Lesson 82: ~구나, ~군 and ~군요

Common Usages:
낚싯줄을 감다 = to wind/reel a fishing line

Examples:
낚싯줄이 이렇게 비싸구나 = I didn’t know/realize that fishing line is this expensive
낚싯줄이 꼬이는 바람에 대어를 놓쳤어요 = The fishing line got all tangled so I missed the big fish

Common Usages:
새둥지를 틀다 = to find a new home

Examples:
둥지가 나무에서 떨어졌구나 = Oh, I didn’t realize that the nest fell from the tree
저는 서울을 떠나 인천에 새둥지를 틀고 새롭게 시작할 거예요 = I am going to leave Seoul and set up my new life in Incheon

Common Usages:
암호 설정 = password setup
암호 변경 = password change
암호를 풀다 = to crack a password

Examples:
저는 암호를 몰라서 이 컴퓨터에 접속할 수 없어요 = I don’t know the password, so I can’t access this computer
이메일 암호를 매달 새롭게 바꿔줘야 해서 성가셔요 = Changing one’s email password every month is really cumbersome/bothersome

Common Usages:
비만율 = obesity rate
고도비만 = extreme obesity
경도비만 = mild obesity
복부비만 = abdominal obesity
하체비만 = lower-body obesity
상체비만 = upper-body obesity

Examples:
미국에서 비만이 아주 큰 문제이구나 = I didn’t realize that obesity was such a big problem in America
점점 더 청소년 비만율이 높아지고 있어서 사회문제가 되고 있어요
= The obesity rate of youth is increasing gradually, and is becoming a problem in society

Common Usages:
식욕억제 = appetite suppressing
식욕 억제제 = appetite suppressant
식욕이 돋다 = to whet one’s appetite

Examples:
수술을 받은 후에 식욕을 잃었구나 = Oh, I didn’t realize that you lost your appetite after the surgery
식욕을 돋구기 위해 식초를 넣으면 좋아요 = In order to get the appetite going, it would be good to put some vinegar in there

Common Usages:
비정상 = abnormal
정상 수업 = normal class

Examples:
오늘은 정상 수업이 있는 날이니 늦지 말고 학교에 와 주세요
= Today is a day where we have class as normal, so don’t be late and come to school

컴퓨터를 고치러 갈 때마다 부품이 모두 정상이라고 하는데 컴퓨터 충전이 안돼요
= Every time I go to get the computer fixed, they say that everything is normal, but the computer won’t charge

Notes: During the summer in Korea, the temperature goes up and the air is humid. Temperatures may rise to 30 degrees or above. This isn’t terribly bad on its own, but the humidity adds to the heat. A rainy season (장마) comes every year sometime in July, and typically only lasts for a few weeks.

Common Usages:
장마철 = the time of the rainy season

Examples:
한국에서는 장마가 7 월에 있어요 = There is a rainy season in Korea in July
장마가 다음 주부터 시작될 거에요 = The rainy season will start from next week

Examples:
이 시험이 지필시험이구나 = I didn’t realize that this exam is a pen-and-paper exam
이 책을 지필 한 작가는 10년 전에 세상을 떠났다 = The author who wrote this book passed away ten years ago

Notes: Let me tell you a story. It is very hard to “place” a word in a particular lesson. Of course, the goal is to have the most common words appear in the earliest lessons. Then, for the words to become progressively more difficult as the learner increases their ability by going to higher lessons. One could argue that 생명 is too difficult a word for Lesson 82, but there are arguments against that. As I drive around Seoul I often see signs that say:

안전벨트는 생명벨트이다 = The seatbelt is a life-belt

Also, it is very common in the use of 생명보험, seen next.
Between Lesson 50 and Lesson 150, all of the words are equally common. It’s just a matter of if/when you come across them in your daily life.

