Word
내일 시험이라서 지금 긴장돼요.naeil siheomiraseo jigeum ginjangdwaeyo.
Meaning
I’m nervous now because I have an exam tomorrow.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of naeil siheomiraseo jigeum ginjangdwaeyo.
이다ida
to be
내일naeil
tomorrow
지금jigeum
now
시험siheom
exam
Questions & Answers about naeil siheomiraseo jigeum ginjangdwaeyo.
Why does 시험이라서 mean because of the exam / because I have an exam?
In this sentence, 시험 is a noun meaning exam.
The ending -이라서 / -라서 is attached to nouns to mean because it is... or since it is....
So:
- 시험 = exam
- 시험이라서 = because it’s an exam / because I have an exam
In natural English, we often translate this more smoothly as because I have an exam tomorrow rather than the more literal because it is an exam tomorrow.
Because 시험 ends in a consonant, Korean uses -이라서. If a noun ends in a vowel, it usually takes -라서 instead.
Why is there no word for I in this sentence?
Korean very often leaves out the subject when it is already clear from context.
So even though the sentence does not say 저는 (I), the meaning is understood as:
- (저는) 내일 시험이라서 지금 긴장돼요.
- (I) am nervous now because I have an exam tomorrow.
This is extremely normal in Korean. If the speaker is talking about their own feelings, listeners usually understand that the hidden subject is I.
Does 내일 시험 literally mean tomorrow exam? How should I understand it?