Click here for a workbook to go along with this lesson.
The following video is available to reinforce the concepts taught in this lesson: Dictation
This lesson is also available in Русский, Español, Français, Português, Deutsch, Italiano and العربية
Jump to:
Before/Ago (전)
After/Later (후)
Since (이래로)
Within/inside (안/이내)
Vocabulary
Click on the English word to see information and examples of that word in use (you probably won’t be able to understand the grammar within the sentences at this point, but it is good to see as you progress through your learning).
A PDF file neatly presenting these words and extra information can be found here.
You can try to find all of the words from this lesson, and all of the words from every lesson in Unit 1 in a package of twenty five Word Searches.
Nouns:
설탕 = sugar
경찰관 = policeman
경찰서 = police station
구름 = cloud
경쟁 = competition
경쟁자 = competitors
피 = blood
구두 = shoes, boots
목욕 = bath
번호 = number
전화번호 = phone number
열쇠 = key
수박 = watermelon
과자 = candy, cookies, snacks
양복 = suit
Verbs:
날다 = to fly
걷히다 = to clear up (in weather)
구경하다 = to sight see
뒤처지다 = to fall behind
앞지르다 = to pass, to overtake
감독하다 = to supervise
느끼다 = to feel
치우다 = to remove, to clear away
지우다 = to wipe off, to erase
두다 = to put, to set, to place something
Passive Verbs:
느껴지다 = to be felt
Adjectives:
달다 = to be sweet
깊다 = to be deep
조용하다 = to be quiet
뜨겁다 = to be hot
차갑다 = to be cold
친절하다 = to be nice, to be kind
Adverbs and Other Words:
전 = before/ago
직전 = just before
후 = after/later
직후 = right after
이래 = since
잠시 = a moment
잠깐 = a short time
이내 = within
For help memorizing these words, try using our mobile app.
Introduction
In Lesson 11, you learned a wide variety of different “time” words that you can use in sentences. In that lesson, I said that there were two more words that were very important when talking about time (전 and 후). In that lesson, I said that I would teach you those two words sometime later. Well, this is now later.
In this lesson, you will learn how to use the words 전 and 후 as well as some other similar words. Let’s get started:
.
Before/Ago (전)
The word ‘전’ translates to ‘before’ or ‘ago’ depending on where it is used. When placed after any indication of time (2 seconds, 5 minutes, 10 hours, 4 days, 3 weeks, 2 years, etc…) it has the meaning of “ago.” For example:
2 초 전에 = 2 seconds ago
5 분 전에 = 5 minutes ago
열 시간 전에 = 10 hours ago*
4 일 전에 = 4 days ago
3 주 전에 = 3 weeks ago
2 년 전에 = 2 years ago
*I typically write the word instead of the numeral when referring to an hour. To see why, check out Lesson 10 and 11.
Notice that ‘에’ gets added to ‘전’ because it is referring to a time.
You can now use those words in sentences very intuitively:
저는 2주 전에 남동생을 만났어요 = I met my brother 2 weeks ago
구름은 5분 전에 걷혔어요 = The clouds cleared up 5 minutes ago
When ‘전’ is placed after a verb, it translates to “before.” When you want to use 전 like this, you must add ~기 to the verb stem of the preceding verb:
제가 먹기 전에 = before I ate
제가 가기 전에 = before I go
제가 오기 전에 = before I come
A few very important things before I say anything else:
There is a reason why ~기 is added to the stem of a verb. Adding ~기 to the stem of a verb is a topic I cover in detail in Lesson 29.
Another thing. You can essentially add any sentence to the (verb-stem)~기 전에 grammatical form and it will have the meaning of “before (this happened).” You could say something like “the country of Canada becomes a sovereign state기 전에” and it would have the meaning of “before Canada became a sovereign state”… Of course, that is a terrible example because in English the verb doesn’t come at the end of the sentence.
You are now ready to create two-clause sentences. Up to this point we have dealt with sentences having only one clause, meaning one subject, one object, and one predicating verb or adjective. To illustrate, in the following sentences subjects are colored red, objects are blue, and predicating verbs or adjectives are green. (Adverbs and other parts of the sentences are not colored):
나는 너를 사랑해 = I love you
아버지는 언제 왔어요? = When did dad come?
