Korean Reading 300 - 005

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Hi, everyone. This is the fifth lecture of Korean Reading 300. All right, let’s start with the first sentence of the fifth paragraph.

The first sentence is 당신은 하루살이를 아는가? Do you know the mayfly? 당신은 is ‘you’, and 하루살이 is ‘mayfly’. This is a compound word of 하루 and 살이. 하루 means ‘one day’, and 살이 means the being that lives’. And 를 is the objective case. And 아는가? is an interrogative predicate, and its meaning is ‘do you know?’ but this is seldom used in daily conversations. This is used only in written language expression, and 아세요?, or 아시나요?, or 아십니까? is used in spoken language. So, 당신은 하루살이를 아는가? Do you know the mayfly?

The second sentence is 그것은 날개를 가진 가장 오래된 곤충이며 약 1,500종류가 있다. It is the oldest insect with wings, and there are about 1,500 kinds. 그것 is ‘it’, and 은 is the subjective case. And 날개 is ‘wing’, and 를 is the objective case. And 가진 came from a verb, 가지다, which means ‘to have’, but the letter, 다 is removed and the consonant, ㄴ is placed under 지 in order to modify the noun behind it, 곤충, which means ‘insect’, but there are two words between 가진, and 곤충, 가장 오래된. These two words are also the modifier of the noun, 곤충 because as I have said several times before, in Korean language, all the modifiers should be placed in front of the noun they modify, right? 가장 is the superlative expression, and 오래된 is an adjective, and its meaning is ‘old’, so 가장 오래된 is ‘the oldest’. So, 날개를 가진 가장 오래된 곤충 is ‘the oldest insect with wings’. And 이며 is the combined expression of 이다 and 그리고, which means ‘to be’, and ‘and’ respectively. So, the letter, 이 means ‘to be’, and the letter, 며 is ‘and’. 약 is ‘about’, and 천 means ‘a thousand’, and 오 means ‘five’, and 백 means ‘hundred’, so 천오백 is ‘one thousand and five hundred’, right? And 종류 is ‘a kind’, and the letter, 가 is the subjective case. And 있다 is a predicate of there being something. So, 그것은 날개를 가진 가장 오래된 곤충이며 약 1,500종류가 있다. It is the oldest insect with wings, and there are about 1,500 kinds.

The third sentence is 처음에 그것은 1년 동안 애벌레로 지내다가 5월에 어른이 된다. At first it is a larva for a year, and then in May, it becomes an adult. 처음에 is ‘at first’, 처음 is ‘the first’, and 에 is ‘at’. 그것 is as I said at the previous sentence, ‘it’, and 1년 is ‘one year’, as you can see, the number, one is called 일 in Korean. And 년 is ‘year’, and 동안 indicates the period, so 1년 동안 is ‘for a year’, right? 애벌레 is ‘a larva’, and 로 지내다 is actually ‘to spend time’, and the letter, 가 is the postposition indicating ‘and then’. And number five is called 오 in Korean. And 월 means ‘month’, so 5월 is ‘May’, right? And 에 indicates ‘in’, so 5월에 is ‘in May’. And 어른 is ‘adult’, and 이 is used as the postposition of a complement of the predicate as well as the subjective case. And 된다 came from 되다, which means ‘to become’, and 되다 is changed into 된다 in order to express the predicate form. So, 처음에 그것은 1년 동안 애벌레로 지내다가 5월에 어른이 된다. At first it is a larva for a year, and then in May, it becomes an adult.

The fourth sentence is 그래서 그것의 이름은 mayfly이다. So its name is mayfly. 그래서 is ‘so’, or ‘therefore’. And 그것의 is the genitive case of it, so ‘its’, right? And 이름 is ‘name’, and 은 is the subjective case. And 이다 is also the predicate of being something. So, 그래서 그것의 이름은 mayfly이다. So, its name is mayfly.

The fifth sentence is 어른이 된 하루살이는 몇 시간밖에 살지 못한다. The adult mayfly lives just a few hours. As I said, 어른 is ‘adult’, and 이 된 is the modifier meaning ‘being something’, and 하루살이 is ‘mayfly’, so 어른이 된 하루살이 is ‘an adult mayfly’, and 는 is the subjective case. And 몇 means ‘a few’, or ‘several’, and 시간 is ‘hour’, so 몇 시간 is ‘a few hours’, right? And 밖에 is originally ‘outside’, or ‘except’, and 살지 못한다 is the negation of 살다, which means ‘to live’. However, as you know, the double negation form reinforces its positivity, so 몇 시간 밖에 살지 못한다 is the same as 몇 시간만 산다. So, 몇 시간 밖에 살지 못한다 is ‘to live just a few hours’. So, 어른이 된 하루살이는 몇 시간밖에 살지 못한다. The adult mayfly lives just a few hours.

The sixth sentence is 그것은 입이 없기 때문에 먹을 수 없다. Because it doesn't have a mouth, it can’t eat. 그것은 is ‘it’, and 입 is ‘mouth’. And 없기 때문에 is combined expression of 없다 and 기 때문에. The letter, 다 is removed and 기 때문에 is placed behind it. 없다 is ‘don’t have’, and 기 때문에 is ‘because’, so 그것은 입이 없기 때문에 is ‘because it doesn’t have a mouth’. And 먹을 수 없다 is ‘can’t eat’. 먹다 is ‘to eat’, and the letter, 다 is removed and 수 없다 is placed behind, which means ‘cannot’. So, 그것은 입이 없기 때문에 먹을 수 없다. Because it doesn't have a mouth, it can’t eat.

The seventh sentence is 재미있지 않은가? Isn't that interesting? This is a negative interrogative sentence. 재미있지 came from 재미있다, which is an adjective and its meaning is ‘interesting’. And the letter, 다 is removed and 지 않은가? is placed behind it in order to make a negative interrogative sentence. So, 재미있지 않은가? Isn't that interesting? And as I said at the first sentence, 당신은 하루살이를 아는가?, this expression is also used mainly in written expression. 재미있지 않아요? or 재미있지 않습니까? is used in daily conversation context.

All right, we gonna go over the whole paragraph. Are you ready? Here we go.

당신은 하루살이를 아는가? 그것은 날개를 가진 가장 오래된 곤충이며 약 1,500종류가 있다. 처음에 그것은 1년 동안 애벌레로 지내다가 5월에 어른이 된다. 그래서 그것의 이름은 mayfly이다. 어른이 된 하루살이는 몇 시간밖에 살지 못한다. 그것은 입이 없기 때문에 먹을 수 없다. 재미있지 않은가?

Do you know the mayfly? It is the oldest insect with wings, and there are about 1,500 kinds. At first it is a larva for a year, and then in May, it becomes an adult. So, its name is mayfly. The adult mayfly lives just a few hours. Because it doesn't have a mouth, it can’t eat. Isn't that interesting?