[Learn Korean E30] “(으)니까”, “못”

안녕하세요. 토미입니다.

The theme of today’s class is【아직 운전 못 해요?】“You still can’t drive?”

Today, we will learn (으)니까 (because), and 못 “can’t.”

By learning (으)니까 “because,” you will be able to say “I did this because ~”

In addition, today, actually I have a special gift for you, you know.
That is a TEST! Lesson 26 to 30 will be on the test.
I put a lot of example sentences on the exam, so I am 100 percent sure that you can strengthen the basics of grammar.

I am certain your effort will bear fruits soon, and you can pass TOPIK with a confidence, and be the super master of Korean!

그럼 시작할게요.

Listen to the Conversation

The theme of today’s conversation is 【아직 운전 못 해요?】 “You still can’t drive?”

Tammy is asking Sangmin what he has been doing these days.

Please listen to their conversation and try to figure out what kind of activity Sangmin wants to challenge.

그럼 들어보세요！

• 토미：상민 씨, 최근에 뭐 하고 지내세요?
  Tammy：Sangmin, what do you do these days?
• 상민：저는 운전면허증을 따고 싶어서 밤에 연습하고 있어요.
  Sangmin：Because I want to get a driver’s license, I am practicing at night.
• 토미：상민 씨는 아직 운전 못 해요?
  Tammy：You still can’t drive, Sangmin?
• 상민：네, 아직이에요. 저는 면허를 따서 드라이브하고 싶어요.
  Sangmin：No, not yet. I want to get the license and go for a drive.
• 토미：드라이브 좋네요. 하지만 밤에는 위험할 수도 있으니까 조심하세요.
  Tammy：It’s nice to go for a drive. But, it may be dangerous at night, so please be careful.

Vocabulary and Phrases

Now, I will explain the vocabulary and phrases in the conversation.

• 토미：상민 씨, 최근에 뭐 하고 지내세요?

최근 means “recently / these days.”
We learned similar word with 요즘 before.
Along with these, there is also the word 요새.
These three words all mean “recently/these days.”

• 상민：저는 운전면허증을 따고 싶어서 밤에 연습하고 있어요.

운전면허증 means a “driver’s license” and 신분증 means an “identification card.”

따다 means “to get (a license or a qualification).”
So, if you say 올림픽에서 금메달을 따고 싶어요, it means “I want to get a gold medal at the Olympics.”

밤 is night.
Let’s also learn how to say morning and daytime.
아침 is “morning” and 낮 is “daytime.”

• 토미：상민 씨는 아직 운전 못 해요?

아직 means “yet/still.”
Then what does 아직도 mean?
The word 아직도 is composed of 아직 “still” and 도 “also~,” which in together means “still~.”
So 아직도 운전 못 해요? sounds more emphasizing on the fact that he “still” did not get a license, than using the word 아직 “yet.”

• 상민：네, 아직이에요. 저는 면허를 따서 드라이브하고 싶어요.

드라이브하다 means “to go driving” and it is a combination of English and Korean.

• 토미：드라이브 좋네요. 하지만 밤에는 위험할 수도 있으니까 조심하세요.

위험하다 means “dangerous.”
You can often see 위험 written on signs in Korea.
It means “danger,” so stay away from it.

Next, we learned in the 29th lesson about 할 수 있다/없다 which means “can / can’t.”
Actually, you can use this expression not only to say “can,” but also to refer to possibility, as in today’s conversation.
Tammy said 밤에는 위험할 수도 있다, which means “it may be dangerous at night.”

In this case, the nuance of 할 수 있다 is like “may be~” in English, which shows possibility, and you can use this with verbs as well as adjectives.

And when describing such possibility, you can use (으)ㄹ 수도 있다/없다, sometimes with 도 in it to emphasize the possibility.

조심하다 means “to be careful.”
조심 itself is a noun, which means “to be careful.”
When it comes to 불조심, 불 means “fire,” so it means “beware of fire” or “be careful of fire.”

Grammar

(으)니까 (because~, so)

You use (으)니까 to express a reason.
So it means “because/so.” You can connect two sentences with (으)니까.

Next, let’s learn how to use (으)니까.
After a verb stem, you need to add the following:

① First, when a verb stem has a final consonant, you add 으니까.
So, 먹다 “to eat” will be “먹으니까”

② Second, when a verb stem does not have a final consonant, you just add 니까.
So, 가다 “to go” would be 가니까

From now, I will tell you irregulars.

③ Third, for ㄹ irregular, you drop ㄹ, goodbye ㄹ and add 니까 only.
As an example, 만들다 “to make” is going to be 만드니까.

④ Fourth, for ㄷ irregular, change ㄷ final consonant to ㄹ and add 으니까.
So, 듣다 “to listen” would be 들으니까.

⑤ Lastly, for ㅂ irregular, remove ㅂ final consonant and add 우니까.
So, 춥다 “to be cold” is going to be 추우니까.

The past tense is [-았/었으니까].
For nouns, you just add (이)니까.

When the last letter of a noun has a final consonant, you use 이니까, and the last letter of a noun does not have a final consonant, you just need to add 니까.

Let’s check our understanding by going through the phrases in today’s conversation.

First of all, let’s look at an example of the first case: a verb with a final consonant.

Ex.1)
밤에는 위험할 수도 있으니까 조심하세요.
It may be dangerous at night, so please be careful.

Here, the word 있다 has ㅆ final consonant, so you add 으니까 to the stem and it becomes 있으니까.

Next, let’s go through an example of the second case: a verb stem without a final consonant.

Ex.2)
화장실 냄새가 나니까 창문을 좀 열어 주세요.
The toilet smells, so please open the window a bit.

The word 냄새가 나다 “to smell” does not have a final consonant, so you add 니까 and say 나니까 “it smells, so~.”

