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Vocabulary
Nouns:
눈빛 = look in one’s eye
소수 = the minority
다수 = the majority
단원 = unit of study
단위 = unit of measurement
업체 = enterprise
위원 = member
위원장 = chairperson
결정권 = decision making authority
이삿짐 = moving boxes
이삿날 = moving day
공포 = fear
공포증 = phobia
거미 공포증 = fear of spiders (arachnophobia)
고소 공포증 = fear of heights
Verbs:
모여들다 = to flock to
우리다 = to brew
우러나다 = to be brewed
Adjectives:
소용없다 = to be pointless
Adverbs and Other Words:
이리 = over here
Introduction
Welcome to Unit 8! I can’t believe that we are 176 lessons in. If you started with me from the beginning and made it this far, you should be really proud of yourself.
In this lesson, you will learn how to use ~아/어 봤자 to indicate that some action is pointless or useless. Let’s get started with Unit 8!
~아/어 봤자: To be pointless
보다 is one of the most versatile words in Korean. In previous lessons, you have seen how it can follow certain grammatical principles to work as an auxiliary verb. For example:
In Lesson 32 you saw how it can follow ~아/어 to indicate that one attempts an action.
한 번 해 보세요! = Give it a try
In Lesson 109, you saw how it can follow ~나 or ~ㄴ/은가 to indicate a guess.
친구가 아직 안 왔나 봐요 = I guess the friend hasn’t come yet
In Lesson 121, you saw how it can follow ~다 to indicate that an action will occur if one does something for a while.
새로운 단어를 계속 외우다 보면 점점 헷갈려요
= If I keep memorizing new words, I gradually get confused
In Lesson 123, you saw how it can follow ~아/어 to indicate that an experience has led the speaker to be able to do something.
연애를 한번 해 보니까 남자들을 더 잘 이해하게 되었어요
= Now that I have tried/attempted having a boyfriend, I became able to understand men better
By attaching ~아/어 to a verb and following it with 봤자, one can indicate that there is no point in doing the action that ~아/어 is attached to. As a result of this, it is common to simply end the sentence with 소용없다. For example:
열심히 공부를 해 봤자 소용없어요
= Even if you study hard, it is pointless
지금 고쳐 봤자 소용없어요
= Even if you fix it now, it is pointless
In Lesson 48, you learned about the adverb 아무리. This is a common word to use at the beginning of these sentences to prime the listener as to what type of sentence is about to be said. For example:
아무리 열심히 공부를 해 봤자 소용없어요
= Even if you study hard, it is pointless
아무리 지금 고쳐 봤자 소용없어요
= Even if you fix it now, it is pointless
Instead of ending the sentence with 소용없다, you can expand on this pointlessness by indicating the negative result of not being able to do anything about the situation. For example:
아무리 열심히 공부를 해 봤자 시험이 너무 어려울 거예요
= Even if you study hard, it is pointless as the exam will be too difficult
아무리 지금 고쳐 봤자 새로운 것을 이미 샀어요
= Even if you fix it now, it is pointless as we’ve already bought a new one
It’s also possible to provide this additional context and then still end the sentence with 소용없다. For example:
단원을 미리 공부해 봤자 시험 범위가 바뀌면 소용없어요
= Even if I study the unit in advance, it’s useless if the test scope changes
Below are many more examples:
이리 와서 도와줘 봤자 이미 다 끝났어요
= Even if you come here and help, it’s already finished
이삿짐을 줄여 봤자 트럭 한 대는 필요해요
= Even if we try to reduce the moving boxes, we’ll still need at least one truck
공포를 애써 감춰 봤자 눈빛에서 다 드러나요
= Even if you try to hide your fear, it shows in your eyes
단위를 바꿔 봤자 문제 해결에는 큰 도움이 안 돼요
= Even if you change the unit of measurement, it doesn’t help solve the problem much
공포 영화를 아무리 많이 봐 봤자 익숙해지지 않아요
= No matter how many horror movies I watch, I never get used to them
다수가 동의해 봤자 결정권은 결국 위원장에게 있어요
= Even if the majority agrees, the decision-making power still lies with the chairperson
차를 우려 봤자 향이 너무 약해서 만족스럽지 않았어요
= Even after brewing the tea, the aroma was too weak and unsatisfying
이삿날을 바꿔 봤자 예약된 이사 업체는 바뀌지 않아요
= Even if I try to change the moving day, the scheduled moving company can’t be changed
단위가 다른 물건을 비교해 봤자 정확한 분석은 어려워요
= Even if you try to compare items with different units, it’s hard to get an accurate analysis
단원의 내용을 외워 봤자 이해하지 않으면 금방 잊게 돼요
= Even if you memorize the content in the unit, you’ll forget quickly if you don’t understand it
이삿짐을 미리 싸 봤자 당일에 다시 정리해야 할 때가 많아요
= Even if you pack moving boxes early, you often have to repack them on the day
소수가 아무리 반대해 봤자 다수의 의견을 뒤집기는 어려워요
= Even if the minority strongly opposes it, it’s hard to overturn the majority’s opinion
홍보를 엄청 많이 해 봤자 아무도 공연을 보러 모여들지 않을 거예요
= Even if you advertise for it a lot, people aren’t going to flock to see the performance
고소공포증이 있는 사람은 아무리 연습해 봤자 높은 곳에서는 긴장할 수밖에 없어요
= Even if someone with a fear of heights practices a lot, they can’t help but get nervous in high places
That’s it for this lesson!