📙 Lesson point
How to say “1 minute before going into the water” in Korean
Hello, everyone! We’re going to learn two things today. First, we’ll learn about the meaning of the word ‘입수.’ We’ll take a look at this Sino-Korean word and how the meaning can change depending on the Chinese characters that are used. Next, we’ll learn about two other hanja-words, which are ‘전’ and ‘후.’ We’ll take a look at their meanings and how they are used.
After reading today’s post, not only will you be able to learn how to say “1 minute before (doing something)” in Korean, but you’ll also understand how this Korean expression is grammatically formed. Moreover, we’ll look into the actual expression that New Jeans used for her Instagram post. Let’s begin!
The Hanja word ‘입수’
First, let’s learn about the meaning of the word ‘입수.’ In Korean, there are a lot of native Korean words, but there are also Sino-Korean words that are based on traditional Chinese characters. We call these words “hanja-words (한자어).”
For these words, even if the words sound the same, they can have different meanings depending on the Chinese characters that are used. Let’s look at how the meaning of the word can change through the example of ‘입수’.
입 (入) - Chinese character pertaining to the meaning ‘get inside’
수 (水) - Chinese character pertaining to the meaning ‘water’
입수 (入水) - Getting into water, Entering water
입수하다 - to get into water, to jump into water, to dive into water
입 (入) - Chinese character pertaining to the meaning ‘get inside’
수 (手) - Chinese character pertaining to the meaning ‘hand’
입수 (入手) - Getting something in one’s hands, Acquisition
입수하다 - to acquire, to obtain, to procure
As you can see, even though the two words sound exactly the same and they’re even written the same way in Korean, the meanings can totally differ depending on what Chinese characters are used. Therefore, you need to determine its meaning depending on the context that the word is used!
Sino Korean words ‘전’ and ‘후’
Now, let’s look at some other Sino Korean words that are also introduced in this post.
전 (前) - Chinese character pertaining to the meaning ‘before, front’
후 (後) - Chinese character pertaining to the meaning ‘after, behind’
These words are usually used in the form of ‘(Time) + 전/후’ or ‘(Noun) + 전/후.’ Let’s look at some examples to see how these expressions are used.
일 분 전 - One minute before, One minute earlier
일 분 후 - One minute after, One minute later
십 초 전 - Ten second before, Ten seconds prior
십 초 후 - Ten seconds later, Ten seonds after
샤워 전 - Before taking the shower
샤워 후 - After taking the shower
나는 샤워 전에 물을 마신다
= I drink water before taking a shower
재민이는 샤워 후에 숙제를 했다
= Jaemin did his homework after taking a shower
데뷔 전 - Before the debut
데뷔 후 - After the debut
민지는 데뷔 전에 유명했어
= Minji was famous before her debut
해린이는 데뷔 후 정말 행복하다고 말했다
= Haerin said she's really happy after her debut
식사 전 - Before having a meal
식사 후 - After having a meal
노아는 식사 전에 젤리를 먹는다
= Noah eats jellies before having a meal
식사 후에 인터뷰 가능할까요?
= Can I interview you after the meal please?
New Jeans says: “입수 1분전”
To conclude, let’s take a look at the post New Jeans posted on Instagram. As a video of Minji getting into the water is posted, ‘입수’ here seems to have the first meaning of “getting into water.” As ‘1분 전’ means “a minute before,” NewJeans is saying “a minute before going into water.”