Learn about expressing impossibility and expressing inability
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Iseul: 안녕하세요. 이슬입니다. |
| Seol: 안녕하세요. 윤설입니다. |
| Keith: Keith here! I Can’t. Iseul, how do you feel about this title? |
| Iseul: I feel that way all the time – “I can’t do this”, “I can’t do that”. |
| Keith: Oh, come on. 마음 먹고 좀 해야지. |
| Iseul: My heart is there but I can’t do it! He’s being like my father. Like, “You should do that. You should do that.” |
| Keith: All right. Let’s break down that phrase really quickly. |
| SEOL: 마음 먹고 해야지. |
| Keith: So this basically means you have to put your heart into it. |
| Iseul: And just do it. |
| Keith: Just do it. |
| Seol: I cannot. I can't. |
| Iseul: Yeah. Sometimes it’s physically impossible. You just can’t! |
| Keith: Is this just like Korean girls trying to show like that? |
| Seol: No. No. |
| Iseul: No, no. |
| Keith: All right. Well, here’s one thing though, in case the listeners don’t know. Korean girls try to put up this front, this…. |
| Seol: 내숭. |
| Iseul: Like feminine thing? |
| Keith: Yeah. |
| Iseul: Is that what you’re saying? |
| Keith: Yeah. They try to show their feminine side and… |
| Seol: But like us, like Iseul and I, we never do that. No front. |
| Keith: So you really can’t do it? |
| Seol: I can’t do it. |
| Keith: Well, what are we talking about? So here, Hyegyeong is….here she says…well, I don’t know what she says. We didn’t actually go into the conversation, but the title says “I Can’t” and you girls totally agree with the title and you don’t even know the conversation. |
| Seol: Sometimes human beings just can’t. |
| Iseul: Oh, yeah, that’s true. |
| Keith: All right. Well, let’s see what Hyegyeong can’t do. So can you introduce the conversation to us? |
| Seol: Hyegyeong got heartbroken, so she has a hard time. And Narae, her friend, is trying to do something with Hyegyeong. |
| Keith: She’s trying to console her. And they’re using standard politeness level again. This can be intimate politeness level. We’ll go over that really quickly in the grammar section of today’s lesson and, yeah, let’s take a look. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| 나래 혜경 씨... 밥 먹어요. |
| 혜경 싫어요. 안 먹어요. 못 먹어요. 울고 싶어요. |
| 나래 그럼 자요. 네? |
| 혜경 싫어요. 안 자요. 못 자요. (한숨) 태현 씨가 보고 싶어요. |
| 나래 노래방 가고 싶어요? 나이트 클럽 가고 싶어요? 술 마시고 싶어요? |
| 혜경 네... 좋아요... |
| Seol: 한 번 더 천천히. |
| 나래 혜경 씨... 밥 먹어요. |
| 혜경 싫어요. 안 먹어요. 못 먹어요. 울고 싶어요. |
| 나래 그럼 자요. 네? |
| 혜경 싫어요. 안 자요. 못 자요. (한숨) 태현 씨가 보고 싶어요. |
| 나래 노래방 가고 싶어요? 나이트 클럽 가고 싶어요? 술 마시고 싶어요? |
| 혜경 네... 좋아요... |
| Seol: 영어로 한 번 더. |
| 나래 혜경 씨... 밥 먹어요. |
| Keith: Hyegyeong, eat some food. |
| 혜경 싫어요. 안 먹어요. 못 먹어요. 울고 싶어요. |
| Keith: I don’t want to eat. I can't eat. I want to cry. |
| 나래 그럼 자요. 네? |
| Keith: Then sleep. Yeah? |
| 혜경 싫어요. 안 자요. 못 자요. (한숨) 태현 씨가 보고 싶어요. |
| Keith: I don’t want to. I won’t sleep. I can't sleep. (sigh) I want to see Taehyeon. |
| 나래 노래방 가고 싶어요? 나이트 클럽 가고 싶어요? 술 마시고 싶어요? |
| Keith: Do you want to go to karaoke? Do you want to go to a club? Do you want to drink? |
| 혜경 네... 좋아요... |
| Keith: Yeah. Okay. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Iseul: This is the first typical reaction to a heartbreak; girls can’t eat. |
| Seol: Yeah, I know that. I know that. |
| Keith: Well, no. I think a lot of girls… |
| Iseul: Start eating? Yeah, that’s me. I start gorging on food. |
| Keith: It’s either not eating or eating a lot. |
| Seol: In my case, I was not eating at all. |
| Iseul: Wow, I’m the complete opposite. I could gain two pounds easily over a little heartbreak. So I could agree with how Hyegyeong is reacting to her heartbreak. |
| Seol: Yeah. |
| Iseul: She can’t eat. |
| Seol: She doesn’t want to eat and she cannot eat. |
| Iseul: I think I’m sure it’s physically impossible to eat. Her heart is too heavy. |
| Keith: All right. I’m enjoying this girls talk and it’s kind of fun, but we got a lesson to do, ladies. |
| Iseul: Right. |
