KOREAN LANGUAGE TUTORIAL

LESSON 73

Korean Lesson: Lessons 73

Nothing but/only: ~밖에

You learned in an earlier lesson that “밖” means “outside.” Because “outside” is often used in sentences as a location, the particle “에” is usually attached to “밖.” Some examples that you should already know with this meaning:
나는 9시에 밖에 나갈 거야 = I’m going outside at 9 o’clock
혹시 밖에 비가 왔어요? = Is it raining outside?
The word 밖(에) can be used in the way of the previous examples as a noun(/place). However, 밖에 can also be used as a particle that can be attached to nouns to have a specific meaning. This meaning is entirely different from the noun 밖 (outside).
By attaching the particle ~밖에 to a noun, you can create the meaning of “nothing but (that noun)” for example:
친구밖에… = nothing but friends
밥밖에… = nothing but rice
만원밖에… = nothing but 10,000 won
This meaning is similar, but slightly different than the particle ~만 which simply means “only.” When you use ~밖에you are emphasizing that there is “nothing but” a particular noun. For example:
친구만 = only friends
밥만 = only rice
만원만 = only 10,000 won
Whenever you attach ~밖에 to a noun in a sentence, the final verb/adjective must be a negative word. Usually sentences that contain ~밖에 end in 없다. For example:
저는 친구밖에 없어요 = I have nothing but friends
우리가 먹을 것은 밥밖에 없어요 = We have nothing but rice to eat
그 거를 사고 싶지만 만원밖에 없어서 못 사요 = I want to buy that, but I only have 10,000 won, so I can’t buy it
It can also be added at the end of nouns that have counters:
저는 친구 3명밖에 없어요 = I have nothing but three friends
저는 평생동안 오렌지를 3번 밖에 안 먹어 봤어요 = I have eaten oranges nothing but three times in my life (more naturally translated to: I have only eaten oranges 3 times in my life)
There is one more special noun that 밖에 is often attached to, which we will talk about next.
There is nothing I can do but…: ~ㄹ/을 수밖에 없다
In lesson 45 you learned about the endings ~ㄹ/을 수 있다 and ~ㄹ/을 수 없다. Even though these grammatical principles can/should be thought of as one unit, the “수” is actually a noun. Even though it is not necessary, I want to make sure that you understand the meaning of “수.” I would describe it again, but the description from Lesson 45 is perfect. To reiterate what I said before:
“수” is what I like to call a ‘pseudo-noun.’ You have already learned a few of these pseudo-nouns in other lessons. For example, “지” in both of the following examples are pseudo-nouns:
제가 언제 먹을 지 몰라요 = I don’t know when I will eat
제가 한국에서 산 지 2년 됐어요 = I have been living in Korea for 2 years
In both examples, 지 follows a descriptive verb, and thus, must be a noun. However, these ‘pseudo-nouns’ cannot be placed anywhere but these specific locations, and therefore, are not true nouns.
‘수’ in ‘~ㄹ 수 있다’ is also a pseudo-noun. If you look it up in the dictionary, its meaning is something similar to “ability” or something like that. Then, if we describe that “ability” noun with a verb, we can get:
공부할 수: the ability to study
However, it is never written like that, and is always followed by 있다/없다:
공부할 수 있다 = I have the ability to study (I can study)
Because “수” is a noun, we can attach ~밖에 to it. By attaching ~밖에 to 수 in “~할 수 없다” you can create the meaning of “nothing to do but…” For example:
우리가 밥을 먹을 수밖에 없어요 = We have nothing to do but eat
친구가 늦게 올 거라고 해서 우리는 기다릴 수밖에 없어요 = Our friend said he will come late, so we have nothing to do but wait for him
죄송하지만 나는 당신을 해고할 수밖에 없어요 = I’m sorry, but I can’t do anything but fire you