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To make/To let…: ~게 하다
~So that, In order to, To allow for: ~게
Vocabulary
Click on the English word to see information and examples of that word in use. Use these sentences to give yourself a feel for how each word can be used, and maybe even to expose yourself to the grammar that you will be learning shortly.
A PDF file neatly presenting these words and extra information can be found here.
Nouns:
부전공 = minor (in university)
Common Usages:
부전공을 하다 = to minor in, to do a minor
Examples:
저의 전공은 철학인데 부전공은 화학이에요 = My major is philosophy, but my minor is chemistry
저는 학생이 더 좋은 부전공을 선택하게 했어요 = I made the student select a better minor
우리 대학교에서 가장 인기가 많은 부전공은 경영이에요 = The most popular minor in our university is management
형식 = form, formality, format
Common Usages:
자유형식 = free style
Examples:
저는 학생들이 이 형식을 따르게 했어요 = I made the students follow this format
저는 한국의 형식적인 결혼식을 별로 좋아하지 않아요
= I don’t really like Korean style weddings
이 서류를 자유 형식으로 작성 후 내일까지 제출해 주세요
= After filling out this document (without any form), please submit it by tomorrow
진로 = one's career path
The pronunciation of this word is closer to “질로”
Common Usages:
진로탐색 = career exploration
Examples:
저는 우리 아들이 다른 진로를 고르게 할 거예요
= I’m going to make our son choose a different (career) path
저의 가장 큰 고민은 제 미래의 진로를 결정하는 거예요
= My biggest worry is deciding my future career path
각자 자신에 맞는 진로에 따라 공부를 하는 것이 매우 중요해요
= It is very important for each person to study something that matches their career path
과정 = process
Common Usages:
교과 과정 = curriculum
Examples:
한국으로 이민하는 과정은 복잡해요
= The process of immigrating to Korea is complicated
어려운 시련을 극복하는 과정에서 인생에서 제일 중요한 것을 배웠어요
= I learned that overcoming difficult hardships is the most important thing in life
저는 학생들이 과정을 더 잘 이해할 수 있게 다시 설명해 주었어요
= I explained it again to the students so that they could understand the process better
축제 = festival
The pronunciation of this word is closer to “축쩨”
Common Usages:
벗꽃축제 = cherry blossom festival
불꽃축제 = fireworks festival
Examples:
제가 축제에 가게 해 주세요 = Please let me go to the festival
전 세계에서 온 관광객들은 그 축제에 갔어요
= Tourists from all over the world went to that festival
그 여자가 입고 있는 옷은 이 축제에 알맞아요
= The clothes that girl is wearing is perfect for this occasion/festival
목록 = list, inventory
The pronunciation of this word is closer to “몽녹”
Examples:
이 책을 종이에 나온 목록에 따라 정리해 주세요
= Please organize this book according to the list on the paper
무엇을 사야 되는지를 깜빡하지 않게 목록을 작성하세요
= Make a list so that you don’t forget what you have to buy
창고에 어떤 제품이 있는지 목록을 한번 확인해야 될 것 같아요
= I’ll need to check the inventory list (once) to see which items we have in the warehouse
상점 = store
Examples:
보통 한국에서는 상점이 밤 늦게까지 열어요 = Stores in Korea are usually open until late at night
저는 딸을 상점에서 조금 더 둘러보게 했어요 = I’m going to let my daughter look around the store a little bit more
시야 = one’s field of vision
Common Usages:
시야가 넓다 = to have a broad outlook
시야를 넓히다 = to broaden one’s outlook
시야가 흐리다 = for one’s vision to be blurry
Examples:
뒤에 있는 차가 저의 시야에 있게 거울을 조금 움직였어요
= I moved the mirror a little bit so that the cars behind me would be in my field of vision
제가 여행을 좋아하는 가장 큰 이유는 제 시야를 넓힐 수 있기 때문이에요
= The biggest reason why I like travelling is that it broadens one’s outlook
갑자기 시야가 흐려지기 시작하면 먼저 병원에 가서 눈 검사를 해야 돼요
= If your vision suddenly starts to get blurry, you must first go to the hospital and get an eye exam
도구 = tools
Common Usages:
세면도구 = toiletries
Examples:
도구를 찾을 수 있게 불을 켰어요
= I turned on the light so that I could find my tools
적절한 도구가 있으면 저는 무엇이든지 만들 수 있어요
= I can make anything if I have the right tools
원숭이는 도구를 사용해서 음식을 먹을 줄 아는 똑똑한 동물이에요
= Monkeys are smart animals that know how to use tools to eat
햇빛 = sun light
The pronunciation of this word is closer to “해삗”
Notes: This word contains a 사이시옷. For information about this, see Lesson 131.
