Lesson 32 - How to Use 어 버리다

Hello everyone! 

We're back with a brand new grammar post, and it's still about verbs. Today's pattern is -어 버리다 and it is mostly used to indicate that the speaker has fully completed an action. It doesn't seem too complicated, does it? Because it's not!


Its form is pretty simple, too. It’s attached to the infinitive verb stem of either a descriptive or processive verbs, and the verb tense is expressed through it (the infinitive of a verb is when it doesn't have the polite form attached to it; in this case, it's the present one we refer to).

오늘 시험을 봐 버렸어

I took a test today

다 대답해 버렸어

I answered everything

나는 물을 끓어 버렸어

I boiled the water

돈을 다 써 버렸어요

I spent all my money

Now, you might ask us 'what's the need to add this pattern, if you can understand an action has been completed from the context?'. It's a good question, and we've thought about it too when we were first learning about this pattern. Let us explain the trick: when you want to emphasize that an action has ended completely, you add the verb 버리다 to the infinitive and conjugate the verb, as you can see from the examples above. It basically adds feelings of either relief or regret to the sentence, most of the time.

You can attach other patterns to this one, and make more ‘complicated’ sentences.

이것은 다 해 버리면 행복할게

If you do all this I’ll be happy

그녀는 남자친구와 헤어져 버린 것 같아

It looks like she broke up with her boyfriend

그 일을 다 해 버리고 내 속이 시원해

I’ve done all the work, and I feel better

Note that whatever verb you use with this pattern, the translation will always be related to the verb you use, and not to 버리다 (which would mean to throw away, if used on its own),  as it’s only used to emphasize. That means you don’t have to add the actual meaning of this verb to the sentence.

그는 회의 중에 나가 버렸다

He left in the middle of the meeting

어떻게 다 잊어 버렸어?

How did I forget everything?

그 사람이 준 물건들을 친구들에게 다 줘 버렸어요

I gave everything he gave me to my friends

VOCABS SET ON QUIZLET: 1

KPOPOLOGY WEBSITE: Home, KPOPOLOGY Explains 

DROPBOX FILES: Main folder,  Lesson 32 Practice

I will see you next time with another grammar post!

 구름