After this lesson, you will be able to say “I am sorry” or “I apologize” and you will also be able to get someone’s attention when you want to say something to them or order something in a restaurant.
joe-song-hap-ni-da
Do you remember how to say “Thank you” in Korean?
It is gam-sa-ham-ni-da
If you also remember that kamsahamnida is basically gamsa/kamsa (“appreciation” or “thankfulness”) plus hamnida (“I do”), you can assume that joesong hapnida is also joesong plus hapnida.
joe-song means “apology”, “being sorry” or “feeling ashamed”, and hap-nida means “I do”, so joe-song-hap-ni-da means “I am sorry.” or “I apologize.”
joe-song-hap-ni-da is NOT always “I’m sorry”.
Even though joe-song-hap-ni-da is BASICALLY “I’m sorry”, you can’t use joe-song-hap-ni-da
when you want to say “I am sorry to hear that.”
Many Korean people actually get confused when they talk about some bad news to their English-speaking friends and hear “I’m sorry” from them.
If you say “I’m sorry.” after you hear a piece of bad news from your Korean friend, he or she
might say “Why are YOU apologizing for that?” to you.
This is because joe-song-hap-ni-da ONLY means “I apologize.”, “It was my bad.”, “Excuse me.” or “I
shouldn’t have done that.” It can never mean “I’m sorry to hear that.”
jeo-gi-yo
In English, you can use the expression “Excuse me.” in all of the following situations.
1) when you are passing through a crowd of people
2) when you are leaving the room for a second
3) when you want to get someone’s attention and talk to them or let them know something
4) when you want to call the waiter in a restaurant or a cafe to order something
jeo-gi-yo is an expression that can be translated to “Excuse me” but this Korean expression, jeogiyo is ONLY used for situation number 3 and 4 above.
How do you say “Excuse me.” when you want to pass through?
You can say:
jam-si-man-yo (literal meaning: “Just a second.”)
joe-song-ham-ni-da (literal meaning: “I am sorry.”)
jam-kkan-man-yo (literal meaning: “Just a second.”)
** Yes, “jamsimanyo” and “jamkkanmanyo” are the same thing.
These are the most commonly used expressions. You don’t have to memorize them right now,
but they are just good to know!
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