TOPIK II · LEVEL 3
-자마자
-자마자 means the second action happens right after the first one, with almost no gap in between: 'as soon as'.
시간·순서Time & sequenceHan: No past tense marker goes before -자마자; the past is already shown by 갔어요.
Examples
그 영화는 개봉하자마자 큰 인기를 얻었어요.That movie became very popular as soon as it was released.
집에 오자마자 샤워를 했어요.As soon as I got home, I took a shower.
수업이 끝나자마자 친구가 교실을 나갔어요.As soon as class ended, my friend left the classroom.
한국에 도착하자마자 부모님께 전화하세요.Call your parents as soon as you arrive in Korea.
Don’t mix up
-자마자vs-는 대로-는 대로 is mostly used for future plans, promises and requests, not for past events: 결과가 나오는 대로 연락드리겠습니다.
-자마자vs-자-자 also links two close actions, but it cannot end in a command or suggestion and often shows a cause or discovery: 문을 열자 고양이가 들어왔어요.-자마자vs-고 나서-고 나서 only means 'after' and does not stress immediacy: 밥을 먹고 나서 산책했어요.How to build it
V+자마자
도착하다 → 도착하자마자, 먹다 → 먹자마자
- Attach it to verb stems. It is not used with adjectives, and nouns with 이다 are rare.
- Do not put a tense marker (-았/었-, -겠-) before -자마자; the tense is shown only in the final verb.
- The two clauses may have the same or different subjects.
- Unlike -자, it can be followed by a command or suggestion (-세요, -(으)ㅂ시다).
Classic mistake
Wrong: 수업이 끝났자마자 집에 갔어요.
Right: 수업이 끝나자마자 집에 갔어요.
No past tense marker goes before -자마자; the past is already shown by 갔어요.
Practise -자마자 on real TOPIK questions
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All TOPIK grammar- -(으)며-(으)며 is a formal, written 'and' (listing) or 'while' (two actions at once).
- -(으)ㄴ 채(로)-(으)ㄴ 채(로) means doing something while a previous state is still kept: 'with … still on / still …ing'.
- -(으)ㄴ 다음에'After doing A, B': the second event follows the first. It means the same as -(으)ㄴ 후에 / -(으)ㄴ 뒤에 but sounds more conversational.
- -(으)ㄴ/는 김에Use it when you take the chance of doing one thing to also do another thing: 'while I'm at it, I'll also…'.
- -(으)ㄴ/는 대로Shows that an action is done exactly the way something was said, done, seen or planned.
- -고 나다Marks that an action has been fully completed before what follows; used in -고 나면 'once A is done', -고 나니(까) 'after A, (I found)…' and -고 난 후/뒤/다음에.
- -고 나서-고 나서 means "after (fully) finishing A, then B" and stresses that the first action is completed before the next begins.
- -는 길에-는 길에 means 'on the way to / while going somewhere': doing B along the way.
- -는 동안-는 동안 marks the whole stretch of time an action lasts, during which something else happens or continues.