| Keith: All right. So Iseul, can you get us started? |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Iseul: 밥 [natural native speed] |
| Keith: Rice or meal. |
| Iseul: 밥 [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 밥 [natural native speed]. |
| Keith: Next is… |
| Iseul: 싫다 [natural native speed] |
| Keith: To not want to, to not like. |
| Iseul: 싫다 [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 싫다 [natural native speed]. |
| Keith: Next is… |
| Iseul: 못 |
| Keith: Can’t. |
| Iseul: 못 |
| Keith: Next is.. |
| Iseul: 놀다 [natural native speed] |
| Keith: To play, to hangout. |
| Iseul: 놀다 [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 놀다 [natural native speed]. |
| Keith: Next is… |
| Iseul: 노래방 [natural native speed] |
| Keith: Karaoke |
| Iseul: 노래방 [slowly - broken down by syllable]. 노래방 [natural native speed]. |
| Keith: Next is… |
| Iseul: 나이트클럽 |
| Keith: A night club. |
| Iseul: 나이트클럽 |
| Keith: Next is… |
| Iseul: 술 |
| Keith: Alcohol. |
| Iseul: 술 |
Lesson focus |
| Keith: Okay. Let’s take a look into these vocab words really quickly. The first one we have is 밥. And this is “rice.” |
| Iseul: It also means “a meal” – dinner, lunch, breakfast. |
| Keith: And this is because Koreans eat rice at every meal. So it means “rice” and it also means “meal”. So if you say… |
| Seol: 밥 먹고 싶어요. |
| Iseul: It really means “I want to eat rice” but it’s taken “I want to eat food.” |
| Keith: Well, sometimes, if the context is right, you guys are eating pizza or you’re spaghetti or you’re eating noodles but you say 밥 먹고 싶어요, “I want to eat rice”, “I want rice”. And Korean people are always talking about this anyway, like, I have to have rice at every meal. I always have to have rice or I don’t feel full. And when I was living in Korea, we had a pizza party at my workplace and we’re stuffed in ourselves, we’re stuffed in ourselves, and this small, small Korean woman had so many slices of pizza but she was like “Oh, 밥 먹고 싶어요”. |
| Seol: I understand her. I totally understand her. |
| Keith: Yeah. So she went out and get some rice and just ate rice by herself. |
| Seol: It’s like I feel greasy if I have pizza or, like, bread, spaghetti, that kind of things, but when I eat rice, I really feel full and like I feel, “Yes, now I had my meal.” |
| Iseul: Yeah. Rice is Korea’s soul food. It’s such a staple food that if we don’t eat rice, we still feel a little hungry. Yeah? |
| Seol: Like we skipped something. Like… |
| Iseul: Yeah, we skipped a meal. |
| Keith: Well, here’s two things that Koreans can’t live without – rice, 밥, and kimchi. |
| Iseul: Right. |
| Keith: Just can’t do it. Can’t do it. All right. Well, our next word is… |
| Iseul: 놀다. |
| Keith: This literally means “to play” but it’s used to mean “hangout”. |
| Seol: Sometimes we say 혼자 놀다? |
| Keith: And what does that mean exactly? |
| Seol: Play by oneself. |
| Keith: Okay. 혼자 means “alone”. So it means “hangout”. And you can also hangout by yourself even in English. You say, “Oh, I’m hanging out” even if you’re by yourself, just hanging out on the stoop. But yeah, if you’re hanging out, 놀다. It actually means “to play” if you look it up in the dictionary, but it means “to hangout”. Okay. Next is… |
| Iseul: 노래방 |
| Keith: And what is that exactly? |
| Seol: 노래 |
| Keith: Song… |
| Seol: 방 |
| Keith: ….room. So it’s literally song room but it’s Korean-style karaoke. And as the name suggests, it’s a room and you have karaoke in there. |
| Iseul: Yeah. And you could order drinks, snacks, and hangout for a long time. |
| Keith: I really like Korean-style karaoke because you get your own room. In America, you have to sing in front of a bunch of strangers and it’s just… |
| Seol: I know that. Like, when I saw the scene in the movie, I felt awkward. Like, how can you sing in front of that many people? |
| Keith: Well, some people like that, some people like showing off, but I can’t sing that well so I like to have privacy with my friends whom I’m comfortable with, and they all know I can’t sing. |
| Seol: You’re a good singer. |
