Example Sentences#

1. 마을 사람들은 그에게 큰 불행이라고 말했습니다.¹
   The villagers said to him it was a great misfortune.

   • 불행 means ‘misfortune’ or ‘unhappiness’. It is formed from the Sino-Korean negative prefix 불- (similar to ‘un-’, ‘non-’, ‘dis-’, or ‘mis-’ in English) and 행 meaning ‘fortune’.
   • 이다 is the verb ‘to be’.
   • -라고 is a quotative marker used in indirect quotation of speech or thoughts, composed of -라 (the declarative ending variant used after 이다) and -고 (a quotative particle).

2. 마을 사람들은 이번에는 큰 불행이라고 말했습니다.¹
   The villagers said this time it was a great misfortune.

   • 불행 means ‘misfortune’ or ‘unhappiness’. It is formed from the Sino-Korean negative prefix 불- (similar to ‘un-’, ‘non-’, ‘dis-’, or ‘mis-’ in English) and 행 meaning ‘fortune’.
   • 이다 is the verb ‘to be’.
   • -라고 is a quotative marker used in indirect quotation of speech or thoughts, composed of -라 (the declarative ending variant used after 이다) and -고 (a quotative particle).