LEARN + KOREAN / Note 28 TOPIK I
Because (-아서/어서)
a
-아서/-어서 glues a reason onto a result in one sentence: [reason] + 아서/어서 + [what happened because of it]. It runs on the exact same vowel-harmony split as everything else you’ve conjugated so far, ㅏ or ㅗ takes 아서, everything else takes 어서.
pigonhaeseo achime neutge ireonasseoyo.
I was tired, so I woke up late in the morning.
In Real Life
If you can already conjugate a verb into -아요/-어요, you already know whether it takes -아서 or -어서, same split, same logic. There’s no separate rule to learn here, just the familiar one applied to a new ending.
chingu saengirieoseo chingu jibe gayo.
Because it's my friend's birthday, I'm going to their house.
hanguk chinguga isseoseo hangugeoreul gongbuhaeyo.
I study Korean because I have a Korean friend.
keopireul mani masyeoseo jameul mot jayo.
I drank a lot of coffee, so I can't sleep.
In Real Life
One quirk to file away: -아서/-어서 can’t lead into a command or a suggestion. You won’t see it directly in front of -세요 or -ㄹ까요; Korean reaches for a different reason-connector in those cases, one you’ll meet in a later lesson.
Vocabulary
| Korean | English |
|---|---|
usan | umbrella |
pigonhada | to be tired |
ireonada | to wake up, to get up |
jam | sleep |
iyu | reason |
wonin | cause |
gyeolgwa | result |
geuraeseo | so, therefore |
waenyahamyeon | because (sentence-opening) |
pinggye | excuse |
machim | as it happens, conveniently |
eojjeol su eopsi | unavoidably, having no choice |
hapil | of all times or things (why now, why this) |
deokbune | thanks to |
ttaemune | because of |
tat | fault, blame |
gyegi | occasion, motive |
sanghwang | situation |
jogeon | condition |
geungeo | basis, grounds |