Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 3 - Korean for Beginners #2 (Lessons 61 to 90) ᚛ Lesson 89 - To become in Korean [-아/어지다]
To become in Korean [-아/어지다]
In this chapter, we're going to talk about the -아/어지다 structure, a slightly particular form which will allow us to transform certain adjectives into verbs. In English, it would be translated as "to become".
To transform an adjective into a verb with -아/어지다, one simply proceeds as follows:
[Present tense casual style adjective]지다
- 비싸다 (= to be expensive) → 비싸지다 (= to become expensive)
- 중요하다 (= to be important) → 중요해지다 (= to become important)
- 예쁘다 (= to be pretty) → 예뻐지다 (= to become pretty)
- 춥다 (= to be cold) → 추워지다 (= to become cold)
The new verb composed with -아/어지다 is fully a verb and can be conjugated in all of the ways we've seen up till now.
7월이 되면 더워집니다.
→ When we arrive in July, the weather is becoming hot.
간장을 넣으니까 더 맛있어졌네요.
→ Since you added soy sauce, it became good!
기름이 비싸졌어요.
→ Gas has become expensive.
어제 비가 왔지만 오늘은 날씨가 좋아졌어요.
→ Yesterday it rained, but today the weather has become good.
나는 예뻐지고 싶어.
→ I want to become pretty.
그 노래를 들으면 마음이 따뜻해져.
→ When I hear this song, my heart warms.
Summary table of structure
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Exercises
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