Example Sentences#

1. 하지만 이 긴 벽들이 너무 빨리 가까워져서 이제는 마지막 방에 있고, 저기 구석에 내가 달려가는 덫이 있어.”¹
   But these long walls closed in so quickly that now I am in the last room, and over there in the corner is the trap I am running towards.”
   • 가깝다 means ‘to be close’.
   • -어지다 is a grammar pattern used to indicate that someone or something gradually becomes the state mentioned in the preceding statement.
   • -어서 is a connective ending that indicates a sequence of related events, cause and effect, or ways or means.
2. 네 시가 가까워질수록 나는 점점 더 기뻐질 거야.²
   As four o’clock draws nearer, I shall grow happier and happier.
   • 가깝다 means ‘to be close’.
   • -어지다 is a grammar pattern used to indicate that someone or something gradually becomes the state mentioned in the preceding statement. When attached to transitive verbs, it converts them into intransitive passive forms.
   • ㄹ수록 is a grammar pattern indicating that as the extent of the preceding action or condition increases, the following statement changes accordingly. It means ‘the more (something happens)’.