Learn how to express a doubt in the possibility or the likeliness of an action or a state
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Mihyeon: 안녕하세요. 미현입니다. |
| Junsu: Hi everyone. I’m Junsu. |
| Hyunwoo: 안녕하세요. 현우입니다. That Can’t Be My Son. 준수 씨, 오랜만이에요. 잘 지냈어요? |
| Junsu: Yeah, I’m doing good. But, I’m really sad that I missed the conversation last week. |
| Hyunwoo: Don’t worry. Mihyeon will tell you all about it today. |
| Mihyeon: 네, 그럼 제가 말씀드릴까요? 지난 주에는 과장님이 왜 주말에 잘 못 쉬었는지 이야기해 줬어요. |
| Hyunwoo: Yeah, his wife had him cleaned the entire house. |
| Mihyeon: 맞아요. 대청소를 하는데 아들이 도와주기는커녕 집에도 없었죠. |
| Hyunwoo: Right. He wasn’t even at home let alone helping his father. And “let alone,” something something 는커녕 is what we learned last time. |
| Junsu: Ah, I see. The situation sounds kind of familiar. So, what are we learning today? |
| Hyunwoo: 네. 미현 씨, what’s happening in today’s dialogue? |
| Mihyeon: 과장님 아들이 요즘 거의 집에 없다고 했죠? 그런데 미선 씨가 비밀을 알고 있어요. |
| Hyunwoo: Yeah, right. 미선 knows the secret. And the 과장님 doesn’t want to believe what 미선 tells him she saw. |
| Junsu: 그럼 빨리 들어 봐요. |
| DIALOGUE |
| (1)과장: 우리 아들은 요즘 거의 집에 없어. |
| (2)미선: 진짜요? |
| (3)과장: 응. 진수는 항상 도서관에서 열심히 공부해. |
| (4)미선: 진수가요? |
| (5)과장: 당연하지. 고3이니까. |
| (6)미선: 에이... 어제 강남에서 봤는데요. |
| (7)과장: 그럴 리가 없어! 진수가 강남에 갔을 리가 없어! |
| (8)미선: 진짜예요. 제가 잘못 봤을 리가 없어요. 진짜 진수였어요. 여자친구랑 같이 있었어요. |
| (9)과장: 그럴 리가 ... 없어... 진수야.... |
| Seol: 한 번 더 천천히. |
| (1)과장: 우리 아들은 요즘 거의 집에 없어. |
| (2)미선: 진짜요? |
| (3)과장: 응. 진수는 항상 도서관에서 열심히 공부해. |
| (4)미선: 진수가요? |
| (5)과장: 당연하지. 고3이니까. |
| (6)미선: 에이... 어제 강남에서 봤는데요. |
| (7)과장: 그럴 리가 없어! 진수가 강남에 갔을 리가 없어! |
| (8)미선: 진짜예요. 제가 잘못 봤을 리가 없어요. 진짜 진수였어요. 여자친구랑 같이 있었어요. |
| (9)과장: 그럴 리가 ... 없어... 진수야.... |
| Seol: 영어로 한 번 더. |
| (1)과장: 우리 아들은 요즘 거의 집에 없어. |
| (1)Section Chief: My son is rarely home these days. |
| (2)미선: 진짜요? |
| (2)Miseon: Really? |
| (3)과장: 응. 진수는 항상 도서관에서 열심히 공부해. |
| (3)Section Chief: Yeah. Jinsu always studies hard in the library. |
| (4)미선: 진수가요? |
| (4)Miseon: He does? |
| (5)과장: 당연하지. 고3이니까. |
| (5)Section Chief: Because he is a senior in highschool. |
| (6)미선: 에이... 어제 강남에서 봤는데요. |
| (6)Miseon: Well, I saw him in Gangnam yesterday. |
| (7)과장: 그럴 리가 없어! 진수가 강남에 갔을 리가 없어! |
| (7)Section Chief: No way. There's no way Jinsu could've gone to Gangnam. |
| (8)미선: 진짜예요. 제가 잘못 봤을 리가 없어요. 진짜 진수였어요. 여자친구랑 같이 있었어요. |
| (8)Miseon: I'm telling the truth. There's no way I could be mistaken. It was really Jinsu. He was with his girlfriend. |
| (9)과장: 그럴 리가 ... 없어... 진수야.... |
| (9)Section Chief: No... way... Jinsu... |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Hyunwoo: Okay, very interesting, but before we talk about the vocabulary that was used in today’s dialogue, Junsu, could you tell us a little bit about what kind of place 강남 is? |
| Junsu: Well, it’s one of the main downtown areas in Seoul, where a lot of people, sometimes too many people go to hang out with their friends, to date with their boyfriend or girlfriend to eat, to drink or to do some shopping. |
| Mihyeon: 네, 지하철 2호선을 타면 강남에 갈 수 있어요. 한국에 오시면 꼭 가 보세요. |
