'-(으)니' in Seung Ki Lee's song '지금부터 사랑해'

Question today comes from Tan in Malaysia.

I'm now trying to understand the song "지금부터 사랑해" by 이승기,
and of course.. I'm facing some problems. :( Please help!!!

"지금 와서 보니 추억도 많더라"

- I'm eager to know how to use "보니", I know "보다" means "to see", but I wonder its usage right here means:

→"looking back"??? as there is an "오다" [back] before it... OR,

→ the "보니" is actually a grammar point which indicates "After doing..., I found out that...", or only the "-니" is having this indication, not the whole "보니"?

Many thanks!

Answer:
The concept of -(으)니' is when something in the first clause reaches to the point of the second clause. Depending on the context, meanings vary.

(1) The first clause provides temporal context for the second clause. For example:

12시가 되니, 배가 고픕니다.
Now that it's 12 o'clock, I feel hungry
되다 -> 되 + 니.

해가 떴으니, 일어나야지요.
The sun came up; it's time to get up.
뜨다 -> 뜨 + 었(past tense) +으니

(2) The first clause becomes a reason for the second clause.

Colloquially, modern Koreans seem to use '-(으)니까' more to mean this context. I use '-(으)니' quite a lot, and my younger native Korean friends tell me I sound 'aged'. :\

Anyway, examples:

시간이 없으니, 빨리 준비하세요.
We don't have time, so hurry up and get ready.
없다 -> 없 + 으니

오늘 늦게 일어났으니, 늦게까지 잠이 안오겠다.
I slept in this morning, so I won't get sleepy until late tonight.
일어나다 -> 일어나 + 았 (past) 으니

Now, let's take a look at your clause:

지금 와서 보니 추억도 많더라
Now that I look back, I see we've had many memories.
* Rough translation that may not mean what the lyrics really meant.

Obviously his memory was not "created because" he looked back. So this is temporal context.

To answer another one of your questions and clarify: It's not the verb root ("보다") that changes the meaning of it; it's the -(으)니 that changes the meaning.

Lastly, I don't think there's an "official tense rule" for the use of this grammar. But I can't think of any example people would use this grammar for future happenings. For future tense, it is more natural to use '-면' So to be safe, use '-(으)니' for present and past tense only.

가만히 생각해 보니, 내가 잘못했나봐.
Now that I think about it carefully, I think it was my fault.

가만히 생각해 보면 기억이 날꺼야.
Think about it carefully, and I will remember.

Practice
Using -(으)니, combine two sentences and conjugate verbs where necessary. Write down what they meant (in English please).

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1. 식사를 맛있게 하다. 노숙자들이 생각나다.
2. 즐겁게 놀다. 시간 가는 줄 모르다.
3. 몸이 불편하다. 오늘 일을 쉬다.
4. 하지 말라는 일을 하다. 큰일 나다.
5. 방학이 되다. 모두 가족 여행을 떠나다.

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ORIGINAL POST: http://koreanla.blogspot.com/2011/09/in-seung-ki-lees-song.html