Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 7 - Upper-Intermediate Korean #2 (Lessons 181 to 210) ᚛ Lesson 198 - While you are at it in Korean [-는 김에]
While you are at it in Korean [-는 김에]
"While I'm at it", "since I'm doing it anyway", "I'll take the opportunity to": Korean expresses this idea of a seized opportunity with the noun 김, which only exists in this construction, preceded by the adnominal form: -는 김에. We take advantage of an action already decided or already done to carry out another one, which comes on top at little cost.
While you are at it with -는 김에
The structure is built on an action verb:
[Pretext action: … Stem]는 김에 [Extra action]
The second part very often contains 도, "also", or 같이, "at the same time", and readily ends with a suggestion or a request: -(으)ㄹ래요?, -아/어 주세요, -아/어야겠어요. The subject is the same on both sides.
여보 그 치킨집에서 회식하는 김에 올 때 우리 애들 먹을 치킨도 좀 포장해 와요.
→ Honey, since you are having the work dinner at that chicken place, bring back some chicken for the kids too while you are at it.
오랜만에 친구를 만나러 가는 김에 미용실에 들러서 염색도 할 거예요.
→ Since I am going to see a friend I have not seen in a long time, I will take the opportunity to stop by the hair salon and get my hair dyed too.
마트에 들르는 김에 옆집 세탁소에 맡겨 둔 코트랑 운동화도 좀 찾아와요.
→ While you are stopping by the supermarket, pick up the coat and sneakers left at the dry cleaner's next door too.
교환학생으로 한국에서 지내는 김에 가까운 일본과 중국도 여행하려고 생각 중이에요.
→ While I am in Korea as an exchange student, I am thinking of taking the opportunity to travel to nearby Japan and China as well.
한국에 도착해서 T머니 교통카드를 사는 김에 충전도 5만 원이나 했어요.
→ When I arrived in Korea, I bought a T-money transit card and, while I was at it, loaded it with 50,000 won.
오늘 노트북 사러 전자 상가에 가는 김에 저번에 봤던 카메라 가격도 물어봐 줄 수 있어?
→ Since you are going to the electronics market to buy a laptop today, can you also ask the price of the camera we saw last time?
Action already done with -(으)ㄴ 김에
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-는 김에 or -는 길에?
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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.
