Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 5 - Intermediate Korean #2 (Lessons 121 to 150) ᚛ Lesson 144 - To decide in Korean [-기로 하다] [결정]
To decide in Korean [-기로 하다] [결정]
Decision verbs in Korean
With 결정
In Korean, 결정 means "a decision". The verb "to decide", for its part, can be translated as 결정하다.
Its passive form 결정되다 (= to be decided), as seen in the lesson on passive verbs in Korean, is also commonly used.
Be careful, 결정 is pronounced [결쩡].
너의 결정을 따를게.
→ I will follow your decision.
이 경기에서 최종 우승자가 결정될 거야.
→ The final winner will be decided in this match.
오래 생각해 보고 내린 결정이니까 믿어 줘.
→ It’s a decision I made after thinking about it for a long time, so please trust me.
작은 점수 차이로 1등, 2등이 결정되었어요.
→ First and second place were decided by a small difference in points.
일단 생각해 보고 결정하겠습니다.
→ I will think about it first and then decide.
With 정하다
The verb 정하다 is also a common verb for saying "to decide" in Korean. Its meaning is similar to 결정하다.
Be careful, the passive verb 정되다 does not exist, so it is the passive form 정해지다 that is used.
휴가 날짜는 우선 일기예보를 보고 정하려고요.
→ As for the vacation dates, I intend to check the weather forecast first and then decide.
저녁 정했어?
→ Have you decided on dinner?
모임 시간이 아직 안 정해졌나요?
→ Hasn’t the meeting time been decided yet?
With 마음먹다
The verb 마음먹다, which would literally mean "to eat one’s heart", also allows one to express a decision, but it is only used for big decisions about which we are absolutely determined and resolved.
다이어트에 성공하는 것을 마음먹었어요.
→ I have made up my mind to succeed with my diet.
Deciding with -기로 하다
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Summary table of structure
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Exercises
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Particles are omnipresent in Korean. They indicate the role of words in a sentence, nuance meaning, and make it possible to understand who does what, where, how, and why.
Particles are also often the aspect that causes the most difficulty for Korean learners. In grammar books, they are usually presented in the middle of long sentences, with complex vocabulary, without being clearly highlighted.
With Korean Particles, we made the opposite choice:
taking the time to explain each particle, one by one, using very simple sentences, accessible even to beginners.
