korean vocabulary

HowtoStudyKorean.com – Unit 1 – Lesson 1 1

한국 = Korea

도시 = city

이름 = name

저 = I

나 = I

남자 = man

여자 = woman

그 = that

이 = this

저 = that (when object is far away)

것 = thing

의자 = chair

탁자 = table

선생님 = teacher

이다 = to be

집 = house

차 = car

사람 = person

책 = book

컴퓨터 = computer

나무 = tree

네 = yes

아니 = no

소파 = sofa

중국 = China

일본 = Japan

문 = door

의사 = doctor

침대 = bed

사진 = picture

Greeting Words

When learning a language, people always want to learn “hello,” “please,” “how are you”

and “thank you” I know that. I know that you will be dying to know, so I will show you:

안녕하세요 = hello

감사합니다 = thank you

(Korean people don’t really say “please” and “how are you.” It’s not that they aren’t

polite; they just have a different way of expressing these words. You will learn these a

few lessons later).

Of course, it is important for you to memorize “hello” and “thank you” in Korean, but

you need to know that there is a reason why they are said that way. For now, don’t worry

about why they are said that way, and just memorize them. We’ll come back to them later.

Korean Sentence Structure

One of the hardest things to wrap your head around in Korean is the alien-like sentence

structure. Essentially, Korean sentences are written in the following order:

Subject – Object – Verb (I hamburger eat)

Or

Subject – Adjective (I beautiful)

It is incredibly important that you understand this from the very beginning. Every Korean

sentence MUST end in either a verb (like eat, sleep or walk) or an adjective (like

beautiful, pretty, and delicious). This rule is so important that I’m going to say it again:

Every Korean sentence MUST end in either a verb or adjective.

Things to indicate parts of speech (particles)

In addition to this sentence structure, most words in a sentence have a particle (a fancy

word to say ‘something’) attached to them. These particles indicate the role of each word

in a sentence. The following are the most common particles:


는 or 은 = goes after the subject of a sentence

Use 는 when the last letter of the last syllable is a vowel: 나 = 나는/저 = 저는

Use은 when the last letter of the last syllable is a consonant: 집 = 집은/책 = 책은

를 = goes after the object of a sentence

Use 를 when the last letter of the last syllable is a vowel: 나 = 나를/저 = 저를

Use을 when the last letter of the last syllable is a consonant: 집 = 집을/책 = 책을

에 = goes after the time and/or location indicated in a sentence

It is hard to translate these particles into English. But, for example:

I ate hamburgers at 3pm.

The word at in the sentence is essentially what 에 is doing in a Korean sentence.

If I were to write that sentence using Korean structure, it would look like this:

I는 hamburgers를 3pm에 ate

More examples:

I speak Korean = I는 Korean를 speak

I went to the park = I 는 park에 went

To be: 이다

Now it is time to learn how to make actual sentences in Korean using ‘to be.’ English

speakers don’t realize how difficult the word ‘be’ actually is in English. Look at the

following examples:

I am a man / He is a man / They are men

In each of those sentences, the word ‘be’ is represented by a different word (is/am/are)

depending on who is the subject of the sentence. Luckily, in Korean, the same word is

used to represent is, am and are. This word is 이다

The hard part about 이다 is that it is not a verb. It is not an adjective either, but it acts

like one. I always thought that ‘be’ was a verb in English but maybe it is not. I don’t

know because I’m not an English teacher. In any event, 이다 is not verb in Korean… nor

is it an adjective. However, it acts as an adjective.

Why is this important? I don’t want to teach you all about English grammar here, but this

one thing needs to be said: Sentences with adjectives do not have objects in them. Only

sentences with verbs have objects. Let’s look at some examples:

I eat hamburgers (eat is a verb, the object is a hamburger)

I meet my friend (meet is a verb, the object is my friend)

I study Korean (study is a verb, the object is Korean)

I listen to music (listen is a verb, the object is music)


All of those sentences have objects because there is a verb in the sentence. However, if I

were to say sentences with adjectives:

I am pretty

I am beautiful

Notice that there is never an object in a sentence with an adjective (unless you want to

say “I ate a delicious hamburger” – but that will come in a later lesson).

Okay, let’s see if we can do this. Remember, 이다 is an adjective:

I am a man – in Korean structure is:

I는 man am. Now use the words provided in the vocabulary lsit for “man,” “I” and “am”

저는 남자이다 = I am a man

저는 여자이다 = I am a woman

저는 선생님이다 = I am a teacher

저는 ______이다 = I am a _______

You can substitute any word into the blank space to make these sentences.

That ___/This_____

You can see in the vocabulary above that the word for “this” is 이 in Korean.

We use 이 in Korean when we are talking about something that is within touching

distance (this pen)

The words for “that” are 그 and 저. We use 그 when we are talking about something

from a previous sentence (I don’t like that man [when your friend mentioned him in a

previous sentence]. We use 저 when were are talking about something that we cannot

touch because it is too far away.

Using these is very simple and is just like English:

That person = 저 사람

This person = 이 사람

That man = 저 남자

That woman = 저 여자

Using This/That with 이다

Remember, 이다 can be used to say am/is/are. So, if we want to say this:

That person is a doctor

That person는 doctor is

그 사람은 의사이다

그 사람은 선생님이다 = that person is a teacher

이 것은 탁자이다 = this thing is a table

저 것은 침대이다 = that thing is a bed

그 사람은 남자이다 = that person is a man


Korean Particles: 이 and 가

In Lesson 1 you learned the simplest Korean particles. To review, you learned that:

는 or 은 are used to indicate the subject (or main person/thing) in a sentence.

를 or 을 are used to indicate the object in a sentence.

For example, in this sentence: “I ate a hamburger”

I is the subject of the sentence

Hamburger is the object

Eat is the verb

A new particle to learn in this lesson is 이 or 가. These particles are the same, but:

When the last letter of the last syllable of a word ends in a vowel, we use 가 (소파가)

When the last letter of the last syllable of a word ends in a consonant, we use 이 (책이)

What I am about to say is very difficult for English people to grasp. When I started

learning Korean, it took me months to understand this, and it was not because it was

difficult. Rather, nobody explained it to me in a way that allowed me to understand. I’ll

do my best to explain it to you.

When a part of a sentence is not the main clause of a sentence, we use 이 or 가 to

indicate the subject of that clause of the sentence. Let’s look at some examples:

I ate a hamburger

This sentence only has one clause. Therefore, we do not need to worry about using 이 or

가. If we wanted to write this sentence with Korean structure and particles, we would

write: I는 hamburger를 ate

나라 = country

가방 = backpack

창문 = window

잡지 = magazine

방 = room

안 = inside

위 = on top

밑 = bellow

옆 = beside

뒤 = behind

앞 = in front

여기 = here

냉장고 = refrigerator

개 = dog

강아지 = puppy

고양이 = cat

쥐 = puppy

펜 = pen

전화기 = phone

커피 = coffee

식당 = restaurant

건물 = building

텔레비전 = television

미국 = USA

캐나다 = Canada

호텔 = h otel

학교 = school

은행 = bank

있다 = to have

있다 = to be at/in a location


Another example: I listened to music

This sentence only has one clause. Therefore, we do not need to worry about using 이 or

가. If we wanted to write this sentence with Korean structure and particles, we would

write: I는 music를 listened

But, in this example:

When my mother ate a hotdog, I ate a hamburger.

In this sentence, there are two clauses. The main clause of the sentence is you eating a

hamburger. “When my mother ate a hotdog” is simply indicating when you ate a

hamburger. So, “when my mother ate a hotdog” is not the main clause of the sentence.

If we wanted to write this sentence with Korean structure and particles, we would write:

My mother가 hotdog를 ate when, I는 hamburger를 ate.

Let’s look at another example:

While my mother cooked vegetables, I listened to music

In this sentence, there are two clauses: The main part of the sentence is you listening to

music. “While my mother cooked” is simply indicating when you listened to music.

Therefore, “while my mother cooked” is not the main clause of the sentence.


My mother가 vegetables를 cooked while, I는 music를 listened.

있다 (to have)

Korean verbs are actually very easy to understand. Unfortunately, the three most difficult

verbs to understand are the three most common verbs. These three verbs are:

이다 = to be (which you learned in Lesson 1)

있다 = to have

있다 = to be in/at a location

It’s not that these three verbs are difficult, but rather that they are irregular compared to

most other verbs. You learned in Lesson 1 that 이다 (to be) acts as an adjective in Korean.

있다 (to have) is also acts an adjective in Korean.

Why is this important?

You learned in Lesson 1 that sentences with adjectives cannot have an object in them.

Thus, you cannot have a word with the particle 를/을 attached to it when there is an

adjective in a sentence (because 를/을 indicates an object in a sentence).

If this weren’t the case, we could do the following:

I have a pen

I 는 pen을 있다

저는 펜을 있다 = I have a pen


BUT, remember, 있다 acts as an adjective, so we cannot have an object in that sentence.

How do we get around this? Simple! We just use 이/가 instead of 를/을 in sentences with

있다. I said earlier that 이/가 are used to indicate the subject of a part of a sentence that

is not the main clause of that sentence. That is true, but 이/가 are also used to indicate the

thing that you have. Let’s look at some examples:

저는 펜이 있다 = I have a pen

저는 차가 있다 = I have a car

저는 잡지가 있다 = I have a magazine

저는 가방이 있다 = I have a backpack

있다 (to be at/in a location)

The thing that makes 있다 so difficult is that it can also mean “to be at/in a location.” In

Lesson 1 you learned about the particle 에 in Korean. This particle is used to indicate the

place and/or time of something in a sentence.

For example: I am at school


I는 school에 am at

저는 학교에 있다

Notice the very big difference (in meaning) between these two:

저는 학교가가가가 있다 = I have a school

저는 학교에에에에 있다 = I am at school

We can also use position words to indicate specifically where something is:

I am in front of the school

I 는 school in front에 am

저는 학교 앞에 있다

Notice that the position word is placed after the place you are talking about.

More examples

저는 학교 뒤에 있다 = I am behind the school

저는 학교 옆에 있다 = I am beside the school

저는 은행 안에 있다 = I am inside the bank

개는 집 안에 있다 = The dog is in the house

고양이는 의자 밑에 있다 = The cat is under the chair

저는 캐나다에 있다 = I am in Canada

식당은 은행 옆에 있다 = The restaurant is next to the bank

호텔은 학교 옆에 있다 = The hotel is next to the school


음식 = food

먹다 = eat

가다 = go

만나다 = meet

닫다 = close (to close something)

열다 = open

원하다 = want (an object, not an action)

만들다 = make

케이크 = cake

공항 = airport

병원 = museum

공원 = park

하다 = do

말하다 = speak

이해하다 = understand

한국어 = Korean (language)

크다 = big

작다 = small

새롭다 = new

낡다 = old (not age)

아주 = very

매우 = very

너무 = too

머리 = head

다리 = lead

손가락 = finger

귀 = ear

팔 = arm

눈 = eye

입 = mouth

배 = stomach

아름답다 = beautiful

뚱뚱하다 = fat/chubby

길다 = long

버스 = bus

배 = boat

좋다 = good

좋아하다 = to like (something)

비싸다 = expensive

싸다 = not expensive/cheap

Some Quick Notes about Korean Verbs and Adjectives

Okay, now it is time to get serious. Now it is time to start learning things that you can

apply to any verb or any adjective. There are a few things you need to know about

Korean verbs and adjectives:

1) I said this before (twice) but I’m going to say it again. Every Korean sentence must

end in either a verb or an adjective (this includes 이다 and 있다). Every sentence

absolutely must have a verb or adjective at the end of the sentence.

2) You should notice (it took me months to notice) that every Korean verb and adjective

ends with the syllable ‘다.’ 100% of the time, the last syllable in a verb or adjective must

be ‘다.’ Look up at the vocabulary from this lesson if you don’t believe me.

3) In addition to ending in ‘다’ many verbs and adjectives end with the two syllables

‘하다.’ ‘하다’ means ‘do.’ Verbs ending in 하다 are amazing, because you can simply

eliminate the ‘하다’ to make the noun form of that verb/adjective.

Confused? I was at first too. In fact, I don’t think I knew this until 3 months after I started

studying Korean – but it is something so essential to learning the language. It is confusing

to English speakers because we don’t realize that words can have a verb/adjective form

AND a noun form.

For example:


행복하다 = happy

행복 = happiness

성공하다 = succeed

성공 = success

말하다 = speak

말 = speech/words

성취하다 = achieve

성취 = achievement

취득하다 = acquire

취득 = acquisition

You don’t need to memorize those words yet (they are difficult), but it is important for

you to realize that ‘하다’ can be removed from words in order to create nouns.

Korean Verbs

We have already talked about verbs a little bit in previous lessons, but nothing has been

formally taught. You learned the basic verb sentence structure in Lesson 1. Let’s look at

this again. If you want to say “I eat food” you should know how to use the particles 는/은

and 를/을:

I eat food

I는 food를 eat

To make a sentence, you simply need to substitute the English words with Korean words:

저는 음식을 먹다

Let’s look at more examples:

저는 케이크를 만들다 = I make a cake

저는 배를 원하다 = I want a boat

저는 한국어를 말하다 = I speak Korean

저는 공원에 가다 = I go to the park (notice the particle 에)

저는 문을 닫다 = I close the door

저는 창문을 열다 = I open the window

Also, sentences don’t necessarily need to have an object:

저는 이해하다 = I understand

Korean Adjectives

Korean adjectives, just like Korean verbs always come at the end of a sentence. The main

difference between verbs and adjectives is that an adjective cannot act on an object.

Notice in the sentence ‘I am beautiful’ there is no object.

Adjectives are very easy to use. Just put them into the sentence with your subject:


저는 아름답다 = I am beautiful

저는 작다 = I am small

이 버스는 크다 = This bus is big

그 버스 정거장은 새롭다 = The bus station is new

이 공원은 매우 작다 = This park is very small

의 Possessive Particle

You already know that ‘I’ in Korean is 저/나. You also know the names of many objects.

Using 의 you can make sentences that indicate the owner/possessor of an object.

저 = I

책 = book

저의 책 = my book

선생님의 차 = the teacher’s car

저의 손가락 = my finger

You can use these words in sentences you already know (with verbs and adjectives):

선생님의 차는 크다 = The teacher’s car is big

저는 선생님의 차를 원하다 = I want the teacher’s car

저의 손가락은 길다 = my finger is long

좋다 and 좋아하다

The word 좋다 in Korean is an adjective that means “good.” Because 좋다 is an

adjective we can use it just like any other adjective:

이 음식은 좋다 = this food is good

그 선생님은 좋다 = that teacher is good

There is also 좋아하다 which is a verb meaning ‘to like.’ Because 좋아하다 is a verb,

can use it just like any other verb:

저는 이 음식을 좋아하다 = I like this food

저는 그 선생님을 좋아하다 = I like that teacher

좋아하다 gets formed by removing ‘다’ from 좋다 and adding 아 + 하다. There is a

reason for why this is done, and there is an explanation for how it is done - but you do not

need to know this yet. For now, just understand that:

좋다 is an adjective which cannot act on an object

좋아하다 is a verb which can act on an object


Common greeting words

I wish I could tell you not to worry about these. Of course, I can tell you “don’t worry

about these,” but I don’t think that will do. When learning a language, everybody wants

to learn these words as soon as possible. I understand that completely, but I have

purposely waited to teach you these types of words. In fact, I still don’t want to show

them to you – but at this point I am sure you are asking yourself “I’ve gotten this far and I

still don’t even know how to say ‘goodbye’ yet!”

