Everyday Korean

By Harsh Kumar Mishra

지수: 혹시 그거 알아? 미국에서 큰 건물이 무너져서 많은 사람들이

다쳤대.

Jisoo: Do you know what? A large building collapsed in the United States and many people got injured.

정민: 아 그래요? 제가 외국 뉴스를 잘 못 봐서 모르겠는데 광주에서도

그러지 않았어요?

Jeongmin: Oh, is that so? I didn’t know about that, as I don’t usually watch foreign news, but didn’t something like that happen in Gwangju, too?

지수: 광주에서 건물 무너진 일이 있었어?

Jisoo: A building collapsed in Gwangju?

정민: 등잔 밑이 어둡다더니 우리나라 소식보다 외국 일을 더 잘

아네요.

Jeongmin: As they say, “it’s darkest under the lamp” – you seem to know more about foreign affairs than about Korea.

지수: 놀리지 마. 미국인 친구가 고향에서 그런 일이 일어났다고 해서

알아

Jisoo: Quit teasing me. I know because an American friend said something like that happened in her hometown. 정민

Jeongmin: I’m kidding. A building under construction collapsed in Gwangju, but fortunately no one was seriously injured.

지수: 다친 사람 없다니 다행이네.

Jisoo: Glad that no one was hurt.

~더니: This grammar point is a connective ending used with verbs and adjectives that indicate a subsequent action or situation about a fact learned from observation in the past.

Ex: 작년부터 열심히 공부하더니 공무원 시험을

He studied hard from last year and cracked the civil service exam.

등잔 밑이 어둡다: This frequently used proverb literally means “it’s dark under the lamp” and is used to point out that a person is unaware of things close to them.

Ex: 등잔 밑이 어둡다더니

한참 찾았어

As they say, “it’s dark under the lamp” – I was searching for my phone here and there only to find out that it was in my pocket.

등잔: lamp, 밑: under, 어둡다: to be dark, 미국: USA, 건물: building, 무너지다: to collapse, 다치다: to get hurt/injured, 소식: news, 놀리다: to make fun of, 고향: hometown, 농담: joke, 공사: construction, 다행히: fortunately

The Author

Harsh Kumar Mishra is a linguist and Korean language educator. He volunteers with TOPIKGUIDE.com and Learnkorean.in. He has also co-authored the book Korean Language for Indian Learners.