This is an Advanced Idiomatic Expressions lesson related to 가슴, the chest, heart, or breast. In
order to fully understand and use the expressions introduced in this series, it is essential that
you understand the grammatical structure of the sentences. When you come across a grammar
point that you are unfamiliar with, please go back and review the related lessons.
Keyword: 가슴 = chest, heart, breast
1. 가슴이 아프다 = My heart aches. / It makes me sad.
(아프다 = to be sick, to hurt)
→ This could mean that you have some pain in the chest, but normally, if you say this, people
will understand it as you are sad or that something is breaking your heart.
Ex) 저는 이런 기사를 읽으면 너무 가슴이 아파요.
= I’m so sad when I read articles like this.
2. 가슴이 두근거리다 = to be thrilled / one’s heart palpitates
→ 두근거리다 can also be used alone to mean “to be thrilled” or “one’s heart is pounding”,
but it’s often used together with 가슴이. When you have something very exciting or absolutely
nerve-wrecking coming up soon, such as confessing to someone or going on stage for a per
formance, you can use this expression.
Ex) 어젯밤에 가슴이 두근거려서 잠을 많이 못 잤어요.
= I couldn’t sleep a lot last night because I was so excited.
3. 가슴이 뛰다 = one’s heart beats / one’s heart races / to be happily excited and motivated
(뛰다 = to jump, to run)
→ When you are excited about something and your heart is beating faster than normal, you
can say 가슴이 뛰다. 가슴이 뛰다 can be used for both good and bad situations, but is more
commonly used for good situations, such as when your heart is racing because you saw some
one you like, or when you are about to achieve something that you’ve wanted for a long time.
Ex) 지금 가슴이 너무 뛰어서 말이 안 나와요.
= Right now I’m so excited that I can’t speak.
4. 가슴이 답답하다 = to feel a pressure on one’s chest / to feel heavy with worries
(답답하다 = to be stuffy, to be stifling)
→ 답답하다 can be used to refer to a stuffy environment, but it can also be used to talk about
a situation or something that doesn’t work as well as one wants. 가슴이 답답하다 is mixture of
both of these meanings. When there’s something that is not working out like you wish, you can
feel that your 가슴이 답답하다.
Ex) 요즘에 걱정이 많아서 가슴이 답답해요.
= I have a lot of things to worry about these days, so I feel a pressure on my chest.
5. 가슴이 내려앉다 = to be greatly surprised / to be startled / one’s heart sinks
(내려앉다 = to sink, to collapse)
→ 내려앉다 means to sink or to collapse, so when your heart or chest suddenly “sinks” due to
surprise, sadness or disappointment, you can use the expression 가슴이 내려앉다.
Ex) 그 소식 듣고 정말 가슴이 내려앉았어요.
= My heart sank when I heard that news.
6. 부푼 가슴을 안고 = with a pounding heart
(부풀다 = to inflate)
→ 부풀다 means “to inflate”, so 부푼 가슴 is an inflated chest or inflated heart. This means
your heart or mind is full of hope and excitement, so the expression 부푼 가슴을 안고 refers to
the attitude in which you are dealing with things with great excitement and high hopes. This
expression, however, tends to be used more often in written language.
Ex) 부푼 가슴을 안고 10년 전에 서울로 이사왔어요.
= I moved to Seoul 10 years ago, full of excitement for what I would be doing in Seoul.
7. 가슴에 와 닿다 = something touches one’s heart / to hit home
(오다 = to come, 닿다 = to reach, to touch)
→ When something comes along and touches your heart, it means it hit home and you were
touched. In that case, you can use the expression 가슴에 와 닿다. On the contrary, however, if
a story or a movie doesn’t hit home and you are not greatly moved by it, you can say 가슴에
와 닿지 않는다.
Ex) 왜인지 모르겠지만 이 이야기는 가슴에 와 닿지 않아요.
= I don’t know why, but this story doesn’t touch my heart.