| Hyunwoo: 네. Tt’s on subway line number two and the line number two takes you to a lot of downtown areas in Seoul, like 코엑스, 잠실, 신촌, 홍대, and 동대문 too. So if you’re in Korea for just one day, taking a 지하철 2호선 투어 around Seoul is not a bad idea. |
| Junsu: It’s not just not a bad idea, it’s a great idea. You’ll really have a lot of fun. |
| Hyunwoo: 네. 그리고 지하철 2호선은 it often goes above ground, right. So, you can have a look around Seoul while you’re still in the subway. Okay then, let’s have a look at the vocabulary used in today’s dialogue. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Hyunwoo: 미현 씨, 첫 번째 단어는 뭐죠? |
| Mihyeon: 항상 |
| Hyunwoo: 항상 |
| Junsu: Always |
| Mihyeon: 항상 [slowly - broken down by syllable] 항상 [natural native speed] |
| Hyunwoo: This is actually a very easy word, right? 그런데 we selected this word because there are a lot of synonyms for this word. What are they, 미현? 어떤 단어들이 항상하고 뜻이 똑같죠? |
| Mihyeon: 맨날, 언제나, 늘, 늘상. |
| Hyunwoo: Can you think of anything else, 준수? |
| Junsu: 늘 언제나? |
| Hyunwoo: 늘 언제나, yeah. It’s a combination. So, among this words, which word do you use more often? |
| Junsu: I use 맨날 all the time. 맨날 써요. |
| Hyunwoo: 맨날을 맨날 써요. In fact, 사실 저도 맨날을 맨날 써요. 미현 씨는요? |
| Mihyeon: 저는… 저도 맨날. |
| Hyunwoo: Yeah. But, do you write 맨날 too? |
| Junsu: No, it’s totally colloquial. |
| Mihyeon: 저는 항상 많이 쓰는 것 같아요. |
| Hyunwoo: When you write, 글을 쓸 때는 you write 항상. I also write 언제나, but in actual conversation you use 맨날, okay? And 다음 단어는 뭐죠, 미현 씨? |
| Mihyeon: 열심히 |
| Hyunwoo: 열심히 |
| Junsu: Hard, diligently. |
| Mihyeon: 열심히 [slowly - broken down by syllable] 열심히 [natural native speed] |
| Hyunwoo: 네. 한국 사람들은 열심히라는 단어를 정말 좋아하죠? |
| Junsu: Yeah, that’s right. If you ask someone “How do you do this?” they’ll just say 열심히 해. |
| Mihyeon: 열심히 공부하세요. |
| Hyunwoo: We said “열심히 공부하세요.” more than a few times in our lessons, too. And Korean people love this word, 열심히 and it’s almost like a greeting. If you talk to a student, it’s like a basic line that you have to say. 열심히 공부하고 있어? or 열심히 공부해 when you say goodbye, you say 열심히 공부해 instead of bye, you know, take care. And, when you talk to a friend who’s working, what do you say? |
| Mihyeon: 열심히 해. |
| Junsu: And, something interesting about this word is between a lot of students, they use the combination of 열심히 and 공부하다 and just say 열공하다. |
| Hyunwoo: It’s a new verb. It should go into the Korean dictionary sometime very soon. Because everyone uses it under the age of, I guess, 30 I don’t know. So, 열공 is “study hard.” 열공하세요, 여러분. Okay, please remember that word, 열공, you will often hear it in Korean dramas or when you are chatting with your Korean friends. So, 여러분, 열공하시고 and what’s the next word? |
| Mihyeon: 당연하다 |
| Hyunwoo: 당연하다 |
| Junsu: To be a matter of course, to be expected. |
| Mihyeon: 당연하다 [slowly - broken down by syllable] 당연하다 [natural native speed] |
| Junsu: The 당 in 당연하다 means “obligation” or “duty” and 연 means “natural.” So, 당연하다 means “naturally,” “of course” or “to be expected.” |
| Hyunwoo: Yeah, that’s right. But this word is a bit strong so 의미가 좀 강해요. For example, you wouldn’t say this expression every time you want to say “sure” or “of course” in English. For example 공식적인 자리, in formal occasions, 미현 씨, 어떻게 말하죠? When you want to say “of course” in a 공식적인 자리? |
