Breakdown of chinguga oneureun deol bappeudaeyo.
친구chingu
friend
~가~ga
subject particle
~은~eun
topic particle
오늘oneul
today
Questions & Answers about chinguga oneureun deol bappeudaeyo.
What does -대요 mean in 바쁘대요?
-대요 is a reported-speech / hearsay ending.
In this sentence, 바쁘대요 comes from 바쁘다고 해요, which literally means (someone) says that they are busy or I heard that they are busy.
So 친구가 오늘은 덜 바쁘대요 means the speaker is passing along information, not necessarily stating it as their own direct observation.
A natural English sense is:
- My friend says they’re less busy today
- I heard my friend is less busy today
The exact nuance depends on context.
Why is 오늘 followed by -은 in 오늘은?
-은/는 is the topic marker, and here it gives 오늘은 a sense of as for today.
That often creates a slight contrast, such as:
- compared with other days
- unlike yesterday
- at least today
So 오늘은 덜 바쁘대요 feels like:
- As for today, they’re less busy
- Today, at least, they’re less busy
If you said 오늘 덜 바쁘대요 without -은, it would still be grammatical, but it would sound a bit more neutral and less contrastive.
Why does 친구 take -가 in ?