Lesson 164: ~아/어야 말이지 – Expressing Annoyance

Jump to:

~아/어야 말이지: Expressing Annoyance that Something Must Happen

Vocabulary

Nouns:
악보 = sheet music

Examples:
악보를 보며 연주했어요
= I played while looking at the sheet music

합창단에서 노래를 부르려면 악보를 미리 받아야 하는데, 담당자가 아직 안 줬어. 이렇게 준비가 안 되면 연습을 어떻게 하라는 거야? 빨리 줘야 말이지!
= We need to get the sheet music in advance to sing in the choir, but the person in charge hasn’t given it to us yet. If we’re this unprepared, how can they tell us to practice? They need to give it to us quickly, you know!

살맛 = livability

Common Usages
살맛나다 = to be live-able

Examples:
요즘은 살맛이 나요
= Life feels worth living these days

경제도 어렵고 월급도 오르지 않아서 요즘 살맛이 나려면 좀 더 안정된 직장이 있어야 말이지
= The economy is bad, and my salary isn’t increasing, so for life to feel worthwhile, I need a more stable job, you know!

폭동 = riot

Common Usages:
폭동을 일으키다 = for a riot to break out

Examples:
도시에서 폭동이 일어났어요
= A riot broke out in the city

도심 한복판에서 또 폭동이 발생했대. 사람들이 불안하지 않으려면 경찰이 빨리 진압해야 말이지
= Another riot broke out in the middle of the city. If people aren’t going to feel anxious, the police need to control it quickly, you know!

소재 = whereabouts

Common Usages:
소재를 파악하다 = to figure out one’s whereabouts

Examples:
그의 소재가 아직 파악되지 않았어요
= His whereabouts are still unknown

경찰이 용의자의 소재를 확인하지 못해서 수색을 진행하려고 해도 단서가 더 있어야 말이지
= The police haven’t confirmed the suspect’s whereabouts, so even if they wanted to continue the search, they need more clues, you know!

남획 = overfishing

Examples:
남획으로 인해 어종이 줄어들고 있어요
= Due to overfishing, fish species are decreasing

예전엔 이 바다에서 다양한 어종을 볼 수 있었는데, 남획이 너무 심해서 지금이라도 보호 대책이 마련되어야 말이지
= There used to be a variety of fish species in this sea, but overfishing has become too severe, so now we need conservation measures, you know!

단서 = clue

Common Usages:
단서를 쫒다 = to follow a clue

Examples:
그 말은 사건의 단서가 될 수 있어요
= That remark could be a clue to the case

경찰은 이 지역의 살인사건의 단서를 찾기 위해 지역주민들에게 협조를 구했다
= In order to find clues concerning the locality’s murder incident, police sought cooperation from local residents

어종 = species of fish

Examples:
이 지역에는 다양한 어종이 살아요
= Many species of fish live in this area

개울 = brook

Common Usages:
개울가 = area close to a brook

Examples:
아이들이 개울에서 놀고 있어요
= The kids are playing in the brook

날씨가 너무 더운데 근처 개울에서 발이라도 담그려면 물이 깨끗해야 말이지
= It’s so hot today, and I’d love to dip my feet in the brook, but the water needs to be clean, you know!

동해 = east sea

Notes: The first word in the Korean National Anthem is 동해:
동해물과 백두산이 마르고 닳도록… = Until the water in the East Sea is dry, and when Baekdu Mountain has completely carved…

Common Usages:
동해바다 = East Sea (specifically referring to the water and not the coast)

Examples:
우리는 동해로 여행을 갔어요
= We went on a trip to the East Sea

여름 휴가로 동해에 가고 싶은데 바닷물이 맑아야 말이지
= I want to go to the East Sea for summer vacation, but the water needs to be clear, you know!

동해안 = east sea coast

Examples:
동해안은 여름에 사람이 많아요
= The East Sea coast is crowded in summer

이번 태풍으로 동해안의 피해가 심각한데 복구하려고 해도 정부의 지원이 빨리 와야 말이지
= The typhoon caused severe damage to the East Sea coast, and even if recovery were to happen, government support needs to come quickly, you know!

사다리 = ladder

Common Usages:
사다리차 = a truck-like vehicle in Korea that has a crane-like function to help people move to apartments by lifting their belongings up through their windows
사다리타기 = climbing a ladder

Examples:
사다리를 타고 옥상에 올라갔어요
= I climbed to the rooftop using a ladder

지붕 수리를 하려면 높은 곳에 올라가야 하는데 튼튼한 사다리가 있어야 말이지
= I need to climb up high to fix the roof, but I need a sturdy ladder, you know!

