🇺🇸 Translation
Oh gosh, please just let me take a picture alone
📙 Lesson point
Korean sentence pattern ‘제발 좀 (Verb)-자’
Hi, guys! Today, we’re going to practice a very frequently used Korean expression ‘제발 좀 (Verb)-자’. After reading today’s post, not only will you be able to learn how to say “Gosh, let’s just please do ~” in Korean, but you’ll also understand how to make general suggestions in Korean. Moreover, we’ll look into the actual expression that Jin of BTS used for his Instagram post. Let’s begin.
How to make suggestions in Korean
Here, we’re going to look at the simplest way of making suggestion in Korean, using the ‘(verb)-자’ conjugation. Most Korean verbs end with ‘-다’ endings. You can see from the examples like ‘하다’ (to do), ‘가다’ (to go), ‘먹다’ (to eat), ‘놀다’ (to play), etc. Now, if you delete the original dictionary form ending ‘-다’ and change it to ‘-자’, then you’re making a suggestion to the other person to do the verb together with you. It’s used to suggest doing something informally and casually. Do remember that this is a casual speech tone that you’ll use only for your friends. Let’s take a look at some examples below.
| 하다 (to do) | 하자 (Let’s do it) |
| 가다 (to go) | 가자 (Let’s go) |
| 먹다 (to eat) | 먹자 (Let’s eat) |
| 놀다 (to play) | 놀자 (Let’s play) |
| 공부하다 (to study) | 공부하자 (Let’s study) |
| 사진 찍다 (to take a picture) | 사진 찍자 (Let’s take a picture) |
What does ‘제발 좀 (Verb)-자’ mean?
Now, let’s look at the expression ‘제발 좀 (Verb)-자’. This phrase is mostly used as a monologue to express the speaker’s wishes. It is usually used in situations where the speaker is expressing one’s wishes with a nuance of exhaustion or frustration.
First of all, ‘제발’ is translated as ‘Please’. However, unlike in English, this word is not used to make your speech tone sound politer. It is only used for when someone is desperate or when they are begging for something. The next word is ‘좀’. This one is the abbreviated form of the adverb ‘조금’, which means ‘a little bit’. However, for this particular expression, it is never used as ‘조금’, but is always used as the abbreviated form ‘좀’. The combination of the two; ‘제발 좀’ would be translated literally as ‘Please, a little bit’, but it’s more natural to understand it as ‘Oh, for God’s sake, please.’
Practice with the verb ‘가다’ (to go)
| Situation | When you’re stuck in a traffic jam |
| What you can say | 제발 좀 가자 |
| Translation | Oh God, PLEASE, let’s just GO |
Practice with the verb ‘자다’ (to sleep)
| Situation | When you’re trying to sleep but it’s too loud |
| What you can say | 제발 좀 자자 |
| Translation | Oh, PLEASE, just let me sleep for God’s sake |
Practice with the verb ‘사진 찍다’ (to take a pic)
| Situation | When you’re trying to take a pic but someone’s blocking your view |
| What you can say | 제발 사진 좀 찍자 |
| Translation | Oh gosh, just please let me take a picture, get out of the way! |
BTS Jin says: “제발 혼자 사진 좀 찍자”
Finally, let’s look into the actual phrase that BTS Jin used for his Instagram post. He’s using the expression that we learned today: ‘제발 좀 (Verb)-자’. Here, ‘혼자’ is an adverb that means ‘alone, by oneself’. ‘사진’ means ‘photograph’, and this noun is usually accompanied by the verb ‘찍다’. The verb ‘찍다’ can have various meanings, but in this case it means ‘to take (a picture)’. Hence, Jin is saying “Oh gosh, please just let me take a picture alone by myself” here, as his attempt at taking his photo is joyfully interrupted by other BTS members.
| Situation | When you want to take a picture alone but others are bothering you |
| What you can say | 제발 혼자 사진 좀 찍자 |
| Translation | Oh gosh, please just let me take a picture alone by myself |