bame gotong ttaemune mos jasseo.

밤에 means at night or during the night.

Here, -에 marks a time expression, so it tells you when something happened.

• 밤 = night
• 밤에 = at night

In this sentence, 밤에 sets the time for 못 잤어 (couldn’t sleep).

By itself, 밤에 usually just means at night or during the night. Whether it means last night, that night, or nights in general depends on context.

For example:

• In a conversation about yesterday, 밤에 못 잤어 will often be understood as I couldn’t sleep last night.
• Without context, it can simply mean I couldn’t sleep at night.

So the Korean phrase itself does not always force one exact English choice.

고통 means pain, suffering, or distress. It is a real and common word, but it can sound a bit stronger or more formal than some everyday alternatives.

In casual daily conversation, people often say things like:

• 아파서 = because I was hurting / because it hurt
• 통증 때문에 = because of the pain

So 고통 때문에 못 잤어 is understandable, but depending on the situation, a more natural everyday sentence might be:

• 아파서 못 잤어
• 통증 때문에 못 잤어

Still, 고통 is perfectly possible if the speaker wants to emphasize the severity of the pain.

때문에 means because of.

It follows a noun to show the cause or reason:

• 고통 때문에 = because of the pain

So the structure is:

• noun + 때문에 = because of noun

Examples:

• 비 때문에 = because of the rain
• 감기 때문에 = because of a cold
• 스트레스 때문에 = because of stress

In your sentence, 고통 때문에 gives the reason for not being able to sleep.

Both can express a reason, but they work a little differently.

1. 때문에

Usually attaches to a noun:

• 고통 때문에 못 잤어 = I couldn’t sleep because of the pain.

It can also be used with some other forms, but with a noun it is very straightforward.

2. -아서/-어서

Usually attaches to a verb or adjective stem:

• 아파서 못 잤어 = I couldn’t sleep because I was in pain / because it hurt.

So:

• 고통 때문에 focuses on the pain as a thing/cause
• 아파서 focuses on the state of hurting

Both are natural, but 아파서 못 잤어 often sounds more conversational.

This is a very important difference.

• 안 잤어 = did not sleep
• 못 잤어 = could not sleep

So:

• 안 usually means the action simply didn’t happen
• 못 usually means the action couldn’t happen, often because something prevented it

In this sentence, the pain prevented sleep, so 못 잤어 is the natural choice.

Compare:

• 어젯밤에 안 잤어 = I didn’t sleep last night.
  (maybe by choice, maybe just stating the fact)
• 어젯밤에 못 잤어 = I couldn’t sleep last night.
  (something stopped me)

Yes, that is a good way to understand it.

Breakdown:

• 자다 = to sleep
• 잤어 = slept
• 못 잤어 = couldn’t sleep / was not able to sleep

In natural English, couldn’t sleep is usually the best translation.

자다 is the dictionary form, meaning to sleep.

In the past casual form:

• 자다 → 잤어

This happens because the verb stem 자- combines with the past marker and ending, giving 잤어.

So:

• 자 = sleep (stem/base used here)
• 잤어 = slept

This is just the normal past informal form of 자다.

Yes. 못 잤어 is an informal/casual ending.

It would typically be used:

• with friends
• with family
• with people younger than you
• in relaxed conversation

More polite versions would be:

• 밤에 고통 때문에 못 잤어요.
• 밤에 고통 때문에 못 잤습니다.
  (more formal)

So the sentence as written sounds like casual spoken Korean.

The subject is omitted, which is extremely common in Korean.

The sentence does not explicitly say:

• I
• he
• she
• they

Korean often leaves out subjects when they are obvious from context.

So 밤에 고통 때문에 못 잤어 could mean:

• I couldn’t sleep at night because of the pain
• He/She couldn’t sleep at night because of the pain

In real conversation, the listener usually knows from context who is being talked about.

Yes. Korean word order is flexible as long as the grammar markers make the roles clear.

These are both natural:

• 밤에 고통 때문에 못 잤어
• 고통 때문에 밤에 못 잤어

The meaning stays basically the same:

• at night, because of the pain, couldn’t sleep
• because of the pain, at night, couldn’t sleep

The difference is mostly about emphasis or what the speaker wants to mention first.

It is understandable, but many native speakers would more often say something like:

• 아파서 못 잤어. = I couldn’t sleep because I was hurting.
• 통증 때문에 못 잤어. = I couldn’t sleep because of the pain.
• 너무 아파서 밤에 못 잤어. = It hurt so much that I couldn’t sleep at night.

고통 can sound a bit heavier or more literary/dramatic depending on context. If the pain is intense or the speaker wants to emphasize suffering, it works well.

By itself, 못 잤어 can cover both ideas in a broad way: I couldn’t sleep.

It does not specifically tell you whether the problem was:

• falling asleep
• staying asleep
• sleeping well in general

If you want to be more specific, Korean can say that more directly:

• 잠이 안 왔어 = I couldn’t fall asleep / sleep wouldn’t come
• 자다가 자꾸 깼어 = I kept waking up while sleeping

So 못 잤어 is general.

Yes, you absolutely can say 잠을 못 잤어.

• 못 잤어 = couldn’t sleep
• 잠을 못 잤어 = couldn’t sleep

The noun 잠 means sleep, and adding it can make the sentence feel a bit more explicit.

Both are natural:

• 밤에 고통 때문에 못 잤어
• 밤에 고통 때문에 잠을 못 잤어

Korean often omits nouns when the meaning is already clear.

The most direct polite version is:

• 밤에 고통 때문에 못 잤어요.

More formal, such as in a report or very formal conversation:

• 밤에 고통 때문에 못 잤습니다.

So the changes are:

• 잤어 → 잤어요 for polite casual
• 잤어 → 잤습니다 for formal polite