haru Korean › Grammar › Level 4B › A/V-거니와

A/V-거니와 — and besides … · not only … but also — adding a second point in written Korean

And besides … · not only … but also — adding a second point in written Korean. Korean grammar for upper intermediate learners — Level 4B, lesson 8: 옛날이야기와 신화 (Folk tales and myths — telling a story in written Korean).

What it means

-거니와 adds a second point on top of a first one: 이 동화책은 그림도 아름답거니와 이야기도 재미있다 'this storybook has beautiful pictures, and on top of that the story is interesting'. The first half is treated as something already clear or generally accepted, and the second half adds weight, so the two halves must point the same way — two good things or two bad things (싸거니와 맛도 좋다 ✓, 싸거니와 맛이 없다 ✗; for a contrast use -(으)나 from Lesson 4B-5 or -지만). It attaches to any verb or adjective stem, with or without 받침 (싸거니와, 작거니와, 재미있거니와); with a noun use N(이)거니와; for the past put -았/었- in front (많았거니와, 보았거니와). The particle 도 very often marks both points: A도 -거니와 B도. -거니와 belongs to written and formal Korean — essays, reviews, reports, presentations and the narration of old stories — and you will hear it in set phrases such as 다시 말하거니와 'let me say it again' and 말할 것도 없거니와 'needless to say'. In conversation the same idea sounds more natural with -고 or -(으)ㄹ 뿐만 아니라: 값도 싸고 맛도 좋아요 · 값이 쌀 뿐만 아니라 맛도 좋아요. Compared with -(으)며 (Lesson 4A-9), which simply lists, -거니와 stresses that there is more.

Forms

Key points

• -거니와 = and on top of that · not only … but also: stem + 거니와, 받침 or not (싸거니와 · 작거니와 · 재미있거니와); past -았/었거니와 (많았거니와); a noun → N(이)거니와. The usual pattern is A도 -거니와 B도 ….
• Written and formal — essays, reviews, speeches and old stories. Both halves point the same way (good + good, bad + bad). In conversation say -고 or -(으)ㄹ 뿐만 아니라 instead.

Examples

• 앞의 이야기에 같은 쪽의 이야기를 하나 더할 때 써요: 이 동화책은 그림도 아름답거니와 이야기도 재미있다.
• 받침과 상관없이 거니와: 싸거니와 · 작거니와 · 재미있거니와. 명사는 N(이)거니와.
• 지난 일은 -았/었거니와: 놀부는 욕심도 많았거니와 성질도 못됐다.
• 보통 「A도 -거니와 B도」로 써요. 둘 다 좋은 이야기이거나 둘 다 나쁜 이야기예요.
• 글이나 발표에서 쓰는 말이에요. 친구와 말할 때는 -고나 -(으)ㄹ 뿐만 아니라가 자연스러워요.

Where university textbooks teach it

This point also appears in: Ewha Womans University Korean 6, lesson 3; Hongik University Korean 5A, lesson 3; Hanyang University Korean 5-1, lesson 1; Seoul National University Korean 6A, lesson 2.

Also in this lesson

• N(이)며 N(이)며 — A and B and all the rest — listing examples, with feeling
• V-아/어 대다 — keep on … (too much) — doing something over and over, and being annoyed by it
• 이야기 글말 — telling a tale — once upon a time … and they lived happily ever after

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