Lesson 6

Unit 16. 어렸을 때 vs. 젊었을 때

Translations:
어렸을 때 = when one was little / when one was a child
젊었을 때 = when one was young / when one was younger than now

어리다 and 젊다 both mean "to be young," but 어리다 is more closely related to children’s youth, whereas 젊다 can be related to anybody’s youth or young mindset/body/age. 젊다 is more relative than 어리다, so if you are 60 years old, you can say that someone in his 40s is relatively ‘젊다' compared to you, although he might not be considered to be ‘young’ by everybody.

The word for “child”, 어린이, also comes from 어리다. So if you say 어렸을 때, it usually refers to your childhood, and if you say 젊었을 때, it usually means the time when you were younger than now, but you were already an adult.

Example #1
If you are 20 years old:
어렸을 때 = when I was little
젊었을 때 (incorrect) (You are still young.)

Example #2
If you are 60 years old:
어렸을 때 = when I was a child
젊었을 때 = when I was younger (than now)

Example #3
저희 아빠는 젊었을 때 술을 많이 마셨어요. = My father drank a lot when he was young.
저희 아빠는 어렸을 때 술을 많이 마셨어요. (strange) (Drinking and ‘어렸을 때’ don’t go well together because that would imply that the person drank alcohol when he was a child.)

Unit 17. 함께 vs. 같이

Translations:
함께 = together
같이 = together

These two words both mean "together," and they are often used with a particle -와/과 or -(이)랑, which means "with." The main difference between 함께 and 같이 is how formal they are. 함께 is definitely more formal than 같이, and it is mainly used in written Korean. In that sense, 함께 is usually used with -와/과, whereas 같이 is often used with -(이)랑 colloquially.

Example #1
“I went on a trip with my family.”
가족과 함께 여행을 다녀왔어요. (o)
가족이랑 같이 여행을 다녀왔어요. (o)
가족이랑 함께 여행을 다녀왔어요. (o)
가족과 같이 여행을 다녀왔어요. (o) (This one can also mean “We went on a trip together like a family.”)

Example #2
“Let’s sing all together.”
다 같이 노래 불러요. (o)
다 함께 노래 불러요. (o - formal)

Example #3
“Do you want to go with me?”
나랑 같이 갈래? (spoken language)
나와 함께 갈래? (poetic, drama line, written language)

Unit 18. 섭섭하다 vs. 서운하다

Translations:
섭섭하다 = to be sad / to be disappointed
서운하다 = to be sad / to be disappointed / to be upset

These two are almost identical. They are both used when someone, who you felt close to and expected to trust you, misunderstood your good intentions or when you feel like they are putting some distance between you and them. You can use these expressions when you feel left out or when you are disappointed that you didn’t get the same kind of considerateness that you expected from them. Although 섭섭하다 and 서운하다 can be used interchangeably, 서운하다 has a slightly stronger nuance of being upset by something that someone did or said, whereas 섭섭하다 can be said about a situation too.

Example #1
“I was disappointed because my friends didn’t invite me yesterday.”
어제 친구들이 안 불러줘서 서운했어요. (o)
어제 친구들이 안 불러줘서 섭섭했어요. (o)

Example #2
행사가 너무 빨리 끝나서 섭섭해요. = I’m sad that the event ended so soon.
행사가 너무 빨리 끝나서 서운해요. (unnatural)

Example #3
네가 전학 간다니 섭섭해. = I am sad that you are changing schools.
네가 전학 간다니 서운해. = I am sad and upset (at you) that you are changing schools.