Learn how to say "it's salty" and "it's flat"
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Minkyong: 여러분, 민경이랑 한국어 공부해요. (Yeoreobun, mingyeongirang hangugeo gongbuhaeyo.) |
| Keith: And please study with me too. Hi I am Keith and welcome to Newbie Series, Season 3, Lesson #16. Is There Too Much Salt in Your Korean Food? In this lesson, you learn how to express how your taste buds are experiencing your Korean food. When you go to a Korean restaurant, you will be able to say |
| Minkyong: 짜 (jja). |
| Keith: “It’s salty” or |
| Minkyong: 싱거워 (singgeowo). |
| Keith: “It’s bland.” All right, so this conversation takes place where? |
| Minkyong: At someone’s house. |
| Keith: Conversation is between... |
| Minkyong: Two friends. |
| Keith: So they will be speaking informal Korean. |
| Minkyong: 반말 (banmal) |
| Keith: You ready? |
| Minkyong: 네, 들어 봅시다. (ne, deureo bopsida.) |
| DIALOGUE |
| 진아 (jina): 짜잔... 김치찌개예요. 어때요? (jjajan... gimchijjigaeyeyo. eottaeyo?) |
| 정선 (jeongseon): (먹어 보고) 아... 싱거워요! ((meogeo bogo) a... singgeowoyo!) |
| 진아 (jina): 진짜요? 싱거워요? (jinjjayo? singgeowoyo?) |
| 정선 (jeongseon): 여기요. 소금. (yeogiyo. sogeum.) |
| 진아 (jina): (소금 넣는 소리) 어때요? ((sogeum neonneun sori) eottaeyo?) |
| 정선 (jeongseon): (먹어 보는 소리) 우엑... 너무 짜요! 이거 못 먹어요! ((meogeo boneun sori) uek... neomu jjayo! igeo mot meogeoyo!) |
| 진아 (jina): 짜요? (먹어 보고) 윽… (jjayo? (meogeo bogo) euk…) |
| Seol: 한번 더 천천히 (hanbeon deo cheoncheonhi). |
| Keith: One more time, slowly. |
| 진아 (jina): 짜잔... 김치찌개예요. 어때요? (jjajan... gimchijjigaeyeyo. eottaeyo?) |
| 정선 (jeongseon): (먹어 보고) 아... 싱거워요! ((meogeo bogo) a... singgeowoyo!) |
| 진아 (jina): 진짜요? 싱거워요? (jinjjayo? singgeowoyo?) |
| 정선 (jeongseon): 여기요. 소금. (yeogiyo. sogeum.) |
| 진아 (jina): (소금 넣는 소리) 어때요? ((sogeum neonneun sori) eottaeyo?) |
| 정선 (jeongseon): (먹어 보는 소리) 우엑... 너무 짜요! 이거 못 먹어요! |
| 진아 (jina): 짜요? (먹어 보고) 윽… (jjayo? (meogeo bogo) euk…) |
| Seol: 영어로 한 번 더 (yeongeoro han beon deo). |
| Keith: One more time, with the English. |
| 진아 (jina): 짜잔... 김치찌개예요. 어때요? (jjajan... gimchijjigaeyeyo. eottaeyo?) |
| Keith: Tada...it's kimchi stew. How is it? |
| 정선 (jeongseon): (먹어 보고) 아... 싱거워요! ((meogeo bogo) a... singgeowoyo!) |
| Keith: Ah...it tastes flat. |
| 진아 (jina): 진짜요? 싱거워요? (jinjjayo? singgeowoyo?) |
| Keith: Really? It's flat? |
| 정선 (jeongseon): 여기요. 소금. (yeogiyo. sogeum.) |
| Keith: Here, salt. |
| 진아 (jina): (소금 넣는 소리) 어때요? ((sogeum neonneun sori) eottaeyo?) |
| Keith: How is it? |
| 정선 (jeongseon): (먹어 보는 소리) 우엑... 너무 짜요! 이거 못 먹어요! ((meogeo boneun sori) uek... neomu jjayo! igeo mot meogeoyo!) |
| Keith: Yuck...it's too salty! I can't eat this! |
| 진아 (jina): 짜요? (먹어 보고) 윽… (jjayo? (meogeo bogo) euk…) |
| Keith: Salty? (eats a bit) Yuck... |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Keith: Minkyong, do you like salty food? |
| Minkyong: No. I don’t like salty food. I hate salty food. I think it’s like the worst taste ever. |
| Keith: I know you like sweet food. |
| Minkyong: I like sweet spicy food but I just can’t eat salty food. |
| Keith: Every time we are in the office, you are always asking me to buy you something sweet. |
| Minkyong: Yeah because it would be weird if I asked you to buy me something salty, wouldn’t it? |
| Keith: No, that’s pretty true. |
| Minkyong: Yeah. |
| Keith: Well I think a lot of salt goes into Korean food though especially stews, 찌개 (jjiae) and 김치 (gimchi). So do you like Korean food? Sometimes they are a bit salty. |
| Minkyong: Well, I am okay with 김치 (gimchi) and stews are not that salty. |
| Keith: Right but that’s to the Korean tongue and I think what that’s referring to is that for some Korean people, salty means really super salty. |
| Minkyong: Maybe. |
| Keith: Well the great thing about Korean food is that if something is too salty, you can always balance it out with rice. |
| Minkyong: Oh, that’s good idea. |
| Keith: I always do that. |
| Minkyong: Oh yeah, me too. |
| Keith: If you ever cook for me, I will be sure to bring extra rice. |
| Minkyong: Why because I don’t use salt at all. |
| Keith: Okay, Okay. All right, let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| Minkyong: Okay. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Keith: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Minkyong: 짜잔 (jjajan) [natural native speed] |
