Learn Korean: Verb + 때/이지

Let’s take a look at the Korean sentence pattern Verb + 때/이지. This is used to express that something comes in order when doing something. For example, there is a culture of eating 짜장면 (black noodles) when watching news. You are currently watching news with your family and you suddenly crave for food. All of you agreed to order since it’s quite a hassle to cook. Your brother says to order some pizza. But because you are watching news, it’s not pizza that you should eat but black noodles. So you can dismiss his idea by saying 뉴스 볼 땐 짜장면이지. It’s nuance is why order pizza, of course it should be black noodles because we are watching news. You may switch the position of the noun and verb. I mean you can attach 때 to a noun and 지 (죠) to a verb.

무슨 족발이야? 뉴스 볼 땐 짜장면이지.

What jokbal? We should have jjajangmyeon when watching news.

똥 쌀 땐 담배지.

When pooing, cigarette comes in order.

크리스마스 때 여자친구랑 같이 있어야죠.

Of course, you should be with your girlfriend on Christmas. (is that even a question)