-어 가지고
-eo gajigo
and then; because (colloquial)
A casual, spoken form attached to a verb stem meaning that the state or result of the preceding action continues, or that the preceding action or state is the cause or means for what follows -- roughly like '-어서' but more colloquial.
Form
- Attaches to
- Verb, Adjective, Auxiliary
- Other shapes
- -아 가지고 · -여 가지고
Meanings
- 1
An expression used to indicate that the result or state of the act mentioned in the preceding statement is continued.
앞말이 나타내는 행동의 결과나 상태가 유지됨을 나타내는 표현.
- 2
An expression used to indicate that the act or state mentioned in the preceding statement is the cause, means, or reason for the following statement.
앞말이 나타내는 행동이나 상태가 뒤의 말의 원인이나 이유임을 나타내는 표현.
Examples
해외여행을 가셨던 부모님이 내 선물을 사 가지고 오셨다.
My parents, who had gone on an overseas trip, bought a gift for me and brought it back.
승규는 용돈을 조금씩 모아 가지고 배낭여행 준비를 했다.
Seunggyu saved up his allowance little by little and used it to prepare for a backpacking trip.
세일 기간이라 사람들은 백화점 문이 열기도 전에 벌써 와 가지고 개점을 기다리고 있다.
Since it's sale season, people have already arrived and are waiting for the department store to open, even before its doors open.
승규는 늦게 일어나 가지고 학교에 지각하고 말았다.
Seunggyu got up late and ended up being late for school.
나는 일이 너무 많아 가지고 점심을 먹을 여유도 없었다.
I had so much work that I didn't even have time to eat lunch.
유민이는 사고 싶었던 가방이 생각보다 비싸 가지고 살 수가 없었다.
The bag Yumin wanted to buy turned out to be more expensive than she thought, so she couldn't buy it.
Examples: 한국어기초사전, CC BY-SA 2.0 KR.
Don’t confuse with
Forms with a close meaning — a favourite source of wrong answers on TOPIK.
Quick check
1. What does ‘-어 가지고’ mean?
2. Which form means “and then; because (colloquial)”?