lilspoil1:

I’ve recently been reading a book (called 그 녀석 덕분에 – maybe I’ll do a review on it once I’m finished in like five years) and I came across two interesting words:  문득 and 벌떡. These both mean suddenly, like 갑자기, so what’s the difference?

To find the subtle differences, I HIGHLY recommend people to use the Korean Korean dictionary on Naver. So let’s break it down:

갑자기 is a generic way to say suddenly. Basically can be used any time. They’re often used in the more specific cases to show that it overall means suddenly.

문득‘s Korean definition is: 생각이나 느낌 따위가 갑자기 떠오르는 모양. Key words to point out are 생각 (thoughts) and 느낌 (feelings). Basically 문득 is used whenever a thought comes up randomly or suddenly.

우리 우연히 만났을 때  옛일이 문득 생각났어.

왜 가끔 문득 슬픈지 모르겠어요.

벌떡’s definition is: 눕거나 앉아 있다가 조금 큰 동장으로 갑자기 일어나는 모양. This one is trickier when there’s grammar unknown, but basically it means when one suddenly does an action after they were sitting or lying down.

앉아 있었을 때 좋은 생각이 나서 벌떡 일어났고 소리쳤다.

어머님은 저희 방에 갈 때는 얘가 다 벌떡 일어서.