Korean discourse markers

From English Wiki
Revision as of 04:20, 17 June 2023 by Kentlee7 (talk | contribs) (Created page with " The following is an incomplete list of common Korean discourse markers. Discourse markers (담화표지, 담화표지어) are expressions that do not fit into normal grammat...")
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The following is an incomplete list of common Korean discourse markers. Discourse markers (담화표지, 담화표지어) are expressions that do not fit into normal grammatical categories (like nouns, verbs, and such), as they can consist of various types of words and even whole expressions, and their function is to manage and express politeness in conversation, social status, speaker attitudes, or the flow of the conversation itself. They can include adverbials, verb endings, transitionals or connectors (관계 표현), discourse particles (담화입자), and even comment clauses. Connectors are standard transitional terms, such as for example, first, last, therefore, but, and many others. Discourse particles (as used by some linguists) includes minor light words that are not part of the regular sentence syntax, and whose function is purely pragmatic, such as managing conversation and politeness considerations; these include words like well, okay, uh. Comment clauses are whole expressions that have been reduced, stripped of their original meaning, and used as discourse markers. English examples include phrases like you know, I mean, I think.


A single discourse marker can have multiple functions, but only the most basic function of each one is identified below. The following abbreviations are used.

add. additive, sequential        org. discourse organizational marker, sequence, ordinal
affect      affective expression, exclamation        repair repair, or repair + face-politeness
col. colloquial   pause pause, hesitation
con. concessive or contrastive   persu. persuasion
comp. comparison   pol. face politeness
emph. emphatic   result        result, reason, cause
ex. example or evidential   sent. sentence adv.
fb feedback, backchannel   sum. summary
hedge hedge, softener   opic topic management & topic shift


