How to Say "The grandfather is tired, but keeps walking" in Korean | -지만 Grammar

Quick Answer: "The grandfather is tired, but keeps walking" in Korean is "할아버지는 피곤하지만, 끝까지 걸어요." (halabeojineun pigonhajiman, kkeutkkaji geoleoyo.). It uses the -지만 grammar pattern (But/However (-지만)). Level: A2.

Struggling with how to say "The grandfather is tired, but keeps walking" in Korean? Here is the natural way: "할아버지는 피곤하지만, 끝까지 걸어요.". We will unpack the -지만 grammar and show you exactly how it works.

Category: 가족

What does "The grandfather is tired, but keeps walking" mean in Korean?

The Korean sentence "할아버지는 피곤하지만, 끝까지 걸어요." translates to "The grandfather is tired, but keeps walking." in English. "할아버지는 피곤하지만, 끝까지 걸어요." might look complex at first, but it follows a predictable pattern. It says "the grandfather is tired, but keeps walking" by placing the key action at the very end — a hallmark of Korean grammar.

Pronunciation guide: halabeojineun pigonhajiman, kkeutkkaji geoleoyo.

Grammar Point: But/However (-지만)

The connective -지만 joins two contrasting clauses, similar to 'but' or 'however' in English. It attaches directly to the verb/adjective stem. This sentence also uses -아/어요.

Verb stem + 지만. For example: 작지만 (small but…), 춥지만 (cold but…).

Korean Sentence Structure Breakdown

Korean follows a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) word order, which is different from English (SVO). In "할아버지는 피곤하지만, 끝까지 걸어요.", the verb comes at the end of the sentence. Here is the word-by-word breakdown: • 할아버지는 (halabeojineun) • 피곤하지만, (pigonhajiman,) • 끝까지 (kkeutkkaji) • 걸어요 (geoleoyo)

In Korean, the verb ending tells you everything: who is speaking, how polite they are, and what tense they mean. Pay close attention to the last syllable.

Why This Korean Expression Sounds Natural

Korean speakers would find this sentence instantly comprehensible because it uses high-frequency vocabulary combined with a standard sentence pattern — the bread and butter of Korean communication.

Cultural Insight

한국 동화에서 가족은 모든 모험의 출발점이자 귀환점이에요. 집을 떠나도 결국 가족에게 돌아오는 서사가 많습니다.

Examples

할아버지는 피곤하지만, 끝까지 걸어요. — halabeojineun pigonhajiman, kkeutkkaji geoleoyo. — The grandfather is tired, but keeps walking.

할아버지는 피곤하지만, 끝까지 걸어요? — halabeojineun pigonhajiman, kkeutkkaji geoleoyo? — Does the grandfather is tired, but keeps walking?

할아버지는 피곤하지만, 끝까지 안 걸어요. — halabeojineun pigonhajiman, kkeutkkaji an geoleoyo. — The grandfather is not tired, but keeps walking.

Common Mistakes

Incorrect: 작은지만 → Correct: 작지만. Do not add the modifier ending -은/-는 before -지만. Attach -지만 directly to the stem.

Incorrect: 먹아요 → Correct: 먹어요. The stem 먹- ends in a dark vowel (ㅓ), so it takes -어요 not -아요. Match the vowel harmony.

Quiz

How do you say "The grandfather is tired, but keeps walking" in Korean?

The correct Korean translation is "할아버지는 피곤하지만, 끝까지 걸어요.". halabeojineun pigonhajiman, kkeutkkaji geoleoyo.

Fill in the blank: 할아버지는 피곤하지만, 끝까지 ___

The correct ending is "걸어요". The polite -요 form is essential for everyday Korean conversation.