Common Usages:
햇빛이 들어오다 = for sunlight to come in
Examples:
저는 햇빛이 안 들어오게 했어요 = I made it so the sunlight won’t come in
햇빛이 너무 세서 로션을 바르세요 = Put some lotion on because the sunlight is really strong
햇빛이 안 들어오게 커튼을 내려 주세요
= Pull the curtains down so that the sunlight doesn’t come in
햇빛으로 지면이 이렇게 뜨거울 수 있구나
= I didn’t realize that the earth’s surface could get so hot from sunlight
Verbs:
도달하다 = to arrive, to reach
Notes: This word usually isn’t used to indicate that one arrives at a destination. The word 도착하다 is typically used for that meaning. 도달하다 is usually used when a figurative place is reached.
Common Usages:
한계에 도달하다 = to reach a limit
목표에 도달하다 = to arrive at/reach a goal
정상에 도달하다 = to arrive at/reach the top
Examples:
우리가 어쩔 수 없는 문제에 도달했다
= We arrived at the problem that we can’t do anything about
저는 선수가 자기 한계에 도달할 때까지 계속 운동하게 했어요
= I made the athlete keep going until he reached his limit
목표에 도달해서 느끼는 성취감은 무엇과도 바꿀 수 없는 느낌이에요
= The feeling of achievement after reaching a goal is an irreplaceable feeling
싣다 = to load
The pronunciation of this word is closer to “싣따”
Common Usages:
물건을 싣다 = to load items
이삿짐을 싣다 = to load moving boxes
Examples:
짐을 그냥 트렁크에 실어요 = Just put/load the suitcases/luggage in the trunk
노동자들이 박스를 트럭에 싣게 했어요 = I made the workers load the boxes onto the truck
내일 이사를 가서 이삿짐을 싣기 위해 차를 빌렸어요 = I am moving tomorrow, so I rented a car so that I can load the moving boxes
둘러보다 = to look around
Examples:
이 주변을 그냥 둘러볼까요? = Shall we just look around this area?
저는 딸을 상점에서 조금 더 둘러보게 했어요
= I’m going to let my daughter look around the store a little bit more
집을 구하기 전에 그 집 안을 유심히 둘러봐야 돼요
= Before you buy/rent a house, you need to look around the inside of the house carefully
들여다보다 = to look into
Examples:
저는 친구가 그 이상한 집을 들여다보게 했어요
= I made my friend look into that weird house
사람의 마음을 잘 들여다보는 것은 뛰어난 재능이에요
= Knowing how to read people’s minds is an outstanding talent
박스에 뭐가 들어 있는지 확인하게 한번 들여다보세요
= Look into the box to check what is inside
누군가가 자꾸 저희 집안을 들여다봐서 경찰에 신고했어요
= Somebody keeps looking into our house, so I reported it to the police
내다보다 = to look out of
Common Usages:
In English, we say “to look into the future.” In Korean, they use the verb “내다보다,” which would actually translate to “to look out to the future.” For example:
앞을 내다보다 = to look into the future
멀리 내다보다 = to look far away, to look into the future
미래를 내다보다 = to look into the future
Examples:
미래를 내다보고 그에 따라 준비를 하는 사람들은 성공할 수 있어요
= People who look into the future and prepare accordingly succeed
무엇이든지 결정을 할 때 멀리 내다보고 생각을 한 후 결정해야 돼요
= Whatever it is, when you make a decision, you should make your decision after looking at/considering the future
심심한 학생은 수업 시간 동안 집중하지 않고 그냥 밖을 내다보고 있었어요
= The bored student in class wasn’t concentrating and was just looking outside the window
노크하다 = to knock
Examples:
애기가 깨지 않게 조용히 노크해 주세요 = Knock quietly so that the baby doesn’t wake up
제가 제일 싫어하는 사람은 바로 노크를 하지 않고 방에 들어오는 사람이에요 = People I hate the most are those who enter a room without knocking
성취하다 = to accomplish
The noun form of this word (“성취”) translates to “an accomplishment” or “an achievement”
Common Usages:
