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sam
Does this sentence make sense?
So I was on Rosetta Stone and I started a new lesson, but the example sentence didn't really make sense to me. Here's the scenario.
Boy: 왜 욕실에 계세요?
Girl: 손을 씻어서 욕실에 있어요.
Boy: 왜 손을 씻으세요?
Girl: 더러워서 씻어서요.
The last sentence is what confused me because it sound to me like she's saying 'dirty washing' which doesn't make any sense, and i didn't understand why she didn't just say my hands were dirty or something along those lines. My question is does this sentence make sense or am I just stupid? Any help would be much appreciated.
Sep 20, 2019 7:24 PM
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Answers · 2
The last sentence is wrong as written. 더러워서 씻어요 is correct, but 더러워서 씻어서요 doesn't make sense. Since -서 indicates a reason, it is like "Because I wash my hands because they're dirty", and we don't say it like that.
The second sentence is a little strange too, although not completely wrong.
1. 손을 씻어서 욕실에 있어요. (strange because -서 indicates a state that is a reason for something)
2. 손을 씻느라고 욕실에 있어요. (natural. -느라고 shows an action that affects another).
3. 손을 씻으려고 욕실에 있어요. (natural. -려고 indicates a purpose).
They roughly correspond to (1) I'm in the bathroom because I have washed my hand, (2) (because I'm) washing my hands, (3) to wash my hands.
September 21, 2019
더러워서 means 'because my hands are dirty'.
So "더러워서 씻어요." means "I am washing my hands because they are dirty."
And it makes sense.
Hope it helps and please follow me at Korean class.canada on Instagram!
September 21, 2019
