Korean Work-Life Balance: 따라, -게 생겼다, -고는 하다
Korean gripes about work with 따라 (오늘따라 일이 많아요 — for some reason there's so much work today), forecasts a bad outcome with -게 생겼다 (또 야근하게 생겼어요 — looks like I'll be stuck working late again), and recalls habits with -고는 하다 (가끔 주말에도 나오고는 해요 — I do sometimes end up coming in on weekends too).
Published:
Written by Alvin Lim Certified Korean Language Teacher (Level 2)
Korean does workplace griping and small talk with three handy forms: 따라 frames a day as unusually off (오늘따라 일이 너무 많아요 — for some reason there’s a mountain of work today), -게 생겼다 forecasts a looming bad outcome (또 야근하게 생겼어요 — looks like I’m stuck working late again), and -고는 하다 recalls a recurring habit (스트레스 받으면 야식을 시키고는 해요 — when I’m stressed I tend to order late-night food).
These are the off-the-clock phrases coworkers actually trade — the verbal equivalent of a tired sigh at your desk.
Grade 5 is where Korean gets emotional texture, and nowhere more than around work. You’ve already learned to tell experience stories with -더라고요; now we add the language of 푸념 (griping) — the resigned, half-joking complaints that fill a Korean break room.
Start with the words that color a working day.
Ten words for work-life balance
These run the daily talk about being busy, burnt out, and (hopefully) off the clock.
Today of all days — 따라
To frame a day as unusually so, for no clear reason, attach 따라 to a time word. It signals “just today / just this once, things are off” — the setup for a complaint.
오늘따라 일이 왜 이렇게 많지? = why is there so much work today of all days? 그날따라 차가 막혀서 지각했어요 = that day of all days, traffic was bad and I was late 요즘따라 자꾸 피곤해요 = lately, for some reason, I keep feeling tired 하필 오늘따라 막차를 놓쳤어요 = of all days, today I missed the last train
Notice it always rides a time word (오늘, 그날, 요즘) and adds a faint shrug — I don’t know why, but today specifically is like this. It’s a feeling, not a rule.
Looks like I’ll have to — -게 생겼다
To forecast a looming bad outcome you can now see coming, use -게 생겼다. It’s an idiom — not “looks like” in the visual sense — meaning “things have come to the point where X is about to happen,” almost always something unwanted.
이러다 또 야근하게 생겼어요 = at this rate I’m going to be stuck working late again 점심도 못 먹고 굶게 생겼어요 = looks like I’ll skip lunch and go hungry 막차를 놓치게 생겼어요 = I’m about to miss the last train 이번 달도 적자가 나게 생겼어요 = we’re headed for a loss this month too
The tone is half-joking, half-resigned — you’re reading the room and bracing for the bad result. For a plain, neutral “it seems,” you’d reach for -는 것 같다 or the softer -는 듯하다 instead.
I tend to — -고는 하다
To recall a recurring habit, use -고는 하다 (casually -곤 하다). It marks what you repeatedly do or used to do — not a one-time action.
스트레스를 받으면 단 걸 먹고는 해요 = when I’m stressed I tend to eat sweet things 주말엔 늦잠을 자고는 해요 = on weekends I tend to sleep in 힘들 때는 음악을 듣곤 했어요 = when things got hard I used to listen to music 가끔 퇴근하고 혼자 걷고는 해요 = sometimes after work I go for a walk alone
It pairs naturally with frequency words like 가끔, 종종, 주말마다, and the past -곤 했다 is the everyday way to say “I used to (over and over).” Don’t confuse this habit form with the firsthand-recall -더라고요 from Lesson 1 — different jobs entirely.
Griping with a coworker after hours
Two colleagues commiserating at the end of a long day — every form from this lesson, live:
Watch the griping thread: 오늘따라/요즘따라 frame the off day, 야근하게/놓치게 생겼어 forecast the looming trouble, and 시키고는/버티고는 해 recall the coping habits. That’s exactly how Korean coworkers vent.
⚡ 2-Minute Check
Q 1 / 5Frequently asked questions
How is 따라 different from just saying 오늘 (today)?
오늘 simply says 'today. ' 따라 adds 'of all days, for some unexplained reason it's like this just now.
' 오늘 일이 많아요 = there's a lot of work today (neutral). 오늘따라 일이 많아요 = there's so much work today of all days (and I don't know why — mild complaint).
It rides on time words — 오늘따라, 그날따라, 요즘따라, 하필 오늘따라 — and always frames the day as unusually so compared to normal. It's a feeling word: you reach for it when something is off about today specifically, not as a rule.
Does -게 생겼다 mean something literally looks a certain way?
Not here. 생기다 by itself can mean 'to look/appear' (잘생겼다 = good-looking) or 'to come about,' but in -게 생겼다 it's an idiom: 'things have come to the point where X is about to happen,' almost always a bad or unwanted X.
굶게 생겼어요 = looks like I'll go hungry; 회사에 늦게 생겼어요 = I'm going to be late for work; 혼나게 생겼어요 = I'm about to get chewed out. You're reading the situation and forecasting a looming bad result, with a half-joking, half-resigned tone.
For a neutral 'seems,' you'd use -는 것 같다 or the softer [-는 듯하다](/blog/korean-guessing-nuance/) instead.
What's the difference between -고는 하다 and just the present tense?
Plain present (커피를 마셔요 = I drink coffee) can state a one-time or general fact. -고는 하다 / -곤 하다 specifically marks a recurring habit you're recalling: 아침마다 커피를 마시고는 해요 = I tend to drink coffee every morning; 힘들 때는 음악을 듣곤 했어요 = I used to listen to music when things got hard.
The 는 adds a slight 'as a pattern' nuance, and the past 곤 했다 is the natural way to say 'I used to (repeatedly). ' It pairs well with frequency words like 가끔, 종종, 주말마다.
Note this is the habit -곤 하다, not to be confused with the -더라고요 firsthand recall from [Lesson 1](/blog/korean-experience-storytelling/).