[Korean grammar] 만 하다 Expressing Degree

가: 우와! 저 개는 정말 크네요!
Wow! That dog is really big!
나: 네, 정말개가 송아지만 하네요.
Yeah, it’s as big as a calf.

가: 왜 유리창이 깨졌지? 누가 싸운 거야?
How did the glass window break? Did someone get in a fight?
나: 아니에요. 밖에서 누가 주먹만 한 돌을 던졌어요.
No. Someone threw a rock the size of a fist into it.

Used with nouns denoting a size, number, or amount, this expression indicates that the noun under discussion is approximately the same in size, amount, or degree as the noun. It is usually used in the form ‘N만 하다’ or N만 한 N.

• 고향에 있는 집도 지금 살고 있는 집 크기만 해요.
My house back home is just as big as the one I’m living in now.

• 아무리 편한 곳도 집만 한 곳은 없어요. 작기는 해도 우리 집이 제일 편해요.
No matter how comfortable a place may be, nowhere beats home. It may be small, but our house is the coziest.

• 열다섯 살인 동생의 키가 벌써 스무 살인 형만 하네요!
My 15-year-old little brother is already as tall as my 20-year-old big brother!

There are many idiomatic expressions that use N만 하다. A few are given below.
• 월급이 쥐꼬리만 해요.
(My) salary is the size of a rattail. (= meager, very small)

• 얼굴이 주먹만 해요.
(Someone’s) face is the size of a fist. (얼굴이 작다는 으| 미)

• 목소리가 작아서 모기 소리만 해요.
(Someone’s) voice is as small as a mosquito’s sound.

• 너무 놀라서 가슴이 콩알만 해졌어요.
(I) was so surprised that my heart shrank to the size of a bean. (= be terrified; be scared stiff)

• 형만 한 아우가 없다.
No younger brother is wiser than his older brother.

• 강아지 크기만 한 쥐
A rat as big as a puppy.

• 눈이 단춧구멍만 해요.
(Someone’s) eyes are the size of buttonholes. (= small)

• 어른 팔뚝만 한 물고기를 잡았어요.
(Someone) caught a fish the size of a grown man’s forearm. (= very big)

• 방이 운동장만 해요.
The room is as big as an athletic field.