This grammar point indicates that someone does sth in advance for future use, for convenience, or to be ready for such and such. 놓다 can be usually be replaced by 두다 without a change in the meaning. However, there is a slight different in connotation because 놓다 translates to ‘to put (down), place’ and 두다 translates to ‘to keep, place’.
-더라니 is yet another cause-effect grammar point. It is used when in retrospect the result of a situation now seems obvious or predictable.
Imagine: after a huge dinner at a buffet, you wake up the next morning to a terrible stomachache. You complain to your friend, but they are less than sympathetic. They point out to you that, looking back on the previous night, you had stuffed your face, so your stomachache is the obvious result of that feast. Your conversation in Korean might go something like this:
가: 오늘 아침에 배탈이 났어요. I had a stomachache this morning.
나: 어제 뷔페에서 과식하더라니. (Looking back on it) You did overeat at the buffet yesterday.
Examples:
내가 너 시험 성적이 나쁠 줄 알았어. 공부 안 하고 계속 놀더라니. I knew your test score would be bad. (Looking back on it) You didn’t study and just fooled around.
컴퓨터가 안 돼요. 고장 났나 봐요. 지난 주부터 이상하더라니. The computer isn’t working. It must be broken. (Looking back on it) It’s been acting up since last week.
네가 감기에 걸리는 게 놀랄만한 일이 아니야. 이 추운 날씨에 얇은 옷을 입고 다니더라니. You getting sick isn’t a surprise. (Looking back on it) You kept going out in light clothes.
Coupled with 어쩐지, -더라니 carries with it a sense of belated realization. It is used when you have received information that explains an already known fact. The closest English translation for this usage would be “No wonder”.
Example:
길에서 산 티셔츠가 한번 빨고 나서 줄어들더라고요. 어쩐지 값이 싸더라니. The t-shirt I bought off the street shrank after just one wash. No wonder it was cheap.
마이틀 씨가 이번에 승진해서 보너스를 많이 받았대요. 어쩐지 그동안 기분이 좋아 보이더라니. They say that Michael received a huge bonus with his promotion. No wonder he’s been in a good mood lately.
그 학생의 부모님이 부자래요. 어쩐지 명품옷만 입었더라니. They say that student’s parents are rich. No wonder he wore only brand name clothes.
The grammar that we’ll be checking out today is -기는커녕. This form is interchangeable with -은/는 고사하고, so I will write all examples using both -기는커녕 and -은/는 고사하고.
Function:
This grammar has two meanings. The first is used when you want to show the extent to which something is difficult to achieve or unlikely to happen by comparing two actions or conditions, neither of which are achieved. The preceding clause contains the more difficult to achieve of the two conditions, and the antecedent clause contains something that is easier to achieve but still is not done.
The second meaning is used when you want to express an outcome or situation opposite or different from what the preceding clause leads you to expect.
Both meanings of -기는커녕 can be translated to English as “never mind…” or “let alone…”. This expression is only used for negative meanings.
Usage:
-기는커녕’s usage is pretty simple! Just add -기는커녕 to action and descriptive verbs and -은/는커녕 to nouns. Their equivalents using the -은/는 고사하고 form are -기는 고사하고 for action and descriptive verbs and -은/는 고사하고 for nouns.
MEANING 1:
Action verbs: -기는커녕 / -기는 고사하고 /-는 것은 고사하고
오늘 아침 하도 바빠서 아침을 먹기는커녕(먹기는 고사하고) 물조차 마시지 못했어요. (I was so busy this morning that I couldn’t even drink water, never mind eating breakfast.)
요즘 동화 씨의 불면증이 심해져서 잠을 푹 자기는커녕(자기는 고사하고) 10분도 못 자요. (Lately Donghwa’s insomnia has gotten worse so he can’t even sleep for ten minutes, never mind sleeping sufficiently.)
Descriptive verbs: -기는커녕’s first meaning does not seem to work with descriptive verbs! I racked my brains for a while, then asked my Korean friends to help me out. All of the examples they gave me fell pretty squarely in the bounds of meaning 2.
Nouns: -은/는커녕 / -은/는 고사하고
그녀는 하도 가난해서 새 옷은커녕 밥도 못 사요. (That lady is so poor that she can’t even buy food, never mind new clothes.)
