죽었다
jugeotda
The English phrase "died" is translated into Korean as 죽었다 (jugeotda).
죽었다 is used to express that a person or animal has stopped living. It is the standard way to state the fact of death in neutral or informal contexts, such as in literature, news reports or when referring to animals and people of equal or lower social status.
Which one should you use?
While 죽었다 is the standard way to say someone died, 돌아가셨다 is the honorific form used to show respect to the deceased, especially when speaking about an elder or someone of higher social status.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
죽었다 is considered informal or neutral. For more formal situations, you might use 사망하다. If you need to inform someone respectfully that a person has passed away, you can use the phrase xx씨께서는 안식을 찾으셨습니다. In casual settings, among friends or family, you can use xx가 세상을 떠났어. or xx가 돌아가셨어. to talk about the death of a loved one.
How does it change in a sentence?
The dictionary form of the verb is 죽다, and 죽었다 is its past tense form.
How do you pronounce it?
jugeotda
Did you know?
- The word 죽 (porridge) is a homonym of the root of 죽다 (to die). Because of this, some Koreans avoid eating porridge during certain mourning rituals to avoid negative associations.
- The word 죽다 is frequently used as a slang intensifier to mean 'extremely' or 'to death'. For example, 배고파 죽겠다 literally means 'I am starving to death' but is used for common hunger.
- When talking about the death of a very high-ranking figure or a royal, the specific term 붕하다 is used instead of 죽었다 or 돌아가셨다.
Examples in context
- 저 사람은 일주일 전에 폐암으로 죽었다.That man died of lung cancer a week ago.This sentence is useful for expressing the cause and timing of a death using 죽었다.Tatoeba #11106722 by intertime, translation #67968 by CK
- 그녀는 죽었다.She died.This sentence is a simple way to state that someone 죽었다.Tatoeba #11104727 by intertime, translation #1400268 by enteka
- 우리 강아지가 죽었어.Our dog has died.
- 키우던 강아지가 어제 죽었다.ki-u-deon gang-a-ji-ga eo-je jug-eot-da.The puppy I was raising died yesterday.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Jihoon and Subin are talking about a character in a movie.
- 지훈 Ji-hun영화 주인공이 결국 죽었다.yeonghwa juingongi gyeolguk jugeotda.The movie's main character eventually died.
- 수빈 Su-bin정말 슬픈 결말이에요.jeongmal seulpeun gyeolmarieyo.It is a really sad ending.
- 지훈 Ji-hun나도 너무 놀랐어.nado neomu nollasseo.I was very surprised too.
- 수빈 Su-bin다들 그렇게 생각할 거예요.dadeul geureoke saenggakhal geoyeyo.Everyone will probably think so.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
