naeil hoeuireul junbihaeseo jigeum bappayo.

Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Korean grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Korean now

Questions & Answers about naeil hoeuireul junbihaeseo jigeum bappayo.

What does the ending -해서 do in this sentence?
It’s the connective -아/어서 attached to 준비하다준비해서, and it expresses a reason/cause: “because (I) am preparing.” So the overall structure is “Because I’m preparing tomorrow’s meeting, I’m busy now.”
Would -하느라 or -고 있어서 sound more natural to show I’m busy due to ongoing preparation?

Yes, both are very natural for “I’m busy now because I’m in the middle of preparing.”

  • 내일 회의 준비하느라 지금 바빠요. (I’m busy now because I’m tied up preparing for tomorrow’s meeting.)
  • 내일 회의를 준비하고 있어서 지금 바빠요. (I’m busy now since I’m preparing it.) Nuance:
  • -느라 highlights being occupied with something (often implying you can’t do other things).
  • -고 있어서 highlights the action is ongoing right now.
  • -해서 is fine, but it can sound more general/neutral about the cause; many speakers prefer -느라 here.
Why does it mention tomorrow (내일) but use now (지금) for being busy? Is that okay?

Yes. Korean commonly states a future event as the reason for current actions or state. You’re busy now due to preparing for something happening tomorrow. Another common way is to make the cause the existence of the event:

  • 내일 회의가 있어서 지금 바빠요. (I have a meeting tomorrow, so I’m busy now.)
Why is there no subject like 저는 or 제가? Who is busy?

Korean often drops obvious subjects. In this context, the speaker is the default subject, so it means “I’m busy.” You can add emphasis or contrast with:

  • 저는 내일 회의를 준비해서 지금 바빠요.
  • 저는 adds “as for me” or contrast with others.
What does -를 in 회의를 mark? Can I drop it?

-를 is the object marker. Here, 회의를 준비하다 = “prepare the meeting.” In everyday speech, the object marker is often dropped when the meaning is clear:

  • 내일 회의 준비해서 지금 바빠요. You’ll also hear the compound-noun style 회의 준비 (“meeting prep”), which naturally appears without -를.
Why not say 내일의 회의 instead of 내일 회의?
In modifiers like time + noun, Korean typically prefers a bare noun compound: 내일 회의 is the most natural. 내일의 회의 is grammatical but sounds bookish/formal; it’s uncommon in casual speech.
Where can 지금 go? Is the placement fixed?

It’s flexible, but these are most natural:

  • 내일 회의를 준비해서 지금 바빠요.
  • 지금 바빠요. 내일 회의를 준비해서요. (Split for conversation.) For contrast, you can mark it as a topic: 지금은 바빠요. (“I’m busy now (as opposed to later).”)
What politeness level is 바빠요? What are other forms?

바빠요 is the informal polite style. Common variations:

  • Formal polite: 바쁩니다 (business/formal settings)
  • Casual/intimate: 바빠 (to friends/younger people)
  • Honorific (when the subject is someone respected): 바쁘세요
    • e.g., 부장님은 내일 회의를 준비하시느라 지금 바쁘세요.
How do I pronounce the tricky parts like 회의를 and 바빠요?
  • 회의 is often pronounced as [회이]. So 회의를 commonly sounds like [회이를]. Both [회의를] and [회이를] are heard; [회이-] is very common in speech.
  • 준비해서 is [준비해서] (the 하여 → 해 contraction).
  • 바빠요 is [바빠요] with a tense pp sound (pp), not like two separate p’s. A rough romanization: naeil hoei(reul) junbihaeseo jigeum bappayo.
Can I say 준비했어서 to mean “because I prepared”?

Avoid -었/았어서. With -아서/어서, you normally don’t stack a past marker right before -서. Instead, put the past in the main clause or use another connector:

  • 준비해서 어제 바빴어요. (I was busy yesterday because I prepared.)
  • 준비하느라 어제 바빴어요. If you need a clear “after doing X, (result)” sense, use -고 나서 or -더니 depending on nuance:
  • 준비하고 나서 쉬었어요. (After preparing, I rested.)
How does -아서/어서 compare with -니까, -기 때문에, and -라서?
  • -아서/어서 (here 준비해서): neutral/natural cause. Common in statements.
  • -니까: stronger, often used to justify or in commands/suggestions; also common in speech.
    • 내일 회의를 준비하니까 지금 바빠요.
  • -기 때문에: explicit, somewhat formal/objective.
    • 내일 회의를 준비하기 때문에 지금 바빠요.
  • -(이)라서 attaches to nouns (not verbs). Use a noun like 준비 중:
    • 내일 회의 준비 중이라서 지금 바빠요.
Can I split it into two sentences with 그래서?

Yes, very natural in conversation:

  • 내일 회의를 준비해요. 그래서 지금 바빠요.
Can I rephrase it with 때문에?

Yes. With a noun phrase:

  • 내일 회의 준비 때문에 지금 바빠요. Or with a verb nominalized:
  • 내일 회의를 준비하기 때문에 지금 바빠요. (more formal/explicit)
Is the spacing correct?

Yes:

  • 내일 회의를 (particle attaches to the noun)
  • 준비해서 (verb + connective ending written together)
  • 지금 바빠요 (adverb separated from the predicate) Writing 준비 해서 or 회의 를 would be incorrect spacing.
If I want to emphasize the contrast “right now,” should I use 지금은?

Yes. 지금은 바빠요 adds a contrastive topic, implying “I’m busy now (but maybe not later/earlier).” You can combine:

  • 내일 회의를 준비하느라 지금은 바빠요.