Learn some Korean Idioms and Phrases as you learn Korean with KoreanClass101.com! We’re getting down to the nitty gritty in today’s lesson, the first of a monthly series - Idioms and Phrases. These lessons are engineered to teach not just typical Korean vocabulary, but also provide some cultural phrases, idioms, and word usages that may not exist in your culture! So in today’s lesson, we’ll be going over the word 시원하다 (siwonhada - to be cool). We will also be going over two grammar points, the declarative and noun modifying descriptive verbs (that was a mouthful!). Listen to the main audio for the conversation, and grammar points, and listen to the bonus track (at KoreanClass101.com) for the word of the day, 시원하다 (siwonhada). And while you’re there, leave us a comment and let us know how you liked the lesson!
This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Idioms and Phrases. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
46 Responses to “Idioms and Phrases #1 - It’s Cool!”
KoreanClass101.com says:
February 13th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
여러분… ‘시원하다’는 무슨 뜻일까요?
(Everyone… What do you think ’siwonhada’ means)
And if you already know, why not tell us what (NOUN) is 시원해 (siwonhae) to you!
시원한 KoreanClass101.com 
maxiewawa says:
February 13th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
겨울 은 시원해요! 
맞아, right?
I can’t seem to type 원: 어떻게?
This was a great lesson! I’ve always wondered about putting adjectives before verbs. This lesson, combined with yesterday’s about 요 conjugation, have been really useful!
화이팅!
선현우(Hyunwoo Sun) says:
February 13th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Jeff, 저도 바닷바람 좋아해요! 특히 가을에!
Max, you can type 원 by pressing D + N + J + S 
Jacqueline (쟈클린) says:
February 13th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
I Love this lesson!!!!! Can’t wait to hear more of this!
But i have to wait haha, since this lesson is just once a month ㅋㅋㅋ.
오스틴 says:
February 13th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
한국어를 잘했으면 좋겠서 속담이 너무 관심이 있잖아요
Keith의 아이목소리 아주 이상하죠?
내 생각에는 찜질방에 목욕하러 가는 걸 가장 시원하는 것 같아요.
Jacqueline (쟈클린) says:
February 14th, 2008 at 12:39 am
I didn’t know until now that one of the things that are giving me a headache is called Plain Declarative.
I have always wonder why people use so often the words in the dictionary form. It sounds weird to me.I didn’t understand it and i still don’t . It’s complicated. But at least now i know, that’s the Plain Declarative, so i can study it.
It’s difficult for me to understand why people say 피곤하다 to mean they’re tired?
I mean, that’s the verb in the infinitive form: To be tired.
So why not say 피곤해요? and leave it as simple as that.
I always see people commenting on people sites and using that. For example, they write 예쁘다. And i always wonder why in the dictionary form?
Ahhh i guess i need to study everything related to the plain declarative….
선현우(Hyunwoo Sun) says:
February 14th, 2008 at 1:29 am
Jacqueline, the easiest explanation for that would be “because that’s the way it’s used” hehe, BUT … to give it some thought, it can probably be because (no one knows for 100% sure how a language works, right? hehe) in Korean we have politeness levels, and unlike Japanese which also has politeness levels, in Korean you almost always have to conjugate a descriptive verb(adjective) to use it … in Japanese if an adjective ends in “-i” you can use it as is to modify a noun, but in Korean you always need to conjugate the word to modify a noun, or to form a sentence.
So if you just say 나는 예쁘다 or 이거 예쁘다, you are not talking to anyone in particular because it has not been conjugated and therefore doesn’t have any politeness level applied to it.
So, if you want to say the same thing to a friend you would say “나는 예뻐.” or if to your boss it would be “저는 예뻐요/예쁩니다”, but 예쁘다 itself is just … neutral
This is not the best explanation you could get, but just try to look at it this way :
As a Korean, let’s say I’m eating 불고기 and if I were to say “이거 맛있어” when I’m alone, ….
hehe I would feel so weird because that would sound as if I were talking to somebody.
I hope this makes sense.
Jacqueline (쟈클린) says:
February 14th, 2008 at 2:39 am
현우,
Thanks a lot for the explanation!.
Now i have a better understanding of it.
