주차티켓은 신경 쓰지 않겠어요. Why written this way?

Learning Korean Forum - Ask a Tutor
1

There have been some simple sentences which I feel I should easily understand but for some reason they still escape me, despite having read them many times and heard them many times. So I don’t know why I am having trouble, but will try explain and hopefully someone can shed some light on this:

주차티켓은 신경 쓰지 않겠어요.

From “Who Is She” Part 12. Now the given translation is “I dont care if I get a parking ticket”. Perhaps a more literal translation might be “I’m not worried if a parking ticket is written or not” (correct me if this is not a more literal translation).

In part the reason I am confused is because the verb ‘쓰다’ is (I believe in this context) to be ‘write’. However the subject is a parking ticket. It appears to have a topic marker. I expect this to be the object, not the subject (unless the verb is in the passive voice, but it doesn’t appear to be).

However even if that confusion were cleared up, I don’t really understand the placement of ‘신경’ within the sentence. It feels to me like “not concerned” or “not caring” should be the verb rather than it being “write”. I can’t make sense of why it isn’t written in a slightly different fashion.

Any help much appreciated! I feel like this sentence is a simplified example of a misunderstanding I’ve had for some time. If I could understand this, it would be the gateway to me understanding a number of similar ones.

2

First, 신경 쓰다 comes from 신경을 쓰다 (신경: nerve, 쓰다: exert).
쓰다 has many meanings including “write”, but here it has nothing to do with “write”.

We can think of 신경 쓰다 as a phrasal verb for “care about” (exert one’s nerves about → care about).

This is one common pattern of Korean, where the [Object + 을/를 + V] form becomes a unit expression (말을 하다 → 말하다, 밥을 먹다 → 밥 먹다, 눈물을 짓다 → 눈물짓다). In most cases both the long and short forms continue to be used (“말하지 마”, “긴 말(은) 하지 마”). Some become a new word in its own right (말하다, 눈물짓다) while others remain as a phrase (밥 먹다, 신경 쓰다).

Secondly, the structure of the sentence might be confusing too.
It is a natural and common structure but may be hard to explain grammatically.

We can think of its evolution from a more primitive form.

  1. 나는 주차티켓을 신경 쓰지 않겠어요. - easiest to understand.
  2. 나는 주차티켓은 신경 쓰지 않겠어요. - 은 replaces 을/를 - gives scope/emphasis (“as for the ticket, I don’t care”).
  3. 주차티켓은 신경 쓰지 않겠어요. - subject is dropped since it is obvious.

Substituting 은 for 을 in #2 creates a conceptual sphere for the object, to set it apart from the rest.
For example, 나는 운동을 안 좋아해 (I don’t like sports) is a flat sentence with no special nuance.
나는 운동은 안 좋아해 makes it like “As for sports, I don’t like it (but I may like other things)”.

Another example:
AA: 가서 쌀, 쇠고기, 배추하고 다른 것들 사 와: Go get rice, beef, cabbage, and other stuff.
BB: 계란은?: What about eggs?
AA: 계란은 사 오지 마. 많으니까: Don’t get eggs, as we have enough.

In BB the normal object marker 을 would make it sound strange as it doesn’t have the nuance of “what about”.
은 gives it the sense of something special apart from the others, like “what about”, “as for”, etc.
Such use of 은/는 and other particles like 도, 만, etc. are what makes Korean very expressive for fine nuances.

Dropping the subject in #3 can also introduce confusion as “은” functions as both a subject and object marker.
Here, the verb 않겠어요 makes it clear because the ~겠어요 ending expresses an intention of the first person “I”.

In other cases, it can introduce ambiguity. For example:

  1. 고양이는 생선을 잘 먹지. 개도 그런가?: Cats like to eat fish. Dogs too?

  2. 개는 싫어해요: No, dogs don’t like it. (개: subject. implied object: 생선)

  3. 너 고양이 좋아하지? 개도 좋아?: You like cats. Dogs too?

  4. 개는 싫어해요: No, I don’t like dogs. (개: object. implied subject: 나).

#2 and #4 have the same form but mean entirely different things.
This rarely confuses native speakers because they are familiar with both structures and the context makes it clear.

For new learners, it may be difficult to grasp at first.

1 Like
3

Thank you so very much!

If I could give you a hundred roses, I would.

4

You’re more than welcome. I feel as good as having received a hundred roses :slight_smile:

1 Like