저와 엄마는 밥을 같이 먹었어요 = Mom and I ate (rice)
그 여자들은 예뻐요 = Those girls are pretty
저는 똑똑한 여자들만 좋아해요 = I only like smart girls
However, there are grammatical principles (in English and Korean) that allow us to create more than one clause. Each clause is able to have a subject, object and also a verb/adjective. A sentence with more than one clause could therefore have more than one subject, object or verb/adjective. For example:
When I go home, my mom will be waiting for me
When my mother ate a hotdog, I ate a hamburger
Before I eat, I want to wash my hands
After I saw the movie, my friend called me
I don’t want to meet him because he isn’t nice
The grammatical rules of a Korean sentence with two (or more) clauses are similar those with only one clause. However, when a sentence has two (or more) clauses, the particle ~는/은 cannot be placed on the subject of both clauses. Instead, it can only be attached to the subject of the main clause of the sentence.
The main clause of a sentence is the clause that is expressing the main idea of the sentence. One way to find the non-main clause (referred to as the “sub-clause” for the remainder of this lesson) is by looking for the part of the sentence that tells us when/where/why/how the main idea is happening. For example:
When I go home, my mom will be waiting for me
– Main clause: My mom will be waiting for me
– When will this happen: When I go home
When my mother ate a hotdog, I ate a hamburger
– Main clause: I ate a hamburger
– When did this happen: When my mother ate a hotdog
Before I eat, I want to wash my hands
– Main clause: I want to wash my hands
– When did this happen: Before I eat
After I saw the movie, my friend called me
– Main clause: My friend called me
– When did happen: After I saw the movie
I don’t want to meet him because he isn’t nice
– Main clause: I don’t want to meet him
– Why does this happen: because he isn’t nice
Notice that if you eliminate the sub-clause, the main clause still makes sense. However, if you eliminate the main clause, you are left with an incomplete sentence.
Let’s go back to ~기 전에 and see how these rules apply. In the following sentence:
“Before my mom came, I ate rice”
Which clause is the main clause? Which clause is the sub-clause?
“I ate rice” is the main idea of the sentence. It is a perfect sentence by itself.
“Before my mom came” describes when the action in the main clause takes place. It is also an incomplete sentence by itself.
Therefore, this sentence in Korean can be written as:
엄마가 오기 전에 나는 밥을 먹었어 = Before my mom came, I ate (rice)
I am going to talk about how the particles ~는/은 and ~이/가 can be used in these sentences. I’m going to separate this discussion with a line before and after it in an attempt to organize it a little bit.
———————————————————————-
Notice that ~는/은 is attached to the subject of the main clause of the sentence. The reverse would be incorrect. For example:
엄마는 오기 전에 내가 밥을 먹었어 – incorrect
Placing ~는/은 on both subjects would also be incorrect:
엄마는 오기 전에 나는 밥을 먹었어 – incorrect
However, placing ~이/가 on both subjects is acceptable. That is, it is not necessary to place ~는/은 on the subject of the main clause of the sentence, just like how (as you learned in Lesson 2) it is not necessary to place ~은/는 on the subject of the following sentence:
고양이가 집 뒤에 있어요 = The cat is behind the house
Placing ~는/은 on the subject of the main clause of a multi-clause sentence has the same effect of adding ~는/은 to the subject of a sentence with one clause. That is, it could indicate that something is being compared with something else. It could also have the exact same meaning as a sentence with “~이/가” used as the subject particles. In both situations, the context is the only thing that can determine if there is a subtle difference in meaning. For example:
친구가 오기 전에 저는 은행에 갔어요 = Before my friend came, I went to the bank, or
친구가 오기 전에 제가 은행에 갔어요 = Before my friend came, I went to the bank
There could be a difference between these two sentences. If the context allowed for it, the feeling is that “I” is being compared to another noun. For example, “before your friend came, (maybe) your girlfriend stayed home but you (I) went to the bank.”
