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Questions & Answers about geureona myeot bun hue hoeuiga sijakdoeja hoeuisiri sikkeureowojyeosseoyo.
Why is 그러나 used at the beginning instead of 그리고 or 그리고 나서?
그러나 is a conjunction meaning however or but, used to show contrast with what came before. 그리고 means and (adds information), while 그리고 나서 means and then (sequence). Here the speaker signals a shift: “They were calm/quiet, however a few minutes later...” so 그러나 is appropriate to show contrast.
What does 몇 분 후에 mean, and why is -에 attached?
몇 분 means a few minutes or several minutes (an indefinite small number). 후 means after, so 몇 분 후 = after a few minutes. Adding -에 turns it into an adverbial time expression: after X time. Without -에, it still works in casual speech, but -에 is the standard marker for time points.
Why is 회의가 시작되자 used instead of 회의를 시작하자?
회의가 시작되자 literally means as soon as the meeting began. It uses the verb 시작되다 (a passive or intransitive “to be started/begin”). 회의를 시작하다 would mean to start the meeting (actively by someone). Here the focus is on the meeting’s onset itself, not on who started it, so 시작되자 is natural.
What is the function of -자 in 시작되자?
The ending -자 (attached to the verb stem) means “as soon as” or “immediately upon” doing that action, when followed by another clause. Grammatically it’s Verb(verb stem) + 자 + clause, showing that once the first action happens, the second follows right away.
Why does the sentence use 회의실이 시끄러워졌어요 instead of 회의실이 시끄러웠어요?
시끄러워졌어요 is the past tense of 시끄러워지다, which means to become noisy/noisier (a change of state). 시끄러웠어요 would just mean it was noisy, describing a state without emphasizing the change. Here the speaker wants to say the room became noisy once the meeting started.
Why is the subject marked as 회의실이 rather than 회의실은?
Since 시끄럽다 (and 시끄러워지다) is a descriptive verb, it takes a subject -이/가 to indicate what is doing the “being noisy” or “becoming noisy.” Using -은/는 could be possible for contrast or topic emphasis, but here the simple subject marker -이 on 회의실 is most natural.
Can we replace 몇 분 후에 with 얼마 후에? What’s the nuance difference?
Yes, 얼마 후에 means after how long or after a while, and is more vague (“after some time”). 몇 분 후에 specifies a few minutes later (still approximate, but implies minutes). So you could say 얼마 후에 if you don’t want to specify the unit.
Where does the time expression 몇 분 후에 have to go? Could it come after 시작되자?
Time adverbials like 몇 분 후에 usually come before the verb or verb phrase they modify. So 몇 분 후에 회의가 시작되자… is natural. Placing it after 시작되자 (e.g., 회의가 시작되자 몇 분 후에…) would confuse which clause it modifies. If you want a second time phrase, you could restructure, but the standard placement for this sentence is as shown.
Is there any nuance difference between 회의가 시작되자 and 회의가 시작하자?
회의가 시작되자 uses 시작되다 (intransitive/passive “to start”), so it emphasizes the event itself. 회의가 시작하자 would be ungrammatical, because 시작하다 is transitive and requires an object (what you start). You could say 우리가 회의를 시작하자 (“let’s start the meeting”), but not 회의가 시작하자.