Learn the particle for making comparisons
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Matt: The Comparison Particles. Matt Here. |
| Kyejin: 안녕하세요. I'm Kyejin. |
| Matt: In this lesson, you'll learn particles that are useful for making comparisons. The conversation takes place at a school. |
| Kyejin: It’s between Tony and Eunhee. |
| Matt: The speakers are friends, so they’ll be using informal Korean. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| 토니: 우리 반 아이들 중에서 누가 가장 힘이 셀까? |
| 은희: 글쎄.. 용호가 마이크보다 키가 더 크니까 힘도 더 세지 않을까? |
| 토니: 마이크보다 용호가 키가 더 크지만 용호는 마이크만큼 근육이 있는 것 같지 않아. |
| 은희: 맞아. 그래도 용호 몸무게는 마이크 몸무게보다 더 나갈 것 같아. 그래서 힘도 더 세지 않을까? |
| 토니: 모르겠어. 어차피 나는 누구보다도 힘이 세지 않으니까 계속 열심히 운동할래. |
| Matt: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| 토니: 우리 반 아이들 중에서 누가 가장 힘이 셀까? |
| 은희: 글쎄.. 용호가 마이크보다 키가 더 크니까 힘도 더 세지 않을까? |
| 토니: 마이크보다 용호가 키가 더 크지만 용호는 마이크만큼 근육이 있는 것 같지 않아. |
| 은희: 맞아. 그래도 용호 몸무게는 마이크 몸무게보다 더 나갈 것 같아. 그래서 힘도 더 세지 않을까? |
| 토니: 모르겠어. 어차피 나는 누구보다도 힘이 세지 않으니까 계속 열심히 운동할래. |
| Matt: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| 토니: 우리 반 아이들 중에서 누가 가장 힘이 셀까? |
| Tony: Who do you think is the strongest in our class? |
| 은희: 글쎄.. 용호가 마이크보다 키가 더 크니까 힘도 더 세지 않을까? |
| Eunhee: I’m not sure, Yongho is taller than Mike so wouldn't Yongho be stronger as well? |
| 토니: 마이크보다 용호가 키가 더 크지만 용호는 마이크만큼 근육이 있는 것 같지 않아. |
| Tony: Yongho may be taller than Mike but I don't think Yongho has as many muscles as Mike does. |
| 은희: 맞아. 그래도 용호 몸무게는 마이크 몸무게보다 더 나갈 것 같아. 그래서 힘도 더 세지 않을까? |
| Eunhee: True. But still, it seems like Yongho may weigh more than Mike. Wouldn't that make Yongho stronger? |
| 토니: 모르겠어. 어차피 나는 누구보다도 힘이 세지 않으니까 계속 열심히 운동할래. |
| Tony: I’m not really sure. Anyway, I don't think I'm stronger than anyone else, so I'll just keep working out doing my best. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Matt: Kyejin, is it common to see Korean people comparing each other? |
| Kyejin: Yes, definitely. You could say it’s common to compare ourselves with friends and colleagues more often that people in other countries. |
| Matt: I’ve heard that Koreans often compare salaries, social status, or the size of their companies. |
| Kyejin: That’s right, it’s usually something visible. And it’s not just comparing themselves with others; sometimes, parents compare their kids with other kids. |
| Matt: There’s a special term related to that situation, right? |
| Kyejin: Yes. In Korea, there’s the term 엄마 친구 아들 (eomma chinju adeul) or 엄친아 (eomchina). |
| Matt: It means “a son of mother’s friend” to mean someone perfect, as it’s common to hear mothers talking about their friend’s sons or daughters. |
| Kyejin: There are pros and cons, but sometimes it seems like young kids learn about competition, before they learn about cooperation. This is becoming a social issue that many Koreans worry about. |
| Matt: I see. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Matt: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Kyejin: 반 [natural native speed] |
| Matt: class |
| Kyejin: 반[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kyejin: 반 [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Next we have.. |
| Kyejin: 힘이 세다 [natural native speed] |
| Matt: to be strong |
| Kyejin: 힘이 세다[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kyejin: 힘이 세다 [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Next we have.. |
| Kyejin: 키가 크다 [natural native speed] |
| Matt: to be tall |
| Kyejin: 키가 크다[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kyejin: 키가 크다 [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Next we have.. |
| Kyejin: 근육 [natural native speed] |
| Matt: muscle |
| Kyejin: 근육[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kyejin: 근육 [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Next we have.. |
| Kyejin: 몸무게 [natural native speed] |
| Matt: weight |
| Kyejin: 몸무게[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kyejin: 몸무게 [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Next we have.. |
| Kyejin: 어차피 [natural native speed] |
| Matt: anyway, at any rate |
| Kyejin: 어차피[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kyejin: 어차피 [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Next we have.. |
| Kyejin: 운동하다 [natural native speed] |
| Matt: to exercise |
| Kyejin: 운동하다[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kyejin: 운동하다 [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Next we have.. |
| Kyejin: 누구보다도 [natural native speed] |
| Matt: than anyone else |
| Kyejin: 누구보다도[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kyejin: 누구보다도 [natural native speed] |
| Matt: Next we have.. |
| Kyejin: 열심히 [natural native speed] |
| Matt: hard, with all efforts |
| Kyejin: 열심히[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Kyejin: 열심히 [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Matt: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Kyejin: 어차피 |
| Matt: meaning "anyway, at any rate". You mostly use this adverb at the beginning of a sentence, as in... |
| Kyejin: 어차피 돌아올 거니까 핸드폰을 두고가요." (eochapi doraol geonikka haendeuponeul dugogayo), |
