오늘 정말 행복했어요 meaning / How NewJeans says “I was really happy today” in Korean.

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How to say “I was really happy today” in Korean

Hello, everyone! Today, we’re going to learn about the Korean word ‘하다’ in detail. First, we’ll learn its meaning and how to change this verb into past tense. Then, we’ll take a look at the present tense and the past tense conjugations of ‘하다,’ using different layers of honorifics.

After reading today’s post, not only will you be able to learn how to say “I was really happy today” in Korean, but you’ll also understand how this Korean expression is grammatically formed. Moreover, we’ll look into the actual expression that NewJeans used for their Instagram post. Let’s begin!

Korean verb ‘하다’

First, let’s take a look at the original form, ‘하다’. It is a verb that means ‘to do’. A lot of Korean verbs and adjectives have the form of ‘-하다.’ When conjugating these verbs and adjectives, all you need to do is change the form of ‘-하다’ attached at the end. Let’s take a look at some verbs and adjectives that have the ‘-하다’ form.

공부하다 : to study
사랑하다 : to love
함께하다 : to spend time together, to share a common value together

행복하다 : to be happy
감사하다 : to be thankful

Present tense conjugation of ‘하다’

Now, let’s take a look at various conjugations of ‘하다.’ First, we’ll learn about the present tense conjugation of ‘하다’ based on honorifics.

하다 → 해 (Informal & Non-polite)
하다 → 해요 (Slightly more formal and politer)
하다 → 합니다 (Formal & Most polite)

Let’s look at the differences using example sentences below.

알렉스는 한국어를 공부해
= Alex studies Korean (Informal & Non-polite)

알렉스는 한국어를 공부해요
= Alex studies Korean (Slightly more formal and politer)

알렉스는 한국어를 공부합니다
= Alex studies Korean (Definitely formal & Most polite)

All of these three sentences can be translated as “Alex studies Korean.” They differ only on their tone and manner as they’re using different levels of honorifics. Let’s take a look at some other examples.

버니즈는 뉴진스를 사랑해요
= Bunniez love New Jeans (Slightly formal and polite tone)

우리 회사는 유니세프와 함께합니다
= Our company is together with UNICEF (Very formal & Most polite)

오늘 정말 행복해
= I'm really happy today (Informal & Non-polite)

Past tense conjugation of ‘했다’

‘했다’ is the dictionary form past tense of ‘하다’. ‘하다’ means “to do” and ‘했다’ means “did.” Now, let’s take a look at the past tense conjugation forms based on the honorifics for ‘했다.’

했다 → 했어 (Informal & Non-polite)
했다 → 했어요 (Slightly more formal and politer)
했다 → 했습니다 (Definitely formal & Most polite)

Now, let’s take a look at the word ‘행복했다,’ which means “was happy,” and the conjugated forms of this word.

행복하다 (to be happy)
행복했다 (was happy)

나는 오늘 정말 행복했어
= I was really happy today (Informal & Non-polite)

저는 오늘 정말 행복했어요
= I was really happy today (Slightly more formal and politer)

저는 오늘 정말 행복했습니다
= I was really happy today (Formal & Most polite)

All of these three sentences can be translated as “I was really happy today.” They differ only on their tone and manner as they’re using different levels of honorifics. Let’s take a look at some other examples.

알렉스는 어제 한국어를 공부했어요
= Alex studied Korean yesterday (Slightly formal and polite)

작년에 많이 도와주셔서 감사했습니다
= Thank you for helping me a lot last year (Definitely formal & Most polite)

너와 주말을 함께해서 행복했어
= I was happy to spend the weekend with you (Informal & Non-polite)

Step-by-step Sentence Analysis

행복했어요: (I) was happy
정말 행복했어요: (I) was really happy
함께해서 정말 행복했어요: (I) was really happy as (we were) together

버니즈와 함께해서 정말 행복했어요:
(I) was really happy as (I) was together with bunnies

오늘 버니즈와 함께해서 정말 행복했어요:
(I) was really happy today as (I) spent time together with bunnies

NewJeans says: “오늘 버니즈와 함께해서 정말 행복했어요💗”

To conclude, let’s take a look at the post New Jeans posted on their Instagram. Based on what we learned today, we can see that NewJeans is saying that they were really happy that day to have spent the day with their fans ‘Bunnies’. As Bunnies is the name of their fandom, New Jeans seems to be thanking their fans and telling them they were happy to spend the day with them!