It’s been a long time since I have heard that word in Korean 🇰🇷

Sentence info.

The sentence consists of several parts that work together:

1. 오랫동안 (oraetdongan) – An adverbial phrase meaning “for a long time.” It comes from 오랜 (“long”) with the adverbial ending 동안 (“during/for”), so it describes the duration.

2. 그 단어를 (geu daneo-reul) – “That word” where 그 means “that,” 단어 means “word,” and 를 is the object particle marking 단어 as the thing that is not heard.

3. 듣지 못했어요 (deutji mothaesseoyo) – This is the negative past form of the verb 듣다 (“to hear”). It splits into 듣지, with 지 added to the verb stem to set up negation, and 못했어요, which indicates “could not (do)” in the past polite form. Combined, it means “did not hear.”

Tips to remember the structure:
• Notice how the duration (오랫동안) is placed at the beginning. In Korean, time expressions often come before the subject/object and verb.
• Learn the negation pattern 듣지 못하다 to express inability or failure to perform an action instead of simply using 듣지 않다.
• Remember that particles like 를 are essential because they mark the role of a noun in the sentence.

Alternate ways to say “It’s been a long time since I have heard that word”:
• 오랜만에 그 단어를 듣지 못했어요.
 (oraenman-e geu daneo-reul deutji mothaesseoyo.)
 Here, 오랜만에 (after a long time, or “in a long while”) can be used to highlight the long gap.

• 한동안 그 단어를 듣지 못했어요.
 (handongan geu daneo-reul deutji mothaesseoyo.)
 한동안 means “for a while,” offering a similar meaning.

Each version puts emphasis on the duration before stating that the word wasn’t heard.

a few seconds ago