I am just going to read books at home this holiday.

Hi everyone. So, I got up at 6AM and went for a run this morning. It was a beautiful day and the view was great along the Brisbane River. I was so pumped up but managed to run only four kilometres and it nearly killed me. :P Top of the range running shoes weren't really a big help yet. I just need stronger legs and lungs! I will do it again next week to get those. :)


I am just going to read books at home this holiday.
이번 휴가는 그냥 집에서 책이나 읽으려구요.


이번, yibun, this
휴가는, hyuganun, holiday + suffix
그냥, gunyang, just
집에서, jibaeso, home + suffix
책이나, chekyina, book + suffix for only
읽으려구요, ilguryoguyo, going to read, (읽다)


이번 휴가는 그냥 집에서 책이나 읽으려구요.
yibun hyuganun gunyang jibaeso chekyina ilguryoguyo.


-이나 or -나 following a noun indicates the object is the only preference or option. When to use -이나 or -나 depends on the ending sound of the noun. If the sound of the noun ends with a consonant like 책, you need to use -이나. But if the ending sound is a vowel like 잡지(jabji, magazine) you need to use -나. You will find that they sound better than trying to say 책나 or 잡지이나.

More examples:
TV나 볼려구요. -> Just going to watch TV.
김밥이나 먹을려구요. -> Just going to eat Gimbab.
커피나 마실려구요. -> Just going to drink coffee.

If there is another noun, I.e. noun + (이)나 + noun, it means you can select between two. I wrote about this some time ago. Check it out from here.

Finally, I would like to welcome maggiesedapgiler to my blog! Thanks for following. :)

Comments

  1. khairshapieeJuly 18, 2010 at 9:51 PM

    안녕하세요 민 씨. 질문 있어요.
    I was learn that 나/이나 also can mean "or", it's true? if it's true did my sentences is right?

    1. 잡지나 책 좋아해요?
    2. 감밥이나 피자 갖고 싶어요?
    3. 일요일이나 화요일이나 주말 만나요.
    4. 서울이나 인천 가요?

    about "이번 휴가는 그냥 집에서 책이나 읽으려구요"
    can we change 나/이나 to 만? did it mean will change too?

    한국어 가르쳐 주세요! 안녕히계세요!! ^^

    ReplyDelete
  2. MinJuly 18, 2010 at 11:32 PM

    안녕하세요, 카에르씨. :)

    나/이나 can mean "or" if there are two or more. Therefore, most of your sentences are correct. I'll give you just a few corrections. :)

    2. 감밥이나 피자 갖고 싶어요? -> 김밥이나 피자 먹고 싶어요?
    3. 일요일이나 화요일이나 주말 만나요. -> 일요일이나 화요일 또는 주말에 만나요.

    "또는" also means "or". I used "또는" because it sounds better than repeating "-이나" twice.

    If you say "이번 휴가는 그냥 집에서 책만 읽으려구요", it sounds like you want to read books. "책이나 읽으려구요" sounds like it you do it because it is the best option at the moment.

    Hope it helps! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. maggiesedapgilerJuly 19, 2010 at 1:40 AM

    Hey there.

    You're welcome. I found your blog while learning more on how to get the right transportation, buying stuffs and negotiating with store owners since I am going to travel to Seoul,Korea next month. I really hope you could write post with such materials later. It would help me a lot.

    Keep up your good work:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. MinJuly 19, 2010 at 8:08 PM

    @maggiesedapgiler

    Hi. :) Dialogue 5 was about shopping but it does not have expressions you want. I will talk about those this week and transportations next week as your trip to Seoul is very soon! :)

    ReplyDelete

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