# 아주 잘 꾸며 놓았는데 뭘 그래.



## wonlon

수련: 넌 왜 이런 것 다 들고 왔어? 빈손으로 와도 괜찮은데. 그런데 집을 청소하지 않아서 엉망이야.
수미: 아주 잘 꾸며 놓았는데 *뭘 그래. 그런데 어때? *자기 집을 장만하고 보니까...

The part spoken by 수미 is not very comprehensible to me, though I can find the words individually in the dictionary, but cannot quite grasp.

Would you translate this sentence for me?


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## youngbuts

I guess 어때? is an abbreviated expression of (이사 오니까) 어떻게 느끼냐? in this context. There is  a synonym of its, i.e. 어떠냐? I think 어때 is used more by female than male who seems to prefer 어떠냐?. Both can be used in other situations to ask about how things are going on as well as to ask about other's feeling or health.

엄마 기분이 어때?
(부도난 친구한테) 어떠냐, 상황이?
(입원한 친구한테) 어떠냐? (Are you well? or How well do you feel?)

뭘 그래 also seems to be an shortened expression of (아주 잘 꾸며 놓았는데) 뭘 그런 말을 해, I think. I'm not so sure... But, It strikes me as a question, not a statement. If I'm allowed to choose among English expresssions, it could be that it has been decorated well, *doesn't it*? or You have done well*, haven't you*? Actually they are not much the same. But what I want to say is that I feel it could be kind of tag question in Korean, because it requires an agreement of the listener. However, it is not as strong a thing as real tag questions. It implies to me that you've done well so you don't need to say so, or you don't need to feel so(the house is still in mess.). Although it could be changed accoding to the intonation, the expression basically intends to comfort others. 


I think 그런데 is a difficult thing. In my English classes at high school, I used to learn 그런데 was 'by the way' in English. But I have so many times came across the cases where it sounds weired to me if I translated 'by the way' in Enlish prose into '그런데'. I don't know if English-native speakers say 'by the way' in the situation above or your people use your possilbe equivalant of '그런데' in the above situation. If not, we don't have the same word for '그런데'. As long as I'm concerned, I have not found a good thing in English well fittable to '그런데' in Korean. That is all I know of it. If you have known it, please let me advised as well.


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## wonlon

From http://endic.naver.com/krenEntry.nhn?entryId=30207356f0ea47ccafcff8a701aa57b8&query=그런데, the meaning of *그런데 *is:
*(큰 의미 없이) well (화제를 바꿀 때) by the way, anyway (그렇지만) but, however*
First 그런데 can be used to change the topic of talking, so it is similar to "by the way".
Second, it is similar to "but", "however".
In fact, I encountered the second meaning more than the first meaning.

See this, too.
http://krdic.naver.com/detail.nhn?docid=5046300*
1. 화제를 앞의 내용과 관련시키면서 다른 방향으로 이끌어 나갈 때 쓰는 접속 부사.
*아 그렇군요. *그런데* 왜 그때는 말씀을 안 하셨습니까?*
2.* *앞의 내용과 상반된 내용을 이끌 때 쓰는 접속 부사.*
동생은 벌써 숙제를 하고 나갔어요. *그런데* 저는 아직도 숙제가 많이 남아서 놀 수가 없어요.


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## wonlon

But how should I translate this whole sentence? 
아주 잘 꾸며 놓았는데 *뭘 그래. 그런데 어때? *자기 집을 장만하고 보니까...
Actually I don't quite catch 자기 집을 장만하고 보니까..., too.


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## alohaoe

*뭘 그래. 그런데 어때?

1. 뭘 그래.
*
수련 said her house is in a mess.
수미 looks around and do not quite agree with 수련.
수미 would like to say, "Your house is not in a mess at all. Rather, it is decently fitted up and clean."
'뭘 그래' has literal meaning of "What are you talking about?", "What's the matter?", "Why are you saying/doing that?"
And actual meaning is "I do not agree with your self-excusing and affected comments." - in not offending manner.
Kind of courtesy comments that are exchanged.
If translated in English, *"No, it is not." or "Don't mention it."*
*

2. 그런데 어때? 자기 집을 장만하고 보니까.
*
The following sentence should be put together for full understanding.
그런데 => By the way
어때? => How about it? What do you think of...?
자기 집을 장만하고 보니까. => After/When you bought your own house.
*

==> By the way, What is it like to have your own house?


*장만하다 is not just buying.
It may include a lot of money, preparation, long-waiting, or pains in the course of getting something.
음식을 장만하다. 밑천을 장만하다. 컴퓨터를 장만하다. 살림을 장만하다. 등
Buying a house is not just a purchase but normally an event in life that should be celebrated which requires huge amount of money and long preparation.
So we often say 집(을) 장만하다 rather than 집(을) 사다 when talking about the whole process.
There is a commercial title of a bank account, "내 집 장만 통장." => Save money in this account and you'll have your own house.


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## wonlon

alohaoe, 감사합니다!  It's really clear now!


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