Skip to content
alexbeh.me
Log in
5 min read

Lesson 129: 그리고, 그래서, 그러면

Three words that join two sentences, each declaring a different relationship between them — addition, cause, and premise. Plus the places and activities vocabulary they get practised on.

  • korean
  • grammar
  • vocabulary

Three connectors, all beginning 그- and all sitting at the start of the second sentence. Each one announces what the second sentence is doing to the first.

AdverbMeaningS1 → S2
그리고andAddition — S2 is one more thing
그래서so, that’s whyCause — S1 is the reason for S2
그러면 (그럼)then, in that casePremise — S1 is what S2 assumes

They are not interchangeable, and picking the wrong one is not a style error — it asserts a relationship that isn’t there. Choosing correctly is mostly a matter of asking what the second sentence is for.

그리고 — addition

저는 가을(을) 좋아해요. — I like autumn. 그리고 봄도 좋아해요. — And I like spring too.

is “too”, and it replaces the particle rather than stacking on it — 봄도, not 봄을도.

The same idea can be said in one sentence, two ways:

  • 저는 가을하고 봄(을) 좋아해요. — joining the nouns with 하고 (119)
  • 저는 가을을 좋아하고 봄을 좋아해요. — joining the clauses with the verb ending -고

So 그리고 is the loosest of the three options: it needs no restructuring, just a full stop and a new sentence. That makes it the safe one while your sentences are still short.

저는 우유(를) 사요. 그리고 빵도 사요. — I’m buying milk. And bread as well.

그래서 — cause

The first sentence is the reason for the second.

KoreanEnglish
고향에서 친구가 왔어요. 그래서 같이 미술관에 가요.A friend came from my home town. So we’re going to the gallery together.
회사에 일이 많아요. 그래서 많이 피곤해요.There’s a lot of work on. So I’m very tired.
어제 많이 아팠어요. 그래서 병원에 갔어요.I was quite ill yesterday. So I went to the hospital.
내일 시험이 있어요. 그래서 열심히 공부해요.I have an exam tomorrow. So I’m studying hard.

Order matters: reason first, result second. English is happy either way — “I went to the hospital because I was ill” — but 그래서 only joins forwards. To lead with the result you need a different construction entirely.

Verbs here: 많다 → 많아요 (to be many) · 피곤하다 → 피곤해요 (to be tired) · 아프다 → 아파요 (to be ill — the ㅡ-irregular from 125).

그러면 — premise

The first sentence is the assumption the second is built on. Almost always said by the other speaker, which is what makes it the conversational one of the three.

KoreanEnglish
A: 오전에는 일이 있어요.
B: 그러면 오후는 어때요?
A: I’ve got something on in the morning.
B: Then how about the afternoon?
A: 한국어를 잘하고 싶어요.
B: 그러면 말하기 연습을 많이 하세요.
A: I want to get good at Korean.
B: Then do lots of speaking practice.
A: 배(가) 고파요.
B: 그러면 지금 밥 먹을까요?
A: I’m hungry.
B: Then shall we eat now?
A: 아홉 시에 한국어 수업이 있어요.
B: 그러면 나중에 이야기해요.
A: I have Korean class at nine.
B: Then let’s talk later.

그럼 is the contracted form and is what you will hear far more often. It is not more casual in any meaningful sense — 그럼, 금요일 오전 10시 어떻습니까? was in the formal meeting script back in 119.

Notice how many of these end in something from the last two lessons: 먹을까요? (127), 이야기해요 and 어때요 (128), 하세요 (117). 그러면 is the hinge that lets you respond to what someone just said rather than starting again.

-고 싶다 → -고 싶어요 — “to want to” — appears here for the first time: 잘하고 싶어요, “I want to be good at it”.

Vocabulary: places and activities

The lesson’s practice material.

KoreanHanjaEnglish
박물관 [방물관]博物館museum
미술관美術館art gallery
고궁 — 경복궁古宮old palace
민속촌民俗村folk village
mountain
바다sea
바닷가 / 해변海邊beach
수영장水泳場swimming pool
스키장ski resort
운동장運動場sports ground
헬스장gym

박물관 is said [방물관] — ㄱ before ㅁ becoming ㅇ, the 비음화 rule from 118.

-장 ends four of these and means “place / ground”, which makes them easy to guess: 수영 (swimming) + 장, 운동 (exercise) + 장.

KoreanEnglish
여행(을) 가다to go on a trip
사진(을) 찍다to take a photo
-을/를 구경하다to look around, to take in
축구 / 야구 / 탁구 / 테니스를 하다to play football / baseball / table tennis / tennis
낮잠을 자다to have a nap
다니다 → 다녀요to attend, to commute — 회사 다녀요

여행 가다 takes 을/를, not 에 — the trap from 120.

구경하다 has no clean English equivalent. It is the unhurried looking you do at a market, a palace or a shop window without necessarily buying or entering — closest to “having a look round”.