KOREAN LEVEL UP › Korean phrases › Friends & social media › 요즘 바빠서 연락을 못 했어

“I’ve been busy lately, so I…” in Korean

요즘 바빠서 연락을 못 했어

yojeum bappaseo yeollageul mot haesseo

Situation: Friends & social mediaLevel: Intermediate (TOPIK 3–4)

Meaning

I’ve been busy lately, so I couldn’t get in touch. (casual)

-아/어서 gives a reason, and 바쁘다 drops its ㅡ to become 바빠서. This is banmal, used between close friends, for an apology or excuse.

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

Syllables: 11 · 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
요즘
요	ㅇ+ㅛ	yo
즘	ㅈ+ㅡ+ㅁ	jeum
바빠서
바	ㅂ+ㅏ	ba
빠	ㅃ+ㅏ	ppa
서	ㅅ+ㅓ	seo
연락을
연	ㅇ+ㅕ+ㄴ	[열] yeol
락	ㄹ+ㅏ+ㄱ	[라] la
을	ㅇ+ㅡ+ㄹ	[글] geul
못	ㅁ+ㅗ+ㅅ	[몯] mot
했어
했	ㅎ+ㅐ+ㅆ	[해] hae
어	ㅇ+ㅓ	[써] sseo

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

Liquid assimilation: when ㄴ and ㄹ meet, both are pronounced as ㄹ. 연락을 → [열라글]
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. 락을 → [라글]
Final-sound reduction: every final consonant is pronounced as one of seven sounds — ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅂ or ㅇ. 못 → [몯]

Style: Casual (반말)Sentence type: Statement or set phrase

No -요 at the end. Used with close friends, younger people and family; avoid it with strangers and elders.

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

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

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Question 1 What does “요즘 바빠서 연락을 못 했어” mean?

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Answer: I’ve been busy lately, so I couldn’t get in touch. (casual)

Question 2 How do you say “I’ve been busy lately, so I couldn’t get in touch. (casual)” in Korean?

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Answer: 요즘 바빠서 연락을 못 했어 yojeum bappaseo yeollageul mot haesseo

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