Example Sentences#

1. 현우: 맞아, 사람이 너무 많아서 지하철도 몇 번이나 그냥 지나가고, 택시도 잘 안 잡혀서 늦을 뻔했어.¹
   Hyunwoo: Yeah, there were so many people that a bunch of subways just passed by, and taxis were hard to catch, so I was almost late.
   • 번 is a bound noun meaning ‘time’ or ‘occurrence’, used to count occurrences of an event or to mark a specific instance in a sequence.
   • (이)나 is a particle that attaches to numbers or quantifiers to emphasize that the amount is greater than expected, often translated as ‘as many as’ or ‘no less than’.
2. 하지만 특정 사람을 미워할수록 인류 전체를 더욱 사랑하게 되는 것은 언제나 그래왔습니다.²
   But the more I hate any particular person, the more I come to love humanity as a whole, and it has always been so.
   • 언제나 means ‘always’ and is formed from 언제 (when or sometime) and -나, a particle indicating that any item in a set or range is included without exception, creating the all-encompassing sense of ‘at all times’.
3. 하지만 네가 아무 때나 온다면, 나는 몇 시에 마음의 준비를 해야 할지 알 수 없을 거야…”³
   But if you come at just any time, I shall never know at what hour to prepare my heart…”
   • 때 means ‘time’ or ‘occasion’.
   • -나 is a particle indicating that any item in a set or range is included without exception.