🇺🇸 Translation
Never making eye contact👀
📙 Lesson point
How to say “Never making eye contact” in Korean
Hello, everyone! We’re going to learn two things today. First, we’ll learn about the verb ‘마주치다.’ We’ll learn what this verb means and some nouns that are commonly paired with this verb. Next, we’ll learn about the adverb/prefix ‘마주’ We’ll learn about how this can be used not only as an adverb, but also as a prefix.
After reading today’s post, not only will you be able to learn how to say “Never making eye contact” 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 verb ‘마주치다’
First, let’s learn about the verb ‘마주치다.’ It is a verb that means “to run into, to encounter.” However, the point of this verb is that we only use it in situations where you meet “without the intention of meeting.” Let’s take a look at some examples.
나는 우연히 지민이를 마주쳤다
= I / coincidentally / Jimin / ran into
= I met Jimin by chance
민정이는 지나가다가 우연히 지민이랑 마주쳤다
= Minjung / while passing by / coincidentally / with Jimin / ran into
= Minjung met Jimin by chance while passing by
Words that are commonly paired with ‘마주치다’
Now, let’s move a step further. Let’s learn about some words that are commonly used with the verb ‘마주치다.’
First, there is ‘눈,’ a Korean noun which means ‘eye.’ ‘눈이 마주치다’ means ‘to have eyes run into each other.’ It refers to situations where you make eye contact with someone or something, usually without the intention of doing so.
카페에서 책을 읽다가 카리나와 우연히 눈이 마주쳤다
= While reading a book at a café, my eyes met Karina's by chance
길을 걷던 중 갑자기 고양이와 눈이 마주쳤다
= While walking down the street, I suddenly made eye contact with a cat
친구와 대화 중에 웃으면서 눈이 마주쳤다
= While talking with a friend, we smiled and made eye contact
Secondly, there is the noun ‘시선,’ which has a similar meaning with ‘눈.’ ‘시선’ is commonly used instead of the easy word ‘눈.’ The Hanja-word ‘시선’ can simply be translated to “the direction of where one looks.”
시 (視): Chinese character pertaining to the meaning of ‘to look’
선 (線): Chinese character pertaining to the meaning of ‘line’
Therefore, ‘시선을 마주치다’ would mean “to have eyes run into each other.” It is easy to understand if you imagine an invisible laser coming out of that person’s eyes when a person looks at something. That straight laser is called ‘시선.’
그는 발표를 하다가 청중과 시선이 마주쳤다
= While giving a presentation, he made eye contact with the audience
지하철에서 낯선 사람과 시선을 마주치고 얼른 눈을 돌렸다
= On the subway, I made eye contact with a stranger and quickly looked away
무대 위에서 배우가 관객과 시선을 마주쳤다
= On stage, the actor made eye contact with the audience
The adverb and prefix ‘마주’
Next, let’s learn about the word ‘마주,’ which can be used both as an adverb and prefix.
‘마주’ has the meaning of “face to face, in a manner of facing straight each other.” It can be used independently as an adverb, but it is used very commonly as a prefix. Let’s take a look at some verbs that use the prefix ‘마주.’
마주치다 : to encounter, to run into
(to come across someone or something unintentionally)
길에서 우연히 친구를 마주쳤다
= I ran into a friend by chance on the street
골목에서 강아지와 마주쳤다
= I encountered a dog in the alley
보다 : to see, to look
마주보다 : to see each other face to face, to face each other, to look at each other simultaneously
우리는 서로를 마주보며 웃었다
= We looked at each other and smiled
아이와 엄마가 마주보고 앉아 대화를 나눴다
= The child and the mother sat facing each other and talked
하다 : to do
마주하다 : to face something, to confront something
그는 어려운 문제와 마주했다
= He faced a difficult problem
우리는 예상치 못한 상황을 마주했다
= We encountered an unexpected situation
앉다 : to sit
마주앉다 : to sit face to face with someone
그와 나는 식탁에 마주앉았다
= He and I sat facing each other at the dining table
친구와 카페에서 마주앉아 이야기를 나눴다
= I sat across from my friend at a café and had a conversation
서다 : to stand
마주서다 : to stand face to face with someone
두 팀이 경기 전에 서로 마주섰다
= The two teams stood facing each other before the game
우리는 길에서 우연히 마주서게 되었다
= We ended up standing face-to-face on the street by chance
Karina says: “절대 눈 안 마주치기👀”
To conclude, let’s take a look at the post Karina of AESPA posted on Instagram. The adverb ‘절대’ means “never,” and she seems to have added ‘안’ to add the meaning of “not” to the expression ‘눈 마주치기.’
Therefore, Karina seems to be saying “never making eye contact.” She seems to have used this comment because she isn’t looking at the camera for all the pictures she posted in this post!