
People have their own ways to learn Korean. I believe that the best way to Korean, or any other language for that matter, is to have fun while you are learning it. Among many fun things to do with Korean language, there are not that many other methods to beat watching Kdramas.
Just like NBC’s Friends was once a bible for English study, now many Kdramas have become great study materials for learning Korean with their global popularity. Let’s watch and learn some popular Korean dramas while learning Korean and its expressions. The content will be regularly updated so bookmark this page or subscribe to my newsletter for the updates.
Kdrama: Goblin (도깨비)
1. The people called him a god.
Original: 백성들은 그를 신이라 불렀다. (0:31)
How to pronounce: /baek-seong-deul-eun geu-reul shin-i-ra bul-reot-da/
Meaning: The people called him a god.
Let’s go over it word by word.
First, 백성 /beak-seong/ is a word for the people or the public during the historic periods of Korea such as Joseon Dynasty or Goryeo Dynasty. This word could mean anyone who is not a loyal family member, but, it generally means people who were not in a noble class or didn’t have a high status.
“들 /deul/” right after “백성” is a suffix that makes words plural. The Korean language does not clearly distinguish singular and plural in many cases, but when a word has “들” at the end, it means plural. So in this sentence, “백성들” means the people.
“은 /eun/” is a postposition word that makes a previous word a subject. There are four postposition words for this function: 은/는/이/가 (eun/neun/i/ga). It would be too long and complicated to explain this grammar so let’s move on this time. In this sentence, “백성들은” is a subject.
“그 /geu/” is a pronoun for male. Here “그” is obviously Kim Shin (Gong Yoo).
“를 /reul/” is another postposition word that makes a noun or pronoun an object. Again, let’s skip the grammar part. Here, “그를” means him, Kim Shin.
“신이라 /shin-i-ra/”: “신 /shin/” is a god (or God depending on the context). “이라 /i-ra/” or “이라고 /i-ra-go/” is a postpostion to refer or position a prior noun. It usually goes with verbs like call, refer, and so on. Here it goes with “불렀다,” the past tense of calling, meaning, they called him a god.
Watch more clips of Goblin (도깨비) on YouTube.
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