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

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

Here is how to say "The puppy is tired, but keeps walking" naturally in Korean: "강아지는 피곤하지만, 끝까지 걸어요.". We will break down the But/However (-지만) pattern step by step.

Category: 감정

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

The Korean sentence "강아지는 피곤하지만, 끝까지 걸어요." translates to "The puppy is tired, but keeps walking." in English. "강아지는 피곤하지만, 끝까지 걸어요." — a sentence that Korean children might hear in bedtime stories. It means "the puppy is tired, but keeps walking" and uses vocabulary that appears in hundreds of other Korean sentences, making it a powerful building block.

Pronunciation guide: gangajineun 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 "강아지는 피곤하지만, 끝까지 걸어요.", the verb comes at the end of the sentence. Here is the word-by-word breakdown: • 강아지는 (gangajineun) • 피곤하지만, (pigonhajiman,) • 끝까지 (kkeutkkaji) • 걸어요 (geoleoyo)

Korean has no articles (a, an, the). Instead, context and particles tell you whether something is specific or general.

Why This Korean Expression Sounds Natural

What makes it sound authentically Korean is the absence of pronouns. Unlike English, Korean often drops "I", "you", or "it" when context makes them obvious — creating a leaner, more elegant sentence.

Cultural Insight

한국 전통 이야기에서 호랑이는 무서운 존재이면서도 때로는 어리숙한 캐릭터로 등장해요. '호랑이와 곶감' 같은 이야기가 대표적입니다.

Examples

강아지는 피곤하지만, 끝까지 걸어요. — gangajineun pigonhajiman, kkeutkkaji geoleoyo. — The puppy is tired, but keeps walking.

강아지는 피곤하지만, 끝까지 걸어요? — gangajineun pigonhajiman, kkeutkkaji geoleoyo? — Does the puppy is tired, but keeps walking?

강아지는 피곤하지만, 끝까지 안 걸어요. — gangajineun pigonhajiman, kkeutkkaji an geoleoyo. — The puppy 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 puppy is tired, but keeps walking" in Korean?

The correct Korean translation is "강아지는 피곤하지만, 끝까지 걸어요.". gangajineun pigonhajiman, kkeutkkaji geoleoyo.

Fill in the blank: 강아지는 피곤하지만, 끝까지 ___

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