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4 Useful Conjunctions (Sentence Connectors)

Min Sung Kim
Jul 14, 2023
Vocabulary Intermediate

15-min Lesson Goals

Conjunctions are connecting words that allows you to make longer, more complex sentences! And, they are also key to sounding more natural or fluent when speaking Korean. But you will need practice to master them!

  1. Learn 4 conjunctions (and, however, but, or),
  2. Practice reading sample dialogues

A Bit of a Lesson

1. 그리고 (geu-ri-go) - And

Use this conjunction to add additional information. For example, if you wanted to say:

Do you want to watch a movie together? And let's have dinner.

같이 영화 볼래? 그리고 저녁 먹자.

 

2. 하지만 (ha-ji-man) - However

Let's look at an example: I called my friend however he didn't hear me.

You could say: 나는 친구를 불렀다 하지만 친구는 나를 듣지 못했다.

But this is a little too long right? Then you can use: verb+지만 (~ji-man)

So, instead you could say: 나는 친구를 불렀지만 친구는 나를 듣지 못했다.

 

3. 근데 (geun-dae) - But

This is a synonym to 하지만 and can be used in it's place. It can also be used at the beginning of a sentence to mean: By the way...

Let's take a look at this example: By the way, I called my friend but he didn't hear me.

You could use 근데 instead of 하지만: 근데, 나 친구를 불렀다 근데 친구는 나를 못 들었어.

But this is a little too long right? Then you can use: verb+는데 (~neun-dae)

So, instead you could say: 근데, 나 친구를 불렀는데 친구는 나를 못 들었어.

 

4. 아니면 (a-ni-myeon) - Or

If you want to say or, use the conjunction 아니면.

Let's take this example: Do you want coffee or tea?

You could say: 커피 마실래 아니면 차 마실래?

 

Knowledge Check!

Choose the correct response to this dialogue: 근데, 우리 만나서 밥 먹을까 아니면 영화를 볼까?

밥 먹고 아니면 영화를 보자. 밥 먹지만 영화를 보자. 밥 먹고 근데 영화를 보자. 밥도 먹고 그리고 영화도 보자.

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