# 알아주다 to appreciate/recognize



## rienn

I learned a new verb today ^^ but I'm not sure whether to use 은/는 or 을/를 for its object marker.

I want to say "I appreciate that person". Which one is correct? Is it:
그 사람*을* 알아 줘
or
그 사람*은* 알아 줘 ?

thanks..


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## wildsunflower

Grammatically "그 사람을 알아 줘" is proper, but I am not sure if that means "i appreciate that person". It could be a new colloquialism, but sounds strange to me. I know verbs with "줘", such as "해줘". "줘" is usually applied for doing a favour. For example, "이거 닦아줘" means "Wash this for me", and "그가 나를 도와줘." means "He helps me."


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## ilydork

Hello Sorry, I wrote a whole long answer yesterday then firefox crashed so I didn't bother. But here it is:

알아주다 can mean 'to appreciate' in some contexts or the way it's said, but the closer definitions are 'to recognize/awknowledge" - it's more often used for those meanings. 
Here is a link to the Naver dictionary for 알아주다 with examples & more details: http://endic.naver.com/krenEntry.nhn?entryId=12ce1b811f3342aa819ff37697065532. Very helpful. 

*"그 사람을 알아 줘"*
This says "(please) awknowledge that person". I put 'please' in parentheses here because like wildsunflower said, when you put "줘" at the end of verbs, it means you're asking someone to do that verb.

*"그 사람은 알아 줘"*
This says "that person awknowledges/appreciates _something__" This 'something' would depend on the context - it would be what has been just talked about in the conversation.

So, the difference between 을 and 은 is..
- 그 사람을: 그 사람 is the object
- 그 사람은: 그 사람 is the subject

Okay, now on to what you do want to say: "I appreciate that person."
A little context would help but..^^ Here are some ways to say it:

- 난 항상 그사람을 고마워하고있어. (I'm always thankful to that person, informal)
* 항상=always - you can add this to the next examples if you want
- 전 그분을 감사하고있어요. (I'm thankful to that person, formal)
- 그분은 감사하신 분이세요. (He's someone I'm thankful to, formal)

PS. I'm not too sure about the spacing of the words.. I haven't been in Korea for a while. E.g. 그사람 -> 그 사람?

Okay, hope this helps! I'd be happy to answer any further questions


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## wildsunflower

Hi ilydork, 
Isn't it more natural to say "난 항상 그사람에게 고마워하고있어." and "전 그분에게 감사하고있어요." than "난 항상 그사람을 고마워하고있어." and "전 그분을 감사하고있어요."?


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## rienn

ilydork님 and wildsunflower님, 대답하는 것을 진짜 감사합니다.. but what if i want to say "i'm thankful for having that person" rather than "i'm thankful to that person"?


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## ilydork

Hi wildsunflower,
Oh I guess so yes^^. I haven't been in Korea for a while..
Rienn, what do you mean, "have" that person? Context??  How about "그사람이 있어서"?


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## rienn

I mean to have that person in my life... 그사람이 있어서 sounds ok though


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## ilydork

Maybe:
그사람이 내 인생에 있다는게 감사해요.
그사람이 내 인생에 있다는걸 감사하고있어요.


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## wildsunflower

Also, you can say "그대가 내 안에 있어서 감사해요." It sounds ultra romantic, though.


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## rienn

That sounded sweeter.. I noticed you are a romantic person, wildsunflower님


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## wildsunflower

Thank you, rienn님. "Romantic" is quite a western concept, I think. I would probably use "애틋하다." or "애잔하다." But, this should be a separate topic, I am afraid.


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