Lesson 7
In this lesson, you will learn how to say “as soon as (you do something)” or “right after (doing something)” in Korean. The key structure you need to learn in order to say this is -자마자.
Conjugation
Verb stem + -자마자
Ex)
보다 = to see
보 + -자마자 = 보자마자 = As soon as you see/meet/look
끝나다 = to finish
끝나 + -자마자 = 끝나자마자 = As soon as it finishes/ends
Just like “as soon as + S + V” or “right after + S + V” is not a complete sentence in English, the sentence is likewise incomplete in Korean. Unlike in English, however, the “tense” is not applied to -자마자.
Take a look at the following sentence:
“As soon as I got there, I realized it.”
In English, “got” is the past tense of “get”. In Korean, however, the “tense” of the sentence is expressed through the main verb at the end rather than the verb attached to -자마자.
Ex)
가자마자 전화를 했어요.
= As soon as I went there, I made a phone call.
* Note that it is 가자마자 rather than 갔자마자 - the past tense is expressed only through 했어요.
Sample Sentences
집에 오자마자 잠들었어요.
= I fell asleep as soon as I came home.
* 잠들다 = to fall asleep
졸업하자마자 일을 시작할 거예요.
= I will start working as soon as I graduate.
* 졸업하다 = to graduate
* 일 = work
* 시작하다 = to start
도착하자마자 전화할게요.
= I will call you as soon as I arrive.
* 도착하다 = to arrive
* 전화하다 = to call someone
보자마자 마음에 들었어요.
= As soon as I saw it, I liked it.
* 보다 = to see, to look
* 마음에 들다 = to like
들어가자마자 다시 나왔어요.
= I came outside again right after I went in.
* 들어가다 = to go inside
* 다시 = again
* 나오다 = to come outside