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Vocabulary
Nouns:
독재 = dictatorship
Common Usages:
독재자 = dictator
독재 시대 = era of dictatorship
Examples:
민주주의는커녕 독재 체제로 흘러가고 있어요
= Let alone democracy, it’s moving toward dictatorship
그 나라는 오랫동안 독재 체제 아래에서 고통을 겪었어요
= The country suffered for a long time under a dictatorship
체제 = system, regime
Examples:
민주주의는커녕 독재 체제로 흘러가고 있어요
= Let alone democracy, it’s moving toward dictatorship
그 회사의 경영 체제는 매우 효율적으로 운영되고 있어요
= The company’s management system operates very efficiently
보도 = report, news coverage
Common Usages:
편파 보도 = biased reporting
Examples:
공정한 보도는커녕 편파적인 발언만 가득했어요
= Far from fair reporting, it was full of biased remarks
그 사건에 대한 보도가 뉴스 헤드라인을 장식했어요
= The report about the incident dominated the news headlines
발언 = remark, statement, comment
Common Usages:
소신 발언 = principled remark, statement based on conviction
Examples:
공정한 보도는커녕 편파적인 발언만 가득했어요
= Far from fair reporting, it was full of biased remarks
소신 발언은커녕 분위기 때문에 아무 말도 못 했어요
= Let alone speaking my convictions, I couldn’t say anything because of the atmosphere
편파 = biased
Common Usages:
편파 보도 = biased reporting
편파 판정 = biased judgment
Examples:
공정한 보도는커녕 편파적인 발언만 가득했어요
= Far from fair reporting, it was full of biased remarks
그 신문사는 편파 보도로 비판을 받았어요
= The newspaper was criticized for biased reporting
종례 = meeting with students at end of day
Common Usages:
종례 시간 = end-of-day homeroom (school)
Examples:
수업은커녕 종례도 없이 그냥 집에 가더라고요
= Forget the lesson, they went home without even a proper end-of-day meeting
교사는 종례 시간에 내일의 일정을 간단히 전달했어요
= The teacher briefly went over the next day’s schedule during the end-of-day meeting
소신 = ones beliefs, convictions, opinion
Common Usages:
소신 발언 = principled remark, statement based on conviction
소신을 지키다 = to keep one’s convictions
소신을 굳히지 않다 = to not hold firmly to one’s convictions
Examples:
소신 발언은커녕 분위기 때문에 아무 말도 못 했어요
= Let alone speaking my convictions, I couldn’t say anything because of the atmosphere
그는 자신의 소신을 굽히지 않고 끝까지 주장을 이어갔어요
= He stood by his convictions and continued to argue his point until the end
시늉 = pretending
Examples:
도와주기는커녕 시늉도 안 하더라고요
= Far from helping, they didn’t even pretend to help
제 딸은 원숭이 시늉을 하며 바나나를 먹는 것을 좋아해요
= My daugher likes to eat bananas pretending to act like a monkey
최우수 = best of the best
Common Usages:
최우수상 = grand prize, best award
Examples:
최우수는커녕 평균도 간신히 넘겼어요
= Let alone being the best, I barely passed the average
그는 최우수 성적으로 졸업해 모두의 박수를 받았어요
= He graduated with top honors and received applause from everyone
공산주의 = communism
Common Usages:
공산주의자 = communist
Examples:
공산주의는 개인보다 집단의 이익을 우선시하는 사상을 말해요
= Communism is an ideology that prioritizes collective interests over individual ones
공산주의자 = communist
Examples:
그는 공산주의자는커녕 정치에 관심도 없어요
= He’s far from being a communist, he’s not even interested in politics
그는 젊은 시절 열렬한 공산주의자였어요
= In his youth, he was a passionate communist
민주주의 = democracy
Common Usages:
민주주의자 = democrat (supporter of democracy)
Examples:
민주주의는커녕 독재 체제로 흘러가고 있어요
= Let alone democracy, it’s moving toward dictatorship
언론의 자유는 민주주의의 중요한 요소 중 하나예요
= Freedom of the press is one of the important elements of democracy
민주주의자 = democrat
Examples:
그는 진정한 민주주의자답게 모든 의견을 존중했어요
= As a true democrat, he respected all opinions
Verbs:
울먹이다 = to be on the verge of tears, to choke up
Examples:
씩씩하기는커녕 울먹이기만 했어요
= Let alone being brave, they just looked like they were about to cry
그녀는 갑자기 울먹이며 말을 잇지 못했어요
= She suddenly choked up and couldn’t continue speaking
축복하다 = to bless
Examples:
축복하기는커녕 말 한마디도 안 해줬어요
= Far from blessing me, they didn’t even say a word
그는 친구의 앞날을 진심으로 축복했어요
= He sincerely blessed his friend’s future
증진하다 = to enhance, to improve
Examples:
관계를 증진하기는커녕 오히려 더 멀어졌어요
= Instead of improving the relationship, we’ve only grown more distant
정부는 국민의 삶의 질을 증진하기 위해 다양한 정책을 내놓았어요
= The government introduced various policies to improve the quality of life for its citizens
후퇴하다 = to retreat
Common Usages:
한발 후퇴하다 = to retreat one step, to step back
Examples:
군대는 불리한 상황에서 후퇴할 수밖에 없었어요
= The army had no choice but to retreat under the unfavorable circumstances
앞으로 나아가기는커녕 계속 후퇴하고 있는 것 같아요
