Lesson 54: Quoted Imperative Sentences: ~(으)라고

의사소통 usually refers to communication through a language. I know that sounds ambiguous, but try to understand my explanation. If I were to say a sentence like this:

제가 그 사람과 의사소통이 잘 안 돼요 = (Communication with that person isn’t good) I can’t communicate with that person

It would usually refer to there being a language barrier between the two people, and not some other type of communication problem. For example, if you were on a blind date with somebody and you just couldn’t have a good conversation, 의사소통 would usually not be used to refer to this type of “communication.” Instead, it would be better to use the word “대화” in these situations.

Examples:
저는 저의 아내 부모님과 의사소통을 하기 위해 한국어를 배웠어요
= I learned Korean so that I could communicate with my wife’s parents

외국인과의 의사소통 능력은 직업을 구하는 데 있어 가장 중요한 항목 중 하나예요
= Having the skills to communicate with foreigners is one of the most important things you can have when looking for a job

한국어실력을 늘리고 싶으면 선생님이 한국 사람들이랑 의사소통을 많이 하라고 그랬어요
= If I want to expand my Korean language ability, my teacher told me to communicate a lot with Korean people

Common Usages:
조각가 = sculptor
조각미남 = a man as handsome as a statue

Examples:
당근을 작은 조각으로 자르세요 = Cut the carrots into small pieces, please
저는 떨어진 그 조각을 또 세웠어요 = I (again) stood up the pieces that fell
저는 아이들에게 피자를 한 조각씩 줄 거에요 = I will give one piece of pizza to each kid

엄마가 한 조각 더 먹으라고 했지만 제가 배불러서 더 못 먹었어요
= Mom told me to eat one more piece, but I was full so I couldn’t eat anymore

유리병을 떨어뜨려서 바닥에 유리조각이 많으므로 걸을 때 조심하세요
= Be careful when you walk because I dropped a glass bottle and now there are many pieces of glass on the ground

Examples:
어떤 지도교사를 만나는지에 따라 학생들의 미래가 달라질 수 있어요
= Depending on what type of guidance counselor a student meets, their future can be different

대학교 때 자유롭게 공부하고 싶으면 지도교사가 전공을 나중에 선택하라고 말했어요
= If you want to study freely in university, my guidance counselor told me to choose my major later

Common Usages:
영어 원어민 선생님 = native English teacher
중국어 원어민 선생님 = native Chinese teacher

Examples:
이 사람은 우리 학교(의) 영어 원어민 선생님이에요
= This person is our school’s native English teacher

우리학교에서는 영어원어민 선생님 10분이 있습니다
= At our school, there are 10 native English speakers

서울시는 영어원어민에 관한 예산 전반을 줄이고 있어요
= The City of Seoul is lowering the budget for native English speakers in general (across the board)

Examples:
이 한국드라마가 영어자막이 있었으면 좋겠어요
= I wish this Korean drama had English subtitles

저는 영화를 볼 때 더빙으로 보는 것보다 자막으로 보는 것을 더 선호해요
= When I watch a movie, I prefer to watch it with subtitles instead of voice-overs

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “식쭝독”

Common Usages:
식중독에 걸리다 = to get food poisoning

Examples:
식중독에 걸리면 물을 많이 마시라고 했어요
= I told him to drink a lot of water if he gets food poisoning

해물만 먹다가 식중독에 걸려서 병원에 갔어요
= I only ate seafood, and then – something about only eating seafood caused me to get food poisoning and go to the hospital

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “존댄말”

Notes: 존댓말 is the word for the “honorific speaking” that Korean people use when speaking with older people or people in a higher position. The opposite of 존댓말 is 반말.

This word contains a 사이시옷. For information about this, see Lesson 131.