| Keith: Tada! |
| Minkyong: 짜잔 (jjajan) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Minkyong: 짜잔 (jjajan) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Minkyong: 김치찌개 (gimchijjiae) [natural native speed] |
| Keith: kimchi stew |
| Minkyong: 김치찌개 (gimchijjiae) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Minkyong: 김치찌개 (gimchijjiae) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Minkyong: 어때요? (eottaeyo) [natural native speed] |
| Keith: How is it? / How about...? |
| Minkyong: 어때요? (eottaeyo) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Minkyong: 어때요? (eottaeyo) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Minkyong: 소금 (sogeum) [natural native speed] |
| Keith: salt |
| Minkyong: 소금 (sogeum) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Minkyong: 소금 (sogeum) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Minkyong: 여기 (yeogi) [natural native speed] |
| Keith: here, this place |
| Minkyong: 여기 (yeogi) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Minkyong: 여기 (yeogi) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Minkyong: 못 (mot) [natural native speed] |
| Keith: can't, won't |
| Minkyong: 못 (mot) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Minkyong: 못 (mot) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Minkyong: 먹어 (meogeo) [natural native speed] |
| Keith: I eat. Eat. (intimate) |
| Minkyong: 먹어 (meogeo) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Minkyong: 먹어 (meogeo) [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Keith: All right. So let’s take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word we are going to take a look at is |
| Minkyong: 김치찌개 (gimchijjigae). |
| Keith: Kimchi stew. How do we say, can I have some kimchi stew? |
| Minkyong: 김치찌개 주세요 (gimchijjigae juseyo). |
| Keith: Kimchi stew please. So right at the end, what do we say? |
| Minkyong: 주세요 (juseyo). |
| Keith: And we can use that in a restaurant. Okay, and how do we say 김치찌개 (gimchijjigae) is delicious? |
| Minkyong: 김치찌개 맛있어요 (gimchijjigae masisseoyo). |
| Keith: That’s literally kimchi jjigae delicious and what’s that word for delicious again? |
| Minkyong: 맛있어요 (masisseoyo). |
| Keith: Okay. What’s our next word? |
| Minkyong: 먹어 (meogeo) |
| Keith: I eat or the imperative eat and that’s in informal Korean. How do we say that more politely then? |
| Minkyong: 드세요 (deuseyo). |
| Keith: Eat and that’s being polite but if you notice there, the word, they are really unrelated in terms of sound. |
| Minkyong: 네 (ne). |
| Keith: So one more time, what’s eat in informal Korean when you are telling someone to eat? |
| Minkyong: 먹어 (meogeo). |
| Keith: And let’s say you want to say that to your grandparents, your parents, what would you say? |
| Minkyong: 드세요 (deuseyo). |
| Keith: And that’s being a little more polite. Okay so let’s say you are hosting a party and a lot of people are there and you want to be polite to everyone because you are speaking to an entire group, how would you say please, help yourself? |
| Minkyong: 많이 드세요 (mani deuseyo), or in intimate politeness level, you could say 많이 먹어 (mani meogeo). |
| Keith: Okay and how do you say I can’t eat? |
| Minkyong: 못 먹어 (mot meogeo). You just have to put 못 (mot) in front of 먹어 (meogeo). |
| Keith: Right. That word 못 (mot) that came out in our vocabulary. So when we want to say I can’t do something, won’t do something, just put it before the verb. Okay, so how did the verb 먹어 (meogeo) come out in this dialogue? |
| Minkyong: Jeongseon said 이거 못 먹어! (igeo mot meogeo!) |
| Keith: Literally this can’t eat. I can’t eat this. All right, well let’s take a look at the focus for this lesson. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Minkyong: The focus of this lesson is 짜 (jja). |
| Keith: "It's Salty," and that’s in informal Korean. To say it more politely? |
| Minkyong: 짜요 (jjayo) |
| Keith: Right. Just add on that 요 (yo) at the end. So what’s the dictionary form of this verb? |
| Minkyong: 짜다 (jjada) |
| Keith: Okay. So can you give us some examples for 짜다 (jjada) “to be salty”? |
| Minkyong: I don't like salty taste at all but my friends like salty food, so sometimes I ask them 안 짜? (an jja?) |
| Keith: “Isn't it salty?” and let’s break that down really quickly. What’s that first part? |
