I didn’t think it was that easy in Korean 🇰🇷

Sentence info.

그렇게 쉽다고 생각하지 않았어.
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Word-by-word breakdown with romanization:

• 그렇게 (geureoke) – “in that way” or “so”; an adverb meaning “like that.”
• 쉽다 (swipda) – the adjective meaning “to be easy.”
  • 쉽다고 (swipdago) – formed by attaching “-다고” to the adjective. The “-다고” quotes the idea “it is easy” (i.e. “that it is easy”).
• 생각하다 (saenggakhada) – “to think.”
  • 생각하지 않았어 (saenggakhaji anasseo) – the negative past form meaning “did not think.” “하지 않았어” comes from “하지 않다,” which is the negation of the verb.

Together, the sentence literally reads: “I did not think ‘it is easy’ in that way.” In natural English, it means “I didn’t think it was that easy.”

Tips to remember:
• When quoting thoughts or reported speech in Korean, attach “-다고” after the quoted statement (in this case after 쉽다).
• To form a negative past statement, combine the verb or adjective with “-지 않다” which becomes “-지 않았어” in casual past speech.

Alternate ways to say “I didn’t think it was that easy”:
1. 난 그렇게 쉬울 줄 몰랐어.
  • 난 (nan) – short for “나는” (“I”)
  • 그렇게 (geureoke) – “like that”
  • 쉬울 (swiul) – future/predictive form of 쉽다 (“easy”)
  • 줄 (jul) – indicates expectation or supposition (i.e. “would be”)
  • 몰랐어 (molasseo) – “did not know” (expressing that one did not expect)
2. 나는 그것이 그렇게 쉬울 거라고 생각하지 않았어.
  • 나는 (naneun) – “I” (topic marker)
  • 그것이 (geugeosi) – “that” (subject marker)
  • 그렇게 쉬울 거라고 (geureoke swiul georago) – “that it would be so easy” with “-거라고” quoting future prediction
  • 생각하지 않았어 (saenggakhaji anasseo) – “did not think”

Both alternatives capture the idea that the ease of something was unexpected.

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