사교성이 부족한 그 남자는 애인은커녕(애인은 고사하고) 친구도 사귈 수 없어요. (That man with lacking social competence can’t even make friends, never mind finding a date.)
MEANING 2:
Action verb:
채원 씨는 요리를 잘한다고 했는데 요리하기는커녕(요리하기는 고사하고) 물조차 끓이는 방법을 모르는 것 같아요. (Chaewon says that she’s good at cooking but it seems she doesn’t even know how to boil water, never mind cooking.)
Descriptive verb:
-기는커녕 / -기는 고사하고 / -은/는 것은 고사하고 — 그는 팬이 엄청 많다고 자랑했는데 팬이 많기는커녕(많기는 고사하고) 팬카페에 가입한 사람은 7 명밖에 없었어요. (He bragged that he has a ton of fans, but there were only seven people registered on his fan site, never mind a lot of fans.)
Noun: 그녀의 생일이었는데 남편한테 선물은커녕(선물은 고사하고) 이혼서류를 받았어요. (It was her birthday but she got divorce papers from her husband, never mind a gift.)
So I’m reading 성균관 유생들의 나날 once again from the top because 1) I haven’t actually read a novel word for word (without skimming) since 우행시 and 2) holy shite I’m coming across all this TOPIK II grammar and I’m less than 100 pages in, so finally, here’s all the glorious ~context~ for the grammar that I need to learn. No more excuses.
*** TOPIK II grammar encountered so far:
p.30 처음에 못 본 척, 못 들은 척하고 오는데, 계속 앞에서 알짱거리면서 내가 먼저 말 걸게끔 유도를 하더라고.
p. 33 그럼에도 불구하고 어머니가 수모를 당해 가면서까지 친가나 외가 쪽에 인사 다니는 이유는 단 하나, 아비를 일찍 여읜 자식들을 위해서였다.
p. 69 성균과의 비천당과는 달리 예조의 나무들은 앙상하기그지없어 일산이 큰 영향을 주었다.
Back with another grammar post! 만큼 and -느니만큼 look similar, but there’s a small (and important!) difference in their meaning.
만큼
The 만큼 grammar can be used with action verbs; descriptive verbs in the past, present, and future; and nouns. It indicates that what follows 만큼 is similar or equal to what comes before it, or that the two things are of a similar degree. Let’s look at some examples:
DESCRIPTIVE VERB: -(으)ㄴ 만큼 — 학생이 똑똑한 만큼 성적이 잘 나와요. (Students get better grades depending on how smart they are [Students get grades equivalent to how smart they are].)
PAST: -(으)ㄴ 만큼
—
경훈 씨는 제가 공부한 만큼 공부를 열심히 했어요. (Kyeonghoon studied just as hard as I studied.
PRESENT: -는 만큼
—
뷔페에 갈 때 돈을 내는 만큼 많이 먹어야 돼요. (When you go to a buffet, you should eat as much as you pay for [to the extent that you paid for it, you should eat that much].)
FUTURE: -(으)ㄹ 만큼 — 아이들이 다 충분히 먹을 수 있을 만큼 음식을 많이 준비해 주세요. (Please prepare a lot of food so that the children will be able to eat enough.)
NOUN: 만큼 — 동생의 키는 오빠의 키만큼 커요. (My younger brother is as tall as my older brother [My younger brother’s height is as big as my older brother’s height].)
Please note that with nouns, 만큼 attaches to the noun! When used with descriptive and action verbs, there is an obligatory space.
만큼’s meaning is similar to that of 정도, which expresses the degree of something!
-느니만큼
-느니만큼 is similar to 만큼 in that it expresses the degree of something, but it also expresses a reason for something, similar to -니까. It can be used with action verbs, descriptive verbs, and nouns, in the past and present tenses. It can sometimes be switched with 만큼 as described above, but you lose a bit of that “because” meaning.
AV PAST: -았/었으니만큼 — 공부를 열심히
했으니만큼
성적이 잘 나오겠어요. (Because you studied hard [and to the extent that you studied hard], you should get good grades.)