So it’s basically saying the same thing but not to anyone in particular or talking to myself.
Anyway,I’ll study it more ㅋㅋㅋ
About 시원하다, i was checking that word in the dictionary and besides meaning Cool and Refreshing (which was very well explained in the podcast), i also found out that it also has other meanings. It can be used like this:
시원한 눈 bright[clear] eyes
If i haven’t saw that phrase in the dictionary, i would have thought Cool eyes or Refreshing eyes??? what’s that?ㅋㅋㅋ
Ahhh One word, So Many meanings…^^
rigo says:
February 14th, 2008 at 4:07 am
Hello , wow thats a very good word
although the grammar seems a llittle difficult for my level
very good lesson though
charles says:
February 14th, 2008 at 6:57 am
wow this is a cool question.
시원하다: is similar to a sigh of relief
after finishing a hard test, feeling a 시원한 바람 on a hot day
after going to the restroom when you’ve been holding it too long.
eating tasty soup, resting in a comfortable chair, anything that causes comfort… ^^
또 이제 음식 재목 때문에 한국음식을 되게 먹고 싶어요. 만약 한국박에서 살으면 한국음식을 잘 못 먹어서 내가 좀 슬퍼요. 고의 일년 전에 저는 한국에 산때요 날마다 한국요리만 맛있게 먹은 삶이 후에 미국음식이 좀 맛이없졌어요… TT
이제 식사할 때 소금과 마늘과 매운장을 많이 넣어서 미국사람은 내게 먹고 있걸 볼때 참 이상하게 먹는 사람이다고 생각해요….
아마 쓴 실수가 많아요…. 수정이 필렸으면 하세요… ^^
Daniel K says:
February 14th, 2008 at 8:46 am
I honestly thought it was simply going to translate as the English “it’s cool,” like “Wow, you got a really cool car.”
I’m trying to figure out the Korean equivalent to the English “cool!” The closest I can come up with is “재밌다!” Is that right?
오스틴 says:
February 14th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Daniel…
I hear kids say “장” a lot. I think it might be what you’re looking for. It is an intensifier you can add before a lot of things…
장좋아!
장싫어!
장밋있어!
Charles says:
February 14th, 2008 at 11:59 am
a really good translation for cool is “싱기하다”
짱 is cool too but I have heard 싱기하다 and another one but I forgot…. sorry
high schoolers say 헐 hul when they are negatively surprised or scared of too much homework.
maxiewawa says:
February 14th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Seol 선셍님 used 장! in a recent lesson when describing something that happens really suddenly. 귀엽었어! (I’m not sure if my 요 conjugation is right though!)
Charles says:
February 14th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
also 멋이다! really can be “you are cool”
instead of just you are stylish (or handsome)
trust me! really if you think of it if you are cool you really do look handsome… ㅋㅋㅋ
Jeff says:
February 14th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
That would be ‘멋있다’.
I wonder what the translation of this is:
What’s cooler than being cool?
ICE COLD!
Jacqueline (쟈클린) says:
February 14th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
This is what i know:
멋지다——— >멋져요——- 멋진 means Cool.
멋진 자동차 = cool car
정말 멋져 = Really Cool
멋있다———->멋있어요 means Cool too.
너무 멋있어요 = That was Cool
짱 means The Best. But it can also mean Cool.
쟈클린 짱
Jacqueline (쟈클린) says:
February 14th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Oops! i made a mistake translatin 너무 멋있어요. That sentence is not in the past, so the translation is: That’s too cool.
And here is that sentence in the past:
너무 멋있었어요 That was too cool.
Jeongha Park says:
February 14th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Jacqueline (쟈클린): 우와…쟈클린. 정말 멋있었어요. 한국어를 정말 잘해요 
Charles: 반가워요. 오늘도 열심히 한국어 공부하시네요. 근데 “싱기하다”가 무슨 뜻이에요?
maxiewawa : “귀엽다”를 활용하게 되면 “엽”에서 ㅂ 받침이 없어져요. 귀엽었다!-> 귀여웠어! 이렇게
여기서 공부하는 모든 분들 너무 너무 멋져요.
저도 열심히!
