Lesson 53: 동안
In this lesson, you will learn how to use the word 동안, which means ‘for‘ or ‘during‘ in Korean. By the end of the lesson, you will be able to say things like, “I exercise for 30 minutes every day.“, “What are you going to do during your vacation? “, etc.
Lesson 53: 동안
동안 is used with nouns only and is used to express ‘for‘ in the sense of ‘for a certain length of time’, or ‘during’ in the sense of ‘during a certain event‘. Let’s look at some examples.
3시간 = 3 hours
어제 3시간 동안 공부했어요. = I studied for 3 hours yesterday.
2년 = 2 years
한국에 2년 동안 살았어요. = I lived in Korea for two years.
휴가 = vacation
휴가 동안 뭐 할 거예요? = What are you going to do during your vacation?
방학 = school vacation
여름 방학 동안 아르바이트를 할 거예요. = I will do a part-time job during my summer vacation.
Conjugation Rules
There are no special conjugation rules with 동안 as it is a word, not a particle. Just remember to leave a space between the noun and 동안. See the table below for an example.
| Conjugation Rule | Examples |
|---|---|
| Noun + 동안 | 휴가 (vacation) → 휴가 동안 10분 (10 minutes) → 10분 동안 |
Things To Note
When 동안 is used with a length of time, 동안 is often dropped in real conversations.
어제 3시간 동안 공부했어요. = I studied for 3 hours yesterday.
어제 3시간 공부했어요. = I studied for 3 hours yesterday.
Example Sentences
매일 30분 동안 운동해요. = I exercise for 30 minutes every day.
곰은 겨울 동안 겨울잠을 자요. = Bears hibernate during the winter.
민호 씨는 12년 동안 한국어를 가르쳤어요. = Minho taught Korean for 12 years.
지난 여름 방학 동안 아르바이트를 했어요. = During the last summer vacation, I did a part-time job.
한국어를 6개월 공부했지만 아직 잘 못해요. = I studied Korean for six months, but I’m still not good at it.
오늘 1시간 동안 친구를 기다려서 짜증이 났어요. = I waited for my friend for one hour today, so I was upset.
언니가 호주로 이민 간 후에 오랫동안 못 봤어요. * = After my sister emigrated to Australia, I didn’t see her for a long time.
얼마 동안 한국을 여행할 거예요? ** = How long are you going to travel in Korea?
일주일 여행할 거예요. = I’m going to travel for 1 week.
*오랫동안 is a combined word of 오래 (a long time) and 동안 (for), which means for a long time. There is no spacing between 오랫 and 동안.
**얼마 has many different meanings like ‘how much’, ‘how many’, etc. In this context 얼마 means ‘how long’. 얼마 동안 can be replaced with 얼마나.
