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LEVEL 10 LESSON 2

In this lesson, we are going to look at the structures -(으)러 가다 and -(으)러 오다 which are
used when you talk about going somewhere to do something or are coming from a place in
order to do something. If you refer to a dictionary, -(으)러 is used to indicate the purpose of
an action, but in actual usage, the nuance of “purpose” is often weakened. If you want to
emphasize the meaning of “in order to” in a more formal speech style, you can use the
expression 위해서 (See Level 3 Lesson 17). These structures are quite common when
talking about everyday activities and are extremely useful to know.

Example:
놀러 가다 = 놀다 + -(으)러 + 가다
Literal translation: to go "in order to” play
Natural translation: to go “and” hang out; to hang out

고기 잡으러 가다 = 고기 + 잡다 + -(으)러 + 가다
Literal translation: to go “in order to” catch fish
Natural translation: to go fishing

The same applies to -(으)러 오다, and since you are talking about “coming”, you can only
say this about someone coming to the place where you are rather than going to a place
where you are not present.

Also, with many expressions in English where you would see nouns used, you will see that
verbs replace those nouns in Korean translations. For example, “to go to bed” is not “침대
로 가다” in natural Korean, but rather “자러 가다 (literally, to go in order to sleep)” in Korean.

Although -(으)러 is used mainly with 가다 and 오다, there is another verb that is also
commonly used with -(으)러, and that is 다니다. 다니다 means to go and come, to regularly
go to a certain place, or to attend a certain institution such as school

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feel free to share TalkToMeInKorean’s free Korean lessons and PDF files with anybody who is studying
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TalkToMeInKorean.com - Free Korean Lesson Notes

LEVEL 10 LESSON 2

Sample Sentences:
1. 석진 씨요? 운동하러 갔어요.

= Seokjin? He went to the gym.

= Seokjin? He went out to exercise.

2. 저는 이제 자러 갈게요.

= I’ll go to bed now.

3. 뭐 하러 왔어요?

= Why did you come here?

4. 점심 먹으러 갈래요?

= Do you want to go for lunch?

5. 영화 보러 가고 싶어요.

= I want to go see a movie.

6. 잠깐 인사하러 왔어요.
= I just came by to say “hi” quickly.

7. 여기가 제가 피아노 배우러 가는 곳이에요.

= This is the place where I go to learn to play the piano.

8. 또 놀러 오세요!

= Please visit us again.

9. 스키 타러 가자!

= Let’s go skiing.

10. 수영하러 갈래요?

= Do you want to go swimming?

This PDF is to be used along with the MP3 audio lesson available at TalkToMeInKorean.com. Please
feel free to share TalkToMeInKorean’s free Korean lessons and PDF files with anybody who is studying
Korean. If you have any questions or feedback, visit TalkToMeInKorean.com.