점잖다

Korean

Etymology

Contracted from Early Modern Korean 졈디 아니ᄒᆞ다 (cyem-ti ani-hota), which was equivalent to the modern construction 젊지 아니하다 (jeom-ji ani-hada, literally “not to be young”).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ˈt͡ɕɘ(ː)md͡ʑa̠ntʰa̠]
• Phonetic hangul: [점(ː)잔타]
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	jeomjanta
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	jeomjanhda
McCune–Reischauer?	chŏmjant'a
Yale Romanization?	cēmcanhta

Adjective

점잖다 • (jeomjanta) (infinitive 점잖아, sequential 점잖으니)

1. (to be) well behaved, dignified, respectable, gentle

   그는 꽤 점잖으신 신사 분이시다. ― Geu-neun kkwae jeomjaneusin sinsa bun-isida. ― He is quite a respectable gentleman.

   • 1908, 안국선／安國善 [An Gukseon], “狐(호)假(가)虎(호)威(위) (여호) [The Fox]”, in 禽(금)獸(슈)會(회)議(의)錄(록) [Minutes from the Animal Assembly]:

     나ᄂᆞᆫ 여호올시다 졈자나신 여러분 모히신ᄃᆡ 감히 나와셔 연셜 ᄒᆞᄋᆞᆸ기ᄂᆞᆫ 방자ᄒᆞᆫ듯 ᄒᆞ오나

     na-neun yeoho-olsida jeomjanasin yeoreobun mohisinde gamhi nawasyeo yeonsyeol haopgi-neun bangjahandeut haona

     I am the fox. It is quite the honour being with all you respectable folks as I dare to deliver my speech, but [as]...

Conjugation

    Selected forms of the adjective 점잖다 (jeomjanta): consonant-stem, regular

Sentence-final forms
		Formal non-polite (해라체)	Informal non-polite (해체)	Informal polite (해요체)	Formal polite (하십시오체)
Indicative	Non-past	점잖다 jeomjanta	점잖아 jeomjana	점잖아요 jeomjanayo	점잖습니다 jeomjanseumnida
	Past	점잖았다 jeomjanatda	점잖았어 jeomjanasseo	점잖았어요 jeomjanasseoyo	점잖았습니다 jeomjanatseumnida
Interrogative	Non-past	점잖으냐 jeomjaneunya	점잖아 jeomjana	점잖아요 jeomjanayo	점잖습니까 jeomjanseumnikka
	Past	점잖았냐 jeomjanannya	점잖았어 jeomjanasseo	점잖았어요 jeomjanasseoyo	점잖았습니까 jeomjanatseumnikka
Assertive		점잖겠다 jeomjanketda	점잖겠어 jeomjankesseo	점잖겠어요 jeomjankesseoyo	점잖겠습니다 jeomjanketseumnida
Connective forms
Cause/Reason		점잖아 jeomjana	점잖아서 jeomjanaseo	점잖으니 jeomjaneuni	점잖으니까 jeomjaneunikka
Contrast		점잖지만 jeomjanchiman	점잖은데 jeomjaneunde	점잖더니 jeomjanteoni
Conjunction		점잖고 jeomjanko
Condition		점잖으면 jeomjaneumyeon	점잖아야 jeomjanaya
Noun and determiner forms
Verbal nouns		점잖음 jeomjaneum	점잖기 jeomjanki
Past-tense verbal nouns		점잖았음 jeomjanasseum	점잖았기 jeomjanatgi
Determiners	Present		점잖은 jeomjaneun
	Future		점잖을 jeomjaneul

Sentence-final forms with honorific
		Plain (해라체)	Informal (해체)	Polite (해요체)	Formal (하십시오체)
Indicative	Non-past	점잖으시다 jeomjaneusida	점잖으셔 jeomjaneusyeo	점잖으세요, 점잖으셔요 jeomjaneuseyo, jeomjaneusyeoyo	점잖으십니다 jeomjaneusimnida
	Past	점잖으셨다 jeomjaneusyeotda	점잖으셨어 jeomjaneusyeosseo	점잖으셨어요 jeomjaneusyeosseoyo	점잖으셨습니다 jeomjaneusyeotseumnida
Interrogative	Non-past	점잖으시냐 jeomjaneusinya	점잖으셔 jeomjaneusyeo	점잖으세요, 점잖으셔요 jeomjaneuseyo, jeomjaneusyeoyo	점잖으십니까 jeomjaneusimnikka
	Past	점잖으셨냐 jeomjaneusyeonnya	점잖으셨어 jeomjaneusyeosseo	점잖으셨어요 jeomjaneusyeosseoyo	점잖으셨습니까 jeomjaneusyeotseumnikka
Assertive		점잖으시겠다 jeomjaneusigetda	점잖으시겠어 jeomjaneusigesseo	점잖으시겠어요 jeomjaneusigesseoyo	점잖으시겠습니다 jeomjaneusigetseumnida
Connective forms with honorific
Cause/Reason		점잖으셔 jeomjaneusyeo	점잖으셔서 jeomjaneusyeoseo	점잖으시니 jeomjaneusini	점잖으시니까 jeomjaneusinikka
Contrast		점잖으시지만 jeomjaneusijiman	점잖으신데 jeomjaneusinde	점잖으시더니 jeomjaneusideoni
Conjunction		점잖으시고 jeomjaneusigo
Condition		점잖으시면 jeomjaneusimyeon	점잖으셔야 jeomjaneusyeoya
Noun and determiner forms with honorific
Verbal nouns		점잖으심 jeomjaneusim	점잖으시기 jeomjaneusigi
Past-tense verbal nouns		점잖으셨음 jeomjaneusyeosseum	점잖으셨기 jeomjaneusyeotgi
Determiners	Present		점잖으신 jeomjaneusin
	Future		점잖으실 jeomjaneusil

Derived terms

• 점잔 (jeomjan) (noun, used in some idioms)