Easy Korean - Level 3, Unit 24: Expressing Surprise or Impression (-λ„€μš”)

🌿 Level 3 · Essential Expressions

Easy Korean - Level 3, Unit 24: Expressing Surprise or Impression (-λ„€μš”)

When you notice something new, feel surprised, or are impressed by something you just realized, you can attach -λ„€μš” (-ne-yo) to the end of a verb or adjective.

When to use -λ„€μš”

You use this when you want to express your immediate reaction or impression to something you are seeing, hearing, or experiencing in that exact moment.

  • (Looking at the window) "Oh, it's raining!" -> λΉ„κ°€ μ˜€λ„€μš”!
  • (Tasting food) "Wow, this is delicious!" -> 이거 λ§›μžˆλ„€μš”!
  • (Meeting someone) "You speak Korean well!" -> ν•œκ΅­μ–΄λ₯Ό μž˜ν•˜μ‹œλ„€μš”!

Note: You would not use -λ„€μš” for simple facts you already knew.

How to Conjugate

This is one of the easiest grammar rules in Korean. Just drop 'λ‹€' from the dictionary form and attach -λ„€μš”.

  • λΉ„μ‹Έλ‹€ (expensive) -> λΉ„μ‹Έλ„€μš” (Wow, it's expensive!)
  • 크닀 (big) -> ν¬λ„€μš” (Oh, it's big!)
  • λ¨Ήλ‹€ (to eat) -> λ¨Ήλ„€μš” (Oh, you are eating!)
  • μžˆλ‹€ (to exist) -> μžˆλ„€μš” (Oh, it's here!)

Exception: If the stem ends in γ„Ή, you must drop the γ„Ή before adding -λ„€μš”. * λ§Œλ“€λ‹€ (to make) -> λ§Œλ“œ + λ„€μš” = λ§Œλ“œλ„€μš” * λ©€λ‹€ (to be far) -> λ¨Έ + λ„€μš” = λ¨Έλ„€μš”

Past Tense with -λ„€μš”

You can also use this with the past tense marker (-μ•˜/μ—ˆ). You just attach -λ„€μš” to the past tense stem.

  • κ°€λ‹€ -> κ°” -> κ°”λ„€μš” (Oh, they left!)
  • λ¨Ήλ‹€ -> λ¨Ήμ—ˆ -> λ¨Ήμ—ˆλ„€μš” (Oh, you already ate it!)
  • 머리λ₯Ό μž˜λžλ‹€ -> μž˜λžλ„€μš” (Oh, you cut your hair!)

Example Sentences

  1. 였늘 날씨가 정말 μΆ₯λ„€μš”! (Wow, the weather is really cold today!)
  2. ν•œκ΅­μ–΄κ°€ 정말 μ–΄λ ΅λ„€μš”. (I'm realizing that Korean is really difficult.)
  3. μ—¬κΈ° μ‚¬λžŒ μ§„μ§œ λ§Žλ„€μš”. (Wow, there are really a lot of people here.)
  4. 벌써 밀이 λλ„€μš”. (Oh, it has already become night time.)
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