TeacherJoy

You all know the verb ‘알다’, right? Today, I want to show you a few essential compound verbs using ‘알다’ that we use every single day in Korea.

First, let’s combine ‘알다’ and ‘보다’ to get ‘알아보다’. This verb basically means ‘to know by looking and distinguishing.’ It’s mainly used in two ways.

The first meaning is ‘to look into something to find out.’ You can think of it as ‘to look up,’ ‘to check,’ or ‘to research.’

• 인터넷에서 괜찮은 식당 좀 알아봐 줘. (Please look up some good restaurants on the internet.)
• 주말 알바 좀 알아봐 줄까? (Should I look into some weekend part-time jobs for you?)
• 제가 한번 알아보고 말씀 드릴게요. (I’ll check it out and let you know.)

The second meaning is ‘to recognize.’ This is when you see someone or something and realize what it is.

• 어머, 나 어떻게 알아봤어?! (Omg, how did you recognize me?!)
• 아이고, 얼굴을 너무 많이 고쳐서 못 알아보겠네. (Gosh, I can’t recognize you because you’ve had so much work done on your face.)
• 이 가방의 가치는 나만 알아볼 수 있지. (Only I can recognize the true value of this bag.)

Our second compound verb is ‘알아듣다’. You will hear this all the time. It means ‘to hear and understand.’A more slangy, slightly aggressive version is ‘알아먹다’.

• 이 친구 한국말 알아들어? (Does this friend understand Korean?)
• 쪼끔 알아들어요. (They understand a little bit.)
• 이것도 못 알아먹어? (You can’t even understand this? [Slightly rude])
• 하나도 못 알아먹겠네. (I can’t understand a single thing.)

Third, we have ‘알아주다’, which means “to acknowledge or appreciate something”. The opposite is ‘몰라주다’ (to fail to acknowledge).

• 왜 내 마음을 몰라 줘. 내 마음 좀 알아 줘. (Why don’t you understand my feelings? Please acknowledge how I feel.)
• 내 기분 알아주는 사람은 너뿐이야. (You’re the only one who understands my mood.)

Additionally, when ‘알아주다’ is used without a specific subject or with a location, it means ‘to be well-known or recognized by many.’

• 이거 프랑스에서 알아주는 와인이야. (This is a highly recognized wine in France.)
• 저는 세계가 알아주는 가수가 되고 싶어요. (I want to become a world-renowned singer.)