Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Korean grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about sueop junge jilmuni saenggimyeon sajeoneul bwayo.
What does 수업 중에 mean, and how is 중에 used here?
- 수업 means “class” or “lesson.”
- 중(에) literally means “in the middle of” or “among.” When you add -에 it marks a time or place.
- 수업 중에 therefore means “during class.”
- You can think of it as “while the class is happening.”
How is 수업 중에 different from 수업 동안?
Both express duration, but with a slight nuance:
- 동안 emphasizes the entire span of time (“for the duration of”).
Example: 수업 동안 휴대폰을 꺼 두세요. “Please turn your phone off for the whole class.” - 중(에) highlights something happening at some point within that period (“at some time during”).
Example: 수업 중에 질문이 생기면… “If a question arises at some point during class…”
What does 질문이 생기면 mean?
Breakdown:
- 질문 = question
- -이 = subject particle
- 생기다 = to occur, to arise, to appear
- -면 = “if/when” (conditional)
So 질문이 생기면 means “if (a) question arises” or “when a question comes up.”
Why is the conditional -면 used instead of -서 or another form?
- -면 expresses “if/when” in a general conditional sense. You’re saying “if something happens (a question arises), then I do…”
- -서 also can mean “because” or “and then,” but it doesn’t carry the clear “if” meaning here.
Wrong: 질문이 생겨서 사전을 봐요 would mean “Because a question came up, I look in the dictionary,” which is possible but shifts the nuance from a general habit to a single cause‐and‐effect.
In 사전을 봐요, doesn’t 보다 just mean “to see”? How does it mean “to look up in the dictionary”?
- 보다 by itself means “to see” or “to look.”
- When you pair 사전 (dictionary) with 보다, it colloquially means “to look something up in the dictionary.”
- It’s short for 사전에서 단어를 찾아봐요 (“I look up a word in the dictionary”), but native speakers drop the extra words for brevity.
Why is the object particle -를 used with 사전?
- 보다 is a transitive verb, so the thing being looked at (사전) takes -를.
- 사전 is the direct object: “I look at / consult the dictionary.”
Could you say 사전을 찾아봐요 instead of 사전을 봐요? What’s the difference?
- 찾아보다 = “to look for and see/look up.” It’s more explicit: you are searching for a word.
- 보다 = “to look at,” used here by convention to mean “look up.”
- So:
- 사전을 봐요 is perfectly natural and shorter.
- 사전을 찾아봐요 adds the nuance of “I search in the dictionary.”
Can you drop 사전 and just say (그냥) 봐요?
- In context, yes—you can omit the object if it’s understood.
- However, if you want to make it clear you’re checking the dictionary, keep 사전(을). Otherwise 봐요 alone might be ambiguous: “I look” at what?