eoje du siganina gongbuhaesseoyo.

I studied for as long as two hours yesterday.

Breakdown of eoje du siganina gongbuhaesseoyo.

• 공부하다: to study
• 어제: yesterday
• 시간: time
• 둘: two
• ~이나: as many as

Questions & Answers about eoje du siganina gongbuhaesseoyo.

What does 어제 mean?

어제 means yesterday. It’s a time adverbial that sets when the action took place, and it typically appears at the beginning of the sentence.

What is the function of -이나 in 두 시간이나? Can I omit it?

• The particle -이나 after a number shows as much as.
• In 두 시간이나, it means “as much as two hours,” emphasizing that two hours is a surprisingly long time.
• You can drop it if you want a neutral statement:
  
  • 어제 두 시간 공부했어요. (“I studied two hours yesterday.”)

How does 두 시간이나 differ from 두 시간 동안?

• 두 시간이나 uses -이나 to stress the amount (“as much as two hours”).
• 두 시간 동안 literally means for a duration of two hours, without special emphasis.
• Example:
  
  • 어제 두 시간 동안 공부했어요. = I studied for two hours yesterday. (neutral)

Why is there no subject in this sentence? How do we know who did the studying?

Korean often omits subjects when they’re clear from context. Here:

• The speaker is obviously talking about themselves, so 저는 or 제가 is dropped.
• You’d include 저는 only if you needed to contrast or emphasize:
  
  • 어제 저는 두 시간이나 공부했어요.

What tense and politeness level is 공부했어요?

공부했어요 is:

• Past tense (the suffix -었- indicates a completed action).
• Polite speech level (ending in -어요).
• A neutral polite register you’d use with strangers, acquaintances, or anyone you don’t address informally.

How can I say “I studied for only half an hour yesterday” instead?

Use -밖에 with a negative verb to express “only”:

• 어제 반 시간밖에 공부하지 않았어요.
• 반 시간밖에 = only half an hour
• The negative form 공부하지 않았어요 (“didn’t study”) shows that no more than that time was spent.