TOPIK II · LEVEL 3
-아/어 가지고
-아/어 가지고 is a casual spoken 'and so / having done A': a reason, or A done first and kept for B.
이유·원인Reason & causeHan: -아/어 가지고 is too colloquial for written Korean; use -아/어서.
Examples
길이 막혀 가지고 늦었어요.The traffic was bad, so I was late.
너무 피곤해 가지고 일찍 잤어요.I was so tired that I went to bed early.
김밥을 만들어 가지고 소풍을 갔어요.I made gimbap and took it on the picnic.
Don’t mix up
-아/어 가지고vs-아/어서Same meanings (reason / sequence); -아/어서 fits any style, -아/어 가지고 is casual speech.
How to build it
V/A+아/어/해 가지고
늦다 → 늦어 가지고, 만들다 → 만들어 가지고
- Spoken only; in writing use -아/어서.
- Often pronounced -아/어 갖고.
Classic mistake
Wrong: (in a TOPIK essay) 환경이 오염되어 가지고 문제가 생겼다.
Right: 환경이 오염되어서 문제가 생겼다.
-아/어 가지고 is too colloquial for written Korean; use -아/어서.
Practise -아/어 가지고 on real TOPIK questions
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All TOPIK grammar- -(으)ㄴ 결과Presents what came out of a completed action or process: 'as a result of doing A, B'. Formal; common in reports, news and essays.
- -(으)ㄹ 테니까-(으)ㄹ 테니까 gives the speaker's intention ('I will…') or strong guess ('it will probably…') as the reason for a request or suggestion to the listener.
- -(으)ㄴ/는 탓에-(으)ㄴ/는 탓에 gives the cause of a bad result and puts the blame on that cause.
- -(으)ㄴ/는 덕분에Use -(으)ㄴ/는 덕분에 to say that something good happened thanks to a person, action or situation.
- -(느)ㄴ다고 (이유·의도)Gives the reason or intention behind an action as the subject stated or thought it: 'saying that…, because (as he put it)…, intending to…'. It often carries a light note of excuse or irony.
- -다 보니(까)-다 보니(까) means 'as I kept doing A, I came to realize / it turned out B'.
- -기 때문에-기 때문에 states a reason clearly and firmly, like 'because', and is mainly used in explanations, not in requests or suggestions.
- -는 바람에Names a sudden, unexpected event as the reason something bad or unwanted happened.
- -아/어서 그런지-아/어서 그런지 gives a possible reason the speaker isn't sure of: 'maybe because …'.