Lesson 129: To cross over, to pass

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Vocabulary

Nouns:
부대 = army unit, platoon

Common Usages:
군부대 = army platoon
부대 생활 = army life
부대찌개 = army stew (this is from the Korean war where American soldiers would give their rations to Korean people and they would make stew out of it)

Examples:
오늘 부대에 대령님이 방문하실 예정이라 더욱 각별히 준비를 해야 돼요
= Today the colonel is scheduled to visit the camp, so we will have to prepare especially hard

내일 우리 부대가 그 산을 넘어야 돼요
= Tomorrow, our platoon (army group) has to cross/go over that mountain

용량 = space, capacity, volume

Common Usages:
대용량 = large volume

Examples:
우리가 벌써 6월에 쓸 수 있는 인터넷 용량제한을 넘었어요
= We already went over the data/space limit (data cap) that we can use for June

이 용기의 용량은 얼마나 되나요?
= What is the volume of this container?

고난 = hardship, trouble, problem

Common Usages:
고난과 역경 = hardship and adversity
고난을 이겨내다 = to overcome hardship

Examples:
우리가 이제 어려운 고난을 넘었어요
= Now we have passed/overcame (finished) the difficult hardship

보니까 내가 이 어려운 고난을 홀로 넘어야 되겠다
= It looks like I’ll have to overcome this difficult hardship by myself

강한 의지가 있으면 어떠한 고난도 극복할 수 있어요
= If you have strong willpower, you can overcome any hardship

고비 = hardship, crisis, problem

Common Usages:
어려운 고비를 넘다 = to cross/overcome hardship

Examples:
삶은 때때로 어려운 고비가 있어요
= Life sometimes has difficult hardships

그 학생이 어렸을 때 아주 심한 고비를 넘었어요
= When that student was younger, he went through/overcame a serious hardship

급류 = rapids

Common Usages:
급류타기 = rafting-like ride

Examples:
급류에서 수영하는 것은 위험할 수 있어요
= Swimming in rapids can be dangerous

우리가 카누로 급류를 못 넘어서 카누에서 내려서 카누를 들고 산길로 걸어서 넘었어요
= We can’t cross the rapids in a canoe, so we had to get out of the canoe and carry it, and we crossed the rapids by walking through a “mountain path”

수요 = demand

Common Usages:
수요와 공급 = supply and demand

Examples:
이 제품은 수요보다 공급이 부족해요
= This product has a shortage of supply compared to demand

점점 더 일하는 여성들이 많아지면서 어린이집 수요는 늘고 있어요
= Gradually as there are more females who are working, the demand for day cares is increasing

공급 = supply

Common Usages:
공급 단가 = supply price
대량 공급 = large scale supply
수요와 공급 = supply and demand

Examples:
이 제품은 수요보다 공급이 부족해요
= This product has a shortage of supply compared to demand

그 양은 우리 회사가 공급할 수 있는 양을 넘었어요
= That amount is over the amount that our company can supply

원소 = an element in chemistry

Examples:
원소는 화학적으로 단일한 물질이에요
= An element is a substance that is chemically simple

그 원소는 상온에서는 고체인데 섭씨 온도 30도를 넘으면 액체가 되고 70도를 넘으면 기체가 돼요
= That element is a solid at room temperature, but if the temperature goes over 30 degrees Celsius, it becomes a liquid, and if it goes over 70 degrees, it becomes a gas

기체 = gas

Common Usages:
기체 상태 = gas phase

Examples:
공기는 일반적으로 기체 상태예요
= Air is typically in the form of gas

액체 = liquid

Common Usages:
액체 상태 = liquid phase

Examples:
얼음이 녹아서 액체 상태가 되면 물이에요
= When ice melts and becomes liquid, it’s called water

고체 = solid

Common Usages:
고체 상태 = solid phase

Example:
그 원소는 상온에서는 고체인데 섭씨 온도 30도를 넘으면 액체가 되고 70도를 넘으면 기체가 돼요
= That element is a solid at room temperature, but if the temperature goes over 30 degrees Celsius, it becomes a liquid, and if it goes over 70 degrees, it becomes a gas

섭씨 = Celcius

온천 = hot-spring

Common Usages:
온천수 = hot-spring water
온천 여행 = traveling for hot-springs

Examples:
저희 가족은 주말마다 온천을 가서 휴식을 취해요
= Our family goes to the hot springs every weekend for relaxation

그 언덕 넘어서 계속 가다 보면 온천에 도착해요
= If you go over the hill and keep going, you will arrive at the hot-spring

우주 = space, outer-space

Common Usages:
우주인 = astronaut
우주여행 = space travel
우주정거장 = space station
드넓은 우주 = the extensive universe

Examples:
외계인을 찾으려면 인간은 엄청난 우주를 넘어서 지구와 비슷한 행성을 찾아야 돼요
= In order to find aliens, humans need to cross a very large space and find a planet similar to Earth

우주에 그렇게 많은 행성이 있는데 외계인이 없을 리가 없어요
= It can’t be true that there are no aliens when there are that many planets in the universe

