byeoge sigyereul georeo dueossjiman sigani jaju teullyeoyo.

I hung a clock on the wall, but it’s often wrong.

Breakdown of byeoge sigyereul georeo dueossjiman sigani jaju teullyeoyo.

• ~에: destination particle
• ~이: subject particle
• ~을: object particle
• 시간: time

Questions & Answers about byeoge sigyereul georeo dueossjiman sigani jaju teullyeoyo.

What does 걸어 두었지만 mean, and why use 두었지만 after 걸다?

걸다 means “to hang,” and the grammatical construction -아/어 두다 indicates performing an action and leaving something in that resulting state. Thus 걸어 두다 literally means “hang up (and leave it).” The form 걸어 두었지만 is the past tense (-어 두었) plus -지만 (“but/though”), so it conveys “I hung it up (and left it), but…”

What is the function of 지만 in 걸어 두었지만?

-지만 is a conjunction meaning “but” or “although.” It connects the first clause (“I hung it up”) with the contrasting result in the second clause (“the time is often wrong”).

Why is 시간이 the subject in 시간이 자주 틀려요, instead of 시계가?

The focus is on the time being wrong, not the clock itself. In Korean, you say 시간이 틀리다 (“time is wrong/off”). If you said 시계가 틀려요, it would sound like “the clock is wrong,” which is less natural when you mean “the clock shows the wrong time.”

What nuance does 틀려요 carry here compared to saying 안 맞아요?

틀리다 means “to be incorrect” or “not match the correct value.” When talking about clocks, 시간이 틀리다 means the displayed time doesn’t match the real time. You could also say 시계가 안 맞아요 (“the clock doesn’t match”), which is very similar in meaning but slightly more casual.