作者名称 国旗国籍

Alia 알리아

EN

KR

2021.05.17 05:10

I just understood something about Korean by analyzing English

sentences written by Korean speakers.

Korean speakers tend to write a lot of passive voice sentences in English:

A gift was brought by him.
The taste of the food was changed by her.

etc...

These sentences are grammatically correct but sound very strange to an English speaker. English speakers usually avoid the passive voice. They prefer the active voice:

He brought a gift
She changed the taste of the food (by adding more salt, etc)...

To us, the subject or topic is the person or object that acts the verb out. That is usually what we start our sentence with.

The concept of subject or topic in Korean is difficult for most Western language speakers to grasp. But I think I understand better now:

In Korean, the subject or topic is not necessarily "active" in the sentence. It is maybe just the thing or person that, if ommitted from the sentence, would make the sentence incomplete and grammatically incorrect:

He brought a...
She changed the...

I know this explanation is not complete and there are surely other things to take into account but maybe... I am getting closer to understanding... Fingers crossed. And back to work😂~
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Comments

  • toupitou 2021.05.17 05:25

    FR
    KR

    네, 맞아요. 😩😩😩malheureusement, tu as raison.... 😰
  • 다솜 Dasom 2021.05.17 06:06

    EN
    BL
    KR

    We INFJ’s are tackling this language learning from different angles! 🥰 We got this! 👍
  • Alia 알리아 2021.05.17 06:14

    EN
    KR

    @다솜 Dasom Yayyyy! Yes we are, fellow INFJ😁. I feel like I am liberated from the idea that subjects are always active🥳. That opens a whole new understanding of how Korean people view the world...😁😍
  • Mamoulla 2021.05.17 08:38

    AR
    EN

    Nice observation ✨🏹
  • KyungSoo Kang 2021.05.17 09:06

    KR
    ES

    When we speak Korean we also usually use the active tense.
  • Richard 2021.05.17 09:26

    KR
    RU

    That is the correct point. It may be because of the tendency to blame others.
  • Happyday_야생고릴라 2021.05.17 09:31

    KR
    EN

    hahahahaha 😂😂😂😂😂😂 100% agree!!! I remember that the English grammar I learned for the first time in middle school was to change the sentence of the active voice form into the passive voice. Besides, I don't know why, but I feel the passive form seem to be more polite than the active form. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I am soooo sorry! 🙇🏻🙇🏻🙇🏻🙇🏻🙇🏻
  • min 2021.05.17 10:03

    KR
    EN

    Very useful tip, I think.... Look forward to hearing more comments
  • Qiáng 2021.05.17 11:42

    CN
    EN

    This is an interesting topic. Chinese speakers also like to use passive voice when speaking in Chinese. But it doesn't seem to be as frequent as the Koreans. There is no concept of subject + topic in the Chinese language too.
  • estella 2021.05.17 11:59

    KR
    EN

    You rock on something in my head! Your observation make me realized why i love to learn in english. Lovely😎👍
  • Alia 알리아 2021.05.17 13:26

    EN
    KR

    @Mamoulla thank you very much 👍🏻😁
  • Alia 알리아 2021.05.17 13:27

    EN
    KR

    @KyungSoo Kang yes certainly. But I believe you sometimes give much more often importance in your sentences to the object of the verb than we do. Would this be correct?
  • Alia 알리아 2021.05.17 13:28

    EN
    KR

    @Richard 🤣 That is a fun explanation!👍🏻👍🏻
  • Alia 알리아 2021.05.17 13:29

    EN
    KR

    @Happyday_야생고릴라 Really?! That is super interesting. Then it means I am analyzing in the right direction 😍👍🏻 thank you so much for confirming and don't be sorry!!😁🙏🏻
  • Alia 알리아 2021.05.17 19:57

    EN
    KR

    @min I am still quite surprised I had not understood this well before. I am quite glad it occurred to me today😁
  • Alia 알리아 2021.05.17 20:08

    EN
    KR

    @Qiáng It is very interesting to me that Chinese would also have a certain preference for the passive voice👍🏻😃. I think Hindi also has a similar "philosophy". Feelings are often what someone makes us feel (while in most Western languages "we feel"): I love her (English) She makes me love (Hindi) Does Chinese have this tendency too?
  • Alia 알리아 2021.05.17 20:10

    EN
    KR

    @estella I am truly honored😍! It was an early morning musing and I am delighted to read the comments here with everyone's thoughts, so inspiring💜!
  • Ludmila 2021.05.17 20:35

    PT
    FR

    This is so interesting! When I was a teacher I’d do the same when reading my student’s compositions haha
  • Qiáng 2021.05.17 22:25

    CN
    EN

    @Alia 알리아 yes, Chinese also has this tendency. 她让我又恨又爱。 And it's common.
  • Happyday_야생고릴라 2021.05.17 23:19

    KR
    EN

    @Alia 알리아 Of course, you are~♥ 😍👏👏👏👏👏👏
  • Alia 알리아 2021.05.18 02:48

    EN
    KR

    @Ludmila Awesome! What language did your students speak?
  • Alia 알리아 2021.05.18 02:50

    EN
    KR

    @Qiáng This is fascinating to me. I always hear linguists say that a language is the key to a people's mentality but had not found such clear evidence😍👍🏻! Thank you for the sentence in Chinese🙏🏻. It's linguistic gold for a linguist.
  • Alia 알리아 2021.05.18 02:56

    EN
    KR

    @Happyday_야생고릴라 ❤🙏🏻 You left me thinking... In English, the passive voice seems more formal too. This is also why the examples I gave (in passive voice) seem strange to us or needlessly formal so we don't use them. In Korean, would you say that foreigners sound too direct when they constantly speak in the active voice?
  • Ludmila 2021.05.18 03:03

    PT
    FR

    @Alia 알리아 Portuguese and I taught English
  • Happyday_야생고릴라 2021.05.18 03:13

    KR
    EN

    @Alia 알리아 Um... I dont think so... For me, it's just a difference in sentence form. 😅😅😅 To be more honest, I think I can't understand the difference of delicated meaning between active voice and passive voice yet. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
  • Alia 알리아 2021.05.18 05:31

    EN
    KR

    @Ludmila Oh I see! 😁👍🏻 It is cool you explored your own language through them🌷☕
  • Alia 알리아 2021.05.18 05:35

    EN
    KR

    @Happyday_야생고릴라 Ah ok ok😂😂. It's good. I was wondering 😂😂👍🏻 I think I need to explore it more~~! 🙏🏻😃 감사합니다^^ my friend~💜
  • Happyday_야생고릴라 2021.05.18 06:14

    KR
    EN

    @Alia 알리아 My pleasure 🙇🏻

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