Rather Adventurous -는 편이다

You enjoy hiking, but you would hesitate to call yourself an athlete. -는 편이다 describes a tendency with some room around it. When you make arrangements so that an activity is possible or safe, -게 gives the purpose or intended result.

A Tendency Rather Than an Absolute

편 means a side or category here. Action verbs take -는 편이다: 자주 걷는 편이에요. Adjectives take -(으)ㄴ 편이다: 조용한 편이에요, 작은 편이에요. It places someone roughly toward that side of a comparison.

Arrange Things So That It Can Happen

Verb or adjective stem + -게 can introduce the result you want the next action to make possible: 아이들도 먹게, 춥지 않게, 먹을 수 있게. The action after -게 is what you do to bring that result about. You will also meet adjective + -게 as an adverb of manner, such as 안전하게 타요, “ride safely”; here we focus on the purpose/result use.

Vocabulary