TeacherJoy

Do you know how useful the verb 주다 is? In Korean, by combining body parts with 주다, you can express various actions that would require different verbs in English. Today, let’s learn some expressions using 힘 and 주다.

“힘” means energy or power. In Korean, if you “give power to your eyes…”

When I looked it up in an English dictionary, there were so many translations like “strong tension in the eyes” or “put force into the eyes.” In Korean, you can simply use 눈에 힘을 주다. 

• 눈에 힘 줘! – Focus/Tense your eyes!
• 눈에 힘 주고 이거 잘 봐! – Look at this closely with focus!
• 눈에 힘 주고 앞을 똑바로 봐! – Keep your eyes sharp and look straight ahead!

We also use this when working out your abs at the gym, or in other situations where you need to push or hold tension:

• 배에 힘 주세요. – Tighten your abs/stomach.
• 배에 힘 주고 밀어 내세요! – Tense your stomach and push!
• 배에 힘 주고 버티세요! – Keep your core tight and hold the position!

Beyond physical tension, we use “힘을 주다” for people as well. But it’s not literally handing over physical 힘! It’s about giving someone the energy or motivation to reach their potential.

• 친구한테 힘을 좀 주고 싶어서 오늘 맛있는 음식을 만들려고요. – I want to give my friend some strength, so I’m going to cook something delicious today.
• 제가 포기하고 싶을 때마다 힘을 주셔서 감사해요. – Thank you for giving me strength to keep going whenever I wanted to give up.
• 엄마는 언제나 나한테 힘을 주는 사람이에요. – Mom is someone who always motivates me and gives me a boost.

However, as I’ve mentioned before, Koreans love using intransitive-style expressions. So often prefer “힘이 되다.” 

In English, this feels much closer to “to be supportive” or “to stand by someone.” It’s less about “boosting” and more about being a steady source of support. I personally use this one much more often!

• 엄마는 언제나 나한테 힘이 되는 사람이에요. – Mom is someone who is always there for me.
• 제가 포기하고 싶을 때마다 힘이 되어 주셔서 감사해요. – Thank you for being there for me and being of help whenever I wanted to give up.

Both are great expressions! Try practicing both ‘힘을 주다’ and ‘힘이 되다’ to see which one feels more natural to you!