| Iseul: You’re a good singer. |
| Keith: No. |
| Iseul: Oh. |
| Seol: Oh. No, you are a good singer. |
| Keith: Next is…. |
| Iseul: Next is 나이트클럽 |
| Keith: And this is a night club. But it’s a little different than what we except in other parts of the world. When you hear 나이트, what do you think? |
| Iseul: I think booking. |
| Keith: And this is a little cultural thing that some people might not know about and it’s club where men get tables and girls go without tables but they get dragged to the tables. |
| Iseul: Yes. The waiters act as the middle man to introduce the girls to the boys. |
| Keith: Have you ever gone? |
| Iseul: Yes, I have. |
| Keith: And did you enjoy it? |
| Iseul: I did. But I don’t like the booking. We get our own table. Us, girls, get our own table. It’s not a club geared towards men but men got it good. Men just sit back and relax and the waiters, they do all the legwork for them. |
| Keith: Yeah, but that’s the thing – men have to spend a lot of money. |
| Seol: So eventually, men pays for everything, right? |
| Keith: Yeah. |
| Iseul: Yes. Even the girl’s drinks, the girl’s table, the men end up paying for everything. |
| Keith: Well, we should probably do a culture class on this one. |
| Iseul: Oh, yeah. I think it’d be fun. |
| Seol: She’s a specialist. |
| Keith: Booking club. All right. Well, let’s move on. Let’s finish this up really quick. |
| Seol: 술. |
| Keith: Alcohol. 술 is actually a very general term. It can mean beer, it can mean soju, it can mean vodka, it can mean whiskey, just any alcohol at all. So when you say “do you want to drink alcohol”, it just means “do you want a drink?” And it’s just a very general term. All right. Let’s go into this conversation. The first line we have is… |
| Seol: 혜경씨, 밥 먹어요. |
| Keith: All right. Here’s one of our grammar points today. Here we have 혜경, 밥 먹어요. And this is in the standard politeness level. Here, it’s in the simple present tense. But here, it’s used as the imperative. It’s like “here, you do something.” 밥 먹어요 – “eat rice”, “eat food”. So the simple present tense, it covers a lot of ground. So it can mean the future – “I will go” or “I will leave”; it can mean “I’m doing it now” or it can mean “ do it” as in the imperative. This is one of the grammar points. It’s just in the simple present tense but it’s the intonation that determines what the purpose of it is. All right. Let’s have 밥 먹어요. This is “rice eat” in the simple present tense standard politeness level. Let’s go with the question. What is that? |
| Iseul: 밥 먹어요? |
| Keith: The statement? |
| Seol: 밥 먹어요. |
| Keith: And the imperative. |
| Seol: 밥 먹어요~~ |
| Keith: That little kind of 어어 at the end, like, “you should do it” or “you should eat”. |
| Iseul: You’re cajoling them, 밥 먹어요~~, like pleading to eat. |
| Keith: So that tone of voice, that 어어~~, it’s telling someone to do something. |
| Seol: Like 공부해요~~. 밥 먹어요~~. 술 마셔요~~. |
| Keith: In Seol’s tone of voice, it’s a pleading tone of voice. “Please do it. Please do it.” But it can also be very forceful as well – 밥 먹어요. |
| Iseul: Oh. Wow. |
| Keith: So it depends on the tone of voice. But the general rule with the standard politeness level in the present tense is rising is a question…. |
| Seol: 집에 가요? |
| Keith: Question. And the statement? |
| Iseul: 집에 가요. |
| Keith: And the pleading one? |
| Seol: 집에 가요~~. |
| Keith: And now the forceful. |
| Seol: 집에 가요! |
| Keith: So that flat is very forceful, that 어~~, that wavy little 요 at the end is kind of pleading. All right. So here, Narae is pleading with Hyegyeong, “Come on eat. You’re not looking good? Eat!” 이슬 씨, 밥 먹어요! |
| Iseul: 싫어요. |
| Keith: And that’s exactly what Hyegyeong says. Next is… |
| Iseul: 싫어요. |
| Keith: Okay, 싫다. What’s the opposite? |
| Iseul: 좋다. |
| Keith: To be good, to be okay, to want it, to like. But this word 싫다 is “to not want to”, “to not like”. So Narae pleads with Hyegyeong, “Eat, please eat.” And… |
| Seol: 싫어요. |
| Keith: “I don’t want to.” |
| Seol: 안 먹어요. |