우주 나이는 대략 백삼십억 살이에요
= The age of the universe is roughly 13,000,000,000 years

산길 = mountain path, mountain road

Examples:
낙엽 때문에 산길이 미끄러워요
= The (mountain) path is slippery because of the fallen leaves

새로 산 신발을 신고 나왔는데 하필 산길을 걸어서 신발이 더러워졌어
= I bought some new shoes and came outside and, of all places, walked on a mountain trail so my shoes got all dirty

말대꾸 = talking back

Examples:
아이가 말대꾸를 하지 않도록 가르쳐야 해요
= We need to teach the child not to talk back

그 학생은 주제넘게 선생님께 말대꾸를 했어요
= That student went too far and talked back to the teacher

외계인 = alien

우주에 그렇게 많은 행성이 있는데 외계인이 없을 리가 없어요
= It can’t be true that there are no aliens when there are that many planets in the universe

막대기 = rod, stick, pole

Examples:
안 쓰는 밧줄을 막대기에 감아 놓았어요
= I coiled the rope that we aren’t using around the rod

높이뛰기는 빨리 뛰어서 점프를 하고 높은 막대기를 넘는 거예요
= High jump is (a sport where you) running quickly and then jump over a high bar/pole

높이뛰기 = high jump

Examples:
높이뛰기는 빨리 뛰어서 점프를 하고 높은 막대기를 넘는 거예요
= High jump is (a sport where you) running quickly and then jump over a high bar/pole

그 선수는 높이뛰기 대회에서 신기록을 세웠어요
= The athlete set a new record in the high jump competition

Verbs:
맞다 = to meet, to greet

Common Usages:
죽음을 맞다 = to meet death (to die)
조건이 맞다 = to meet conditions

Examples:
조건이 맞아야만 이 회사에 지원할 수 있어요
= Only if you meet the conditions can you apply to this company

그 회사 조건이 잘 맞아서 그곳에서 일하기로 했어요
= I met the conditions of that company well, so I decided to work there

출제하다 = to make questions for an exam

Common Usages:
출제위원 = a person in charge of making exam questions
시험문제를 출제하다 = to make exam questions

Examples:
선생님이 시험 출제 방법에 대해 이야기했어요
= The teacher talked about how to make questions for the exam

어제가 시험 문제 출제 마감일이라서 다 하고 12시 넘어서 잤어요
= Yesterday was the deadline for creating exam questions, so I did them all and slept after 12

Adjectives:
주제넘다 = to go too far

Examples:
그 학생은 주제넘게 선생님께 말대꾸를 했어요
= That student went too far and talked back to the teacher

어제 나는 부모님께 주제넘은 행동을 해서 많이 혼났다
= Yesterday, I went too far with my parents (did an action that was “too far”) and was scolded

Adverbs and Other Words:
홀로 = by oneself

Common Usages:
홀로서기 = standing by oneself (doing things independently)

Examples:
그녀는 이 여행을 홀로 다녀왔어요
= She traveled this journey by herself

보니까 내가 이 어려운 고난을 홀로 넘어야 되겠다
= It looks like I’ll have to overcome this difficult hardship by myself

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Introduction

In this lesson, you will learn how to use the word 넘다 to describe that something happens past a particular point or threshold. 넘다 can be used at the end of a sentence, but it is also commonly used in the middle of sentences as 넘게 or 넘어서. Let’s get started.

The Uses of 넘다

First of all, it is common to use 넘다 at the end of a sentence or clause to indicate that something has gone over or “passed” or “went over” an object. For example:

내일 우리 부대가 그 산을 넘어야 돼요
= Tomorrow, our platoon (army group) has to cross/go over that mountain

강아지가 고양이를 찾아서 울타리를 넘었어요
= The puppy was looking for the cat and crossed/went over the fence

높이뛰기는 빨리 뛰어서 점프를 하고 높은 막대기를 넘는 거예요
= High jump is (a sport where you) running quickly and then jump over a high bar/pole

Often times the thing that is “passed” using 넘다 is not a something physical, but some sort of abstract threshold. For example:

이 수영장은 저의 키를 넘어요
= This swimming pool is too deep for me (goes over my height)

지금은 몇 시예요? 설마 10시가 안 넘었죠?
= What time is it now? Don’t tell me that it is past 10?

