Breakdown of ilju-il dongan maeil yeonseuphae.
매일maeil
every day
연습하다yeonseuphada
to practice
~동안~dongan
for
일il
one
Questions & Answers about ilju-il dongan maeil yeonseuphae.
What does 동안 do here?
동안 marks a duration and means for/during [a period of time]. So 일주일 동안 = for one week. It also works with clauses, meaning “while,” as in 공부하는 동안 = “while studying.” In this sentence, it restricts the timeframe to one week.
Is 매일 redundant with 일주일 동안?
Not redundant—매일 narrows the meaning to “every day within that week.”
- 일주일 동안 연습해 = Practice for a week (could imply continuously or generally during that week).
- 일주일 동안 매일 연습해 = Practice once each day for a week.
- Compare 일주일 내내 연습해 = Practice all week long (emphasis on the entire span; can imply “constantly” more than “once per day”).
Who is the subject? I don’t see “I/you.”
Korean often drops obvious subjects. With 연습해 (casual), the default reading is a command to you: “Practice.” If the speaker is talking about themselves, they’d usually mark it:
- 나(는) 일주일 동안 매일 연습할 거야. = I’m going to practice every day for a week.
Is 연습해 a command or a statement?
As is, it’s most naturally a casual command (“Practice”). Depending on context and intonation, it could be a plan/statement, but for that Koreans prefer explicit future forms:
- Command (casual): 연습해.
- Statement about self (casual future):