Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 8 - Advanced Korean #1 (Lessons 211 to 240) ᚛ Lesson 229 - Even if it's useless in Korean [-아/어 봤자] [-아/어서라도] [-다가도]
Even if it's useless in Korean [-아/어 봤자] [-아/어서라도] [-다가도]
We know -아/어도 and -더라도. Three other "even if" refine the nuance. -아/어 봤자, "no matter how much", "even if you try to", announces that the effort will be useless. -아/어서라도, "even if it means", "even if I have to", expresses determination on the contrary: one will accept this extreme means to reach one's goal. -다가도, "even in the middle of…", describes a situation that suddenly flips as soon as an event occurs.
"No matter how much", "no use" with -아/어 봤자
-아/어 봤자 combines -아/어 보다, "to try", and the past: "even after having tried":
[Stem]-아/어 봤자 [Null or disappointing result]
The main clause says that it is useless (소용없다, 아무도 … 않다, -(으)ㄹ 리가 없다) or puts things into perspective: 어려워 봤자 얼마나 어렵겠어요?, "however hard it is, how hard can it be?", that is "it can't be that hard". Often reinforced by 아무리, "no matter how". Watch the spacing: 봤자 is the auxiliary 보다, written separately.
네가 그렇게 크게 울어 봤자 아무도 너한테 관심없어.
→ No matter how loudly you cry, nobody pays attention to you.
내가 지금까지 있었던 모든 일에 대해서 이야기해 봤자 아무도 믿으려고 하지 않을 거예요.
→ Even if I told everything that has happened so far, nobody would want to believe me.
계속 여기 있어 봤자 할 수 있는 게 아무것도 없어서 집에 가는 게 나을 것 같습니다.
→ Staying here any longer is no use, there's nothing I can do, so I think I'd better go home.
지금 집에 가 봤자 아무도 집에 없어서 저녁에 가족들이 오면 그때 갈래요.
→ Going home now is pointless, nobody's there; I'll go this evening when the family is back.
수진이가 산 정상에서 고래고래 소리를 질러 봤자 돌아오는 건 메아리뿐이었습니다.
→ No matter how loudly Sujin shouted from the mountaintop, all that came back was the echo.
이번 기말고사가 어려워 봤자 얼마나 어렵겠어요. 지난 중간고사보다 시험 난이도가 낮을 거예요.
→ However hard the final exam is, how hard can it be? It'll surely be easier than the midterm.
재현이가 아무리 장난을 쳐 봤자 민지는 아무런 반응 없이 미소만 지을 뿐이었다.
→ No matter how many jokes Jaehyun made, Minji showed no reaction and merely smiled.
주차할 곳을 찾겠다고 이렇게 계속 돌아 봤자 주택가에서는 주차할 곳을 찾기가 어려워.
→ No matter how long we drive around like this looking for a spot, in a residential area it's hard to find parking.
"Even if it means", "even if I have to" with -아/어서라도
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"Even in the middle of…" with -다가도
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Exercises
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