1 General discourse markers

Marker English type
-겠네요 I guess hedge
-는 in any way, as for, as regards topic
-에 관하여 regarding topic
-에 관하여 with reference to (very formal; business writing style) topic
-에 관한 한 as far as ... is concerned topic
-에 대하여 말하자면 as for... (indifferent or non-committal) topic
-에 반해서 whereas con.
-와 관련하여 as regards topic
-을 제외하고 apart from, except for comp.
-있잖아 You know, don’t you know? persu.
(지금) 보니까 Now I see..., Now that I’m thinking about it... topic
같은 식으로 in the same way comp.
게다가 furthermore, additionally, besides, moreover, what is more... (formal) add.
결과적으로 as a result result
결국 at last, eventually, ultimately org.
결론적으로 in conclusion org.
경우에(는) in case (of), as for topic
그건 그렇고 by the way, incidentally, anyway, enough about that... sent.
그나마 and for all that... add.
그동안 Meanwhile, during that time con.
그래 Yeah, that's right fb
그래 가지고 so, therefore, as such (=그래서) result
그래도 nevertheless, still, even though, regardless, even so, in spite of that (informal) con.
그래서 so, therefore, as such (col.: 그래 가지고) result
그래서 그런지 maybe that's why hedge
그래서요 that's why, for that reason result
그랬더니 so then (past/personal experience) result
그러고 나서 after that add.
그러나 but, however (formal) con.
그러네요 That's how it is, I see persu.
그러니 so, therefore result
그러니까 so, because of that, that is to say, I mean, you know result
그러다(가) it continued that way until... add.
그러면 If so, in that case ex.
그러면 (그럼) if so, so, then result
그러면서 in the process org.
그러므로 therefore (formal or literary) result
그러자 thereupon result
그런 such, like that comp.
그런 것 같은 kind of, sort of hedge
그런가요 Is that so? pol.
그런건 있어요... The thing is... repair
그런데 but, however, by the way (for topic shifts, or to provide relevant background information prior to following clause) topic
그런데 by the way, incidentally sent.
그런데도 in spite of that (more casual) con.
그런데요 well, by the way topical
그런식으로 In that manner, like that comp.
그럼 well, then topic
그럼에도 (불구하고) nevertheless, although, in spite of that (formal) con.
그럼에도 불구하고 still con.
그럼에도 불구하고 nevertheless (formal) con.
그럼요 of course, sure pol.
그렇게 like that, in that way comp.
그렇기 때문에 because of that, therefore result
그렇기는 하지만 nevertheless con.
그렇다 하더라도 even so con.
그렇다고 (+ neg. clause) just because that's true (it doesn't mean that X is also true). con.
그렇다면 then, if that is the case (more hypothetical than 그러면) con.
그렇더라도 nonetheless con.
그렇지 않아도/안 그래도 as it happens; even if you hadn't mentioned that topic
그렇지 않으면 otherwise, or else con.
그렇지만 but, however, yet (formal) con.
그리고 And, in addition (informal)a add.
그리고 나서 then, and then add.
그만 Stop, stop it, enough pol.
그뿐 아니라 as well as that add.
그저 Just, simply persu.
그치 Right?, Isn't it? persu.
근데 But, however, by the way (informal; generally for topic shifts) con.
글쎄 well hedge
글쎄(요) Well.... (e.g., to preface a negative response, or as a pause filler) topic
꼭 ~인 것처럼 just as comp.
나 좀 봐 look here emph.
내 느낌에는 I feel hedge
내 말은 I mean repair
내 생각에는 I think hedge
내 생각에는(비격식) I reckon hedge
내 의견으로는(격식) in my opinion (view) hedge
내 짐작에는(비격식) I guess hedge
누구더라 Who was it? topic
다른 말로 하면 in other words repair
다른 한편으로는 on the other hand con.
다시 말해서 that is to say repair
다음은 (비격식) for another thing org.
당연한 granted con.
당연히 Of course, naturally sent.
대부분은, 크게 to a great extent hedge
대신(에) instead (of) repair
대체로 by and large, broadly speaking, in general hedge
더구나 in addition add.
더하여(비격식) on top of that add.
덧붙이자면 Additionally, in addition to that, plus add.
두 번째로 second(ly) org.
등등 [等等), 등(이) etc., and so on add.
따라서 so, thus, therefore, consequently, accordingly, in accordance with (formal) result
때문에 because result
또 하나는(비격식) another thing is add.
또는 or (e.g., for expressing preference with nouns: X 또는 Y) comp.
또한 also add.
마지막으로 lastly, finally org.
마찬가지로 similarly, likewise comp.
말이 나왔으니 말인데 talking / speaking of/about topic
말이지 I mean, you know repair
말하자면 so to speak hedge
먼저 first(ly), earlier, beforehand, first of all org.
모든 경우에 in all (most, many, some) cases ex.
무슨 말인가 하면 I mean repair
물론 certainly, of course emph.
뭐더리 What’s the matter? topic
뭐더리/뭐지 What do I want to say?, What is it? pause
뭐라고 하든 after all emph.
뭐지 What is it? topic
미리 beforehand, in advance ahead of time add.
미안하지만 I'm afraid hedge
바꿔 말하면 that is to say repair
반대로, 그러기는 커녕 on the contrary con.
반면에 on the other hand, while con.
뿐만 아니라 not only that, furthermore, moreover, besides, also add.
사실 actually, really, in fact emph.
사실은 actually emph.
사실은, 실은 in fact persu.
사실이지만 it is true con.
세 번째로 third(ly) org.
솔직히 말하면 to tell the truth emph.
실은 actually, in fact, as a matter of fact persu.
실제로 actually emph.
아 / 어 “oh” or “ah” (for surprise, realization, or embarrassment) affect
아까도 말했듯이 (informal) as I was saying topic
아니라고 not true, not the case con.
아니면 or else con.
아마도 apparently hedge
아무리 no matter how, even if, however much, however + ADJ emph.
아무튼 anyway, in any case topic
어느 정도(비격식) sort of, kind of hedge
어느 정도는 to some extent hedge
어디 보자 let's see, let me see pause
어디더라 Where was it? topic
어쨌든 anyway, anyhow, at any rate, in any case topic
어쨌든 after all emph.
언제나 whenever pol.
언제더라 When was it? topic
얼마간, 대략 more or less hedge
여기요 Here, over here topic
역시 all the same comp.
예를 들면 for example, for instance, e.g. ex.
오히려 or rather con.
왜냐하면 (왜냐면) Because, it’s because (sentence initial; col.: 왜냐면)b result
요컨대 to sum up org.
우선 to start with org.
우선 [于先₩] first (of all); for now org.
우선, 맨 먼저 to begin with org.
우선, 무엇보다도 first of all org.
well, um pause
이것에도 불구하고 in spite of this / that con.
이기 때문에 because result
이봐 look emph.
이어서 following add.
이전으로 돌아가면 (formal) to return to the previous point topic
인 때에는 in case of ex.
자, right; all right; now; OK fb
잘 모르겠지만 I don't know pol.
저 / 자 “um” (pause marker) pause
저기 / 저기요 there, over there topic
적어도 at least hedge
전체적으로 on the whole sum.
정반대로 quite the opposite con.
제 말은 I mean..., what I want to say is... repair
제가 하고싶은 말은 What I want to say is... repair
a bit, a little hedge
종합헤보면 in summary, altogether sum.
좋아요 right; all right; now; okay fb
짐작컨대 I suppose hedge
짧게 말하면 briefly, in short org.
처음 at the beginning, start org.
첫째로 in the first place org.
특히 in particular ex.
하게 In a way, so that result
하나는 (비격식) for one thing org.
하여튼 anyway, anyhow, in any case (also 하여간 topic
하지만 but, however con.
한편으로는 : 격식체 on the one hand con.
할말이 있는데... I have something to say... topic


