Continuing Korean. Ross King
Here are more sentences showing the usage of -고 forms.
| 12. | 저녁에는 책을 읽고 자요. In the evenings, I read books and then go to sleep. |
| 13. | 언니는 머리를 감고 나갔어요. My older sister washed her hair and went out. |
| 14. | 술을 마시고 운전하지 마세요. 위험하거든요. Don’t drink and drive—it’s dangerous. |
| 15. | 선생님은 연구실에 계시고, 학생은 교실에 있어요. The teacher is in her office and the students are in the classroom. |
| 16. | 옷도 없고, 돈도 없어요. I have no clothes and no money. |
| 17. | 나는 어제 나가지 않고 하루 종일 집에 있었어요. Instead of going out yesterday I stayed home all day. |
16.2. Verbs: More on the Infinitive Form -어 ~ -아
As seen in Lesson Seven, Korean infinitives are obtained by removing the polite particle 요 from the polite-style present tense form (i.e., from the 해요 form). In that lesson we went through the way in which the infinitive is formed for each of the different types of Korean verb bases. If you have any doubts or are unclear about the formation of the infinitive from a certain kind of verb base, then you should go back and review Lesson Seven. We are going to learn many new patterns based on the infinitive, so it is important that you understand it clearly. We now look at some further types of infinitive we have not yet studied explicitly.
The past infinitive is also formed by dropping the 요.
| Past Polite | Past Infinitive | |
| 기다렸어요 | waited | 기다렸어 |
| 먹었어요 | ate | 먹었어 |
| 왔어요 | came | 왔어 |
| Past Honorific Polite | Past Honorific Infinitive | |
| 하셨어요 | [sb esteemed] did | 하셨어 |
| 들으셨어요 | [sb esteemed] listened | 들으셨어 |
| 파셨어요 | [sb esteemed] sold | 파셨어 |
From honorific polite present-tense forms (하세요), to find the honorific infinitive, you change ㅔ to ㅕ (하세 → 하셔). To put it another way, you add the infinitive vowel -어 to the honorific base (하시- + -어 → 하셔) .
| Honorific Present Polite | Honorific Infinitive | |
| 앉으세요 | [sb esteemed] sits | 앉으셔 |
| 하세요 | [sb esteemed] does | 하셔 |
| 읽으세요 | [sb esteemed] reads | 읽으셔 |
16.2.1. Uses of the Infinitive I: Review of Polite Style
POLITE-STYLE verb forms, those forms you use at the end of your sentences when speaking with someone you are on polite-style terms with, are based on the infinitive. The present-tense polite style is the plain infinitive with 요 added to it (해요). The past-tense polite style is the past infinitive plus 요 (했어요). This much you know already.
16.2.2. Uses of the Infinitive II: with the Particle 서
16.2.2.1. Two Kinds of 서
Observe the following sentences.
| 18. | 백화점에 가서 신을 살까요? Shall we go to the department store and buy some shoes? |
| 19. | 늦어서 택시를 타고 갈래요. It’s late, so I think I’ll go by taxi. |
In the middle of a sentence, the particle 서 after an infinitive (or sometimes an infinitive all by itself, with no 서) can have two different meanings:
| I. | Cause and Result Usually, it has the general meaning so. The first half, ending with -어서, gives a cause, and the second half gives a result. | ||
| CAUSE: | 돈이 없어서 . . . | I have no money , so . . . | |
| RESULT: | . . . 가지 못 하겠어요. | . . . I won’t be able to go. | |
| II. | Sequence The 서 can take on a meaning of so as to . . . or [did], and then . . . —a purpose-and-result flavor that emphasizes a tight link in the sequence of events, usually with verbs of direction like 가- go and 오- come. | ||
| PURPOSE: | 상점에 가서 . . . | I went to the store . . . | |
| RESULT: | . . . 담배를 샀어요 . | . . . (so as) to get some cigarettes. | |
| It is usually the case that when using the construction with this meaning the subject of the first and second clauses will be the same. It is certainly advisable for you to stick to that as a rule for your own use. |
주의!
This purpose-result situation is most often expressed in colloquial English by and: I went to the store and got some cigarettes. But this and is different from the kind of and linkage expressed by a Korean -고 form: the -고 form means . . . and (then afterwards) or . . . and (also, in addition).
The difference between the constructions with -고 and those with -어서 can be seen in part from the following two examples.
| 20. | 술을 마시고 늦게 잤어요. Having had a drink, I went to bed late, or I had a drink and then went to bed late. |
| 21. | 술을 마셔서 늦게 잤어요. I went to bed late because (or since) I had (had) a drink. |
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Here again we are faced with a unified Korean construction that corresponds to a separate English construction: sometimes the so or and is separated from the verb only by a slight pause, and |