Example Sentences#

1. 하린: 너 정말 치맥 없이는 못 사는구나.¹
   Harin: You really can’t live without chicken and beer, can you?
   • 살다 means ‘to live’.
   • -는구나 is a casual exclamatory ending expressing an introspective reaction, often reflecting understanding, realization, or an internal conclusion drawn from processing new information or recognizing a fact.
2. 길 위엔 뜻이 살아 있어²
   The road still holds its meaning
   • 살다 means ‘to live’ or ‘to be alive’.
   • 아 is part of the pattern -아 있다 used to express a continuing state of a completed action, often used with intransitive verbs or passive verbs.
3. “여기에는 어떤 사람들이 살고 있나요?”³
   “What kind of people live here?”
   • 살다 means ‘to live’.
   • -고 is a connective ending used to link two actions or states, meaning ‘and’, or to join the main verb to auxiliary verbs.
4. 다들 힘들게 사는데, 서로 도와주고 이해하면서 조금씩 변해가는 게 너무 좋았어.⁴
   While everyone lives with difficulty, I really liked how they help each other, understand each other, and gradually change.
   • 살다 means ‘to live’.
   • -는데 is a connective ending that links clauses by providing circumstances or context for the following statement, whether as background information or as a subtle contrast. It developed through grammaticalization of the modifier suffix -는 (which marks a clause as modifying the following noun) and the dependent noun 데 (meaning ‘place’ or ‘situation’), originally conveying ‘in such a situation…’.
5. 우리는 끝없는 검은 바다 한가운데 있는 고요한 무지의 섬에 살고 있으며, 멀리 나가는 것은 우리에게 맞지 않았습니다.⁵
   We live on a quiet island of ignorance in the middle of an endless black sea, and it was not meant for us to venture far.
   • 살다 means ‘to live’.
   • -고 is a connective ending used to link two actions or states, meaning ‘and’, or to join the main verb to auxiliary verbs.
6. 오래오래 행복하게 살아줘⁶
   Live long, long happy lives.
   • 살다 means ‘to live’.
   • -아 주다 is a grammar pattern where 주다 (to give) is used as an auxiliary verb to indicate that the action is done for someone else’s benefit.
   • 어 is a casual imperative ending used in informal speech.
7. 고요한 마을에는 타로라는 성실한 돌을 다듬는 사람이 살고 있었습니다.⁷
   In a quiet village, there lived a diligent stone carver named Taro.
   • 살다 means ‘to live’.
   • -고 is a connective ending used to link two actions or states, meaning ‘and’, or to join the main verb to auxiliary verbs.
8. 산에는 무서운 호랑이가 살고 있었습니다.⁸
   In that mountain lived a fearsome tiger.
   • 살다 means ‘to live’.
   • -고 is a connective ending used to link two actions or states, meaning ‘and’, or to join the main verb to auxiliary verbs.
9. 너 진짜 밥 안 먹고 사는 거 아니야?⁹
   Are you really living without eating proper meals?
   • 살다 means ‘to live’.
   • -는 is a present tense modifier that turns the preceding statement into a phrase describing the following noun.
10. 체셔 고양이: “저쪽에는,” 고양이는 한쪽 발을 흔들며, “모자 장수가 살고 있어.³
    Cheshire Cat: “In that direction,” waving one paw, “lives a Hatter.
    • 살다 means ‘to live’.
    • -고 is a connective ending used to link two actions or states, meaning ‘and’, or to join the main verb to auxiliary verbs.
11. 그리고 저쪽에는,” 다른 쪽 발을 흔들며, “3월 토끼가 살고 있어.³
    And in that direction,” waving the other paw, “the March Hare lives.
    • 살다 means ‘to live’.
    • -고 is a connective ending used to link two actions or states, meaning ‘and’, or to join the main verb to auxiliary verbs.