가끔
ga-kkeum
가끔 is a calendar with more blanks than dots
The picture Dots scattered thinly across a calendar, with broad empty stretches between them. 가끔 is dots scattered thin; 자주 is dots packed close.
Where the picture shows up in 가끔
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scattered occasions
저는 가끔 야근해요.
jeo-neun ga-kkeum ya-geun-hae-yo
I work late sometimes.
A month's calendar with circles only on the few days the lights stayed on late.
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a body that aches now and then
가끔 머리가 아파요.
ga-kkeum meo-ri-ga a-pa-yo
I get headaches sometimes.
A flat line running along for a while, spiking once, then settling back down.
Useful for describing symptoms at a clinic.
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dropping in now and then
이 앞을 지날 때 가끔 들러요.
i a-peul ji-nal ttae ga-kkeum deul-leo-yo
I drop in sometimes when I'm passing by.
A long street with footprints veering toward the shop door at only a few points.
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rare but real
가끔 그런 손님도 있어요.
ga-kkeum geu-reon son-nim-do i-sseo-yo
We do get customers like that sometimes.
Among countless faces streaming past, one now and then turns its head and stays in memory.
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surfacing in the mind
고향 생각이 가끔 나요.
go-hyang saeng-ga-gi ga-kkeum na-yo
I think of home sometimes.
Still water, and after a long quiet stretch one bubble rises and pops.
All of it in one picture
가끔 is the picture of wide blanks left between the dots. A few circles on the calendar mean you stay late 가끔; a flat line with an occasional spike means it hurts 가끔. Footprints veering off only here and there mean you drop in 가끔, one face out of the crowd means such customers come 가끔, one bubble on still water means the thought surfaces 가끔. It does not say the thing is absent — only that the space between is wide.