Lesson 24
The focus of this lesson is on two new expressions with opposite meanings, which can help you express “still” or “not yet” and “already”.
아직 means “still” and “not yet”.
In English, generally, the word “still” is used with positive sentences, and the word “yet” is more commonly used with negative sentences. However, in Korean, the word 아직 [a-jik] is used for both positive and negative sentences.
아직 10시예요.
[a-jik yeol-si-ye-yo.]
= It is still 10 o’clock.
아직 안 했어요.
[a-jik an hae-sseo-yo.]
= I have not done it yet.
아직 아침이에요.
[a-jik a-chi-mi-e-yo.]
= It is still morning.
아직 몰라요.
[a-jik mol-la-yo.]
= I do not know yet.
To emphasize the meaning of “still happening” or “still not happening”, add the particle
-도 [-do] after 아직 to form 아직도 [a-jik-tto]. 아직도 has a meaning of criticizing the other person or being a little bit mad or angry.
아직 몰라요?
= You do not know yet?
아직도 몰라요?
[a-jik-tto mol-la-yo?]
= You still do not know? / How could you still not know?
아직 안 왔어요?
[a-jik an wa-sseo-yo?]
= He is not here yet?
아직도 안 왔어요?
= He is still not here yet?
네, 아직도 안 왔어요.
[ne, a-jik-tto an wa-sseo-yo.]
= No, he is still not here.
벌써 means “already”
The usage of the word 벌써 [beol-sseo] is very similar to the English word “already”. It is generally placed at the beginning of sentences, but it does not always have to be at the beginning.
It is already three o’clock.
= 벌써 세 시예요.
[beol-sseo se si-ye-yo.]
It is three o’clock already!
= 세 시예요, 벌써!
Both of the sentences above are correct.
Sample Sentences
벌써 왔어요?
[beol-sseo wa-sseo-yo?]
= Oh, you are already here!
벌써 끝났어요.
[beol-sseo kkeun-na-sseo-yo.]
= It is already over.
벌써 끝났어요?
[beol-sseo kkeun-na-sseo-yo?]
= Is it already over? Did it already finish?
이미 vs 벌써
Another word which also has the meaning of “already” is 이미 [i-mi]. You will probably come across this word frequently when reading or listening to Korean.
Although 벌써 and 이미 appear to have the same meaning, native speakers often distinguish the two by using them in different contexts.
The difference between 이미 and 벌써 lies in whether you are already aware of a fact or not. When you and/or the speaker know about something already and talk about it, use 이미. When you are just finding out about something as you speak, use 벌써. People do not always stick to this rule, but this is the basic idea.
Ex)
그 사람은 이미 학교를 졸업했어요.
[geu sa-ram-eun i-mi hak-kkyo-reul jo-reo-pae-sseo-yo.]
= He already graduated from school.
- You (and probably the other person) have known about this long before you said this sentence.
그 사람은 벌써 학교를 졸업했어요!
= He already graduated from school.
- You may have found out about this fact recently, or you already knew about this, but the
other person may have not known about it before you said it.
Because of this difference, in normal everyday situations where new information is discovered, 벌써 is used.
벌써 비가 오고 있어요.
[beol-sseo bi-ga o-go i-sseo-yo.]
= It is already raining.
벌써 추워요.
[beol-sseo chu-wo-yo.]
= It is already cold.
벌써 끝났어요.
= It is already over.