KOREAN LEVEL UP › Korean phrases › Café & daily life › 일찍 자는 습관을 들이려고 해요

“I’m trying to build a habit of…” in Korean

일찍 자는 습관을 들이려고 해요

iljjik janeun seupgwaneul deuriryeogo haeyo

Situation: Café & daily lifeLevel: Advanced (TOPIK 5–6)

Meaning

I’m trying to build a habit of going to bed early.

습관을 들이다 means “to form a habit.” A slightly advanced phrase for talking about goals.

Romanization follows the Revised Romanization system and is a guide to pronunciation.

Syllables: 13 · Words: 5

In natural speech, sounds link and shift across words. The table below reads each word separately, as it sounds when said on its own.

Syllable	Letters (consonant + vowel + final)	Romanization
일찍
일	ㅇ+ㅣ+ㄹ	il
찍	ㅉ+ㅣ+ㄱ	jjik
자는
자	ㅈ+ㅏ	ja
는	ㄴ+ㅡ+ㄴ	neun
습관을
습	ㅅ+ㅡ+ㅂ	seup
관	ㄱ+ㅘ+ㄴ	[꽈] gwa
을	ㅇ+ㅡ+ㄹ	[늘] neul
들이려고
들	ㄷ+ㅡ+ㄹ	[드] deu
이	ㅇ+ㅣ	[리] ri
려	ㄹ+ㅕ	ryeo
고	ㄱ+ㅗ	go
해요
해	ㅎ+ㅐ	hae
요	ㅇ+ㅛ	yo

A ㅇ at the start of a syllable is silent; at the end of a syllable it sounds like “ng”.

Tensing: after a final ㄱ, ㄷ or ㅂ sound, ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, ㅅ and ㅈ become tense (ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, ㅉ). 습관을 → [습꽈늘]
Linking: when a syllable ending in a consonant (patchim) is followed by a syllable that starts with a vowel, the consonant moves over to the next syllable. 관을 → [과늘]

Style: Polite (해요체)Sentence type: Statement or set phrase

Ends in -요. The everyday polite style, and a safe choice with shop staff, colleagues, strangers and anyone older than you.

These words from the TOPIK vocabulary lists appear in the phrase (shown in dictionary form).

Korean	Part of speech	Meaning	Level
자다	verb	to sleep	TOPIK level 1
하다	verb	to do	TOPIK level 1

Test yourself before you move on. Tap an answer.

Question 1 What does “일찍 자는 습관을 들이려고 해요” mean?

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Answer: I’m trying to build a habit of going to bed early

Question 2 How do you say “I’m trying to build a habit of going to bed early” in Korean?

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Answer: 일찍 자는 습관을 들이려고 해요 iljjik janeun seupgwaneul deuriryeogo haeyo

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