성취감 = the feeling of achievement
Examples:
선생님들은 학생들이 목표를 성취하게 하기 위해 열심히 일해요
= Teachers work hard so that students can achieve their goals
사랑, 성공, 명예 모두를 동시에 성취하는 일은 쉽지 않아서 우선순위를 정하는 게 중요해요
= It is not easy to achieve love, success and honor all at the same time, so it is important to prioritize them
싸다 = to wrap up
Common Usages:
싸 가다 = to pack up and go
싸(서) 먹다 = to wrap something up and eat it (Korea people often wrap meat in lettuce)
도시락을 싸다 = to pack a lunch box
Examples:
애기를 포대기로 싸라고 시켰어요 = I made him wrap the baby in a blanket
고기를 상추에 싸서 먹으면 제일 맛있어요
= If you wrap your meat in lettuce then eat it, it is the most delicious
저는 엄마가 저를 위해 도시락을 싸게 했어요
= I made my mom pack/wrap up a lunch box for me
맞히다 = to guess correctly
The pronunciation of this word is closer to “마치다”
Common Usages:
맞혀 봐! = Try and guess!
정답을 맞히다 = to guess the correct answer
Examples:
정답을 맞히는 학생에게 선물을 줄 거예요
= I will give a present to the student who guesses the correct answer
끼다 = to put on (a ring, gloves, sunglasses, etc…)
Common Usages:
반지를 끼다 = to put on a ring
장갑을 끼다 = to put on gloves
선글라스를 끼다 = to put on sunglasses
Examples:
오늘 반지를 왜 안 끼고 다녀요?
= Why are you not wearing (and walking around with) your ring today?
사람들이 보통 헬스를 할 때 장갑을 끼고 해요
= When people workout (in a gym), they usually wear gloves (put gloves on and do it)
오늘 햇빛이 아주 강해서 선글라스를 껴야 돼요
= Today the sun is very strong so you should wear sunglasses
깨다 = to wake up
Notes: 깨다 doesn’t act on objects. Rather, it is used to indicate that a subject has woken up. For example:
애기가 깼어요 = The baby woke up
It is also common to use the word “잠” to indicate that the person has woken up from sleeping. For example:
애기가 잠이 깼어요 = The baby woke up
You can indicate what woke the person up by attaching ~에 to the thing that caused the person to wake up. For example:
애기가 소리에 잠이 깼어요 = The baby woke up because of/from the noise/sound
You can use the word 깨우다 when a person actively wakes up somebody else. For example:
저는 애기를 깨웠어요 = I woke up the baby
Also note that even though the translation “wake up” is used, 깨다 (and 깨우다) does not mean that the person actually gets up (as in, gets out of bed). Instead, it simply means that the person woke up from sleeping, but it is possible that he or she is still lying down. If you want to indicate that one actually gets out of bed, you can use the word 일어나다.
Common Usages:
잠이 깨다 = to wake up
술이 깨다 = to sober up
Examples:
애기가 깨지 않게 조용히 노크해 주세요 = Knock quietly so that the baby doesn’t wake up
아침에 일어나자마자 밥을 먹고 물을 많이 마시니 술이 깼어요 = Now that I have woken and ate (rice) and drank water right away, I am not drunk/hung-over anymore
Passive Verbs:
싸이다 = to be wrapped up
Common Usages:
이불에 싸이다 = to be wrapped up in a blanket
안개에 싸이다 = to be wrapped/covered in fog
Examples:
애기가 이불에 완전히 싸여 있어서 너무 귀여워 보였어요
= The baby was completely wrapped in the blankets so he looked so cute
오늘 아침에 비닐봉지에 싸여 있는 돈을 발견해서 경찰에 신고했어요
= In the morning I found money (wrapped) in a plastic bag and reported it to the police
Adjectives:
날씬하다 = to be slim/slender
Notes: 날씬하다 usually has a positive connotation. When talking about somebody who is too thin, the word 마르다 is commonly used.
