7.3 A Note to a Friend — Epoché
What you will be able to do Read a short note that changes an arrangement, and follow the order a Korean puts its parts in. Recognise the soft refusal for what it is rather than taking it literally: 시간 있는지 잘 모르겠어요. Read a new proposal made with the consultative ending: 내일 몇 시에 만날까요? Recognise three reassurances that a Korean note will close with: 걱정하지 마세요. and 문제 없어요! and 잠깐만 기다리세요. Say what a note in Korean puts first that an English note would put last, and why. Prerequisites : 7.2, the second of the three texts. The refusals and proposals are from 6.6 Conversation , and the apology is from lesson 5.1. This is the last text of the phase. The third and last controlled composition is the shortest and the most useful, because a note changing an arrangement is the first piece of written Korean most learners have to produce rather than merely read. Fifteen sentences, all quoted, arranged in the order a Korean note takes: the writer's state first, then the apology, then the new proposal, then reassurance, then the closing. An English note would begin with the apology and put the writer's state in a subordinate clause; Korean gives the reason first and lets the apology follow from it. Word by word Korean Block by block English 오늘 기분이 너무 안 좋아요. 오늘 bare time word · 기분이 subject · 안 short negative I feel so bad today. 저는 항상 바빠요. 항상 adverb · 바빠요 irregular adjective I'm busy all the time. 버스를 놓쳤어요. 버스를 object · 놓쳤어요 past I missed the bus. 죄송하지만 못하겠어요. 죄송하지만 contrastive connector · 못하겠어요 ability negative I'm sorry, but I can't. 시간 있는지 잘 모르겠어요. 시간 있는지 whether there is time · 모르겠어요 not knowing I don't know if I have the time. 내일 몇 시에 만날까요? 내일 bare · 몇 시에 time ending · 만날까요 consultative What time tomorrow should we meet up? 어디서 만날까요? 어디서 place of activity · 만날까요 consultative Where should we meet up? 화요일에 만나요. 화요일에 time ending · 만나요 polite form as a suggestion Let's meet on Tuesday. 걱정하지 마세요. 걱정하지 long negative stem · 마세요 negative request Don't worry! 문제 없어요! 문제 bare noun · 없어요 negative existence No problem! 잠깐만 기다리세요. 잠깐만 noun plus "only" · 기다리세요 respectful request Please wait a moment. 지금 가요. 지금 bare time word · 가요 contracted polite form I am coming. 기차를 타고 왔어요. 타고 neutral connector · 왔어요 past I came by train. 좋은 주말 보내세요! 좋은 modifier · 보내세요 respectful request Have a nice weekend! 나중에 봐요. 나중에 time ending · 봐요 contracted verb See you later. The fifth line is the one to study. 시간 있는지 잘 모르겠어요. is translated as a statement about knowledge and is in fact a refusal, as lesson 6.6 said. Nothing in the Korean marks it as one; both sides understand it from the situation, and a learner who reads it as a genuine expression of uncertainty will keep pressing and will be thought rude. Compare the sixth and seventh lines with the eighth. The first two end in the consultative ending, which proposes and leaves the decision open; the third is the plain polite form, which as a suggestion is closer to a decision already taken. The writer proposes twice and then settles, which is the whole shape of rearranging an appointment in three sentences. The ninth line contains a construction that has not been named. The verb stem takes the long negative ending of lesson 3.8 and is then followed by a separate verb of prohibition in its respectful request form. It is the standard way of telling somebody not to do something politely, and it is worth learning whole rather than analysing. Full translation An English translation of the whole text, made for this course and kept close to the original. The numbers are the paragraph numbers of the original text, so you can move between the two. I feel so bad today. I'm busy all the time. I missed the bus. I'm sorry, but I can't. I don't know if I have the time. What time tomorrow should we meet up? Where should we meet up? Let's meet on Tuesday. Don't worry! No problem! Please wait a moment. I am coming. I came by train. Have a nice weekend! See you later. Questions on the text What three reasons does the writer give, and in which paragraph? Which sentence is the refusal, and which of the two refusals of lesson 6.6 is it? Two sentences propose and one settles. Which is which, and what ending marks the difference? Find the three reassurances and say which of them uses the verb for existence. The note gives reasons before the apology. Say what an English note would do instead. Which sentence would still be true if the writer had never intended to come? Words in this text Read them cold. Cover the meanings and read these aloud: 버스 , 기차 , 시간 , 문제 , 주말 , 잠깐 . Word Meaning Notes 버스 ko beoseu a bus What it is doing here From lesson 3.10, here as the object of the verb for missing, which takes an object where English "miss" does too. 기차 ko gicha a train What it is doing here From lesson 1.8, here with the verb for riding and the neutral connector rather than the instrumental ending. 시간 ko sigan time What it is doing here From lesson 3.16, here inside a clause meaning "whether there is time", which is the second phase's grammar seen once. 문제 ko munje a problem What it is doing here From lesson 3.6, here in the set phrase that closes a Korean reassurance. 주말 ko jumal the weekend What it is doing here From lesson 5.3, here as the thing wished rather than a point in time, so it carries no ending at all. 잠깐 ko jamkkan a short moment What it is doing here From lesson 3.4, here with the restricting ending, which is the pairing that lesson said would be learned together. Practice Read it aloud twice. Read the whole note aloud once slowly and once at speed, beginning with 오늘 기분이 너무 안 좋아요. Read it without the middle column. Read the fifteen sentences again, covering the analysis. Find the refusal. Say which of 죄송하지만 못하겠어요. and 시간 있는지 잘 모르겠어요. is the soft refusal, and what would happen if you read it literally. Propose and settle. Say which of 내일 몇 시에 만날까요? , 어디서 만날까요? and 화요일에 만나요. propose and which settles, and name the endings. The reassurances. Say 걱정하지 마세요. and 문제 없어요! and 잠깐만 기다리세요. aloud three times eac