🇺🇸 Translation
It’s going to be the last show soon 🐈⬛💧
📙 Lesson point
How to say “It’s going to be the last show soon” in Korean
Hello, everyone! We’re going to learn two things today. First, we’ll learn about the Korean expression ‘곧 (Noun)이야.’ To learn the meaning of this expression, we’ll take a look at the meanings of the words ‘곧’ and ‘-이다.’ Secondly, we’ll learn about the Korean slang expression ‘막방’ which is commonly used by Kpop artists.
After reading today’s post, not only will you be able to learn how to say “It’s going to be the last show soon” in Korean, but you’ll also understand how this Korean expression is grammatically formed. Moreover, we’ll look into the actual expression that Karina of AESPA used for her Instagram post. Let’s begin!
Korean adverb ‘곧’
First, let’s take a look at the Korean adverb ‘곧’ and learn the expression ‘곧 (Noun)이야.’ ‘곧’ means “soon.” It means that no action has occurred yet, but it will happen soon. In most cases, it is awkward to use before adjectives and is almost always used in front of verbs.
There are mainly two cases where ‘곧’ is used. The first case is when it is used with a verb that represents an action. Let’s look at some examples.
나는 곧 떠나
I'm leaving soon
뮤지컬 곧 시작해요
The musical is going to start soon
다음 버스도 곧 와
The next bus is also going to come soon
The second case is when it is used with the verb ‘~이다’ (to be).’ In this case, it is used in the form of ‘곧 (Noun)이다.’ Here, (Noun) is usually a noun that represents a specific time frame.
곧 여름이다
It is going to be summer soon
곧 퇴근이다
It is time to go off-work soon
곧 점심 시간이다
It is lunch time soon
우리 학교는 곧 방학이다
Our school is going to have vacation soon
Korean expression ‘곧 (Noun)이야’
‘곧 (Noun)이야’ is a conversational & casual form of ‘곧 (Noun)이다.’ Korean sentences can have multiple different speech endings that imply different layers of formality or politeness. Let’s look at the different forms.
- 곧 막방이다.
This is the dictionary form and sounds formal and rigid, giving an impression that the speaker is talking to oneself.
- 곧 막방이야.
This is a casual conversational tone. It sounds informal and casual and is the non-polite tone of speech.
- 곧 막방이에요.
This is also a conversational tone, but sounds more formal and polite. It is the politer tone of speech using the ‘-요’ ending.
- 곧 막방입니다.
This is the most formal and polite tone of speech. It is commonly known as the ‘-ㅂ니다’ ending. Either ‘-입니다’ or ‘-습니다.’
Korean slang expression ‘막방’
Now, let’s look at the commonly used Korean slang expression, ‘막방.’ This word is the abbreviated term for ‘마지막 방송,’ which means “last (broadcasting) show.”
마지막 (noun): the last, the last one
방송 (noun) : broadcasting
K-pop artists usually appear and perform on TV music programs for several weeks with their title song when they release and promote an album, and the last broadcast schedule for the song is called the ‘막방.’ Many terms are used similarly on the same principle. You can consider ‘막-‘ as the prefix that means ‘the last-‘.
막방 (마지막 방송)
the last (broadcasting) show
막공 (마지막 공연)
the last performance
막차 (마지막 차)
the last bus or last subway running on that day
막잔 (마지막 잔)
the last drink when you're drink alcoholic beverage or coffee
Karina says: “곧 막방이야”
To conclude, let’s look at the post Karina of AESPA posted on Instagram. She used the expression ‘곧 (Noun)이다’ in a conversational form, ‘곧 (Noun)이야.’ She seems to be saying that it is soon their last broadcasting in the music programs for their new song!