| Mihyeon: 물론입니다 또는 물론이죠라고 말해요. |
| Hyunwoo: Would you go saying 당연하죠 whenever you want to say “sure”? |
| Mihyeon: 물론입니다라고 더 많이 하는 것 같아요. |
| Junsu: Yes, 당연하다 sometimes can sound kind of rude if you use with older people and when you want to say something like “Duh” to your friends you can say 당연하지. |
| Hyunwoo: What’s another interesting way of saying 당연하지, 미현 씨? |
| Mihyeon: 당근이지? |
| Hyunwoo: 네. It’s another slang, but it’s very commonly used, so 당근이지 it doesn’t mean “It’s a carrot.” But it means 당연하지, it means “it’s a matter of course,” “of course, why do you ask,” “what you suspect?” Okay. So, what’s the next word? 다음 단어는 뭐죠, 미현 씨? |
| Mihyeon: 고3 |
| Hyunwoo: 고3 |
| Junsu: Senior year in high school |
| Mihyeon: 고3 [slowly - broken down by syllable] 고3 [natural native speed] |
| Hyunwoo: What does 고 mean in there? |
| Junsu: 고 comes from 고등학교 which means “high school.” |
| Hyunwoo: Yeah, so you can assume that 고2, 고1 is possible too for a sophomore in high school and a freshman year in high school. So, 고1, 고2, 고3. Would you go saying 중1, 중2, 중3 too? |
| Mihyeon: 네, 맞아요. 중학교 1학년은 중1, 중학교 2학년은 중2, 중학교 3학년은 중3이라고 해요. |
| Hyunwoo: 그런데 미현 씨, can you also say the same thing for 초등학교 and 대학교? |
| Mihyeon: 초1? 좀 이상한데요. |
| Junsu: 네, 잘 안 써요. |
| Hyunwoo: So it’s only for middle school and high school, right? |
| Mihyeon: 네, 맞아요. 그래요. |
| Junsu: Yeah, so be sure to only use it for middle school and high school. |
| Hyunwoo: Okay, so what’s the next word? 이게 마지막 단어예요. 다음 단어는 뭐죠? |
| Mihyeon: 잘못 |
| Hyunwoo: 잘못 |
| Junsu: Wrongly, fault. |
| Mihyeon: 잘못 [slowly - broken down by syllable] 잘못 [natural native speed] |
| Hyunwoo: If you’re listening to these lower intermediate lessons, I’m sure you already know the word 잘 and the word 못. You say 잘 when you want to say “well” or “skillfully” and 못 is when you want to say “you can’t do something,” “you’re unable to do something.” And you put 잘 and 못 together, it’s “at fault,” but it’s only when you write it without spacing. |
| Junsu: Yeah, as you know, spacing is very important in Korean. You can’t get by without spacing most of the time, but when you see the correct spacing, everything makes much clearer sense in Korean. This 잘못 is a good example. If you add a space between 잘 and 못, it becomes 잘 못하다 and it means “you’re not so good at it.” But if you add the two together and don’t add a space, it means “wrongly,” “fault.” So, 잘못하다 means “you do something wrong.” |
| Hyunwoo: So, if I did something terribly wrong to 미현, you know, I have to apologize I can say 미현씨, 잘못했어요. 한 번만 봐 주세요. |
| Junsu: “Mihyeon, I’m sorry. Please let it slide.” |
| Hyunwoo: But, I’m usually nice to her, I don’t have to apologize, usually. Anyway, it’s time to go into today’s grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Hyunwoo: 오늘의 문법 포인트는 뭐죠, 미현 씨? |
| Mihyeon: 을 리가 없다. |
| Hyunwoo: And this means? |
| Junsu: “No way,” “can’t be.” 을 리가 없다 expressed a doubt in the possibility or the likeliness of an action or a state. 리 a means “a reason,” “a possibility,” “a cause.” This grammar structure is usually used in the present tense and the past tense. And even when it’s referring to a future action, the sentence remains in the present tense. |