In Korean, it is much easier to understand these words/phrases if you also understand

why they are used the way they are. If you can’t memorize them, that is okay. I still

maintain the position that you should put off memorizing these until you can

understand the grammar within them.

Nice to meet you: 만나서 반갑습니다

Excuse me: 실례합니다

Sorry: 죄송합니다/미안합니다

Please: 제발

Goodbye: 안녕히 가세요(said to a person leaving)

What is your name?: 이름이 뭐예요?

My name is: 저의 이름은 ______이다

Where are you from?: 어디에서 왔어요?

I am from: 저는 _______에서 왔어요

Goodbye: 안녕히 계세요 (said when you leave)

길 = street

거리 = street/road

우리 = we/us

오다 = come

끝나다 = to be finished

끝내다 = to finish something

하지만 = but

위험하다 = dangerous

잘생기다 = handsome

못생기다 = ugly

손 = hand

영어 = English

아내 = wife

아이 = child

아들 = son

딸 = daughter

남편 = husband

아버지 = father

어머니 = mother

배우다 = learn

연습하다 = practice

물 = water

걷다 = walk

사과 = apple

많다 = many/a lot of

춤추다 = dance

피곤하다 = tired

다르다 = different

알다 = know

편지 = letter

택시 = taxi

열차 = train

역 = train/subway station

버스 정류장 = bus station

배 = boat

비행기 = airplane

자전거 = bicycle

거기 = there

저기 = there (when farther away)

슬프다 = sad

맛 = taste

맛있다 = delicious

살다 = to live

식사 = meal

아침 = morning

아침식사 = breakfast

생각하다 = think

지금 = now

행복하다 = happy

재미있다 = funny


Using Adjectives ~ㄴ/은

Alright, this won’t help you understand those greeting words any better, but what you are

about to learn is a major step in learning Korean. You should remember these two

important facts from the previous lesson:

1. All sentences must end with either a verb or adjective

2. All verbs/adjectives end with the syllable ‘다’

Although both of those are true (and always will be), let’s look at them more deeply:

All sentences must end with either a verb or adjective

- Yes, but verbs and adjectives can ALSO go elsewhere in a sentence. In the previous

lesson, you learned this sentence:


But what if you want to say: “I want a big boat.” In that sentence, there is a verb and an

adjective. Where should we put the adjective? In Korean when describing a noun, the

adjective is placed in the same position as in English. For example:


저는 big 배를 원하다 = I want a big boat

Simple. So we just substitute the Korean word for big (크다) into that sentence?:

저는 크다 배를 원하다 = Not correct. Not by a long shot.

Remember that second rule I taught you?:

All verbs/adjectives end with the syllable ‘다’

- Yes, but the version of the word with ‘다’ as the last syllable is simply the dictionary

form of that word and is rarely used. Every verb/adjective in Korean has a ‘stem,’ which

is made up of everything preceding 다 in the dictionary form of the word. Let’s look at

some examples:

크다 = 크 (stem) + 다

작다 = 작 (stem) + 다

좋다 = 좋 (stem) + 다

배우다 = 배우 (stem) + 다

When you deal with a verb/adjective, you eliminate 다 and add something to the stem.

What you add depends on what you are doing. When you want to make an adjective that

can describe a noun, i.e.:

small boy

big boat

soft hand


you must eliminate ‘다’ and add ~ㄴ or 은 to the stem of the adjective.

Words in which the last syllable of the stem ends in a vowel (크다/비싸다/싸다) you

add ㄴ to the last syllable:

Words in which the last syllable of the stem ends in a consonant (작다/좋다/많다) you

add 은 to the stem:

Word Stem Adjective

that can

modify a

noun

Example

Translation

작다 작 작은 작은 남자 Small man

좋다 좋 좋은 좋은 아들 Good son

많다 많 많은 많은 돈 A lot of money

Looking back to what we were trying to write before:

I want a big boat = 저는 크다 배를 원하다 – incorrect

I want a big boat = 저는 큰큰큰큰 배를 원하다 - correct

The key to understanding this is being able to realize the difference between these two:

음식은 비싸다 = the food is expensive

비싼 음식 = expensive food

The first example is a sentence. The second example is not a sentence. The second

sentence needs more words in order for it to be a sentence. You need to add either a verb

or adjective that is acting on the noun (expensive food). For example:

저는 비싼 음식을 먹다 = I eat expensive food

비싼 음식은 맛있다 = Expensive food is delicious

More examples of using adjectives to describe words within a sentence:

저는 작은 집에 가다 = I go to the small house

저는 잘생긴 남자를 만나다 = I meet a handsome man

저는 많은 돈이 있다 = I have a lot of money

Word Stem Adjective

that can

modify a

noun

Example

Translation

크다 크 큰 큰 배 Big boat

비싸다 비싸 비싼 비싼 음식 Expensive food

싸다 싸 싼 싼 것 Cheap thing


If you can translate the following, you understand:

잘생긴 남자는 차 안에 있다 = The handsome man is inside the car

Also, some adjectives play by a different rule. There is a reason for this rule, but you will

understand it better when I explain it in another lesson. For now just memorize it.

Whenever an adjective ends in “있다” instead of attaching 은 to the stem, you must

attach 는 to the stem. For example:

그 남자는 재미있는 남자이다 = that man is a funny person

저는 맛있는 음식을 먹다 = I eat delicious food

많다

One adjective that is a little bit different than other s is 많다. When it is used as 많은

__(noun)__ it simply means “a lot of/many ______”

For example:

저는 많은 음식을 먹다 = I eat a lot of food

저는 많은 돈이 있다 = I have a lot of money

저는 많은 아내가 있다 = I have a lot of wives (ha!)

But when it is placed at the end of the sentence, it has the meaning of “there is a lot of.”

For example:

사람은 많다 = there is a lot of people

음식은 많다 = there is a lot of food

~ Particle도

도 is another particle that is very useful in Korean. It has the meaning of “too/as well.” It

can be used to substitute 는/은 OR 를/을, depending on the situation:

그 것도 크다 = that thing is big as well

저도 한국어를 말하다 = I speak Korean as well

Make sure you notice the difference between the following. In English these two are

written the same, but sound different when speaking.

(the English translations are in the past tense – but the Korean ones are not – you do not

yet know how to conjugate in the past tense, so I did not conjugate them. See the next

lesson!)

저도 사과를 먹다 = I ate apples as well

저는 사과도 먹다 = I ate apples as well

Notice the difference in pronunciation in English. The first one has the meaning of “other

people ate some apples, but I too ate some apples.”

The second example has the meaning of “I ate some other food as well, but I also ate

apples.”

형 = older brother, when you are a man

오빠 = older brother when you are a woman

누나 = older sister, when you are a man

어니 = older sister, when you are a woman

삼촌 = uncle

이모 = aunt (on mother’s side)

고모 = aunt (on father’s side)

아저씨 = older man not related to you

아주머니 = older woman not related to you

할아버지 = grandfather

할머니 = grandmother

친구 = friend

사진 = picture

안경 = glasses

비밀 = secret

비 = rain

가게 = store/shop

보고싶다 = to miss a person

지루하다 = boring

마르다 = a person to be too thin

오래되다 = an object to be old

멀다 = to be far away

마르다 = to be dry

비슷하다 = similar

기대하다 = to expect

건너다 = to cross (a road/etc)

던지다 = to throw

시도하다 = to try/attempt something

싫다 = to not be good

싫어하다 = to not like

떠나다 = to leave somewhere

년 = year

오늘 = today

일 = day

월요일 = Monday

화요일 = Tuesday

수요일 = Wednesday

목요일 = Thursday

금요일 = Friday

토요일 = Saturday

일요일 = Sunday

어제 = Yesterday

내일 = tomorrow

모래 = the day after tomorrow

박물관 = museum

가스 레인지 = stove (gas range)

오리 = duck (animal)

시간 = time

농담하다 = to joke

꼬리 = tail

How to say “you”

You may have noticed that I still haven’t taught you the word “you” yet. I know this is

weird, but the word ‘you’ is not said often in Korean. Korean people get around saying

the word ‘you’ through a number of ways:

1) Most of the time, you use somebody’s (usually job) position when referring to

them or talking about them. For example, boss (부장님), principal (교장선생님),

vice principal (교감선생님), Mr. Name (for a teacher) (Name선생님), customer

(고객님), guest (손님), 회장님/사장님 (president/CEO of a company).

2) It is common in Korean to refer to people you are close with as a family member.

오빠 means “older brother” (when you are a woman). But even if somebody is

not your older brother, you can call him ‘오빠’ if you are close to him.

3) You can usually call any woman or man that looks very old “grandmother” and

“grandfather” (할머니/할아버지). But other than that, you don’t really call

somebody part of your family unless you are close with that person.

4) You can generally call any strange man or woman that you don’t know ‘아저씨’

(man) and ‘아주머니’ (woman).

5) If somebody is younger than you, you can use the word “you” which is: 너.

6) The word “당신” means “you.” You may use this word when talking to anybody,

but Korean people rarely use it. Most people that say ‘당신’ are foreigners and

only do so because they are so used to saying “you” in English.

Basic Conjugation: Past, Present, Future

Every sentence that you have learned thus far has not been conjugated. I’m sorry to say

this, but all the sentences you have learned so far would never actually be used in Korean

because they are not conjugated. I felt you needed to know basic sentence structure

before you learned how to conjugate. The good news, however is that conjugating in

Korean is much easier than other languages (including English and especially French!).

An important note before you begin

This lesson will show you how to conjugate past/present/future verbs in the most basic

way. Although all of these conjugations are grammatically correct, they are rarely used in

conversation. This form is sometimes called “diary form” because it is usually used when

writing to yourself in a diary. It is also used when writing a test, book (not in dialogue),

research paper, newspaper article, magazine article, and other times when you are not

speaking/writing to a specific audience.

Though not important in conversation, these conjugations are incredibly important if you

want to understand more complex grammar later on.

The only part of speech that gets conjugated in Korean is verbs and adjectives. As you

already know, a sentence must end in either a verb or adjective.

Verbs

Present Tense

1) When the last syllable of the stem ends in a consonant, you add 는다 to the stem:

a. 먹다 = 먹는다 = to eat (먹 + 는다)

b. 닫다 = 닫는다 = to close (닫 + 는다)

2) When the last syllable of the stem ends in a vowel, you add ㄴ to the last syllable

followed by 다

a. 배우다 = 배운다 = to learn (배우 + ㄴ다)

b. 이해하다 = 이해한다 = to understand (이해하 + ㄴ다)

c. 가다 = 간다 = to go (가 + ㄴ다)

Past Tense

Before you learn this, you need to know something important. From now on, there will be

thousands of other times when you will need to follow this same rule. Usually, when you

add something to a verb/adjective, it has to be done in the following fashion:

- If the last vowel in a stem is ㅏ or ㅗ (except 하) you add 아 PLUS whatever else

you are adding.

- If the last vowel in a stem is anything but ㅏ or ㅗ you add 어 PLUS whatever

you are adding.

For conjugating in the past tense, you need to add 았다 or 었다 to the stem of a word. So,

았다 is added to words with the last vowel being ㅗ or ㅏ and 었다 is added to words

with the last vowel being anything but ㅏ or ㅗ. For example:

저는 먹다 = I eat

The last vowel in the stem is ㅓ. This is not ㅏ or ㅗ. So, we add 었다 to the stem:

저는 먹었다 = I ate (먹 + 었다)

저는 문을 닫다 = I close the door

The last vowel in the stem is ㅏ. So we add 았다 to the stem:

저는 문을 닫았다 = I closed the door (닫 + 았다)

저는 창문을 열다 = I open the window

The last vowel in the stem is ㅕ. This is not ㅏ or ㅗ. So we add 었다 to the stem:

저는 창문을 열었다 = I opened the window (열 + 었다)

What makes this complicated (at first) is that for verbs that have a last syllable that end in

a vowel, the 았다/었다 gets merged to the actual stem itself. This is how 아 and 어

merge with syllables ending in a vowel:

아 + 아 = 아 (example: 가 + 았다 = 갔다)

오 + 아 = 와 (example: 오+ 았다 = 왔다)

우 + 어 = 워 (example: 배우+ 었다 = 배웠다)

이 + 어 = 여 (example: 끼+ 었다 = 꼈다)

어 + 어 = 어 (example: I can’t think of one)

여 + 어 = 여 (example: 켜다 = 켰다)

** When the last syllable of a word is 하, it gets conjugated irregularly (thousands of

words end with the stem 하). Instead of adding 아 or 어 to the stem, you add 여 to word

stems that end in 하. (하+여 = 하여). 하여 gets shortened to 해 most of the time:

하 + 여 = 해 (example: 이해하 + 였다 = 이해하였다 = 이해했다)

Words where the last vowel is ㅡ, it is complicated and will be covered in a later lesson

Here is a more detailed breakdown:

저는 가다 = I go

The last vowel in the stem is ㅏ. So we add 았다 to the stem.

저는 가았다

But, because the stem ends in a vowel, 았다 can merge with 가:

저는 갔다 = I went

저는 오다 = I come

The last vowel in the stem is ㅗ. So we add 았다 to the stem.

저는 오았다

But, because the stem ends in a vowel, 았다 can merge with 오:

저는 왔다 = I came

저는 배우다 = I learn

The last vowel in the stem is ㅜ. So we add 었다 to the stem.

저는 배우었다

But, because the stem ends in a vowel, 었다 can merge with 우:

저는 배웠다 = I learned

Future Tense

Future tense is easy, and is simply a matter of adding 겠다 to the stem of a word:

저는 먹다 = I eat

저는 먹겠다 = I will eat

저는 가다 = I go

저는 가겠다 = I will go

저는 배우다 = I learn

저는 배우겠다 = I will learn

Check out the table giving a breakdown of verbs in the past, present and future forms:

Verb Stem Past tense Present tense Future tense

먹다 먹 먹었다 먹는다 먹겠다

닫다 닫 닫았다 닫는다 닫겠다

배우다 배우 배웠다 배운다 배우겠다

가다 가 갔다 간다 가겠다

이해하다 이해하 이해했다 이해한다 이해하겠다

오다 오 왔다 온다 오겠다

던지다 던지 던졌다 던진다 던지겠다

Adjectives

Present tense

You learned earlier that you must add ㄴ/는 to a verb stem in order to conjugate it to the

present tense. In order to conjugate an adjective to the present tense you don’t need to do

anything! Just leave the adjective as it is, and it is conjugated in the present tense.

