잘못을 인정하다.

The phrase '잘못을 인정하다' (jalmoseul injeonghada) literally translates to 'to acknowledge a wrong/fault'. * **잘못 (jalmot)**: This noun means 'wrong', 'fault', 'mistake', or 'error'. It's composed of '잘-' (jal-), a prefix meaning 'good' or 'well', and '-못' (-mot), a suffix or independent word indicating inability, failure, or something done incorrectly. Historically, '잘' meant 'good' or 'properly', and '못' meant 'not' or 'badly'. So, '잘못' implies something that was not done well or properly, leading to a mistake. * **을/를 (eul/reul)**: This is an object particle in Korean, marking '잘못' as the direct object of the verb. * **인정하다 (injeonghada)**: This verb means 'to acknowledge', 'to admit', 'to recognize', or 'to concede'. It is a compound word formed from: * **인정 (injeong)**: This noun means 'acknowledgment', 'admission', 'recognition', or 'approval'. It comes from Chinese characters (Hanja): * **認 (in)**: meaning 'to recognize', 'to acknowledge', 'to admit', or 'to concede'. * **定 (jeong)**: meaning 'to decide', 'to determine', 'to fix', or 'to establish'. * **하다 (hada)**: This is a very common Korean verb meaning 'to do', 'to make', or 'to become'. When attached to a noun (like '인정'), it turns the noun into a verb (e.g., '인정' (acknowledgment) + '하다' (to do) = '인정하다' (to acknowledge)). Therefore, '잘못을 인정하다' is a direct and clear expression of the action of admitting one's error, with its components reflecting the concepts of 'wrongdoing' and 'recognition' from both native Korean and Sino-Korean roots.