besarlalluvia
What does ~지 mean used in various structures? I'm wondering if it actually has a meaning? Is it one of those tiny grammatical features that you would only understand with great fluency of the language possessed by a native speaker? It's used in ~지 모르겠다, and in ~지 않다, in ~지 못 하다 etc. 설명할 수 없으면 걱정마세요. 저는 그냥 궁금해거든요.
Feb 8, 2011 11:00 PM
Answers · 7
1
The -지 in the construction 'verb stem + modifier 지 모르다' and the -지 in 'verb stem + 지 않다/못하다/말다' are not the same '지'. They just sound the same. For 'verb stem + 지 않다/못하다', the '-지' doesn't have any particular meaning on it's own. It's use is purely grammatical in certain negative structures. Note that the '-지' does nominalize what comes before so it's actually possible to add particles like -이/가, -은/는, -을/를, 도 to the '-지'. For example, "가지도 못했어요" would mean "I couldn't even go" or "별로 좋지가 않아요" would mean "It's not particularly good." This will no doubt be a bit of an oversimplification but the -지 in the construction 'verb stem + modifier 지 모르다' indicates possibility or knowledge. Note that you need a tense modifier before the '-지'. Whether you use -은/는 or -을/ㄹ affects the meaning and usage. With -은/는/ㄴ, the '-지' refers to the knowledge of what comes before. Some examples: 어디에 갔는지 모랄요 -> I don't know where it went 뭘 먹었는지 몰라요 -> I don't know what he ate 얼마나 비싼지 몰라요 -> I don't know how expensive it is 몇 시에 갔는지 몰라요 -> I don't know what time he left/went 잘하는지 몰라요 -> I don't know whether he does it well. With -을/ㄹ, it has a greater sense of possibility or uncertainty about something. You can add '도' on the end to emphasize that you think what precedes probably is/was/will be the case. Some examples: 갈지 몰라요 -> I may go (lit, I don't know whether I will go) 갈지도 몰라요 -> I may go (indicates greater likeliness that I will go) 갈지 안 갈지 몰라요 -> I'm not sure whether I'll go or not 밥을 이미 먹었을지도 몰라요 -> He may have already eaten 얼마나 비쌀지 몰라요 -> I don't know expensive it might be 비쌀지도 몰라요 -> It may be expensive (there is an implication here that the speaker suspects it is expensive). Please don't confuse the above with the 'verb stem + ㄴ/은 -지' construction indicating 'time since...' 고향에 간 지 오래 됐어요 -> It's been a long time since I went to my hometown. 밥을 먹은 지 2 시간 됐어요 -> It's been two hours since I last ate. Note that English has started to influence this expression so, sticking with the above examples, one could also say 고향에 안 간 지 오래 됐어요 -> I haven't gone to my hometown in a long time. 밥을 안 먹은 지 2 시간 됐어요 -> I haven't eaten in two hours. The intended meaning is really the same though some would consider the latter two examples not to be proper Korean.
February 9, 2011
Normaly if you put ~지 after Verb or adjective, this Verb+지 is changed to a Noun clause.. ~모르다.(Don't know) you need Object(Noun or Noun clouse) for this verb... 아는지(know +지) 모르다, 좋은지(good +지) 모르다. 바쁜지(busy + 지) 모르다. etc good luck!
February 9, 2011
Thank you :)
February 9, 2011
궁금해거든요 -> 궁금하거든요. '-거든' attaches directly to the verb stem so you don't need the '-어/아' in the middle.
February 9, 2011
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