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Vocabulary
Nouns:
필사 = desperation
각오 = determination, resolve
구조 = structure
원인 = cause
임의 = as one likes
상호 = mutual, reciprocal
원작 = original
친선 = friendly relations
방안 = way, method
처벌 = punishment
조형물 = sculpture
Verbs:
뛰어들다 = to jump in
감상하다 = to appreciate
비판하다 = to criticize
상징하다 = to represent
불복종하다 = to disobey
Adjectives:
명확하다 = to be clear
괴팍하다 = to be bad-tempered
널찍하다 = to be spacious
자그마하다 = to be rather small
Introduction
In this lesson, you will learn about ~조차, a particle attached to nouns that has a similar function to ~도. We will explore how ~조차 differs from ~도 and how it adds emphasis. Let’s get started.
~조차: Even one particular noun
In Lesson 4 you saw how you can attach ~도 to nouns to indicate that something is the case for a particular noun in addition to other nouns. For example:
우리는 돈도 안 가져왔어요
= We didn’t bring the money, either
In this sentence, the use of ~도 indicates that there were other things that were not brought as well. It’s not clear with this one sentence what the objects were, but the use of ~도 indicates that there were other things. Maybe you also didn’t bring your credit cards, maybe you also didn’t bring your phone, maybe you also didn’t bring your BTS album.
~조차 is a particle that has a similar use as ~도. It also has a similar, but not identical meaning. Let’s look at a similar sentence to the one above:
우리는 밥을 사 먹을 돈조차 없었어요
= We didn’t even have money to buy food
Here, similar to ~도, the use of ~조차 indicates that other things were not able to be bought in addition to rice. However, attaching ~조차 to 밥 emphasizes that even this very basic or essential thing couldn’t be bought, highlighting the severity of the situation. In this sense, 조차 emphasizes the severity or extent of a situation. Usually ~조차 is attached to something very basic, obvious, or minimal and makes the situation being described dire or extreme.
~조차 is attached to nouns, but it can also be attached to things that have changed into a noun. A common thing that ~조차 is attached to is ~기 (Lesson 29), which can be used to turn an adjective or verb into a noun. Here is a common example:
저는 서 있기조차 못했어요
= I couldn’t even stand
Here, ~조차 is attached to the act of “standing” to indicate that the person is in such a dire or extreme situation that they couldn’t do many actions. ~조차 indicates that standing, usually a very trivial task wasn’t able to be done. This emphasizes how exhausted, weak, or overwhelmed the speaker would have been.
~조차 can also attach to the subject of the sentence. Let’s compare ~도 and ~조차 for this as well. Check out the following sentence:
아이조차 그 문제를 풀었어요
= Even the child solved that problem
Here, ~조차 is indicating the extreme that the problem is so simple, even a child is able to solve the problem. However, notice the difference in the following:
아이도 그 문제를 풀었어요
= The child, as well, solved that problem
Here, ~도 simply indicates that at least one other person (or group of people) solved the problem. For example, it’s possible that adults, teenagers and kids solved the problem. Here, ~도 doesn’t have the added nuance that the speaker is trying to suggest that the problem is “so easy” that even a child solved it. Rather, the speaker is simply indicating the fact that a child, in addition to others, solved it.
Below are many more examples:
상호 존중조차 없이 논쟁만 반복되었어요
= The argument kept repeating without even mutual respect
자그마한 소리조차 민감하게 반응하는 센서였어요
= It was a sensor that reacted even to the tiniest sound
원작을 감상해 본 적조차 없이 리메이크를 비판했어요
= He criticized the remake without even having appreciating the original work
그 아저씨의 괴팍한 성격 때문에 친구조차 다 떨어져 나갔어요
= Because of that man’s bad temper, even his friends drifted away
이 집은 꽤 널찍하지만 책상 하나 놓을 자리조차 없어요
= This house is fairly spacious, but there’s not even room for a desk
그 나라는 친선조차 무시하고 일방적인 조치를 취했어요
= That country ignored even friendly relations and took unilateral action
그 직원이 상사의 명령에 불복종했지만 처벌조차 받지 않았어요
= That worker disobeyed his superior’s orders but didn’t even receive any punishment
해결 방안은 물론이고 문제의 원인조차 명확하지 않았어요
= Not only was the solution unclear, but even the cause of the problem was uncertain
그 조형물은 자유를 상징하지만, 시민조차 그 의미를 잘 몰라요
= That sculpture symbolizes freedom, but even the citizens don’t really know its meaning
제대로 된 정보조차 없는 상황에서 필사의 각오로 뛰어들었어요
= He jumped in with desperate resolve, even though he didn’t have proper information
그는 임의로 수정했지만 기본 구조조차 이해하지 못하고 있었어요
= He made changes as he liked, but didn’t even understand the basic structure
That’s it for this lesson!