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Questions & Answers about eoje setakso-eseo oseul chaja wasseoyo.
Why is 세탁소에서 used instead of 세탁소에?
In Korean, 에서 marks the place where an action occurs (“at/ in”), whereas 에 can mark either a static location (“at”) or a destination (“to”). Since 옷을 찾아오다 is an action that happens at the laundry shop, you use 세탁소에서 to show “(I did it) at the laundry.”
What does 찾아왔어요 mean? Why are there two verbs?
찾아오다 is a compound verb made of 찾다 (“to look for/ to pick up”) + 오다 (“to come”). Together, 찾아오다 means “to go pick something up and come back.” In the past polite form it becomes 찾아왔어요.
Why did we use 왔어요 instead of 갔어요?
In Korean, 오다 is used for motion toward the speaker’s current location. By saying 찾아왔어요, you’re implying “I returned (here) with the clothes.” If you only wanted to stress “I went over there” without emphasizing the return, you’d say 갔어요 or better yet 갔다 왔어요 (“went and came back”).
Could I say 찾았어요 instead of 찾아왔어요?
You could say 찾았어요, which literally means “I found it.” But that doesn’t carry the nuance of retrieving your own clothes from where you left them and bringing them back. Use 찾아왔어요 to emphasize “I went, got them, and came back.”
What’s the difference between 찾으러 갔어요 and 찾아왔어요?
- 찾으러 갔어요 = “I went to pick (them) up.” Focuses on the purpose of going.
- 찾아왔어요 = “I picked them up and came back.” Focuses on the round trip and return to the speaker’s location.
Why do we need 을 in 옷을 찾아왔어요?
을 (or 를) is the object marker in Korean. It tells us that 옷 (“clothes”) is the direct object of the verb 찾아오다. Without 을, the sentence would be missing that grammatical link.
Where can I put 어제 in the sentence? Does its position matter?
Adverbs of time like 어제 (“yesterday”) are flexible. You can say:
- 어제 세탁소에서 옷을 찾아왔어요.
- 세탁소에서 어제 옷을 찾아왔어요.
- 옷을 어제 세탁소에서 찾아왔어요.
All are grammatical; the first is most natural.
What level of politeness is 찾아왔어요? Are there other forms?
찾아왔어요 is polite informal (해요-form). Other levels:
- Casual: 찾아왔어
- Formal polite: 찾아왔습니다
Choose based on who you’re speaking to.