Learn Korean: 어쩌다가 + Verb

Let’s take a look at the Korean sentence pattern 어쩌다가 + Verb. We use this to ask someone what happened that led to an incident or another action. The focus is the action in progress that led to it. For example, I reunited with my high school friends for the first time in seven years. We partied all night and got intoxicated. We ended up sleeping altogether in one room. I shared the bed with Haeri. The next morning, I woke up with half-naked Minho lying next to me. I asked What happened? How did we end up sleeping together? The main verb is 같이 자다 (to sleep together). Its past tense form is 잤다. 어쩌다가 comes before it. The actual sentence is 어쩌다가 우리 같이 잤어?

어쩌다가 다쳤어요?

How did you get hurt? What caused it? What were you doing when it happened?

어쩌다가 그 사람 만났어?

How did you end up meeting that guy?

어쩌다가 간장 쏟았어?

How come you spilled the sauce?