Word
감기는 거의 나았는데 재채기가 계속 나고 미열도 있어.gamgineun geoui naassneunde jaechaegiga gyesok nago miyeoldo isseo.
Meaning
My cold is almost better, but I keep sneezing and I still have a slight fever.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of gamgineun geoui naassneunde jaechaegiga gyesok nago miyeoldo isseo.
~는~neun
topic particle
~가~ga
subject particle
~도~do
additive particle
거의geoui
almost
Questions & Answers about gamgineun geoui naassneunde jaechaegiga gyesok nago miyeoldo isseo.
Why does the sentence use 감기는 but 재채기가? Why 는 in one place and 가 in the other?
This is a very common learner question.
- 감기는 uses 는 because 감기 is being set up as the topic: as for the cold...
- 재채기가 uses 가 because 재채기 is the subject of the next idea: the sneezing is what is continuing/happening.
So the flow is roughly:
- 감기는 거의 나았는데 = as for the cold, it has almost gotten better
- 재채기가 계속 나고 = but sneezing keeps happening
Using 는 for 감기 makes it feel like the speaker is talking about the overall illness, while 가 with 재채기 highlights that sneezing is the symptom currently occurring.
What does 거의 mean here?
거의 means almost or nearly.
So 감기는 거의 나았는데 means the cold is almost better or has almost gone away.
It softens the statement a little: the speaker is not saying they are fully recovered, only that they are close.
Is 나았는데 from 나다? It looks similar to 나고 later in the sentence.