Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 9 - Advanced Korean #2 (Lessons 241 to 270) ᚛ Lesson 255 - Politely disagreeing in Korean [-기는요]
Politely disagreeing in Korean [-기는요]
When someone pays you a compliment, apologises, worries about you or puts forward an idea you don't share, Korean offers a ready-made reply: you repeat the word you have just heard, add -기는요, and that is that. 춥지? 춥기는! "Are you cold? Cold, me? Not at all!" The form nominalises the verb with -기, adds the contrast particle 는, and leaves the sentence hanging: "as for being cold…", implying "nothing of the sort". It is the most natural way to disagree without offending, to wave away a compliment out of modesty or to say "don't mention it".
Echoing to disagree with -기는요
[Word you heard]-기는요 / [Word you heard]-긴요 / [Word you heard]-기는
You repeat the other person's verb or adjective as is, with no tense marker: 졸립니까? 졸리기는요! The final 요 makes the reply polite; between close friends you simply say -기는, often contracted to -긴: 춥기는, 힘들긴. The reply is usually followed by an explanation that sets the record straight: "not at all, it is rather warm, if anything". The intonation rises slightly on 는, like a question left in the air.
- 맨 앞줄에 앉아 있는 학생! 졸립니까?
- 졸리기는요! 교수님 강의가 제일 흥미롭습니다!
→ - The student sitting in the front row! Are you sleepy?
- Sleepy, me? Not at all! Your lecture is the most interesting of all!
- 미안, 집이 많이 춥지? 보일러가 고장이 나서.
- 아니야 춥기는. 이 정도면 따뜻한 편이지.
→ - Sorry, it's really cold in my place, isn't it? The boiler is broken.
- No, cold? Not at all. This is on the warm side, really.
- 음식이 좀 짜죠? 소금이 좀 많이 들어갔나 봐요.
- 아닙니다. 짜기는요. 딱 적당한걸요?
→ - It's a bit salty, isn't it? I must have put in a little too much salt.
- Not at all. Salty? No way. It's just right.
- 새로 들어간 회사는 어때? 일은 힘들지 않아?
- 힘들긴요. 이렇게 일할 수 있다는 것만으로도 기뻐요.
→ - How is the new company? Isn't the work hard?
- Hard? Not at all. Just being able to work like this makes me happy.
"Don't mention it", "no need to apologise", "yeah, right"
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Stronger: -기는 무슨, -기는 뭘
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