| Minkyong: 안 (an) |
| Keith: Not and after that? |
| Minkyong: 짜? (jja?) |
| Keith: Salty, not salty and you can use that to your friends. And if you want to say it’s not salty, you can say the same exact thing. |
| Minkyong: 안 짜 (an jja). |
| Keith: Okay. So how did it come out in this dialogue? |
| Minkyong: 정선 (jeongseon) said to 진아 (jina), 너무 짜! (neomu jja!) |
| Keith: “It's too salty!” |
| Minkyong: 이거 못 먹어! (igeo mot meogeo!) |
| Keith: “I can't eat this!” Okay so what’s the opposite of 짜 (jja) salty? |
| Minkyong: 싱거워 (singgeowo) |
| Keith: Bland and a little more politely? |
| Minkyong: 싱거워요 (singgeowoyo). |
| Keith: Of course, just add on that 요 (yo) at the end. Okay, so can you give us an example sentence? |
| Minkyong: I like it when it’s bland but my friends don’t and they always say this 아직도 싱거워! (ajikdo singgeowo!) |
| Keith: “It still tastes flat.” |
| Minkyong: And in this dialogue, it came out as 진짜? 싱거워? (jinjja? singgeowo?) |
| Keith: Really, it’s flat? But recently, Minkyong, 싱거워 (singgeowo) bland tasting food, that’s been really the trend these days, huh? |
| Minkyong: Yeah we say it’s 웰빙 (welbing). |
| Keith: I love that. That’s Konglish and that’s well being, meaning |
| Minkyong: Healthy. |
| Keith: Right and – right, recently in Korea, 웰빙 (welbing) is really a big trend right now. Everyone is trying to work out and be really healthy. |
| Minkyong: Yeah and they try to eat healthy food and apparently salty food is not really healthy and bland food is more healthier, so people try to eat less salt. |
| Keith: So, are you on that bandwagon? |
| Minkyong: Yeah since I was born because I don’t like the taste. |
| Keith: Of salty food, right? |
| Minkyong: Yeah. |
Outro |
| Keith: All right, well that’s going to do it. 다음에 봐요. (daeume bwayo.) |
| Minkyong: 코멘트 꼭 다세요. (komenteu kkok daseyo.) |
Easily master this lesson’s grammar points with in-depth explanations and examples. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
27 Comments
HideWhich Korean dish do you think is salty? And which is not very salty? :) 짜요 / 안 짜요 / 싱거워요
Hi Keith,
Thanks for pointing this out to us. We'll get back to you shortly on this!
Best,
Lyn
Team KoreanClass101.com
The dialogue is all spoken at intimate level but the line by line is written all in standard polite level
Can you take "요" out of each line so that the dialogue matches what is printed?
Hi Juri,
Thanks for posting. To say 'like this' you would need to add '이렇게'.
왜 우리는 이렇게 운전을 못할까? Why can't we drive like this?
왜 그 남자는 이렇게 운전을 못할까? Why can't he drive like this?
Best,
Lyn
Team KoreanClass101.com
안녕하세요 ^^
감사합니다 ^^ .. 그럼 , can I write he can't drive like this ?
그를 운전을 못해요 ? or we can't drive like this (우리는 운전을 못해요 ) ?
Hi Juri,
Thank you for the positive feedback, it means a lot to us!
As for your question, if you wanted to write 'She cannot drive', it would be:
그녀는 운전을 못해요.
Cheers,
Lyn
Team KoreanClass101.com
I want to ask you guys, can I say "그녀 운전 못해요 "? It means she can't drive .. Is that okay ? please tell me my mistakes if there's any .
안녕히게세요 :D
Very helpful lessons thank you guys! I hope I can be fluent one day because I'm really working hard ! 감사합니다 .. 진짜 재미 있어요 !
Hey Robin,
That is a good point. Salt itself is not the ingredient that should be void all times but to be careful when it comes to over-consuming!
Korean traditional cuisine for sure involves possibly more salt than others but it is also for side dishes in general.
And that is amazing you have helped your friend to make Kimchi, it is really complicated process!haha
Thank you
Madison
Team KoreanClass101.com
You guys should know that salt is NOT in the "bad foods" category...& this is from my doctor not me. unless you're among the 20% population with high blood pressure, you can die without (modest amount of) salt. just weeks after doctor told me that, a friend of mine went into a coma & was in hospital for months due to deadly low sodium level. and kieth is right about korean food...you just can't taste the salt under all the SPICE! I've helped my friend make 김치 & watched her empty an entire box of salt into that brine. Enjoy!
Hi Lulu,
Thank you for your comment, it's great to hear your enjoying the lessons!
Have a nice day,
Cheers,
Mélanie
Team KoreanClass101.com