-기가 바쁘게: As Soon As — Barely Finished, Next Starts

Idiom after -기(가): as soon as the first act finishes, the next begins at once.

Before this, make sure you know: -기 , -자마자 , -아요 / -어요

How to form it

When	Form	Example
Verb + -기가 바쁘게	-기가 바쁘게	오기가 바쁘게 / 끝나기가 바쁘게
Short form	-기 바쁘게	오기 바쁘게 / 끝나기 바쁘게

-기가 바쁘게 means as soon as — barely finishing one thing before the next starts.

Why this is hard

It feels tighter and more breathless than calm -자마자. Learners paste it into slow, polite sequencing and sound frantic. The image is rushing from A into B.

What it does

You mark immediate succession with urgency.

끝나기가 바쁘게 나갔어요.
문이 열리기가 바쁘게 들어왔어요.
밥을 먹기가 바쁘게 일하러 갔어요.
수업이 끝나기가 바쁘게 질문이 쏟아졌어요.

Forms

Verb + -기가 바쁘게 + next action.

When not to use it

Do not use it for leisurely ‘and then’ lists. Do not swap it with every -자마자 without checking tone. Do not attach it to states that never ‘finish’ into a next rush.

Neighbours — and why they differ

Form	Why it is not this slot
-자마자	As soon as — often calmer, more neutral.
-고서	After doing — sequence without the rush.
-는 동시에	At the same time — overlap, not rush-after.

The breathless feel is the product. Text messages and spoken storytelling love it when doors open and people surge in. If the second action waits calmly, prefer a quieter sequence tool. Rush is not optional colour here — it is the grammar’s job.

Ask: am I saying B crashes in the moment A finishes? If yes, -기가 바쁘게. If you need calm ‘as soon as,’ -자마자 may fit better.

Do not confuse it with

-자마자

the instant one thing ends, the next begins

-고 나다

after finishing — the completion is the point

-은 후에

after doing — plain sequence, no stress on finishing

Taught alongside this

On the jabi learning path, this appears in 표현 (expression) — Advanced Korean 1, Unit 4, on the theme of expression. These come with it:

-는다니1 what are they telling me to…? — asking what the order was -었던 that had been… — past modifier with a lingering sense 에 관하여 regarding, about — the written 에 관하여 / 관한 -자기에 because one decides to… — contracted -자고 하기에 (청유 인용 + 이유), pair of -는다기에 -게 마련이다 bound to be — naturally so (-기/게 마련이다) -게 생겼다 have ended up (badly)… — negative predicament with -게 생기다 -기 나름이다 depends on how you… — the outcome varies with the method -기가 쉽다 easy to… / prone to — a tendency that comes naturally -기만 하다 only does… — limiting the action to just that -기에 따라 depending on… — outcomes that change with the condition -기에 앞서(서) before doing… — prior to the step you name -은 나머지 as a result of… — the outcome that follows from that act -는 데다가 and on top of that — stacking one fact onto another -는 동시에 at the same time as — two things in the same moment -는 듯하다 seems to… — a soft guess from appearance -는 법이다 it is natural that… — a general rule of how things go -는 이상 now that / given that — already being in that state -은 채로 while still… — leaving it in the state it already has -는 척하다 pretend to… — acting as if -는 가운데 in the midst of — while that situation continues 는 말할 것도 없고 not to mention — A goes without saying, and B too (는/은 말할 것도 없고) -을 만하다 worth doing / decent enough — worth the effort or acceptable -을 법하다 likely to… — a reasonable prediction -을 테다 will (for sure) — a strong expectation about what follows -을 테면 if you are going to… — setting a condition for a plan -을 테지만 will, but… — expecting one thing and contrasting another -으려나 보다 I guess they mean to… — reading someone's likely intention 를 가지고 with, using — taking that as the means or topic -으면 몰라도 only if… — the following holds only under that (unreal / opposite) condition 에도 불구하고 despite — in spite of that noun situation -는데도 even though — contrast after a clause, softer than 지만 -어 내다 manage to… — pushing through until it is done -는다기에 because they say… — the reported claim is the reason -는다는 것이 meant to…, but — intention (-는다고 하는 것이) whose result diverged -는데도 불구하고 even so — despite the whole preceding clause

Words used above

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-기가 바쁘게-giga bappeugeas soon as…

-기 바쁘게-gi bappeugeshort form

끝나다kkeunnadato finish

퇴근toegeunleaving work

잠jamsleep

Quick check

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

1. You fell asleep the moment you got home — next act right after arrival. Which line?

2. Which line uses the short forms-table shape 오기 바쁘게?

3. Same ‘as soon as’ job — which keeps the denser -기가 바쁘게 rush, not the -자마자 neighbour?

Common questions

Dictionary?

한국어기초사전 (국립국어원): after a verb / -으시-, marks that the next event happens as soon as the first ends. Also -기 바쁘게.

Vs -자마자?

Both ‘as soon as’. -기가 바쁘게 often paints a busier, back-to-back scene.

Busy adjective?

Trap: everyday 바쁘다 ‘busy’ ≠ this idiom. Here 바쁘게 rides -기 to mean immediate succession.

Past on the first verb?

Attach to the stem + -기 — not *왔다기가 바쁘게.