How to use Korean Grammar V + (으)ㄴ 지

The Korean text pronunciation feature (🔊) is only available for Chrome, Edge, Safari, and Opera browsers.

Verb + ㄴ 지(가) / 은 지(가)

ㄴ 지(가) - if a word ends in a vowel or ㄹ, 은 지(가) - if it ends in a consonant (except ㄹ)

In the Korean language, "-ㄴ 지 / -은 지 ... 되다 or 지나다" is used to say how much time has passed since something happened.

See examples,
(click on translation and grammar buttons)

태권도를 배운 지 5년 지났어요.

Korean

태권도

배우다

지나다

English

taekwondo

to learn

year

to pass (time)

It's been 5 years since I learned Taekwondo.

태권도 배우+ㄴ 지 5년 지나++어요.

이 동네에 이사온 지가 일 주일이 됐어요.

Korean

동네

이사오다

주일

되다

English

this

neighborhood

to move

one

week

to pass (time)

It's been a week since I moved into this neighborhood.

이 동네 이사오+ㄴ 지가 일 주일 되++어요.

You can use "-ㄴ 지 / -은 지 얼마 안 되다" to say it has not been long since something happened.

See examples,
(click on translation and grammar buttons)

도착한 지가 얼마 안 됬습니다.

Korean

도착하다

얼마

English

to arrive

how much

not

It hasn't been long since I arrived.

도착하+ㄴ 지 얼마 안 되++습니다.

저는 터키에서 돌아온 지 얼마 안 됐어요.

Korean

터키

돌아오다

얼마

English

I

Turkey

to come back

how much

not

It hasn't been long since I came back from Turkey.

터키에서 돌아오+ㄴ 지 얼마 안 되++어요.

You can use "-ㄴ 지 / -은 지 오래 되다" to say it's been a long time since something happened.

See examples,
(click on translation and grammar buttons)

우리 할아버지가 사업을 시작하신 지 오래 되었어요.

Korean

우리

할아버지

사업

시작하다

오래

English

our

grandfather

business

to start

long ago

It's been a long time since my grandfather started a business.

우리 할아버지 사업 시작하++ㄴ 지 오래 되++어요.

저는 TV를 안 본 지 오래 됐어요.

Korean

보다

오래

English

I

not

to see

long ago

I haven't watched TV in a long time.

TV 안 보+ㄴ 지 오래 되++어요.

Quick reference (click to open)

Vowels: a, e, i, o, u

Consonants: b, c, d, f, g, h, j

Syllable: Bra-zil (2 syllables), Ar-gen-ti-na (4), In-di-a (3), Viet-nam (2), thin-king (2), beau-ti-ful (3), good (1)

Batchim: is a final consonant in a syllable. → Bra-zil (batchim: 'l'), Ar-gen-ti-na (batchims: 'r' and 'n'), In-di-a ('n'), Viet-nam ('t', 'm')

Romanization: is a conversion of text (not pronunciation ! ) from different writing system (Korean, Arabic, Russian, etc.) to the Roman (Latin) alphabet.

IPA: is an alphabetic system of phonetic (pronunciation) notation.

Noun: road, user, sister, table, sky

Pronoun: I, my, we, you, they, her

Verb: to go, to study, to think, to feel

Adjective: cold, kind, hungry, curious, expensive

Adverb: quickly, nicely, never, exactly, urgently

Preposition: from, to, on, in, with, till

Conjuction: and, because, if, but, while

Declarative sentence: I learn Korean.

Interrogative sentence: Do you learn Korean?

Imperative sentence: You must learn Korean!

Exclamative sentence: Wow, you learn Korean!

Verb / Adj. stem in Korean: part of a verb or adj. which is left after removing the last syllable -다 ( e.g. 가다 → 가, 예쁘다 → 예쁘, 듣다 → 듣 ).