In the previous post, you saw "V아/어/여 주세요." It was a good expression to ask the listener to do something in a favor. '주세요' came from '주다' and conjugated with the command ending '으세요'. In this lesson, you will learn the details about the basic form, "V아/어/여 주다" grammar.
<Table of Contents>
1. The Meaning
"아/어/여 주다" is an expression (ending) to show the action of giving help to benefit others. Depending on how you conjugate the ending, it can be used to offer or promise help to others, or when asking for help.
친구 가방을 들어 줬어요. I carried my friend's bag. (to help my friend)
2. Conjugation Information
You attach the 아/어/여 주다 to a verb stem. It consists of two parts. The first part is 아/어/여 which is attached to a verb stem and then 주다.
A. V아/어/여
When a conjugation rule begins with 아/어/여, it is important to pay attention to the last vowel of the stem. If you have studied the present or past tense in my lessons, you will be familiar with this concept! If you want to know more about the 아/어/여 conjugation, please click here for more information!
B. 주다
Depending on how you change this 주다 (give), you can show the many different meanings and tones.
줘요: Present tense ending 아/어/여요
You can express all four sentence types with the present tense ending, the statement, question, propositive, and command.
친구가 도와 줘요. My friend helps (me). - statement
친구를 도와 줘요. Help your friend. - command
⇨ Can you tell how the two are different? The first one is used with the subject marker. So, you are explaining what your friend (친구) is doing. In the second sentence, 친구 is attached by the object marker. So, 친구 is the one who needs to get help.
동생을 도와 줘요? Do you help your younger sibling? - question
같이 민지 씨를 도와 줘요. Let's help Minji together. - propositive
주고 있어요: Present progressive ending 고 있어요
You can use this to explain the current situation.
친구가 저를 도와 주고 있어요. My friend is helping me.
지금 친구한테 요리를 해주고 있어요. I'm cooking for my friend now.
줬어요: Past tense ending 았/었/였어요
You can explain the past event of helping.
친구가 비빔밥을 만들어 줬어요. My friend made bibimbop (for me).
친구가 책을 빌려 줬어요. My friend lent me his/her book.
주세요: Command ending (으)세요
It's the expression you saw in the previous lesson. You can use it to ask the listener to do something for you (or for someone else).
쓰레기 좀 주워 주세요. Please pick up the trash.
창문 좀 닫아 주세요. Please close the window.
줄래요?: Intention ending (으)ㄹ래요?
It is another way to ask for help. By using the intention ending, you are asking if the listener has the intention to help you.
쓰레기 좀 주워 줄래요? Could you pick up the trash (for me, please)?
문 좀 닫아 줄래요? Could you close the close?
줄까요?: Suggestion ending (으)ㄹ까요?
If you conjugate 주다 with the suggestion ending, you can offer to give help to the listener.
가방을 들어 줄까요? Do you want me to hold your bag?
한국어를 가르쳐 줄까요? Do you want me to teach you Korean?
사진을 찍어 줄까요? Do you want me to take a picture?
3. 드리다
드리다 is a honorific version of 주다. You use this 드리다 when the person who receives help is older or superior.
저는 할머니를 도와 드려요. I help my grandmother.
할아버지께 컴퓨터를 알려 드리고 있어요. I'm teaching my grandpa about computers.
사장님께 보고서를 전달해 드렸어요. I delivered the report to the boss.
할아버지께 이 식사를 가져다 드리세요. Please bring this food to grandfather.
할아버지께 이 식사를 가져다 드릴래요? Can you bring this food to grandfather?
할머니, 가방을 들어 드릴까요? Grandma, do you want me to hold your bag?
4. 주시다
주시다 is a combination of 주다 and honorific marker (으)시. When someone who gives help is an elder or superior, you must use 주시다.
할머니께서 저를 도와 주셨어요. My grandmother helped me.
할아버지가 이 식사를 가져다 주셨어요. My grandfather brought this food for me.
3. Examples
1
Q: 창문을 열어 드릴까요? Do you want me to open the windows?
A: 네, 열어 주세요. Yes, please open them.
↪ You can offer help with "(으)ㄹ까요" ending. When you offer super politely, you'd better use "드릴까요?" You can accept the offer by using "주세요.
2
Q: 청소를 좀 도와 주세요. Please help me cleaning.
A: 네. 도와 줄게요. Okay. I will help you.
↪ "좀" is an adverb that is inserted to soften the tone. Without 좀, the sentence has a tone of command than asking a favor.
3
Q: 할머니가 청소를 하세요. 가서 도와 드리세요. An old lady is cleaning. Go and help her.
A: 네. 그럴게요. Ok, I will.
↪ 할머니 originally means "a grandmother." However, even if not blood-related, you can refer to a very old woman as 할머니. We need to use 드리세요 instead of 주세요 because the one who receives help (할머니) is old.
4
Q: 이 문제가 너무 어려워요. 좀 알려 줄래요? This problem is too difficult. Can you teach me?
A: 네. 제가 가르쳐 줄게요. Sure. I will teach you.
↪ 알려 주다 means to let someone know. It can work like 가르쳐 주다 which means give teaching.
4. Wrap-up: V아/어/여 주다 grammar
You saw the different use of the expression "아/어/여 주다." The basic meaning is "give help", but depending on what kind of ending you attach to it, you can use it in very many situations.
The ones I showed you here, of course, do not cover all the possible usage of the expression! You will have the chance to see other conjugated versions in further lessons!
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