Let’s check the third case: a verb with ㄹ final consonant.

Ex.3)
서울까지는 너무 머니까 오늘은 쉬고 가세요.
It is a very long way to Seoul, so please take a rest here for today.

Here, the stem of 멀다 “to be far” has ㄹ final consonant, so we drop the ㄹ, goodbye ㄹ and add 니까 to say 머니까.

Next is the fourth case: verb with ㄷ irregular.

Ex.4)
저는 매일 걸으니까 건강해요.
I walk every day, so I am healthy.

걷다 “to walk” has ㄷ final consonant. You change ㄷ final consonant to ㄹ, and add 으니까 to say 걸으니까.

Quiz

What goes into the parentheses?

① 내일은 (    ) 일찍 자요.
Tomorrow is the field trip, so I’m going to bed early.

(1)소풍이니까 (2)소풍니까

The answer is (1).
Since 소풍 a “field trip” is a noun with ㅇ final consonant, you combine it with 이니까 to say 소풍이니까 “a field trip, so~.”

The whole sentence would be 내일은 (소풍이니까) 일찍 자요.

② 일찍 (    ) 술이라도 같이 마실까요?
I left work early, so shall we go drinking together?

(1)퇴근했으니까 (2)퇴근하니까

Here, the past tense of 퇴근하다 “to leave work” is 퇴근했다.
Since the stem of 퇴근했다 has a final consonant, you add 으니까 to say 퇴근했으니까.

The whole sentence would be 일찍 (퇴근했으니까) 술이라도 같이 마실까요?

못 (can’t~)

Next, we will learn 못 “can’t~.”
The way to apply this grammar is similar to 안 “don’t~.”

You put this before a verb in a sentence.
And for verbs that finish with –하다 like 수영하다 “to swim,” you split 수영 and 하다 and put 못 in the middle.

Ex.1)
아직 운전 못 해요?
You still can’t drive?

Here, you separate the verb 운전하다 “to drive” into two parts, 운전 and 하다 and add 못 in the middle.
Then it becomes 운전 못 하다.
After this, you make it to 요 form. So, it becomes 운전 못 해요?
If you change this to (으)ㄹ 수 없어요, it is going to be 아직 운전할 수 없어요? Those are same meaning.

Ex.2)
매워서 못 먹어요.
It’s spicy, so I can’t eat

In this sentence, you add 못 before 먹어요 “I eat” to say 못 먹어요 “I can’t eat.”
If you change this to (으)ㄹ 수 없어요, it is going to be 먹을 수 없어요.

Quiz

What goes into the parentheses?

①저는 스키를 (        ).
I can’t ski.

(1)탈 수 있어요 (2)못 타요

The answer is (2). 스키를 타다 is “to ski.”
All you have to do is to put 못 before the verb, so it becomes 스키를 못 타요.
If you change this to (으)ㄹ 수 없어요, it becomes 탈 수 없어요.

The whole sentence would be 저는 스키를 (못 타요).

② 늦잠 자서 (        ).
I overslept, so I couldn’t wake up.

(1)못 일어났어요 (2)일어났어요

The answer is (1).
일어나다 is “to wake up.” You need to add 못 before 일어나다 to say 못 일어나다 “cannot wake up.”
After that, you want to make it into a past tense, so it is going to be 못 일어났어요 “could not wake up.”
If you change this to (으)ㄹ 수 없어요, it is going to be 일어날 수 없었어요.

I will read the whole sentence 늦잠 자서 (못 일어났어요).

Conversation (Korean only)

Let’s listen to it one more time, but this time only in Korean.
You should be able to understand much better than in the beginning.

그럼 확인해 보세요！

• 토미：상민 씨, 최근에 뭐 하고 지내세요?
• 상민：저는 운전면허증을 따고 싶어서 밤에 연습하고 있어요.
• 토미：상민 씨는 아직 운전 못 해요?
• 상민：네, 아직이에요. 저는 면허를 따서 드라이브하고 싶어요.
• 토미：드라이브 좋네요. 하지만 밤에는 위험할 수도 있으니까 조심하세요.

Conversation Practice

I’ll play the audio one sentence at a time, so please read along with me.

그럼 큰소리로 읽어 보세요！

• 토미：상민 씨, 최근에 뭐 하고 지내세요?
  Tammy：Sangmin, what do you do these days?
• 상민：저는 운전면허증을 따고 싶어서 밤에 연습하고 있어요.
  Sangmin：Because I want to get a driver’s license, I am practicing at night.
• 토미：상민 씨는 아직 운전 못 해요?
  Tammy：You still can’t drive, Sangmin?
• 상민：네, 아직이에요. 저는 면허를 따서 드라이브하고 싶어요.
  Sangmin：No, not yet. I want to get the license and go for a drive.
• 토미：드라이브 좋네요. 하지만 밤에는 위험할 수도 있으니까 조심하세요.
  Tammy：It’s nice to go for a drive. But, it may be dangerous at night, so please be careful.

Homework

Then let me announce today’s homework.
We have two homework assignments as usual.

The first homework is to use (으)니까 “because/so” and 못 “cannot” in a sentence. For example, I would write a sentence like this.

• 나는 애기가 있으니까 밤에는 일 못 해요.
  I have a baby, so I can’t work at night.

The second homework is memorizing vocabulary.
Please memorize 40 words from #801 to #840 on page 11 of the Elementary Vocabulary List.

In addition, this is the 30th lesson.
So, I have a special gift only for you.
That is a special test for Lesson No.26 to 30

I used a lot of example sentences in the exam, so you can deepen your understanding through it.
Keep up your good work.
그럼 오늘도 행복 가득, 웃음 가득한 하루 되세요！ 한국어 화이팅, 화이팅, 화이팅！！