🇺🇸 Translation
You just like me too much ,, 🙄 @thinkaboutzu
📙 Lesson point
How to say ‘too much’ in Korean
Hello, everyone! We’re going to learn a very simple Korean adverb today. It is probably one of the most commonly used adverb ‘너무’ (too much). We’ll take a look at how to use this adverb naturally to sound like a native Korean speaker.
After reading today’s post, not only will you be able to learn how to say “You like me too much” in Korean, but you’ll also understand how this Korean expression is grammatically formed. Moreover, we’ll look into the actual expression that Nayeon of TWICE used for her Instagram post. Let’s begin!
Korean adverb ‘너무’ (too much)
First up, let’s learn the Korean adverb ‘너무’. There are so, so, so, so, so many diverse Korean adverbs that mean ‘very much’. Examples would be ‘정말’, ‘아주’, ‘엄청’, ‘굉장히’, ‘완전’, ‘진짜’, ‘너무’… and more (How many of these do you recognize?) Among these, if I have to pick just two, I’d recommend that you remember ‘정말’ (really) and ‘너무’ (too much), as they are the most commonly used adverbs.
Strictly speaking, as is the same in English, ‘너무’ (too much) is supposed to be used in situations where something is just ‘inappropriately too much’, to give a negative connotation. However, Korean people casually use this everywhere, even for positive situations.
For example, you can say: “와, 너무 좋아!” which means “Wow, I just absolutely love it!” You can also use the adverb several times to emphasize how much you like it or hate it. “너무너무너무 좋아!” would be: “I ABSOLUTELY LOOOVE IT!”
What does ‘넌 날 너무 좋아해’ mean?
Now, for the main expression of the day, let’s take a look at the sentence ‘넌 날 너무 좋아해’. The words used for this sentence could be each translated as 넌 (you) 날 (me) 너무 (too much) 좋아해 (like). Therefore, the translation is ‘You like me too much’. Let’s break this down more specifically.
넌 날 너무 좋아해 You like me too much
Verb ‘좋아하다’ and conjugation ‘좋아해’
First up, we have the verb ‘좋아하다’. This verb means ‘to like something’. Korean verbs typically have ‘-다’ endings in their dictionary form. However, when used in actual context, the ending part of a verb is conjugated in various forms.
‘좋아해’ is a conversational form that is casual and non-polite. This means that you can use this verb form in conversations with people to whom you don’t have to be formal, someone like your close friends.
Grammar particle 1. Subject marker ‘는’
‘너’ is the subject or the main actor in this sentence. ‘너’ means ‘you’ in Korean. Again, there are many different ways to say ‘you’ in Korean, and ‘너’ is the most informal, non-polite and casual way of saying ‘you’
‘너’ is written as ‘넌’ in the sentence. This is actually a shortened version of ‘너는’. This is similar to how we can shorten things in English. We often say ‘you’re’ instead of saying the full version (‘you are’). Same goes here for Korean language. So, what exactly is it? ‘는’ is a grammar particle that is attached to the subject of a sentence, to indicate which word of the sentence functions as the main subject or the main actor.
Grammar particle 2. Object marker ‘를’
‘나’ means ‘I’ in Korean. In this sentence, ‘나’ is the object (or the main target) of the action that’s being done. ‘You’ are the actor of the sentence, ‘like’ is the action that you’re doing, and ‘I’ am the target of your action, right? So, we will write ‘날’ instead of ‘나’ to clarify that the word ‘I/me’ functions as an object in the sentence.
‘날’ is the abbreviated version of ‘나를’. Just like how we wrote ‘너’ and then added the subject particle ‘는’ to make ‘너는’, we will write ‘나’ and then add an object particle ‘를’ right after, so that people would know that ‘나’ is the object or the target of the action that’s being done. ‘나를’ can be shortened as ‘날’.
Korean Syntax (order of the words)
Finally, we have to understand that the order of the words are put differently in a Korean sentence. When we look at the English sentence ‘You like me too much’, we can see that the subject/actor ‘You’ comes first, and then comes the verb ‘like’. The object ‘me’ comes after the verb, right?
Now let’s look at the Korean sentence ‘넌 날 너무 좋아해’. The subject/actor ‘넌’ (you) comes first before anything else. This is the same for both English and Korean sentences. However, the object part ‘날’ (me) comes right after the subject. The verb part ‘좋아해’ (like) comes AFTER the object at last. This is a very important difference. In Korean sentences, verb part comes AFTER the object of the sentence.
There’s another difference regarding the use of adverb. In English, adverbs come after the verbs that they supplement. For example, we can say that ‘Alex(subject) studies(verb) diligently(adverb)’. We can also say that ‘turtles(subject) walk(verb) slowly(adverb)’. In the sentence ‘You like me too much’, the adverb part ‘too much’ comes AFTER the verb ‘like’.
Korean adverbs always come BEFORE the verbs that they supplement. If we translate the examples used above, we can say Alex는(subject+subject marker) 열심히(adverb ‘diligently’) 공부해(verb ‘study’). We can also say 거북이는(subject 거북이 turtle + subject marker 는) 느리게(adverb ‘slowly’) 걷는다(verb ‘walk’).
Note that adverbs come BEFORE the verbs in Korean sentences. The order of the words are put differently. Hence, the English translation is ‘You like me too much’ but the Korean version is ‘넌 날 너무 좋아해’ (You – me – too much – like).
Example sentences using the adverb ‘너무’
와, 나 이거 너무 좋아! Wow, I just absolutely love it! Wow, - I - this - too much - like!
이 슬리퍼는 너무 커 These slippers are too big These - slippers are - too much - big
너무 걱정하지 마 Don't worry too much Too much - don't worry
이 퀴즈는 나한테 너무 쉬워 This quiz is too easy for me This - quiz is - to me - too much - easy
Nayeon says: “넌 날 너무 좋아해”
Nayeon’s instagram post ‘넌 날 너무 좋아해’ (you just like me too much) is a comment she’s giving to another TWICE member Tzuyu. They are making a heart emoji with their hands together. Seems like they really like each other as sisters. Today, we learned how to use the Korean adverb ‘너무’ (too much) and also did a lot of practice using this adverb in sentences. We also did a break-down of the actual sentence that Nayeon said in her IG post. Hope this was educational helpful for you guys!