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Grammar Intermediate TOPIK II · Level 3–4 Intermediate Korean 1 · Unit 7

-어야지

-어야지: I Really Should — A Resolution to Yourself

Sentence-final self-resolution: I ought to / I’m going to make myself…

Before this, make sure you know: -어야 되다 , -아요 / -어요 , -고 싶다

How to form it

When Form Example
Stem with ㅏ/ㅗ -아야지 가야지 / 와야지
Other stems / 이다 -어야지 먹어야지 / 해야지 / 학생이어야지
Softer with 요 -어야지요 쉬어야지요

-아야지 / -어야지 is how you nudge yourself: I really should… Gloss: a resolution aimed at the speaker, often half monologue.

우리말샘 splits several readings under the same spelling: a connective condition, an ending that seeks the listener’s attention/agreement, and a self-talk will ending. The Sejong supplementary gloss matches the self-resolution seat. Keep the others labelled so they do not collapse into one English should.

Shape

오늘은 일찍 자야지.
운동 좀 해야지.
내일은 쉬어야지.
이번 휴가엔 일 생각을 놓아야지.

With 요, it softens toward conversational self-share:

이제 그만 먹어야지요.
조금 걸어야지요.

Harmony matches the usual -아/어- split: 가다 → 가야지, 먹다 → 먹어야지, 하다 → 해야지.

Resolution vs obligation vs want

FormMove
-어야지I ought to (telling myself)
-어야 되다have to / it’s required
-고 싶다want to
-어야only if / necessary condition (connective)
집에 가야 돼요.     obligation / necessity to someone
집에 가야지.         resolution to myself
집에 가고 싶어요.   desire

Not every should

English should also covers advice to others (You should rest). Plain -어야지 pointed at you can sound like nagging or a different dictionary reading. For this lesson, keep the camera on self-talk.

Learner traps

  1. Treating it as a polite command to strangers.
  2. Writing 가어야지 / 먹아야지 harmony errors.
  3. Swapping it freely with -어야 되다 in every obligation sentence.

Ask: am I steeling myself to do this? If yes, -아야지/-어야지. If you are stating a rule or external necessity, prefer -어야 되다.

Do not confuse it with

-어야 되다

have to, must — the obligation half of the 되다 family

-어야

only if — the condition that has to be met first

-겠-

guessing, forecasting, or resolving — not just future

-고 싶다

want to — and why it cannot describe someone else

Taught alongside this

On the jabi learning path, this appears in 여행을 가는 대신에 집에서 쉬는 것이 좋겠네요 (Instead of going on a trip, it would be better to rest at home.) — Intermediate Korean 1, Unit 7, on the theme of rest and vacation. These come with it:

-느라고 because I was busy doing — and why the result is always negative -자마자 the instant one thing ends, the next begins -는 대신에 instead of — swapping one action for another

Words used above

Tap the speaker to hear it read aloud by your browser.

-어야지-eoyajiI really should… (self-resolution)
-아야지-ayajiI really should… (ㅏ/ㅗ stems)
휴가hyugavacation, leave

Quick check

No sign-up, no score saved — just see if it stuck.

1. 오늘은 일찍 자야지 is closest to…

2. How is -어야지 different from -어야 돼요?

3. 가다 → resolution form?

Common questions

Can -어야지 talk to another person?

Dictionary also lists a ‘seeking agreement / calling attention’ ending. This page stays on the self-resolution sense in the gloss.

Is there a connective -어야지?

Yes — -어야지 can also link a necessary condition to what follows. That is a different job from the sentence-final resolution.

What about -어야겠다?

Related ‘I’d better…’ decision colour — see later eoyaget. Resolution -어야지 is the simpler self-nudge.

vs 고 싶다?

go-sipda is desire. -어야지 is ‘I ought to make myself do it,’ even when desire is weak.