miyeoreun issjiman momsareun naaganeun jungiya.

I still have a slight fever, but the body aches are getting better.

Breakdown of miyeoreun issjiman momsareun naaganeun jungiya.

• 이다: to be
• ~은: topic particle
• ~지만: but
• 있다: to exist / to have

Questions & Answers about miyeoreun issjiman momsareun naaganeun jungiya.

What does 미열 mean exactly?

미열 means a slight fever or low-grade fever.

• 미- adds the idea of something being slight or mild
• 열 means fever

So 미열 is not usually a high, serious fever. It suggests a mild temperature.

What does 몸살 mean exactly?

몸살 is a very common Korean word for the kind of whole-body achiness, soreness, fatigue, and sick feeling you often get with a cold or flu.

It is not just one isolated ache. It usually refers to a more general body-aches / feeling run-down kind of symptom.

So in this sentence, 몸살은 나아가는 중이야 means the speaker’s body-ache symptoms are improving.

Why are 은/는 used on both 미열 and 몸살?

Here, 은/는 gives a contrastive feeling.

The sentence is basically setting up two different conditions:

• 미열은 있지만 = as for the slight fever, it is still there
• 몸살은 나아가는 중이야 = as for the body aches, they are getting better

So the speaker is contrasting the two symptoms:

• one symptom remains
• the other symptom is improving

This is one of the most common uses of 은/는 in Korean.

Why does Korean use 있다 here? Isn’t the English idea I have a fever?