-는구려
-neun-guryeo
how...! (old-fashioned exclamation)
A moderately addressee-raising, old-fashioned sentence-final ending used to express admiration or surprise at a newly discovered fact — mostly heard between older married couples in dramas or literature.
Form
- Other shapes
- -구려
Meanings
- 1
(formal, moderately addressee-raising) A sentence-final ending used to indicate that the speaker is impressed by a newly learned fact.
(예사 높임으로) 새롭게 알게 된 사실에 감탄함을 나타내는 종결 어미.
Examples
시간이 참 빨리 가는구려.
My, how quickly time flies.
오랫동안 떨어져 살던 가족을 이제야 만나는구려.
So we finally get to see the family we've been apart from for so long.
아버지가 아직 안 주무시고 나를 기다리시는구려.
Ah, Father hasn't gone to sleep yet — he's waiting up for me.
당신 안 자고 뭐하세요? 걱정이 많아서 잠이 안 오는구려.
Why aren't you sleeping, dear? I have so many worries that I just can't fall asleep.
당신 안 자고 뭐하세요?
Why aren't you sleeping, dear?
걱정이 많아서 잠이 안 오는구려.
I have so many worries that I just can't fall asleep.
Examples: 한국어기초사전, CC BY-SA 2.0 KR.
Don’t confuse with
Forms with a close meaning — a favourite source of wrong answers on TOPIK.
Quick check
1. What does ‘-는구려’ mean?
2. Which form means “how...! (old-fashioned exclamation)”?