Examples:
그 날씬한 여자가 저를 좋아하게 하고 싶어요 = I want to make that thin girl like me
슬기는 뼈마디가 얇아서 실제 몸무게보다 날씬해 보여요
= Seulgi has thin joints (a term that we would never say in English but is possible in Korean) so she looks thinner than her actual body weight
Adverbs and Other Words:
더욱 = more and more
Examples:
나이가 들수록 살이 더욱 쉽게 쪄요 = It is easier to gain weight as you get older
무게가 무거울수록 더욱 값이 비싸져요 = It gets more expensive as the weight increases
그녀랑 사귀다 보니 그녀가 더욱 좋아졌어요
= While going out with her, (I realized/noticed that) she has become better and better
요즘에 그 회사가 브랜드를 더 더욱 국제화하려고 하고 있다
= That company is trying more and more to globalize its brand
네가 여기서 있는 것은 이 문제를 더욱 어렵게 할 뿐이야
= You being here just makes the problem worse
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There are 625 vocabulary entries in Unit 3. All entries are linked to an audio file.
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Introduction
In this lesson, you will learn how to say “one makes” or “one lets” a person to do an action. Just like with a lot of other Korean grammatical principles, this one doesn’t make sense at first to English speakers, simply because the construction is so different from English grammar. As always, I will break it down for you step by step. Let’s get started.
To make/To let…: ~게 하다
Before we begin, note that the word “to make” has many meanings in English. In this lesson, we are not talking about the definition of “to make” as it refers to “building” something. Instead, we are talking about the definition of the word “make” in the following sentence:
I make my mom happy
Note here that this definition of “make” has nothing to do with actually building/making an object. Rather, it is about influencing/telling somebody what to do. Here are more examples of this usage in English:
I made him study
I want to make my friend leave
I will make him sleep
Korean people don’t distinguish between “making” a person doing something, and “letting” a person doing something. It sounds weird to an English speaker, but the Korean translations for the above sentences would be the same as the Korean translations for the following sentences:
I let him study
I want to let my friend leave
I will let him sleep
English learners see this grammatical principle (which I haven’t even introduced to you yet) and get hung up on the fact it can mean “to make” or “to let.” How can one thing in Korean translate to two seemingly different things in English?
Just a quick note. We see this same phenomenon many times when we compare English and Korean. You saw something similar when you learned about ~아/어야 하다 (Lesson 46) and how it can be translated to “one must” or “one should.” Remember, these languages are vastly different, and just because something is done in English, doesn’t mean the same principle will apply in Korean.
Let me introduce this grammatical principle to you with one simple example. To create this meaning of “to make” or “to let,” you can attach ~게 하다 to the stem of a word. The subject of the sentence “makes/lets” the object do that action. For example:
Two common English translations for this Korean sentence would be:
I made him study
I let him study
I’d like to discuss why the translations of “to make” and/or “to let” are used in this situation. In English, the word “to make” is more related to forcing a person to do an action; whereas “to let” is more related to allowing a person to do an action. In both cases, the subject is doing something (either forcing or allowing) that, in the end, influences/causes the person to do the action.
The Korean usage does not distinguish between “forcing” or “allowing.” It simply indicates that the subject does something (regardless of it was by “forcing” or “allowing”) that causes/influences the rest of the clause to occur. Therefore, a more accurate translation might be:
나는 그를 공부하게 했다 = I did something that caused/influenced him to study
Therefore, it’s not that “~게 하다” can have two translations – but rather that the meanings of “make” and “let” are very specific – and both of these meanings can be encompassed in the idea that “one causes/influences the action to occur.”
