[Learn Korean E29] “-아/어서”, “-(으)ㄹ 수 있어요/없어요”

안녕하세요. 토미입니다.
Let’s have fun learning a cheerful language, Korean.

The theme of today’s class is【유학 가서 한국어를 공부했어요】“I went to study abroad and studied Korean.”

Today, we will learn [-아/어서] “because/and,” which is a word that expresses a cause and a reason, and [-(으)ㄹ 수 있어요/없어요] “can/can’t.”

We will go into depth about [~아/어서] “because/and,” which many Korean learners find difficult to understand.

But you can do it, because you are smart and wonderful.
I am so excited to see you getting the highest score on TOPIK and being the super master of Korean!

그럼 시작할게요.

Listen to the Conversation

The theme of today’s conversation is【유학 가서 공부했어요】“I went to study abroad and studied.”

Sangmin and Tammy are talking about how Tammy learned Korean.

Let’s listen to their conversation first.
그럼 들어보세요！

• 상민：토미 씨는 어떻게 한국말을 배웠어요?
  Sangmin：How did you learn Korean, Tammy?
• 토미：중학교 때 한국에 유학 가서 어학원에서 공부했어요.
  Tammy：During middle school, I went to study abroad in Korea and studied at a language institute.
• 상민：발음은 처음부터 잘할 수 있었어요?
  Sangmin：Was your pronunciation good from the beginning?
• 토미：설마요. 처음에는 잘 안 돼서 고생을 많이 했죠.
  Tammy：No way. I couldn’t pronounce well at first, so I had a lot of trouble.

Vocabulary and Phrases

Did you hear how Tammy learned Korean?
Yes, she studied abroad in Korea in her middle school.

Now, I will explain the vocabulary and phrases while reviewing the conversation one by one.

• 상민：토미 씨는 어떻게 한국말을 배웠어요?
• 토미：중학교 때 한국에 유학 가서 어학원에서 공부했어요.

[유학가다] is “to study abroad” and [유학생] is an “international student.”
If you say [저는 유학생입니다], it means “I am an international student.”

[어학원] means a “language institute.”
You can also say [어학당] instead.

• 상민：발음은 처음부터 잘할 수 있었어요?

[발음] means “pronunciation.”
If you say [저는 발음을 개선하고 싶어요].
It means “I want to improve my pronunciation.”

• 토미：설마요. 처음에는 잘 안돼서 고생을 많이 했죠.

[설마] is “no way.”
To be more polite, you can say [설마요] like Tammy used in the conversation.

[잘 안되다] means “to not go well.”
For example, [일이 잘 안돼서 걱정입니다.] would mean “Things are not going well, so I am worried.”

[고생을 하다] means “to go through hardships”, and [고생하셨네요] means “you went through a hardship.”
You use this phrase to comfort someone who made a lot of effort to do something.

Grammar

-아/어서

Now, let’s learn the grammar, [-아/어서] “because/and.”

First of all, there are 2 points that you need to keep in mind.

Point 1
You use [아/어서] to connect two phrases, but the first phrase must be a precondition, cause, or reason for the second phrase.
In English, it is the same as “because/so.”

Point 2
You can use this grammar when there is a close relationship between the first and the second phrases in a series of actions.

So, when the action of the second phrase is impossible without the first phrase, you use this grammar.
This expression is more similar to “and~.”

It is very easy to make [-아/어서 form].

First, you think about [요 form] of a verb.
Then remove [요] from the [요 form] and add [서] instead.

When you use a noun, it becomes [-(이)라서].
If the last letter of a noun has a final consonant, it is [-이라서].
If the last letter of a noun does not have a final consonant, it becomes [-라서].

Now, let’s look at some phrases from today’s conversation together.

처음에는 발음이 잘 안돼서 고생을 많이 했죠.
I couldn’t pronounce well at first, so I had a lot of trouble.

You try to connect two sentences with [아/어서] because these two are related to each other.
In point 1, I said, the first phrase is the precondition, cause, or reason for the second phrase.
In this sentence, the first phrase is [처음에는 발음이 잘 안되다] “I couldn’t pronounce well at first.”
This is a reason.

