Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 8 - Advanced Korean #1 (Lessons 211 to 240) ᚛ Lesson 223 - Compounds of -고 #1: sequence in Korean [-고서] [-아/어 가지고]
Compounds of -고 #1: sequence in Korean [-고서] [-아/어 가지고]
The ending -고 links two actions; adding 서 to it stresses the order: -고서, "after", "once". Another very frequent spoken pattern links actions in the same way: -아/어 가지고, literally "taking with oneself", "having done". It marks succession ("and then"), with the idea that the result of the first action serves the second, and it also works as a casual cause, in place of -아/어서. This first lesson on the compounds of -고 covers sequence; the second will cover -고도.
"After", "once" with -고서
-고서 attaches to the stem, with no tense marker:
[Action 1]고서 [Action 2]
Compared with -고 alone, -고서 stresses that the first action is finished when the second begins, often with a hint of consequence: "and thereupon". It is commonly found after -아/어 놓다: 시켜 놓고서, "after having ordered". The subject is generally the same in both clauses.
- 혹시 오늘 민지 만난 적 있어?
- 오늘 아침에 잠깐 인사만 하고서 급하게 어디론가 가던데요?
→ - Did you happen to see Minji today?
- This morning she just said a quick hello and then rushed off somewhere.
매주 만나고 자주 연락하던 친구였는데 남자친구가 생기고서 연락이 한 번도 없었어요.
→ She was a friend I saw every week and who kept in touch often, but since she got a boyfriend, not a single message.
재현이가 지난달에 서울로 이사 가고서 한동안 소식을 알 수 없었어요.
→ After Jaehyun moved to Seoul last month, I had no news for a while.
민지는 어제 일에 대해 알고서 화가 났지만 더 큰 싸움이 될까 봐 도저히 화를 낼 수가 없었어요.
→ When Minji found out about what had happened the day before, she got angry, but for fear of a bigger fight she just couldn't show it.
민지는 헤어지자는 이야기를 하고서 그 자리에 앉아 몇 시간을 울었어요.
→ After saying she wanted to break up, Minji sat down right there and cried for hours.
수진이는 살을 빼려고 매일 저녁 헬스장에서 운동하고서 집까지 걸어갔어요.
→ To lose weight, Sujin worked out at the gym every evening, then walked home.
"Without…" with -지 않고서는
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"And then", "having done" with -아/어 가지고
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Exercises
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Particles are omnipresent in Korean. They indicate the role of words in a sentence, nuance meaning, and make it possible to understand who does what, where, how, and why.
Particles are also often the aspect that causes the most difficulty for Korean learners. In grammar books, they are usually presented in the middle of long sentences, with complex vocabulary, without being clearly highlighted.
With Korean Particles, we made the opposite choice:
taking the time to explain each particle, one by one, using very simple sentences, accessible even to beginners.