Common Usages:
생명보험 = life insurance
생명을 살리다 = to save a life
생명을 구하다 = to save a life

Examples:
생명을 살리는 일보다 중요한 일은 없어요 = There is nothing more important than living
이 사람은 저의 생명을 구해 준 은인이에요 = That person is the hero/savior who saved my life

Common Usages:
생명보험을 들다 = to get life insurance

Examples:
생명보험이 그렇게 중요하구나 = I didn’t realize that life insurance was that important
나라에서 치료비를 지원받지만 대부분 한국 사람들은 개인 생명보험을 가지고 있어요
= People get medical expenses reimbursed from the government but still, most Korean people have personal private life insurance

Common Usages:
해군 대령 = naval captain/colonel
해군 장교 = naval officer
해군에 입대하다 = to enter the navy

Examples:
해군에 입대하기 위해서는 체력이 좋고 건강해야 해요
= If you want to enter the navy, you need to be in really good health

선호도에 따라 해군에 지원할 수도 육군에 지원 할 수도 있어요
= Depending on your preference, you can apply for the navy, or apply to the army

Common Usages:
대령님 = colonel (used when referring to the person)
해군 대령 = naval captain/colonel

Examples:
대령이 되기 위해서는 최소한 10년의 시간이 필요해요
= If you want to become a colonel, you need at least ten years

오늘 부대에 대령님이 방문하실 예정이라 더욱 각별히 준비를 해야 돼요
= Today the colonel is scheduled to visit the camp, so we will have to prepare especially hard

Notes: You will often see signs in parking lots saying “전면추차.” This is telling people to park their cars with the front (side) in (i.e. not to back in).

Common Usages:
양면 = both sides
면으로 둘러 쌓이다

Examples:
양면 테이프가 있어서 사진을 고정하기 더 쉬워요
= I have double-sided tape, so affixing the photos is easier

한국은 삼면이 바다로 둘러 쌓여 있는 반도국가에요
= Korea is a peninsular nation landlocked on all three sides

Notes: It’s funny how it works sometimes. The day I was writing the information for this word, I received a box of apples via delivery. Written on the side of the box was “왜 사과표면이 부연가요?” This would translate to “Why is the surface/skin of the apple gray/not clear?”

Common Usages:
표면적 = surface area

Examples:
이 돌의 표면이 아주 부드럽구나
= I didn’t realize that the surface of this rock was so soft

지구표면에 눈과 얼음이 많을수록 자외선이 반사돼요
= The more snow and ice on the earth’s surface, the more UV rays get reflected

Common Usages:
횡단보도 = crosswalk
횡단보도를 건너다 = to cross a crosswalk

Examples:
걸을 때 자전거 도로가 아니라 보도에서 걸어야 안전해요
= When you walk, it is only safe if you walk on the sidewalk, not the bicycle path

횡단보도를 건널 때는 꼭 좌우를 살피고 손을 들고 건너야 해요
= When you cross a crosswalk, you must always look both ways (left and right) and raise your hand

Common Usages:
주방 선반 = kitchen shelf
선반에 얹다 = to put on a shelf
선반에 올리다 = to put up on a shelf

Examples:
짐을 선반 위에 올렸어요 = I put my suitcase on the shelf
주방 선반이 망가져서 급하게 선반 대신 사용할 상자를 구해왔어요 = The kitchen shelf broke so in a pinch, instead of a shelf I got a box

Common Usages:
불안감이 엄습하다 = for a bad feeling/anxiety to come over someone

Examples:
당장이라도 그 사람이 저를 찾을 수 있다는 불안감에 잠을 설쳤어요
= The anxiety of knowing that person could find me at a moment’s notice made me not sleep well

팀에 중요한 역할을 하는 선수가 부상을 당해서 내일 경에서 질 수도 있다는 불안감이 엄습했다
= The player with an important role to the team got injured, so the feeling of losing the match tomorrow has hit me

The noun form of this word (가속) translates to “acceleration.”

Common Usages:
가속화 = acceleration

Examples:
고속도로에서 가속해서 달리다 사고가 나는 사례가 많다
= There are a lot of instances of accidents on the highway because of cars accelerating

현재 유행하는 제품을 최대한 많이 생산하기 위해 가속해서 공장을 돌렸다
= In order to produce the product that is a hit these days the factory accelerated its production

The noun form of this word (감속) translates to “deceleration.”

