별거 없어
byeolgeo eopseo
The Korean phrase for "not much" is 별거 없어 (byeolgeo eopseo).
The phrase 별거 없어 is a common response to questions like "What's up?" or "What are you doing?" when you want to convey that life is mundane or nothing interesting is happening. Additionally, the term 별로 can be used in casual conversations to express "not much" or a lack of significant activity.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is a combination of 별거, meaning "special thing" and 없어, meaning "there is not" or "does not exist". Literally, it means "there is nothing special".
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
To make the phrase polite and suitable for speaking to people you are not close with or who are older than you, you can use 별거 없어요.
How does it change in a sentence?
To use this phrase in the past tense to say "there was nothing special", change the ending to 없었어 for informal situations or 없었어요 for polite situations.
How do you pronounce it?
byeolgeo eopseo
Did you know?
- When someone asks 별일 없지?, they are not asking if you are doing something special, but rather if everything is okay and no trouble has occurred.
- The word 별 in 별거 comes from a Hanja root meaning 'separate' or 'different', which is why it refers to something 'special' or 'extraordinary'.
- Depending on the intonation, 별거 없어 can be used sarcastically to imply that something is actually a very big deal despite the literal words.
Examples in context
- 요즘 별거 없어.yo-jeum byeol-geo eop-seo.Nothing much is happening lately.
- 그냥 별거 없어.geun-yang byeol-geo eop-seo.It's just nothing much.
Example conversation
Two friends are chatting about their day.
- 현우 Hyeon-woo지은아, 요즘 어떻게 지내?Ji-eun-a, yo-jeum eo-tteo-ke ji-nae?Jieun, how have you been lately?
- 지은 Ji-eun그냥 그래. 별거 없어.geu-nyang geu-rae. byeol-geo eop-seo.Just so-so. Not much.
- 현우 Hyeon-woo진짜? 재미있는 일 없었어?jin-jja? jae-mi-it-neun il eop-seot-eo?Really? Nothing interesting happened?
- 지은 Ji-eun응, 정말 별거 없었어.eung, jeong-mal byeol-geo eop-seot-eo.Yeah, there really wasn't much.