Let’s look at many more examples. I’ll use the word “make” or “let” often depending on the context, but try to remember that the usage of these words is more of an English phenomenon that isn’t distinguished in these Korean sentences.
저는 그를 자게 할 거예요 = I will let him sleep
학생들은 선생님을 화나게 했어요 = The students made the teacher mad
저는 학생들을 바로 준비하게 했어요 = I made the students get ready right away
저는 아들을 오늘 아침에 일찍 일어나게 했어요 = I made our son wake up early today
저는 딸을 상점에서 조금 더 둘러보게 했어요 = I’m going to let my daughter look around the store a little bit more
제가 축제에 가게 해 주세요 = Please let me go to the festival
저는 학생들을 공부하게 해 주었어요 = I let the students study
In the previous two examples, I attached ~아/어 주다 to ~게 하다. In Lesson 41, you learned the purpose and meaning of using ~아/어 주다. Assuming that the action is somehow positive or beneficial for the person being influenced, it is acceptable to attach ~아/어 주다 to the end of ~게 하다. To a relative beginner of Korean grammar (at Lesson 56, you could call yourself that), this might look complicated, but it’s just the meaning of ~아/어 주다 added on top of ~게 하다.
~게 하다 can also be added to adjectives. When used like this, the subject causes/influences the object to “be” the adjective used. For example:
저는 저의 여자 친구를 행복하게 했어요 = I made my girlfriend happy, or
저는 저의 여자 친구를 행복하게 해 주었어요 = I made my girlfriend happy
A common adjective that this is used with is 놀라다, which translates to “to be surprised.” By attaching ~게 하다 to 놀라다, you can indicate that “one did something to cause/influence somebody to be surprised.” This can more simply be translated to “one surprised somebody.” For example:
제가 한국말을 할 수 있어서 저는 한국 사람들을 항상 놀라게 해요
= Because I can speak Korean, I always surprise Korean people
엄마가 저에게 선물을 줘서 저를 놀라게 했어요
= Because my mother gave me a present, she surprised me
Here are more examples of ~게 하다 used with adjectives:
저는 우리 엄마를 슬프게 했어요 = I made our mom sad
애기를 무섭게 하지 마세요! = Don’t make the baby scared (don’t scare the baby)
아빠는 저를 피곤하게 했어요 = Dad made me tired
저의 남자 친구가 저의 기분을 상하게 했어요
= My boyfriend made me feel bad (made me ruin my feelings)
네가 그렇게 말하면 나를 창피하게 할 거야
= If you say it like that, you’re going to make me ashamed
손님들이 우리 집에 오면 저는 항상 손님들을 편하게 하려고 노력해요
= When guests come to our house, I always try to make them comfortable
저는 잘생긴 친구를 데려가서 저의 남자 친구를 질투하게 했어요
= I brought a handsome man with me, so it made my boyfriend jealous
In the sentences so far, you have seen examples where the subject causes/influences another person to do an action (or be an adjective). Often times you might want to create a sentence where the subject “causes/influences” another person to act on another object.
For example, instead of just saying:
I made him study
You might want to say:
I made him study Korean
In these situations, ~이/가 can be attached to the person you are influencing, and ~을/를 can be attached to the object that the person is acting on. For example:
나는 그를 공부하게 했다 = I made him study
나는 그가 한국어를 공부하게 했다 = I made him study Korean
나는 그를 이해하게 했다 = I made him understand
나는 그가 한국어 문법을 이해하게 했다 = I made him understand Korean grammar
Below are many more examples:
나는 학생들이 내 말을 듣게 했어 = I made the students listen to me
저는 남편이 결혼반지를 끼게 했어요 = I made my husband wear our/the wedding ring
그 날씬한 여자가 저를 좋아하게 하고 싶어요 = I want to make that thin girl like me
저는 학생이 더 좋은 부전공을 선택하게 했어요 = I made the student select a better minor
저는 엄마가 저를 위해 도시락을 싸게 했어요 = I made my mom pack/wrap up a lunch box for me
노동자들이 박스를 트럭에 싣게 했어요 = I made the workers load the boxes onto the truck
저는 학생들이 이 형식을 따르게 했어요 = I made the students follow this format
저는 햇빛이 안 들어오게 했어요 = I made it so the sunlight won’t come in
저는 친구가 그 이상한 집을 들여다보게 했어요 = I made my friend look into that weird house
저는 우리 아들이 다른 진로를 고르게 할 거예요
= I’m going to make our son choose a different (career) path
저는 학생들이 정답을 맞힐 때까지 계속 해 보게 했어요
= I let the students keep trying until they guessed correctly
저는 선수가 자기 한계에 도달할 때까지 계속 운동하게 했어요
= I made the athlete keep going until he reached his limit
In all of the examples you have seen so far, 하다 is used immediately after ~게. Let’s look at how we use something else other than 하다 after ~게.
