Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 8 - Advanced Korean #1 (Lessons 211 to 240) ᚛ Lesson 232 - Being about to in Korean [-(으)려던 참이다] [-던 차에]

Being about to in Korean [-(으)려던 참이다] [-던 차에]

In this course: 려던 참이다 / 려던 참 / 려던 참에 / 던 차에 / 참이에요 / 참이었어요 / 참인데

"I was just about to call you!" To say that you were on the point of doing something at the very moment something else happened, Korean combines the intention -(으)려고 하다 (see the lesson on -(으)려고), the retrospective -던 and the noun 참, "the moment": -(으)려던 참이다. This lesson presents this very common spoken structure, its connective variant -(으)려던 참에, then -던 차에, "just when…".

"I was just about to" with -(으)려던 참이다

[Verb]-(으)려던 참이다 → -(으)려던 참이에요 / 참이었어요 / 참인데 / 참이라서

참 refers to a moment, an occasion: -(으)려던 참이다 literally means "it's the moment when I was going to…". It is used for an imminent action, interrupted by or coinciding with something else: a call that comes in, a question someone asks you. The present 참이에요 describes the very instant ("I'm about to…"); the past 참이었어요 a past moment ("I was about to…"). At the start of the sentence, 안 그래도, "as it happens", 막, "just", or 지금 underline the coincidence, and the form 참인데 leads on to the rest of the situation.

아빠가 교통사고가 나서 병원에 입원했다는 소식을 듣고 엄마랑 막 가려던 참이었어요.
→ On hearing that Dad had had a car accident and been hospitalized, I was just about to leave with Mom.

배달시킨 음식이 지금쯤 와야 하는데 아직도 받지 못해서 확인해 보려던 참이었어요.
→ The food I ordered should have arrived by now, but since I still hadn't received it, I was about to check.

- 지금 뭐 해요? 집이에요?
- 방금 집에 도착했는데 배가 너무 고파서 라면을 끓여 먹으려던 참이에요.
→ - What are you doing? Are you home?
- I just got home and I'm so hungry that I'm about to cook myself some ramyeon.

안 그래도 공부를 하려던 참인데 엄마가 계속 잔소리를 하니까 하기 싫어지네요.
→ I was just about to study, but with Mom nagging me non-stop, I'm losing the will to do it.

안 그래도 지금 보라한테 전화해 보려던 참인데 아직도 전화 안 받아요? 어제 늦게까지 일했다더니 아마 자고 있을 거예요.
→ I was just about to try calling Bora; she still isn't answering? She said she worked late yesterday, she's probably asleep.

저는 이제 업무 마무리하고 막 나가려던 참인데 사무실에 뭐 두고 나가셨어요?
→ I've just wrapped up my work and was about to leave; did you leave something at the office?

지금 그 노래를 들으려던 참인데 같이 들을래요? 이번에 나온 신곡들 다 좋더라고요.
→ I was just about to listen to that song, want to listen together? I found all the new tracks released this time really good.

운동하고 집에 와서 이제 막 씻고 자려던 참인데 왜 전화했어? 한동안 연락도 없더니 무슨 일 있는 거 아니지?
→ I'm back from the gym, I'd just washed up and was about to go to bed; why did you call? You hadn't been in touch for a while, nothing's wrong, I hope?

지금 다 같이 장을 보러 나가려던 참인데 뭐 필요한 거 있어요? 원하는 거 있으면 사다 줄게요.
→ We were all just about to go out grocery shopping; do you need anything? If there's something you want, I'll get it for you.

안 그래도 지난번 일에 대해서 물어보려던 참이었는데 거짓말하지 말고 솔직하게 말해 줬으면 좋겠어요.
→ I was just about to ask you about what happened last time; I'd like you to tell me frankly, without lying.

- 여보, 빨래해야 하지 않아요?
- 맞아요. 안 그래도 밀린 빨래를 돌리려던 참이었어요. 방에 이불도 좀 가져다줄래요?
→ - Honey, shouldn't we do the laundry?
- Right. I was just about to run the backlog of laundry. Could you bring me the duvet from the bedroom too?

The connective variant -(으)려던 참에

"Just when…" with -던 차에

Exercises

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