Even though 알다 has several meanings, including "to know," "to understand," and "to remember," when it is used in the past tense, Koreans usually mean, "I understand." However, when 알다 is used with the future tense (-겠-), the meaning is not as clear, so you have to consider the context in which it is used. Consider the following examples:
- (보면) 알겠습니다.
(When I see it,) I will know it. - (앞으로 당신 마음을,) 알겠습니다.
I will understand (your feelings in the future). - (하신 말씀을) 알겠습니다.
I will remember (what you said).
When Koreans use -겠- with 알다, or any verb, they should try to avoid using it in situations that go against the dictionary definitions of -겠. Consider the following dialog:
In a dialog similar to the above, Koreans respond with both 알았어 and 알겠어, but 알겠어 does not make sense because it literally means "I will understand," not "I understand." When you ask the Koreans who respond with 알겠어 why they do it, they often say it sounds more polite, but such "polite" usage is not explained in the Korean dictionaries that I have, which suggests that it is just a misusage of the language.A: 오늘 만나자.
B: 오늘 안 돼. 약속 있어.
A: (그래, 알았어.) or (그래, 알겠어.)
A: Let's meet today.
B: I can't today. I have an appointment.
A: (Ok, I understand.) or (Ok, I will understand.)
It seems that 알겠어 has become a trendy, catch-all response for Koreans who do not want to be bothered with Korean grammar. However, since Koreans have a habit of reducing sentences down to just their verbs, I think it is important for them to pay more attention to the tenses used with those verbs and the context in which they are used.
Here is my translation of the lyrics to the Korean pop song "I understand, I will understand" (알았어, 알겠어), which can be heard HERE. Notice that the songwriter used 알겠어 and 이해하겠어 interchangebly:
"알았어 알겠어"
.
알았어 알겠어 이제야 너를 알겠어
수많은 꿈들은 너를 고민하게 했겠지
알았어 알겠어 너를 이해하겠어
수많은 꿈들이 나를 포기하게 했단 걸
.
사랑이란 언젠간 식어가는 거라고
젊은 날의 주체못할 열기일 뿐이라고
늘 넌 말해왔었지 하지만 바보 같은 난
그게 오늘이 될 줄은 몰랐던거야
.
알았어 알겠어 이제야 너를 알겠어
수많은 꿈들은 너를 고민하게 했겠지
알았어 알겠어 너를 이해하겠어
수많은 꿈들이 나를 포기하게 했단 걸
.
추억이란 잊어도 잊혀지지 않는 것
사랑은 떠나도 곪아버린 옛상처처럼
너는 나를 잊어도 추억은 잊지 못 할 걸
우리의 추억에 때론 잠도 못 이루겠지
.
알아 나도 너의 마음을 이해해
사랑과 꿈 사이 많이 망설였단 걸 알아
너에게도 사랑은 단순한 열기가 아닌
죽어서도 잊혀지지 않는 추억이었다는 걸
.
알았어 알겠어 이제야 너를 알겠어
수많은 꾸들은 너를 고민하게 했겠지
알았어 알겠어 너를 이해하겠어
수많은 꿈들이 나를 포기하게 했단 걸
.
"I understand, I will understand"
I understand, I will understand. Now, I will understand you.
Many dreams likely caused you to agonize.
I understand, I will understand. Now, I will understand you.
The many dreams that caused you to leave me.
Love dies over time, you always said,
It's just wild, youthful passion,
But like a fool I never knew
Today it would really happen.
I understand, I will understand. Now, I will understand you.
Many dreams likely caused you to agonize.
I understand, I will understand. Now, I will understand you.
The many dreams that caused you to leave me.
.
It's said memories can be ignored, but not forgotten.
Though the love is gone, and I'm no longer on your mind,
like festering old wounds, memories cannot be forgotten.
Sometimes our memories may even keep us awake.
.
I know. Your heart I also understand.
Much you wavered between love and dreams.
Love to you, too, is more than simple passion,
A memory not forgotten, even after death.
.
I understand, I will understand. Now, I will understand you.
Many dreams likely caused you to agonize.
I understand, I will understand. Now, I will understand you
The many dreams that caused you to leave me.
I'm afraid that I agree with Bluesoju's comments from your previous post. The use of ~겠 is not a misuse, nor is it 100% interchangeable with ~었. Bluesoju is referring specifically to the usage of ~겠 to raise politeness. When it's used in this way you have to let go of your associations of "future" or "probability". It's NOT, as you say in your post, being used with the future tense. It's simply being used to raise the politeness of the sentence. Much like 좀 adds politeness to a request. Does it make logical sense to argue that Koreans are misusing 좀 too, just because the English word "little" doesn't make any sense there? It's not English at all, it's Korean, and there's no one-for-one machine translation for the polite infix ~겠.
