가다
ga-da
가다 is one arrow pointing away from you
The picture A single arrow leaving the spot where you stand and heading off. Anything moving away rides it. 가다 is the arrow pointing away from you; 오다 is the arrow coming toward you.
Where the picture shows up in 가다
-
you move away
저 먼저 갈게요.
jeo meon-jeo gal-kke-yo
I'll head off first.
You turn away from where everyone is sitting and walk toward the door, your back getting smaller
-
heading that way
이 버스 시청 가요?
i beo-seu si-cheong ga-yo
Does this bus go to City Hall?
At the stop, the destination board in the bus windscreen is pointed down the road to City Hall
-
time moves away
시간이 참 빨리 가네요.
si-ga-ni cham ppal-li ga-ne-yo
Time really flies, doesn't it.
The second hand of the wall clock has run so far ahead that your eyes can barely follow it
-
the work moves on
일이 잘 되어 가고 있어요.
i-ri jal doe-eo ga-go i-sseo-yo
It's coming along nicely.
A half-filled progress bar keeps stretching one notch further to the right
-아/어 가다 is a flow continuing forward; -아/어 오다 is a flow that has come up to now.
-
your eyes go there
그 사람한테 자꾸 눈이 가요.
geu sa-ram-han-te ja-kku nu-ni ga-yo
I keep glancing over at that person.
Your head stays put but your eyeballs keep rolling over toward that person
All of it in one picture
가다 is a single arrow leaving the spot where you stand. Put your own body on that arrow and it becomes taking your leave; put a bus on it and it heads for City Hall; put time on it and the hours have run off ahead of you. Put a task on it and the work keeps moving forward; put your gaze on it and your eyes keep drifting toward someone. So anything with 가다 in it carries one direction with it: away from you.