그 선생님은 아름답다 = that teacher is beautiful

그 길은 길다 = that street is long

저의 손은 크다 = my hand is big

Past tense

In order to conjugate adjectives to the past tense, you must follow the same rule as when

you conjugate verbs to the past tense. This rule, again, is:

You must add 았다 or 었다 to the stem of a word. 았다 is added to words with

the last vowel being ㅗ or ㅏ, and 었다 is added to words with the last vowel

being anything but ㅏ or ㅗ. For example:

그 길은 길었다 = That street was long (길 + 었다)

그 음식은 맛있었다 = That food was delicious (맛있 + 었다)

그 선생님은 좋았다 = That teacher was good (좋 + 았다)

As with verbs, if the final letter of a verb/adjective stem is a vowel, 았다/었다 is merged

to the actual stem itself:

이 것은 비쌌다 = This thing (it) was expensive (비싸 + 았다)

그 남자는 잘생겼다 = That man was handsome (잘생기 + 었다)

그 사람은 뚱뚱했다 = That person was fat (뚱뚱하 + 였다)

Future tense

Conjugating adjectives into the future tense is the same as conjugating verbs into the

future tense. All you need to do is add 겠다 to the stem of the adjective:

저는 행복하겠다 = I will be happy

그 것은 맛있겠다 = That thing will be delicious

저는 배고프겠다 = I will be hungry

In general, not only is this basic form rare in conversation, but Korean people do not use

adjectives in the future as often as English speakers.

Adjective Stem Past tense Present tense Future tense

행복하다 행복하 행복했다 행복하다 행복하겠다

비싸다 비싸 비쌌다 비싸다 비싸겠다

길다 길 길었다 길다 길겠다

맛있다 맛있 맛있었다 맛있다 맛있겠다

낡다 낡 낡았다 낡다 낡겠다

Conjugating 있다 and 있다

You learned in Lesson 2 that there are two meanings for the word 있다.

One of the meanings is “to have” and is considered an adjective. You learned these

sentences in Lesson 2:

저는 펜이 있다 = I have a pen

저는 차가 있다 = I have a car

저는 가방이 있다 = I have a bag

Because this 있다 is considered an adjective, we follow the rule for conjugating an

adjective to the present tense – which is do nothing and leave the adjective the way it is.

So, those three sentences above are perfectly conjugated and grammatically correct.

But, the other meaning of 있다 is “to be in/at a location” and is considered a verb. You

learned these sentences in Lesson 2:

저는 은행 안에 있다 = I am inside the bank

개는 집 안에 있다 = The dog is in the house

고양이는 의자 밑에 있다 = The cat is under the chair

Because this 있다 is considered a verb, we follow the rule for conjugating a verb to the

present tense – which is add ㄴ/는다 to the stem of the verb.

저는 은행 안에 있는다 = I am inside the bank

개는 집 안에 있는다 = The dog is in the house

고양이는 의자 밑에 있는다 = The cat is under the chair

BUT! Though this is true, Korean people would still say “저는 학교에 있다” and not see

anything wrong with it. In fact, it is actually more common to use 있다 instead of 있는다

in these sentences.

The reverse, however, is not true. You could never substitute 있는다 for 있다:

저는 돈이 있다 = okay

저는 돈이 있는다 = incorrect

저는 학교에 있는다 = grammatically correct, not used in conversation

저는 학교에 있다 = used in conversation more than the above example


신발 = shoe

남방 = shirt

질문 = question

문제 = question/problem

노력하다 = try

앉다 = sit

만지다 = touch

자다 = sleep

나이 = age

화장실 = toilet

먹다 = eat

보다 = compare/see

주 = week

곧 = soon

항상 = always

부장님 = boss

분위기 = the atmosphere of something

차 = tea

기다리다 = wait

바지 = pants

교실 = classroom

급식 = food at school

교감선생님 = vice principal

교장선생님 = principal

놀라다 = surprised

병 = water bottle

병 = disease/sickness

약속 = promise

생선 = fish

야채 = vegetable

언덕 = hill

선물 = present

빠르다 = fast

느리다 = slow

기타 = guitar

듣다 = hear

들어보다 = listen

착하다 = nice

종이 = paper

그만하다 = stop

우유 = milk

운동하다 = exercise

손목 = wrist

시계 = watch/clock

손목시계 = wristwatch

아래 = bottom

청소하다 = clean

돕다 = help

풀 = glue

수도 = capital city

Conjugating with Honorifics

In Lesson 5, you learned how to conjugate verbs and adjectives into the past, present and

future forms. You also learned that those conjugations are hardly ever used in speech and

are most often used when writing a book, test, article or diary. In this lesson, you will

learn the basic word conjugations that are more commonly used in speech.

What are Honorifics in Korean?

To this point, you haven’t learned anything about Honorifics. In Korean, depending on

who you are speaking to, you must use different conjugations of the same word. The

different conjugations imply respect and politeness to the person you are speaking to.

Depending on that person’s age and seniority, you must speak differently to that person.

The reason this is so hard for English speakers to understand is that we have nothing like

this in English. We can make some sentences sound polite by adding ‘please’ and ‘thank

you,’ but you can only use those words in a limited amount of sentences. For example, if

somebody asked you “where did you go yesterday?” You could respond:

I went to school yesterday.


In English, regardless of whether you were speaking to your girlfriend’s grandfather or

your best friend, that sentence would look and sound exactly the same. In Korean, you

must use a higher respect form when speaking to somebody older or higher in position.

I started learning Korean a few months before I moved to Korea. I was not studying very

hard or often, so my Korean was extremely basic. When I arrived at the airport in Seoul,

was driven directly to my school and introduced to my principal immediately. My

principal said “I am happy you are working at my school,” to which I replied:

나도 (the lower respect form of saying “me too”)

Instead of being impressed that I ate least knew some words in Korean, the look on his

face was as if somebody had just kidnapped his daughter.

Never, never underestimate the importance of honorific endings in Korean.

Keep in mind that all these conjugations with different honorific endings have exactly the

same meaning. You will learn how to conjugate using honorifics in the following ways:

1) Informal low respect

When talking with friends, people you are close with, younger people and family.

2) Informal high respect

Used in most situations, even in formal situations despite being called “informal.”

This is usually the way most people speak when they are trying to show respect.

3) Formal high respect

This is a very high respect form that is used when addressing people who deserve a

lot of respect from you. It is hard to describe perfectly, but honestly, the difference

between ‘Informal high respect’ and ‘Formal high respect’ is not very big. As long as

you speak in either of these two ways, you will not offend anyone.

Before you start! Remember the rule you learned in Lesson 5: When adding something to

a word stem, if the last vowel in the stem is ㅏ or ㅗ, you must add 아 plus whatever you

are adding. If the last vowel is anything other than ㅏ or ㅗ, you must add 어 plus

whatever you are adding. If the syllable of the stem is 하, you add 하여 which can be

shortened to 해.

Verbs

Present Tense

You learned in Lesson 5 how to conjugate verbs to the present tense by adding ㄴ/는다

to the stem of the word. To review:

저는 먹다 = I eat (not conjugated)

저는 먹는다 = I eat (conjugated – present tense)


저는 배우다 = I learn (not conjugated)

저는 배운다 = I learn (conjugated – present tense)

There are three more conjugations in the present tense that you should be aware of.


All you need to do is add ~어/아/여 to the stem of the verb:

나는 항상 저녁에 음식을 먹어 = I always eat food in the evening (먹 + 어)

나는 너의 선생님을 항상 봐 = I always see my teacher (보 + 아)

나는 항상 아침에 운동해 = I always exercise in the morning (운동하 + 여)


This is done the exact same way as ‘Informal low respect’ but you also add ‘요’ to the

end of the word. Adding 요 to the end of anything in Korean makes it more respectful:

저는 항상 저녁에 음식을 먹어요 = I always eat food in the evening (먹 + 어요)

저는 저의 선생님을 항상 봐요 = I always see my teacher (보 + 아요)

저는 항상 아침에 운동해요 = I always exercise in the morning (운동하 + 여요)


This is done very similar to the conjugation you learned in Lesson 5 – that is, adding

ㄴ/는다 to the stem of the word. To conjugate using the Formal high respect honorific

ending, you add ㅂ니다/습니다 to the end of the word stem. If a word stem ends in a

vowel, you add ㅂ to the last syllable and 니다 follows. If a word stem ends in a

consonant, you add 습니다 to the word stem.

저는 항상 저녁에 음식을 먹습니다 = I always eat food in the evening (먹 + 습니다)

저는 저의 선생님을 봅니다 = I always see my teacher (보 + ㅂ니다)

저는 항상 아침에 운동합니다 = I always exercise in the morning (운동하 + ㅂ니다)

Past Tense

You learned in Lesson 5 how to conjugate verbs to the past tense by adding

었다/았다/였다 to the stem of the word. To review:


저는 먹었다 = I ate (conjugated – past tense)


저는 배웠다 = I learned (conjugated – past tense)

The three new conjugations should be very simple for you now:



Instead of adding 었다/았다/였다 to a word stem, remove 다 and add 어 after 었/았/였:

나는 먹었어 = I ate (먹 + 었어)

나는 들어봤어 = I listened (들어보 + 았어)

나는 운동했어 = I exercised (운동하 + 였어)


Just add 요 to the end of the Informal low respect conjugations:

저는 먹었어요 = I ate (먹 + 었어요)

저는 들어봤어요 = I listened (들어보 + 았어요)

저는 운동했어요 = I exercised (운동하 + 였어요)


After adding 었/았/였 instead of adding 다 add 습니다:

저는 먹었습니다 = I ate (먹 + 었습니다)

저는 들어봤습니다 = I listened (들어보 + 았습니다)

저는 운동했습니다 = I exercised (운동하 + 였습니다)

Future Tense

You learned in Lesson 5 how to conjugate verbs to the future tense by adding 겠다 to the

stem of the word. To review:


저는 먹겠다 = I will eat (conjugated – future tense)


저는 배우겠다 = I will learn (conjugated – future tense)

The three new conjugations should be very simple for you now:


Instead of adding 겠다 to a word stem, remove 다 and add 어 after 겠:

나는 먹겠어 = I will eat (먹 + 겠어)

나는 배우겠어 = I will learn (배우 + 겠어)


Just add 요 to the end of the Informal low respect conjugations:

저는 먹겠어요 = I will eat (먹 + 겠어요)

저는 배우겠어요 = I will learn (배우 + 겠어요)



After겠 instead of adding 다 add 습니다:

저는 먹겠습니다 = I will eat (먹 + 겠습니다)

저는 배우겠습니다 = I will learn (배우 + 겠습니다)

Try looking at all the verb conjugations you know together in one table. This table will

include the conjugation you learned in Lesson 5, often called “Formal low respect”

먹다 Past Present Future

Informal low 먹었어 먹어 먹겠어

Informal high 먹었어요 먹어요 먹겠어요

Formal low 먹었다 먹는다 먹겠다

Formal high 먹었습니다 먹습니다 먹겠습니다

자다 Past Present Future

Informal low 잤어 자 자겠어

Informal high 잤어요 자요 자겠어요

Formal low 잤다 잔다 자겠다

Formal high 잤습니다 잡니다 자겠습니다

이해하다 Past Present Future

Informal low 이해했어 이해해 이해하겠어

Informal high 이해했어요 이해해요 이해하겠어요

Formal low 이해했다 이해한다 이해하겠다

Formal high 이해했습니다 이해합니다 이해하겠습니다

Adjectives

Thankfully, adjectives are conjugated the exact same way as verbs when conjugating

with these three honorific endings. The major difference in conjugating adjectives and

verbs is when conjugating in the most basic form (which we did in Lesson 5). To

conjugate adjectives with ‘Informal low respect,’ Informal high respect’ and Formal high

respect,’ follow the same rules as verbs:

비싸다 Past Present Future

Informal low 비쌌어 비싸 비싸겠어

Informal high 비쌌어요 비싸요 비싸겠어요

Formal low 비쌌다 비싸다 비싸겠다

Formal high 비쌌습니다 비쌉니다 비싸겠습니다


길다 Past Present Future

Informal low 길었어 길어 길겠어

Informal high 길었어요 길어요 길겠어요

Formal low 길었다 길다 길겠다

Formal high 길었습니다 깁니다 * 길겠습니다

*Irregular conjugation. You will learn about irregulars a few lessons later.

착하다 Past Present Future

Informal low 착했어 착해 착하겠어

Informal high 착했어요 착해요 착하겠어요

Formal low 착했다 착하다 착하겠다

Formal high 착했습니다 착합니다 착하겠습니다

Saying “I” Politely

You probably noticed by now, but there are two ways (well, 4 actually) to say “I” in

Korean. One of them is considered polite, and the other one is considered casual.

저 is considered polite

나 is considered casual

In addition, when you add the subject marker particle 가 to 저 or 나 (to identify that “I”

is the subject of a part of a sentence), 저 changes to 제 – 나 changes to 내

저는 and 나는 = used when “I” is the subject of the main part of the sentence

제가 and 내가 = used when “I” is the subject of a part of a sentence which is not the

main part. For example:

When I came home, my mother made a hamburger.

“I” is only the subject of the part of the sentence which is indicating the time that your

mother made a hamburger. “My mother” is the subject of the entire sentence. In cases

like this, you would used 제가/내가 to represent “I”.


쉽다 = easy

덥다 = hot

그립다 = to miss (a thing)

귀엽다 = cute

춥다 = cold

어렵다 = difficult

더럽다 = dirty

놀라다 = surprising

눈썹 = eyebrow

찾다 = search for

지각 = late

일찍 = early

공부하다 = study

가르치다 = teach

반 = class of students in school

바쁘다 = busy

일하다 = work

직장 = location of work

교사 = teacher

학생 = student

오전 = morning

오후 = afternoon

짓다 = build

딱딱하다 = hard

부드럽다 = soft

생일 = birthday

시험 = test/exam

애기 = baby

맞다 = correct

벽 = wall

털 = hair (not on head)/fur

머리카락 = hair (on head)

매일 = everyday

여름 = summer

가을 = fall

겨울 = winter

봄 = spring

안전하다 = safe

잠그다 = to lock something

잊다 = forget

돕다 = help

주다 = give

같다 = same

저녁식사 = dinner

저녁시간 = evening time

점심식사 = lunch

점심시간 = lunch time

가능하다 = possible

불가능하다 = impossible

가지다 = own/possess

Irregulars

As with all languages, there are some irregular conjugations that you need to know. The

irregulars apply any time you add 아아아아/어어어어/여여여여 (or another vowel/consonant) to a

verb/adjective stem (aside from conjugating, you have yet to learn other times when you

must add another vowel/consonant to a word. You will learn about these later).

ㅅ Irregular

If the last letter of a word stem ends in ㅅ (짓다 = to make/build), the ㅅ gets removed

when adding a vowel. This is only done with verbs. For example, when conjugating:

짓다 = to make/build

짓 + 어 = 지어

나는 집을 지어 = I build a house

짓 + 었어요 = 지었어요

저는 집을 지었어요 = I built a house


Notice that this only happens when adding a vowel (in this case – 어/아/여). When in the

most basic (formal low respect), for example, you only add “는다” to the stem and thus

ㅅ does not get removed:

저는 집을 짓는다 = I build a house.

The reason this irregular is done is to avoid changing the sound of a word completely

after conjugating it.

Pronouncing 짓다 sounds like ‘jit-da.’

Pronouncing 지어 sounds like ‘ji-uh’

Pronouncing 짓어 sounds like ‘jis-suh’

The third one (which is incorrect) completely changes the sound of the word stem when a

vowel is added (from ‘jit’ to ‘jis.’ Whereas in the second one, the sound of the word stem

only changes from ‘jit’ to ‘ji,’ which is much smaller of a difference (especially

considering the ‘t’ in the pronunciation of 짓 is very small. I know that is confusing, but

if you can’t understand why it is done, that’s fine. Just know that it must be done).

