Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 7 - Upper-Intermediate Korean #2 (Lessons 181 to 210) ᚛ Lesson 187 - "Rather" and tendency in Korean [-(으)ㄴ/는 편이다]
"Rather" and tendency in Korean [-(으)ㄴ/는 편이다]
In a conversation, instead of describing a situation in a direct and clear-cut way, we often want to soften our statement and say that the situation is rather one way or another. In Korean, we use the noun 편 for this, which means "side": saying that something is "on the side of" small is saying that it is rather small. The -(으)ㄴ/는 편이다 structure is generally translated as "to be rather", "to tend to" or "to be the type to".
Softening a statement with -(으)ㄴ/는 편이다
The -(으)ㄴ/는 편이다 structure is used with descriptive verbs as well as with action verbs, put in the present adjectival form:
[Present adjectival form -(으)ㄴ/는] 편이다
Reminder: the adjectival form of adjectives and the adjectival form of verbs
Descriptive verbs therefore take -(으)ㄴ and action verbs take -는 (있다 and 없다 too: 있는 편이다, 없는 편이다):
- 작은 편이다 = to be rather small
- 많은 편이다 = to be rather numerous
- 자주 가는 편이다 = to tend to go there often
Since 편이다 is made up of the noun 편 and the verb 이다, it is 이다 that carries the speech level and the tense: 편이에요, 편입니다, 편이야, 편이다 in the neutral style, and in the past tense 편이었어요, 편이었습니다, 편이었다. When describing a past tendency or characteristic, the tense is generally expressed through 이다: for example, 작은 편이었다. However, forms such as 작았던 편이다 are also grammatically possible when referring to a characteristic in the past.
The purpose of the -(으)ㄴ/는 편이다 structure is to avoid describing a fact or a situation as being entirely on one side or entirely on the other. The best way to understand it is to imagine a scale from 1 to 9 on which 1 corresponds to a verb ("to be small", "to be thin", "to be stingy", "to be cheap") and 9 to its opposite ("to be big", "to be fat", "to be generous", "to be expensive"). In this case:
- using -(으)ㄴ/는 편이다 with a verb in position 1 indicates a score of 2 or 3: 싼 편이에요 = it is rather cheap;
- using -(으)ㄴ/는 편이다 with a verb in position 9 indicates a score of 7 or 8: 비싼 편이에요 = it is rather expensive.
상민이가 이사한 집은 이전 집에 비해서 거실이 작은 편이었다.
→ In the house Sangmin moved into, the living room was rather small compared to the previous one.
작년에 비해서 올해 청년 평균 취업률은 낮은 편입니다.
→ Compared to last year, the average youth employment rate is rather low this year.
동우는 내성적이고 말수도 적은 편이야.
→ Dongwoo is introverted and is rather quiet.
상현이는 워낙 성격이 좋고 외향적이라서 모든 사람과 잘 어울리는 편이다.
→ Sanghyun has a naturally good personality and is extroverted, so he is the type to get along well with everyone.
여자친구는 화가 나거나 기분이 안 좋을 때 자신의 감정을 잘 숨기지 못하는 편이었습니다.
→ My girlfriend tended to be bad at hiding her feelings when she was angry or in a bad mood.
As the first two examples show, -(으)ㄴ/는 편이다 very often goes with a point of comparison: [Noun]보다, [Noun]에 비해서 or 에 비하면, or the word 평균 ("the average"). It is in relation to this reference point that the situation "leans" to one side.
A general tendency, not a one-time event
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-(으)ㄴ/는 편이다 followed by another ending
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Exercises
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Traveling to South Korea can be an unforgettable experience. But when you don’t speak Korean, everything gets more complicated: ordering in a restaurant or café becomes stressful, you can’t understand signs or directions, asking for help in case of trouble is nearly impossible, and most importantly, you miss out on the very essence of a successful trip to Korea: connecting with the locals.
Since English - Korean machine translators can’t always be trusted (the two languages work in completely different ways), it’s essential to prepare yourself in advance to fully enjoy your trip to South Korea!
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