8. 가슴에 맺힌 한을 풀다 = to resolve one’s deep sorrow
(맺히다 = to form, 한 = resentment, 풀다 = to resolve)
→ 한 is deep resentment or deep sorrow and 맺히다, which means “to form”, is usually used with
눈물 (tears), 이슬 (dew), 땀 (sweat), or 한 (resentment). And 풀다 means to resolve, so 가슴에 맺
힌 한을 풀다 means to resolve some long overdue deep sorrow, usually by finally doing some
thing that one hasn’t been able to do, or by being forgiven by someone.
Ex) 저희 어머니는 드디어 가슴에 맺힌 한을 풀었어요.
= She finally got/achieved what she had been hoping for.
9. 가슴 벅차다 = to be overwhelmed (with joy) / one’s heart is overflowing with joy
→ When you’re overwhelmed with joy and your heart is “full”, you can say 가슴이 벅차다.
Ex) 제 친구가 올림픽에서 금메달을 따서 정말 가슴이 벅차요.
= My heart is overflowing with joy because my friend won a gold medal in the Olympic Games.
10. 가슴 깊이 후회하다 = to deeply regret
→ In fact, you can omit the word 가슴 and just say 깊이 후회하다 to mean the same thing, but
by adding the word 가슴, you give the expression a stronger nuance.
Ex) 그때 제가 했던 말을 가슴 깊이 후회하고 있어요.
= I am deeply regretting what I said back then.
11. 가슴 깊이 뉘우치다 = to deeply repent
→ This expression is very similar to 가슴 깊이 후회하다, except 뉘우치다 is closer to repenting and
realizing one’s fault.
Ex) 가슴 깊이 뉘우치고 있어요. 용서해 주세요.
= I am deeply repenting what I did. Please forgive me.
12. 가슴이 콩닥콩닥 (뛰다) = one’s heart is pounding
→ 콩닥콩닥 is an onomatopoeia that describes the sound of a pounding heart or a mimetic word
that describes how the heart pounds in a small and cute way. Other words that describe the same
kind of movement or sound in a bigger scale or in a more serious way are 쿵쾅쿵쾅 or 쿵덕쿵덕.
Ex) 좋아하는 가수를 봐서 가슴이 콩닥콩닥 뛰었어요.
(= I saw my favorite singer so my heart was pounding.)
Tuesday, 3 January 2017
Advanced Expression Related to Agreeing
Welcome to another lesson in the series, Advanced Situational Expressions. In this lesson, we
are going to introduce how to agree with someone. In addition to the basic “Yes. (= 네.)”, there
are a lot of expressions you can use to make your Korean more natural and fluent, so be sure
to practice all of the phrases introduced in this lesson and try using them at least once, as soon
as you can.
네.
= Yes.
맞아요. / 맞습니다.
= That’s right. / That’s correct.
그렇죠. / 그렇습니다.
= That’s right. / That’s true.
좋아요. / 좋습니다.
= Good. / Sounds good. / I like the idea.
물론이죠. / 물론입니다.
= Of course. / Sure. / For sure.
당연하죠.
= Of course!
그럼요.
= Sure!
바로 그거죠! / 바로 그겁니다!
= Exactly! / That’s what I’m saying!
좋은 생각이에요. / 좋은 생각입니다.
= That’s a good idea.
저도 그렇게 생각해요. / 저도 같은 생각입니다.
= I think so too. / My thoughts exactly.
그렇게 하면 되겠네요.
= That will do. / That will work.
알겠어요.
= I got it. / I see.
그럼 그렇게 하시죠.
= Then let’s do it that way.
안 될 거 없죠.
= Why not? / There is no reason we can’t do it that way.
찬성이에요. / 찬성입니다.
= I agree.
are going to introduce how to agree with someone. In addition to the basic “Yes. (= 네.)”, there
are a lot of expressions you can use to make your Korean more natural and fluent, so be sure
to practice all of the phrases introduced in this lesson and try using them at least once, as soon
as you can.
네.
= Yes.
맞아요. / 맞습니다.
= That’s right. / That’s correct.
그렇죠. / 그렇습니다.
= That’s right. / That’s true.
좋아요. / 좋습니다.
= Good. / Sounds good. / I like the idea.
물론이죠. / 물론입니다.
= Of course. / Sure. / For sure.
당연하죠.
= Of course!
그럼요.
= Sure!
바로 그거죠! / 바로 그겁니다!