Jeongha Park says:
February 14th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
오스틴: 혹시 현우씨 비디오에 등장했던 오스틴인가요? 오스틴이
장좋아!
장맛있어!
라고 해서 I think 장 means soybean sauce. 인줄 알았어요 
“짱”이었군요.
_petiteclaire_ says:
February 14th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Jacqueline, I used to think the plain forms of japanese verbs weird too, at least in the present affirmative. You’re right, it always feel as if you’re speaking “baby talk ” and not conjugating the verbs ( I think it’s true of adjectives too, I’m always looking for a verb to go with them…) The only thing I found to try and get rid of the feeling is to use them in that form as much as you can; write your blog, write comments… It does get better after some time…
비누 says:
February 14th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
‘시원하다!’라고 하면.. 이열치열
‘짱’이라고 하면..’얼짱·몸짱·돈짱·맘짱..
돈짱..아니,맘짱이 제일 좋아요^^
오스틴 says:
February 14th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
정하 씨… 맞아요. 현우과 함께 비디오들을 만들은 오스틴입니다 ^^
그리고 “장”대신에 “짱”이 고마워요. 맞은 글씨가 잊어버렸어요!
charles says:
February 15th, 2008 at 2:00 am
okay so I don’t know the spelling for 싱기하다…
maybe 싱이하다… but one of my friends uses it all the time, and when I say it people laugh. So if you could help me know how to spell it that would be great. Thanks.
charles says:
February 15th, 2008 at 2:07 am
난 들렸어요… 싱기하다말고 신기하다라는 말하고 싶어요… 파침 때문에 ㄴ는 ㅇ으로 빡워서 어떻게 쓰는지 몰랐어요.
it is not 싱기하다 it is 신기하다 but it is pronounce (to my ears) like 싱기하다
it means marvelous but one girl I know used it all the time so I thought it was a good word.
Also 신나다 but that is exited
Keith says:
February 15th, 2008 at 8:17 am
신기하다 is a great word… I would love to do a whole lesson on that word someday. It really has a lot of meanings combined into one
비누 누나… ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
선현우(Hyunwoo Sun) says:
February 15th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Austin,
한국어를 잘했으면 좋겠서 속담이 너무 관심이 있잖아요
–> 한국어를 잘하고 싶어서 속담에 너무 관심이 많아요.
내 생각에는 찜질방에 목욕하러 가는 걸 가장 시원하는 것 같아요.
–> 제 생각에는 찜질방에 목욕하러 가는 것이 가장 시원한 것 같아요.
Jacqueline,
hehe so many meanings indeed!!! 시원한 눈 is another good example of how 시원하다 is used in a different meaning than ‘to be cool’ Thanks.
In that case, 시원하다 is usually used in the meaning of “wide or big in scale because there’s nothing hindering your site” so I can you can say it’s another version of ‘refreshing’ 예를 들어서(for example) “시원한 경치(a refreshing view)” hehe
rigo,
코멘트 고마워요! Glad to hear that you found it useful ^_^ Idioms and Phrases lessons can be a bit difficult in grammar but we hope you can learn a lot of interesting colloquial expressions here. hehe.
charles,
yeah You’re right! hehe. Anything that causes comfort is 시원해요.
and I hope this correction will be helpful for you!!
또 이제 음식 재목 때문에 한국음식을 되게 먹고 싶어요.
–> 또 이제 음식이 들어간 제목 때문에 한국 음식을 되게(정말) 먹고 싶어졌어요.
만약 한국박에서 살으면 한국음식을 잘 못 먹어서 내가 좀 슬퍼요.
–> 한국 밖에 살면 한국 음식을 잘 못 먹으니까 슬퍼요.
고의 일년 전에 저는 한국에 산때요
–> 거의 일년 전에는, 제가 한국에 살았을 때는요,
날마다 한국요리만 맛있게 먹은 삶이 후에 미국음식이 좀 맛이없졌어요… TT
–> 날마다 한국 요리만 맛있게 먹으면서 살았기 때문에 미국 음식이 좀 맛없어졌어요.