= Far from progressing, it feels like we’re constantly retreating
Adjectives:
부당하다 = to be unfair
Common Usages:
부당 대우 = unfair treatment
Examples:
정당하기는커녕 부당한 결정이었어요
= Far from being fair, it was an unjust decision
그는 부당한 대우를 받았지만 끝까지 참고 견뎠어요
= He endured unfair treatment until the very end
씩씩하다 = to be brave, to be vigorous
Examples:
씩씩하기는커녕 울먹이기만 했어요
= Let alone being brave, they just looked like they were about to cry
그 아이는 씩씩하게 넘어져도 울지 않고 다시 일어났어요
= The child bravely stood up without crying after falling down
섬뜩하다 = to be frightening, to be terrifying
Examples:
장난스럽기는커녕 섬뜩한 기분이 들었어요
= Far from being playful, it gave me a chilling feeling
그 이야기를 들은 순간 온몸에 섬뜩한 소름이 돋았어요
= When I heard the story, a chilling shiver ran through my body
Introduction
In this lesson, you will learn a particle with a lot of meaning packed into it. In this lesson, you will learn about ~은/는커녕, which is used to stress a situation to the extreme. Let’s get started.
~은/는커녕: Far From
~은/는커녕 is attached to nouns directly, or verbs and adjectives by using ~기 to make the form ~기는커녕. The nuance it adds to a sentence is quite complex. Let’s look at a simple example to start:
비행기표는커녕 밥도 못 샀어요
Before I provide a translation, let’s break this sentence down. The speaker is indicating that they could not buy food. That is essentially the first thing somebody should buy if they don’t have a lot of money. It is one of our basic needs as a human. A plane ticket however, is far down the list of things we need. The sentence above would translate to something like:
= I couldn’t even buy a meal, let alone a plane ticket
Notice the progression of the sentence. For whatever reason, this was hard for me to get my head around when I first learned it. The thing that ~은/는커녕 is attached to should be less likely. Then, you should provide a more basic thing that didn’t even happen. If the most basic thing didn’t happen, then the less likely thing absolutely did not happen.
In English, this often translates to “far from” as seen in the following iteration of the translation above:
비행기표는커녕 밥도 못 샀어요
= Far from buying a plane ticket, I couldn’t even buy rice
Notice again that in this translation, it negates the first item and highlights that something even less likely or even worse follows.
In my mind, this is similar to ~조차, which you learned in Lesson 181. However, look at the sentence above with ~조차 instead of ~은/는커녕:
비행기표조차 밥도 못 샀어요
This sentence is grammatically illogical. It doesn’t show what the subject is failing to do with the plane ticket. If you could translate it, it would be something like:
Not even the plane ticket, I couldn’t buy a meal either
To me, this sounds illogical because it seems like “buying a meal” is somehow linked to “the plane ticket.”
Using ~은/커녕 gives the sentence a feeling of contrast and comparison. The noun attached to ~은/는커녕 refers to something more difficult, extreme, or less likely to happen. What follows it is more expected.
Below are many examples:
씩씩하기는커녕 울먹이기만 했어요
= Let alone being brave, they just looked like they were about to cry
정당하기는커녕 부당한 결정이었어요
= Far from being fair, it was an unjust decision
최우수는커녕 평균도 간신히 넘겼어요
= Let alone being the best, I barely passed the average
도와주기는커녕 시늉도 안 하더라고요
= Far from helping, they didn’t even pretend to help
축복하기는커녕 말 한마디도 안 해줬어요
= Far from blessing me, they didn’t even say a word
장난스럽기는커녕 섬뜩한 기분이 들었어요
= Far from being playful, it gave me a chilling feeling
관계를 증진하기는커녕 오히려 더 멀어졌어요
= Instead of improving the relationship, we’ve only grown more distant
그는 공산주의자는커녕 정치에 관심도 없어요
= He’s far from being a communist, he’s not even interested in politics
민주주의는커녕 독재 체제로 흘러가고 있어요
= Let alone democracy, it’s moving toward dictatorship
수업은커녕 종례도 없이 그냥 집에 가더라고요
= Forget the lesson, they went home without even a proper end-of-day meeting
공정한 보도는커녕 편파적인 발언만 가득했어요
= Far from fair reporting, it was full of biased remarks
소신 발언은커녕 분위기 때문에 아무 말도 못 했어요
= Let alone speaking my convictions, I couldn’t say anything because of the atmosphere
앞으로 나아가기는커녕 계속 후퇴하고 있는 것 같아요
= Far from progressing, it feels like we’re constantly retreating
That’s it for this lesson!