2 Sentence adverbs

Below are some more expressions that are used as sentence adverbs (문장부사). These adverbials modify an entire sentence and indicate the speaker's attitude or stance toward what is said.

Korean Sentence adverbial English
가끔 Sometimes, occasionally
간단하게 Simply, briefly
간단히 Briefly, concisely
거의 Almost, nearly
게다가 Furthermore, additionally
결국 Eventually, ultimately
결코 Never, by no means
계속 Continuously, constantly
과연 Indeed, sure enough
그래도 Nevertheless, still
그래서 Therefore, so
그리고 In addition (informal)
끝내 Finally, ultimately
다른 Other, different
다소 Somewhat, to some extent
당연히 Of course, naturally
대개 Generally, mostly
대충 Roughly, approximately
덧붙이자면 Additionally, if you add to that, plus
Exactly, precisely
또한 Also, furthermore
마지막으로 Lastly
마찬가지로 Simiarly, likewise
말하면 Honestly, frankly
매우 Very, extremely
모두 All, everything
무척 Very, extremely
바로 Right away, immediately
반면에 On the other hand, while
뿐만 아니라 Not only that, furthermore, moreover, besides, also
사실 In fact
솔직히 Honestly
솔직히 말하면 To tell the truth
실은 Actually, in fact, as a matter of fact
실제로 Actually , in reality
아마도 Perhaps, maybe
아무리 No matter how, even if
아무튼 Anyway, anyhow
아직 Yet, still
어쩌면 Maybe, possibly
언제까지나 Always, forever
언제나 Always, at all times
여전히 Still, as always
역시 As expected, still
예상대로 As expected, as predicted
왜냐하면 (col. 왜냐면) Because, it’s because (sentence initial; col.: 왜냐면)
이제 Now, at this point
전혀 Not at all, completely
정말 Really, truly
직접 Directly, personally
특별히 Especially, particularly
특히 Especially, particularly
틀림없이 No doubt
한동안 For a while, some time


3 See also