🇺🇸 Translation
On my way to the restaurant🎶
📙 Lesson point
How to say “On my way to the restaurant” in Korean
Hello, everyone! We’re going to learn two things today. First, we’ll learn about a useful expression using the verb ‘가다 (to go),’ which is ‘(Noun) 가는 길.’ We’ll look at the meaning of this expression and how it is used in everyday conversations. Finally, we’ll learn about another variation of this expression, which is ‘(Verb)-(으)러 가는 길.’
After reading today’s post, not only will you be able to learn how to say “On my way to the restaurant” in Korean, but you’ll also understand how this Korean expression is grammatically formed and use different variations specific to your situations. Moreover, we’ll look into the actual expression that Winter of AESPA used for her Instagram post. Let’s begin!
Korean expression ‘(Noun) 가는 길’
Before learning thoroughly about this expression, let’s first learn about the verb ‘가다 (to go),’ and noun ‘길 (way, road, path).’
가다 (verb) : to go
길 (noun) : street, road, way, path
가는 길
= the road to go somewhere
= the way that I’m going
Now, let’s learn about the expression ‘(Noun) 가는 길.’ It means “the road/path/way to go to (Noun).” Let’s look at some examples to see how this expression is used.
집 가는 길
= the path to go home
집 가는 길은 반대 방향이에요
= the path to home is the opposite direction
학교 가는 길
= the way to go to school
학교 가는 길에서 고양이를 봤어요
= I saw a cat on my way to the school
회사 가는 길
= the road to get to the company
여기서 회사 가는 길은 복잡해
= the way to get to work from here is complicated
When is ‘(Noun) 가는 길’ mostly used?
‘(Noun) 가는 길’ is often used alone in everyday conversations. In this case, you can just translate it as “On my way to (Noun).” Let’s look at some examples.
A: 지금 어디야?
Where are you now?
B: 나는 집 가는 길이야. 왜?
I’m on my way home. Why?
A: 뭐 해?
What are you doing?
B: 학교 가는 길
On my way to school
A: 윈터는 지금 뭐 해요?
What is Winter doing now?
B: 윈터는 식당 가는 길!
Winter is on her way to the restaurant!
How to use this expression with verbs
Now, let’s go a step further. Let’s check out how to use ‘(Noun) 가는 길’ with verbs, instead of a noun that shows place. There are mainly two forms, ‘(Verb)-러 가는 길’ and ‘(Verb)-으러 가는 길.’
First of all, when there isn’t a last consonant to the stem of the verb or if the last consonant is ‘ㄹ,’ you need to write it as ‘(Verb)-러 가는 길.’
영화 : movie
보다 : to watch
영화 보러 가는 길
= on my way to watch a movie
커피 : coffee
마시다 : to drink
커피 마시러 가는 길
= on my way to drink coffee
헤어지다 : to break up
헤어지러 가는 길
= on my way to break up
울다 : to cry
울러 가는 길
= on my way to go and cry
Next, if there is a last consonant to the stem of the verb, you need to write it as ‘(Verb)-으러 가는 길.’
피자 : pizza
먹다 : to eat
피자 먹으러 가는 길
= on my way to eat pizza
보물 : Treasure
찾다 : to find
보물 찾으러 가는 길
= on my way to find treasure
창문 : Window
닫다 : to close
창문 닫으러 가는 길
= on my way to close the window
Winter says: “식당 가는 길🎶”
Now, to conclude, let’s look at the post Winter of AESPA posted on Instagram. She used the expression ‘(Noun) 가는 길’ in this post. She is saying “on my way to the restaurant.” She seems to be showing how she is excited because she is on her way to eat a delicious meal!