# -아/어서 죽겠다



## Hyperpolyglot

Lately I learned this usage of exaggeration to the point of death , and I come across this phrase 힘들어 죽겠어요.
I've seen it in lots of online sources omitting the 서, so I wonder if it is ok to omit 서 in -아/어서 죽겠다


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## mink-shin

Hi, Hyperpolyglot.

It's all about the contexts and individual preferences.

'힘들*어서 *죽겠다' means 'You feel to really _*die*_ *because* you're so tired physically or mentally, or in trouble.'
'힘들어 죽겠다' mean 'You're *so very very very very very* tired.'

Some Koreans use '힘들어서 죽겠다' as an metaphorical exaggeration even though they're not to really die but just tired. Other Koreans use '힘들어서 죽겠다' instead of '힘들어 죽겠다', because they don't know exactly what's a difference between '-어서' and '-서'.
Not only are there some people who don't know exactly what is a difference between them but also we Korean, who include some people who don't know about it, figure it out by depending upon a context, not listening to presence of the '서'. So you don't have to bother it unless your major is Korean.

According to '표준대국어사전',


> 죽다
> 보조형용사 (형용사 뒤에서 ‘-어 죽다’ 구성으로 쓰여) 앞말이 뜻하는 상태나 느낌의 정도가 매우 심함을 나타내는 말.
> '죽다'
> Auxiliary adjective (An adjective + '-어 죽다') It indicates the utmost to which the adjective followed by '죽다' is severe.



If I say, "I'm very tired", I prefer '힘들어죽겠다' to '힘들어 죽겠다' to '힘들어서 죽겠다' because it's shorter than the others. It is okay not to have a space between '힘들어' and '죽겠다'; we don't have to make a space between a main predicate combined with '-어' and an auxiliary predicate. So they're totally grammatically okay; such as '힘들어죽겠다', '괴로워죽겠다'.


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## mink-shin

Hi, I'm back.

Just for your information, this is an official answer of _National Institute of Korean Language _about '힘들어 죽겠다'.



> '힘들어서 죽겠다'는 '어렵거나 곤란한 이유로 인해 생명이 없어지거나 끊어지겠다'의 의미입니다. 한편 '-어 죽다' 구성으로 쓰이는 보조 형용사 '죽다'는 '앞말이 뜻하는 상태나 느낌의 정도가 매우 심함을 나타내는 말'로 '힘들어 죽겠다'는 '매우 힘들다' 정도로 해석될 수 있습니다. 일반적인 맥락이라면 위의 표현을 사용하는 맥락이 '매우 힘들다' 정도의 의미를 나타내고자 하는 맥락인 것으로 파악되니, '힘들어 죽겠다'처럼 씀이 자연스럽다는 것입니다. (_Souce : 국립국어원,_ _National Institute of Korean Language _)


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## Rance

I have somewhat different opinion from 국립국어원.
"힘들어서 죽겠다" can be used as a hyperbole which essentially makes similar to the other expression.
So as means of exaggeration, both expression should be fine.
However it is the opposite case that the usage of either expression should be limited.
If ones wants to literally say that he will die from fatigue, it would make more sense to use "힘들어서 죽겠다".


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## Hit Girl

I feel you guys are splitting hairs here. Between 힘들어 죽겠다 and 힘들어서 죽겠다, what's the real, substantial difference? None.
Both of them could be said as a hyperbole or when one is actually on the verge of dying from overexertion.


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## Environmentalist

I'll put an end to this argument.
There is NO difference between those two expression in a daily conversation.
If somebody around me says either "힘들어서 죽겠다." or "힘들어 죽겠다.", I get to learn he/she is extremely tired and exhausted.
I hear those two expressions every day!!!!!!!


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## tpfumefx

I got an answer from a Korean friend yesterday about their differences... beside what mink-shin said about "힘들*어서 *죽겠다" it includes a cause and effect meaning, it's also used as a writing sentence.. while "힘들어 죽겠다" doesn't include that cause and effect meaning, it's used as a speaking sentence..


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## Dunno Jack

tpfumefx said:


> I got an answer from a Korean friend yesterday about their differences... beside what mink-shin said about "힘들*어서 *죽겠다" it includes a cause and effect meaning, it's also used as a writing sentence.. while "힘들어 죽겠다" doesn't include that cause and effect meaning, it's used as a speaking sentence..



In ~어 죽겠다 and ~어서 죽겠다, both ~어 and ~어서 present the reason/cause the speaker is feeling like dying - whether figuratively or literally.
They're the same thing.
It's like the difference between /because/ and /'cause/.


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## sk k

Yes. you can ommit '서'.
It's really like 'because' and 'cause' as jack said.

We(korean) just love omission.
You can omit things that is not necessary for understanding the sentense.
It is true.


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