얕다
yat-da
Why thin experience is talked about as shallow water
The picture You reach in and the bottom is right there, with nowhere further to go. 얕다 is hitting the bottom as soon as you reach in; 깊다 is reaching it only after a long way down.
Where the picture shows up in 얕다
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the bottom of the water is right there
여기는 물이 얕아서 아이도 놀 수 있어요.
yeo-gi-neun mu-ri ya-ta-seo a-i-do nol su i-sseo-yo
It's shallow here, so children can play too.
A child steps in and the soles hit sandy bottom at once, with water only up to the knees
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a cut that stops at the skin
상처가 얕으니까 약만 바르면 돼요.
sang-cheo-ga ya-teu-ni-kka yang-man ba-reu-myeon dwae-yo
The cut is shallow, so ointment is enough.
Only the surface skin has split, and the blood stands in small beads
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sleep floating at the surface
요즘 잠이 얕아요.
yo-jeum ja-mi ya-ta-yo
My sleep has been light lately.
The body floats just under the surface of the water and comes straight back up at one sound of a door
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a dish with a low rim
얕은 접시에는 국물을 담지 마세요.
ya-teun jeop-si-e-neun gung-mu-reul dam-ji ma-se-yo
Don't put soup in a shallow plate.
The rim is barely a finger-joint high, so the slightest tilt sends the broth over the edge
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only a thin layer has built up
아직 제 경험이 얕습니다.
a-jik je gyeong-heo-mi yat-seum-ni-da
My experience is still thin.
The days you have worked lie in one thin layer on the floor, and a single scoop shows bare ground
Used when you lower yourself modestly.
All of it in one picture
얕다 is one picture: the bottom is right there. A foot hits sand at once and the water is 얕다; a cut stops at the skin and the wound is 얕다. Sleep floating just under the surface breaks at one sound, and a low rim lets the soup spill. And when the days of experience lie in one thin layer on the floor, experience is 얕다.