How often do you clean your house? What is acceptable practice in your culture?

Now let’s read these two dialogues. What are they talking about?

In this lesson, you will learn how to talk about how frequently you do certain activities.

1. –에 per

You have learned that –에 marks a time word, such as on Monday or at  __ o’clock. –에 can also be used to mean per, as in per day or per week.

2. 몇 how many

Remember 몇 in 몇 시예요? 몇 means how many and cannot be used on its own like the question fragment “how many?” in English. It must directly precede a counter, a word needed to count particular items, such as 번 times or 시간 hours’ time.

3. 얼마나 자주 how often

얼마나, an adverb which means how much with the word 자주 often is also used to ask how frequently someone does something. How you answer is exactly the same as when you are asked with 하루에/일주일에/한 달에/일 년에… 몇 번…:

1. V–고 나서 V and then

–고 나서 is a verb connector that is based on the 고 connector. Adding 나서, however, places emphasis on the time sequence of the actions, the fact that the first action is completed before the second is undertaken.

Unlike 지만, 고 나서 is not conjugated into the past tense.

2. Conjugation Practice

Complete the following table with the appropriate –고 나서 form.

<Answer key> 배우고 나서, 연습하고 나서, 걷고 나서, 마시고 나서, 쓰고 나서, 만들고 나서

1. NOUN(이)나 as many as

The marker –(이)나 means as many as in sentences like 동생이 어제 열두 시간이나 잤어요! My younger sibling slept for (as many as) twelve hours yesterday! It marks some surprise as to the (large) number of things/happenings or intends to impress the listener with the large number (“as many as…” “that many!”). Use –이나 when the preceding noun ends in a consonant (such as 시간 and 번) and –나 when it ends in a vowel (such as 개).

2. NOUN밖에 only, merely

밖에is an interesting marker that comes from the noun, 밖 outside.  It is always followed by a negative construction, be it one of the negative verbs (없다, 아니다), or a negated verb with a short (안, 못) or long negative phrase (‑지 않다, ‑지 못하다).  Altogether, NOUN밖에+ negative means only, merely or no more than NOUN, with a note of emphasis.

Similar sentences to those above could be made using 만 (and non-negative verbs), but the nuance is quite different. The –밖에sentences emphasize how small an amount or number is involved, whereas the 만 sentences neutrally report facts. In fact, you have to use –밖에 and a negative verb if you have even a slight sense of exaggeration with numbers.

Juan is looking for a new roommate and talking to Noah, who is also interested in finding a roommate. Listen to the dialogue and answer the following questions in Korean.

1. Whose place would be tidier and cleaner?

1. Choose your answer:  노아의 방 vs. 후안의 방

2. How often does Noah take out the trash?

3. What does Noah usually do on weekends?

4. Do you think Noah and Juan will be good roommates? Why do you think so? Explain in Korean.

Read the text messages below between Alyssa and her roommate Sarah. Then, answer the following questions.

1. Alyssa is going to the market soon.                              True    False

2. Alyssa’s roommate Sarah is at the park alone.              True    False

3. Alyssa wants to take a walk before doing the dishes.   True    False

4. According to Alyssa, Sarah does the dishes three times per week.   True    False

5. Alyssa and Sarah will be cooking together tonight.       True    False

Helpful Vocabulary

Interview

Part I. You have been asked to conduct a short survey on how often students do a certain activity. Choose three activities and ask 10 people how often they do them. Create a pie chart for a total of 100% for each activity. Report the results to the class.

(맛보기) 네 명은 일주일에 두 번에서 세 번 운동해요. 그리고 두 명은 일 주일에 한 번

(맛보기) 운동해요. 그리고 한 명은 매일 운동을 하고 한 명은 운동을 안 해요.

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r and I in Borrowed Words

Many words borrowed from Western languages are used in Korean, including technology terms such as 인터넷 and 컴퓨터. Usually, r that comes at the end of the syllable is not pronounced in Korean.

When r does not come at the end of the syllable, it is written (and pronounced) as a single ㄹ. This can create confusion for English speakers because word-initially, l also is written (and pronounced) as a single ㄹ. Elsewhere, l is written (and pronounced) as two ㄹ’s:

How often do Koreans do?

Eating out

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Image by jyleen21 from Pixabay

Good, healthy, and reasonably-priced restaurant food is abundant in cities in Korea, so people eat out (or order in) frequently. According to a Gallop poll, 58% of Koreans ate out 1~3 times a month in 2015, which rose from 47% from the previous year. Both years, 32% of Koreans ate out more than once a week. The statistics fluctuate depending on the overall economy. In 2015, when the economy was still on the recovery slope from the world’s stock market crash, 33% of Koreans reported that they did not eat out at all.

Exercise

Perhaps due to their often-expected over-time work, not many Koreans take time out for exercise. In 2013, 36.8% of Korean office workers exercised 0 times a week, and only 0.4% of them exercised 6 times a week (by going to the gym or playing tennis, etc.).