Lesson 24; All About To Become

In this lesson we are going to learn how to say ‘to become’. The verb for this on its own means ‘to
become’, but it is widely used in many grammar structures. In lesson 20, we’ve already come across
one of those grammar structures that use the verb ‘to become’. Now we are going to take a closer
look to this verb and its usages. Let’s get right into it, shall we?

Vocabulary
맛 taste
술 alcohol
아까 earlier
무섭다 to be scary
어머님 honorific form of mother
전화하다 to make a phone call
핸드폰 phone
쉬다 to rest
나중에 later
당장 right away, at once
다음 next
주 week
중요하다 to be important
시험 test, exam
도서관 library
이야기하다 to talk
만지다 to touch
사귀다 to go out, to get along
확실하다 to be sure, to be certain
임무 mission
성공 success
뛰어내리다 to jump off/down
과자 snack
포기하다 to give up
충분하다 to be enough, to be sufficient
딸 daughter
To Become
The verb for ‘to become’ is 되다. That’s the most basic translation for 되다. But there are many more
translation for 되다 when the context changes. These are not grammar points yet, just other usages
of this verb. Let’s look at those usages.

To Become
To say you or someone wants to become something or that something becomes something, you say
the noun plus the subject marker and then add 되다 after it. You can conjugate 되다 in any tense
you want.

The structure;
N + 이/가 + 되다

Let’s look at some examples;

저는 아빠가 됐어요.
I became a dad.

형은 선생님이 되고 싶어요.
My brother wants to become a teacher.

어제 제 딸은 생일이었는데 1 살이 됐어요.
It was my daughter’s birthday yesterday, she turned 1 year.

Judgements
If you have to decide whether something is up to a certain standard or is suitable for a certain
purpose, you can use 되다. It translates to ‘this won’t/this will do’.

Let’s look at some examples;

이 케이크는 안 돼요. 가장 아름다운 케이크만 드릴 수 있어요.
This cake won’t do. We can only give them the most beautiful cake.

음식은 이만큼이면 돼? 좀 충분하지 않은 것 같은데.. 더 만들까?

Will this much food do? It doesn’t seem enough… shall I make more?
Annoyance
When you’re annoyed and want to leave the conversation or want them to leave you alone, you can
say 됐어. Don’t use this one in formal situations.

Let’s look at some examples;

아, 됐어, 이제 그만 좀 해…
Ah, leave it, just stop…

에휴 됐어, 난 포기할래…
Sigh leave it, I give up…

Disbelief
When something bad happens and you want to dramatically scream
nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! You can use 안 돼!!!! Okay, maybe it’s not always used as a
dramatic no, like in the dramas. This expression is mostly limited to negative situations. As this is
mostly a shout into nothing, and not at someone in particular, you can use 반말 (casual speech).

Let’s look at some examples;

You spill your americano on your favorite sweater; 안 돼!!!
No!!!

No
You can also use this 되다 to tell someone they can’t do something. For example, you catch your kid
sneaking to the cookie jar you can say 안 돼! Which means; no/you can’t. As this is used to tell
someone they can’t do something, you can use either 반말 (casual speech) 존댓말 (polite speech),
but you don’t order your boss around or someone who deserves respect. So, only use it with kids or
people you are close with.

Let’s look at some examples;

엄마 과자 좀 줘~
안 돼.
Mom, please give me a snack~
No, you can’t.

여기서 뛰어내릴까?
안 돼.. 너 미쳤어?!
Shall I jump down from here?
No.. are you crazy?
Completion
You can also use 되다 to say that you completed something.

Let’s look at some examples;

네, 준비가 다 됐어요!
Yes, I finished it!

다 됐어! 임무 성공!
It’s finished! Mission complete!

Sense
If you use 되다 or 안 되다 with 말이 you can say something like ‘that doesn’t make any sense’ or
‘does that make sense?’.

Let’s look at some examples;

와우, 말이 안 돼요!
Wow, that doesn’t make any sense!

말이 돼요?
Does that make sense?

아… 말이 되네요.
Ah... yeah, that makes sense.

