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Grammar / Level 4 / Lesson 98

말이야, 다는 말이다, (이)야말로: the 말 family

By Daniel Buckley · 15 minute read · TOPIK 5

Vocabulary

  1. 말 - words, what someone says
  2. 말씀 - words (honorific)
  3. 그러게 - exactly, I know
  4. 거짓말하다 - to lie
  5. 그만두다 - to quit
  6. 재산 - wealth, assets
  7. 야근 - working late
  8. 변하다 - to change
  9. 놓치다 - to miss (a bus, a chance)

Listen to a Korean friend tell a story and you'll hear 말이야 every few breaths: 그 사람 말이야, 어제 말이야, 내가 말이야. It's the word 말, words, with 이야 on the end. It has very little meaning and a lot of work to do.

Everything here comes from one move. You point at a piece of the conversation and say "that's what I'm talking about". Sometimes the point is to hold attention, and sometimes it's to say a thing again harder.

말이야: pointing at what you mean

Put 말이야 after a word and you're saying "this thing, I mean". All of this is speech. It comes in the usual speech levels, and each level below is the same move.

The levels

  • To friends: 말이야, 말이지그 사람 말이야
  • Polite: 말이에요, 말이죠그 사람 말이에요
  • Formal: 말입니다그 사람 말입니다
  • About someone's words, with respect: 말씀그 서류 말씀이세요?

It has four everyday jobs. In the middle of a sentence, it holds up a topic and makes the listener look at it. As a question, it checks which thing you mean.

  1. 그 사람 말이야, 요즘 좀 이상하지 않아?

    That guy, you know, hasn't he been a bit strange lately?

  2. 내일 말이에요, 시간 있어요?

    About tomorrow, are you free?

  3. 이 사람 말이에요?

    You mean this person?

  4. 아, 그 노란 가방 말이죠?

    Oh, you mean that yellow bag?

Its third job is agreeing. 그러게 말이에요 and 그러니까 말이에요 are "I know" or "tell me about it", and you'll hear them all day. Its fourth is trailing off at the end of a sentence, to leave a sigh or a complaint hanging.

  1. 그러게 말이에요. 저도 깜짝 놀랐어요.

    I know. I was amazed too.

  2. 그러니까 말이야. 왜 그랬을까?

    Tell me about it. Why would he do that?

  3. 이번에는 될 줄 알았는데 말이야.

    I really thought it would work this time, you know.

  4. 늦게 왔으면서 사과도 안 하고 말이야.

    He turned up late and didn't even apologise, I mean really.

※ Don't sprinkle it through your own Korean. Used too often, it's a verbal tic, like "you know" every other line, and 말이야 said to someone senior sounds rude.

다는 말이다: so what you're saying is

Here the thing you're pointing at is a whole quoted sentence, built with the quoting forms. As a statement, it pins down what you mean. As a question, it plays back what you just heard, and that's where it gets its edge.

Quote + 말이다, and how it shortens

  • Statements: 다는 말이다 → 단 말이다.그만둔다는 말이에요 → 그만둔단 말이에요
  • Commands: (으)라는 말이다 → (으)란 말이다.오라는 말이야 → 오란 말이야
  • Questions: 냐는 말이다 → 냔 말이다.듣고 있냐는 말이야 → 듣고 있냔 말이야
  • Suggestions: 자는 말이다 → 잔 말이다.가자는 말이야 → 가잔 말이야

  1. 그러니까 회사를 그만둔다는 말이에요?

    So you're saying you're quitting?

  2. 그럼 제가 거짓말했다는 말이에요?

    So you're saying I lied?

  3. 지금 당장 하라는 말이 아니에요.

    I'm not saying do it right this minute.

  4. 벌써 끝났단 말이에요?

    You mean it's over already?

  5. 빨리 오란 말이야!

    Get over here, I said!

  6. 어떻게 그럴 수가 있단 말입니까?

    How can such a thing be?

Example 6 is the drama version, and the question isn't really asking anything. Beside 다니, which reacts to news, 단 말이에요 feels more like making someone stand by what they said. That's my reading, not a rule.

아/어야 말이지: it would have to, and it won't

You know 아/어야, only if. End the sentence there with 말이지 and you've named the condition and left the listener to see it isn't met. So a positive clause carries a negative meaning.

It's a complaint, and a very natural one. You'll hear it often, usually with 말이지 or 말이죠. English gets there with "if only" or "chance would be a fine thing".

Pick a verb

있다있어요있어야 말이지

  1. 시간이 있어야 말이지.

    If only I had the time.

  2. 운동을 하고 싶은데 시간이 나야 말이죠.

    I'd like to exercise, but when would I find the time?

  3. 애가 말을 들어야 말이지.

    The kid just won't listen.

  4. 요즘 잠을 잘 자야 말이죠.

    I can't get a decent night's sleep these days.

  5. 같이 가고 싶은데 돈이 있어야 말이지.

    I'd love to go with you, but I've no money.