This is done to most stems ending in ㅅ, common words that this does not apply to are:

웃다 (to laugh) = 저는 웃었어요 = I laughed

벗다 (to take off clothes) = 저는 저의 옷을 벗었어요 = I took off my clothes

씻다 (to wash) = 저는 저의 손을 씻었어요 = I washed my hands

ㄷ irregular

If the last letter of a word stem ends in ㄷ (걷다 = to walk), the ㄷ gets changed to ㄹ

when adding a vowel. This is only done with verbs. For example:

걷다 = to walk

걷 + 어 = 걸어

저는 걸어요 = I walk

걷 + 었어요 = 걸었어요

저는 걸었어요 = I walked

I don’t mean to confuse you, but I will:

걷다 means “to walk.” When conjugating, by adding a vowel it changes to 걸어

Another meaning of 걷다 is “to tuck.” But this meaning of 걷다 does not follow the

irregular rule. So, when conjugating, by adding a vowel is simply stays as 걷어. In

addition, 걸다 means “to hang.” When conjugating, by adding a vowel it stays as 걸어


Confusing enough? Lets look at all three:

걷다

To walk

걷다

To tuck

걸다

To hang

Past Formal 걸었어요 걷었어요 걸었어요

Present Formal 걸어요 걷어요 걸어요

Future Formal 걷겠어요 걷겠어요 걸겠어요

Honestly, though, the whole 걷다/걷다/걸다 thing is probably the most confusing part of

this conjugation, and don’t worry too much about it. “Walk” is a word that is used much

more frequently than “tuck,” so don’t worry about it too much.

The reason this conjugation is done is simply because the sounds flows off your tongue

better. It is similar to pronouncing the word “butter” in English. When pronouncing

“butter” we don’t say “butt-tter,” we just say “bud-er.” Like the ㄷ irregular, it is simply

to avoid saying a hard consonant.

This is done to most stems ending in ㄷ, common words that this does not apply to (like

걷다 = to tuck) are:

받다 (to get/receive) = 저는 돈을 받았어요 = I received money

묻다 = 묻어요 (to bury) = 저는 저의 강아지를 묻었어요 = I buried my dog

닫다 = 닫아요 (to close) = 저는 문을 닫았어요 = I closed the door

ㅂ Irregular

If the last letter of a word stem ends in ㅂ (쉽다 = easy), the ㅂ gets changed to 우 in all

cases except for if the final vowel of the word stem is ㅗ. If the final vowel of the stem is

ㅗ, the ㅂ is changed to 오. 우/오 then gets added to the next syllable in the conjugated

word. This is most done with adjectives. Many verbs end with ㅂ but this rule is rarely

applied to verbs (the only verb I can think of where this applies is 줍다 = pick up).

쉽다 = to be easy

쉽 + 어 = 쉬 + 우 + 어 = 쉬워

그 것은 쉬워 = That thing is easy

어렵다 = to be difficult

어렵 + 었어요 = 어려 + 우 + 었어요 = 어려웠어요

그 것은 어려워요 = That was difficult

돕다 = to help

돕 + 았어요 = 도 + 오 + 았어요 = 도왔어요

저는 저의 어머니를 도왔어요 = I helped my mother


Because this irregular is found in adjectives, you will be conjugating it not only at the end

of a sentence, but also in the middle of a sentence (before a noun). Remember the

difference between these two sentences.

사과는 크다 = The apple is big

저는 큰 사과를 좋아한다 = I like big apples

In the first sentence, ‘big’ is an adjective that is acting on the noun (apple).

In the second, ‘big’ describes the apple (as ‘a big apple’) and then “like” acts on the noun.

귀엽다 = cute

귀엽 + 어요 = 귀여 + 우 + 어요 = 귀여워요

그 여자는 귀여워요 That girl is cute

But when making an adjective that modifies a noun, we add ㄴ/은. When modifying

nouns with the ㅂ irregular, you add ㄴ to the newly formed 우/오 syllable:

귀엽 + ㄴ = 귀여 + 우 + ㄴ = 귀여운

저는 귀여운 여자를 좋아해요 = I like cute girls

More examples:

쉽다 = easy

쉬 + 우 + ㄴ = 쉬운

저는 쉬운 일을 했어요 = I did easy work

부드럽다 = soft

부드러 + 우 + ㄴ = 부드러운

저는 부드러운 손이 있다 = I have soft hands

춥다 = cold

추 + 우 + ㄴ = 추운

저는 추운 날씨를 좋아해요 = I like cold weather

Probably the most confusing of all irregulars, mainly because it seems strange that ㅂ can

change to 우/오. The reason this happens is similar to the ㅅ irregular. As you know,

when pronouncing a syllable with the last letter ㅂ, you don’t really pronounce the ‘B’

sound. But, if you add a vowel after ㅂ the sound of ‘B’ would be pronounced. The

purpose of the irregular is to eliminate the ‘B’ sound which isn’t actually in the word.

This is done to adjective stems ending in ㅂ. Adjectives in which this does not apply:

좁다 (narrow) = 이 방은 좁아요 = This room is narrow

넓다 (wide) = 이 방은 넓어요 = This room is wide (Korean people often describe a

room/place being “big” by saying it is “wide”


ㅡ Irregular

If the final vowel in a stem is ㅡ (잠그다 = to lock), you can not determine whether you

need to add 어 or 아 to the stem by looking at ㅡ. In order to determine this you must

look at the vowel in the second last syllable.

Also, If the stem ends in ㅡ (that is, there is no consonant after it), the ㅡ gets removed

and ㅓ/ㅏ takes its place. For example:

잠그다 = to lock

Last vowel in the stem is ㅡ. The vowel in the second last syllable is ㅏ, so we add 아.

잠그 ends in ㅡ, so ㅡ gets removed and ㅏ takes its place:

잠그 + 았어요 = 잠갔어요

저는 문을 잠갔어요 = I locked the door

바쁘다 = to be busy

Last vowel in stem is ㅡ. The vowel in the second last syllable is ㅏ, so we add 아.

바쁘 ends in ㅡ, so ㅡ gets removed and ㅏ takes its place:

바쁘 + 아요 = 바빠요

저는 바빠요 = I am busy

If there is a consonant after ㅡ in the stem (for example: 긁다 = to scratch), you just add

the 어/아 as you would to a normal word:

저는 머리를 긁었어요 = I scratched my head

But, in that example, the stem only has one syllable (another example: 듣다 = to hear). In

these cases there is no second last syllable to determine if you should add 어 or 아. But,

as you can see in the above example you add 어 instead of 아 in these cases. For example:

듣다 = to hear

Last vowel in stem is ㅡ. There is no syllable preceding 듣, so we must add 어.

듣 ends in a consonant, so 어 does not get added directly to the syllable.

듣 + 었어요 = 듣었어요

But! Don’t forget the ㄷ irregular. In this example, both ㅡ and ㄹ irregulars are used:

듣 + 었다 = 들었다

저는 쥐를 들었어요 = I heard a mouse

르 Irregular

If the final syllable in a stem is 르 (마르다), when adding a vowel to the stem, an

additional ㄹ is created and placed in the syllable preceding 르 as the last consonant. The

르 also gets changed to either 러 or 라 (depending on if you are adding 어 or 아). This is

done to both verbs and adjectives, and happens all the time (the only exception is 따르다

= to follow/to pour). This is difficult to explain, and much easier to show with examples:


빠르다 = to be fast

빠르 + 아요 = 빠 + ㄹ + 라요 = 빨라요

그 남자는 빨라요 = That man is fast

부르다 = to call somebody’s name

부르 + 었어요 = 부 + ㄹ + 렀어요 = 불렀어요

저는 저의 누나를 불렀어요 = I called my sister

ㄹ Irregular

If the final vowel of a stem ends in ㄹ AND you add ~ ㄴ/~ㅂ to that stem, the ㄹ is

removed and the ㄴ /ㅂ get added on directly to the stem. However, if you are adding

‘는’ or something starting with ㅅ to the stem – the ㄹ is removed and ~는/~ㅅ is added

directly after the stem. In addition, when adding ㄹ/을 to a stem that ends in ㄹ, you

actually eliminate the ㄹ/을. That is a lot, so lets look at each in more detail:

ㄹ Irregular – Adding ㄴ to words

You have learned about adding ㄴ/은 to adjective stems when modifying nouns:

크다 = 큰 남자

작다 = 작은 남자

When adding ㄴ/은 to a stem that ends in ㄹ,ㄹ is removed and ㄴ is added to the stem:

길다 = long

길 + ㄴ = 긴

저는 긴 거리를 건넜어요 = I crossed the long street

멀다 = far away

멀 + ㄴ = 먼

저는 먼 병원에 갔어요 = I went to a far away hospital (a hospital that is far away)

You have also learned about adding ㄴ/는다 to verb stems when conjugating in the

Formal low respect form.

저는 집에 간다 = I go home

저는 잔다 = I sleep

But when adding ㄴ/는다 to a verb stem that ends in ㄹ, you must remove ㄹ and add

ㄴ다 to the verb stem:

저는 문을 연다 = I open the door

저는 케이크를 만든다 = I make a cake


ㄹ Irregular – Adding ㅂ to words

You have also learned about adding ㅂ to verb and adjective stems when conjugating in

the Formal high respect form:

Verbs:

저는 집에 갑니다 = I go home

저는 잡니다 = I sleep

Adjectives:

그 여자는 예쁩니다 = That girl is beautiful

그 것은 불가능합니다 = That thing is impossible

But when adding ㅂ니다 to verbs or adjectives whose stems end in ㄹ, you must remove

ㄹ and add ㅂ directly to the stem:

Verbs:

저는 문을 엽니다 = I open the door

저는 케이크를 만듭니다 = I make a cake

Adjectives:

그 병원은 멉니다 = That hospital is far

그 여자의 머리는 깁니다 = That girls hair is long (머리 can mean ‘head’ or ‘hair’

depending on the situation. 머리카락 always means the hair on your head)

ㄹ Irregular – Adding ~는 or ~ㅅ to words

As of now, you have not yet learned about adding ~는 or ~ㅅ to a stem, so don’t worry

about this too much now. I will show you the examples, but you won’t be able to

understand them. Just try to see how the irregular works within these examples, and I will

re-present these again when you learn how to deal with adding ~는 and ~ㅅ.

When you add ~는 or ~ㅅ to a stem of a word that ends in ㄹ, you must drop the ㄹ from

the stem, and add ~는 or ~ㅅ after the stem:

열다 + 는 = 여는

열다 + 세요 = 여세요

Again, that is just for your reference. I will teach you more about those irregulars when I

teach you about the specific grammar within them.

ㄹ Irregular – Adding ~ㄹ/을 to words

Just like the above (는/ㅅ) example, you have not learned about adding ~ㄹ/을 to a stem,

so don’t worry about this too much now either. I will show you the examples, but you

won’t be able to understand them. Just try to see how the irregular works within these

examples, and I will re-present these again when you learn how to deal with adding

~ㄹ/을.


When you add ~ㄹ/을 to a stem of a word that ends in ㄹ, you actually drop the ㄹ/을

altogether:

갈다 + ㄹ/을 = 갈

빨다 + ㄹ/을 = 빨

Again, that is just for your reference. I will teach you more about this irregular when I

teach you about the specific grammar within it in Lesson 9.

That’s it! Wow that is a lot of irregulars.

Check out our Irregular Guide if you are confused (I’m sure you are!).

Everybody is confused when they learn these irregulars. Eventually you will reach a point

where all of these will come natural to you. Whenever you learn a new word where the

stem ends in ㅅ/ㄹ/ㅂ/ㄷ/르/ㅡ just make a mental note about how you should conjugate

that word in the future. For me, even though I learned all of this last year, I don’t even

have to think about these irregulars anymore because they just flow out naturally. If you

can’t memorize them all right now, just try to understand them, which will allow you to

recognize them later. Eventually, you will memorize them simply from using and hearing

them so much.

즉시 = immediately

바로 = immediately

빨리 = quickly/fast

자주 = often

가끔 = sometimes

많이 = many/a lot of

방금 = a moment ago

완벽하다 = perfect

곧 = soon

곳 = place

기계 = machine

대학교 = college

아프다 = sick/sore

놀다 = play

트럭 = truck

동시에 = same time

검은색 = black

흰색 = white

밤 = night

어젯밤 = last night

똑똑하다 = smart

갑자기 = suddenly

매년 = every year

음료수 = beverage/drink

도서관 = library

고등학교 = high school

잡다 = catch/grab/grasp

읽다 = read

가지다 = to have/possess

다시 = again

중요(하다) = important

여행 = travel

혼자 = alone

낮 = daytime

젊다 = young

늙가 = old

나이가 많다 = old

동 = East

남 = South

서 = West

북 = North

내다 = pay for something

받다 = get/receive/acquire

도착하다 = to arrive

외국 = foreign country

외국인 = foreigner

쓰다 = to use

쓰다 = to write

실수(하다) = (make a) mistake

수리(하다) = (to) repair

Korean Adverbs

To this point, you have studied Korean verbs and adjectives in great depth, but you have

yet to learn much about Korean adverbs. First of all, what is an adverb? Adverbs are

words in sentences that tell you when, where, or to what degree something is being done.

When: I went to work on Tuesday

Where: I am inside the house

Degree: I opened the door quickly

When and Where

Anytime you put a word in a sentence that indicates when or where something is taking

place, you must add the particle 에 to the end of that word. Keep in mind, however, that

에 is not the only particle that can go at the end of words of position or time. There are

other particles that can go at the end of these words to indicate from when/where

something occurred, until when/where, etc. For now, though, lets just talk about 에.

This is very important. Even though all places (park, house, hospital, school, office, room,

kitchen, etc) are also nouns, when they are being talked about as a place, the particle 에

must be attached to them. Notice the difference between the following two sentences:

저는 병원을 지었어요 = I built a hospital

저는 병원에 갔어요 = I went to the/a hospital

In the first sentence, “hospital” is the thing in which you are building – so it is an object,

which requires you to use the 을/를 particle.

In the second sentence, the hospital is the place in which you went to – so it is a place,

which requires it to have the 에 particle.

However, if you wanted to say where you built that hospital, you could say this:

저는 병원을 공원 옆에 지었어요 = I built a hospital beside the park

In addition to this, any word that indicates when something is taking place, needs have

the Korean particle 에 attached to it. For example:

저는 화요일에 가겠어요 = I will go on Tuesday

저는 저녁에 공부했어요 = I studied in the evening

저는가을에 공원 옆에 병원을 지었어요 = I built a hospital at the park in the fall

The best part about Korean adverbs is that they can essentially be placed at any place in

the sentence. The only place they cannot be placed is at the end of the sentence - because

a sentence must always end in an adjective or verb. They could even be placed at the

beginning of a sentence:

여름에 저는 공부하겠어요 = I will study in the summer

For some reason, however, Korean people usually don’t add 에 whenever they say “today

(오늘), tomorrow (내일), and yesterday (어제):

저는 내일 한국어를 공부하겠어요 = I will study Korean tomorrow.