Common Usages:
존댓말을 쓰다/하다 = to use honorific speaking

Examples:
친구들끼리는 반말을 쓰고, 어른들과 대화를 할 때는 존댓말을 써요
= Amongst friends, you speak casually, and when talking with older people, you speak formally

저의 한국어 선생님이 모든 한국 사람들이랑 존댓말을 하라고 말씀하셨어요
= My Korean teacher told me to use honorific speaking with all Korean people

반말을 쓰거나 존댓말을 쓰거나 모든 한국 사람들이 이해할 수 있을 거예요
= Regardless of if you use informal speech or honorific speech, all Korean people will be able to understand you

한국어를 배울 때 가장 어려운 부분은 존댓말을 쓰는 것이라고 생각합니다
= I think the most difficult part when learning Korean is using honorific speaking

Common Usages:
오랜만이다 = long time no see

Examples:
어제부터 오랜만에 쉴 생각을 하니 설레었다
= Starting yesterday I got excited thinking of resting for the first time in ages.

우리가 오랜만에 만날 거라서 저는 친구에게 우리 집에 오라고 했어요
= It will be a long time since we last met, so I told him to come to our house

오랜만에 친구와 수다를 떠니 잠시 있고 있었던 옛 날 생각이 많이 났다
= (Because) I am chatting with an old friend for the first time in a long time, a lot of thoughts of the old days have come up

하지만 내가 하고 싶은 일을 시작해서 하루하루 잘 버티고 있다. 오늘은 오랜만에 여유가 있게 쉴 수 있는 날이다. 어제부터 오랜만에 쉴 생각을 하니 설레었다.
= But, because am starting work that I want to do, every day (day by day) I am enduring it well. Today is a day that I can rest leisurely/comfortably for the first time in a long time. From yesterday, because of the thought of resting for the first time in a while, I am excited.

Examples:
애기가 있으면 2시간마다 애기를 먹여야 돼요
= When you have a baby, you need to feed him/her every two hours

이 약을 아기에게 한 시간에 한번씩 먹이면 됩니다
= You should feed/give this medicine to the baby once every hour

애기가 배가 고파서 남편에게 밥을 먹이라고 했어요
= I told my husband to feed the baby because he is/was hungry

Common Usages:
뛰어가다 = to run to (to go by running)
뛰어다니다 = to run around an area
뛰어오다 = to come by running
뛰어 넘다 = to run/jump over something
심장이 뛰다 = for a heart to be pounding

Examples:
복도에서 뛰는 것은 위험해요 = It is dangerous to run in the hallway
그렇게 빨리 뛰어서는 안 돼요 = You shouldn’t run that fast
너무 늦어서 학교에 뛰어갔어요 = I was very late, so I ran to school
말이 날뛰듯이 그의 심장이 뛰었다 = His heart was racing, as if a horse were bucking
아이들이 놀이터에서 뛰어다녔어요 = The kids were running around the playground
선생님이 복도에서 뛰지 말라고 했어요 = The teacher said not to run in the hallway
뛰다가 조심하지 않았다면 넘어졌을 거예요 = If I wasn’t careful when I was running, I would have fallen

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “우녕하다”

Common Usages:
운영비 = management/operational fees
운영체제 = operating system (on a computer)
회사/사업을 운영하다 = to manage a company
웹사이트를 운영하다 = to manage a website

Examples:
회사를 자유롭게 운영하고 싶으면 혼자 하라고 했어요
= I told him that if he wants to run his business freely, to do it himself

우리가 사장님 없이 이 회사를 계속 운영할 수 있느냐고 물어봤어요
= I asked if we could run/manage this company without the boss/C.E.O/president

The noun form of this word (“갱신”) translates to “renewal”

Common Usages:
계약을 갱신하다 = to renew a contract
비자를 갱신하다 = to renew a visa

Examples:
내년에도 계약을 갱신할 수 있었으면 좋겠어요
= I wish/hope I can renew my contract next year

외국인들은 비자를 주기적으로 갱신해야 하기 때문에 항상 비자만기날짜를 기억해야 돼요
= Because foreigners need to renew their visa periodically, they should always remember the date their visa expires

The noun form of this word (“토”) translates to “vomit.”