(으)니 말이지 and 기에 말이지

These two put 말이지 on a reason. In the middle of a sentence, they mean it's lucky that this was so, and the sentence goes on to say how badly it could have gone. Both are uncommon. You'll more often hear 기에 망정이지 doing this job.

  1. 일찍 나왔으니 말이지 하마터면 비행기를 놓칠 뻔했어요.

    Good thing we left early, or we'd have missed the flight.

  2. 민수 씨가 도와줬기에 말이지 혼자서는 못 끝낼 뻔했어요.

    It's lucky Minsu helped, or I'd never have finished alone.

  3. 네가 있었기에 말이지 나 혼자였으면 큰일 날 뻔했어.

    Thank goodness you were there. On my own, it would have been a disaster.

At the end of a sentence, (으)니 말이다 is more common. It adds the reason after the fact, often after 그러게, and it invites the listener to agree. It's close to "I mean, look at them".

  1. 그러게요. 매일 밤 야근을 하니 말이에요.

    I know. I mean, they work late every single night.

  2. 세상 참 많이 변했어. 휴대폰으로 뭐든지 되니 말이야.

    The world's really changed. I mean, you can do anything on your phone.

  3. 그러게. 요즘 다들 바쁘니 말이야.

    I know. Everyone's so busy these days.

(이)야말로: this, of all things

This one is a particle, and it belongs here for its looks. I wouldn't try to take it apart. It goes after a noun and picks that noun out from everything else it could have been. Use 야말로 after a vowel and 이야말로 after a consonant.

It works in speech and in writing. In essays, it singles out the thing that matters most. In conversation, 저야말로 turns a thank-you or an apology back on the speaker, and 너야말로 turns an accusation back on the other person.

  1. 건강이야말로 가장 큰 재산이다.

    Health, above all else, is the greatest wealth.

  2. 이 책이야말로 제가 찾던 책이에요.

    This is the very book I was looking for.

  3. 지금이야말로 행동해야 할 때입니다.

    Now, if ever, is the time to act.

  4. 저야말로 감사합니다.

    No, I'm the one who should be thanking you.

  5. 너야말로 왜 그래?

    You're the one acting strange.

※ 그야말로 is a word of its own, an adverb meaning "truly" or "literally": 그야말로 꿈같은 일이었다, it was truly like a dream.

  1. 그 영화 말이야, 벌써 봤어?

  2. 그러니까 말이에요. 저도 이해가 안 돼요.

  3. 그럼 안 오겠다는 말이에요?

  4. 버스가 와야 말이지.

  5. 돈을 다 썼단 말이야?

  6. 집에 가고 싶은데 일이 끝나야 말이죠.

Listen and type

1 / 3

Play it as often as you like.

In a conversation

A

민수 말이야, 회사 그만둔대.

Minsu, I mean, company quits, they say.

B

뭐? 그 좋은 회사를 그만둔단 말이야?

What? That good company quits, you're saying?

A

응. 월급은 많은데 쉴 시간이 있어야 말이지.

Yeah. Salary is big, but time to rest would have to exist.

B

그러게. 요즘 다들 바쁘니 말이야.

Right. These days everyone is busy, I mean.

A

그래서 지금이야말로 쉬어야 할 때래.

So now, of all times, is a time to rest, he says.

Common mistakes

  1. 사장님, 그 서류 말이야?

    사장님, 그 서류 말씀이세요?

    말이야 is 반말. To a senior, use a polite ending, and 말씀 is the respectful choice.

  2. 요즘 잠을 못 자야 말이지.

    요즘 잠을 자야 말이지.

    The form already says it isn't happening, so the clause stays positive.

  3. 이 책야말로 제가 찾던 책이에요.

    이 책이야말로 제가 찾던 책이에요.

    After a consonant, the particle is 이야말로.

Check yourself

Quick check

1 / 6

Your friend complains about a mutual friend, and you agree. Say "I know" in two words, starting with 그러게 and ending in 에요.

그러게 + the 해요 form of 말이다.

Summary

The family at a glance

  • Noun + 말이야: raises a topic, checks what's meant, or agrees.그 사람 말이야그러게 말이에요
  • Quote + 말이다: says it again, with force.그만둔단 말이에요?
  • 아/어야 말이지: it won't happen, and I'm complaining.시간이 있어야 말이지
  • (으)니 말이지, 기에 말이지: lucky that it was so.일찍 나왔으니 말이지 놓칠 뻔했어요
  • (으)니 말이야, at the end: adds a reason you expect agreement on.다들 바쁘니 말이야
  • (이)야말로: this noun, of all nouns.저야말로이 책이야말로

Now you can say

  1. 그러게 말이에요. 저도 깜짝 놀랐어요.

    I know. I was amazed too.

  2. 요즘 잠을 잘 자야 말이죠.

    I can't get a decent night's sleep these days.

  3. 저야말로 감사합니다.

    No, I'm the one who should be thanking you.

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