The second phrase, [고생을 많이 했죠]. “I had a lot of trouble” is the result of the first phrase.

So, you use [아/어서] to connect two sentences.
Now let’s connect them together.

The original form of [안돼서] is [안되다], “to not go well.”
The [요 form] of [안되다] is [안돼요].

When you remove [요] and add [서], it becomes [안돼서].

I will read the whole sentence again. [처음에는 발음이 잘 안돼서 고생을 많이 했죠].

Let’s look at the next example.

한국에 유학 가서 어학원에서 공부했어요.
I went to study abroad in Korea and studied at a language institute.

We are connecting two sentences with [아/어서].
These two are closely related to each other.

The first sentence was “I went to study abroad.”
And this is a precondition of the second sentence, which is “I studied at a language institute.”

If Tammy did not go study abroad, she would not be able to “study at a language institute.”

So the action of the second phrase is impossible without the first phrase.
That’s why you use [아/어서].

Let’s take a look at [유학가서] in this sentence.

The [요 form] of [유학 가다] “to study abroad” is [유학 가요].
Here, you remove [요] and add [서] instead, to say [유학 가서].

The whole sentence will be [한국에 유학 가서 어학원에서 공부했어요].

Next, let’s take a look at a final example with nouns.

저는 소설가라서 책을 많이 읽어요.
I am a novelist, so I read a lot of books.

Here, [소설가] does not have a final consonant, so you combine it with [라서] and it becomes [소설가라서] “I am a novelist, so~”

I will read it again. [저는 소설가라서 책을 많이 읽어요].

Quiz

What goes into the parentheses?

① 한참 동안 소식이 (       ) 걱정했어요.
I haven’t heard from you for a while, so I was worried.

(1)없어서  (2)없서

The answer is (1).
Here, [소식이 없다] is “to not hear (from someone).”
The [요 form] of [없다] is [없어요].
You remove [요] from [없어요] and add [서] to say [없어서].

The whole sentence would be 한참 동안 소식이 (없어서) 걱정했어요. 

② 그 성격(       ) 친구가 없죠.
Because of that personality, he doesn’t have any friends.

(1)이라서  (2)라서

It’s a little bit of a mean sentence, but the answer is (1).
Before we check the grammar, let’s look at the phrase [그 성격].
We have learned that [그] is the word refers to something that both a speaker and a listener know, such as “that something” in English.

Next, we will check the grammar.
[성격] “personality” has [ㄱ] final consonant, so you add [이라서] and say [성격이라서].

The whole sentence would be 그 성격(이라서) 친구가 없죠.

-(으)ㄹ 수 있어요/없어요

[-(으)ㄹ 수 있다/없다] means “can/can not” and their polite(요) forms are [(으)ㄹ 수 있어요/없어요].

You can use these to express someone’s ability or potential.
So, basically, you use them with verbs.

Please pay attention here!
When you write it, it is [ㄹ]ｖ[수]ｖ[있어요].
Be sure to put spaces before and after [수].

One more thing you should keep in mind here is that you need to use the object marker [을/를] together with this grammar.

So, if you say, “I can/cannot do something,” this “something” part is going to be expressed with the object marker, [을/를].

There are 3 patterns.

When a verb stem has a final consonant, you use [을 수 있어요/없어요].
When a verb stem does not have a final consonant, you use [ㄹ 수 있어요/없어요].
When a verb has [ㄹ] as the final consonant, you just add [수 있어요/없어요].

Then, let’s look at an example with a final consonant.

표를 여기서 받을 수 있어요?
Can I get a ticket here?

You use the object marker [표를] because you are using [-(으)ㄹ 수 있다/없다] “can/cannot” expression.

And [받다] “to receive/to get” has [ㄷ] final consonant, so you combine it with [을 수 있어요] and say [받을 수 있어요].

Next, let’s take a look at a pattern without a final consonant.

한국말을 할 수 있어요?
Can you speak Korean?

