Resting a Sore Leg | Learn Korean in English

Sentence explanations

1. 다리가 조금 아파요.

   My leg hurts a little.

   다리

   leg

   조금

   a little

   아파요

   hurts; is painful

   More detail

   다리 means “leg” here, as confirmed by the fixed translation. It is a noun; in the sentence it appears as 다리가, with 가 marking it as the subject. 다리 can have other meanings in other contexts, such as “bridge,” but that is not the meaning here. 조금 is an adverb meaning “a little” or “slightly.” It reduces the degree of the following condition. Example: 조금 쉬어요. — “Rest a little.” 아파요 comes from the base form 아프다, meaning “to be painful” or “to hurt.” Korean commonly treats this kind of descriptive form as a descriptive verb. 아파요 is its present-tense polite form; the ㅡ in 아프다 is dropped before the polite ending, producing 아파요. This form does not change for the subject’s number or gender. Example: 머리가 아파요. — “My head hurts.” Together, 다리가 identifies the leg as the subject, 조금 makes the pain slight, and 아파요 says that it hurts: “My leg hurts a little.” The Korean sentence does not show a separate word for “my”; the supplied translation establishes that the leg belongs to the speaker. This is a polite, ordinary way to describe mild pain.

2. 이 의자에 잠깐 앉으세요.

   Sit on this chair for a moment.

   이

   this

   의자

   chair

   잠깐

   for a moment

   앉으세요

   please sit

   More detail

   이 points to a nearby thing: “this.” It comes directly before 의자 and specifies which chair is meant. Korean demonstratives include 이 “this” for something near the speaker, 그 “that” for something associated with the listener or already mentioned, and 저 “that over there” for something distant from both. Here, 이 is the demonstrative; it is not the noun’s article. 의자 means “chair,” a noun. A useful pattern is 이 + noun, as in 이 책 “this book” or 이 문 “this door.” In the sentence, 이 의자 is the location phrase “this chair” after the location particle 에. 잠깐 means “for a moment” or “briefly.” It is an adverb that limits the duration of the action. For example, 잠깐 기다리세요. means “Please wait a moment.” The short duration comes from 잠깐, not from the sitting verb itself. 앉으세요 is the polite request form of 앉다, “to sit.” The verb stem 앉- ends in a consonant, so the request ending appears as -으세요: 앉- + 으세요 → 앉으세요. This form politely asks the listener to sit; it is not a statement that the listener is already sitting. For comparison, a verb stem ending in a vowel can take -세요, as in 가다 → 가세요 “please go.” The location particle 에 marks the place where the sitting takes place: 의자에 means “on/in the chair” in this context. Korean uses the same particle for various destinations or locations, so its exact English rendering depends on the verb and situation. Together, 이 의자에 means “on this chair,” 잠깐 adds the brief duration, and 앉으세요 politely requests the listener to sit. The complete utterance therefore means: “Sit on this chair for a moment.”

3. 오늘 너무 많이 걸었어요.

   I walked too much today.

   오늘

   today

   너무 많이

   too much

   걸었어요

   walked

   More detail

   오늘 means “today.” It is a time noun that can be placed at the beginning of a sentence to set the time, as here. Example: 오늘 공부해요. — “I study today.” 너무 많이 expresses an excessive amount here: “too much.” 너무 intensifies the adverb 많이, while 많이 means “a lot” or “much.” Together, they describe the amount of walking as more than was appropriate or comfortable. Example: 커피를 너무 많이 마셨어요. — “I drank too much coffee.” 걸었어요 is the polite past form of 걷다, “to walk.” 걷다 has a ㄷ irregular change: before a vowel-initial ending, ㄷ changes to ㄹ, giving 걸어요 in the present and 걸었어요 in the past. The ending -었어요 marks completed past action in polite 해요-style speech. Example: 어제 공원에서 걸었어요. — “I walked in the park yesterday.” The parts combine as 오늘 + 너무 많이 + 걸었어요: “Today, [I] walked too much.” The subject is omitted in the Korean sentence; the fixed translation identifies it as “I.” The time expression comes first, 너무 많이 specifies the excessive amount, and 걸었어요 states the completed walking action politely. This is a natural polite statement about having walked more than was comfortable.

