Happy Wednesday, everyone! Today’s grammar is brought to you from my Korean copy of Scott Westerfeld’s “Uglies.” -(으)ㄹ 지경이다 seems to be used a TON in this translation, so it stuck in my mind as something that I should write about. This grammar is used when you want to express that something negative or bad is about to happen. In English, we can express that in a lot of ways: On the verge of, about to, at any minute… the list goes on! Now, let’s take a look at how this grammar is used.
Yet another grammar form that means “on account of” or “due to”… Just in case you’ve run out of unique ways to say “because” that will make Korean speakers tell you you’re using them wrong but be unable to explain why.
그녀의 부주의로 말미암아 사고가 일어났다 The accident occurred because of her carelessness.
어머님은 폭설로 말미암아 오시지 못했다 My mother couldn’t come because of the snowstorm.
(Same meaning as ~이고 but with more stress on ‘at the same time’)
마치 처음이자 마지막 기회라도 되는 듯이 = as if this were my first and last opportunity 나의 꿈은 출발점이자 종착점이다 = my dream is the starting line and the finish line. 그는 학생이자 연구원이다 = He is a student and a researcher at the same time. (You could say: 그는 학생이면서 (또한) 연구원이다)
Sutdy-Korean 