#korean difference

[studykorean101]

Can you explain the difference between 아주, 매우, and 너무?

Hello! So I have compared 진짜 and 정말 - if that’s any interest to you! There is a slight formality difference between these two words (정말 being more formal)

From my experience, 너무 used to mean “too much / excessively” but this rule has changed. You used to only use this in negative situations, but now it can mean “very” in a positive context. 

EXAMPLES:

너무 귀여워요! - very cute

너무 못생겼습니다 - very ugly

As you can see, 너무 is used in both positive situations, however, it’s completely different from 아주 where you can only use it in positive situations. 

아주 is another way of saying “very” - oftentimes, you can replace 아주 with 너무. It is also less common to use in spoken Korean. *

EXAMPLE:

희주는 아주 빠르게 달릴 수 없습니다 - Heeju is not very fast

Now for the last word, 매우 is even MORE rare in spoken Korean. *

* it’s important to note that you can say these in formal situations. You can say them in meetings, or in a speech. However, in casual / colloquial conversation, it’s really uncommon to use 아주 // 매우 - hence why I conjugated them as such. 

EXAMPLES: 

매우 위험합니다 - very dangerous

매우 울룡합니다 - excelent! // delightful!!

Here they are rated from most to least used and least to most extreme:

너무 –> 아주 –> 매우

I hope this helped! This is purely from my experience / what my Korean friends have corrected me on. There are too many ways to say very in Korean (I think over ten ways). I can go over all of them in a later post! Thanks for the ask,

Happy Learning :) 

~ SK101

[studykorean101]

안녕하세요? 어떻게 지냈어요? I wanted to ask about a really confusing (to me) differences between 위해서, 덕분에, 때문에 and simple 서. I was told thay they all mean 'because' but what is the difference in when to use which? I couldn't find the answer, but if you've already done this before, could you link me to that post? 청말 감사합니다~~~ 그리고 안녕히 계세요 (can you even use that online?)

안녕하세요! 잘 지내고 있어요~! So, I want to say that it can be confusing! I was even confused at first, too. But once you get it, you will be a master :)

Let’s start with the easy ones: 때문에 VS 덕분에

In short, ((past tense conjugation)기) 때문에 is used in negative or neutral situations. For example:

아이의 건강 때문에 굉장히 스트레스를 받았어요 *     I am under stress because of my child’s health

저는 행복하기 때문에 죽고 싶지 않아요 **     I don’t want to die because I am happy

준비를 많이 했기 때문에 이기고 싶어요 ***     I practiced a lot because I want to win

* 때문에 = noun + 때문에 (because of *noun*)

** ~기 때문에 = verb stem + ~기 때문에 (because of *verb* // connects a sentence)

*** (~ㅆ // 었 // 았 // 였)기 때문에 = past tense verb + 기 때문에 (because of *verb past tense* // previous clause is past tense)

On the other hand, 덕분에 is used for positive situations! 

희주 덕분에 이해해요!     Thanks to Heeju, I understand!

네 도움 덕분에 저는 할 수 있었어요!     Thanks to your help, I did it!

I kind of explained ~서 in the past in terms of continuity, you can see that here. But in terms of ‘because’, I will add that here:

In this case, you are saying because of this *verb* this happens. You will be using **verb stem + 어//여//아서** (HINT: You might be familiar with 만나서 반가워요, which means: I met you, so I am glad)

비가 와서 못 가요     It’s raining, so I can’t go

잠을 많이 자서 피곤하지 않아요     I slept a lot, so I’m not tired

한국어가 재미있어서 매일 공부하고 있어요     Korean is fun, so I study it every day

Now that you know the difference between all of them, 위해(서) is last :)

위하다 = in order for (v)     위하 + ~아//어//여서 = 위해서

With nouns, use ~을/를 위해서:

건강을 위해서 매일 운동해요     I exercise every day in order to be healthy (lit. for my health, I exercise every day)

With verbs, use ~기 위해서:

한국에 가기 위해서 저는 한국어를 공부해야 돼요     In order to go to Korea, I have to study Korean

So, to summarize:

때문에 = because (negative and neutral)

~기 때문에 = because (connects clause through verb)

~(past tense)기 때문에 = because (connects clause through past tense verb -> 었 // 았 // 였기 때문에)

덕분에 = because (positive), thanks to ‘x’

~아//어//여서 = so, therefore

~을//를 위해서 = because of *noun*

~기 위해서 = because of *verb*

Small correction *정말 =/ 청말. As for your last question, I don’t know if you can say that since we are both on the internet and we aren’t technically going anywhere lol. It’s okay to be casual with me, so you can say:

안녕 - bye / hi

바이바이 - bye bye (Konglish)

잘가 - farewell (lit. go well)

또 봐 - see you again

If you’re still kind of confused, GoBillyKorean does a good explanation, TOPIK also does a good video, and lastly, you can check out TTMIK. 

