-아/어지다 (To Become + Adjective)

Examples: 
예쁘다 ---> 예뻐지다
to be pretty --- to become pretty 

조용하다 --- 조용해지다 
to be quiet--- to become quiet 

Some adjectives are used so frequently in the 여/야지다 construction that they are mostly considered as independent verbs and have direct English translations too. 

1. 
다르다 : to be different 
달라지다 : to change (to become different)
여기 많이 달라졌어요. 

2. 
좋다 : to be good 
좋아지다 : to improve, to get better 
한국말 실력이 많이 좋아졌어요. 

3. 
많다 : to be multiple 
많아지다 : to increase 
한국어 공부하는 사람이 많아졌어요. 

4.
없다 : to not exist, to not have 
없어지다 : to disappear 
내 가방이 아까 여기 있었는데 없어졌어요.

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aeterniti

on the way to work every day, I see an add that says 예뻐지 on it... good to know!

3 years ago·Reply

Aero2042

@aeternitii I think that's a little different, right @funkystar25 ? In that construction, the -지 means like "isn't it". So the verb is 예쁘다 [to be pretty] and if you want to say "it's pretty, isn't it" then you can say 예뻐지. (If you want to say "X got prettier, didn't it" then you'd say 예쁘졌지!

Like0

oh interesting! so that -지 is like -죠?

funkystar

@aero2042 yup you're completely right~ @aeternitii in that sense, yes. 죠 = 지+요 so it is the polite version of -지. If you're with a friend you might say "oh that dress is pretty" and use 예뻐지 but if you with someone senior to you or someone you should show respect to, you would use 예뻐죠!

danidee

I remember learning this grammar rule when I was listening to that one song "서울이 싫어졌어"! It's such a helpful piece of grammar. I use it when I talk about how I feel about studying Korean. Hahahah.