TTMIK Level 5 Lesson 21 - Word Contractions - Part 3

In Level 4 Lesson 17 and Level 4 Lesson 23, we had our first two lessons on word contractions in Korean. Let us review them very briefly.

Ex)

(1)
이것 (= this) → 이거
이거 + 는 → 이건

(2)
저것 (= that) → 저거
저거 + 는 → 저건

(3)
이렇게 하면 → 이러면 = if you do it like this
저렇게 하면 → 저러면 = if you do it like that

(4)
어떻게 해요? → 어떡해요? = How do we (deal with the situation)?

Now in this lesson, we are going to look at how the object marker -를 is combined with the word that comes before it in everyday Korean.

As you already know -을 and -를 are object markers in Korean sentences. -을 is used after words that end with a last consonant and -를 is used after words that end with a vowel.

But in everyday spoken (and sometimes written) Korean, after words that end with a vowel, -를 is often changed to -ㄹ and -ㄹ is just attached at the end of the last vowel of the previous word. (Therefore, -을 stays the same.)

Examples
1. 저 = I, me (honorific)
저 + 를 = 저를 (me + object marker) → 절

2. 이거 = this
이거 +를 = 이거를 (this + object marker) → 이걸

3. 여기 = here, this place
여기 + 를 = 여기를 (this place + object marker) → 여길

4. 뭐 = what
뭐 + 를 = 뭐를 (what + object marker) → 뭘

** Note that the examples above only contain words that are very frequently used on daily basis. Those are words that most people habitually use shortened forms for quite often. As for words that are not as frequently used as those above, such as 우유 (milk), 머리 (head), etc, it’s entirely up to the speaker whether they want to shorten them (for example, to 우율, 머릴, etc) or not. In most cases, however, contracted forms such as 우율, 머릴, etc, using words that are not always used everyday, are often used in spoken Korean but not in written Korean.

Sample sentences
1. 누가 절 불렀어요?
[nu-ga jeol bul-leo-sseo-yo?]
= Who called me?

2. 여길 어떻게 알았어요?
[yeo-gil eo-tteo-ke a-ra-sseo-yo?]
= How did you find out about this place?

3. 뭘 기다리고 있어요?
[mwol gi-da-ri-go i-sseo-yo?]
= What are you waiting for?

4. 이걸 누구한테 줘야 돼요?
[i-geol nu-gu-han-te jwo-ya dwae-yo?]
= Whom should I give this to?

5. 어딜 눌러야 돼요?
[eo-dil nul-leo-ya dwae-yo?]
= Where should I press?