Welcome to Level 3 and congratulations on making it through to the 3rd level in the TalkToMeInKorean curriculum! In Level 3, we will be building upon what we’ve already introduced through Level 1 and Level 2, as well as reviewing some grammar points that we already covered in the previous levels.
Today, in this lesson, we are looking at a word that is very commonly used in everyday Korean not only for its original meaning, but for its more colloquial meaning as well.
Basic meaning
- 너무 [neo-mu] = too (much), excessively
The basic meaning of 너무 [neo-mu] is “too much” or “excessively.”
For example:
너무 커요. [neo-mu keo-yo]
= It’s too big.
너무 비싸요. [neo-mu bi-ssa-yo]
= It’s too expensive.
너무 빨라요. [neo-mu ppal-la-yo]
= It’s too fast.
Colloquial usage
- 너무 = very, quite (sometimes also used in short as 넘, only in spoken language)
Although the basic meaning of the word 너무 is “too much” or “excessively,” in colloquial Korean, it also has the meaning of “very,” “quite,” or “really.”
For example:
너무 맛있어요. [neo-mu ma-si-sseo-yo]
= It’s really tasty.
너무 좋아요. [neo-mu jo-a-yo]
= It’s really good.
= I’m really happy about it.
너무 잘 했어요. [neo-mu jal dwae-sseo-yo.]
= It’s really well done.
= You did such a good job.
Sample sentences
1. 저 사람 너무 멋있어요! [jeo sa-ram neo-mu meo-si-sseo-yo.]
= That guy is really cool.
2. 이거 너무 좋아요. [i-geo neo-mu jo-a-yo.]
= I really like this.
3. 여기 너무 시끄러워요. [yeo-gi neo-mu si-kkeu-reo-wo-yo.]
= It’s too noisy here.
4. 너무 좋아요. 그런데 너무 비싸요. [neo-mu jo-a-yo. geu-reon-de neo-mu bi-ssa-yo.]
= It’s really good. But it’s too expensive.
The word 너무 used to be used only in negative contexts or sentences, but it gradually began to be used in positive meanings as well. Now, most people use 너무 in both ways.
ex)
너무 더워요. [neo-mu deo-wo-yo.] = It’s too hot. / It’s very hot.
너무 졸려요. [neo-mu jol-lyeo-yo.] = I’m too sleepy. / I’m very sleepy.
너무 바빠요. [neo-mu ba-ppa-yo.] = I’m too busy. / I’m very busy.
너무 is usually combined with adjectives but it can also be used with verbs as well.
ex)
너무 보고 싶어요. [neo-mu bo-go si-peo-yo.] = I miss you/him/her/them so much.
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