Lesson 2

Unit 4. 지루해요 vs. 심심해요

Translations:
지루해요 = It’s boring. / I’m bored.
심심해요 = I’m bored. / (Food) is bland.

지루해요 and 심심해요 can both be used when you want to say “I am bored.” But when you want to say that something “is boring,” you can only use 지루해요. Technically 심심하다 is not impossible, either, but when you say that something is 심심하다, it means that it is bland or not interesting, especially the taste of a certain food. When you are doing something but it’s not fun and you feel bored, you can say 지루해요 (e.g. 이 영화 지루해요. = This movie is boring. / 영화 보고 있는데, 지루해요. = I am watching a movie, and/but it is boring.) more commonly. When you are not doing anything and are just bored, it is more common to say 심심해요.

Example #1
“This movie is boring.”
이 영화 지루해요. (o)
이 영화 심심해요. (x)

“This book is boring.”
이 책 지루해요. (o)
이 책 심심해요. (x)

Example #2
이 음식 너무 심심해요. 소금을 더 넣어야겠어요.
= This food is too bland. I need to add more salt.

이 음식 너무 지루해요. (x)
If you want to say “This dish is boring.” you can say “이 음식은 너무 평범해요.” to mean that the dish is not interesting.

Example #3
“We are not doing anything fun now. Shall we go see a movie?”
심심한데 영화 보러 갈까? (o)
지루한데 영화 보러 갈까? (o)

Unit 5. 피곤해요 vs. 힘들어요

Translations:
피곤해요 = I’m tired. / It’s tiring.
힘들어요 = I’m tired. / It’s tough. / I’m struggling.

피곤해요 is a more direct way to say that you are tired, and 힘들어요 means that something is tough, difficult, tiring or even challenging. You can say 피곤해요 after a long day of working or walking, or when you couldn’t sleep much the previous night, whereas you would say 힘들어요 more commonly when you find something to be a struggle and as a result you are physically, mentally and/or emotionally tired.

Example #1
오늘 너무 힘들어요. (physically + mentally tired)
= I am so tired today.
= Today is such a tough day for me.

오늘 너무 피곤해요. (only physically tired)
= I am so tired today.

Example #2
“Getting up early in the morning is too hard.”
아침 일찍 일어나는 거 너무 힘들어요 (o)
아침 일찍 일어나는 거 너무 피곤해요 (x)

Example #3
“You can even use 힘들다 and 피곤하다 together and make them mean the opposite.

A: 비행기 오래 타서 힘들었죠?
= Taking such a long flight was hard, right?
B: 힘들진 않았는데 조금 피곤했어요.
= I didn’t have a hard time, but I was a little tired.

Unit 6. 정말 vs. 진짜

Translations:
정말 = really / truly / true story
진짜 = really / truly / real thing / authentic

They both mean “truly” or “really” when you use them as an adverb (e.g. 진짜 예뻐요 = It’s really pretty.), and 진짜 has a more casual feel to it. In addition to the meaning of “really”, 정말 can also mean ‘real’ or ‘true’ as opposed to 농담 (joke) or 거짓말 (lie), and 진짜 can also mean ‘real’ or ‘authentic’ as opposed to 가짜 (fake) or 모조품 (imitation product).

Example #1
이거 진짜예요? (real thing)
= Is this real?

이거 정말이에요? (truth)
= Is this true?

Example #2
“My teacher is so pretty.”
우리 선생님은 정말 예뻐요. (o)
우리 선생님은 진짜 예뻐요. (o)

Example #3
이거 진짜 명품이에요?
= Is this a real brand-name product?

이거 정말 명품이에요?
= Is this really a brand-name product?