Notes: In dangerous areas of streets or roads (for example, because of a sharp curve or bumps) there is often a sign warning drivers that they must slow down. This is often written as “절대감속.” 절대 is usually used to indicate that one should never do something, but this happens when the end of a sentence is negative. In very rare cases, like in 절대감속, 절대 can be used to say that one must do something.

I have also seen 감속 used on other road signs saying:

비, 눈 올 때 25-50% 감속 = When it rains or snows, decrease your speed by 25-50%
감속운행! = Slow down!

Common Usages:
속도를 감속하다 = to slow down one’s speed

Examples:
터널에 들어가면 속도를 감속해야 사고의 위험을 줄일 수 있어요
= When you go into a tunnel, but lowering your speed, you can decrease the danger of an accident

앞차가 갑자기 감속하는 바람에 뒤에 따라오던 차가 속도를 줄이지 못하고 들이박았다
= The car in-front suddenly decelerated, and the car coming from behind couldn’t decrease their speed so they hit each other

Common Usages:
페인트를 칠하다 = to paint (with paint)

Examples:
지붕 색깔이 너무 어두워서 엷은 하늘색깔로 칠했어요
= The color of the ceiling was too dark so I painted it a bright sky color

벽지를 붙이는 대신에 페인트를 칠하기로 결정했어요
= Instead up putting up wallpaper, we decided to paint the wall

Common Usages:
손을 쓰다듬다 = to caress/pet somebody’s hand
머리를 쓰다듬다 = to caress/pet somebody’s hair
강아지를 쓰다듬다 = to pet a dog

Examples:
강아지가 아주 순해 보이길래 잠깐 쓰다듬었어요
= The puppy looked so tame, so I pet it for a short time

나는 펭귄을 만져보고 싶어서 먹이를 먹고 있을 때 펭귄 머리를 쓰다듬었다. 매우
부드럽고도 이상한 느낌이었다.
= I wanted to touch the penguins, so when they were eating their bait, I pet a penguins head. It was a strange feeling, but also very soft.

Common Usages:
당황스러운 표정 = an embarrassed facial expression

Examples:
저를 놀리곤 했던 친구를 길에서 마주쳐서 당황스러웠어요
= I bumped into a friend that used to tease me on the street so I was embarrassed

너무 당황스러워서. 물론 나는 네가 마음에 들기 때문에 꼭 말을 하고 싶었어. 하지만 너는 인기도 많고, 친구들도 많기 때문에 나한테 관심이 있을지 정말 몰랐어
= I am too shy. Of course, because I like you, I had to talk to you. But, you are so popular, and you have a lot of friends, so I really didn’t think that you would be interested in me.

The noun form of this word (불안) translates to “anxiety.”

Common Usages:
불안감 = anxiety

Examples:
거기에 밤에 가는 게 불안해요 = I don’t feel comfortable going to that place at night
여기가 좀 불안해서 집에 갈 거예요 = I am a little bit uncomfortable here, so I will go home

Common Usages:
맨 앞 = at the very front
맨 뒤 = at the very back
맨 끝 = at the very end
맨 위 = at the very top
맨 처음 = at the very beginning

Examples:
그 경치를 보려면 산 맨 위에 가야 돼요
= In order to see the view you need to go to the top of the mountain

보도로 맨 끝까지 걸어갈 수 있구나
= I didn’t realize that you could walk to the very end on this path

Notes: A lot of accents in Korea pronounce this as 얼렁

Common Usages:
얼른 가 = go now/quickly!

Examples:
바닥에 물을 쏟아서 얼른 휴지로 닦았어요
= I spilled water on the ground, so I wiped it up with a paper towel quickly

이미 다 했어, 얼른 손 씻고 생일 파티 할 준비해.
= I already did everything. Go wash your hands and get ready for the party.