choice; 형사록 2 Shadow Detective 2 (2022), Ep. 8
Like it or not, time passes relentlessly. And life goes on. But sometimes, on some fine day, you feel suddenly sober and look back at…
78. 광복절 Liberation Day of Korea (August 15); 미스터 션샤인 Mr. Sunshine (2018), Ep. 24
In Korea, today is 광복절 (光復節) – Liberation Day, which commemorates Japan’s unconditional surrender to the Allies on August 15, 1945, which ended not only…
75. After All, We All Live Life Alone 어차피 인생은 혼자; A Simple Way to Ask a Tag Question; 50 Shades of the English Word “Life”; 형사록 Shadow Detective (2022), Ep. 8
In English, a tag question is formed by stating a positive sentence followed by a negative question, or vice versa: In Korean, however, you don’t…
74. How to Call In-Laws; The Simplest Negation with 안; What Do You Mean?; 아씨 두리안 Mrs. Durian (2023), Ep. 1
Koreans don’t call family members by their names, except between siblings or cousins. Of course, you call your children by the names you or your…
73. How to Talk about an Experience: -ㄴ/은 적 있다/없다; 마당이 있는 집 Lies Hidden in My Garden (2023)
To talk about one’s experience or the absence of it, English speakers would often use the present perfect tense (have + past participle). Koreans simply…
66. Future Tense -(으)ㄹ 거예요; 푸른 바다의 전설 The Legend of the Blue Sea (2016), Ep. 18
Korean signature sound for speaking about the future is ㄹ. Conjugating a Korean verb in the future tense is a piece of cake. It is…
62. 인어 Mermaid; 연음 법칙 Linking; 푸른 바다의 전설 The Legend of the Blue Sea (2016); 인어 이야기 The Mermaid Story by 허림
인어 mermaid sirène sirena sirena sereia Meerjungfrau syrena mořská panna undinė русалка This one is simple. When a syllable that begins with a vowel (denoted…
58. Simple Negation: 안 vs. 못; How to Diplomatically Turn Down an Offer or an Invitation; 경상도 사투리 Gyeongsang-do Accent; 종이의 집: 공동경제구역 Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area, Part 2, Ep. 9
The moment you are able to say what you want to do in a foreign language, you would also want to say what you don’t…
57. How to Say ‘I like …’ 좋아요 vs. 좋아해요; Negative Command -지 마세요/말아요 vs. Positive Request -아/어/해 주세요; 수상한 파트너 Suspicious Partner (2017), Ep. 12 & 22
If you like a foreign language, you should be able to say confidently “I like (something).” The challenge is that we humans have grammatically inconsistent…
