Auxiliary verbs III (~어/아 주다, ~어/아 놓다, ~어/아 두다)

~어/아 주다

The verb 주다 means “give”, as shown in the following examples:

However, as an auxiliary verb, ~어/아 주다 means “do something as a
favor (for someone)”.

Compare the following two sentences:

Notice that the first sentence simply expresses that David came to the party. On the other hand, the second sentence signifies that David came to the party for the benefit of the speaker or somebody. Here are more examples:

However, one can optionally use 위해서(on the behalf of) when wishing to explicitly state who the beneficiary was.

~어/아 드리다 vs. ~어/아 주다

Meanwhile, if the beneficiary of the action is an esteemed person, ~어/아 드리다 is used instead of ~어/아 주다. Compare the following two sentences:

The second sentence with ~어/아 주다 is inappropriate since the beneficiary of the action is an esteemed person. Here are more examples:

Requesting ~어/아 주세요

The verb 주시다 is the honorific form of 주다. ~어/아 주세요 is used when requesting something politely. It is equivalent to “please do (something for me/someone)”. Compare the following two sentences:

Both sentences can be used for requesting. However, the second sentence with ~어/아 주세요 is more polite than the first sentence. Here are more examples:

~어/아 놓다(or ~어/아 두다)

The verb 놓다 means “release/place/put down”, as in:

However, as an auxiliary verb, what ~어/아 놓다 can express is twofold. First, ~어/아 놓다 is used to indicate the continuation of a certain action or state after the completion of the action or state. For instance, compare the following sentences:

The verb 켜다 means “turns on (an electric lamp)”. Notice that the action of the main verb 켜다 is completed for both sentences, since they are marked by the past tense. However, while the first sentence simply indicates the past action, the second sentence with the auxiliary verb ~어/아 놓다 indicates the continuation of the completed action. Here are more examples:

Second, ~어/아 놓다 means “doing something for later (future use)”. Compare the following two sentences:

Notice that the first sentence simply indicates the past action, 마셨어요(drank). However, the auxiliary verb ~어/아 놓다 in the second sentence indicates that the past action was done for later. Here are more examples:

Alternatively, the verb 두다 can be used instead of 놓다. The verb 두다 means “place/keep”, as shown in the following examples:

As an auxiliary verb, the meaning of ~어/아 두다 is similar to that of ~어/아 놓다. In fact ~어/아 두다 and ~어/아 놓다 can be used interchangeably, as shown below:

* Click to read related posts.
Grammar for Intermediates
Irregular verbs and adjectives (불규칙동사와 형용사)
Auxiliary verbs I
Auxiliary verbs II
Auxiliary verbs III
Auxiliary verbs IV

* If you see any error in this post, let me know. Your help makes my blog better.

support me for better contents!!