KOREAN LEVEL UP › Korean phrases › Feelings & cheering › 그 소식을 듣고 눈앞이 캄캄했어요

“When I heard the news, everythin…” in Korean

그 소식을 듣고 눈앞이 캄캄했어요

geu sosigeul deutgo nunapi kamkamhaesseoyo

Situation: Feelings & cheeringLevel: Advanced (TOPIK 5–6)

Meaning

When I heard the news, everything went dark before my eyes.

눈앞이 캄캄하다 literally means “everything before my eyes is pitch black.” It is an idiom for shock or despair when you do not know what to do.

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

Syllables: 14 · 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
그	ㄱ+ㅡ	geu
소식을
소	ㅅ+ㅗ	so
식	ㅅ+ㅣ+ㄱ	[시] si
을	ㅇ+ㅡ+ㄹ	[글] geul
듣고
듣	ㄷ+ㅡ+ㄷ	deut
고	ㄱ+ㅗ	[꼬] go
눈앞이
눈	ㄴ+ㅜ+ㄴ	[누] nu
앞	ㅇ+ㅏ+ㅍ	[나] na
이	ㅇ+ㅣ	[피] pi
캄캄했어요
캄	ㅋ+ㅏ+ㅁ	kam
캄	ㅋ+ㅏ+ㅁ	kam
했	ㅎ+ㅐ+ㅆ	[해] hae
어	ㅇ+ㅓ	[써] sseo
요	ㅇ+ㅛ	yo

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

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. 식을 → [시글]
Tensing: after a final ㄱ, ㄷ or ㅂ sound, ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, ㅅ and ㅈ become tense (ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, ㅉ). 듣고 → [듣꼬]

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
듣다	verb	to listen, to hear	TOPIK level 1

낮말은 새가 듣고 밤말은 쥐가 듣는다Walls have ears. (Birds hear what you say by day, and mice by night.)

Test yourself before you move on. Tap an answer.

Question 1 What does “그 소식을 듣고 눈앞이 캄캄했어요” mean?

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Answer: When I heard the news, everything went dark before my eyes

Question 2 How do you say “When I heard the news, everything went dark before my eyes” in Korean?

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Answer: 그 소식을 듣고 눈앞이 캄캄했어요 geu sosigeul deutgo nunapi kamkamhaesseoyo

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가슴이 먹먹해서 아무 말도 안 나와요I’m so choked up that I can’t say a word
발 벗고 나서 주셔서 감사할 따름입니다I can’t thank you enough for stepping in so willingly
속에 담아 둔 말을 했더니 후련해졌어요I felt relieved after saying what I’d kept bottled up
마음 한구석이 짠해서 눈물이 날 것 같아요Something tugs at my heart and I’m close to tears
실패에 굴하지 않고 다시 일어서는 모습이 멋져요It’s admirable to see someone get back up without giving in to failure
모든 일이 잘 풀리길 바랄게요I hope everything works out well for you