yageul meokgo nanikka gichimi deol nayo.

먹고 나니까 means something like after taking it / once I took it / now that I’ve taken it.

It is built from:

• 먹다 = to eat, to take
• -고 나다 = to finish doing something
• -니까 = because / when / now that

So 약을 먹고 나니까 gives the idea:

• after I took the medicine
• once I had taken the medicine
• now that I’ve taken the medicine

In this sentence, it connects the first action to the result that follows: the coughing happens less after taking the medicine.

In Korean, 약을 먹다 is the normal expression for to take medicine, even if the medicine is a liquid.

So:

• 약을 먹다 = to take medicine

This is just the standard Korean way of saying it. English separates eat, drink, and take medicine, but Korean often uses 먹다 for medicine.

덜 means less or not as much.

So:

• 기침이 덜 나요 = I cough less / the coughing is less severe

It shows a reduction, not a complete stop.

Compare:

• 기침이 안 나요 = I don’t cough
• 기침이 덜 나요 = I cough less

So this sentence means the medicine helped, but the cough has not necessarily disappeared completely.

Korean often uses 나다 with symptoms or bodily conditions.

So:

• 기침이 나다 = for a cough to come out / to have a cough / to cough
• 열이 나다 = to have a fever
• 땀이 나다 = to sweat
• 콧물이 나다 = to have a runny nose

This can feel strange to English speakers because English usually uses a direct verb like cough, but Korean often describes symptoms as something that comes out or appears.

So 기침이 덜 나요 literally feels like:

• the cough comes out less

But natural English would be:

• I cough less
• my coughing is less frequent

Because 기침 is treated as the thing that is happening or appearing, so it takes the subject marker 이/가.

With 나다, the symptom is commonly marked with 이/가:

• 기침이 나다
• 열이 나다
• 땀이 나다

So in 기침이 덜 나요, 기침 is not the object of an action. It is the symptom that occurs.

Because 약 is the object of 먹다.

• 약을 먹다 = to take medicine

So:

• 약 = medicine
• 을 = object marker
• 먹고 나니까 = after taking it

This part is straightforward: the medicine is what was taken.

Both can refer to after doing something, but they are not exactly the same.

-고 나서

Usually just means after doing X in a sequence.

• 약을 먹고 나서 잤어요. = After taking medicine, I slept.

-고 나니까

Often emphasizes a result, realization, or change noticed after the action.

• 약을 먹고 나니까 기침이 덜 나요. = After taking the medicine, I cough less.

So in your sentence, -고 나니까 fits well because the speaker is noticing a result after taking the medicine.

Not always. It can mean something between when, after, now that, and because depending on context.

In this sentence, it suggests both time and result:

• after I took the medicine
• now that I’ve taken the medicine
• because I took the medicine, the coughing is less

A natural English translation usually does not need to match it word-for-word. The important idea is that the second clause is a result noticed after the first action.

나요 is a polite, conversational ending.

Here the base verb is 나다, and in present polite style it becomes 나요.

Levels/styles:

• 나 = casual, plain conversation
• 나요 = polite and conversational
• 납니다 = formal polite

So:

• 기침이 덜 나요 sounds natural in everyday polite speech.

The second part, 기침이 덜 나요, is in the present tense.

So the meaning is:

• Now I cough less
• My cough is less now

The first part, 약을 먹고 나니까, refers to something that has already happened: taking the medicine. Then the speaker describes the current result in the present tense.

That’s why the whole sentence feels like:

• After taking the medicine, I cough less now.

Yes. That is a very natural way to understand it.

Because 덜 means less, the sentence can imply:

• the coughing is less frequent
• the coughing is less severe
• the symptoms are a bit better

So depending on context, natural English translations could include:

• After taking the medicine, I cough less.
• After taking the medicine, my cough is better.
• Once I took the medicine, the coughing eased up a bit.

The Korean sentence itself does not specify exactly whether it is frequency, intensity, or both.

Yes.

It does not have to mean I am coughing less at this exact moment. It can describe the general current condition:

• compared to before, the cough is less
• the person has fewer coughing symptoms now

So it often describes an overall improvement, not just one instant in time.

That would sound unnatural for this meaning.

먹고 by itself usually just links actions in sequence:

• 약을 먹고 잤어요. = I took medicine and slept.

But in your sentence, the speaker wants to express a result noticed after taking the medicine. That is why 먹고 나니까 works better.

If you remove 나니까, the cause/result relationship becomes unclear or awkward.

In natural speech, it often sounds smoother than it looks in writing.

Roughly:

• 먹고 may sound close to 먹꼬
• 나니까 is usually pronounced clearly as written

So the whole phrase may sound like:

• 먹꼬 나니까

This is just normal Korean sound change in connected speech. The spelling stays 먹고 나니까.

It breaks down like this:

• 약을 = medicine + object marker
• 먹고 나니까 = after taking it / once I took it
• 기침이 = cough + subject marker
• 덜 나요 = comes out less / happens less

So the structure is:

[After taking medicine], [the cough happens less].

That is why a natural English version is:

After taking the medicine, I cough less.