= Exactly! / That’s what I’m saying!
좋은 생각이에요. / 좋은 생각입니다.
= That’s a good idea.
저도 그렇게 생각해요. / 저도 같은 생각입니다.
= I think so too. / My thoughts exactly.
그렇게 하면 되겠네요.
= That will do. / That will work.
알겠어요.
= I got it. / I see.
그럼 그렇게 하시죠.
= Then let’s do it that way.
안 될 거 없죠.
= Why not? / There is no reason we can’t do it that way.
찬성이에요. / 찬성입니다.
= I agree.
Advance Expression Related to 귀(ear)
This is an Advanced Idiomatic Expressions lesson related to 귀, the ear! In order to fully under
stand and use the expressions introduced in this series, it is essential that you understand the
grammatical structure of the sentences. When you come across a grammar point that you are
unfamiliar with, please go back and review the related lessons.
Keyword: 귀 = ear
1. 귀가 밝다 = to have good ears (밝다 = to be bright)
→ Just like with the expression 눈이 밝다, the literal translation is “to be bright” but the actual
meaning is that you have good ears. “To hear well” or “can hear well” is 잘 들을 수 있다 or 잘
들리다 in Korean but it is more natural to say that your 귀 is 밝다 in many cases. It refers to
your hearing capabilities, not whether you can hear a particular sound in the certain situation.
In the case of the latter, you can say “잘 안 들려요.” to mean “I can’t hear it clearly (due to other
noise or small sound).”
Ex) 젊었을 때는 저도 귀가 밝았는데, 지금은 작은 소리는 잘 안 들려요.
(= I used to have good ears when I was young, too, but I can’t hear small sounds now.)
2. 귀를 기울이다 = to pay attention to a sound or to what someone says (기울이다 = to make something lean)
→ When you want to pay attention to a certain sound, you naturally want to get your ears clos
er to the source of the sound. Even though what you lean is more precisely your whole body, in
Korean you say that you lean ear toward something. 귀를 기울이다 can mean both “trying to
hear something well” and “paying attention to what someone says”.
Ex) 아이들이 선생님이 해 주는 이야기를 귀를 기울여서 듣고 있었어요.
(= The children were listening to the story their teacher was telling them with full attention.)
3. 귀에 대고 속삭이다 = to whisper into someone’s ears (대다 = to put something close to something else, 속삭이다 = to whisper)
→ You could just say 귀에 속삭이다 to say “to whisper into someone’s ears”, but the part 대고
is used to describe the action of going closer to someone before whispering. 귀에 대다 means
to put something close to or touch the ear, and in this case, it’s someone’s mouth.
Ex) 귀에 대고 속삭이지 말고 크게 말해요.
(= Don’t whisper to each other secretly. Speak loudly (to everybody).)
4. 귀 먹다 = to be deaf, to be not able to hear (먹다 = to eat)
→ When someone can’t hear something well, you can use the expression 귀 먹다 or 귀가 먹
다. Originally the word 먹다 is to eat, but not in this case. 귀(가) 먹다 can be used to someone
who can’t hear due to old age, but you can also hear people say “귀 먹었어(요)?” to someone
who can’t seem to understand or care about what they hear, even though they can hear.
Ex) 저 귀 안 먹었어요. 조용히 말해요.
(= I’m not deaf. Speak quietly.)
5. 귀가 간지럽다 = to feel like someone is talking behind one’s back (간지럽다 = to feel itchy)
There is no way to spy on everybody and know when people talk about you, but you can use
this expression “귀가 간지럽다” when you refer to the fact that people talk about you when
you are not around. It’s usually used in the past tense, after you find out that people talked
about you in your absence.
Ex) 어쩐지 오늘 귀가 간지러웠어요.
(= No wonder my ears were itchy today. = I see that you talked about me.)
6. 귀가 얇다 = to be easily influenced by what others say (얇다 = to be thin)
→ If your ears are thin, it will be easy for words to penetrate and go into your brain. 귀가 얇다
is a figurative way of saying that someone is easily influenced by what he or she hears.
Ex) 그 사람은 귀가 얇아서 설득하기 쉬워요.
(= He is easily influenced by what people say so he’s easy to persuade.)
