Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 7 - Upper-Intermediate Korean #2 (Lessons 181 to 210) ᚛ Lesson 210 - Alternation and incompletion in Korean [-다(가) -다(가)] [-다(가) 말다(가)]
Alternation and incompletion in Korean [-다(가) -다(가)] [-다(가) 말다(가)]
In the lesson on -다(가), we saw that this ending marks the interruption of one action by another. Here, we are going to look at two new ways of using -다(가): doubled, -다(가) -다(가) 하다, for two actions that keep alternating, and followed by 말다, -다(가) 말다(가) 하다, for an action that is done and stopped on and off.
Interruptions by alternation with -다(가) -다(가) 하다
If two actions keep alternating, they are in fact constantly interrupted by each other. In Korean, this is expressed by using -다(가) on both actions, followed by the verb 하다, which carries the tense and the ending:
[Action 1: … Stem]다(가) [Action 2: … Stem]다(가) 하다
The final 하다 is almost always present: it is what conjugates the whole (했어요, 해요, 해야 해요). It is sometimes replaced by 반복하다 or 그러다. The stem can be in the present or in the past, with the same nuance as for -다(가) on its own: in the present, both actions are in progress and switch back and forth (오르다가 내리다가, "goes up and down"); in the past, -았/었다가 -았/었다가, each action is completed before switching to the other (왔다가 갔다가, "comes then leaves", 빠졌다가 쪘다가, "loses then regains"). 가 can be dropped on one or both: -다 -다 하다.
한동안은 출장 때문에 서울에서 부산까지 왔다가 갔다가 해야 해요.
→ For a while, because of business trips, I will have to go back and forth between Seoul and Busan.
밤새 아이가 열이 오르다가 내리다가 해서 엄마는 잠도 못 자고 아이를 간호해야 했어요.
→ All night, the child's fever kept going up and down, and his mother had to nurse him without sleeping.
현아는 10년 만난 남자친구를 정말 좋아하지만 한 번씩 고집불통처럼 행동할 때는 또 밉다가 좋다가 했어요.
→ Hyuna really loves her boyfriend of ten years, but when he acts stubborn, she keeps swinging between resentment and affection.
요즘 날씨가 춥다가 덥다가 해서 감기에 걸리기 쉬워요.
→ These days the weather keeps switching between cold and hot, so it is easy to catch a cold.
아이는 하루 종일 장난감을 가지고 놀다가 만화를 보다가 했어요.
→ The child spent the whole day alternating between playing with toys and watching cartoons.
Doing on and off with -다(가) 말다(가) 하다
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Traveling to South Korea can be an unforgettable experience. But when you don’t speak Korean, everything gets more complicated: ordering in a restaurant or café becomes stressful, you can’t understand signs or directions, asking for help in case of trouble is nearly impossible, and most importantly, you miss out on the very essence of a successful trip to Korea: connecting with the locals.
Since English - Korean machine translators can’t always be trusted (the two languages work in completely different ways), it’s essential to prepare yourself in advance to fully enjoy your trip to South Korea!
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