Everyday Korean: Episode 58. 얼굴이 낯익다 / She Looks Familiar

By Harsh Kumar Mishra

Meongjie: Eonni, do you remember this person?

Jeongmin: She looks familiar, but I cannot remember her name. Who is she?

Meongjie: Do you remember the university student we met two years back on our trip to Gangwon-do?

Jeongmin: Oh yeah, right. She is the girl who kept dancing on the second floor of the resort, right?

Meongjie: Right. She became a model. Now she has more than three million followers on Instagram.

Jeongmin: Wow! That is amazing. I did get that kind of vibe when I saw her dancing there.

Meongjie: She is good at dancing as well as talking, so she has gotten a huge fanbase among internet users.

This is a noun modifier used with verb stems to modify a noun in past tense. When a verb stem ends in a final consonant, use ~은, and when it ends in a vowel, just add ~ㄴ.

- 지난주에 읽은 책이 어땠어요? How was the book you read last week?

- 어제 배달시켜서 먹은 볶음밥이 너무 맛있어서 다시 시켰어요. The fried rice I ordered yesterday was so delicious that I ordered it again today.

This frequently used idiom in Korean is mostly used to express that someone or something looks “familiar” to you.

- 오늘 인터넷에서 낯이 익은 학교 배경을 사진으로 봐서 놀랐다. I was surprised to see a picture on the internet showing my school.

- 한국에서 낯익은 고향 음식점 볼때마다 기분이 아주 좋다.

It always feels great to find familiar hometown restaurants in Korea.

얼굴: face, 기억나다: to remember, 재작년: the year before last, 여대생: women’s university student, 춤추다: to dance, 넘다: to exceed, 백만: million, 느낌: feeling, 이야기: story, 재미있게: interestingly, 네티즌: internet user (netizen), 인기가 많다: to be popular

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.