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HOW TO EXPRESS EMPHASIS IN KOREAN
Today, we’re going to take a look at how to express emphasis in Korean.
You will learn how to say “it is only” and “there is no choice but” to emphasis something that happened.
EMPHASIS WITH ~뿐이다
Expressing emphasis in Korean can be done by adding ~뿐이다 to a verb or to a noun (note that for a verb, the verb is first conjugated with ‘ㄹ’ before adding ~뿐이다).
~뿐이다 has a meaning of ‘it is only’ in English.
PATTERN
Verb + ㄹ 뿐이다
Noun + 뿐이다
| 그의 행동은 그녀를 더 밀어낼뿐이다. | His action will only push her further. |
| 부정적인 생각은 사람을 더 괴롭게 만들 뿐이다. | Negative thoughts only make one suffer |
| 그와 대화 하는 것은 시간 낭비일 뿐이다. | Talking to him is only a waste of time. |
View More Examples:
| 그녀는 자신의 행동에 대해 후회할뿐이다. | She can only regret about her action. |
| 나는 단지 너를 돕고 싶을 뿐이다. | I only want to help you. |
| 그는 너를 믿을 뿐이다. | He could only trust you. |
| 엄마는 내가 잘되기를 원할 뿐이다. | Mom only wants me to do well. |
| 동생은 언니가 돌아오기를 기다릴뿐이다. | Her younger sister can only wait for her older sister. |
| 돈을 모으기 위해 내가 할 수 있는일은 절약 뿐이다. | I can only save money to accumulate wealth. |
| 그 도시에 가는 교통 수단은 기차 뿐이다. | You can only take a train to get to that city. |
| 지금 그가 할 수 있는 것은 약물치료뿐이다. | He can only do the medical therapy now. |
EMPHASIS WITH 밖에 없다
Another way to express emphasis in Korean is conjugating a verb with ~ㄹ 수 밖에없다.
~ㄹ 수 밖에없다 has a meaning of ‘there is no choice but~’ in English.
Nouns can be also used with this expression by conjugating the ‘to be’ verb with the noun.
Example: 여름이다 (to be summer) → 여름일 수 밖에 없다.
PATTERN
Verb / Noun + ~ ㄹ 수 밖에 없다
| 그의 행동은 그녀를 더 밀어낼수밖에 없다. | His action will only push her further. |
| 부정적인 생각은 사람을 더 괴롭게 만들 수밖에 없다. | Negative thoughts only make one suffer. |
View More Examples:
| 그와 대화 하는 것은 시간 낭비일수밖에 없다. | Talking to him is only a waste of time. |
| 그녀는 자신의 행동에 대해 후회할 수밖에 없다. | She can only regret about her action. |
| 동생은 언니가 돌아오기를 기다릴수밖에 없다. | Her younger sister can only wait for her older sister. |
| 나는 단지 너를 돕고 싶을 수밖에없다. | It started raining as soon as I went outside. |
| 그는 너를 믿을 수밖에 없었다. | He could only trust you. |
| 그는 너를 믿을 수밖에 없었다. | He could only trust you. |
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FAQs
How to emphasise in Korean?
다 to a verb or to a noun (note that for a verb, the verb is first conjugated with ‘ㄹ’ before adding ~뿐이다).
~뿐이다 has a meaning of ‘it is only’ in English.
PATTERN
Verb + ㄹ 뿐이다
Noun + 뿐이다
Another way to express emphasis in Korean is conjugating a verb with ~ㄹ 수 밖에없다.
~ㄹ 수 밖에없다 has a meaning of ‘there is no choice but~’ in English.
Nouns can be also used with this expression by conjugating the ‘to be’ verb with the noun.
Example: 여름이다 (to be summer) → 여름일 수 밖에 없다.
PATTERN
Verb / Noun + ~ ㄹ 수 밖에 없다
How to use 뿐이다?
Expressing emphasis in Korean can be done by adding ~뿐이다 to a verb or to a noun (note that for a verb, the verb is first conjugated with ‘ㄹ’ before adding ~뿐이다).
~뿐이다 has a meaning of ‘it is only’ in English.
PATTERN
Verb + ㄹ 뿐이다
Noun + 뿐이다
Example:
그의 행동은 그녀를 더 밀어낼뿐이다.
His action will only push her further.
How to use 밖에 없다?
Another way to express emphasis in Korean is conjugating a verb with ~ㄹ 수 밖에없다.
~ㄹ 수 밖에없다 has a meaning of ‘there is no choice but~’ in English.
Nouns can be also used with this expression by conjugating the ‘to be’ verb with the noun.
Example: 여름이다 (to be summer) → 여름일 수 밖에 없다.
PATTERN
Verb / Noun + ~ ㄹ 수 밖에 없다
Example:
그의 행동은 그녀를 더 밀어낼수밖에 없다.
His action will only push her further.
How to express surprise in Korean?
To express surprise in Korean you can use the following sentence structures:
Familiar speech: Subject + Verb + (는) 구나 / 네 / 군
기차가 좀 늦구나.
기차가 좀 늦네.
기차가 좀 늦군.
(I didn’t know that) the train is late.
—
Moderately formal: Subject + Verb + (는)군요 / 네요
그녀가 부산에서 오는군요.
그녀가 부산에서 오네요.
(I didn’t know that) she is coming from Busan.
—
Learn more about how to express surprise in Korean in this lesson.
Where to find more lessons like this?
You can visit our Korean Grammar Bank for more lessons on levels A1, A2 and B1.
Can I learn Korean with LTL?
Yes!
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Feel free to contact us if you need to speak directly with a LTL Student Advisor.