KOREAN LANGUAGE TUTORIAL

LESSON 27

Korean Lesson: Lessons 27

*June (6월/유월) and October (10월/시월) should actually be 육월 and 십월 but, written like that, they are difficult to pronounce. Because of this, there correct spelling is 유월 and 시월 NOT 육월 and 십월.

“For” a certain amount of time (동안)
동안 is a very useful word that can be used to tell how long something is being done.

It can also be used to say “While I was… during the…” but you will learn about that application in Lesson 33 (the grammar is too complex for you right now). 동안 gets added after any indication of length of time.

For example:
2분 동안 = for 2 minutes
10 분 동안 = for 10 minutes

Those can then be added into sentences to indicate how long you did something for. Notice also that no additional particle is added to 동안. One would think that 에 should be added, but it is not.
저는 10분 동안 걸었어요 = I walked for 10 minutes

저는 30분 동안 공부했어요 = I studied for 30 minutes

I want to show you more and more examples of 동안, but at this point, you only know how to deal with minutes. Let’s move on to hours.

Korean Hours (시간)
Talking about minutes is easy because you always simply use 분. For example:
3시20분 means “3:20”, and
20분 동안 means “for 20 minutes”
When talking about hours, however, 시 is used when talking about the hour on a clock, whereas 시간 is used when counting hours. Notice the difference between these two:
3시 = 3:00
3시간 동안 = for 3 hours

Remember that pure Korean numbers are used when talking about hours, but Sino-Korean numbers are used with minutes. 동안 can be added just like it was to 분:
저는 3시간 동안 잤어요 = I slept for 3 hours
저는 어제 2 시간 동안 TV를 봤어요* = I watched TV for 2 hours yesterday

*Notice that 보다 (to see) is used when watching something.

You can also use 보다 when you watch a performance or concert, or similar things. In English “I saw a TV” and “I watched TV” have two different meanings, but Koreans simply say “I see TV.”

Korean Seconds (초)
When talking about seconds, you need to use the Sino-Korean numbers
저는 2초 동안 달렸어요 = I ran for 2 seconds

Last/Next (지난/다음)
지난 and 다음 are two more very important words that you can use in many situations. In Lesson 10, you learned about 마지막, which means ‘the last thing in a sequence,’ as in: “This is my last chance (이 것은 저의 마지막 기회이다).” Remember, Korean people use another word for the other meaning of “last,” as in: “I saw a movie last week.”
In the first example, “last” is the final chance in a sequence of chances.
In the second example, “last” refers to a time in the past (last year, last month, etc.)

You already know that the word for last in the first example is 마지막.

The word for last in the second example is 지난. 지난 can be added immediately before some words of time to mean “last ____.” For example:

저는 지난 주에 영화를 봤어요 = I saw a movie last week
저는 지난 주에 캐나다에 갔어요 = I went to Canada last week.
저는 지난 수업을 안 들었어요 = Translated directly, this sentence means “I didn’t listen to the last class. But in Korean, 듣다 – to hear, is the verb used when taking a class. So, this sentence means “I didn’t go to the last class”
Notice that 지난 can be added only before some words of time. For example, you couldn’t say “지난 분/지난 초.” These would mean “last minute/second” as in ‘the last minute/second that just passed – which doesn’t make any sense. Notice that they do not have the meaning of “I handed in my paper at the last minute.”
시간, however, means “time” in addition to being a counter for “hours.” So, “지난 시간” can be used to mean “last time” (but not “last hour”).
저는 그 것을 지난 시간에 배웠어요 = I learned that (thing) last time
다음 is used in the same way as 지난, but it means “next.” For example:
저는 다음 주에 영화를 볼 거예요 = I will see a movie next week
저는 다음 주에 캐나다에 갈 거예요 = I will go to Canada next week