To what degree/How much

In addition to when and where adverbs, many adverbs can tell us to what degree

something is being done. These adverbs usually (but not always) end in ‘ly’ in English:

I ran really quickly

I ate fast

I left immediately

I often meet my friend on Thursday

I eat too much sometimes

When adding these types of adverbs to sentences, no particle needs to be attached:

저는 저의 친구를 자주 만나요 = I meet my friend often

Also, many of these words are just transferred from their adjective forms to create an

adverb. This is done in English as well, for example:

Quick -> Quickly

Easy -> Easily

Quiet -> Quietly

A lot of adverbs in Korean are simply made by adding ‘게’ to the stem of an adjective:

Adjective Adverb

쉽다 = easy 쉽게 = easily

비슷하다 = similar 비슷하게 = similarly

다르다 = different 다르게 = differently

Adjectives that end in 하다 are sometimes changed into adverbs by changing 하다 to 히.

With most adjectives you can either add 게 to the stem or 히 with no difference in

meaning. The only thing I can suggest is try to listen to which one is said in a specific

situation, because even Korean people don’t know the answer to the question “what is the

difference between 조용하게 and 조용히”:

Adjective Adverb

조용하다 = quiet 조용하게/조용히 = quietly

안전하다 = safe 안전하게/안전히 = safely

Finally, some adjectives are changed into adverbs in a different way. When this happens,

they are usually very similar to their original adjective form:

Adjective Adverb

많다 = many 많이 = many/a lot*

빠르다 = quick/fast 빨리 = quickly

*많다 and많이 essentially have the same meaning aside from the fact that one is an

adverb and one is an adjective. With most words, the difference between the adjective

and adverb form is very clear, but with 많이/많다, the meaning is similar: For example:

저는 많은 밥을 먹었어요 = I ate a lot of rice

저는 밥을 많이 먹었어요 = I ate a lot of rice.

Now that you know ALL that, using adverbs in sentences is easy as pie!:

저는 조용하게 먹었어요 = I ate quietly

저는 거리를 안전하게 건넜어요 = I crossed the street safely

저는 행복하게 살았어요 = I lived happily

You can, of course, use more than one adjective in a sentence. To look at the list I

showed you earlier:

I ran really quickly = 저는 매우매우매우매우 빨리빨리빨리빨리 달렸어요

I ate fast = 저는 빨리빨리빨리빨리 먹었어요

I left immediately = 저는 바로바로바로바로 떠났어요

I often meet my friend on Thursday = 저는 저의 친구를 목요일에 자주자주자주자주 만나요

I eat too much sometimes = 저는 가끔가끔가끔가끔 너무너무너무너무 많이많이많이많이 먹어요

Though you can do that, using two adjectives that indicate the ‘degree of something’ is

generally not done in Korean. For example, this would sound awkward:

저는 쉽게 빨리 거리를 건넜어요 = I easily quickly crossed the street (It’s also

awkward in English!)

Negative Sentences

There are two ways you can make a sentence negative:

By adding 안 (acting as an adverb in the sentence) before a verb/adjective

By adding 지 않다 to the stem of a verb/adjective. 않다 then becomes the verb/adjective

in that sentence and must be conjugated accordingly.

Both have the exact same meaning. When I learned this, I asking a Korean teacher how

can one know when to use 안 or ~지 않다?” His answer: “It is totally up to the speaker.”

After saying that, however, he did say that he thinks ~하지 않다 is usually connected to

words ending in 하다 whereas 안 is added to the sentence when the verb/adjective just

ends in 다. But don’t pay much attention that that: they are exactly the same:

저는 안 공부했어요/저는 공부하지 않았어요 = I didn’t study

저는 안 행복해요/저는 행복하지 않아요 = I’m not happy

저는 내일 학교에 안 가겠어요/저는 내일 학교에 가지 않겠어요 = I’m not going to

school tomorrow

저는 생선을 안 좋아해요/저는 생선을 좋아하지 않아요 = I don’t like fish

아니다

이다 is usually conjugated and changed differently compared to normal verbs/adjective,

and this case is no exception. If you want to say “I am not ____” instead of using 이다,

you must use 아니다 (essentially, 안 + 이다):

저는 선생님이 아니다 = I am not a teacher

나는 너의 친구가 아니다 = I am not your friend

Notice the difference between how 이다 and 아니다 are used, however. 이다 is always

attached directly to the noun: (저는 선생님이다) whereas 아니다 comes after a noun

with the particle 이/가 attached.

없다

Just like how 아니다 is the opposite of 이다 - 없다 is the opposite of 있다. You learned

that 있다 can be used to mean “to have” or “to be in/at a location/for something to be

there”:

To have: 저는 돈이 있다 = I have money

To be in/at a location: 저는 학교 안에 있어요 = I am inside the school

없다, then, can have the meanings of “to not have” or “to not be in/at a location/for there

to be none of”:

저는 돈이 없어요 = I don’t have money

저는 시간이 없어요 = I don’t have time

저의 친구는 지금 한국에 없어요 = My friend is not in Korea now

사람이 없었어요 = There was nobody there

Other Negative Words

Just like in English, there are many words that actually have a negative meaning:

저는 과일을 싫어해요 = I dislike fruit

Which is essentially the same as:

저는 과일을 안 좋아해요/저는 과일을 좋아하지 않아요

Be careful to not make double negative sentences. Although technically grammatically

correct, this one reads funny:

저는 과일을 싫어하지 않아요 = I don’t dislike fruit

되다 = to be/become

공장 = factory

열 = fever

시작하다 = start

극장 = theater

회사 = company

모기 = mosquito

간판 = a sign (on the road/etc)

직업 = job

부끄럽다 = shy

수업 = class “I taught a class”

행동(하다) = act(ion)

고기 = meat

돼지 = pig

돼지고기 = pork

소 = cow

소고기 = beef

소개하다 = introduce

발견하다 = find

방문하다 = visit

땅콩 = peanut

축구(하다) = (play) soccer

야구(하다) = (play) baseball

여권 = passport

수건 = towel

앞으로 = in the future

미래 = future

체육 = physical education

지하철 = subway

웃다 = laugh

이제 = now

현재 = now/present

예쁘다 = pretty

잃다 = to lose something

잃어버리다 = to lose something

돈 = money

벗다 = taking off clothes

꽃 = flowers

값 = price

건강(하다) = health(y)

Conjugating 이다이다이다이다

이다 is conjugated differently than other words. Not just when conjugating, but when

doing other things to 이다, it behaves in different ways (which you will learn later). As of

now, the only conjugation you know for 이다 is the formal low respect present tense:

저는 선생님이다 = I am a teacher

If the last syllable of the word before 이다 ends in a vowel, you can eliminate 이,

although both are correct:

저는 의사다 = I am a doctor

저는 의사이다 = I am a doctor

But now its time to learn how to conjugate in all the other forms

In almost every case, you must conjugate 이다 differently depending on if the word ends

in a vowel or consonant. The reason they are different is simply to make pronunciation

easier (although they sound the same). For example, this is hard to say: ‘선생님였다’. It

is difficult to move your mouth from the ㅁ sound directly to the 였 sound. It is much

easier to pronounce it like this: 저는 선생님-이-었-다.

Similarly, it is hard to say: ‘선생님야.’ It is difficult to move your mouth from the

ㅁ sound directly to the 야 sound. Instead, it is easier to say ‘선생님-이-야.’

If you keep this in mind when learning these conjugations, it will be much easier to grasp.

Present Tense

Conjugating 이다 to the present tense is relatively confusing compared to the past tense

because new syllables are added with no real logic behind them. Whereas past

conjugations are simply done by connecting 이 to 었다.

Informal Low Respect

Add 이야 to a word ending in a consonant, or 야 to a word ending in a vowel:

나는 좋은 학생이야 = I’m a good student

그 것은 사과야 = That thing is an apple

Informal High Respect

Add 이에요 to a word ending in a consonant, or 예요 to a word ending in a vowel:

그 것은 사진이에요 = That thing is a picture

이 사람은 저의 누나예요 = This (person) is my sister

Formal High Respect

Add 입니다 (이 + ㅂ니다) to words ending in a vowel or consonant:

저는 의사입니다 = I am a doctor

그 사람은 저의 형입니다 = That person is my brother

With words ending in vowels, you can eliminate 이 and attach ㅂ니다 directly to the

word, but it done in conversation, and not usually written (의삽니다).

Past Tense

Conjugating 이다 to the past tense is simple, and is done by connecting 이 to 었. When

the last syllable in a word ends in a vowel, 이 + 었 combine to make 였

Informal Low Respect

Add 이었어 to words ending in a consonant, or 였어 to words ending in a vowel.

나는 바쁜 선생님이었어 = I was a busy teacher

나는 나쁜 의사였어 = I was a bad doctor

Informal High Respect

Add 이었어요 to words ending in a consonant, or 였어요 to words ending in a vowel

그 것은 큰 비밀이었어요 = That was a big secret

저는 의사였어요 = I was a doctor

Formal Low Respect

Add 이었다 to words ending in a consonant, or 였다 to words ending in a vowel:

저는 선생님이었다 = I was a teacher

저는 의사였다 = I was a doctor

Formal High Respect

Add 이었습니다 to words ending in a consonant, or 였습니다 to words ending in a

vowel:

저는 선생님이었습니다 = I was a teacher

저는 의사였습니다 = I was a doctor

How to actually conjugate verbs/adjectives to the Future Tense

In lesson 6, you learned how to conjugate words to the future tense by adding

겠어/겠어요/겠다/겠습니다 to the word stem. Though adding ~겠~ to a word stem is

one way to conjugate to the future, there is a more common way to conjugate to do this!

Before learning how to do to this, you needed to learn more grammar first (namely, how

to conjugate 이다 properly). Either way, ~겠~ is still used in Korean, but not as much as

the method you are about to learn.

For verbs/adjectives, when conjugating to the future, you must first add ~ㄹ/~을 to a

word stem:

When you add ~ㄹ/을 to a word stem, ㄹ gets attached directly to stems ending in a

vowel, and 을 gets added onto stems ending in a consonant. For example:

가다 ends in a vowel, so

가다 + ㄹ = 갈

먹다 ends in a consonant, so

먹다 + 을 = 먹을

There is also one irregular involved with adding ㄹ/을 to a stem. You were introduced to

this irregular briefly in Lesson 7, but I could not teach it to you perfectly because you

didn’t know about ㄹ/을 at that point.

If a stem ends in a final consonant that is ㄹ, when adding ㄹ/을, you actually don’t add

anything. That sounds weird, but it is true. Check it out.

갈다 is a word where the stem ends in a consonant, so you would normally add 을:

갈 + 을 = 갈을

But saying this is weird. Try to pronounce that: 갈을.

Instead, it is way easier to just say 갈.

Anyways, that’s it for the irregular.

-------------------

This is going to sound extremely complicated (and it is): adding ~ㄹ/을 to a stem to an

adjective turns it into a future adjective that can describe a noun:

행복한 사람 = happy person

행복할 사람 = a person a that will be happy

Similarly, (this where it gets complicated) adding ~ㄹ/~을 to a stem of a verb turns it into

a future adjective that can describe a noun:

먹을 음식 = the food that will be eaten.

-------------------

If you can’t understand the explanation between the lines – don’t worry. That level of

grammar is very difficult to grasp at this stage of learning. That grammar will a whole

series of lessons in Unit 2. Things you should try to understand are:

- Adding ~ㄹ/~을 to the stem of an adjective makes it a future adjective

- Adding ~ㄹ/~을 to the stem of a verb makes it a future adjective

- Because these newly formed words are adjectives that describe nouns, they must be

followed by a noun

What does all this have to do with conjugating into the future?

When Korean people conjugate to the future, they usually do so by adding ~ㄹ/~을 to a

verb/adjective. This is the same as adding ㄴ/은 to an adjective stem which you already

know: (좋다 -> 좋은). But, you should know that you cannot end a sentence like this:

저는 좋은

Because 좋은 is an adjective which modifies a noun, a noun must follow 좋은:

저는 좋은 사람

Now, to end the sentence, you need to add 이다 to the noun:

저는 좋은 사람이다 = I am a good person.

So, again, when Korean people conjugate verbs/adjectives to the future, they usually do

so by adding ~ㄹ/~을 to a verb/adjective.

저는 행복할

저는 먹을

저는 공부할

But this changes verbs/adjectives into adjectives that modify nouns. Therefore, a noun

must follow these words. The noun that is always used in this situation is 것 (thing):

저는 행복할 것

저는 먹을 것

저는 공부할 것

Now, to end those sentences, you need to add 이다 to the noun:

저는 행복할 것이다

저는 먹을 것이다

저는 공부할 것이다

If you try to directly translate these sentences to English, they have the meaning:

I am a thing who will be happy

I am a thing who will eat

I am a thing who will study

But there actual meanings are:

I will be happy/ I will eat/ I will study

이다 can then be conjugated based on the level of politeness. But keep in mind that even

though this sentence is conjugated into the future, the 이다 stays in the present tense.

Because ~ㄹ/을 creates a future sentence, 이다 does not need to be in the future.

것 is also sometimes shortened to 거, for no other reason than it is easier to say and

creates a shorter sentence. For example, these two are exactly the same:

저는 밥을 먹을 것이에요 = I will eat rice

저는 밥을 먹을 거예요 = I will eat rice

Same with these:

나는 내일 친구를 만날 것이야 = I will meet my friend tomorrow

나는 내일 친구를 만날 거야 = I will meet my friend tomorrow

More examples:

저는 내일 학교에 갈 것입니다 = I will go to school tomorrow

저는 영어를 공부할 거예요 = I will study English

And, to apply the irregular that you learned:

저는 문을 열 거에요 = I will open the door (열 + 을 = 열)

If you can't understand anything in this lesson, that's okay!! The important thing

you need to take from this is: When conjugating to the future, instead of doing this:

저는저는저는저는 하겠다하겠다하겠다하겠다 = I will do, do this:

저는저는저는저는 할할할할 것이다것이다것이다것이다 = I will do

Future 이다 - Using 되다

How do you conjugate 이다 into the future? These sound very awkward in Korean:

저는 선생님이겠다

저는 선생님일 것이다

Instead, you must use another verb, 되다, which is one of the most complicated words in

Korean because it has so many meanings. One meaning of 되다 is ‘become’ and can be

used when talking about something you will become in the future. 되다 acts as an

adjective which is important because it means you need to use 이/가 instead of 을/를:

저는 곧 선생님이 될 것입니다 = I will be a teacher soon

나는 미래에 의사가 될 거야 = I will be a doctor in the future

되다 can be used in the past or present as well. Notice the difference between these two:

저는 선생님이었어요 = I was a teacher

저는 선생님이 되었어요 = I became a teacher


하나 = one

둘 = two

셋 = three

넷 = four

다섯 = five

여섯 = six

일곱 = seven

여덟 = eight

아홉 = nine

열 = ten

스물 = twenty

서른 = thirty

마흔 = forty

쉰 = fifty

개 = counter for things

번 = counter for behaviors/actions

번째 = counter for 1st/2

nd/3

rd/etc..