| Matt: which means "Since we'll come back anyway just leave your phone and go." When you want to mean “anyway”, you can simply use this one. Kyejin, can you give us one more example? |
| Kyejin: Sure. 어차피 저 옷을 버릴 거니까 가져가도 돼요. (eochapi jeo oseul beori lgeonikka gajyeogado dwaeyo.) |
| Matt: "Since I'm going to throw those clothes away anyway, you can take it." Okay, what's the next word? |
| Kyejin: 누구보다도 |
| Matt: meaning "than anyone else" |
| Kyejin: The noun 누구 (nugu) means "who” or “anyone", and the phrase 보다도 (bodado) means "even more than". |
| Matt: This phrase can be used to emphasize a comparison between two things, you and others, to mean “only you can do” or “only I can do”. Can you give us an example, Kyejin? |
| Kyejin: Sure. For example, it can be used in the sentence 당신은 누구보다도 나를 잘 알거예요. (dangsineun nugubodado nareul jal albeoeyo.) |
| Matt: which means "You know me better than anyone else." |
| Kyejin: 누구 (nugu) is interchangeable with other nouns too. For example, you can say.. 선생님보다도 수학을 잘 합니다. |
| Matt: which means “I do math better than my teacher.” And next we have..? |
| Kyejin: 열심히 |
| Matt: meaning “hard” or “with all efforts.” |
| Kyejin: It has the word 열 (yeol) which is derived from the Chinese character meaning "heat” or “hot" and 심 (sim) meaning "heart". |
| Matt: These make up the meaning of "hard”, “passionately" or literally means “with the heat from the heart.” Koreans use this adverb before a verb to convey enthusiasm quite often. |
| Kyejin: That’s right. The most commonly used expressions have this adverb, such as 열심히 공부하다 (yeolsimi gongbuhada) |
| Matt: meaning “to study hard” |
| Kyejin: or 열심히 일하다 (yeolsimi ilhada) |
| Matt: meaning “to work hard” Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Matt: In this lesson, you'll learn particles that are useful for comparison. |
| Kyejin: We have 중에서, 만큼, and 보다. |
| Matt: Okay. What’s first? |
| Kyejin: 중에서 |
| Matt: This literally means “in the middle of” or “among” in English. |
| Kyejin: 중 is the word meaning “in the middle” or “at the center of.” |
| Matt: It can be used to single out a specific noun from a group. It comes with a noun indicating groups, such as... |
| Kyejin: 1학년 (ilhaknyeon) |
| Matt: meaning “1st grade”. It can also be used as in.. |
| Kyejin: 1학년 중에. or 1학년 중에서 |
| Matt: “among 1st graders.” |
| Kyejin: The usage is simple. You can put the group noun first, then add 중에서. |
| Matt: Using the particle, how can you say “Korean is the easiest among foreign languages.” |
| Kyejin: First, you can say 외국어 which is a noun meaning foreign language. Then say 중에서. So altogether it would be, 외국어 중에서. |
| Matt: “among foreign languages” or literally “in the middle of foreign languages.” |
| Kyejin: Then you can say 한국어가 제일 쉬워요. |
| Matt: which means “Korean is the easiest.” Can you read the full sentence? |
| Kyejin: Sure. 외국어 중에서 한국어가 제일 쉬워요. |
| Matt: ”Korean is the easiest among foreign languages.” Okay, what’s the next particle? |
| Kyejin: Next we have.. 만큼 |
| Particle: This is the particle you can use to indicate a degree or an extent. It comes directly after a noun and it means “as much as” or “equal to.” Can you give us an example? |
| Keyjin: Using 홍콩 or” Hong Kong” as an example. You can say 홍콩만큼 to mean “equal to Hong Kong.” |
| Matt: Using the word, I think we can make a Korean sentence meaning “Seoul is a city that is equally as busy as Hong Kong”, right? |
| Kyejin: That’s right. You can say 서울은 홍콩만큼 바쁜 도시입니다. |
| Matt: First, Kyejin said the subject.. |
| Keyin: 서울은 |
| Matt: Then said.. |
| Kyejin: 홍콩만큼 |
| Matt: meaning “equal to Hong Kong” then the rest of them.. |
| Kyejin: 바쁜 도시입니다. |
| Matt: meaning “it’s a busy city.” |
| Kyejin: You can put the phrase 홍콩만큼 at the beginning of a sentence too, as in 홍콩만큼 서울은 바쁜 도시입니다. It means the same. |
| Matt: Okay. And you can use this particle with verbs too, right? |
| Kyejin: Yes. When it’s used with a verb, you need to add ㄹ (리을) or 을 to the verb-stem. 을 만큼 or ㄹ만큼. (리을 만큼.) |
| Matt: When this particle is used with a verb, you can mean "Verb A + so much that + Verb B" or "Verb A + enough to + Verb B". Using this pattern, how can you say.. “It’s expensive enough to be surprising” in Korean? |
| Kyejin: 놀랄만큼 비싸다. |
| Matt: So we have the first verb.. |
| Kyejin: 놀라다. |
| Matt: which means “to surprise” |
| Kyejin: And it’s conjugated as 놀랄 then followed by the particle 만큼. 놀랄만큼. |
| Matt: which means “enough to be surprising.” |
| Kyejin: And next, we have the second verb 비싸다, which means “to be expensive.” |
| Matt: So all together we have..? |
| Kyejin: 놀랄만큼 비싸다. |
| Matt: “It’s expensive enough to be surprising.” Listeners, don’t forget to check out the lesson notes to learn more examples. Okay, what’s the last particle? |
| Kyejin: Lastly, we have 보다 meaning “more than”. The usage is simple. You just need to put a noun then the particle 보다 to mean “more than something.” |
| Matt: Using this, how can you say “more than me”? |
| Kyejin: You can say 나보다 using the pronoun 나 meaning “I” or “me.” |
Outro |
| Matt: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Kyejin: 안녕히 계세요. |
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