It works / functions. And the antonym - it doesn't work!

[jollyjohnson68]

Maybe i cannot find the right lesson - but i find myself struggling to explain that something works well - or that it doesn't work, because it's broken!

[timandyou]

Thanks for the comment jollyjohnson68,
Hard to find the right lesson for the Grammar Point!??

Stop searching for the lesson...
Okay... let's talk about the explanation, "it works & it doesn't work"

First, let's take a look at its 'literal' meaning,
"it" 그것 [geu-geot]
"work" 일하다 [il-ha-da]
Therefore, "it works" 그것이 일한다 [geu-geot-i il-han-da], which is the 'literal' translation.
However, "it works" means "something is going well as you expected"

Therefore, "it works" 그것이 된다 [geu-geot-i doen-da], which is the 'contextual' translation.

Second, let's take a look at "it doesn't work"...
"it" 그것
"doesn't" 안 [an]
"work" 일하다
Therefore, "it doesn't work" 그것이 안 일한다 [geu-geot-i an il-han-da], which is the 'literal' translation.
However, "it doesn't work" means "something is NOT going well as you expected"

Therefore, "it doesn't work" means 그것이 안 된다 [geu-geot-i an doen-da], which is the 'contextual' translation.

To sum it up,
"It works" = (그것이) 된다 [doen-da]
"it doesn't work" = (그것이) 안 된다 [an doen-da]

I hope my explanation helps you understand Korean better,
cheers,
Tim

[trutherous]

팀님의 설명은 좋고 맞는데 한 마디 덧붙이겠어요: 여기에 works는 사람이 하는 '일'이나 상황에 대해 가리키는 말인가요? 이 포스트의 제목 있는 "functions"이라는 말을 보니까 기계 대한 이야기인 것 같아요. 따라서 'something (기계) is operating/functioning well'할 때 "~~이/가 잘 작동하고 있다"하면 어떨까요?

Maybe i cannot find the right lesson - but i find myself struggling to explain that something works well - or that it doesn't work, because it's broken!

문맥은요?

'struggling to explain that someTHING works well - or that IT doesn't work, because IT'S broken!

여기에 'a thing/ things' (무슨 일이나 만사가) 대신 'something'과 'it', 그리고 'it's broken' 보니까 기계 같은 게 아닐까요?

아마 문자 그대로 옮겨 본다면 약간 어색하겠지만:

It (a thing/machine) works well. - 그것이 잘 작동해요.
It doesn't work because it's broken. - 고장나서 작동하지 않아요.

자 이제 만사가 잘 되가고 있겠지요?

[timandyou]

Thank George for the extra opinion on the question.
That's a great point!
It's a 기계 "machine"!!!!
Hello Jolly, thanks for leaving the question here in K-Forum.
cheers,
Tim