3 · Linking clauses, further · about 6 minutes
As soon as: -자마자
immediate sequence
-자마자 joins two events with no gap between them: the moment one happens, the other follows.
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“New to me”: the explanation first, then practice. “Test myself”: 3 short questions – get at least two right and you go straight to the harder exercises.
Words you will need5
They appear in this topic’s examples and exercises and are new at this point on the learning path.
- 웃음laughter; a smile
- 월급monthly pay; salary
- 시작beginning; start
- 무대stage
- 눈물tears
Missing a word? Look it up in the dictionary
Understand
RememberJamaja sits on the bare stem: no gap between the events, and no past tense before it.
- Signal words
- -자마자
- 바로
The form
The patterns at a glance
Each row first says when or what the pattern is used for, then gives an example in Korean.
| after a vowel | 오자마자, 보자마자 |
| after a consonant | 먹자마자, 읽자마자 |
| 하다 verbs | 도착하자마자 |
| no tense before it | 집에 오자마자 잤어요. |
| with a request | 끝나자마자 연락하세요. |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
-자마자 goes on the bare stem and never changes its shape.
집에 오자마자 샤워를 했어요.As soon as I got home, I had a shower.
The first clause never takes a past tense; the end of the sentence sets the time.
수업이 끝나자마자 나갔어요.I left as soon as the class finished.
The second clause may be a request or a suggestion.
도착하자마자 문자 보내 주세요.Please send me a text as soon as you arrive.
The two clauses may have different subjects.
제가 밖에 나가자마자 비가 오기 시작했어요.The moment I went outside, it started to rain.
Example sentences
아침에 일어나자마자 물을 한 잔 마셔요.As soon as I get up in the morning, I drink a glass of water.
그 사람을 보자마자 웃음이 났어요.The moment I saw him, I burst out laughing.
월급을 받자마자 다 써 버렸어요.I spent all my pay as soon as I got it.
10 more example sentences
영화가 시작되자마자 잠이 들었어요.I fell asleep as soon as the film started.
비행기가 도착하자마자 휴대폰을 켰어요.As soon as the plane landed, I switched my phone on.
시험이 끝나자마자 여행을 갈 거예요.As soon as the exams are over, I am going on a trip.
베개에 머리를 대자마자 잠들어요.I fall asleep as soon as my head touches the pillow.
졸업하자마자 취직했어요.I found a job as soon as I graduated.
불이 꺼지자마자 아이가 울기 시작했어요.As soon as the light went out, the child started crying.
이 책은 나오자마자 다 팔렸어요.This book sold out as soon as it came out.
밥을 먹자마자 누우면 안 좋아요.Lying down straight after a meal is not good for you.
집에 들어가자마자 손부터 씻어요.The first thing I do when I get home is wash my hands.
회의가 끝나자마자 연락드릴게요.I will contact you as soon as the meeting is over.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English puts both halves in the past: “as soon as I arrived, I slept”. Korean marks the past once, at the end, and leaves the stem before -자마자 bare. The same is true of almost every linking ending in this area.
Quick check
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Practise
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The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
The ending goes on the bare stem and never changes its shape: 오자마자, 먹자마자, 끝나자마자, 도착하자마자. Stems ending in l keep it: 열자마자, 만들자마자.
It says that the second event follows the first immediately. The second clause can be in any tense and can even be a request: 집에 오자마자 잤어요, “I went to bed as soon as I got home”; 도착하자마자 전화하세요, “call as soon as you arrive”. The two clauses may have different subjects: 제가 들어가자마자 영화가 시작됐어요, “the film started the moment I walked in”.
Next to -고 나서 and -(으)ㄴ 후에, which only say “after”, -자마자 adds that nothing came in between. That is why it suits things that surprise, things done in a hurry and habits that leave no room: “the first thing I do when …”.
The mistake English speakers make is to copy the past tense of “as soon as I arrived” into the first clause: 도착했자마자 does not exist. The first clause stays bare, and the end of the sentence says when it all happened. Translating “as soon as” with -(으)면, “if, when”, loses the urgency.
A closer look
As soon as, and as soon as I can
Korean has a second “as soon as”, -는 대로, and the two divide the work. -는 대로 is for something planned: 도착하는 대로 전화할게요, “I will call as soon as I arrive”, promises an action the speaker controls. It cannot tell a story about something that simply happened in the past.
-자마자 does both. It can promise (도착하자마자 전화할게요) and it can tell a story in which the second event simply happened: 문을 열자마자 고양이가 들어왔어요. When in doubt, -자마자 is the safe choice.
Worth knowing1
Worth knowing
The shorter -자 of stories
In stories and in writing, -자 alone does a similar job: one event, and at once the next. It often introduces something the speaker noticed or did not expect.
문을 열자 고양이가 들어왔어요.When I opened the door, a cat came in.