Example Sentences#

1. 얼마 지나지 않아 전쟁이 일어났고, 젊은이들이 군대로 갔습니다.¹
   Not long after, war broke out, and the young men went to the army.

   • 않다 is an auxiliary verb that makes the clause negative.
   • 얼마 지나지 않아 literally means ‘not much (time) passed’, conveying the sense of ‘after a while’.
   • -아서 is a connective ending that indicates a sequence of related events. In this context, 서 is omitted.

2. 하지만 얼마 지나지 않아 맹인은 두 개씩 집어먹기 시작했다.²
   But not long after, the blind man began eating two at a time.

   • 않다 is an auxiliary verb that makes the clause negative.
   • 얼마 지나지 않아 literally means ‘not much (time) passed’, conveying the sense of ‘after a while’.
   • -아서 is a connective ending that indicates a sequence of related events. In this context, 서 is omitted.