chinguege jeonhwaharyeodaga hoeui jungieoseo mesijireul bonaesseoyo.

전화하려다가 comes from:

• 전화하다 = to call / make a phone call
• -(으)려고 하다 = to intend to do / be about to do
• -다가 = while doing, then; or but then when something changes

So 전화하려다가 means something like:

• I was about to call, but...
• I was going to call, but then...

In this sentence, it shows an intended action that did not happen because something else got in the way. The speaker planned to call, but instead sent a message.

This is a very common question.

• -다가 after a verb usually means while doing something, then...
• -려다가 specifically means was about to do something / intended to do it, but then...

Compare:

• 전화하다가 메시지를 보냈어요.
  = I was calling / while calling, I sent a message.
  This sounds like the call had already started or the action was underway.

• 전화하려다가 메시지를 보냈어요.
  = I was going to call, but I sent a message instead.
  Here, the call did not happen.

So -려다가 emphasizes a change from a planned action to a different outcome.

Because 전화하다 uses the person called as the target/recipient, not a direct object.

• 친구에게 전화하다 = to call a friend
• literally, to make a phone call to a friend

So 에게 marks the person receiving the action, similar to to in English.

You may also hear:

• 친구한테 전화하다
  This is more conversational and very common in speech.

Using 친구를 전화하다 is not correct in standard Korean.

회의 중 means in the middle of a meeting or during a meeting.

It is made from:

• 회의 = meeting
• 중 = middle, in the midst of

So:

• 회의 중이다 = to be in a meeting / to be in the middle of a meeting

In the sentence, 회의 중이어서 means because (someone) was in a meeting.

Because 회의 중 is basically a noun phrase, and Korean connects it to the next part using 이다.

Structure:

• 회의 중 = in the middle of a meeting
• 회의 중이다 = to be in a meeting
• 회의 중이어서 = because (someone) was in a meeting

So the 이 comes from 이다.

This is similar to how noun-based predicates work in Korean:

• 학생이다 → 학생이어서
• 문제이다 → 문제여서 / 문제라서
• 회의 중이다 → 회의 중이어서

In everyday speech, learners may also hear alternatives like:

• 회의 중이라서
• 회의 중이어서

Both are natural.

Grammatically, the subject is omitted, so context matters. But in this sentence, the most natural interpretation is that the speaker was in the meeting.

Why?

Because the final action is:

• 메시지를 보냈어요 = sent a message

So the flow is usually understood as:

• I was going to call my friend, but since I was in a meeting, I sent a message.

If the friend was the one in the meeting, Korean would often make that clearer, for example:

• 친구가 회의 중이어서 메시지를 보냈어요.
  = Since my friend was in a meeting, I sent a message.

Without 친구가, many people will assume the omitted subject stays the same as the speaker.

Because Korean often omits subjects when they are clear from context.

This sentence has no explicit I, but Korean speakers naturally understand it as:

• (제가 / 나는) 친구에게 전화하려다가 회의 중이어서 메시지를 보냈어요.

Korean does this much more often than English. If the speaker, topic, or subject is already obvious, it is usually left out.

This makes Korean sound natural, not incomplete.

In Korean, the final verb often carries the main tense for the whole sentence, especially in connected clauses.

So even though:

• 전화하려다가 does not have an explicit past marker
• 회의 중이어서 does not have an explicit past marker either

the past tense in 보냈어요 tells us the whole situation happened in the past.

This is very normal in Korean.

If you spelled everything out more heavily, you could make earlier clauses past too, but that is often unnecessary and can sound less natural depending on the context.

-아서/어서 often gives a reason or cause:

• 회의 중이어서 메시지를 보냈어요
  = Because I was in a meeting, I sent a message.

It connects the situation to the result in a smooth, natural way.

So the sentence has this logic:

1. I was going to call.
2. But I was in a meeting.
3. Therefore, I sent a message.

It sounds explanatory rather than dramatic. It is a very everyday way to give a reason.

Yes. 회의 중이라서 is very common and natural.

Both mean roughly the same thing here:

• 회의 중이어서
• 회의 중이라서

The difference is mostly stylistic and grammatical form:

• 이어서 comes from 이다 + 어서
• 이라서 comes from 이다 + (이)라서

In everyday conversation, 이라서 often sounds a bit more natural with noun predicates, so:

• 회의 중이라서 메시지를 보냈어요
  is a very natural sentence.

They are similar, but not always exactly the same.

• 메시지 = message
  This can be broader, such as a text message, app message, DM, etc.
• 문자 = text message / SMS

So:

• 메시지를 보냈어요 = I sent a message
• 문자를 보냈어요 = I sent a text

If the situation is specifically texting by phone, 문자를 보냈어요 is very common.
If you want a broader or more modern-feeling term, 메시지를 보냈어요 works well.

보냈어요 is in the informal polite style, often called -아요/어요 style.

It is polite and commonly used in everyday conversation.

Compare:

• 보냈어요 = polite, everyday
• 보냈습니다 = more formal
• 보냈어 = casual, used with close friends or younger people

So this sentence is polite but not stiff.

Yes. Even though there is no direct but word like 하지만, the sentence already contains contrast through -려다가.

That part tells you:

• the speaker intended one action
• but a different action happened instead

So the contrast is built into the grammar:

• 전화하려다가 = was going to call, but...
• 메시지를 보냈어요 = sent a message instead

This is why the sentence feels very natural and compact in Korean.