re: subject vs. topic particles
books can only get you so far. it really is necessary to know somebody who can clarify the details for you. once again, this proves that classroom learning has so many pros against self-study. but i make do with what i got.
… the “topic particle” (as it’s referred to in whatever book you’re quoting) has a specific job, and that is to provide a hint to the reader that *this* is the subject. Consider it the English form of “is” - the sentence is understandable without it, but it just feels wrong. For example: “The cookie good”. You can get what it’s saying, but it’s just…awkward. We all know the subject is “cookie”, but it’s a form of reassurance, see.
Taking out the “은” from your sentence would be the equivalent of saying “Susan American” without the “is”.
Same thing really. Except when you say “수잔이” instead of “수잔은”, you’d be saying ” *Susan* is American”, with emphasis on “Susan”.
my impulsive purchasing habits gets me into trouble - usually when i have an intense sweet tooth, am craving cake and am nowhere near a bakery. this sometimes results in a huge package of dessert that i will either inhale, forget about, or - worse - detest with a fiery rage of a thousand burning suns.
i found this in the major asian market i frequent. it came in this rectangular package with a million mini packages of cake. that should have been my first clue, and i acknowledged bad signs all around, but i ignored it.
it would taste decent if it wasn’t so incredibly sweet and dry and artificial up the wazoo. i should take a picture of the nutrition info, holy moly. i don’t know why i keep doing this; it’s a horrid habit and a waste of money. i only took one bite or two of this and threw it away. now i have a million packages left.
crying.
i was thinking of adding 나는 암소예요 to my tags just because it’s so befitting. i had to look this up, by the way, but i’m not even sure if this makes any grammatical or logical sense in korean. not that i care either way because it isn’t supposed to make any sense, but how would you say that one is basically like a heifer?
i have a no problem. that is to say, i am incapable of saying no to people. there are certain limits, of course, and there are certain things that i feel strongly about where i have no problem saying it, but then those other times?
yeah. my friend and i joke about the fact that i’m going to find myself in a questionable, dooming situation one of these days because of it.
sigh.
okay, so i understand that the function of 이/가 extends beyond case marking and that, in negative sentences, 이/가 doesn’t mark the subject of the sentence.
“사라는 한국 사람이 아니에요. as for sara, (she) is not a korean.
사라 is not the subject but the topic of the sentence (as it is marked by the topic particle 는). notice that the subject of the sentence is omitted, and 한국사람, marked by particle 이, is not the subject of the sentence” (40).
WHAT. i feel like this is probably easier to understand than how i’m getting it/that i might just be really stupid beyond belief, but WHAT. what does this even mean? if not the subject, what is the role of 한국사람 in the sentence? and how is it possible for a subject to even be omitted if not in colloquial conversation? WHAT ARE YOU.
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basic korean, andrew sangpil byon
i plan these things for a week as i go along. i find it easier to stick to something i’ve listed down instead of marking vague time schedules in my head. having strict periods make it easier to buckle down.
the only problem i have in doing this - and i think it’s a pretty good milestone that i can acknowledge it - is i have a tendency to allow things to get out of hand. i feel like if i can consciously keep this in mind, i should be okay. i only do this if i think i’m becoming wishy-washy with my goals.
which happens quite a lot.
what was even the context? man I hate when people make awkward/self-deprecating-bordering-on-fishing comments like that
well, the table was asking about one of our dishes, and i explained what it was. another person they were with asked me how many came in a dish, so i told them (and their party was a perfect size because there was one for everyone). then:
person b: is each serving good enough for one person?
me: yeah.
(skeptical reaction)
person b: really?
me: well, i think so. it’s good enough for me.
person a: oh, well, of course. you’re tiny.
now that i think about it, i should have asked them how hungry they were/what they planned on ordering, like i sometimes do when asked a similar question, but i clearly wasn’t thinking. on the flip side, i’ve also learned to give a little more subjective answers when people ask me for my opinion, like “yeah, it’s good/it’s popular, but it’s something i don’t particularly enjoy; instead, i like so-and-so”, and it’s worked all this time, but this is the first time i’ve had my appearance brought into it as a comparison.
normally, whenever i say something like, “it’s a filling size for me” and leave it at that, customers mull it over amongst each other and either believe me or order twice as much. so this scenario would’ve been fine if they’d just left out that very last part.
dear customer,
please don’t put me in an awkward position by bringing our weights into conversation when all i want to do is take your order. yes, comparatively speaking, i might be smaller than you and your companions; however, how much i am able to eat has nothing to do with how much you or i weigh. and also, depending on the food and my cravings, i could probably eat more than you.
all you’re going to get from me is an inevitable awkward, silent pause until you complete your order.
sincerely,
your waitress
p.s. don’t be shocked when i had no idea you wanted a dish at a certain temperature that doesn’t originally come in the temperature you desire. i’m your server, not your mind reader.
dear customer,
can you please not call me sweetheart? i know it’s because i’m young, and maybe miss is just too formal, but can you please not? many a cute pet name has officially been ruined for me. should my future boyfriend ever adorably address me as sweetheart or doll, i will find myself cowering in a corner, paralyzed from the creepy tingle that runs down my spine. i don’t want it to get so bad that my knee-jerk reaction will be to leave an imprint of my fist in said boyfriend’s face because i’ve been so traumatized.
thank you. ^ㅅ^
sincerely,
your waitress
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* yes, i have severe overreactions to things like this.