이제 식사할 때 소금과 마늘과 매운장을 많이 넣어서
–> 이제 식사할 때 소금과 마늘과 고추장을 많이 넣어서
미국사람은 내게 먹고 있걸 볼때 참 이상하게 먹는 사람이다고 생각해요….
–> 미국 사람들이 제가 먹는 것을 보면 참 이상하게 먹는 사람이라도 생각해요.
아마 쓴 실수가 많아요…. 수정이 필렸으면 하세요… ^^
–> 아마 실수를 많이 했을 거예요. 수정이 필요하면 해 주세요.
선현우(Hyunwoo Sun) says:
February 15th, 2008 at 10:57 am
“짱” ^^ is a good word HAHAHA
But I don’t use it very often… although I don’t know why. I hear my friends say it all the time, though.
charles,
난 들렸어요…
–> 저 틀렸어요.
싱기하다말고 신기하다라는 말하고 싶어요…
–> 싱기하다 말고 신기하다라고 말하고 싶었어요.
파침 때문에 ㄴ는 ㅇ으로 빡워서 어떻게 쓰는지 몰랐어요.
–> 받침 때문에 ㄴ이 ㅇ으로 바뀌어서, 어떻게 쓰는지 몰랐어요.
:-) 받침 and 발음 can be very tricky sometimes, right? hehe.
Jeff says:
February 15th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
신기하다 sounds like ‘싱기하다’ because that’s how it is pronounced. When the batchim ‘ㄴ’ precedes a ‘ㄱ’, it sounds like ‘ㅇ’.
Another example that I’m sure we are all familiar with is:
한국말 -> ‘항국말’
Jeff says:
February 15th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Oh, sorry. Charles already said that. Well now we have another example anyway!
선현우(Hyunwoo Sun) says:
February 15th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
That’s right, Jeff 한국 is usually pronounced 항국 because ㄴ(n) + ㄱ(g) together become ㅇ(ng) but you know, 한국말 is actually … [항궁말] if you pronounce it really rapidly and naturally. because ㄱ + ㅁ also.. merges.. haha . This sounds like Korean is so fully of exceptions but … you notice it’s got its way, right ? hehe.
Jeff says:
February 15th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
D’oh! I was even saying it to myself as [항궁말] and forgot to type it as such!
In all these cases, the pronunciation changes so that the word is easier to say.
This is why 교포 who learn Korean mostly through speech at home and later come to classes designed for foreign learners of Korean have such trouble with spelling.
Kristin says:
February 15th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
This was an awesome lesson - I’m new to studying Korean, and I loved the combination of grammar, vocabulary and a common slang term … felt like I learned a ton all at once. Thanks so much, and I hope you guys can make this a more regular feature eventually! Thanks!!!!
선현우(Hyunwoo Sun) says:
February 16th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Jeff,
맞아요. 가끔씩, [발음]하고 [철자]가 같지 않은 단어들이 있는데, 그런 단어들은 어렸을 때부터 한국에 계속 산 사람들에게도 쉽지 않은 것 같아요. ^^ 하지만 그런 것들이 나중에 공부가 되는 거죠~~~
Kristin,
Welcome to the site!! (or to the comments section, if you’ve been listening for a while!) 반가워요! Please keep listening(앞으로도 계속 들어 주세요)! We’ve got tons more interesting lessons coming up!!(재미있는 레슨들이 굉장히 많이 준비되어 있어요!)
David Levene says:
February 18th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Amazing, thank you so much.
You guys are literally amazing.
Keith says:
February 18th, 2008 at 10:42 am
David, Welcome to KoreanClass101.com! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to chime in any time We want to help as much as we can!
watermen says:
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Even tough, I really don’t have time for Korean now, but this lesson is cool. Why is Kclass101 having so many new ideas and Jpod101 not having any of this new things?…
선현우(Hyunwoo Sun) says:
February 22nd, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Waterman, thanks for the feedback. Glad you enjoyed the lesson! We’re trying to come up with new and better ways to help people learn Korean, and I’m sure JPOD101 will keep getting much better as well!
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Category: Idioms and Phrases |
Grammar: irregular ㅂ verbs, Noun Modifier, plain declarative | Function: feeling good, using 시원하다 | Topic: kimchi stew, massage, temperature | Politeness Level: intimate
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