-기에
since, as — written cause
The written counterpart of -길래. Same structure, same restrictions, but at home in reports and formal prose rather than conversation.
Build it
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When to use it
Attach -기에 to any stem — no vowel rule, ㄹ stays, and tense may appear in front: 갔기에.
As with -길래, the first clause reports something outside the speaker, and the second reports the speaker’s own response: 가격이 저렴하기에 구입했습니다.
It does not take commands or suggestions afterwards. The second clause states what was already done.
A separate use of the same shape appears in phrases like 먹기에 좋다 and 읽기에 편하다, where -기 is the nominaliser and 에 the ordinary particle. Context keeps the two apart easily.
How to attach it
| Situation | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Any verb or adjective | -기에 | 저렴하다 → 저렴하기에 |
| ㄹ stems keep the ㄹ | -기에 | 만들다 → 만들기에 |
| Past | -았/었기에 | 갔기에 |
| First clause subject | not yourself | 가격이 저렴하기에 |
| No commands after | statements only | 저렴하기에 사세요 is wrong |
| Spoken version | -길래 | 저렴하길래 |
In use
가격이 저렴하기에 두 개를 구입했습니다.
The price was low, so I bought two.
날씨가 좋기에 잠시 산책을 했다.
The weather was fine, so I took a short walk.
문의가 많았기에 안내를 드립니다.
As we have had many enquiries, we are issuing this notice.
아무도 만들지 않기에 제가 준비했습니다.
Since nobody else was making it, I prepared it myself.
중요한 사안이기에 신중히 검토하였다.
As it was an important matter, we reviewed it carefully.
이 책은 읽기에 편합니다.
This book is easy to read.
Compared with
-길래
Identical structure, different register. -길래 is conversational; -기에 belongs to writing and formal speech.
싸길래 샀어요. (speech) / 저렴하기에 구입했습니다. (writing)
-기 때문에
때문에 states a cause neutrally and accepts any subject. -기에 frames the reason as something observed and leads to your own action.
저렴하기 때문에 인기가 많다. (because it’s cheap) / 저렴하기에 구입했다. (seeing it was cheap, I bought it)
-기에 좋다
The same letters in a different construction: here -기 nominalises and 에 is an ordinary particle. It means “good for doing.”
저렴하기에 샀다. (since it was cheap) / 읽기에 좋다. (good to read)
Watch out
제가 배고프기에 밥을 먹었습니다.
배가 고파서 식사를 했습니다.
-기에 frames the reason as something observed outside yourself. Your own hunger is not observed that way.
가격이 저렴하기에 구입하세요.
가격이 저렴하니 구입하시기 바랍니다.
-기에 cannot be followed by a command. The second clause reports what was already done.
야, 싸기에 샀어.
야, 싸길래 샀어.
-기에 is a written form. In casual speech the equivalent is -길래.
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