Breakdown of seonsaengnimkke jilmunhal ttaemada ginjangdwaeyo.
Questions & Answers about seonsaengnimkke jilmunhal ttaemada ginjangdwaeyo.
Why is 께 used after 선생님?
께 is an honorific particle meaning something like to when the person receiving the action deserves respect.
So in 선생님께 질문할 때마다, the speaker is showing politeness toward the teacher.
A less honorific version would be:
- 선생님에게
- 선생님한테
Those are also grammatically possible, but 께 sounds more respectful and is very natural with 선생님.
Why is it 질문할 instead of 질문을 할?
Both are possible.
- 질문할 때마다
- 질문을 할 때마다
Here, 질문하다 means to ask a question. Since 질문하다 is a noun + 하다 verb, Korean often drops the object marker 을/를 in these combinations when modifying a noun like 때.
So 질문할 때마다 is just a slightly more compact, natural version of 질문을 할 때마다.
What does -할 때마다 mean exactly?
때마다 means every time or whenever.
Breakdown:
- 질문하다 = to ask a question
- 질문할 = asking / when asking
- 때 = time, when
- 마다 = every, each
So 질문할 때마다 means every time I ask a question or whenever I ask a question.
It is stronger than just 질문할 때, which would mean when I ask a question.
Adding 마다 gives the sense of repetition: it happens every single time.
Why is the sentence 긴장돼요 instead of 긴장해요?
긴장되다 means to become nervous / to feel nervous / to be tense.
In everyday Korean, 긴장돼요 is a very common way to say I get nervous or I feel nervous.
Compare:
- 긴장해요 = I tense up / I am nervous
- 긴장돼요 = I become nervous / I get nervous
In many situations, both are possible, but 긴장돼요 often sounds especially natural when describing a feeling that arises in a situation.
Also, 돼요 is the contracted form of 되어요.
Why is it written 돼요, not 되요?
Because 되다 + 어요 becomes 되어요, and that contracts to 돼요.
So:
- 되어요 → 돼요 ✔
- 되요 ✘
This is a very common spelling point in Korean.
If the full form is 되어, the contraction is 돼.
Who is getting nervous in this sentence? Is I missing?
Yes, the subject is omitted.
Korean often leaves out subjects when they are understood from context. In this sentence, the natural interpretation is:
- I get nervous every time I ask the teacher a question.
But technically, without context, the subject could be someone else. Korean does this a lot, so learners need to get used to understanding the omitted subject from the situation.
Does 질문하다 mean to ask or to ask a question?
More literally, 질문하다 means to ask a question.
That is why the sentence feels a little more specific than just the English verb ask.
You are not asking for anything in general; you are specifically asking a question.
So:
- 선생님께 질문하다 = to ask the teacher a question
What politeness level is this sentence in?
It is in the polite informal style, often called the -요 form.
The ending 긴장돼요 is polite and commonly used in everyday conversation. It is appropriate in many normal situations.
Compare:
- 긴장돼요 = polite
- 긴장돼 = casual / plain spoken
- 긴장됩니다 = more formal
Could I say 선생님한테 질문할 때마다 긴장돼요 instead?
Yes, you could, and it would still be natural in conversation.
But there is a nuance:
- 선생님께 = more respectful
- 선생님한테 = less formal, more casual
- 선생님에게 = neutral
Because the person is a teacher, 께 is especially appropriate and sounds more polite.
Is 선생님께 질문할 때마다 a full clause?
It is a dependent clause, not a complete sentence by itself.
It sets up the situation:
- 선생님께 질문할 때마다 = whenever I ask the teacher a question
Then the main clause tells what happens:
- 긴장돼요 = I get nervous
So the full sentence structure is:
- Whenever I ask the teacher a question, I get nervous.
Can this sentence also imply a habitual feeling, not just one moment of nervousness?
Yes. Because of 때마다, the sentence strongly suggests a repeated pattern.
It is not talking about a single occasion. It means that this is what usually happens every time that situation occurs.
So the nuance is:
- not I was nervous once
- but I always get nervous in that situation
Why is there no topic marker like 저는?
Because Korean often omits information that is already obvious.
You could say:
- 저는 선생님께 질문할 때마다 긴장돼요.
This would explicitly mean As for me, I get nervous every time I ask the teacher a question.
But in many contexts, 저는 is unnecessary, so Korean naturally leaves it out. The shorter version sounds smooth and normal.
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