# -잖아 with -이다



## idialegre

I am familiar with the verb ending - 잖아, as in

숙제를 하라고 내가 말했잖아! (I told you to do your homework, didn't I?)

But I have a question: can 잖아 also be used when the main verb in the sentence is 이다?  For example, if I want to say, "I'm American, aren't I?!", can I say, 내가 미국인이잖아! Somehow that sounds weird to me... 

Thanks for any help!


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## Kross

~이잖아 sounds fine and natural to me. For example, 오늘 중복이잖아. (It's 중복 today.)


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## idialegre

OK, thank you, Kross. But while we're at it, would you mind explaining what exactly 중복 is? My dictionary tells me it's "the middle period of the dog days," but I'm damned if I know what the dog days are!


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## Kross

idialegre said:


> would you mind explaining what exactly 중복 is?


I am not very knowledgeable about 중복. So it is safe to give you a general idea of it. It has been long believed that 3 days which are 초복, 중복, and 말복 are the hottest ones throughout the summer. To overcome the heat wave and regain energy, our ancestors would eat some special food for these days such as 삼계탕, 개고기, 수박, etc. We still continue to repeat the tradition nowadays. Since 말복 falls on August 7th(Thursday) this year, you still have a chance to attend the tradition by enjoying more than one of food said before.


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## idialegre

Thanks for the explanation! I'll make a point of eating some 삼계탕 and 수박. I love 개고기 too, but unfortunately you can't get it in Europe - not even in the Korean restaurants. :-(


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