Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 4 - Intermediate Korean #1 (Lessons 91 to 120) ᚛ Lesson 99 - When, at the moment when in Korean [-(으)ㄹ 때]

When, at the moment when in Korean [-(으)ㄹ 때]

In this course: 때 / ㄹ 때 / 을 때

In this lesson, we are going to see how to express sentences in which two actions happen simultaneously, at a precise point in time. In English, we would use terms such as "when", "while", "at the time when", "at the time of"... etc.

After a noun with 때

때 is a little word that allows us to express "the moment". It indicates the exact moment when something happens. It is placed after the moment that we want to indicate.

저는 23살 때 일본에 갔어요.
→ I went to Japan at the age of 23. (Lit: I went to Japan at the time when I was 23.)

추석 때 뭐 할 거야?
→ What are you going to do for Chuseok? (Lit: What are you going to do at the time of Chuseok?)

이번 휴가 때 어디 갈 거야?
→ Where are you going to go during this vacation?

작년 장마 때 우리 동네에 홍수가 났어.
→ During last year’s monsoon, there was a flood in my neighborhood.

지난 달 태풍 때 많은 피해가 있었어.
→ At the time of last month’s typhoon, there was a lot of damage.

그 나이 때는 원래 잠이 많아.
→ At that age, they usually sleep a lot.

그때부터 널 좋아했어.
→ I have liked you since that moment.

Be careful, 때 cannot be used with the days of the week, or with the periods of the day such as 오전, 오후 or 아침, 새벽... For those, we will use the time particle 에.

After a verb with -(으)ㄹ 때

In the present and in the future

In Korean, to express two simultaneous actions with "when" or "at the time when" that take place in the present or in the future, the sentence is built in the following manner:
[Action 1: … Modifier -(으)ㄹ] 때 + [Action 2]

The modifier -(으)ㄹ was seen in the lesson on the future tense in Korean.

• 하다 → 할 때 (= when I do)
• 먹다 → 먹을 때 (= when I eat)
• 살다 → 살 때 (= when I live)
• 덥다 → 더울 때 (= when it is hot)

비가 올 때는 등산하지 마세요.
→ When it rains, don’t go hiking.

저는 바둑을 할 때 집중해야 돼요.
→ When I play baduk (the game of go), I have to concentrate.

우리 만날 때 안아줄게.
→ When we meet, I’ll give you a hug.

시간이 있을 때 전화해 주세요.
→ Please call me when you have time.

심심할 때 읽어 보세요.
→ Read it when you are bored.

눈이 올 때 장갑을 껴.
→ Wear gloves when it snows.

In the past

To express a condition

Be careful, English allows "when" to be used in a different way. Indeed, in the sentence "When I have eaten, I will go grocery shopping.", "when" indicates a condition to be fulfilled in order to do an action, and not a precise moment during which a simultaneous action takes place. In that case, using -(으)ㄹ 때 is incorrect, and we will have to turn to the conditional structure -(으)면.

Summary table of structure

Exercises

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.

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