KOREAN LEVEL UP › Korean phrases › Work, school & formal › 과제를 하느라 밤을 샜어요

“I stayed up all night doing my assignment” in Korean

과제를 하느라 밤을 샜어요

gwajereul haneura bameul saesseoyo

Situation: Work, school & formalLevel: Intermediate (TOPIK 3–4)

Meaning

I stayed up all night doing my assignment.

-느라(고) gives a reason that takes your time or effort, often with a negative result. 밤을 새다 is the set phrase for “pull an all-nighter”.

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

Syllables: 11 · Words: 4

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
과제를
과	ㄱ+ㅘ	gwa
제	ㅈ+ㅔ	je
를	ㄹ+ㅡ+ㄹ	reul
하느라
하	ㅎ+ㅏ	ha
느	ㄴ+ㅡ	neu
라	ㄹ+ㅏ	ra
밤을
밤	ㅂ+ㅏ+ㅁ	[바] ba
을	ㅇ+ㅡ+ㄹ	[믈] meul
샜어요
샜	ㅅ+ㅐ+ㅆ	[새] sae
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. 밤을 → [바믈]

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
과제	noun	assignment	TOPIK level 3
밤	noun	night	TOPIK level 1

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Question 1 What does “과제를 하느라 밤을 샜어요” mean?

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Answer: I stayed up all night doing my assignment

Question 2 How do you say “I stayed up all night doing my assignment” in Korean?

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Answer: 과제를 하느라 밤을 샜어요 gwajereul haneura bameul saesseoyo

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