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Yana
ㄴ 지 meaning
I learn Korean by myself so these examples are taken from howtolearnkorean website. I got confused in explanations, so I need your help
밥을 먹은 지 5분 됐어요 can both mean " I have been eating for 5 minutes" (I'm currently eating) and "it has been 5 minutes since I last ate" (same as "밥을 안 먹은 지 5분 됐어요 ", I finished eating) depending on context, right? so, can "여자 친구랑 사귄 지 6개월 됐어요" mean "I have been dating my girlfriend for 6 months" and " It have been 6 months since we dated" (not currently dating, we broke up)? or the second translation isn't right and I should use "여자 친구랑 안 사귄 지 6개월 됐어요" or "여자 친구랑 헤어진 지 6개월 됐어요"?
Aug 27, 2019 11:18 PM
Answers · 1
Yes, you have to understand those sentences depending on the context.
I think "~ㄴ 지" signifies "The action started BUT there's no signification whether the action is finished or not".
밥을 먹은 지 5분 됐어요. = It's for sure that you started "eating" but this sentence doesn't show whether you finished eating or not. So you can translate in English like "It's been 5 minutes that I started eating.(I'm still eating.)" or "It's been 5 minutes that I finished eating."
여자 친구랑 사귄 지 6개월 됐어요. I understand this sentence that you're still seeing her. If you broke up with her, Koreans would say "여자친구와 헤어진 지 6개월 됐어요=I broke up with my ex-girlfrend 6 monthes ago AND I don't have a girlfrend now.".
Maybe "~ㄴ 지" is quite confusing but I think you can understand depending on the context.
Cheers! :)
August 28, 2019
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Yana
Language Skills
English, Korean
Learning Language
Korean
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