Purpose, Time, Condition

Korean Grammar 2

Course 2 · Chapter 6 · Connecting Clauses 2: Purpose, Time and Condition

🎯 Connecting Clauses 2 — 목적, 시간, 조건

Chapter 5 gave the everyday connectors: and, but, because, if, or, when. This chapter adds the ones that say why you do something (purpose), how two actions are timed (at once, before, after, immediately, interrupted) and what must happen first (only if, the more … the more). As in Chapter 5, keep two questions in mind: does the ending allow a tense of its own, and what can follow it? For all of these, the tense sits on the final verb.

1. Purpose: -(으)려고

Vowel stem + -려고, consonant stem + -으려고; ㄹ-stems take -려고 directly (살려고, 만들려고). Chapter 3's irregulars apply before the 으: 도우려고, 걸으려고, 지으려고; ㅡ- and 르-stems are unchanged (잠그려고, 자르려고). It means "in order to / with the intention of", and no tense goes inside it:

• 밖에 일찍 나가려고 숙제를 빨리 했어요. "I did my homework fast in order to go out early."
• 저는 신발을 신으려고 잠깐 앉았어요. "I sat down for a minute in order to put on my shoe."
• 저는 그 사람을 살리려고 경찰관을 불렀어요. "I called the police officer in order to save that person."

It also ends sentences, softly, as a reply about what you intend: 마트에 갔어요? – 아니요, 지금 가려고요. "Have you been to the supermarket?" "No, I'm going now." And -(으)려고 노력하다 means "try to": 매 주말 그 친구를 만나려고 노력해요 "I try to meet that friend every weekend". It is used with verbs; the sources checked do not say whether adjectives can take it.

2. Purpose with movement: -(으)러

The same attachment as -(으)려고 (보러, 먹으러, 만나러), but -(으)러 is used when the main verb is going or coming (가다, 오다 and compounds such as 들어가다, 내려오다, 나가다): 친구를 만나러 왔어요 "I came to meet my friend", 공부하러 학교에 가고 있어요 "I'm going to school to study", 영화를 보러 나가고 싶어요 "I want to go out to see a film". So -(으)려고 can replace -(으)러, but not the other way round: 숙제를 빨리 했어요 is not a movement verb, so 나가러 would be wrong there.

3. Purpose, formal: -기 위해(서)

Verb stem + -기 위해 (also written -기 위해서) is the neutral, slightly formal "for the purpose of", and it carries no movement restriction: 친구를 만나기 위해 여기로 왔어요 "I came here to meet a friend". With a noun use 를/을 위해(서) "for": 가족을 위해 일해요 "I work for my family". It also appears in writing and speeches.

4. At the same time: -(으)면서

Vowel stem (and ㄹ-stems) + -면서; consonant stem + -으면서: 가면서, 살면서, 먹으면서. The ㄷ-irregular changes (들으면서). A shortened written form is -(으)며. With verbs it means "while": 저는 밥을 먹으면서 공부했어요 "I studied while eating". With adjectives and 이다 it means "and also": 이 음식은 매우면서 짜요 "This food is spicy and salty", 그 사람은 저의 부장이면서 친구예요 "That person is my boss and also my friend". It can also carry a "yet" contrast: 식당을 열고 싶다고 하면서 요리를 못해요 (this quotation form comes in Chapter 8). The usual "while doing two things" use has the same subject in both clauses (general knowledge; the source's examples mostly agree, though one has two different subjects).

Careful: 앉으면서 means during the movement of sitting down. For "having sat, …" use 앉아서.

5. Immediately after: -자마자

Attach -자마자 to the bare stem of a verb (no change, no irregulars): 집에 도착하자마자 충전했어요 "As soon as I arrived home, I charged it", 집에 가자마자 침대에 누웠어요 "As soon as I got home, I lay down on the bed". The tense goes on the last verb only. The first action leads straight to the second.

6. Interrupted or changed: -다가

Attach -다가 to the bare stem of a verb or adjective (no irregular changes), with the shortened form -다 common in speech. It means that an action or state was broken off and something else began: 학교에 가다가 친구를 만났어요 "On my way to school I met a friend" (the going was interrupted by the meeting). With a past marker, -았/었다가, it means that something was done and then the opposite or a different action followed: 집에 갔다가 다시 왔어요 "I went home and then came back". Sometimes it explains a cause: 걷다가 넘어졌어요 "I fell while walking" (the falling interrupted the walking). The two clauses normally share a subject. This section is from general knowledge, not from the sources checked for this chapter.

7. Before and after: -기 전에 and -(으)ㄴ 후에

-기 전에 "before" attaches to the bare stem of a verb, with no change: 결과를 발표하기 전에 자료를 검토해야 돼요 "Before announcing the results, we have to review the data", 바다에 들어가기 전에 수영복으로 갈아입어요 "Before going into the sea, I change into a swimsuit". It never takes a tense: the "before" is relative to the main verb. With a noun: 식사 전에, 일주일 전에.

-(으)ㄴ 후에 "after" attaches to a verb stem: -ㄴ 후에 after a vowel or ㄹ-stem (간 후에, 만든 후에), -은 후에 after a consonant (먹은 후에), and the Chapter 3 changes apply (들은 후에, 지은 후에). 책을 읽은 후에 제자리에 둬야 해요 "After reading the book, you must put it back". -(으)ㄴ 다음에 is an everyday alternative, and a noun takes 후에: 수업 후에.

8. Only if / must: -아/어야

The ending -아/어야 (built like -아/어요: 가야, 먹어야, 해야, with Chapter 3's changes: 추워야, 몰라야, 들어야) says that the first clause is needed for the second to follow. Two uses:

• -아/어야 하다 / 되다 "must, have to": 저는 밥을 먹어야 해요. "I have to eat." 우리는 빨리 가야 돼요. "We have to go quickly." Using 되다 in place of 하다 gives the same meaning and is, in speech, more common. Past: 열심히 일해야 됐어요; future: 가야 될 거예요. Chapter 9 returns to obligation with the other ways of saying it.
• "only if" (general knowledge): 공부해야 합격해요 "Only if you study will you pass". This use is not from the sources checked.

Related conversational endings: -아/어야지 / -아/어야죠 "we must" (빨리 가야지!) and -아/어야겠다 "I think I'd better" (나는 지금 가야겠다 "I'd better go now").

9. The more … the more: -(으)ㄹ수록

Vowel stem + -ㄹ수록, consonant stem + -을수록; ㄹ-stems keep the ㄹ (살수록). It attaches to both verbs and adjectives and shows a growing degree: 날이 흐릴수록 사람의 기분도 우울해져요 "The cloudier the day, the gloomier people feel" (the sources' sentence, with 감정 changed to 기분). Another: 한국어는 배울수록 재미있어요 "The more you learn Korean, the more fun it is". The main clause often adds 더 "more": 먹을수록 더 먹고 싶어요. This ending, apart from the one example, is from general knowledge.

🗣️ In Use — 실제 예문

📋 Quick Reference — 요약표

✏️ Try It Yourself — 연습

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