Sometimes, the use of “~는/은” as the subject particle creates a different translation in English, although the end result of the sentence is the same. Notice the difference between the following possible English translations:
친구가 오기 전에 저는 은행에 갔어요 = Before my friend came, I was the person who went to the bank (compared to my girlfriend who stayed home)
친구가 오기 전에 제가 은행에 갔어요 = Before my friend came, I went to the bank
If you are unsure of this distinction between ~은/는 and ~이/가 I encourage you to re-read the distinction made in Lesson 2 and Lesson 22.
Almost all of the time, when you are making the sub-clause to go before “~전에,” ~이/가 will be attached to the subject of that clause. The only time this isn’t the case is when the subject of both clauses is the same. In these cases, it is acceptable to place “~는/은” on the subject of the first clause, and eliminate it from the second clause. For example:
나는 오기 전에 밥을 먹었어 = Before I came, I ate
Instead of:
내가 오기 전에 나는 밥을 먹었어 = Before I came, I ate
Remember that Korean people love shortening their sentences. Every chance they get, they want to eliminate something from their sentences. So, instead of saying “내가… 나는…” you only need to say “I” once.
———————————————————————-
Also notice that (like a lot of things in Korean), no indication of tense is made before ~기 전에. Instead, the tense is determined by the conjugation of the main clause:
엄마가 오기 전에 나는 먹었어 = Before mom came, I ate
엄마가 오기 전에 나는 먹을 거야 = Before mom comes, I will eat
Many more examples of ~기 전에:
한국에 오기 전에 저는 한국어를 배웠어요 = I learned Korean before I came to Korea
수박을 먹기 전에 사과를 먹었어요 = Before I ate a watermelon I ate an apple
양복을 입기 전에 목욕을 했어요 = Before putting on the suit I took a bath
구름이 걷히기 전에 비가 왔어요 = Before the clouds cleared it rained
집에서 나가기 전에 방을 치웠어요 = Before leaving the house I cleaned my room
제가 아내와 결혼하기 전에 우리는 2년 동안 사귀었어요 = Before marrying my wife, we went out/dated for 2 years
After/Later (후)
The word ‘후’ translates to ‘after’ or ‘later/from now’ depending on how it is used in Korean sentences. When placed after any indication of time (2 seconds, 5 minutes, 10 hours, 4 days, 3 weeks, 2 years, etc…) it has the meaning of “later/from now:” For example:
2 초 후에 = 2 seconds later/from now
5 분 후에 = 5 minutes later/from now
열 시간 후에 = 10 hours later/from now*
4 일 후에 = 4 days later/from now
3 주 후에 = 3 weeks later/from now
2 년 후에 = 2 years later/from now
*I typically write the word instead of the numeral when referring to an hour. To see why, check out Lesson 10 and 11.
You can use these sentences intuitively just like sentences with “전.” For example:
두 시간 후에 갈 거예요 = I will go 2 hours from now
수업은 2분 후에 끝날 거예요 = Class will finish 2 minutes from now
When ‘후’ is placed after a verb, it has the meaning of “after.” You learned earlier in this lesson that you must add ~기 to the stem of a verb to make “~기 전에.” When using “후” after a verb, you do not add ~기 to the stem of the word. Instead, you must add ~ㄴ/은 to the stem of the verb. ~은 gets added to a stem where the final syllable ends in a consonant. ~ㄴ gets added directly to stems ending in a vowel. For example:
내가 먹은 후에 = After I eat
내가 간 후에 = After I go
These can now go into sentences like “~기 전에”
숙제가 끝난 후에 나는 집에 갈 거예요 = After my homework is finished, I will go home
밥을 먹은 후에 친구를 만났어요 = After I ate I met a friend
과자를 많이 먹은 후에 배가 아팠어요 = After eating a lot of candy/snacks, my stomach was sore
구두를 신은 후에 의자에서 일어났어요 = After putting on my boots, I got up from the chair
방을 치운 후에 밖에 나갔어요 = After cleaning up my room, I went outside
It is also possible to substitute the word 다음 (which you learned about in Lesson 11) for 후 to create the same meaning. For example:
숙제가 끝난 다음에 나는 집에 갈 거예요 = After my homework is finished, I will go home
밥을 먹은 다음에 친구를 만났어요 = After I ate I met a friend