우리가 하루에 써도 되는 돈을 벌써 넘었어요
= We already went over the amount of money that we can spend in a day

어제 그 선수는 다른 선수의 최고 기록을 넘었어요
= Yesterday, that athlete passed/went over (broke) the best record of other athlete

그 양은 우리 회사가 공급할 수 있는 양을 넘었어요
= That amount is over the amount that our company can supply

저는 어제 등산을 열심히 해서 저의 한계를 넘었어요
= Yesterday, I was hiking and I went over my limits

우리가 벌써 6월에 쓸 수 있는 인터넷 용량 제한을 넘었어요
= We already went over the data/space limit (data cap) that we can use for June

넘다 is commonly used to indicate that one overcomes some sort of hardship or problem. In these cases, it usually acts on the nouns 고난 or 고비. For example:

우리가 이제 어려운 고난을 넘었어요
= Now we have passed/overcame (finished) the difficult hardship

보니까 내가 이 어려운 고난을 홀로 넘어야 되겠다
= It looks like I’ll have to overcome this difficult hardship by myself

그 학생이 어렸을 때 아주 심한 고비를 넘었어요
= When that student was younger, he went through/overcame a serious hardship

There is also an adjective “주제넘다,” which has “넘다” contained within it. It is used to describe an action or subject “went too far.” For example:

그 학생은 주제넘게 선생님께 말대꾸를 했어요
= That student went too far and talked back to the teacher

어제 나는 부모님께 주제넘은 행동을 해서 많이 혼났다
= Yesterday, I went too far with my parents (did an action that was “too far”) and was scolded

It is often hard to come up with a translation for 넘다 in English. I have an image of what the verb looks like in my brain, but finding an English translation that can represent all of the examples above is difficult. I would like to share a story of when this word came up in one of my classes. I was talking about how many millions of people live in Korea, and I wrote down that “일억” (100 million) people live in Korea.

When I said “일억,” I could hear the students laughing to each other. They all just said “넘었어요.” An accurate translation for this would be something like “that is too many.” However, they all knew that the accurate population of Korea is 50 million, and by saying “100 million,” I “passed” that threshold.

When used like this at the end of a sentence, 넘다 typically simply represents that something crossed a particular line, but the crossing of that line isn’t really connected with anything else. For example:

우리는 땅에 그려져 있는 선을 넘었어요
= We crossed the line drawn in the ground

Here, there is no indication that anything was done after crossing the line. All that is stated is that you crossed the line. It’s possible that something happened on the other side of the line, or it is possible that you crossed the line, and then returned immediately. The context would make it clear, but just stating this sentence wouldn’t make it clear what happened after crossing the line.

However, when used with ~아/어서 (Lesson 70), 넘다 is often used to indicate that some line or threshold was crossed and then the next action happened after the crossing. For example:

우리는 강을 넘어서 한강 공원에서 놀았어요
= We crossed the river and then played in the Han River Park

More examples:

그 언덕 넘어서 계속 가다 보면 온천에 도착해요
= If you go over the hill and keep going, you will arrive at the hot-spring

어제가 시험 문제 출제 마감일이라서 다 하고 12시 넘어서 잤어요
= Yesterday was the deadline for creating exam questions, so I did them all and slept after 12

외계인을 찾으려면 인간은 엄청난 우주를 넘어서 지구와 비슷한 행성을 찾아야 돼요
= In order to find aliens, humans need to cross a very large space and find a planet similar to Earth

It is common to use 넘다 combined with ~게 (Lesson 56) as an adverb. 넘게 is often used when some sort of countable thing is acted on more than the stated amount. For example:

In these sentences, ~을/를 could be added to the object before 넘다. However, it usually sounds more natural to omit the particle.

우리는 두 시간 넘게 기다렸어요
= We waited for more than two hours

저는 일본에 스무 번 넘게 가 봤어요
= I’ve been to Japan more than twenty times

90점 넘게 받으면 엄마가 선물을 사 준대요
= If I get a score over 90, mom said that she’ll buy a present (for me)

이 과자가 너무 맛있어서 열 개 넘게 샀어요
= This candy/cookie is so delicious so I bought more than ten of them

백 년 넘게 이 식당이 한국 사람들이 제일 좋아하는 식당이에요
= For over 100 years, this restaurant has been the favorite restaurant of Korean people

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It is often confusing when dealing with time. If you want to say that you did an action for more than a countable time period, you should use the format above. For example:

어제 숙제를 하고 12시간 넘게 잤어요
= Yesterday I did my homework and then slept for more than 12 hours

Notice in the above sentence that (like the examples immediately previous to it) the speaker is indicating that something is done more than the countable amount indicated. In the sentence above, we are counting hours. 시간 is the counter for hours, and therefore 넘게 is used. However, if you want to indicate that an action is done past a time, you should use “넘어서” as discussed previously. Notice that we are not counting hours, but rather indicating “line” that was crossed. For example:

어제 숙제를 하고 12시 넘어서 잤어요
= I did my homework yesterday and slept after/past 12:00

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It is also possible to use 넘게 with things that create a negative meaning (like 안, 못, or ~지 않다) to indicate that something does not cross a threshold. This is commonly used with “조금” or “좀” to indicate that “just a little bit less” than a threshold was used. For example:

통장에 돈이 천만 원 안 넘게 있어요
= There is less than 10 million won in my bank account

저는 하루에 100 달러 조금 못 넘게 벌어요
= I make a little less than 100 dollars per day

이 요리에 크림을 두 컵 조금 안 넘게 넣었어요
= I put a little bit less than two cups of cream

That’s it for this lesson!

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Lesson 129: To cross over, to pass – 넘다