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신다

sin-da

Korean has a separate verb just for your feet

The picture A foot is pushed into a hollow and ends up wrapped inside it. 신다 wraps the feet; 입다 wraps the torso.

Core verbs

Where the picture shows up in 신다

  1. a foot pushed into a shoe

    여기서는 실내화를 신어 주세요.

    yeo-gi-seo-neun sil-lae-hwa-reul si-neo ju-se-yo

    Please put on the indoor slippers here.

    Toes go first into the slipper by the entrance, then the heel drops in with a tap

  2. a foot wrapped in cloth

    맨발로 들어가지 말고 양말을 신으세요.

    maen-bal-lo deu-reo-ga-ji mal-go yang-ma-reul si-neu-se-yo

    Don't go in barefoot — put socks on.

    A sock is pulled up over a bare foot until it covers the ankle

    A sock is clothing, but it goes onto the foot, so it takes 신다 and not 입다.

  3. the foot won't fit

    이 구두는 발이 아파서 못 신겠어요.

    i gu-du-neun ba-ri a-pa-seo mot sin-ge-sseo-yo

    These shoes hurt my feet; I can't wear them.

    Inside the shoe the foot is pressed sideways until the toes start to ache

  4. your foot in someone else's shoe

    동생 운동화를 잘못 신고 왔어요.

    dong-saeng un-dong-hwa-reul jal-mot sin-go wa-sseo-yo

    I grabbed my sibling's trainers by mistake.

    Trainers snatched up at the entrance turn out bigger than your foot and flap with every step

  5. the same shoe, year after year

    이 장화는 십 년째 신고 있어요.

    i jang-hwa-neun sim-nyeon-jjae sin-go i-sseo-yo

    I've been wearing these boots for ten years.

    Ten years of the same foot going into the same boot have rubbed the sole smooth and shiny

All of it in one picture

신다 is one picture: a foot slides into a hollow and is wrapped by it. Push your foot into a slipper and you are 신다-ing it; pull a sock over your foot and that is 신다 too; let a shoe squeeze your foot and you cannot 신다 it. Slide your foot into someone else's trainers and you have 신다-ed the wrong pair; keep putting your foot in the same boot for ten years and you have 신다-ed it all that time. Korean keeps this verb for feet alone.

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