과자를 많이 먹은 다음에 배가 아팠어요 = After eating a lot of candy/snacks, my stomach was sore
구두를 신은 다음에 의자에서 일어났어요 = After putting on my boots, I got up from the chair
방을 치운 다음에 밖에 나갔어요 = After cleaning up my room, I went outside
You can see in the vocabulary list that there are also these words:
직전 = just before
직후 = right after
These two can be used just like 전 and 후 respectively – the difference being that the addition of “직” emphasizes that something was done immediately before or after the action or indication of time. For example:
아들이 저녁 먹기 직전에 과자를 먹었어요 = Right before having dinner, he (the son) ate candy/snacks
경찰관이 오기 직전에 그 사람이 갔어요 = That person left right before the police came
양복을 입은 직후에 밖에 나갔어요 = Right after I put on the suit, I went outside
전화번호를 받은 직후에 잃어버렸어요 = Right after I got his phone number, I lost it
One quick thing. In a lot of the example sentences above, I placed the ~기 전에 or ~ㄴ/은 후에 clauses before the main clause of the sentence. It is important to recognize something here – what we are essentially doing is creating a unit that gives us an indication of time. For example:
친구가 오기 전에 저는 은행에 갔어요 = Before my friend came, I went to the bank
“친구가 오기 전에” can just be seen as one unit that can be placed elsewhere in a sentence, just like other adverbs that give us an indication of time. For example:
저는 (at some time) 은행에 갔어요 =I went to the bank (at some time)
저는 (어제) 은행에 갔어요 = I went to the bank (yesterday)
저는 (친구가 오기 전에) 은행에 갔어요 = I went to the bank (before my friend came)
Therefore, although I often place this indication of time before the clause, it doesn’t always need to be there, and it is the discretion of the speaker that will decide exactly where to place it. Being able to create a single unit from a clause like this is a quick introduction to what you will begin learning in Lesson 26 – where you will be able to manipulate entire clauses to describe nouns in the middle of sentences.
Since: ~ㄴ/은 이래로
The word “since” in Korean (이래로) can be used in place of “후” in ~ㄴ/은 후에 to have the meaning of “since I…”:
한국에 온 이래로 한국어를 배우고 있어요 = Since coming to Korea, I have been learning Korean
열심히 공부한 이래로 실력은 빨리 늘었어요 = Since studying hard, my skills have been quickly increasing
Those two sentences are perfectly correct, but you should know that Korean people rarely use the word 이래로. You can use it, and everybody will understand what you mean (they will probably be impressed because 이래로 is a difficult word). Instead, it is more common for Korean people to use ~ㄴ/은 후에 to have the meaning of “since.” For example:
한국에 온 이래로 한국어를 배우고 있어요.. is better said like this:
한국에 온 후에 한국어를 배우고 있어요 = After coming to Korea, I have been learning Korean
열심히 공부한 이래로 실력은 빨리 늘었어요… is better said like this:
열심히 공부한 후에 실력은 빨리 늘었어요 = After studying hard, my skills have been quickly increasing
Within/inside (안/이내)
Two other words that you can use in similar situations as 전 and 후 are 안 and 이내. You already know the word “안” can be used in sentences to mean “inside:”
나는 집 안에 있다 = I am inside the house
If 안/이내 are placed after an indication of time, they have the meaning of “within” that time period. For example:
나는 5년 이내에 외국어 다섯 개를 배우고 싶어 = I want to learn five languages within 5 years
나는 5년 안에 외국어 다섯 개를 배우고 싶어 = I want to learn five languages within 5 years
우리는 1년 이내 결혼할 거예요 = We will get married within one year
우리는 1년 안에 결혼할 거예요 = We will get married within one year
This was a bit of an easy lesson as well! This lesson and the one before it were pretty easy – but don’t worry – you are almost at Unit 2, and the lessons in that unit will be really hard!
Okay, I got it! Take me to the next lesson! Or,
Click here for a workbook to go along with this lesson.
Want to practice your listening skills?
This YouTube video will prompt you with Korean sentences to dictate using the concepts from this lesson.