7. 귀에 못이 박히도록 (듣다) = to have heard something too much already (못 = callus, 박히다 = to be embedded, to be stuck, -도록 = to the extent of...)
→ 못 usually means “cannot” or “nail”, but in this case, it refers to callus, or the harden skin on
your hand due to heavy usage. When you hear something over and over again, your ear will
(figuratively) get hardened skin because of that, so when you say 귀에 못이 박히도록 (듣다), it
means that you’ve (heard) something over and over again, so much that it makes you sick or
upset.
Ex) 그 얘기는 귀에 못이 박히도록 들었어요.
(= I’ve heard that story so much. I don’t need to hear it again.)
stand and use the expressions introduced in this series, it is essential that you understand the
grammatical structure of the sentences. When you come across a grammar point that you are
unfamiliar with, please go back and review the related lessons.
Keyword: 귀 = ear
1. 귀가 밝다 = to have good ears (밝다 = to be bright)
→ Just like with the expression 눈이 밝다, the literal translation is “to be bright” but the actual
meaning is that you have good ears. “To hear well” or “can hear well” is 잘 들을 수 있다 or 잘
들리다 in Korean but it is more natural to say that your 귀 is 밝다 in many cases. It refers to
your hearing capabilities, not whether you can hear a particular sound in the certain situation.
In the case of the latter, you can say “잘 안 들려요.” to mean “I can’t hear it clearly (due to other
noise or small sound).”
Ex) 젊었을 때는 저도 귀가 밝았는데, 지금은 작은 소리는 잘 안 들려요.
(= I used to have good ears when I was young, too, but I can’t hear small sounds now.)
2. 귀를 기울이다 = to pay attention to a sound or to what someone says (기울이다 = to make something lean)
→ When you want to pay attention to a certain sound, you naturally want to get your ears clos
er to the source of the sound. Even though what you lean is more precisely your whole body, in
Korean you say that you lean ear toward something. 귀를 기울이다 can mean both “trying to
hear something well” and “paying attention to what someone says”.
Ex) 아이들이 선생님이 해 주는 이야기를 귀를 기울여서 듣고 있었어요.
(= The children were listening to the story their teacher was telling them with full attention.)
3. 귀에 대고 속삭이다 = to whisper into someone’s ears (대다 = to put something close to something else, 속삭이다 = to whisper)
→ You could just say 귀에 속삭이다 to say “to whisper into someone’s ears”, but the part 대고
is used to describe the action of going closer to someone before whispering. 귀에 대다 means
to put something close to or touch the ear, and in this case, it’s someone’s mouth.
Ex) 귀에 대고 속삭이지 말고 크게 말해요.
(= Don’t whisper to each other secretly. Speak loudly (to everybody).)
4. 귀 먹다 = to be deaf, to be not able to hear (먹다 = to eat)
→ When someone can’t hear something well, you can use the expression 귀 먹다 or 귀가 먹
다. Originally the word 먹다 is to eat, but not in this case. 귀(가) 먹다 can be used to someone
who can’t hear due to old age, but you can also hear people say “귀 먹었어(요)?” to someone
who can’t seem to understand or care about what they hear, even though they can hear.
Ex) 저 귀 안 먹었어요. 조용히 말해요.
(= I’m not deaf. Speak quietly.)
5. 귀가 간지럽다 = to feel like someone is talking behind one’s back (간지럽다 = to feel itchy)
There is no way to spy on everybody and know when people talk about you, but you can use
this expression “귀가 간지럽다” when you refer to the fact that people talk about you when
you are not around. It’s usually used in the past tense, after you find out that people talked
about you in your absence.
Ex) 어쩐지 오늘 귀가 간지러웠어요.
(= No wonder my ears were itchy today. = I see that you talked about me.)
6. 귀가 얇다 = to be easily influenced by what others say (얇다 = to be thin)
→ If your ears are thin, it will be easy for words to penetrate and go into your brain. 귀가 얇다
is a figurative way of saying that someone is easily influenced by what he or she hears.
Ex) 그 사람은 귀가 얇아서 설득하기 쉬워요.
(= He is easily influenced by what people say so he’s easy to persuade.)