명 = counter for people

대 = counter for automobiles

잔 = counter for a ‘glass’ of ____

일 = one

이 = two

삼 = three

사 = four

오 = five

육 = six

칠 = seven

팔 = eight

구 = nine

십 = ten

백 = one hundred

천 = one thousand

만 = ten thousand

처음 = the first time/beginning

마지막 = last

첫 번째 = first (1st)

두 번째 = second (2nd)

분 = minute

초 = second

시 = “o’clock”

Korean Numbers

Korean numbers are easy once you get the hang of them. But, because they are so

different from English numbers, it is hard for English speakers to understand them at first.

First thing you need to know, there are two sets of numbers in Korean: The pure Korean

numbers and the numbers derived from Chinese (called Sino-Korean numbers). Let’s

look at the Sino-Korean numbers first, because they are easier:

Sino-Korean Numbers

일 = one

이 = two

삼 = three

사 = four

오 = five

육 = six

칠 = seven

팔 = eight

구 = nine

십 = ten

백 = one hundred

천 = one thousand

만 = ten thousand


By adding these numbers together, you can create any number from 1 – 10 million.

일 = one (1)

십 = ten (10)

십일 = eleven (10 + 1)

이십 = twenty (2 x 10)

이십일 = twenty one (2 x 10 + 1)

이십이 = twenty two (2 x 10 + 2)

백 = one hundred (100)

백일 = one hundred and one (100 + 1)

백이 = one hundred and two (100 + 2)

백구십 = one hundred and nine (100 + 90)

구백 = nine hundred (9 x 100)

천 = one thousand (1000)

천구백 = one thousand nine hundred (1000 + 9 x 100)

오천 = five thousand (5 x 1000)

오천육백 = five thousand six hundred (5 x 1000 + 6 x 1000)

만 = ten thousand

십만 = one hundred thousand

백만 = one million

천만 = ten million

The Sino-Korean numbers are used in limited situations:

- When counting/dealing with money

- When measuring

- When doing math

- In phone-numbers

- When talking about/counting time in any way except the hour

- The names of each month

- Counting months (there is another way to count months using pure Korean numbers)

Pure Korean Numbers

These are the pure Korean numbers as provided earlier:

하나 = one

둘 = two

셋 = three

넷 = four

다섯 = five

여섯 = six

일곱 = seven

여덟 = eight

아홉 = nine


열 = ten

스물 = twenty

서른 = thirty

마흔 = forty

쉰 = fifty

Creating numbers 11-19, 21-29, 31-39 (etc..) is easy, and is done like this:

11: 열 하나 (10 + 1)

12: 열 둘 (10 + 2)

21: 스물 하나 (20 + 1)

59: 쉰 아홉 (5 + 9)

After 60, regardless of what you are doing, pure Korean numbers are rarely used. I was

talking to my (Korean) girlfriend about this once, and she said that she didn’t think there

was even a pure Korean number for 60. I told her “yes, there is: 예순.” To which she

replied “Oh yeah, I forgot.” When you get that high (even as high as 40-50) it is not

uncommon to use the Sino-Korean numbers instead.

The pure Korean numbers are used when:

- You are counting things/people/actions

- Talking about the hour in time

- Sometimes used when talking about months.

Using Numbers

Counters

When counting anything in Korean, you need to use the pure Korean numbers. In

addition, one thing that is very hard for English speakers to wrap their head around is that,

when counting, you need to also include a ‘counter.’ The most common counters are:

개 = counter for things

명 = counter for people

번 = counter for behaviors/actions

There are many more counters, but if you can’t remember the specific counter of

something, you can usually substitute 개 instead.

When counting in English, we would just say: two people, as in:

I met two people

But some things in English require the use of these counters as well. For example, you

could not say “I bought two films” (referring to the film in a camera, not a ‘movie’).

Instead, you have to say “I bought two rolls of film.” The word roll in that sentence is a

counter, and is similar to the counters in Korean. The main difference is that counters are

used to count everything in Korean.


The words 1, 2, 3, 4 and 20 change when adding a counter:

1 = 하나 -> 한

2 = 둘 -> 두

3 = 셋 -> 세

4 = 넷 -> 네

20 = 스물 -> 스무

All counters can be written in 2 different ways with no difference in meaning:

사람 두 명 OR 두 명의 사람 = 2 people

사람 한 명 OR 한 명의 사람 = 1 person

펜 다섯 개 OR 다섯 개의 펜 = 5 pens

펜 마흔 네 개 OR 45 마흔 네 개의 펜 = 45 pens

All are normally written with the numbers instead of writing the word itself:

사람 2 명 = 2 people

4 개의 펜 = 4 pens

“4 pens” or any other counted noun can now become the object of a sentence:

나는 펜 4 개를 샀어 = I bought 4 pens

나는 햄버거 2 개를 먹었어 = I ate two hamburgers

나는 어제 친구 5 명을 만났어 = I met 5 friends yesterday

OR

나는 4 개의 펜을 샀어 = I bought 4 pens

나는 2 개의 햄버거를 먹었어 = I ate two hamburgers

나는 어제 5 명의 친구를 만났어 = I met 5 friends yesterday

Notice the difference in placement of 를/을 in the first and second examples.

번 - Counter of Behavior or Action

번 is a common counter that counts behavior or actions, and is not directly counted with a

noun in a sentence. #번 acts as an adverb that tells you how many times something was

done. It is an adverb, so 를/을 is usually not attached to it.

저는 어제 학교에 3 번 갔어요 = I went to school three times yesterday

저는 그 영화를 5 번 봤어요 = I saw that movie five times

저는 오늘 2 번 운동할 것입니다 = I will exercise twice (two times) today


Telling Korean Time

There many different ways to talk about. You will learn more about how to indicate when

you did/do/will do something using various ‘time’ words in the next lesson. In this lesson,

however, you will learn about telling time, as in the time on a clock.

When talking about the hour, as in ‘2 o’clock’ all you need to do is put 시 after a number:

2 시 = 2:00 (2 o’clock)

When talking about the minute, add 분 after the number:

2 시 30 분 = 2:30

The pure Korean numbers are used when saying the hour number, whereas the Sino-

Korean numbers are used when saying the minute number:

2 시 30 분 (두 시 삼십 분) = 2:30

3 시 10 분 = 3:10

12 시 50 분 = 12:50

These times can now go in a sentence as usual by adding 에 to indicate a time:

나는 5 시에 먹을 거야 = I will eat at 5:00

나는 2 시 30 분에 왔어요 = I came at 2:30

번째 – Counter for 1st/2

nd/3

rd/etc

번째 can be added as a counter after a number to mean 1st/2

nd/3

rd/etc. When saying “first”

though, you do not use 한 (한번째). Instead, 한 gets changed to 첫 (첫번째). If you

think that is confusing, explain how ‘one’ gets changed to ‘first,’ ‘two’ gets changed to

‘second’ and ‘three’ gets changed to ‘third.’ A noun can be added after #번째 as follows:

저의 첫번째 친구는 착했어요 = My first friend was nice

그 두번째 선생님은 똑똑했어요 = That second teacher was smart

세번째 거리 = the third street

Another useful word is ‘마지막’ which can be used in many ways. One way it can be

used it to talk about the ‘last’ something. Note that there are two similar but different

meanings for the word “last” in English. 마지막 is used for only ONE of these meanings.

마지막 is used to talk about something that is the last thing in the end of sequence… as

in “first meal… second meal… third meal… fourth meal… last meal.” It is NOT used to

talk about something in the past, as in “last night I went to bed late.” Notice the

difference between these two usages of “last night”:

Last night I went to the movies

The last night of our trip was the best


The second example would be where you could use 마지막, because you are talking

about the last night of a sequence of nights on a trip. In the first example, you are talking

about the previous night. Both usages of ‘last’ can be used in the same sentence:

Last night I ate my last meal

Again, ‘last night’ refers to the previous night… and ‘last meal’ refers to the last meal of

a sequence of meals. Let’s confuse you one more time:

Last night was the last night of our trip.

Ha! Can you get that one?

Here's some examples of 마지막 in use:

이 것은 저의 마지막 수업이에요 = This is my last class

저는 마지막 것을 안 봤어요 = I didn't see the last thing (I didn't see that last one)

In these examples, 마지막 is being used as an adjective, even though it is not an adjective

in its original form (it is not an adjective because it does not end in 다). Words can be

used in this same way in English as well. The word “face” is a noun. But in the sentence

“I put on face paint last night”, “face” is an adjective which tells you what kind of paint

you used. Similarly, you could say “that is a computer room,” where the word

“computer” is describing the room.

처음 – First Time

처음 is a very complex word that be used in many situations. I have been studying

Korean for years and I still don’t know how to use it perfectly in all situations. It can be

used in sentences when you are talking about the first time something is being done. It

can be used as a noun or an adverb, depending on the situation (which adds to it’s

complexity). The two most common situations are:

1) 처음에 … (at first/in the beginning)

처음에 그 여자를 싫어했어요 = I didn’t like that girl at first

2) Put in a sentence as an adverb to indicate this is the first time something has happened:

저는 어제 선생님을 처음 만났어요 = I met my teacher for the first time yesterday

저는 내일 한국에 처음 걸 것입니다 = I will go to Korea for the first time tomorrow

HowtoStudyKorean – Unit 1 – Lesson 12 1

점원 = store assistant

배우 = actor

얇다 = thin (not people)

적당하다 = moderate

속삭이다 = whisper

목 = neck/throat

소리 = noise/sound

목소리 = voice

복습하다 = review/re-study

층 = floor (2nd

floor 이층/3rd

floor 삼층)

바꾸다 = change

신청 = application

유학 = study abroad

꽤 = fairly/quite

의미 = meaning

그때 = that time

상황 = situation

넘어지다 = to fall

어리다 = young

입다 = putting on clothes

문장 = sentence

기름 = oil/grease/gasoline

출발하다 = depart

몇(C) = some ____ (C = counter)

그들 = them

마시다 = drink

내리다 = come/go up

나오다 = come out

나가다 = go out

때 = time (a time)

그때 = at that time

__쪽 = side/direction

생활 = lifestyle/life

쓰다 = write/also wear a hat

모르다 = to not know

완전히 = perfectly

닭 = chicken

기쁘다 = glad

열심히 = adverb ‘hard/well’ (study hard)

독서하다 = read

An Important Note: Eliminating the Subject

One thing that I haven’t told you yet is that Korean people often omit the topic/subject of

the sentence – especially when it is ‘I.’ Korean people love making their sentences as

short as possible, and this is one way of doing it. Usually, when the subject/topic can be

inferred by the situation, Korean people remove it. For example, instead of saying:

저는 아침식사를 안 먹었어요 = I didn’t eat breakfast, they would say:

아침식사를 안 먹었어요 = I didn’t eat breakfast

Both are perfect sentences and both can be used, but you should be aware that Korean

people often get rid of the subject/topic altogether when speaking.

More Korean Particles

As of now, you have learned a few different Korean particles. The particles you have

learned so far are: 는/은, 이/가, 를/을, 의 and 도. There are many more particles that you

will need to learn – and this lesson will cover a lot of them.

Korean Particle 들 and using 몇 with a counter

You have probably been asking yourself ‘how can I make something plural?’ Up to now,

I haven’t mentioned anything about plural words in Korean. The reason for this is Korean

people rarely distinguish between singular and plural. For example, if I say:

나는 사과를 샀어


This could mean “I bought an apple” OR “I bought apples.” This seems crazy to English

speakers, but this is just how it is done in Korean. In most cases, the context can make it

clear if you bought ‘an apple’ or if you bought ‘apples.’ If you really want to make it

clear that you bought one apple, you could say:

나는 사과 1 개를 샀어 = I bought one apple

When dealing with the ambiguity of singular/plural sentences in Korean, you could also

use the word 몇 which can replace a number in these examples: 2 개/2 명/2 번. When 몇

replaces a number in these cases (몇 번/몇 명/몇 번) it has the meaning of “some ____.”

For example, instead of saying: “나는 사과 1 개를 샀어”, you could say:

나는 사과 몇 개를 샀어 = I bought SOME apples

More examples (remember that 펜 1 개 and 1 개의 펜 have the same meaning):

나는 몇 개의 펜을 샀어 = I bought some pens

나는 몇 명의 사람을 만났어 = I met some people

나는 학교에 몇 번 갔어 = I went to school a few/some times (not sometimes)

(remember, 번 acts as an adverb - so it doesn't need a particle to be attached to it).

Anyways, back to what I was trying to say earlier. 들 can be attached to a noun to make

that noun plural. BUT, 들 is usually only attached to the word person (사람) or other

words with the meaning of people (for example: actors, workers, doctors, etc…).

의사들은 돈이 많아 = doctors have a lot of money

선생님은 내일 학생들을 만날 거야 = The teacher will meet the students tomorrow

배우들은 그들의* 영화를 보통 좋아하지 않아 = actors usually don’t like their movies

*By adding the possessive particle 의 to 그들 (them) it becomes 그들의 (their)

Korean Particle 만 (only)

만 is another good particle to know that has the meaning of “only.” It can be attached

directly to the end of a noun to express “only ____”. For example:

나는 물만 마셔 = I only drink water

나만 그 여자를 좋아해 = Only I like that girl

나는 사과만 샀어 = I only bought apples

You could also stress that you only bought one apple:

나는 사과 1 개만 샀어 = I only bought 1 apple

I said it in Lesson 3, but this is something that Korean learners often forget: When a verb

ends in 하다, the part before 하다 is usually a noun form of that verb. The examples I

gave in Lesson 3 were:


성공하다 = succeed

성공 = success

말하다 = speak

말 = speech/words

성취하다 = achieve

성취 = achievement

With these verbs, the part before 하다 can be separated from 하다 to make a noun form

of that verb. Then, “하다” meaning “do” can act on that noun (I do study = I study). It is

hard to explain, but look at the following example:

나는 공부했어 = I studied

나는 공부를 했어 = I studied

Those two mean exactly the same thing, even though in the second example, 공부 is used

as a stand-alone noun. But why is all of this important? It is important because now you

can treat 공부 as a regular noun, which means you can attach 만 to it:

저는 공부만 했어요 = I only studied

저는 어제 일만 했어요 = Yesterday, I only worked

Note that just because a word ends in 하다, doesn’t mean you can do this. For example,

many adjectives end in 하다 (for example: 행복하다: happy), but this:

저는 행복만 해요 = I am only happy – doesn’t really make a lot of sense

Also, many verbs don’t end in 하다 and just end in 다. I will show you in a later lesson

how to add 만 to any verb (it is too complicated for this lesson).

Korean Particle 에서

에서 is one of the most common Korean particles, but also one of the things that English

learners of Korean have a hard time understanding. Using 에서 seems easy, but the usage

is so similar to 에, it is often used incorrectly. One of the two main usages of 에서 is to

indicate a location in which a verb is being done. The English translation is usually “at”

but can sometimes be “in” depending on the situation:

저는 학교에서 공부할 거에요 = I will study at school

저는 저의 친구를 병원에서 봤어요 = I saw my friend at the hospital

저는 남편을 공원에서 만날 거에요 = I will meet my friend at the park

저는 한국어를 한국에서 배웠어요 = I learned Korean in Korea


In those examples, “study, see, meet and learn” are all action verbs, so the location in

which they are being done needs to have 에서 attached to it.

