44 Learning Korean
Everyday Korean Episode 49
눈이 높아서 문제야. “The Problem Is Your High Expectations.”
TEACHING & LEARNING
By Harsh Kumar Mishra
The Conversation
Grammar Points
네하: Neha:
V~아/어/해 주세요
언니, 저 상담 좀 해 줘요. Eonni, I need some advice.
정민: 말해 봐. 무슨 일이야? Jeongmin:Tell me. What’s up? 네하: Neha:
연애하고 싶은데 마음에 드는 남자가 하나도 없어요. I want to date, but I can’t find a single man I like.
정민: 그게 무슨 소리야. 넌 눈이 높아서 문제야. Jeongmin: What do you mean? The problem is your high expectations.
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January 2022
네하: 아니요, 전 눈이 하나도 안 높아요. 평범한 사람을 좋아해요. Neha: No, I don’t have high expectations at all. I like ordinary people. 정민: 그래? 조금만 눈 낮춰 봐. 평범한 남자 수십 명 보일 거야. Jeongmin: Really? Just try lowering your expectations a bit. You’ll see dozens of ordinary men.
This grammar point is attached to a verb and works like an auxiliary verb. Whenever you want to request that somebody do something for you, you can attach this to the verb stem of that activity. When a verb ends with ㅗ or ㅏ, use “~아 주세요,” and when a verb ends with any other vowel, use “~어 주세요.” Verbs ending in -하다 change to “~ 해 주세요.” Ex: 문 좀 열어 주세요. Please open the door. 저 대신에 택배를 받아 주세요. Please receive the parcel for me.
눈이 높아요 This is not a grammar point, but instead a commonly used idiom of the Korean language that means “to have high expectations.” It can also be
네하: ㅎㅎ 언니가 그런 남자를 좀 소개해 주세요. Neha: Haha. Please introduce me to such a man.
used as “눈 안 높아요” as a negative expression, i.e., “to not have high expectations.” Ex:
Vocabulary
민지 씨가 눈이 아주 높아요. 그래서 100점에서 98 점
상담
consultation
무슨 일이에요
What happened?
연애하다
to date
마음에 들다
to like something/someone
문제
problem
평범하다
ordinary; simple
눈을 낮추다
to lower one’s eyes (expectations)
보이다
to be visible; to be seen
소개하다
to introduce
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받아도 실망해요. Minji has very high expectations. So, even if she gets 98 out of 100 points, she is disappointed.
The Author Harsh Kumar Mishra is a linguist and Korean language educator. He teaches Korean with TOPIKGUIDE. com and LEARNKOREAN.in.
2022-01-06 �� 9:28:18
