🇺🇸 Translation
I’ve always really wanted to try buying flowers though💐
📙 Lesson point
How to say “I’ve always really wanted to try buying flowers though” in Korean
Hello, everyone! We’re going to learn two things today. First, we’ll learn about ‘-기’ nominalization, which is a way of changing Korean verbs into nouns. Next, we’ll learn about the expression ‘꼭 (Verb)-고 싶어.’ We’ll learn what it means and how this expression can be used. Going further on, we’ll also learn how to use this expression in past tense.
After studying today’s post, not only will you be able to learn how to say “I’ve always really wanted to do (Verb)” 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!
What is ‘-기’ nominalization?
Here, we’re going to look at how to to use a verb/adjective as a noun, by adding ‘-기’ to the stem of a verb or adjective.
We call ‘-기’ a nominal suffix. Also, keep in mind that the part of speech doesn’t change even if you use ‘-기.’ Verbs or adjectives that have nominal suffixes attached to them still have descriptive functions, so they can still modify a verb as an adverb. You can think of it as something similar to gerunds in English.
꽃 (noun) : flower
사다 (verb) : to buy
꽃을 사다
= to buy a flower
꽃 사기
= flower-buying
Korean expression ‘꼭 (Verb)-고 싶어’
Now, let’s learn about the Korean expression ‘꼭 (Verb)-고 싶어,’ which is the key expression of this post.
‘꼭’ is a Korean adverb that has the meaning of “certainly, undoubtedly, at any cost.” Therefore, ‘꼭 (Verb)-고 싶어’ can be translated as “I really want to do the (Verb).” Let’s take a look at some examples to see how this expression is used.
하다 : to do
해보다 : to try doing something, to give it a shot
꼭 해보고 싶어
= I really wanna try doing it
가다 : to go
가보다 : to try visiting a place
꼭 가보고 싶어
= I really wanna try visiting the place
먹다 : to eat
먹어보다 : to try eating, to try tasting something
꼭 먹어보고 싶어
= I really wanna try the food
배우다 : to learn
배워보다 : to try learning something
꼭 배워보고 싶어
= I really wanna try learning it
Past tense of ‘꼭 (Verb)-고 싶어’
Now, let’s move a step further. Let’s learn about the past tense of the expression ‘꼭 (Verb)-고 싶어.’ All you need to do is change ‘싶어’ to ‘싶었어.’ Let’s look at some examples.
이거 꼭 해보고 싶었어
= I’ve always really wanted to try doing this
제주도 꼭 가보고 싶었어
= I’ve always really wanted to take a visit to the Jeju Island
불고기 꼭 먹어보고 싶었어요
= I’ve always really wanted to try ‘Bulgogi’
한국어 꼭 배워보고 싶었어요
= I’ve always really wanted to try learning Korean
Karina says: “꽃 사기 꼭 해보고 싶었는데 💐”
To conclude, let’s take a look at the post Karina of AESPA posted on Instagram. Karina used ‘-기’ nominalization in her post, saying ‘꽃 사기,’ which means “buying flowers” or “Flower-buying.” She used the expression ‘꼭 (Verb)-고 싶어’ with the verb ‘하다’ (to do). She seems to be saying that she really wanted to try buying flowers!