Korean word

정작

Pronunciation

Romanizationcheongjak

Meaning

  • adverbactually

Example

다들 괜찮다고 했지만, 정작 그는 피곤했어요.ta deul kwaen chan ta go haet jji man cheong jak keu neun pi gon hae sseo yo

Everyone said they were fine, but he was actually tired.

Illustration for 정작 (actually)

More examples

다들 도와준다고 했지만 정작 아무도 오지 않았어요.ta deul to wa jun da go haet jji man cheong jak a mu do o ji a na sseo yo

Everyone said they would help, but actually no one came.

Core concept

The real situation is different from what people said or what seemed likely.

Common phrases

  • 정작 그는cheong jak keu neun

    actually, he

  • 정작 문제는cheong jak mun je neun

    actually, the problem

Similar words

실제로siljero: States that a condition is true in real life, not just in theory.
사실은sasireun: Introduces a fact that corrects an outward impression.
오히려ohiryeo: Marks a turn in which events produce a different result from what was expected.
막상makssang: Shows what a result or state is like once a situation is faced directly.

Definition in Korean

사람들이 말하거나 보이는 것과는 달리 실제 상태나 행동이 그렇지 않음을 지적할 때 쓰이는 부사.sa ram deu ri mal ha geo na po i neun keot kkwa neun tal li sil je sang tae na haeng dong i keu reo chi a neu meul chi jeo kal ttae sseu i neun pu sa

Word origin

The historical formation of this adverb is uncertain, so its modern contrastive meaning is safer to learn through usage than through a guessed word breakdown.

Usage tips

  • In conversation, it often appears near the payoff of a sentence, helping listeners notice that the result does not match the earlier expectation.

Opposites

  • 겉으로keoteurooutwardlyadverb
  • 표면적으로pyomyeonjeogeuroon the surfaceadverb

Word lists with this word