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An Initial Look at 따르다
Depending on…: ~느냐에 따라서…
Vocabulary
Nouns:
성패 = success and failure
사기 = morale
위기 = crisis
본선 = finals in a tournament
지점 = a branch (of a store)
본부 = headquarters/main office
본사 = head office
간부 = an executive
혈관 = vein
예선 = preliminary/qualifying round
학대 = abuse/cruel treatment
집세 = house/apartment rent
세입자 = tenants
동업자 = work partner
줄넘기 = skipping rope
Verbs:
따르다 = to follow
동업하다 = to work in partnership
협상하다 = to negotiate
진출하다 = to advance, to get into
이탈하다 = to break away from
신뢰하다 = to trust
Adjectives:
신중하다 = to be careful
For help memorizing these words, try using our mobile app.
Introduction
In this lesson, you will learn how to add another layer of complexity to sentences with ~느냐. By using the verb 따르다 in sentences with ~느냐, you can create the meaning of “depending on…” in English. Let’s get started!
An Initial Look at 따르다
따르다 is a bit of a funny verb. It’s actually an irregular irregular. When ~아/어 is added to it, it does not follow the typical 르 irregular. Instead, ~아 merges with 르 to form. 라. For example:
따르다 + ~아/어 = 따라
따르다 + ~았/었 = 따랐
따르다 is used to indicate that one follows somebody/something. For example:
사람들이 우리를 따르고 있어요
= The people are following us
따르다 is often combined with 오다, 가다 or 하다. For example:
따라와 봐! = Follow me!
저는 저 차를 따라가고 있어요 = I am following that car
사람들은 법을 따라야 돼요 = People must follow the law
저의 줄넘기를 훔친 사람을 따라가고 있어요
= I’m following the person who stole my skipping rope
When ~에 따라(서) is placed after a noun, it has the meaning of “in accordance with…”, and can be used to refer to certain laws, guidelines or rules. For example:
길 안내에 따라서 우리는 저 쪽으로 가 야 돼요
= According to the directions (in accordance with the directions), we must go that way
미국헌법에 따라 사람들은 총을 가지고 있을 권리가 있어요
= According to the American Constitution, Americans have the right to possess guns
사람들은 그 나라의 문화에 따라 행동을 해 야 돼요
= People should act according to (in accordance with) the culture of a country
규칙을 제대로 따르느냐는 문제가 이번 사건의 핵심이었다.
= Whether the rules were properly followed was the key issue in this case
Depending on…: ~느냐에 따라서…
Adding ~느냐에 따라서 after a verb creates the meaning of “depending on _____.” By using this form you could make the following types of clauses:
우리가 내일 언제 가느냐에 따라서… = Depending on when we go tomorrow
우리가 내일 어디 가느냐에 따라서… = Depending on where we go tomorrow
우리가 내일 어떻게 가느냐에 따라서.. = Depending on how we go tomorrow
Notice that those three clauses include the use of a “question word.” In these cases, the translations of ~느냐 따라서 sentences usually take the form of:
Depending on (question word)….
However, if no “question word” exists in the clause, the word “if” is used in translation. For example:
우리가 내일 가느냐에 따라서… = Depending on if we go tomorrow
As you saw in Lesson 160, two opposite verbs are often used with ~느냐. This can be used with 따라서 as well. For example:
우리가 내일 가느냐 안 가느냐에 따라서… = Depending on if we go or not…
You can now use these clauses in sentences where appropriate. However, the clause after ~느냐에 따라서 has a typical form that is used. Sentences with ~느냐에 따라서 typically end with 다르다 in some way. Two common ways 다르다 is applied in these sentences are:
달라질 수 있다
달려 있다
우리가 내일 언제 가느냐에 따라서 달라질 수 있어요
= It could be different depending on when we go tomorrow
우리가 내일 언제 가느냐에 따라서 달려 있어요
= It could be different depending on when we go tomorrow
미래 is a common word used in these sentences, indicating that one’s future could be different depending on a certain situation. For example:
얼마나 저축하느냐에 따라 미래가 달라질 수 있어요
= Depending on how much you save up, your future could be different
열심히 공부하느냐에 따라 미래가 달라질 수 있어요
= Depending on if you study hard, your future could be different
Although you can use adverbs like “얼마나” and “열심히” in these sentences, a typical adverb that is used with ~느냐에 따라서 is “어떻게.” “어떻게” is used in situations even if you are not trying to say “how” in the sentence. For example:
어떻게 저축하느냐에 따라 미래가 달라질 수 있어요
= Depending on how much you save up, your future could be different
어떻게 공부하느냐에 따라 미래가 달라질 수 있어요
= Depending on if you study, your future could be different
Technically, those sentences should translate to “Depending on how…”, but like I said, 어떻게 is often used in these sentences regardless of if you are actually want to say “how.”
Another word you could use in place of 다르다 is 결정되다. For example:
얼마나 저축하느냐에 따라서 미래가 결정돼요
= Depending on how much you save up, your future could be decided
열심히 공부하느냐에 따라서 미래가 결정돼요
= Depending on if you study hard, your future could be decided
Below are many more examples:
대학에 가느냐 안 가느냐에 따라서 나의 미래가 달려 있어
= Depending on if you go to University or not, your future could be different
어떻게 일하느냐에 따라서 너의 성공이 달려 있어요
= Depending on how hard you work, your success could be different
이 약이 효과가 있느냐는 실험 결과에 따라 결정될 것이에요
= Whether this medicine is effective will be decided based on the experiment’s results
위기를 어떻게 대처하느냐에 따라서 결과가 달라질 수 있어요
= The outcome can vary depending on how you handle the crisis
각 지점이 얼마나 열심히 일하느냐에 따라서 본사의 평가가 달라져요
= The headquarters’ evaluation varies depending on how hard each branch works
본부가 협상에 얼마나 신중하느냐에 따라서 계약의 성패가 결정될 거예요
= The success or failure of the contract will depend on how cautiously the headquarters negotiates
간부들이 어떻게 결정을 내리느냐에 따라서 직원들의 사기가 달라질 수 있어요
= Employee morale can vary depending on how the executives make decisions
혈관이 얼마나 건강하느냐에 따라서 전체 건강 상태가 달라질 수 있어요
= Overall health can vary depending on how healthy your veins are
예선에서 얼마나 잘 하느냐에 따라서 본선에 진출할 수 있을지가 결정돼요
= Whether you advance to the finals depends on how well you do in the preliminaries
동물이 얼마나 심한 학대를 받았느냐에 따라서 회복 시간이 달라져요
= The recovery time depends on how severe the animal’s abuse was
집세를 얼마나 비싸게 받느냐에 따라서 세입자들의 이탈 여부가 결정돼요
= Whether tenants leave or not depends on how expensive the rent is
동업자가 얼마나 신뢰할 만하느냐에 따라서 사업의 성패가 좌우돼요
= The success or failure of the business depends on how trustworthy your business partner is
That’s it for this lesson!