Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 9 - Advanced Korean #2 (Lessons 241 to 270) ᚛ Lesson 244 - Rather than in Korean [-느니(보다)]
Rather than in Korean [-느니(보다)]
To say "rather than doing A, I’d rather do B", Korean has the ending -느니, often reinforced by 보다, "than", or by the adverb 차라리, "rather", "sooner". Unlike the plain comparative 보다, -느니 presents the first option as a bad one: you are not choosing the better of two good things, you are choosing the lesser evil. "Rather than marry you, I’d sooner stay single all my life."
"Rather than" with -느니(보다)
[Verb]-느니(보다) [Preferred option]-겠다 / -고 싶다 / -(으)ㄹ래요
-느니 attaches directly to the stem of an action verb, with no tense marker, including for 있다 and 없다 (있느니, 없느니); verbs ending in ㄹ drop the ㄹ (살다 → 사느니). The clause that follows expresses the speaker’s choice, most often with the volitional -겠다, "I’d rather", -고 싶다, "I want to", or -(으)ㄹ래요. 보다 can be added without changing the meaning; it only makes the comparison more explicit.
내가 너한테 시집을 가느니 그냥 평생을 혼자 살겠어.
→ Rather than marry you, I’d sooner stay single all my life.
눈 오는 날 밖에 나가느니 그냥 집에서 드라마나 보면서 뒹굴뒹굴하겠어.
→ Rather than go out on a snowy day, I’d rather lounge around at home watching a series.
이 늦은 시간에 치킨을 먹느니 그냥 닭가슴살로 때우겠어.
→ Rather than eat fried chicken this late, I’d rather make do with some chicken breast.
별로 좋아하지도 않는 족발을 먹느니 다이어트 하면서 가장 먹고 싶었던 떡볶이를 먹겠어!
→ Rather than eat jokbal, which I don’t even like that much, I’d rather eat the tteokbokki I craved most during my diet!
몇백만 원짜리 명품백을 하나 사느니 나는 그 돈으로 그냥 여행 가고 싶어. 경험은 돈으로 살 수 없잖아.
→ Rather than buy a designer bag worth several million won, I’d rather travel with that money. You can’t buy experience.
나라면 노트북을 사느니 태블릿 PC를 사겠어! 가지고 다니기도 편하고 여러모로 활용도가 더 높잖아.
→ If I were you, rather than a laptop, I’d buy a tablet! It’s easier to carry around and far more versatile.
이렇게 꿈도 희망도 없이 살다가 죽기 전에 후회하느니 남은 인생 그 누구보다 열심히 살아 보고 싶습니다.
→ Rather than keep living without dreams or hope and regret it before I die, I want to live the time I have left harder than anyone.
Reinforcement with -느니 차라리
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Advice with -느니 … -는 게 낫다
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Exercises
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Podcasts in Korean specially designed for beginners, to learn Korean by really listening to it from the very beginning.
You’re starting to learn Korean (or you already know the basics), but as soon as you listen to spoken Korean, everything suddenly feels too fast?
The words blend together, the pronunciation escapes you, and you feel like “real Korean” is very different from what you learned in textbooks.
That’s normal!
Listening comprehension is the most difficult part for all beginners.