So that, In Order to, To allow for: ~게
Earlier in the lesson, I introduced the purpose and meaning of using ~게 하다 in a sentence. I explained that ~게 하다 is used when the subject does an action (regardless of it was by “forcing” or “allowing”) that causes/influences the action/adjective to occur.
In the all of the examples you have seen so far, you don’t know specifically what the “action” was that causes/influences the action/adjective to occur. You have seen that 하다 is used in these sentences – but this is because it isn’t implied what is done to cause/influence the action/adjective to occur.
It is possible to place another verb – or better yet, an entire clause after ~게 to indicate what causes/influences the action to occur. Let’s look at a simple example:
This could be translated to:
The teacher made me look at the board, or
The teacher let me look at the board, or more generally
The teacher did something that caused/influenced me to look at the board
In this example, it isn’t implied what was done to cause/influence/make/let me look at the board. All we know is the teacher did some action. However, I can specify what the teacher did by replacing 하다 with another verb/clause that provides more information. For example:
선생님은 제가 칠판을 보게 불을 켰어요 = The teacher turned on the light so that I could see the board
Just like when 하다 is used after ~게, the clause after ~게 (불을 켰어요) causes or influences the clause before ~게 to occur.
A common translation for “~게” in this type of sentence is “… so that…”. Below are many examples:
제가 잘 들을 수 있게 크게 말해 주세요 = Please speak loudly so that I can hear you well
음식을 좀 만들게 재료를 사 와 = Buy some ingredients so that I can make some food
애기가 깨지 않게 조용히 노크해 주세요 = Knock quietly so that the baby doesn’t wake up
도구를 찾을 수 있게 불을 켰어요 = I turned on the light so that I could find my tools
저는 학생들이 다 이해할 수 있게 설명했어요
= I explained it so that all the students could understand it
햇빛이 안 들어오게 커튼을 내려 주세요
= Pull the curtains down so that the sunlight doesn’t come in
뒤에 있는 차가 저의 시야에 있게 거울을 조금 움직였어요
= I moved the mirror a little bit so that the cars behind me would be in my field of vision
저는 학생들이 과정을 더 잘 이해할 수 있게 저는 다시 설명해 주었어요
= I explained it again to the students so that they could understand the process better
무엇을 사야 되는지를 깜빡하지 않게 목록을 작성하세요
= Make a list so that you don’t forget what you have to buy
선생님들은 학생들이 목표를 성취하게 하기 위해 열심히 일해요
= Teachers work hard so that students can achieve their goals
The following is from the Intermediate TOPIK Test (Number 27):
사람들이 모두 보게 안내문을 벽에 붙였다
= (I) posted (attached) an information sign on the wall so that all the people (can) see it
The question was asking if the following two sentences have the same meaning:
사람들이 모두 보게 안내문을 벽에 붙였다, and
사람들이 모두 보도록 안내문을 벽에 붙였다
At this point, you have yet to learn about ~도록, but when you learn about it in Lesson 92 you will see that the two sentences above have the same meaning.
I talk about this usage of ~게 in a YouTube video. Check it out!
That’s it for this lesson! We will continue to talk about this meaning of “to make/to let” in the next lesson.
There are 1200 example sentences in Unit 3.
All entries are linked to an audio file. You can download all of these files in one package here.
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