7. 귀에 못이 박히도록 (듣다) = to have heard something too much already (못 = callus, 박히다 = to be embedded, to be stuck, -도록 = to the extent of...)
→ 못 usually means “cannot” or “nail”, but in this case, it refers to callus, or the harden skin on
your hand due to heavy usage. When you hear something over and over again, your ear will
(figuratively) get hardened skin because of that, so when you say 귀에 못이 박히도록 (듣다), it
means that you’ve (heard) something over and over again, so much that it makes you sick or
upset.
Ex) 그 얘기는 귀에 못이 박히도록 들었어요.
(= I’ve heard that story so much. I don’t need to hear it again.)
Advance Expression Related to Refusing
Welcome to the first lesson in the Advanced Situation Expressions series. Throughout this series,
we will take a look at common situations and some of the advanced expressions you can use in
each of them. In this lesson, we will introduce various expressions you can use when you want
to refuse or say no to something.
1. 괜찮아요. = It’s okay (even if you don’t offer it to me). 괜찮습니다. (same as above but more formal) 저는 괜찮습니다. = I’m good. / I’m okay. / I’m fine without it.
2. 아니에요. = No (you don’t have to). / No (I don’t need it). 아닙니다. (same as above but more formal)
3. 됐어요. = Don’t worry about it. / I don’t need that. / I’m all set even without it. 됐습니다. (same as above but more formal)
4. 생각이 없어요. = (when offered food) I am not hungry. / I’m fine. / No, thanks. 생각이 없습니다. (same as above but more formal)
5. 안 그러셔도 괜찮아요. = You don’t have to do that. / Please don’t bother to do that. 안 그러셔도 괜찮습니다. (same as above but more formal)
6. 곤란해요. = It’s difficult and embarrassing. / I can’t do it. 곤란합니다. (same as above but more formal) 지금은 좀 곤란합니다. = I can’t do it now. 이러시면 곤란합니다. = You shouldn’t do this. / You are making things difficult for me by
doing this.
7. 안 돼요. = No, I can’t. / No, you can’t. / It doesn’t work. / It’s not allowed. 안 됩니다. (same as above but more formal) 이러시면 안 됩니다. = You shouldn’t do this. / You can’t do this. 안 될 것 같습니다. = I think this will be a problem. / I think you shouldn’t do it.
8. 이러지 마세요. = Don’t do this.
9. 어려울 것 같습니다. = I don’t think I can do it. / I think it will be difficult. / I think it will be
impossible.
we will take a look at common situations and some of the advanced expressions you can use in
each of them. In this lesson, we will introduce various expressions you can use when you want
to refuse or say no to something.
1. 괜찮아요. = It’s okay (even if you don’t offer it to me). 괜찮습니다. (same as above but more formal) 저는 괜찮습니다. = I’m good. / I’m okay. / I’m fine without it.
2. 아니에요. = No (you don’t have to). / No (I don’t need it). 아닙니다. (same as above but more formal)
3. 됐어요. = Don’t worry about it. / I don’t need that. / I’m all set even without it. 됐습니다. (same as above but more formal)
4. 생각이 없어요. = (when offered food) I am not hungry. / I’m fine. / No, thanks. 생각이 없습니다. (same as above but more formal)
5. 안 그러셔도 괜찮아요. = You don’t have to do that. / Please don’t bother to do that. 안 그러셔도 괜찮습니다. (same as above but more formal)
6. 곤란해요. = It’s difficult and embarrassing. / I can’t do it. 곤란합니다. (same as above but more formal) 지금은 좀 곤란합니다. = I can’t do it now. 이러시면 곤란합니다. = You shouldn’t do this. / You are making things difficult for me by
doing this.
7. 안 돼요. = No, I can’t. / No, you can’t. / It doesn’t work. / It’s not allowed. 안 됩니다. (same as above but more formal) 이러시면 안 됩니다. = You shouldn’t do this. / You can’t do this. 안 될 것 같습니다. = I think this will be a problem. / I think you shouldn’t do it.
8. 이러지 마세요. = Don’t do this.
9. 어려울 것 같습니다. = I don’t think I can do it. / I think it will be difficult. / I think it will be
impossible.
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