Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 3 - Korean for Beginners #2 (Lessons 61 to 90) ᚛ Lesson 72 - "Because of", "thanks to" in Korean [때문] [덕분]

"Because of", "thanks to" in Korean [때문] [덕분]

In this course: 때문 / 덕분

Now that we've seen the cause structures with -아/어서, -(으)니까 and -(으)니, let's look at two words that allow one to express a cause with nouns or verbs: 때문 and 덕분.

Neutral cause with 때문

It is possible to use 때문 to express the cause. It can be used for a positive or negative cause. It is generic and is often translated as " because of".

때문 can be combined with the particle 에 to express the cause in the following way:

• After a nominal group: [Cause: Noun] 때문에 [Effect]
• After a verb: [Cause: … Stem]기 때문에 [Effect]

컴퓨터 에러 때문에 파일이 삭제됐어.
→ Because of a technological error, the files have been deleted.

홍수 때문에 많은 사람들이 집을 잃었습니다.
→ Because of the floods, a lot of people have lost their homes.

배고프기 때문에 야식을 먹을 거야.
→ Because I'm hungry I will eat a midnight snack.

사실이 아니었기 때문에 거짓말할 수 없었어.
→ Because this was not true, I couldn’t lie.

When we connect 때문 with 이다, it becomes possible to construct phrases like "It's because of … that …" or "It's …'s fault if" in the following way:

• After a nominal group: [Cause : Noun] 때문이다
• After a verb: [Cause : … Stem]기 때문이다

민지가 배탈이 난 이유는 어제 먹은 상한 음식 때문이에요.
→ The reason why Minji had a stomach ache is that she ate spoiled food yesterday.

보라가 승진을 빨리 한 이유는 그녀가 능력이 있기 때문이에요.
→ The reason that Bora has been quickly promoted is that she is capable.

Note that 때문 generally has a negative connotation when it is associated with someone.

Positive cause with 덕분

Summary table of structure

Exercises

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