Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 8 - Advanced Korean #1 (Lessons 211 to 240) ᚛ Lesson 216 - As big as, even just in Korean [만 하다] [만 해도]
As big as, even just in Korean [만 하다] [만 해도]
The particle 만, "only", enters into two expressions that must be learned as they are. [Noun] 만 하다 means "to be the size of", "to be as big as": 주먹만 한 얼굴, "a face no bigger than a fist". [Noun] 만 해도, literally "even if we take only", means "just", "alone", and serves to give an example that is enough to prove what we are saying, or, with a time expression, to contrast the recent past with the present: 어제만 해도, "just yesterday". For comparisons of degree, review 만큼 and 처럼.
"The size of" with [Noun]만 하다
만 attaches to the noun that serves as a size reference, and 하다 is conjugated like an adjective:
[Noun]만 하다 (predicate) / [Noun]만 한 [Noun] (before a noun) / [Noun]만 해지다 (to become)
Watch the spacing: 만 is a particle attached to the noun, 하다 is a separate word (주먹만 한, not 주먹만한). The meaning is strictly one of dimension (size, volume, quantity), most often with a concrete, exaggerated image: a wave "as big as a house", a salary "as big as a mouse's tail".
민지의 초등학생 조카는 덩치도 키도 벌써 민지만 했어요.
→ Minji's nephew, still in elementary school, was already as tall and as big as her.
- 저기 흰 개 보여요? 어른 키만 하네요.
- 우와 진짜 엄청 크네요. 저도 개를 좋아하는데 큰 개보다는 작은 강아지가 더 좋아요.
→ - Do you see the white dog over there? It's as tall as an adult.
- Wow, it's really huge. I like dogs too, but I prefer small ones to big ones.
재현아, 조금만 크게 말해 줄래? 지금 목소리가 모깃소리만 해서 전혀 들리지 않아.
→ Jaehyun, could you speak up a little? Right now your voice is as loud as a mosquito, I can't hear a thing.
얼굴이 주먹만 한 민지 옆에서는 친구들이 사진 찍기를 꺼렸어요.
→ Next to Minji, whose face is the size of a fist, her friends were reluctant to have their picture taken.
집에 오는 길에 사람 손바닥만 한 바퀴벌레가 날아다녀서 기절하는 줄 알았어요.
→ On my way home, a cockroach the size of a human palm was flying around and I thought I was going to faint.
태풍이 북상하자 집채만 한 파도가 무서운 속도로 배들을 집어삼켰어요.
→ As the typhoon moved north, waves as big as houses swallowed the boats at a terrifying speed.
갑자기 뱀이 풀숲 사이에서 튀어 나와서 너무 놀라 심장이 콩알만 해졌어요.
→ A snake suddenly jumped out of the grass and I was so startled that my heart shrank to the size of a bean.
아빠가 월급을 타 오면 엄마는 매번 쥐꼬리만 한 월급이라 쓸 돈이 없다고 말씀하셨어요.
→ Every time Dad brought home his pay, Mom would say that with a salary the size of a mouse's tail, there was nothing to spend.
Remember the ready-made images: 쥐꼬리만 한 월급, "a pittance of a salary", 콩알만 해지다, "to shrink with fear", 손바닥만 하다, "the size of a hand", 집채만 하다, "as big as a house", 대문짝만 하다, "as big as a front gate", 모깃소리만 하다, "barely audible".
"Just", "alone" with [Noun]만 해도
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