Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 6 - Upper-Intermediate Korean #1 (Lessons 151 to 180) ᚛ Lesson 163 - As soon as in Korean #3 [-자]
As soon as in Korean #3 [-자]
Expressing immediacy
In previous chapters, we have already studied two ways of expressing that an action immediately follows another in Korean, which is generally translated as "as soon as": -자마자 and -는 대로.
There is one last way of expressing the fact that an action is carried out as soon as another action occurs, by using -자 in the following manner:
[Action 1: … Present stem]자 [Action 2]
창문을 열자 바깥의 후덥지근하고 습한 공기가 들어왔어요.
→ As soon as I opened the window, the muggy, humid air from outside came in.
갑자기 에스파가 나타나자 모든 사람이 일제히 소리치고 환호했어요.
→ As soon as aespa suddenly appeared, everyone screamed and cheered in unison.
선생님이 나가자 아이들은 큰 소리로 떠들고 제멋대로 뛰어다녔습니다.
→ As soon as the teacher left, the children chattered loudly and ran around as they pleased.
지영이는 지하철에서 아끼던 지갑을 분실하자 바로 분실신고를 하기 위해 경찰서로 갔어요.
→ As soon as Jiyoung lost her beloved wallet on the subway, she went straight to the police station to report it lost.
그들이 도착하자 몰래 숨죽여 있던 사람들이 하나둘 밖으로 나왔어요.
→ As soon as they arrived, the people who had been secretly holding their breath came out one by one.
비행기가 이륙하면서 기체가 많이 흔들리자 기내에 승객들이 소란을 피우기 시작했습니다.
→ As soon as the plane shook heavily while taking off, the passengers on board started making a commotion.
Differences between -자마자 and -자
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Exercises
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