韓国語日記翻訳【8】

I always stayed at the office until late at night. My coworker looked at me with worried eyes, but I’m good!

예전에는 항상 밤늦게까지 사무실에 남아 있었어요.
동료가 걱정스러운 눈빛으로 저를 봤지만, 저는 정말 괜찮아요!

解説

Here is a **full, mechanism‑level explanation** of each Korean sentence, with **meaning**, **grammar**, **syntax**, and **nuance** unpacked in detail.
I’ll go segment by segment so you clearly see how the sentence is constructed.

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# ⭐ Sentence 1
**예전에는 항상 밤늦게까지 사무실에 남아 있었어요.**

## 🌐 Overall Meaning
“In the past, I always stayed at the office until late at night.”

This describes a **habitual past action**.

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## 🧩 Grammar Breakdown

### **예전에는**
– **예전** — “the old days / before / previously.”
– **‑에는** — topic particle **은/는** attached to a time expression.
– Highlights the time frame as the topic: “as for before / in the past.”

→ “In the past…”

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### **항상**
– Adverb meaning **“always / consistently.”**
– Indicates habitual behavior.

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### **밤늦게까지**
Breakdown:

– **밤늦게** — “late at night.”
– **‑까지** — “until.”

→ “until late at night.”

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### **사무실에**
– **사무실** — “office.”
– **‑에** — location particle meaning “at / in.”

→ “at the office.”

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### **남아 있었어요**
This is the key verb phrase.

Breakdown:

– **남다** — “to remain / stay.”
– **남아** — connective form (verb stem + 아/어).
– **있었어요** — past tense of **있다**, used here as a **progressive / continuous marker**.

→ **남아 있다** = “to be staying / to remain (continuously).”
→ **남아 있었어요** = “was staying / remained.”

Nuance:
– More natural than simply *남았어요* because it expresses **ongoing presence**, not just the fact of remaining.

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### ✨ Full structure
**예전에는 + 항상 + 밤늦게까지 + 사무실에 + 남아 있었어요**

→ “In the past, I always stayed at the office until late at night.”