| Keith: “I’m not going to eat.” 안 먹어요. It’s in the dropping intonation. And here, it’s the future tense. It’s “I’m not going to eat.” “I don’t want to eat.” Okay. After that? |
| Seol: 못 먹어요. |
| Keith: This is our other grammar point of today. We have 못, which means “can’t” or “impossible” and 먹어요 “eat”. So it’s very simple. Just use it like 안. 안 is “not” and 못 is “can’t” or “impossible”. So let’s have a couple of sample sentences. Let’s go with “I don’t study.” |
| Seol: 공부 안 해요. |
| Keith: “Studies not do.” |
| Seol: 공부 못 해요. |
| Keith: “Studies can’t do”, “I can’t study.” |
| Iseul: 안 자요. |
| Keith: Not sleep. |
| Seol: 못 자요. |
| Keith: Can’t sleep. |
| Iseul: 텔레비전을 안 봐요. |
| Keith: “TV not see”. “I’m not watching TV”. |
| Seol: 텔레비전을 못 봐요. |
| Keith: “I can’t watch TV.” So it’s very easy. It’s very simple to construct this. Just use it like 안 and just add 못 “Can’t do it.” All right. So here, she says 못 먹어요, “I can’t eat”. Do you understand her? |
| Iseul: I understand her. |
| Seol: I truly understand her. |
| Keith: All right. Well, next she says… |
| Seol: 울고 싶어요. |
| Keith: Once again, this is the 고 싶어요 in our last lesson “want to”. So 울다 is “cry”, -고 싶어요 “want to cry”. Next is… |
| Iseul: 그럼 자요. |
| Keith: “Then sleep, please.” “Do something”. She’s pleading with her to do something. And the next word is pretty interesting. |
| Iseul: 네? |
| Keith: 네 is a word that means “yes” but it has many, many meanings. In this context, it’s like “okay”, “please”. So she’s pleading with her again, 그럼 자요, 네? “Come on, please.” It’s that kind of feeling. All right. Next we have… |
| Seol: 싫어요. |
| Keith: Once again, “don’t want to”. |
| Seol: 안 자요. |
| Keith: “Not sleep”. |
| Seol: 못 자요. |
| Keith: “Can’t sleep”. |
| Seol: 태현씨가 보고 싶어요. |
| Keith: All right. Let’s break this sentence down really quick. First we have.. |
| Seol: 태현씨 |
| Keith: Her lover’s name. |
| Seol: 가 |
| Keith: The subject marking particle. Let’s go into this in a ltitle bit. |
| Seol: 보- |
| Keith: “See” followed by… |
| Seol: -고 싶어요. |
| Keith: “Want to”. So literally “Taehyeon”, subject marking particle, see, want to.” “I want to see Taehyeon” or “I miss Taehyeon.” Let’s go into this subject marking particle in a little bit more detail. Here we’re using the subject marking particle because we’re introducing new information. This whole time, they’ve been talking about sleeping, eating, and her friend’s pleading with her, but there’s no talk of Taehyeon at all. So here, you use the subject marking particle because you’re introducing new information. So whenever you introduce new information that has nothing to do with whatever you’re talking about, use 가 or 이, the subject marking particle. So here, you’re using 이 or 가 because there was no talk of Taehyeon at all. So you’re bringing him from outside of this conversation into this conversation with the subject marking particle. All right, let’s finish this up. |
| Seol: 노래방 가고 싶어요? |
| Keith: Here, it’s the rising intonation, it’s a question. “So do you want to go to 노래방, karaoke?” |
| Seol: 나이트클럽 가고 싶어요? |
| Keith: “Do you want to go to a night club?” |
| Seol: 술 마시고 싶어요? |
| Keith: “Do you want to drink?” And finally she says… |
| Seol: 네. 좋아요. |
| Keith: Literally, 좋아요 means “good” but here it means “okay”, “sure”. It’s because you’re saying “Good. Good idea” or “that’s fine.” All right. How do you guys feel? |
| Iseul: She has a great friend. Every heartbroken girl needs a friend like Narae. |
| Seol: I totally agree with her. Like, after the heartbreaking, we need a friend that we can talk. |
| Keith: You just need a pan of ice cream. Just sit down and eat ice cream. |
| Seol: No. |
| Iseul: No. We need a girl friend. |
| Keith: No. You watch Korean dramas. |
| Iseul: No. |
| Seol: No. |
| Keith: Ice cream, box of tissues, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it. |
| Seol: No. 얘기하고 싶어요. |
Outro |
| Keith: All right. Well, that’s going to do it for today. See you! |
| Iseul: 안녕! |
| Seol: 안녕! |
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