합창단 = choir

Examples:
합창단이 아름다운 노래를 불렀어요
= The choir sang a beautiful song

한복판 = absolute middle of something

Common Usages:
서울 한복판 = in the middle of Seoul
도심 한복판 = in the middle of downtown

Examples:
그들은 도시 한복판에서 싸웠어요
= They fought in the middle of the city

용의자 = suspect (in crime)

Common Usages:
용의자 선상에 오르다 = to become a suspect

Examples:
경찰서에서는 용의자로부터 진술서를 받았어요
= The police station received a written statement from the suspect

담당자 = person in charge, person responsible

Common Usages:
담당부서 = department in charge
담당직원 = responsible staff member

Examples:
이 일은 담당자에게 물어보세요
= Please ask the person in charge about this

Verbs:
진압하다 = to suppress

Common Usages:
무력으로 진압하다 = to suppress by force

Examples:
소방대원들은 불을 진압했어요
= The firefighters put out the fire

수색하다 = to search for a person

Examples:
실종자를 수색하고 있어요
= They are searching for the missing person

넘어가다 = to go over and keep going

Common Usages:
얼렁뚱땅 넘어가다 = to move on quickly

Examples:
저는 그 상황을 얼렁뚱땅 넘어가고 싶었어요
= I wanted to move on from the situation quickly

얼렁뚱땅 거짓말을 하고 넘어가려고 했는데 하필 같이 있던 친구가 사실을 말하는 바람에 난감해졌어
= I told a lie and wanted to just go past it but, of all people, one of my friends who was there told everybody the truth so I felt hopeless

이렇게 강한 바람이 불면 다리 위를 넘어가다가 위험할 수도 있어. 다리를 건너려고 해도 날씨가 좀 잠잠해야 말이지
= If the wind is this strong, it might be dangerous to go over the bridge. Even if you wanted to cross safely, the weather needs to calm down, you know!

체포하다 = to arrest

Common Usages:
… 함의로 체포하다 = to arrest on suspicion of
현장에서 체포하다 = to arrest at the scene

Examples:
그 사람이 사기 혐의로 체포되었어요
= That person was arrested on the suspicion of fraud

범인이 계속 도망 다니고 있는데 경찰이 빨리 체포하다 못 하면 더 큰 사고가 날 수도 있어. 하루빨리 수사를 제대로 해야 말이지.
= The suspect keeps running away, and if the police don’t arrest them quickly, something worse could happen. They really need to conduct a proper

살인범이 탈출하자마자 경찰관이 그를 찾아서 체포했어요
= As soon as the murderer escaped, the police caught him and arrested him

수사하다 = to investigate

Examples:
그 집에서 도난 사건이 발생했으며 경찰이 수사 중입니다
= There was a theft incident at that house, and the police are investigating

그 사람의 얼굴의 특징을 기억나는 대로 말해 주면 수사에 도움이 될 거예요
= If you say the specific characteristics of that person’s face exactly as you remember them, it will help with the investigation

Adjectives:
잠잠하다 = to be calm, quiet

Examples:
요즘은 바다가 잠잠해요 = The sea has been calm lately

이렇게 강한 바람이 불면 다리 위를 넘어가다가 위험할 수도 있어. 다리를 건너려고 해도 날씨가 좀 잠잠해야 말이지
= If the wind is this strong, it might be dangerous to go over the bridge. Even if you want to cross safely, the weather needs to calm down, you know!

For help memorizing these words, try using our mobile app.

Introduction

In this lesson, you will continue to see how versatile the noun 말 can be. Specifically we will see how using 말 at the end of a sentence, but preceded by something different than the previous lesson, you can create an entirely different meaning. Let’s get started.

~아/어야 말이지: Expressing Annoyance that Something Must Happen

말 is one of the most versatile nouns in the Korean language. In the previous lesson, you saw that 말 can be used at the end of a sentence to have quite a complex meaning and nuance. There are other ways that 말 can be used at the end a sentence.

Let’s start without 말. If I were to simply say the following sentence:

그렇게 해야 돼

The speaker would be expressing that something must be done “that way.” There is no implied nuance, and the meaning is quite simple.

By attaching ~아/어야 to a verb or adjective and following it with 말 (and typically conjugated with 이다 + 지), you can get the following structure.

그렇게 해야 말이지

Here, the speaker is expressing that something must be done “that way.” However, there is a nuance that the speaker is frustrated over this situation, as it should be obvious to the listener. The speaker is expressing that they shouldn’t have to say this, but must in order to make the obvious fully known and clear.

That’s a lot of nuance wrapped into a few extra syllables. As always, it’s difficult to translate this nuance, but it could be something like:

그렇게 해야 말이지
= Of course, that’s the way it has to be done
= That’s what needs to happen

Without context it’s difficult to come up with a genuine translation. I created a situation with a bit more of a backstory to show this nuance:

Imagine you’re in a choir. You would definitely be frustrated if you weren’t given the sheet music in advance. The person in charge better give it to you quickly. Does this even need to be said? You would think it is obvious!

The italicized portion of the text above described the nuance that ~아/어야 말이지 carries. Let’s look at some more examples:

경제도 어렵고 월급도 오르지 않아서 요즘 살맛이 나려면 좀 더 안정된 직장이 있어야 말이지
= The economy is bad, and my salary isn’t increasing, so for life to feel worthwhile, I need a more stable job, you know!

In these sentences, how do I encompass the nuance that I described earlier? I will do it, as you see above, with “you know!” at the end of the English sentence. When reading the sentences I have provided, try to focus on the Korean sentence and think of the nuanced meaning I described above.

여름 휴가로 동해에 가고 싶은데 바닷물이 맑아야 말이지
= I want to go to the East Sea for summer vacation, but the water needs to be clear, you know!

지붕 수리를 하려면 높은 곳에 올라가야 하는데 튼튼한 사다리가 있어야 말이지
= I need to climb up high to fix the roof, but I need a sturdy ladder, you know!

That’s it for this lesson!