-자기에

Gives someone's suggestion ('let's …') as the reason for what the speaker then did: 'since (someone) suggested …, I …'. A contraction of -자고 하기에; somewhat written, with -자길래 in casual speech.

인용·전달Quoting & reporting

Han: The friend said 같이 보자 (a suggestion), so it is -자기에; -(느)ㄴ다기에 reports a statement.

Examples

동료가 퇴근 후에 한잔하자기에 오랜만에 같이 저녁을 먹었다.A colleague suggested a drink after work, so we had dinner together for the first time in a while.

아이가 공원에 가자기에 숙제를 끝내고 함께 나갔어요.My child wanted to go to the park, so we went out together after the homework was done.

친구가 이번에는 포기하지 말자기에 한 번 더 도전해 보기로 했다.My friend said we shouldn't give up this time, so I decided to try once more.

Don’t mix up

-자기에vs-자고 해서-자고 해서 is the everyday spoken equivalent: 친구가 가자고 해서 갔어요; -자기에 sounds more written.

-자기에vs-자길래-자길래 has the same meaning in casual speech: 동생이 놀자길래 같이 놀았어.

How to build it

V+자기에

negative: V+지 말자기에

가다 → 가자기에; 먹다 → 먹자기에; 만나다 → 만나자기에; 쉬다 → 쉬자기에; 포기하지 말다 → 포기하지 말자기에

Only for suggestions; statements use -(느)ㄴ다기에, questions -(느)냐기에, commands -(으)라기에.
The one who suggested is someone else (친구가, 동료가); the main clause reports how the speaker responded, usually in the past.
The main clause cannot be a command or suggestion: 친구가 가자기에 같이 가세요 (X).
It attaches to verbs only, with no tense before 자: 갔자기에 (X).

Classic mistake

Wrong: ~~친구가 같이 영화를 본다기에 따라갔어요.~~

Right: 친구가 같이 영화를 보자기에 따라갔어요.

The friend said 같이 보자 (a suggestion), so it is -자기에; -(느)ㄴ다기에 reports a statement.

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