In short, these are all varying types of conjunctions, which connect two clauses // sentences. Thanks for the ask! I hope you found it helpful! Happy Learning :)

~ SK101

[studykorean101]

is ‘감사요” too informal? may i use it when talking to someone who is older and a stranger? or is it only supposed to be used with people i am close with/younger than me?

Sorry that I’m just seeing this now. First, it’s not grammatically correct to say: 감사요 on its own because it needs a verb. If you wrongly omit the verb, it can sometimes sound ingenuine and rude if you say it to someone older than you or a stranger. In some cases, you can take away the verb to sound more fluent, which then makes it sound slang, but this would be an exception over text and ONLY to friends. Even though some Korean’s might understand what you’re trying to say, it’s not really correct to just say it like that (in person at least). 

You can say this:

고마워(요) - thank you (-요 makes it polite)

땡큐 - Konglish // only to be used between friends

감사감사 - thankyouthankyou (popular internet slang - only between friends)

감사해요 - very RARELY used // more formal but still kinda casual

고맙습니다* - formal ‘thank you’

감사합니다* - formal ‘thank you’

* people consider 감사합니다 the most formal way to say thank you even though 감사합니다 and 고맙습니다 are on the same level of formality. 고맙다 comes from pure Korean whereas 감사하다 has Chinese roots. 

I hope this helped and cleared up some confusion. Happy Learning :)

~ SK101

[studykorean101]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I don’t understand the difference between 끝나다 and 끝내다.....

No! Don’t worry it’s not a stupid question! It’s a good question actually :)

끝나다 - something ends     ex. 영화 끝났어요 - the movie ended끝내다 - someone finishes something     ex. 저는 공부를 끝냈어요 - I finished studying

The main difference between the two is with 끝내다 you need a subject and an object - if that makes sense. Hope this helped ! Happy Learning :)

~ SK101

[studykorean101]

What's the difference between 진짜 and 정말 ?

진짜 - truly     ~ 진짜 좋아해요 - I truly like it!정말 - really (usually for positive endings)     ~ 정말 예쁜데 - really pretty!

bonus: 너무 - very     ~ 너무 귀여워요 - very cute!

~ SK101

[studykorean101]

Hi! I got a question that been spinning in my head a lot. I noticed that korean has a lot of different words for different things which are the same in english. It confuses me. For example my friend used 잘해 as to be good at. But I learned 좋다 as to be good. So is just that I have to be really careful what the translation is? Otherwise I learn it wrong? Can you maybe make some examples as well... I don't know if this is a stupid question or not... sorry

Hello! Don’t worry, your question isn’t stupid! 

잘 하다 - to do well (to express action / to do badly ‘잘 못해요’)좋다 - to be good (to express good vs. bad ‘나쁘다’)좋아하다 - to like (to express like vs. dislike ‘싫어하다’)

Even though 잘 하다 means ‘to do well’ it can similarly mean ‘to be good at’. For example:

한국말 잘 해요 - I can speak Korean well / I’m good at Korean녹차 좋아요 - green tea is good녹차 좋아해요 - I like green tea

If you want to express to someone ‘you did well!’ / ‘good job’ you can say:        잘했어요!

I hope that this answered your question! If you are still confused, don’t hesitate to send me a message and I’ll do my best explaining further! Happy Learning :)

~ SK101

[studykorean101]

안녕! I wanted to ask where is the difference between 아침 and 오전

안녕하세요! Hello! 

아침 - morning (아침에 일어났어요 - In the morning, I woke up) 오전 - (in the) a.m. (오전 6시 - 6 a.m.) generally used for time

~ SK101

[studykorean101]

Hey where are the differences between 선생님 and 교사 and between 실 and 방 and between 늘 and 항상?

Hi Anon!

선생님 - teacher교사 - instructor

실 - open room방 - closed room

늘 - always항상 - always** just depends on preference

~ SK101