ReplyDeleteHaving read many of your posts before, I'll quickly concede that you speak better Korean than I do. But I would respectfully caution you to consider that "~겠" does not mean any one thing. In fact it has no inherent meaning whatsoever. Its meaning is derived from context. In the expression "알겠어(요)" it has no meaning at all, per se. There is absolutely NO meaning of future or probability associated with this sentence. Again, it ONLY raises the level of politeness. There is no alternative reality, parallel universe, or ivy-league Korean academic department where they're using a different word or infix. This IS Korean.
Perhaps the folks in your department think "알겠어" sounds strange or rude because you're raising the level of politeness with ~겠 while using the short/intimate/blunt ending ~어. Do you think that could be it?
Kamimado,
ReplyDeleteWhy is this so-called "politeness" usage of -겠- not mentioned in Korean dictionaries from just a few years ago? Why does it only work with the 알다 and 모르다 verbs? Why does Lee Su-yeol (이수열), who is an authority on such things, say not to use it? Why did my coworkers say 알았어 sounded more natural and polite than 알겠어?
Can you answer any of the above questions?
When I asked my coworkers about the phrases, I simply asked which sounded more natural and polite in the dialog I provided. They had to think about it, but they answered 알았어 without any prompting from me. I used both phrases in their blunt forms. If -겠- were really some "polite infix," it would not matter if it were used in blunt form or not.
I just looked up the definition of -겠- in the online 국립국어원dictionary and found the following definition:
「어미」
((‘이다’의 어간, 용언의 어간 또는 어미 ‘-으시-’, ‘-었-’ 뒤에 붙어))((다른 어미 앞에 붙어))
「1」미래의 일이나 추측을 나타내는 어미.
「2」화자의 의지를 나타내는 어미.
「3」가능성이나 능력을 나타내는 어미.
「4」완곡하게 말하는 태도를 나타내는 어미.
Definition 4 is a new definition because it does not appear in the older dictionaries. It says that -겠- is used to speak euphemistically, but why would anyone need or want to say "I understand" euphemistically?
Unfortunately, the dictionary does not provide any example sentences, so we cannot know exactly what situations they are referring to.
I think the 4th definition was a kind of catch-all definition used to try to explain why Koreans are misusing -겠- with 알다 and 모르다.
It is not impolite to use 알았어 and 몰라 with your friends or 알았습니다 and 모릅니다 with others, so why even bother using the -겠- form?
Kamimado wrote:
It's NOT, as you say in your post, being used with the future tense. It's simply being used to raise the politeness of the sentence.
Look at the lyrics of the song. 너를 이해하겠어 and 너를 알겠어 were used interchangeably. Do you think 너를 이해하겠어 was also using your "polite" -겠- rather than the future tense?
Why would the woman in the song first be impolite with 알았어 and then follow it with your "polite" 알겠어? Does that make sense to you?
You use your "polite" 알겠어 and 알겠습니다 if you want to, but I will continue to use 알았어 and 알겠습니다.
CORRECTION:
ReplyDelete"You use your "polite" 알겠어 and 알겠습니다 if you want to, but I will continue to use 알았어 and 알았습니다.
Being Korean, I didn't also think too much about the differences between 알겠어 and 알았어.
ReplyDeleteI don't think 겠 has anything to do with politeness. So I'll skip that part of discussion.
The subtle difference between those two are like this, in my opinion. 알겠어 is more commonly used when someone understands or figure something out. 알았어 is more common when you just acknowledge something. For example, A says "Don't forget to turn off the light when you leave." then B says "알았어". In this conversation, "알겠어" doesn't sound right.
This is an old post but... The way I have always been taught is that ~겠 can be used in several ways.
ReplyDelete1. To indicate conjecture, similar to English's "I guess/think" or "Must be"
2. To raise level of politeness (ex: 알겠어요 and 모르겠어요 may sound more polite than 알아요 and 몰라요
3. To express speaker's intention or volition (thus, the "will" translation)
4. Certain idiomatic expressions (such as 잘 먹겠습니다)
In number 2, I don't know how 알겠어요 and 모르겠어요 fare against 알았습니다 and 모릅니다 but I would imagine they're similar levels of politeness...
I don't know if anyone is still reading this.
ReplyDeleteWhen you say 알겠어(요), you are simply stating that "I think I get it". This can be used in response to a difficult explanation on a complex subject.
When you say 알았어요, you are just saying "I have understood".
It could be as simple as that