Korean -게 하다, -어/아 드리다, -자마자: Your First Week at Work

Korean -게 하다 means “make or let someone do something” (부장님이 저를 야근하게 하셨어요 — the manager made me work overtime), -어/아 드리다 is the humble “do something for an honored person” (복사해 드릴게요 — I’ll make copies for you), and -자마자 means “as soon as” (출근하자마자 메일을 확인해요 — as soon as I get to work I check email). Welcome to your first week at a Korean company, where every one of these three patterns earns its keep before lunch.

In job hunting you learned the formal register of résumés and interviews — stating goals with -기 위해(서), talking about a company with 에 대해(서), and receiving word from it with 으로부터. Now you’ve been hired. The office adds a new layer: who makes whom do what (-게 하다), how to offer help upward with the right humility (-어/아 드리다), and how to describe the back-to-back rhythm of a workday (-자마자). This is where Korean’s social hierarchy meets your daily routine.

Ten words for your first week

These come up the moment you walk into a Korean office.

Making or letting someone do — -게 하다

To say someone makes or lets another person do something, attach -게 to the verb stem and follow it with 하다. Add 주다 (-게 해 주다) to soften it into “let / allow (kindly).”

The subject of the caused action takes 을/를 or 이/가 depending on the verb. Bare -게 하다 leans toward “make (someone) do”; adding 주다 tilts it to a kind “let (someone) do” — a distinction your boss will appreciate.

Doing something for someone, humbly — -어/아 드리다

When you do a favor for a superior, upgrade -어/아 주다 to -어/아 드리다. The action is the same; 드리다 lowers you to honor the person you’re helping.

For a friend you’d say 복사해 줄게요; the moment the recipient outranks you, switch to 드릴게요. It pairs naturally with 께 (the humble “to”) and -(으)시- honorific endings.

As soon as… — -자마자

To say one thing happens the moment another does, attach -자마자 straight to the verb stem — no tense marker, even for the past.

Unlike -은 후에 (“after,” with a possible gap), -자마자 means immediately — the second action is hot on the heels of the first.

Your first day, in one chat

Watch all three at work as a new hire navigates day one:

One first day, three tools: -자마자 chains the tasks (출근하자마자, 회의 끝나자마자), -어 드리다 offers help upward with the right humility (복사해 드릴게요), and -게 하다 frames who makes whom do what (야근하게, 퇴근하게 해 주실 거예요). That’s the social grammar of a Korean office — and the heart of Chapter 4.

FAQ

What is the difference between -게 하다 and -게 만들다? Both are causatives meaning “make someone do / make something happen,” and they often overlap: 사람들을 웃게 하다 / 웃게 만들다 = make people laugh. The nuance: -게 하다 is the neutral, everyday causative and also covers “let/allow” when softened with 주다 (자게 해 주세요 = please let them sleep). -게 만들다 stresses that you actively brought the result about, often with more force or design (이 영화는 사람들을 울게 만들어요 = this movie makes people cry). In the workplace, -게 하다 is the safe default; reach for -게 만들다 when you want to emphasize “caused it to happen.”

When do I use -어/아 드리다 instead of -어/아 주다? -어/아 주다 means you do something FOR someone as a favor (도와줘요 = I help you). -어/아 드리다 is its humble version: you still do the favor, but you lower yourself to honor the person you’re helping — a boss, a client, an elder. So 복사해 줄게요 is fine for a friend, but 복사해 드릴게요 is what you say to 부장님. Rule of thumb: the moment the person receiving your help outranks you, swap 주다 for 드리다. It pairs naturally with 께/께서 and -(으)시- honorifics.

Does -자마자 carry tense, and how is it different from -은 후에? -자마자 attaches to the bare verb stem with no tense marker — even for past events: 도착하자마자 잤어요 = I slept as soon as I arrived. It means the second action happens immediately, right on the heels of the first. -은 후에 (“after”) just says one thing follows another, with no sense of “immediately” and often a gap in between: 밥을 먹은 후에 산책했어요 = after eating, I took a walk (maybe much later). Use -자마자 for “the very moment,” and -은 후에 for a plain “after.”

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Next: traditional holidays — -어도/아도, -으면 좋겠다. Previous: job hunting — -기 위해(서), 에 대해(서), 으로부터. Full path: curriculum hub.