I found another Language Exchange Partner (LEP). I am trying to learn conversational Korean and it’s really hard compared to writing. Well its always been hard to be spontenous when talking. Your thought processing should match your ability to translate these thoughts into correct format…and that area is where I am poor.
For the longest time i am wondering of this word 그대 (kudae) which i often hear in songs. I could not find it on my dictionary but when i try to google it to translate, it says the word means you. I have only known 너 (neo) and 당신(dangshin) to be the Korean word for you. My LEp told me there are more ways to say it and 그대 is one of them. Then he said this is often used in poetry and songs. Hmmm so this is why I only hear it used in songs (because i have not read or heard of any Korean poem yet). This is never used in conversational Korean.
Another word which is also not commonly used in conversation is 니 (ni). It also means you and I specifically heard of this in one of the recent songs from Taeyang, Wedding Dress. One of the lines in the song says 니가 입은 wedding dress. This line got me confused for quite sometime because I know for a fact the Taeyang is saying the wedding dress you are wearing. I guessed that 니가 was actually product of pronunciation style for singing R&B and that its the same as 내가 (naega) which actually is ‘I’. My LEP cleared up this thought balloon of mine.
I am really glad to have another LEP, it’s always good to have someone native whom you can practice and validate your understanding.
It Started with Hangul 
Thanks for your thoughts and the whole blog!
I have a korean mom, german dad, I am trying to learn korean by myself, so all these stories help me a lot!
Thank you for helping us all understand these nuances
Hii~
Thx for sharing these!!
erm..
May I know how to translate this in to Hangul..
‘I am from Singapore’
‘I will always support you!’
Thank you so much!! XD
저는 싱가포르에서 있어요 (Choneun Singapore-eseo isseoyo) – I am from Singapore
항상 당신을 지원할거에요 (Hangsang dangshineul chiwonhalkoeyo) – I will always support you.
Thank You so much!!!!! ^^
Hi, me again. ^_^
니 is actually 네 (you) (or 너). ^_^
WRT 그대, you might hear it in casual Korean once in awhile, especially from people who speak funny with poetic expression (I know of someone like that personally), but yes, it is not practically being used often.
Hope this helps.
thanks for dropping by =)
I really like your blog. I am learning Korean right now, and your blog is very helpful. Also, I have two Korean exchange students living in my house and it IS very helpful to have a native speaker there if you need their help. 😛
it would be great to have native speaker to talk to it actually practices your verbal skills. i wish i have one =)
Thank you so much, your blog is so helpful!!
I want to ask something,
ni (니) means you then if we add -ga (가) at the end, it becomes niga(니가) which mean you as subject of the sentence, but I found this lyric :
niga miwuh jookgetda (니가 미워 죽겠다) which mean
i hate you to death.
So why does “you” here refer to object, not subject??
Thanks before..
i think there are some nuisance in the use of 가 as subject marker usually when the subject is mentioned for the first time 가 is used and to highlight a subject or topic. i am not really sure on the rules of the use of 니 as a pronoun i never heard it being used as object (니를 ) so maybe this is one of those nuisances.
oh it’s like that….
thank you.