Passage of Time
You can also use 되다 to say how much time has passed. This usage is often used with the grammar
structure ~(으)ᄂᅠ 지, which means ‘since’.

The structure;
AV~(으)ᄂᅠ 지 + time span + 이/가 + 되다

Let’s look at some examples;

한국말을 배우기 시작한 지 1 년 됐어요.
It has been one year since I started learning Korean.

얼마나 됐어요?
How long has it been?

민주와 사귄 지 3 개월 됐어. 우린 확실히 소울메이트야!

I’ve been dating 민주 for three months. We are soulmates for sure!

Grammar Structures
Now, we are going to look at some grammar points using 되다. We’re not going to talk about all the
grammar points that use 되다 in this lesson, just a few. Let’s get right into the first one, shall we?
V(으)면 안 되다
This grammar point comes from ~(으)면, which means ‘if you …, and 안 되다, which means ‘you
can’t’ or ‘it’s not okay’. It literally means ‘it is not okay if …’ or ‘it is not acceptable if …’ and translates
to ‘you shouldn’t …’ or ‘you’re not supposed to …’.
You can also use this grammar point to ask if you shouldn’t do something.

How to use this grammar point;

If the verb stem ends in a vowel or ᄅᅠ, you add ~면 안 되다 to the verb stem.
If the verb stem ends in a consonant, you add ~으면 안 되다 to the verb stem.

Let’s look at some examples;

이거 만지면 안 돼요?
Am I not supposed to touch this?
Can’t I touch this?

도서관에서 이야기하면 안 돼요.

You’re not supposed to talk in the library.
You’re not allowed to talk in the library.

V 지 않으면 안 되다
You can use this grammar point to emphasize that a particular thing has to be performed. It is made
out of three grammar points; ~지 않다, which means ‘to not do …’, ~(으)면, which means ‘if you …’,
and 안 되다, which means ‘you can’t’ or ‘it’s not okay’. So, this grammar point literally means ‘if you
don’t …, it is not okay’ and it translates to ‘you must …’.

How to use this grammar point;

You add ~지 않으면 안 되다 directly after the verb stem.

Let’s look at some examples;

다음 주에 중요한 시험이 있어서 공부하지 않으면 안 되잖아요.
I have a very important test next week I must study, you know.

당장 하지 않으면 안 돼..
You must do it this very minute..
V 아/어/여도 되다
This grammar point comes from ~아/어/여도, which means ‘even though …’ or ‘even if …’, and 되다,
which means ‘it’s okay’. The grammar point literally means ‘even though … it’s okay’ and it translates
to ‘it’s okay to …’. This grammar point is the opposite of ~(으)면 안 되다.

How to use this grammar point;

According to the conjugation rules, determine whether to use ~아도, ~어도, or ~여도 되다.

Let’s look at some examples;

좀 쉬세요. 이거 나중에 해도 돼요.
Please, take a break. It’s okay if you do this later.
Please, take a break. You can do this later.

여기 쉬어도 돼.
It’s okay if you take some rest here.
You can rest here.

제가 어머님께 전화해야 되는데 지금 핸드폰 없어서 핸드폰 좀 써도 돼요?

I have to call my mother, but I don’t have my phone right now so is it okay if I use your phone for a
bit?
I have to call my mother, but I don’t have my phone right now so can I use your phone for a bit?

안 V 아/어/여도 되다
This grammar point is the same as ~아/어/여도 되다, but now there’s 안 in front of this grammar
point. 안 means not, so this grammar point literally translates to ‘if you don’t …, it’s okay’ and it
means ‘you don’t have to …’.

How to use this grammar point;

According to the conjugation rules, determine whether to use ~아도, ~어도, or ~여도 되다.

Let’s look at some examples;

아까 나한테 무섭다고 말해서 안 해도 돼.
You told me earlier that you were scared, so you don’t have to do it.

술 잘 못 마시니까 안 마셔도 돼요.

It’s alright if you don’t drink because you can’t handle alcohol well.

맛이 없으면 안 먹어도 돼요.

If it’s not tasty, it’s okay not to eat it.