sigani eobseoseo pyeonjireul mos sseoyo.

I can’t write a letter because I don’t have time.

Breakdown of sigani eobseoseo pyeonjireul mos sseoyo.

• ~이: subject particle
• ~을: object particle
• 시간: time
• 없다: to not have
• 편지: letter
• 쓰다: to write
• ~어서: because
• 못: cannot

Questions & Answers about sigani eobseoseo pyeonjireul mos sseoyo.

Why is 없어서 used instead of 없어요?

없어서 combines the verb 없다 with the connective ending -아서/어서 to express cause or reason.
So 시간이 없어서 means “because I don’t have time.”
If you simply said 시간이 없어요, you’d only be stating “I don’t have time,” without directly linking it to the next clause.

How do you conjugate 없다 to get 없어서?

1. Remove the dictionary ending -다 from 없다 to get the stem 없-.
2. According to Korean vowel harmony, since the stem vowel is ㅓ, you attach -어서 (not -아서).
3. Combine them: 없
   • 어서 = 없어서.

What does the connective -아서/어서 express here?

The ending -아서/어서 links two clauses by showing that the first clause is the reason or cause for the second.
In 시간이 없어서 편지를 못 써요, it tells us “(I) can’t write a letter” because “(I) don’t have time.”

Could I use 없고 instead of 없어서?

No. The ending -고 simply means “and” (as in sequential actions or listing).

• 시간이 없고 편지를 못 써요 would read more like “I don’t have time, and I can’t write a letter” rather than “because I don’t have time, I can’t write a letter.”
  To express cause-and-effect, you need -아서/어서.

Why is 시간이 used instead of just 시간?

Korean uses particles like 이/가 to mark the subject of a clause.
Here, 시간이 marks time as the subject of 없다 (“to not exist”).
Although in casual speech you can drop particles, the standard polite form usually includes them for clarity.

Why do we say 못 써요 instead of 안 써요 to mean “can’t write”?

• 안 simply negates an action, meaning “do not do.”
• 못 indicates inability, meaning “cannot do.”
  Since the speaker is unable to write due to lack of time, 못 써요 (“cannot write”) is the correct choice.

How does 쓰다 become 써요?

쓰다 is an ㅡ-irregular verb. When you add a vowel-beginning ending like -어요, you drop the stem’s ㅡ and use the ending’s vowel:
쓰 + 어요 → 써요.

Why is there no subject like “I” in the sentence?

In Korean, if the subject is clear from context (here, the speaker “I”), it is often omitted.
So 시간이 없어서 편지를 못 써요 implicitly means “I don’t have time, so I can’t write a letter.”

Why is 편지를 marked with -를?

The particle 를 marks 편지 as the direct object of the verb 써요 (“to write”).
Without -를, listeners might be unsure which noun is the action’s target.