Lesson 28 - Ways To Become - 지다

Hello everyone and welcome back to our website! 

Today we’re going to talk about another way to express the meaning of ‘become’ in Korean. If you remember, we’ve mentioned two other ways that had the function of telling transitions into something else; or, in other words, becoming something else. These two patterns are N이/가 되다 and V게 되다 and both of them can be translated into 'becoming something', but as you can see one is attached to nouns and one to verbs (if you can’t remember these patterns, check here).  

Today's pattern has to deal with the same meaning and function of those two, but it’s different in form and aspect. What do I mean? Well, the pattern doesn’t have to deal with the verb 되다, but it’s still translatable into become. This pattern is -지다, and just like -게 되다, it’s attached to verb stems.  

What’s the difference between V게 되다 and V지다, then? The difference is that the first one is attached to processive verbs, whereas the second one is used with descriptive verbs. I'm going to explain quickly what these two different types of verbs are, but I will talk about them thoroughly in another post. Descriptive verbs are those kind of verbs that are related to a physical, emotional and any kind of aspect that can be described (e.g. 피곤하다 to be tired); Processive verbs are those kind of verbs that relate to a set of actions or such (e.g. 읽다 to read). 

Like V게 되다, the tense in V지다 is expressed through the pattern (and it can also express other patterns, too). Let's look at some examples: 

운동하고 물을 많이 마셨어요. 그래서 건강을 더 해졌어요 

I exercise and drink a lot of water. Therefore, I became healthier 

진짜 예뻐졌어요 

You got prettier 

나는 대학생활에 익숙해졌어요 

I got used to University life 

나아지고 있어요 

I'm getting better 

주말이 안 심심해졌어요 

The weekend became less boring 

As you can see, the verb stem preceding the patter is somewhat conjugated. You could say that you use the present tense (예쁘다 -> 예뻐지다). Let's look at some more examples: 

너 얼굴이 많이 통통해졌어요! 

Your face is chubbier /has become chubbier! 

추워지고 있어요 

It's getting cold 

그래야 맛있어져요 

That’s how you make (something) delicious 

서민들의 생활이 점점 더 어려워지고 있어요 

The lives of ordinary people are getting harder and harder 

사고 때문에 늦어졌어요 

I’m late because of the accident (literally: it became late because of the accident) 

VOCABS SET ON QUIZLET: 1

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DROPBOX FILES: Main folder,  Lesson 28 Practice

I will see you next time with another grammar post!

 구름