4. 다리를 여기 올리고 쉬세요.

   Put your leg up here and rest.

   다리를

   your leg

   여기

   here

   올리고

   put up and

   쉬세요

   please rest

   More detail

   다리를 means “your leg” here. 다리 is the noun “leg,” and -를 marks it as the object of the action. Korean does not explicitly mark “your” in this sentence; that intended meaning comes from the fixed translation and context. Example: 팔을 올리세요. — “Raise your arm.” 여기 means “here,” pointing to the relevant place. It can be reused in a location expression such as 여기 있어요 — “It is here.” 올리고 comes from the verb 올리다, “to raise” or “put up.” The ending -고 connects this action with the next one, giving the reusable pattern A-고 B: “do A and B.” Here, 다리를 is the object of 올리다. Example: 문을 열고 들어가세요. — “Open the door and go in.” 쉬세요 comes from 쉬다, “to rest.” The polite ending -세요 makes this a courteous request or instruction: “please rest.” It is not a past form; the base verb is 쉬다. Example: 조금 쉬세요. — “Please rest a little.” Together, 다리를 여기 올리고 means “put your leg up here,” and 쉬세요 adds the courteous instruction “and rest.” The complete utterance is: “Put your leg up here and rest.”

5. 나중에 조금 걸어 다녀도 돼요?

   Can I walk around a little later?

   나중에

   later

   조금

   a little

   걸어 다녀도 돼요?

   May I walk around?

   More detail

   나중에 means “later” and is a useful time adverb. It places the action after the current time or another understood point. Example: 나중에 만나요. — “See you later.” 조금 means “a little” or “slightly.” With an action, it limits its extent or duration. Example: 조금 쉬어요. — “Rest a little.” 걸어 다녀도 돼요? asks for permission to walk around. 걸어 다니다 is the verb construction “to walk around,” built from 걷다 (“to walk”) plus 다니다 (“to go around / regularly move about”). In this construction, 걷다 appears as 걸어; this is an irregular change of ㄷ to ㄹ before the vowel-initial ending -어. The ending -아/어도 되다 expresses that an action is permitted: “it is okay to …” or “may I …?” Here, 걸어 다녀도 combines the walking-around action with that permission pattern, and 돼요 is the polite present form of 되다 (“to be okay / to be allowed”). With question intonation, the pattern V-아/어도 돼요? means “May I V?” or “Is it okay if I V?” Together, 나중에 (“later”) + 조금 (“a little”) + 걸어 다녀도 돼요? (“may I walk around?”) gives: “Can I walk around a little later?” The sentence asks whether that limited walking-around action will be permitted at a later time.

6. 괜찮을 때만 걸으세요.

   Walk only if it feels all right.

   괜찮을

   all right; okay

   때만

   only when

   걸으세요

   please walk

   More detail

   괜찮을 comes from 괜찮다, meaning “to be all right” here. The ending -(으)ㄹ creates the form used before 때 (“time; when”), so 괜찮을 때 means “when/if it is all right.” 괜찮다 has the stem 괜찮-, which ends in a consonant, so this form uses -을: 괜찮을. For comparison, a vowel-final stem uses -ㄹ, while another consonant-final example is 먹을 때 (“when eating” or “when someone eats”). 때만 combines 때 (“time; when”) with 만 (“only”). -만 limits the condition, so 괜찮을 때만 means “only when/if it is all right,” not simply “when it is all right.” Example: 비가 올 때만 쉬어요. — “I rest only when it rains.” 걸으세요 is a polite request or instruction meaning “please walk.” Its base form is 걷다 (“to walk”). In this form, the stem’s final ㄷ changes to ㄹ before the vowel-initial part of -(으)세요: 걷다 → 걸으세요. This is a stem change in 걷다, not a change to 때. The ending -(으)세요 makes a polite directive; for example, 천천히 걸으세요. means “Please walk slowly.” Together, 괜찮을 때만 sets the condition and 걸으세요 gives the polite instruction: “Walk only if it feels all right.” The sentence presents walking as appropriate only under that condition.