But, 있다 (to be in/at a place) is not an action verb, so 에 should be used instead of 에서:

저는 집에 있다 = I’m at home

저는 차 안에 있다 = I’m in the car

The other main usage of 에서 has the meaning of “from” and can be used in a wide-

variety of ways:

When you are leaving from a place:

다음 버스는 저 정유장에서 출발할 거에요 = The next bus will depart from that station

When you are getting off something (bus/train):

저는 서울역에서 내릴 거에요 = I will get off at Seoul station

When something/someone is coming/going/being taken out of something:

학생은 교실에서 나왔어요 = the student came out of the classroom

You can also use this to indicate the country (or any other place, for that matter) that you

come from. In English, we say “I come from Canada/I’m from Canada” but in Korean the

past tense of “come” must be used:

저는 캐나다에서 왔어요 = I come from Canada

I don’t want to go on a rant here, but one of the things that bugs me is the textbooks that

teach “저는 ___에서 왔어요” in the first or second lesson – before any of the grammar

concepts within the sentence have been taught. For example, when I first started learning

Korean, I had a textbook that taught me “저는 ____에서 왔어요” on the very first page.

Without explaining why I was using 저 instead of 나, why I was using 는, what 에서

meant, what 오다 meant, how/why 오다 changes to 왔다, how/why 왔다 changes to

왔어요. But I digress…

In addition to the examples provided above, there are more ways in which 에서 can be

used to mean “from,” but the grammar/words that would be used in those sentences are

too complex for you right now. You won’t understand these examples completely, but try

to understand the role of 에서 within these sentences:

저는 학교에서 멀리 살고 있다 = I live far from school

1 에서 10 까지 센다 = Count from 1 to 10

그들은 많은 후보자들 중에서 저를 뽑았어요 = They chose me from many candidates

1 시에서 2 시까지 오세요 = Please come from 1:00 to 2:00

10 에서 5 를 뺀다 = Subtract 5 from 10


As you can see, ‘from’ (in English) has many usages as well. When a word has a lot of

meanings in Korean – and the corresponding English word also has a lot of meanings - it

is usually very difficult to understand the usage completely.

Korean Particles 부터 and 까지

Two more important Korean particles you need to know are 부터 and 까지.

까지 can be used in sentences with or without 에서 with the meaning of to/until a

place/time. For example:

3 시까지 기다릴 거에요 = I will wait until 3:00

그 여자를 지금까지 좋아했어요 = I liked that girl until now

저는 그 회사에서 5 월까지 일할 거에요 = I will work at that company until March

부터 is an easy particle to use, and is the same as 에서 in some situations. However, the

hardest part about 부터 is figuring out when to use it instead of 에서.

First, 부터 can never replace 에서 when 에서 has the meaning of “at,” because 부터 can

only mean “from.” For example, “저는 학교에서 공부한다” means “I study at school.”

You cannot replace 에서 with 부터 in this situation. But,

나는 인천에서 서울까지 갈 거야 can also be said as:

나는 인천부터 서울까지 갈 거야 = I will go from Incheon to Seoul

부터 is generally used to indicate that something starts ‘from’ a place or time

(내년/작년/어제/내일/3 시/오늘/지금/4 월/아침/etc…). For example:

저는 어제부터 아팠어요 = I have been sick since (from) yesterday

저는 아침부터 밤까지 공부만 했어요 = I only studied from morning to night (all I did

from morning to night was study).

나는 캐나다에 1 일부터 8 일까지 있을 거야 = I will be in Canada from the 1st to the 8

th

Korean Particle (으)로

The Korean particle (으)로 can be added to nouns with a few different meanings. One of

the main meanings is to indicate with what tool/device/method/material something is

carried out. The English equivalent varies depending on the usage:

Write with a pen

Go to the store by car

Go to school on foot

Make a house out of wood

This meaning of (으)로 can be used in so many situations it would be impossible to list

them all. As you get comfortable with the basic examples of this usage, you will slowly

be able to grasp when it should be used in all situations.


로 is added to words ending in a vowel, whereas 으로 is added to words ending in a

consonant. 로 is also added to words ending in ㄹ. The only reason for this difference is

for ease of pronunciation. If you say “것로” there is a split second where your tongue

cannot go directly from 것 to 로 – so it is changed to 것으로.

나는 우리 집을 나무로 지었어 = I built our house out of wood

배로 제주에 갈 거야 = I will go to Je-ju by boat

저는 그 것을 손으로 만들었어요 = I built that with my hands

It is also used to indicate what you ate for a specific meal:

저는 아침식사로 밥을 먹었어요 = I ate rice for breakfast

저는 보통 점심식사로 과일만 먹어요 = I usually only eat fruit for lunch

The other main meaning of (으)로 is to indicate the direction of something. For example:

저는 집으로 갈 거에요 = I will go in the direction of home (simply ‘I will go home’)

(으)로 is often added to ___쪽. 쪽 can be added after some nouns and some direction

words (above/below/East/West/etc) to mean “the direction of ___.” For example:

그쪽 = that way/direction

위쪽 = upper direction

사람 쪽 = the direction of the people, etc..

To make sentences like:

저의 친구는 저 쪽으로 갔어요 = I my friend went that way

학생들은 교실 쪽으로 걸어요 = Students walk towards/in the direction of their class

Notice the difference between these two:

저는 집 안 쪽으로 달렸어요 = I ran inside the house

저는 집 안에 달렸어요 = I ran inside the house

In the first example, you are running into the house/in the direction of ‘inside the house.’

In the second example, you are running inside the house.

That’s it for this lesson! I wanted to cover a few more particles, but this lesson already

has way too much in it! In the next lesson, I will introduce you to more of these common

particles. Until then, make sure you review this lesson before you move on!

HowtoStudyKorean.com – Lesson 15 1

This lesson will have a very different feel than most of the previous lessons. Most of the

words you have learned so far can be understood and used in sentences without much

thought or hesitation. For example, if you knew how to say this:

저는 한국어를 배웠다 = I learned Korean

And then subsequently learned “공부하다,” it would be easy to figure out that you could

also say: 저는 한국어를 공부했다 = I studied Korean.

However, there are many words that you would not be able to pick up instinctively

because they follow different rules or patterns. In this lesson, I will teach you some of

these words. I also want to use this lesson to teach you some small concepts in Korean

that are important, but are too small to have an entire lesson dedicated to that one concept.

Explanation of 좋다/싫다 to 좋아하다/싫어하다

I have told you a few times that in most words ending in 하다, you can remove the 하다

and the remaining word then becomes a noun of that verb. For example:

말하다 = to speak

말 = speech/words/the thing that you say

들다 = to carry/hold something

들다 = to enter/go into something/somewhere

잠 = sleep (noun)

가져오다 = to bring something

가져가다 = to take something

돌다 = to turn/rotate/go around

돌리다 = turn/run a machine/hand out

돌아가다 = go back

돌아오다 = come back

돌아보다 = look back

돌려주다 = give back

자랑하다 = to show off/boast

자랑스럽다 = to be proud

걸다 = to hang

걸리다 = to be hanging

걸리다 = to be caught/stuck/trapped

걸리다 = to catch a cold/sickness

걸리다 = to ‘take’ an amount of time

모자 = hat

줄 = line/string/rope/queue

감기 = cold

기침 = cough

독감 = flu

재채기 = sneeze

설사(하다) = diarrhea

동아리 = a club (in school/university)

시끄럽다 = noisy/loud

아마도 = maybe/might

취미 = hobby

수학 = math

가족 = family

주문하다 = order (at a restaurant)

맥주 = beer

과거 = past

흔하다 = common

드물다 = rare

바로 = immediately

속 = inside

마음 = one’s heart/mind

부르다 = to call out (a name)

고르다 = to choose/pick

넣다 = insert/put inside

경험(하다) = (to) experience

설명(하다) = explain(ation)

실력 = skills

사촌 = cousin

삶 = life (noun)

결혼하다 = to get married

똑같 = exactly the same

또다른 = another ___


However, 좋아하다 and 싫어하다 can not be changed to 좋아 and 싫어 to have noun

meanings. Note that 좋아 and 싫어 can be used in sentences (as conjugated forms of

좋다/싫다 – 그 것은 좋아) but they are not nouns. You learned in previous lessons that

좋다 and 싫다 are adjectives. Which means that this can be done:

김치는 좋아요 = the Kimchi is good.

좋아하다 is actually made by adding 어/아 + 하다 to the end of 좋. This changes 좋다

from an adjective (good) to a verb (to like):

김치는 좋아요 = the Kimchi is good

저는 김치를 좋아해요 = I like Kimchi

Similarly, 싫어하다 is actually made by adding 어/아 + 하다 to the end of 싫. This

changes 싫다 from an adjective (not good) to a verb (to not like):

김치는 싫어요 = the Kimchi is bad/not good

저는 김치를 싫어해요 = I don’t like Kimchi

There are other adjectives in which you can add 아/어하다 to, but you don’t really need

to worry about why there is a difference in meaning between the word with ~아/어하다

and without ~아/어하다. If there is a word that ~아/어하다 can be added to, that word

will be presented as a separate word in our vocabulary list.

Subject – Object – Adjective Form

One of the basic fundamentals of grammar (not just Korean grammar) is that an adjective

cannot act on an object (를/을) Meaning, you can’t say this:

저는 김치를 좋다 = I kimchi good

But, you can say any of these:

저는 김치를 먹는다 = I eat kimchi

김치가 좋다 = kimchi is good

저는 좋은 김치를 먹는다 = I eat good kimchi

That being said, sometimes, Korean people actually DO make sentences like in this

“incorrect” form. Remember though, you cannot (100% cannot) use an adjective to act on

an object. So how do Korean people say this? They do so by adding 이/가 to the object

instead of 을/를. This technically makes the grammar within the sentence correct because

there is not an adjective acting on an object. Take a look at the example:

김치가 좋아요 = kimchi is good

저는 김치를 좋아해요 = I like kimchi, which can also be said like this

저는 김치가 좋아요 = I like kimchi


What I am trying to get at here – is that often times in Korean there is an

adjective/passive verb that acts on objects. However, these adjective/verbs must (of

course) always be treated as an adjective/passive verb. Adjectives/passive verbs can

never act on objects, so instead of using 를/을 in these situations, you have to use 이/가.

Another example is a word you learned in another lesson:

그립다 = to miss (a thing, not a person)

For whatever reason, this is actually an adjective in Korean. This means that if you want

to say “I miss Korean food” you cannot say:

저는 한국 음식을을을을 그리워요. Instead, you must say:

저는 한국 음식이이이이 그리워요 = I miss Korean food

More examples

나는 네가 자랑스러워 = I am proud of you

나는 그 사람이 싫어 = I don’t like that person

Korean Word: 들다

The word 들다 in Korean is very difficult because it can be used in so many ways. Two

of the most common usages are:

들다 = to carry/hold something

들다 = to enter/go into something/somewhere

There are many more specific definitions, but most of the other definitions can be

grouped into these two. For example, you can also use 들다 to say that you will join a

club. (“club에 들다”). In this situation, 들다 translates to “join”

나는 동아리에 들었어 = I joined a club - but literally translates to I “entered” a club

Similarly, if you wanted to say that you fell asleep, you could say

잠이 들었다 = I fell asleep – but literally translates to I “entered” sleep

The point I am trying to make is that – because this word has so many usages – if you

hear/see it being used, you should try not to translate the meaning directly into a specific

definition. Rather, you should be open to the fact that it can have many meanings

depending on the context. Another common way that it is used is to say that you “like”

something. The word “마음” is included in the vocabulary list of this lesson. This word

has many usages – one of them being “one’s heart/mind.” If you want to say that you like

something, you can say:

(저는) ____이/가 마음에 들다 – In other words “___ enters my heart”:

그 그림이 마음에 들어요 = I like that picture


들다 can be used as both a verb and an adjective, depending on the situation. Also, 듣다

(to hear) can sometimes be conjugated to 들어/들었다/들을 것이다 which can make it

look identical to 들다. I’m trying to wrap my head around how I can explain more about

this word in a way you will be able to understand. But, at this point, there is too much

that you don’t know to be able to understand it perfectly. At this point, I just want you to

be aware of the complexity of this word, as well as understand that it can mean “to

enter/go” into as well as “to carry something.”

Korean Compound Verbs

You will notice (or may have already noticed) that many Korean verbs can be made by

combining two verbs together. This is usually done by adding one verb to the stem of the

other, along with 어/아. For example:

들다 = to enter something

가다 = to go

들다 + 가다 = 들 + 어 + 가다

= 들어가다 = to go into something

오다 = to come

들다 + 오다 = 들 + 어 + 오다

= 들어오다 = to come into something

남자는 방에 들어왔어요 = That man came into room

아버지는 은행에 들어갔어요 = My dad went into the bank

가지다 = to own/have/posses

가지다 + 오다 = 가지 + 어 + 오다

= 가져오다 = to bring something

가지다 + 가다 = 가지 + 어 + 가다

= 가져가다 = to take something

나는 나의 숙제를 가져왔어요 = I brought my homework

그 학생은 숙제를 가져오지 않았어 = That student didn’t take his homework

돌다 + 보다 = 돌아보다 = to turn around (and see)

돌다 + 가다 = 돌아가다 = to return/go back

돌다 + 오다 = 돌아오다 = to return/come back

돌리다 + 주다 = 돌려주다 = to give back

저는 9월 1일에 캐나다에 돌아갈 거에요 = I will go back to Canada on September 1st

저는 친구에게 책을 돌려줬어요 = I gave my friend back his book


You will come across many of these words when you are leaning how to speak Korean. It

is not something terribly difficult, but is something that you should be aware of (it helps

to understand the word if you realize that it is made up of two separate words).

Different/Similar/Same in Korean (다르다/비슷하다/같다)

Three words that you have learned in previous lessons are:

다르다 = different

비슷하다 = similar

같다 = same

Using these words isn’t as straight forward as it would seem, so I wanted to spend some

time teaching you how to deal with them. Of course, they can be used just like any other

adjectives like this:

그 것은 비슷해요 = That is similar

우리는 매우 달라요 = We are so different

But, if you want to say that you are different from, similar to, or the same as, you need to

use the particle 와/과:

저는 친구와 비슷해요 = I am similar to my friend

그 건물은 어제와 달라요 = That building is different from yesterday

Check this grammar out. This is probably an easy sentence to you now:

나는 잘생긴 남자를 만났어 = I met a handsome man

Subject – adjective (modifying an) – object – verb

What about this next sentence?

나는 비슷한 남자를 만났어 = I met a similar man – Same structure as before:

Subject – adjective (modifying an) – object – verb

That should be easy for you too. But what about if you wanted to say “I met a man who is

similar to your boyfriend.” Seems too complicated, but let’s break it down:

너의 남자친구와 비슷하다 = similar to your boyfriend

비슷하다 is an adjective – which means it can modify a noun:

비슷한 남자 = similar man

너의 남자친구와 비슷한 남자 = A man (that is) similar to your boyfriend

나는 ( --- )를 만났어 = I met ---

나는 너의 남자친구와 비슷한 남자)를 만났어 = I met a man that is similar to your

boyfriend


Easy! Actually, not very easy. This structure is essentially the base of THE most

important grammar concept in Korean. You’ll learn more about that a little bit later

(maybe 4 lessons after this one) – but for now, just try to understand the structure I

showed you.

