Word
그 후원자는 평생 지역사회를 도왔어요.geu huwonjaneun pyeongsaeng jiyeoksahoereul dowasseoyo.
Meaning
That sponsor helped the local community throughout his life.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of geu huwonjaneun pyeongsaeng jiyeoksahoereul dowasseoyo.
그geu
that
돕다dopda
to help
지역사회jiyeoksahoe
the local community
후원자huwonja
the sponsor or donor
Questions & Answers about geu huwonjaneun pyeongsaeng jiyeoksahoereul dowasseoyo.
What does 후원자 mean here?
후원자 means sponsor, patron, or supporter/donor, depending on context.
- 후원 = support, sponsorship, patronage
- -자 = a person who does something
So 후원자 is a person who gives support. In this sentence, it most naturally refers to a benefactor/supporter who helped the local community.
Why is 후원자 followed by 는?
는 is the topic marker.
So 그 후원자는 means something like:
- As for that sponsor, ...
- That sponsor, ...
It tells the listener what the sentence is about.
A native English speaker often expects every subject to work like English, but in Korean, topic and subject are not always exactly the same thing. Here, 는 gives a natural topic-comment structure:
- 그 후원자는 = as for that sponsor
- 평생 지역사회를 도왔어요 = helped the local community throughout their life
If you used 그 후원자가, it would sound more like you are specifically identifying that sponsor as the one who did the action, often with a bit more contrast or focus.
What does 그 mean here? Is it that or the?