First, let’s look at [한국말을].
Again, you use the object marker [을].

Let’s look at the grammar.

[하다] does not have a final consonant, so you add [ㄹ 수 있어요] and it becomes [할 수 있어요].
When you make a question, you raise your tone at the end.

I will read the whole sentence again. [한국말을 할 수 있어요?]

Next, let’s look at an example that has [ㄹ] final consonant.

김치는 만들 수 없어요.
I can’t make Kimchi.

Since the word [만들다] “to make” already has [ㄹ] final consonant, you replace [다] with [수 없어요] and say [만들 수 없어요].

Earlier, we learned that you use the object marker [을/를] with [할 수 있다/없다].

But in this sentence, it says [김치는].
I used the topic marker.

Why is that? It is because if you say [김치는 만들 수 없어요], it gives a nuance that although you cannot make kimchi, you can make other dishes.

Quiz

What goes into the parentheses?

① 저는 이 상황을 (　　　).
I can explain this situation.

(1)설명할 수 없어요  (2)설명할 수 있어요

The answer is (2). [설명하다] is “To explain.”
Since its verb stem does not have a final consonant, you add [ㄹ 수 있어요].
Then it becomes [설명할 수 있어요].
Let’s also pay attention to 이 [상황을].
I used the object marker [을].

The whole sentence would be 저는 이 상황을 (설명할 수 있어요).

② 영자 신문을 ( ).
I can read English newspapers.

(1)읽을 수 있어요  (2)읽을 수 없어요

The answer is (1).
“To read” is [읽다(익따)] and [읽다] has [ㄺ] final consonant, so you add [을 수 있어요] and it becomes [읽을 수 있어요].

The whole sentence would be 영자 신문을 (읽을 수 있어요).

Conversation (Korean only)

Now you can connect two sentences with [아/어서] (because/and) and also express [-(으)ㄹ 수 있다/없다] “can/cannot.”

Let’s look at the conversation again and check how much you understood my lesson.

I am sure you can feel more comfortable listening to it this time.

그럼 확인해 보세요！

• 상민：토미 씨는 어떻게 한국말을 배웠어요?
• 토미：중학교 때 한국에 유학 가서 어학원에서 공부했어요.
• 상민：발음은 처음부터 잘할 수 있었어요?
• 토미：설마요. 처음에는 잘 안 돼서 고생을 많이 했죠.

Conversation Practice

Now that we can understand all the contents of the conversation, let’s practice reading it out loud.

그럼 큰소리로 읽어 보세요！

• 상민：토미 씨는 어떻게 한국말을 배웠어요?
  Sangmin：How did you learn Korean, Tammy?
• 토미：중학교 때 한국에 유학 가서 어학원에서 공부했어요.
  Tammy：During middle school, I went to study abroad in Korea and studied at a language institute.
• 상민：발음은 처음부터 잘할 수 있었어요?
  Sangmin：Was your pronunciation good from the beginning?
• 토미：설마요. 처음에는 잘 안 돼서 고생을 많이 했죠.
  Tammy：No way. I couldn’t pronounce well at first, so I had a lot of trouble.

Homework

We have two assignments as usual.
The first homework is, make two sentences for using [아/어서] “because/so that/and” and [할 수 있다/없다] “can/cannot.”

In the first sentence, write about what you are making an effort on these days and the result you are expecting from it.

For example, you may write

• 한국어를 공부해서 자막없이 드라마를 보고 싶어요.
  I want to study Korean so that I can understand K-dramas without subtitles.

For the second sentence, please write about a great skill that you have and would like to share with me!

For example, I would write

• 저는 응원봉을 돌릴 수 있어요.
  I can spin a baton.

The second homework is memorizing vocabulary.
Please memorize 40 words from #761 to #800 on page 10 of the Elementary Vocabulary list.

You can take a vocabulary quiz on these 40 words for free.

That’s all for today. I am so proud of you.
그럼 오늘도 행복 가득, 웃음 가득한 하루 되세요！ 한국어 화이팅, 화이팅, 화이팅！！