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Milja 밀리야
How to say 'BUT' in Korean?
Hello everyone!
I have a question about saying 'but' in Korean.
I have heard that 하지만 is one way of saying it, but what's the exact meaning and how to use it?
Can I say, for example...
날씨는 말가요 하지만 바람 불어요.
Are there other ways to say 'but' and could you provide examples?
Thank you!
Nov 6, 2016 8:12 PM
Answers · 1
2
'BUT' in Korean.
1. 그렇지만, 하지만 => used in the beginning of a sentence for an emphatic "but" or "however".
2. ~지만 => verb (connective) conjugation for "but" or "even though".
* You can think of 하지만 as a special case of ~지만. 하다 often stands in for other verbs - in this case, 하다 is a shorthand for what was just said. Since ~지만 means "but", "even though" or "still", 하지만's exact meaning is "That's true, however ...".
3. 그러나, 하나 => Similar to 그렇지만 and 하지만.
4. ~(으)나 => similar to ~지만.
(Again 그러나 and 하나 are special cases of ~(으)나. ~(으)나 has a literary feel)
Examples:
- 날씨는 맑아요. 하지만[그렇지만, 그러나] 바람이 불어요. (It's [The weather is] clear. But the wind blows.)
- 날씨는 맑지만 [맑으나] 바람이 불어요. (It's clear but the wind blows.)
- 월요일이었다. 그렇지만[하지만, 그러나] 그는 출근하지 않았다. (It was Monday. But he didn't show up at work.)
- 월요일이었지만 [일요일이었으나] 그는 출근하지 않았다. (It was Monday but he didn't show up at work.)
In terms of their meanings, ~(으)나 is closer to "but" while ~지만 is more like "even though".
But ~(으)나 sounds literary and is not used that much in speech, so ~지만 is probably the best phrase for "but" overall.
November 6, 2016
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Milja 밀리야
Language Skills
English, Finnish, German, Korean, Russian, Swedish
Learning Language
Korean
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