We couldn’t have done it alone in Korean 🇰🇷

Sentence info.

우리는 (u-ri-neun)
 • Breakdown: 우리 means “we” and 는 is the topic marker.
 • Translation: “we” (as the topic of the sentence).

혼자서 (honja-seo)
 • Breakdown: 혼자 means “alone” and -서 adds the nuance “by” or “using,” implying doing something on one’s own.
 • Translation: “alone” or “by oneself.”

그걸 (geu-geol)
 • Breakdown: 그것 means “that thing” and when combined with 을 (object marker), it contracts to 그걸.
 • Translation: “it” or “that” (as the object).

할 (hal)
 • Breakdown: Derived from 하다 (“to do”), this form acts as an adjective modifying the following noun.
 • Translation: “to do” (in a modifying form as in “the doing”).

수 (su)
 • Breakdown: 수 means “ability” or “way” when talking about the possibility of doing something.
 • Translation: “ability” or “the means/to do.”

없었을 (eopsseoseul)
 • Breakdown: 없었 comes from 없다 (“to not be” or “to not exist”) in the past form, and -을 is the attributive form marker.
 • Translation: “could not have” or “was not possible.”

거예요 (geo-yeyo)
 • Breakdown: 거 is a contraction of 것 (“thing”), and 예요 is the polite ending of the copula. This construction expresses conjecture or a deduction.
 • Translation: “it would be” or “I suppose it wasn’t.”

Overall sentence structure:
 “We (우리는) by oneself (혼자서) that (그걸) doing (할) ability (수) not-having (없었을) would be (거예요)”
 → “We couldn’t have done it alone.”

Tips to remember:
 • Notice how Korean forms possibility by combining the verb with 수 (“ability”).
 • The particle -서 in 혼자서 emphasizes “by” as a means, indicating doing something alone.
 • The construction 없었을 거예요 is a common way to express a past inability with a sense of deduction or uncertainty in a polite form.

Alternate expressions for “We couldn’t have done it alone”:
 1. 우리 혼자서는 못 했을 거예요.
  • Breakdown: 혼자서는 (honja-seoneun) adds 는 after -서 for emphasis on “alone,” and 못 했을 거예요 uses 못 (cannot) with 했을 (past form of 하다).
  • Translation: “We couldn’t have done it alone.”

 2. 우리가 혼자 다 해낼 수 없었을 거예요.
  • Breakdown: 다 해낼 combines 다 (“all”) with 해낼 (to accomplish), stressing the complete accomplishment, while 수 없었을 거예요 conveys inability.
  • Translation: “We couldn’t have accomplished it all by ourselves.”

These structures can help you see how particles, modifiers, and verb endings work together in Korean to form nuanced meanings.

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