# 과타말라에 가지...



## maghanish2

안녕하세요!

I hope you all can help me with this problem.  I understand what this person wrote to me, however I don't understand why they put -*지  *or *-고*, so I need some explanation there please!

아빠 사업때메 과타말라에 가*지 *그리고 한국에서 태어났*고*

I transalte the sentence as: _I went to Guatemala because of my Dad's work and I was born in Korea._

However, it is unclear to me why they put the *-지 *and *-고*.

도와줘서 감사합니다!


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## AKoreanUser

No wonder you don't understand why these are added there. That's because English doesn't have the grammar like that. Of course, Korean doesn't have some things English has, ...(I forgot the adverb word good to be here)

Anyway, the meaning you got is perfect.
아빠 사업 때문에 과타말라에 간다/가/가지/감 are all the same meaing.

But still if you want an explanation, i'll show you the link to a dictionary.
http ://krdic.daum.net/dickr/contents.do?offset=A000275600&query1=A000275600#A000275600
(It originally has the link, but I made under 30 posts so I'm not allowed to post URLs yet. It leads to -지 on Daum dictionary. and I had to add a space between "p" and ":")
It says ...어떤 사실을 긍정적으로 서술하거나... this is the right part for here. Actually 긍정적으로 is not even necessary. So -지 here is writing a fact.

고 is for "and", you know. It means the sentence doesn't finish yet. Like, 한국에서 태어났고 미국에서 자랐다. But in spoken language, saying -고 doesn't always mean you're supposed to finish the sentence. You're talking like that as if you have something to say more but you just stopped talking. So -고 here has a different tone from ...-고 in 태어났고 미국에서 자랐다.

I wanted to looked it up in a dictionary but I couldnt' find it, sorry. I hope it'd help. Feel free to ask things


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## maghanish2

Wow that was a very helpful answer!

So basically adding the *-지 *is just another way to end the sentence? It doesn't really have a particular meaning (just like *간다, 감 *like you already said)?

But, can't you use it in this way as well:
한국에 가지? = You're going to Korea, right?
이걸 먹고 싶지 않지? = You don't want to eat this, correct?
This is what I have learned previously.

And I actually think the explanation for *-고* really helped also. DO you think this would be a good translation:
한국에서 태어났고 = I was born in Korean and....yeah.
In English we say "and yeah" or "and well yeah" if we don't have anything else to say, but don't want to just _end_ the sentence. Would this be an accurate assumption?

정말 감사합니다! 이제 엄청 더 알아들어요!


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## Mallarme

maghanish2 said:


> 아빠 사업때메 과타말라에 가*지 *그리고 한국에서 태어났*고*
> 
> I transalte the sentence as: _I went to Guatemala because of my Dad's work and I was born in Korea._



I don't think that first part is in the past tense. I think it is saying either "I'm going to Guatemala because of my dad's work" or "I go to Guatemala because of my dad's work."

So, I think he is saying he is going to Guatemala in the future or he goes to Guatemala (from time to time).  It is not clear from the sentence you've given us.  

In order for it to be in the past tense, it would have to say:

아빠 사업때메 과타말라에 *갔*지.

AKoreanUser did not comment on that part of your translation, so let's wait and see what he or she has to say. 

P.S. I think all the examples you gave in your last post are correct.

PPS. The explanation on the use of 지 that was on the Daum link that AKoreanUser gave you says (I think):

지 is a word ending at the end of a sentence that shows that something is being predicated, questioned, commanded or proposed in 해라체 (plain style).

도움이 되길 바람


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## maghanish2

Mallarme, that's actually why I was slightly confused.  But I know for a fact that this person does indeed live in Guatemala, and has not left in over 9 years.  So its odd.

Thakns for the other info too!


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## Mallarme

maghanish2 said:


> Mallarme, that's actually why I was slightly confused.  But I know for a fact that this person does indeed live in Guatemala, and has not left in over 9 years.  So its odd.



Oh, it could be a typo... your pen pal's writing style seems a bit laid-back


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## AKoreanUser

> So basically adding the *-지 *is just another way to end the sentence? It doesn't really have a particular meaning (just like *간다, 감 *like you already said)?


Yes, but you know, -간다 is more widely used. I mean I can't say every possilbe cases but -지 is less generally used. Sometimes, it's just because of the number of syllables.(one syllable for 가 while two syllables for 가지) But the thing is the basic meaning doesn't change.



> But, can't you use it in this way as well:
> 한국에 가지? = You're going to Korea, right?
> 이걸 먹고 싶지 않지? = You don't want to eat this, correct?
> This is what I have learned previously.


This 지 is different from the above 지. I think this way of 지 is more often used.

And that you say "and yeah" or "and well yeah," yes, it's a very good assumption.

Mallarme, I agree with you. The original sentence is saying (he/she) is going to Guatemala, which is defenitely not a past tense. But after I read maghanish2's next saying that that person hasn't left in over 9 years, it might be a typo like you said.

Though, something tells me there's still something wrong because I'd say 과타말라에 *왔*지 if I lived in Guatemala. Just ask that person again for the real answer


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## DefactoAmbassador

As a side note,

*사업때메* is a colloquial writing; the formal phrase is *사업 때문에*.


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## maghanish2

Okay thanks for all your helps guys!

AKoreanUser, I'll try to ask her again to clarify, because I too thought that using 오다 would have been better in this situation.

고맙습니다!


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