How to Say "The mountain is dark, but the moon is bright" in Korean | -지만 Grammar

Quick Answer: "The mountain is dark, but the moon is bright" in Korean is "산은 어둡지만, 달이 밝아요." (saneun eodupjiman, dali balkayo.). It uses the -지만 grammar pattern (But/However (-지만)). Level: A2.

"산은 어둡지만, 달이 밝아요." means "The mountain is dark, but the moon is bright" in Korean. It features the -지만 pattern — the connective -지만 joins two contrasting clauses, similar to 'but' or 'however' in english. Practice this phrase to build your Korean fluency.

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What does "The mountain is dark, but the moon is bright" mean in Korean?

The Korean sentence "산은 어둡지만, 달이 밝아요." translates to "The mountain is dark, but the moon is bright." in English. This sentence paints a vivid picture: the mountain is dark, but the moon is bright. In Korean, "산은 어둡지만, 달이 밝아요." delivers the same meaning with a softer emotional texture. The polite ending makes it suitable for any situation.

Pronunciation guide: saneun eodupjiman, dali balkayo.

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 "산은 어둡지만, 달이 밝아요.", the verb comes at the end of the sentence. Here is the word-by-word breakdown: • 산은 (saneun) • 어둡지만, (eodupjiman,) • 달이 (dali) • 밝아요 (balkayo)

Try covering the verb and guessing the sentence meaning from context. Then reveal it — this builds your Korean reading intuition.

Why This Korean Expression Sounds Natural

English relies on tone of voice to sound warm. Korean encodes that warmth grammatically, so "The mountain is dark, but the moon is bright" automatically sounds considerate when expressed in Korean.

Cultural Insight

한국 전통 이야기에서 산과 강은 단순한 배경이 아니라 살아있는 존재로 묘사되곤 해요. 자연을 의인화하는 전통이 강합니다.

Examples

산은 어둡지만, 달이 밝아요. — saneun eodupjiman, dali balkayo. — The mountain is dark, but the moon is bright.

산은 어둡지만, 달이 밝아요? — saneun eodupjiman, dali balkayo? — Does the mountain is dark, but the moon is bright?

산은 어둡지만, 달이 안 밝아요. — saneun eodupjiman, dali an balkayo. — The mountain is not dark, but the moon is bright.

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 mountain is dark, but the moon is bright" in Korean?

The correct Korean translation is "산은 어둡지만, 달이 밝아요.". saneun eodupjiman, dali balkayo.

Fill in the blank: 산은 어둡지만, 달이 ___

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