커녕 (-khenyeng)#

Focus#

Also see: Korean Focus Postpositions

This postposition is used to mark the less likely or suitable item in a list of alternatives. This is equivalent to the "let alone" construction.

커녕
rice-let_alone
죽도
porridge-not_even

not
먹는다
eat

'Let alone rice, can't even eat/get porridge' 001

커녕
rain-let_alone
구름조차
cloud-not_even
끼지
clouded
않는다
does_not

'It does not get cloudy let alone rain.' 002

In some cases, the marked item is the expectation that the reality doesn't meet up to.

커녕
reward-far_from
벌을
punishment-ACC
받았다
received

'(We) received punishment, a far cry from a reward.' 003

그녀는
she-TOP
화를
anger-ACC
내기는
express-TOP
커녕
far_from
미소만
smile-only
짓고
smiled
있었다
PROG

'Far from being angry, she was just smiling.' 004

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