| Hyunwoo: So, for example I can say 갈 리가 없다 to mean “There’s no way he would go” but I cannot say 갈 것일 리가 없다 even though I’m talking about the future. So, this structure can be translated into English as “can’t” plus verb or “there’s no way that something will happen” or “somebody will do something” or “it’s impossible that someone will do something or something will happen.” So, how is it constructed, 미현 씨? |
| Mihyeon: 동사 원형 + 을 + 리 + 가 없다. |
| Hyunwoo: 네, 복잡해 보이지만 it’s not as complicated as it sounds. So, let’s look at some examples. So, 준수, what’s the Korean verb for “to exist” or “to have”? |
| Junsu: 있다. |
| Hyunwoo: And how do you say “can’t be there” or “can’t have”? |
| Junsu: 있을 리가 없다. |
| Hyunwoo: How about “can’t have been there” or “can’t have had”? |
| Junsu: 있었을 리가 없다. |
| Hyunwoo: Yeah, 있었을 리가 없다. 미현 씨, what’s the Korean verb for “to know”? |
| Mihyeon: 알다. |
| Hyunwoo: And how do you say “can’t know” or “no way that you know”? |
| Mihyeon: 알 리가 없다. |
| Hyunwoo: How about “to do”? |
| Mihyeon: 하다. |
| Hyunwoo: In the past tense, how do you say “can’t have done something” or “There’s no way you that did something”? |
| Mihyeon: 했을 리가 없다. |
| Hyunwoo: 네, 맞아요. I hope it’s clear now, so how was it used in today’s dialogue? |
| Mihyeon: 과장님이 “그럴 리가 없어! 진수가 강남에 갔을 리가 없어!”라고 말했어요. |
| Junsu: The section chief said “No way! There’s no way Jinsu could have gone to Gangnam.” |
| Mihyeon: 미선 씨가 “제가 잘못 봤을 리가 없어요.”라고 했어요. |
| Junsu: Miseon said “There’s no way I could’ve been wrong.” |
| Mihyeon: 과장님이 “그럴 리가 없어.”라고 했어요. |
| Junsu: The section chief said “There’s no way.” |
| Hyunwoo: 그래서 과장님이 미선 씨가 하는 말을 믿고 싶지 않았던 거예요. He didn’t want to believe what Miseon said so he said 그럴 리가 없어, 그럴 리가. So you sometimes say 그럴 리가 only too. 아, 그럴 리가. 그런데 here’s a quick question for 미현. Can you say 그럴 리가 있다 too? |
| Mihyeon: 의문문일 때만 그럴 리가 있어? 이렇게 물어보고 보통은 잘 쓰지 않아요. |
| Hyunwoo: 네, 맞아요. So, you can only make it into a question but even when it’s in the form of a question, you’re still meaning the same thing. So, it’s translated in the same way. Okay, 미현 씨 그러면 예문 좀 들어 주세요. In what kind of situations would you say 리가 없다? |
| Mihyeon: 준수가 이렇게 빨리 올 리가 없어. |
| Hyunwoo: There’s no way Junsu can be here so early. |
| Junsu: I’m the fastest person in the world. |
| Hyunwoo: Okay. Ignore that. But, for example, suppose you hear the bell ringing and you know that Junsu is fast but there’s no way she can be here this early today and you can’t really believe that she’s here, you can say “There’s no way she’s here so early.” and in Korean you say 준수가 이렇게 빨리 올 리가 없다. 오다 + 리가 없다, 올 리가 없다. Another example, 미현 씨? |
| Mihyeon: 현우가 숙제 했을 리가 없어. |
| Junsu: This is what you can say if someone like Hyunwoo claims that he’s done his homework. |
Outro |
| Hyunwoo: I think you’re giving the opposite meaning. But yeah, it’s an example sentence so 괜찮아요. So 오늘은 여기까지. This is it for today. |
| Junsu: Bye, everyone. |
| Hyunwoo: 네, 다음 시간에 뵙겠습니다. 안녕히 계세요. |
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