DV PAST: -았/었으니만큼 — 배가 고팠으니만큼 많이 먹었어요. (Because I was hungry [and to the extent that I was hungry] I ate a lot.)
AV PRESENT- -느니만큼 — 열심히 일하느니만큼 피곤해요. (Because I am working hard [and to the extent that I am working hard] I am tired.)
DV PRESENT- -(으)니만큼 — 공기가 좋지 않으니만큼 마스크를 꼭 챙기세요. (Because the air is not good [and to the extent that it is not good], please wear a mask.)
NOUN PAST: -였/이었으니만큼 — 가장 간절히 원하던 꿈이었으니만큼 그 꿈을 이루기 위해서 다했어요. (Because it was my most fervently desired dream [and to the extent that it was my most fervently desired dream] I did my best to achieve it.)
NOUN PRESENT: -(이)니만큼 — 중요한 발표니만큼 준비를 철저하게 해야 돼요. (Because it is an important presentation [and to the extent that it is an important presentation] I must prepare thoroughly].)
Feel free to ask if you have any questions or, if you see any mistakes, please let me know so I can fix them!
The difference between these two structures has always confused me. My TOPIK textbook attempts to explain the difference, so I’m going to go by their explanation!
V더니
– The subject is usually not in first person*.
– Used with a verb or an adjective.
– First clause, even when in past, does not use past tense.
1. Highlights the difference between two contrasting phrases.
지난 겨울에는 눈이 별로 안 오더니 이번에는 많이 오네요. It hardly snowed at all last winter, but this year it’s snowed a lot.
2. The result (second clause) of someone else doing something (first clause). The subject of first and second clauses are the same.
지난 주말에는 춥더니 이번 주는 따뜻해요. Last week it was cold, but this week has been warm.
내 동생은 수영을 하더니 식욕이 왕성해졌다 My dongsaeng went swimming, so he had a huge appetite.
V았/었더니 –
– The subject is usually first person.
– Used only with a verb, not an adjective.
1. Used when you realize or notice something (second clause) after doing something (first clause).
오랜만에 고향에 갔더니 많은 것이 변해 있었어. When I visited my hometown, a lot had changed.
2. The result (second clause) of doing something (first clause).
어제 술을 많이 마셨더니 오늘 머리가 아파요. I’ve got a headache because I drank a lot yesterday.
내가 공부를 열심히 했더니 성적이 올랐다. Since I studied hard, my grade went up.
*The Korean Grammatical Forms site says that Koreans sometimes break the “no first person on V더니” rule.
In this lesson, we will look at a way of being a little dramatic in Korean. 😛 Kidding. But this grammar point is used to indicate that not only was the clause it’s attached to is impossible, but that the additional following clause, something easier and simple, is also impossible. Confused yet? Let’s have an example.
오늘 아침에 시간이 없어서 밥은커녕 물도 못 마셨어요. Because I had no time this morning, I couldn’t even drink water let alone eat.
Using this grammar point has the same meaning in English as “I was unable to do (super simple action), let alone (action originally question).” However, the order is reversed in Korean compared to the translation:
[A]은/는커녕 [B]도 못/안 한다. When using this grammar point, B has to be the task that’s a lot easier than A.
B is an action that should normally be easier to do, but because of your situation at hand, A is impossible, and B even more so.
This grammar point is used mainly in speech and is used with nouns. -은커녕~ is attached to nouns ending in a consonant. -는커녕~ is attached to nouns ending in a vowel.
그는 춤은커녕 제대로 걷지도 못 해요. He can’t even walk properly, let alone dance.
소주는커녕 맥주도 못 마셔요. I can’t even drink beer, let alone soju.
지난 주말에 몸이 너무 아파서 외출은커녕 침대에서 일어나지도 못 했어요. Last weekend my body hurt so much I couldn’t even get out of bed, let alone go outside.
You’ll notice that the [B] action in all of the above examples is followed by the subject particle -도. However this can also be swapped with -조차(도) to emphasize how basic the [B] action is.
목이 아파서 밥은커녕 물조차 마실 수 없어요. My throat hurts so much I can’t even drink water, let alone eat.
