山村訓長但知覓

Ask a random person if she is finished. With whatever. It doesn't matter. Assuming that she hasn't, nearly 1o times out of 1o she'll say "아직..."

Of course this is shorthand for "아직 다 못했는데."

You can check by just asking about something she was supposed to have done. Like that report.

"그 보고서는 어떻게 됐어?"
"아직 다 못 했는데..."

So the 아직 clearly comes before the 다, which of course comes before the verbal auxiliary 못 all followed by the verb 하다.

You can also see it when that same lady gets upset by something you are saying when she thinks you've gone to far and she hits you with a sharp "너 말 다 했어?" But you also meant to go on about her mother. So you shoot back, "다 못 했어! 왜?"

Lessee, so that's 다 before the auxiliary 못 which is before the verb. Check.

All of this 정리 is hard work, no? Now that that's all settled, it must be time to relax.

Care to listen to some music? Do you like 장혜진? Says here that she was born in '68. That must have been a good year. 육팔생 원숭이띠구나. 연예인들이 말하는 생년월일을 믿어도 되는지 모르지만.

By any chance, have you listened to her fifth album, Souvenir? Track 1 "이별 후유증"... Yes parting is surely a sad thing that leaves one feeling empty for a while. Track 2 is "사랑이란 그 이름 하나만으로." Sounds like a very idealistic view of love and life. Something I'd expect from someone in their early- to mid-twenties. Surely not from an artist who is pushing forty. I'm sure it's got a great melody, though. Track 3 says it's called "힘겨운 사랑." Ms. Jang sure seems to be focusing a lot on 사랑 here... Continuing right along in the same vein, track 4 is "My Love." 역시. Any bets on the topic of track 5? ^^ Yep. Welcome back to 사랑. It's called "못다한 사랑."

못.다.한.사.랑. That's what it says. But this goes against the ordering rule we established above. The 못난 "못" and the "다" seem to have done a little dosie-do on us here.

It turns out that you can say the standard 다 못 한 in most situations, but some situations dictate an inverted 못다한. So we get "못다한 사랑," "못다한 얘기"... But these critters are a lot like Ms. Jang: all fixated on love and longing.

After quizzing down a whole herd of native informants, most of whom just said "they're the same thing, aren't they," the Sanchon Hunjang has become enlightened. In strict meaning 못 다 한 and 다 못 한 are identical, but they differ slightly in nuance, and thus in usage. The standard is 다 못 했다, as discussed above.

But sometimes the speaker wants to show a bit of lingering attachment, and this is when he will say "못다한," especially about something that inspires reluctance to give it up. Like love. Like when your man says he's had enough and he's leaving whether you like it or not. Especially if you are the kind of woman who has a hard time letting go. Then you can spend days, weeks and months brooding over your 못다한 사랑 and all of the 못다한 얘기 that you meant to say to him.

And after brooding like that for several months, maybe you'll be ready to write a whole ream of new songs for Ms. Jang!