Commercial · youth & expectations
“남들은 우리더러 청춘을 즐기라는데, 가진 건 하나도 없고…”
A line about pressure, expectations, and the gap between what people say and how life feels.
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Video lesson
Short Korean commercial line about youth and expectations. Watch the scene in Korean, then scroll down on this page for a full breakdown of the nuance, vocabulary, and emotional tone.
1
Natural translation
남들은 우리더러 청춘을 즐기라는데, 가진 건 하나도 없고…
👉 Natural English:
“People keep telling us to enjoy our youth, but we don't have anything.”
You can also translate the second half more emotionally as:
“…but it's not like we actually have anything.”
This line isn’t just complaining about money. It captures the feeling of being told to be happy and carefree when, in reality, you don’t have the stability or resources that make that possible.
2
남들은 — "as for other people / they"
남들 literally means "other people" or "everyone else."
With -은 topic marker:
남들은 ≈ "People (you know, out there)…"
It often carries a nuance of mild annoyance, distance, or irony.
3
우리더러 — reported speech + expectationMembers
-더러 is used when someone tells or expects someone else to do something:
선생님이 저더러 일찍 오라고 하셨어요.
→ "The teacher told me to come early."
So 우리더러 … 하라는데 =
"They keep telling us to …"
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4
청춘을 즐기라는데 — "to enjoy our youth"
청춘 = youth (the period of life; often idealized)
즐기라는데 comes from:
즐기다 (to enjoy) + -(으)라 (command style) + -는데 (background, "they say / although")
Here, … 즐기라는데 is like:
"They're there telling us to 'enjoy our youth'…"
The -는데 at the end is important: it sets up a contrast with what comes next.
5
가진 건 하나도 없고 — "when we have nothing"
가진 건 is a shortened form of:
- 가지고 있는 것은 → "what we have"
- 하나도 없고 = "not even one; none at all + and…"
So together:
"when we don't have anything at all…"
The trailing -고… leaves the sentence emotionally hanging, which is very common in Korean monologues. It suggests unspoken feelings like:
- …so how are we supposed to enjoy it?
- …so it doesn't feel realistic.
6
Putting it all togetherMembers
A more expressive translation could be:
"People keep telling us to 'enjoy our youth', but it's not like we actually have anything…"
The line captures:
- Annoyance at vague advice from "others" (남들)
- Pressure to be happy and carefree
- Frustration about money, stability, reality
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7
Beginner tips (no grammar needed!)Members
- ⭐ "남들은" = “other people / everyone else”. Use it when you’re talking about what “they” say or think, a bit distant or annoyed.
- ⭐ "우리더러" = “they tell us / they expect us to…”. It’s about what others say we should do.
- ⭐ "청춘을 즐기라는데" = “they say, ‘enjoy your youth’…”. Feels like advice said from a distance.
- ⭐ "가진 건 하나도 없고…" = “but we don’t have anything…”. The sentence trails off, like a sigh.
- ⭐ The whole line feels like: “People keep telling us to enjoy our youth, but… we don’t actually have anything.”
Super simple meaning:
“They all say: ‘Enjoy your youth!’ but… we have nothing (no money, no stability), so it doesn’t feel that simple.”
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8
Quick quiz
What nuance does "남들은" often have?
"우리더러 청춘을 즐기라는데" most naturally feels like:
Which English line best matches "가진 건 하나도 없고…" in this context?
True or false: The overall line sounds happy and carefree about youth.
9
Real-life paraphrases & repliesMembers
Here are a few ways you might hear or echo this feeling in everyday Korean:
청춘 즐기라는데, 돈이 있어야 즐기죠.
"They say, ‘enjoy your youth,’ but you need money to enjoy it."
다들 청춘이라 좋겠대도, 가진 게 없으니까 그냥 버티는 거죠.
"People say youth is great, but when you don’t have anything, you’re just surviving."
즐기고 싶어도, 현실이 안 도와줘.
"Even if I want to enjoy it, reality doesn’t really help."
이런 말 들으면 그냥 웃으면서 넘기지만, 사실은 좀 씁쓸해요.
"When I hear stuff like that, I just laugh it off, but honestly it feels a bit bitter."
These paraphrases help you talk about the same feeling in your own words, not just quote the commercial line.
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