This grammar point also has an additional use, where rather than the expected or anticipated action [A] occurring, [B] happened instead. In this instance [B] is usually a complete opposite of action [A]. The adverb 오히려 (rather, instead) can be used to emphasize how opposite the actions are. You would add 오히려 following 은/는커녕.
레오 씨가 사과했냐고? 사과는커녕 오히려 화만 내고 가 버렸어!! Did Leo apologize? Never mind apologizing, he got angry and walked away!!
In this example, the speaker was expecting their friend to apologize for something, but instead of the expected or anticipated action (an apology), the opposite happened where the friend became angry and walked away instead.
There is an additional way this grammar point can be used with verbs. To use this grammar point with a verb, -기는커녕 is added directly to the verb stem.
그는 다른 사람을 돕기는커녕 자신의 일도 제대로 못해요. He can’t even do his own work properly, let alone help other people.
내일이 시험인데 공부를 하기는커녕 TV만 보고 있어요. The test is tomorrow but I’m just watching TV, never mind studying.
When using verbs with -기는커녕 you must be very careful to keep the verb in it’s affirmative form, despite the fact that it’s a negative meaning sentence. Basically: don’t conjugate the verb you attach -기는커녕 to. It is used directly with the verb stem. This is a mistake a lot of Korean learners make.
공부를 열심히 하지 않기는커녕 X 공부를 열심히 하기는커녕 O
그는 공부를 열심히 하기는커녕 학교에도 매일 결석해요. He doesn’t even come to class everyday, let alone study hard.
Bonus: You can replace -은/는커녕 with the grammar point -은/는 고사하고 with pretty much no change in meaning. (Verbs: -기는커녕 can be used interchangeably with -는 것은 고사하고).
아침은커녕 물도 아직 못 마셨어요. 아침은 고사하고 물도 아직 못 마셨어요. I haven’t drank water yet, never mind eat breakfast.
That’s all for this time. 😀 Questions? My ask is over here.
~ㄴ/은/는들
앞말을 가정하여 인정해도 뒤의 내용에 별로 영향을 미치지 못함을 단정적으로 나타낸다.
<~아/어도, ~(이)라도, ~(으)ㄹ지라도> 등과 유사한 의미를 갖지만, 뒤에 의문 형태나 강한 어감의 말이 오기 때문에 쉽게 다른 표현으로 바뀌지 못한다.
[예문] 그렇게 말을 안 듣는 아이가 부모 말인들 듣겠어요?
열심히 공부한들 나중에 활용할 기회가 없다면 무슨 소용이 있겠어요?
실패하고 후회한들 무슨 소용이 있겠어요?
~았/었던들
지난 날을 회상하되 현재의 결과와 반대되는 어떤 사실을 가정해 보는 뜻 뒤에는 주로 어떠했으리라는 추측을 나타내는 문장이 온다. ( —> -았/었더라면)
[예문] 여러분의 비판이 없었던들 오늘과 같은 회사의 발전은 상상조차 할 수 없었을 것입니다.
‘다가 보니까’는 동작동사에 붙어 어떤 일을 여러 번 계속하거나 상황이 지속되어 어떤 결과가 생겼다는 것을 나타낼 때 사용한다.
‘다가 보니까’ is used
to indicate that the speaker learned something new or a certain situation has
occurred as a result of doing some action or behavior continuously/repeatedly
from a point in the past.
다가 보면- Is used when discussing a situation involving general knowledge. Because it is also stated hypothetically, the second clause can only be in future or present tense.
자주 만나다가 보면 친해질 거야. If you meet (the person of conversation) often, you will become close.
다가 보니까- is used when discussing a situation involving personal experience. Therefore, because it is something the speaker has already experienced, the second clause has to be in past tense.
자주 만나다가 보니까 친해졌어.
Since we (the speaker and the person of conversation) meet often, we’ve become close.
고 보니까 vs 다가 보니까
고 보니까-
Occurs after an action is complete
Refers to a time after performing an action once.
The following clause contains new/unexpected information learned by the speaker.
다가 보니까-
Occurs during the process of an action
Refers to a time during the process of performing an action multiple times.
The following clause contains newly learned information/state of affairs resulting from the preceding action.
Korean explanation from Kyunghee University textbook, English/translation my own. Any questions or correction please let me know~
Sutdy-Korean 