LEVEL1:LET'S LEARN KOREAN

Getting away on a short trip is the ideal way to get rid of some stress. In this lesson, Seongju, our studious son wins a free trip to...! Well not win, but his dad wants to take him out. In this lesson we'll go over a grammatical pattern that expresses that you were intending to say something, but was already said. Learn how to say "I was going to say that" in Korean!
In this lesson we'll go over essential Intermediate Korean vocabulary, as well as explain the Korean grammar easily and quickly.

Line-By-Line Transcript
Formal Korean
(1)남편: 여보, 요즘에 성주는 공부 열심히 하고 있어?
아내: 아, 그렇지 않아도, 그 얘기 좀 하려고 했어요.
(2) (3)남편: 그래? 무슨 일이야?
(4) 아내: 요즘에 성주가 공부 때문에 스트레스를 많이 받아요.
(5) 남편: 그래? 음... 그렇지 않아도 요즘에 성주 얼굴이 많이 어두운 것 같아.
(6) 아내: 성주랑 같이 잠깐 어디 여행 가는 건 어때요?
(7) 남편: 응. 좋은 생각인 것 같아. 그렇지 않아도 한 번, 성주랑 시간을 보내려고 했었는데.
(8) 아내: 고마워요, 여보.
Formal English
(1)Husband: Honey, is Seongju studying hard these days?
(2)Wife: Oh, even before you mentioned, I was going to talk to you about that.
(3)Husband: Really? What's the matter?
(4)Wife: He's getting a lot of stress from studying.
(5)Husband: Really? Hmm... Even before you mentioned that, I thought Seongju looked quite gloomy these days.
(6) Wife: How about going on a short trip with him for a short while?
(7)Husband: Yes, I think that's a good idea. I wanted to spend some time with him anyway.
(8)Wife: Thanks honey.

Vocabulary List
Korean/English/Class
요즘/these days, recently / adverb
공부/studying, studies /
열심히/hard, diligently /
때문에/because of/
어둡다/ to be dark/
보내다/ to spend (time), to send /
여행/travel, trip/

Expansion Section
요즘
요즘에 바빠?
Yojeome bappa?
"Are you busy these days?"

공부
공부는 잘 되고 있어?
"Are your studies going well?"

열심히
열심히 운동을 하는데 살이 안 빠져.
yeolsimhi undong-eul haneunde sal-i an ppajyeo.
"I work out strenuously, but I don't lose any weight."

때문에
너 때문에 늦었어!
"I'm late because of you!"

어둡다
방이 너무 어두워. 불 켜자.
bang-i neomu eoduwo. bul kyeoja.
"The room is too dark. Let's turn on the light."

보내다
주말 잘 보냈어?
"Did you have a good weekend?"

여행
어디론가 여행 가고 싶어.
"I want to go somewhere to travel."
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Grammar Point
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Grammar Point #1 - Even Before You Mentioned It-그렇지 않아도
-그렇지 않아도(geureochi anado) literally means "even if it's not like that" or "even if you don't do it like that," and it is a shortened version of the longer phrase, "to" or "그러하지 않아도." Literally, 그렇게 하다 means "to do like that" and means "to be that way" or "to be like that." Therefore, this refers to whatever has happened or has been
mentioned previously. Koreans use this phrase often when they were going to do something and someone mentions it or something happens so that now it's expected of them to do it.

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Construction
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-그렇지 않아도is almost always used as a set phrase, and often used along with the
grammatical structure -(으)려고 하다+, which was means "to plan to do" or "to be
about to do" something. But when "그러하다" or "그렇게 하다" needs to be replaced with a different verb to express a more specific situation, you can take the verb and add -지 않아도.
Ex) 니가 말하지 않아도 도와주려고 했어.
= I was going to help you even if you didn't ask me to.
= 그렇지 않아도 도와주려고 했어.
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》In This Dialog
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(2) 아내: 아, 그렇지 않아도, 그 얘기 좀 하려고 했어요. (2) anae: a, geureochi anado, geu yaegi jom ha ryeogo haesseoyo.
(2) Wife: Oh, even before you mentioned, I was going to talk to you about that.

(5) 남편: 그렇지 않아도 요즘에 성주 얼굴이 많이 어두운 것 같아.
(5) nampyeon: geureochi anado yojeum-e Seongju eolgul-i manhieoduungeot gata.
(5) Husband: Even before you mentioned that, I thought Seongju looked quite gloomy these days.

(7) 남편: 그렇지 않아도 한 번, 성주랑 시간을 보내려고 했었는데.
(7) nampyeon: geureochi anado han beon, Seongju-rang sigan-eul bonaeryeogo haesseotneunde.
(7) Husband: I wanted to spend some time with him anyway.
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Remember
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As there are usually two ways to negate a verb in Korean, 않다 is also interchangeable with 안 그렇다. So you can say 안 그래도 instead of 그렇지 않아도, but 안 그래도 is slightly more casual while can be used in all kind of polite situations.
그렇지 않아도 is often translated in English as 'anyway' at the end of a sentence, and the Korean word has the same meaning is 어차피, but just like 안 그래도, the word 어차피 is also more casual than 그렇지 않아도, so it's advsiable to say '그렇지 않아
도' in polite situations.
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More Examples
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1. 안 그래도 오늘 전화하려고 했어! (an geuraedo oneul haesseo!)jeonhwaharyeogo
-" I was going to call you anyway."

2. 그렇지 않아도 내가 물어보려고 했어.
(geureochi anado nae-ga mureoboryeogo hasseo.)
-" Even before you mentioned it, I was going to ask you."

3. 그렇지 않아도 나는 갈 시간이 없었어.
(geureochi anado na-neun sigan-i eopseo.)
- "Even before that happened, I didn't have time to go anyway."

4. 안 그래도 조금 이상하다고 생각했어.
(an geuraedo na-neun isanghadago saenggakhaesseo.)
- "Even before you mentioned that, I thought it was strange."

Cultural Insight
When Koreans talk about the mood or state of health that somebody is in, they often use expressions related to the face of the person. The word 안 색(안: face+ 색: color) literally means the color of one's face, and it is used to describe what kind of mood or health conditions somebody seems to be in. 안 색 이 좋다 means 'to look well' or 'to look fine', and 안색이 나쁘다 means 'to look pale or ill'. And 안색이 어둡다 or 얼굴이 어둡다
doesn't mean that the person's face looks literally dark but it means that the person seems to have something troubling him or her. And when
someone gets married and starts leading a very relaxed and happy life, and maybe gain a little weight and look healthier, Koreans say '얼굴이 피다', which literally means 'the face blooms'.