7. 소파가 이 의자보다 더 편해요.

   The sofa feels better than this chair.

   소파

   sofa

   이

   this

   의자

   chair

   보다

   than

   더

   more

   편해요

   comfortable

   More detail

   소파 means “sofa.” In the sentence, it is followed by 가, the subject marker, so 소파가 presents the sofa as the thing being compared. The noun itself does not change for this role. 이 means “this” and comes before 의자 to specify the chair as “this chair.” Korean demonstratives include 이 for something treated as near the speaker, 그 for something associated with the listener or already mentioned, and 저 for something distant from both; the choice depends on the situation. 의자 means “chair.” Together, 이 의자 means “this chair.” Example: 의자가 편해요. — “The chair is comfortable.” 보다 is the comparison particle attached to the standard of comparison: 이 의자보다 means “than this chair.” A useful pattern is A가 B보다 ... — “A is ... than B.” Example: 이 의자보다 저 의자가 커요. — “That chair is bigger than this chair.” 더 means “more” in a comparison. It strengthens the comparative meaning of the following description; it does not belong to the noun 의자. Example: 오늘은 더 추워요. — “Today it is colder.” 편해요 is the polite present form of the descriptive word 편하다, meaning “to be comfortable” or, in a suitable context, “to feel better.” The ending -해요 gives a polite statement. The related form 편한 is used before a noun: 편한 의자 means “a comfortable chair.” The pattern here is 소파가 이 의자보다 더 편해요: the sofa is the subject, 이 의자보다 sets this chair as the comparison standard, and 더 편해요 says that the sofa is more comfortable. Thus the whole utterance means “The sofa feels better than this chair.”

8. 그럼 거기에 앉아서 다리를 가만히 두세요.

   Then sit there and keep your leg still.

   그럼

   then

   거기에

   there

   앉아서

   sit and

   다리를

   leg

   가만히

   still

   두세요

   please keep

   More detail

   그럼 means “then” or “in that case.” It links this instruction to what was said before. It is a short conversational connector, not part of the verb meaning. 거기에 means “there.” The location marker -에 is attached to 거기 (“there”): 거기 + 에 → 거기에. The marker identifies the place associated with the action; Korean does not require an English-style subject or possessive here. 앉아서 comes from 앉다 (“to sit”) plus -아서, a connective ending. Here it connects sitting with the following instruction: “sit there and …” The connected actions are understood with the same implied addressee. A useful pattern is 동사-아서/어서 … for linking actions or describing what happens after an action, with the exact relation supplied by context. 다리를 means “the leg” or, in this translation, “your leg.” 다리 is the noun “leg,” and -를 marks it as the object of the following verb. Korean nouns do not normally mark singular versus plural, and Korean often leaves possession unstated when the intended possessor is clear; the fixed translation supplies “your” here. The form 다리를 is 다리 + object marker 를. 가만히 is an adverb meaning “still” or “without moving.” It modifies the following action, specifying that the leg should remain motionless. It is not the adjective “still” in the sense of “continuing up to now”; that meaning requires a different expression in Korean. 두세요 comes from 두다, whose basic meaning includes “to put,” “to place,” or “to leave/keep” something in a state or position, plus the polite request ending -(으)세요. In this sentence, 두다 is used with 가만히 to mean “keep it still,” rather than simply “put it.” -(으)세요 makes the instruction polite and directed to the listener. A reusable pattern is N을/를 + 상태나 방식의 부사 + 두세요, meaning “keep N [in that state/way].” Together, 거기에 앉아서 gives “sit there and,” while 다리를 가만히 두세요 gives “keep your leg still.” With 그럼 at the beginning, the whole utterance means: “Then sit there and keep your leg still.”