Common Usages:
토할 뻔 했다 = to almost throw up

Examples:
해물을 먹었다가 토했어요 = I ate seafood and then threw up
차에 제발 토하지 말라고 했어요 = I said ‘please don’t throw up’ in the car
제가 밥을 먹었을 때 거의 토할 뻔 했어요 = When I was eating I almost threw up

제가 어제 회사에서 조금 아팠잖아요…… 그래서 집에 가서 밥을 먹고 갑자기 토했어요~ 그래서 병원에 갔어요.
= Remember/don’t forget/as you know I was sick at work yesterday… Then, I went home and ate, and suddenly threw up, so I went to the hospital

The noun form of this word (“과장”) translates to “an exaggeration”

Notes: You can call somebody who over-exaggerates too much an “오버쟁이”

Examples:
제 남편은 이야기를 할 때마다 심하게 과장을 해요
= Whenever my husband talks he always (severely) exaggerates

남자 친구에게 계속 과장하지 말라고 했지만 그는 한 달에 거의 500 만 원을 번다고 했어요
= I told my boyfriend to not exaggerate, but he said that he almost makes 500 만 원 per month

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “분서카다”

The noun form of this word (“분석”) translates to “analysis”

Common Usages:
분석가 = analyst
시장 분석 = market analysis
캐릭터 분석 = character analysis

Examples:
연구결과를 분석해 주세요 = Please analyze the results of the research
자료를 표에 넣고 분석했어요 = I put the data into a table and analyzed it

이 사진이 무언가를 나타내기 위해 찍은 사진 같아서 분석을 해 봐야 해요
= I think this picture was taken to show something, so we should analyze it

좋은 영화배우가 되기 위해서는 자기가 맡은 역할의 캐릭터 분석을 꼼꼼히 해야 해요
= To become a good movie actor, it’s essential to meticulously analyze the character of the role taken on

Notes: This word is a combination of the words 오르다 (to go up) and 타다 (to get on, to ride).

Common Usages:
말에 올라타다 = to get on a horse
버스에 올라타다 = to get on a bus

Examples:
버스 아저씨가 저한테 올라타라고 했어요 = The bus driver told me to get on (the bus)
말을 올라타 봤는데 너무 높아서 넘어졌어요 = I tried to get on the horse, but it was so high that I fell

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “참서카다”

The noun form of this word (“참석”) translates to “attendance”

Common Usages:
참석률 = attendance rate
참석자 = a person in attendance

Examples:
중요한 내용이 없어서 회의를 참석하지 말라고 했어요
= He told me to not attend the meeting because there is nothing important (no important content)

저는 참석을 못 하는데 저 대신에 저의 부인이 갈 거예요
= I can’t attend, but instead of me, my wife will go

어쩌면 제가 내일 중요한 회의에 참석하지 못할지도 몰라요
= I’m not sure if I can attend the important meeting tomorrow

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “자유롭따”

Notes: This word is not used to describe something that doesn’t cost money. Instead, it is used to describe “free” in the sense that something has no restrictions.

Examples:
회사를 자유롭게 운영하고 싶으면 혼자 하라고 했어요
= I told him that if he wants to run his business freely, to do it himself

그 친구는 매우 자유롭기 때문에 하고 싶은 걸 다 할 수 있어서 부러워요
= I am envious of that friend because he can do anything he wants because he is very free

대학교 때 자유롭게 공부하고 싶으면 지도교사가 전공을 나중에 선택하라고 말했어요
= If you want to study freely in university, my guidance counselor told me to choose my major later

Notes: The usage of 와중 is similar to the word 동안 in that it can’t be used by itself in a sentence. It is often described by a verb to indicate that something comes up “right while” some other action was processing. For example:

밥을 먹는 와중에 친구가 더러운 이야기를 해서 밥맛이 떨어졌어요
= Right when I was eating, my friend talked about something dirty so I lost by appetite

It can also be described by adjectives, the most common of which being “바쁜 와중” and “아픈 와중.” For example:

너무 바쁜 와중에 친구가 찾아왔기 때문에 친구와 시간을 보내지 못했어요
= Right when I was busy, my friend came looking for me so I couldn’t spend any time with him

It can also be placed after 그 to describe a time period referenced by context, for example:

그 와중에 나는 밥을 빨리 먹고 외출할 준비를 끝냈다
= While I was doing that, I finished eating and prepared to leave