다르다 can have the meaning of “other” – both in English and in Korean – which makes

this very confusing sometimes. If I were to say this:

저는 다른 영화를 봤어요 – this could either be translated to “I saw another movie” or “I

saw a different movie” – both of which have essentially the same meaning. If you really

want to stress that you saw ANother movie, you can say:

저는 또 다른 영화를 봤어요 = I saw another movie

The difference between 다른 and 또다른 is very small, and very confusing. 또다른

usually translates to “another,” and 다른 usually translates to “other/different.” But look

at this:

저는 다른 영화를 봤어요 = I saw other movie

That sentence (in English) doesn’t make sense. You need to add ‘an’ to ‘other’… which

makes it look/sound/feel like ‘another’, when it is actually ‘an+other.’ Just remember that

다르다 is usually translated to “other” and 또다르다 is usually translated to “another”

Words that are the same but have different meanings (Korean Homonyms)

This may be something that is obvious when learning any language, but I wanted to point

it out. In Korean, there are a lot of words that have more than one meaning. It is like this

in English as well, but most people never notice it until they stop to think about how

many there actually are. Whenever there is a word with many meanings in Korean, these

different meanings will always have a separate entry in our vocabulary lists (not

necessarily in the same lesson, however). An example of this is “쓰다”:

쓰다 = to write

쓰다 = to use

쓰다 = to wear a hat

Each of these words has had a separate entry in our vocabulary lists. However, when a

word has many meanings, but most of those meanings can be combined into a few

‘umbrella term’ meanings – only those ‘umbrella term’ meanings will be shown. A good

example we talked about earlier is 들다. 들다 has so many meanings, but most of which

can be grouped into 3 or 4 groups.

Either way, be aware that many words have many meanings in Korean:

나는 편지를 친구를 위해 쓸 거야 = I am going to write a letter for my friend

나는 그 기계를 썼어 = I used that machine


저의 아버지는 모자를 항상 써요 = My father always wears a hat

Another word that has many common meanings is 걸리다:

걸리다 = to be (in the state of) hanging


걸리다 = to “take” a certain amount of time

걸리다 = to catch a cold/sickness

There are more usages, but lets just focus on these four for now:

걸리다 = to be hanging

Similar to the passive verbs you learned in the previous lesson, this verb can be used to

indicate the passive ‘state’ of hanging:

그림은 벽에 걸려 있어요 = The picture is hanging on the wall


An active verb that can be used when something trips/gets caught/gets trapped:

나는 줄에 걸렸어요 = I tripped over the line

걸리다 = to “take” a certain amount of time

This is a very useful form that we will talk about in greater detail in a later lesson. You

can use this to indicate how long it takes to get from one place to another:

서울부터 인천까지 2시간 걸려요 = It takes 2 hours to get from Seoul to Incheon

우리학교에서 식당까지 10분 걸려요 = It takes 10 minutes to get from our school to

the restaurant

Notice however, that even though each of these has a different meaning in English (to be

hanging, to be caught, to take an amount of time) they are actually pretty similar. When a

picture is ‘hanging’ on the wall, technically it is ‘stuck/trapped’ on the wall. Similarly, if

you go from Incheon to Seoul, the time it takes (2 hours) is ‘stuck/trapped.’ Haha, No?

Well, that’s just the way I explained it to myself when I first learned some of these words.

Try to think outside of the English box. One word in Korean is often used to represent

many words in English. Usually these words aren’t actually very different, but the

different translations lead us to believe that they are in fact very different. Read these

sentences again and see if you can understand them this way:

The picture is caught on the wall

I was caught over the line

2 hours are caught to get from Seoul to Incheon

Obviously not natural in English – but you can probably understand the meaning.


My point? Just because it looks like a word has many meanings –doesn’t necessarily

mean that those meanings are vastly different from each other. Think about the example

from earlier in this lesson (들다) one more time. 들다 has many meanings – but most of

which can be grouped into only 2 or 3 different meanings. Always keep this in mind.

Being Sick in Korea

One of the things people often try to learn first when learning a new language is how to

express themselves in the event that they have to go to the doctor. This is something that

wouldn’t fit into any specific lesson, so I want to cover it here:

You already know the word 아프다, which you can use to indicate that you are sick OR

sore in some place. In English “sore” and “sick” mean slightly different things. Because

of this, Korean people (who are learning English) often mistakenly say “My arm is sick.”

Also note that 아프다 is an adjective… and for some reason ‘이/가’ are used instead of

는/은 when creating sentences about a place on your body:

배가 아파요 = My stomach is sore

팔이 아파요 = My arm is sore

저는 어제 너무 아팠어요 = I was sick yesterday

Also, you can use the word 걸리다 to indicate that you have some sort of

disease/sickness. You learned a little bit about 걸리다 in the previous section. This usage

of 걸리다 essentially has the same meaning that was described in all the other examples

of 걸리다 (I am caught in a sickness). Korean people use this in the following way:

저는 감기에 걸렸어요 = I caught a cold/I have a cold

저는 독감에 걸렸어요 = I caught the flu/I have the flu

Also note that even though you have a cold in the present tense, Korean people use the

past “걸렸다” to express that they currently have a cold.

기침 and 재채기 (cough and sneeze) are both nouns. This means that you can add 하다

to them to create the respective verb forms.

저의 아들은 시끄럽게 기침했어요 = My son was coughing loudly

Wow that's a long lesson. I have to apologize for writing these lessons so long. This

lesson could have easily been broken into 2, 3 or even 4 separate lessons, but I chose

against doing it that way. When I was first learning Korean, I wanted to play through

material as fast as I possibly could - and I guess that is coming out as I am writing

these lessons as well.

Future lessons may not be as long as this one, as I might start trimming lessons to only

have 1 (or maybe 2) concepts in a single lesson.


사실 = fact

축하하다 = congratulations

약 = medicine

물약 = liquid medicine

알약 = pill

일어나다 = to rise/get up

준비하다 = to prepare/get ready

익숙하다 = to be familiar w/ something*

흥미롭다 = interesting*

음악 = music

늦다 = late

시원하다 = cool/relaxing

질투하다 = jealous

맵다 (매운) = spicy

하늘 = sky

땅 = land

죄송하다 = I am sorry

미안하다 = I am sorry

무겁다 = heavy

가볍다 = light

요즘 = these days

빵 = bread

들어오다 = come in

들어가다 = go in

쓰레기 = trash/garbage

입장하다 = admit/admission

나쁘다 = bad

회계사 = accountant

엔지니어 = engineer

녹차 = green tea

이 = teeth

같이 = together

정부 = government

개성 = personality

온도 = temperature

커튼 = curtains

숨 = breath

숨쉬다 = to breathe

유명하다 = popular

지하 = underground

Words with *

From this point forward, whenever you see a word with “*” attached to it, I will provide

some additional clarification about that word:

익숙하다 - can be used to indicate that you are experienced/familiar with something/a

situation. Attach 에 to the thing/situation:

저는 그 것에 익숙하지 않아요 = I’m not familiar with that.

흥미롭다 – conjugated as 흥미로워요

Introduction

In the last lesson, you learned some important Korean particles that you can use in a wide

variety of situations. There are still a few more basic particles that you need to be aware

of before you can begin learning more complex grammar. Most of these particles are very

common, so it is hard to build sentences using more complex grammar without the use of

what you learned in Lesson 12, and what you will learn in this lesson. Let’s get started!

Korean Particles (and) 과/와, 랑/이랑 and 하고

과/와, 랑/이랑 and 하고 can all be used interchangeably to mean “and” in Korean.

과 and 와 are the same. 과 is attached to words ending in a consonant, 와 is attached to

words ending in a vowel. 랑 and 이랑 are the same. 이랑 is attached to words ending in a


consonant, 랑 is attached to words ending in a vowel. 하고 can be attached to words

ending in a vowel or consonant. These can be added fairly simply to nouns:

나는 사과와 바나나를 샀어 = I bought apples and bananas

나는 인천이랑 서울에 갈 거에요 = I will go to Seoul and Incheon

형하고 아버지는 영화를 봤어 = My brother and dad saw a movie

Each one can be used interchangeably, but 랑/이랑 is used more in conversation,

whereas 하고 and 와/과 are used in writing. But, it depends on the person – I usually say

“랑/이랑” when I speak, but I often hear people say “과/와” or “하고.”

Korean Particles (with) 과 함께, 와 함께, 과/와, 랑/이랑 and 하고

Just when you thought this was going to be an easy lesson - Ha! This sounds crazy, but

the same words can be used to mean “and” and “with” in Korean. It is always clear if you

are trying to mean “and” or “with” because of the sentence structure. When these

particles have the meaning “and,” a noun will always follow 과/와/랑/이랑/하고:

나는 사과와 바나나를 샀어 = I bought apples and bananas

After 와, another noun is used, which means you are talking about apples AND bananas.

But if I said this:

나는 친구와 갔어 = I went with my friend

There is no additional noun after 와, which means it can only mean “with.” More

examples:

나는 아버지랑 공원에 갈 거야 = I will go to the park with my dad

선생님은 학생들과 박물관에 갔다 = The teacher went to the museum with the students

Also notice that you can actually use these particles to mean both “and” and “with”

within the same sentence:

저는 밥을 친구랑 나의 어머니랑 먹었어요 = I ate (rice*) with my mom and my friend

*Korean people often use “밥” (rice) to simply mean “food.” It stems from the fact that

Korean people eat rice with (almost) every meal – so if you ate, it means that you ate rice.

You can say “밥을 먹었어” which can simply mean “I ate.”

When using 과 and 와 to mean “with,” 함께 is often used in the sentence as well. 함께

comes after using 과 and 와 but can only be used when they have the meaning “with,”

and cannot be used when the meaning is “and”

저는 선생님과 함께 공부했어요 = I studied with my teacher

You can also use these particles to simply say that you are ‘with’ somebody. In order to

do this, you must use 있다 along with the adverb “together”:


나는 친구랑 같이 있어 = I’m with my mom

Note that this meaning of “with” in Korean cannot be used like this:

I built a house with my hands

Remember, “my hands” are the method in which you did something, so (으)로 needs to

be used in those situations (저는 손으로 집을 지었어요)

Korean Particles (to) 에게/한테/께

These three particles can all be used to indicate that you are doing (usually giving)

something TO somebody. 에게, 한테 and 께 all have the same meaning, but 한테 is

usually used in conversation, 에게 is usually written (although it is still said very often in

conversation) and 께 is used when the person you are giving something to requires

respect (께 is the honorific form of 에게/한테).

아버지는 아들에게 돈을 준다 = The father gives money to his son

나는 학생들한테 한국어를 가르쳤어 = I taught Korean to the students

Note that just because you use 께 doesn’t mean that your sentence needs to end in a

polite way. 께 is used when the person who is being given is of high importance,

regardless of who you are talking to. For example, if I was a teacher, talking to my

student, talking about something being given TO the principal, I could say:

나는 책을 교장선생님께 줬어 = I gave the principal a book

Korean Particles (from) 에게서/(으)로부터

You learned in the previous lesson that 에서 can be used to mean “from” in a wide

variety of situations. You can also use 에게서 to mean “from” but “에게서” is used in a

more restricted way. 에게서 has the meaning that is opposite of 에게/한테/께, which

means it is used when somebody is receiving something from somebody. 에게서 gets

attached to the person from whom you received something from.

나는 나의 여자친구에게서 편지를 받았어 = I received a letter from my girlfriend

A very similar particle is (으)로부터. I have read some textbooks claiming this is the

honorific form of 에게서. I don’t think this is true – although I wish it were, because that

would make it really easy to distinguish the two.

My grandmaster Korean grammar teacher couldn’t tell me the difference between 에게서

and 로부터 when I first learned them, although there is a difference. From what I have

been able to piece together, 에게서 is used when receiving something from a person,

whereas 로부터 is used when receiving something from a non-person thing (a


company/the government/etc). This may not be 100% true all the time, but it is as close

as I can get:

나는 돈을 정부로부터 받았어요 = I received money from the government

But, like I said, though 에게서 and 로부터 mean “from,” their usages are more limited

than 에서 (which also means “from”). A lot of the times you can substitute

에게서/로부터 with 에게 with no difference in meaning.

Do something for somebody (을/를 위해(서))

If you want to say that you are doing something FOR (the benefit of) somebody, you can

add 를/을 to the person who you are doing something for, followed by 위해(서):

나는 나의 여자 친구를 위해 꽃을 샀어 = I bought flowers for my girlfriend

나는 부장님을 위해서 이 것을 썼어요 = I wrote this for my boss

There doesn’t seem to be a difference between 위해 and 위해서.

This form is usually used when you are doing something for a person, but can also be

used sometimes when you are doing something for a non-person:

저는 회사를 위해 열심히 일할 거에요 = I will work hard for the company

The important thing is that the thing in which you are doing something for must be a

noun (that’s a confusing sentence – read it again if it went over your head). You can use

위해 to indicate that you are doing something for the purpose of a verb (I am going there

to/for the purpose of see(ing) a movie) but you will learn about that in a later lesson

when you learn how to change verbs into nouns.

Also make sure that you realize that ‘for’ can have many meanings in English. Just

because you say ‘for’ in English, doesn’t mean that it can be translated directly to 를/을

위해. In Korean, ~를/을 위해 means for the benefit of. For example, in this sentence:

I am waiting for the bus – the ‘bus’ is the object in which you are waiting for, so, in

Korean, you attach the particle 을/를 to ‘bus’ but not 을/를 위해:

나는 버스를 기다린다

About Something ~에 대해

에 대해 can also be attached to nouns like 를/을 위해, but this has the meaning of

“about.” It’s very easy to understand when used in simple situations:


나는 너에 대해 생각했어요 = I was thinking about you

나는 나의 아버지에 대해 말했어요 = I was talking about my father

나는 그 것에 대해 책을 쓸 거야 = I will write a book about it

One way that you cannot use 에 대해 is in the following sentence:

My favorite thing about you is your eyes.

I'd love to teach you that sentence in Korean, but it is just a little bit too complicated for

you right now. Ah, what the heck - I'll show you - but don't expect to understand much of

it:

너에 있어서 내가 가장 좋아하는 것은 너의 눈이다.

Too complicated for you right now, maybe 5 lessons later, you will understand all the

grammar within that lesson. But, until then...

That's it for this lesson! I think this one was one of the easiest lessons yet... haha, what do

you think? Simple memorizing - nothing too complicated. In the next lesson, we will be

talking about something native speakers of any language never think about when they

speak... which means it is going to be hard to grasp! Think of this lesson as a gift from

me to relax your brain before you start to get confused again!


잠기다 = state of being locked

켜다 = to turn on

켜지다 = the state of being on

끄다 = to turn off

꺼지다 = the state of being off

숨다 = to hide

숨기다 = to be hidden

나다 = to have something you didn’t have

고장나다 = passive state of broken

고장내다 = to break

화나다 = mad

냄새 = smell (나다)

짜증나다 = to be annoyed

놓다 = laying an object down

놓이다 = the state of an object laying

눕다 = to lay down

존경하다 = to respect

청소기 = vacuum cleaner

대체(하다) = replacement (to replace)

기계 = machine

제공하다 = provide/offer

포함하다 = include

세금 = tax

감동하다 = impress

속다 = to be tricked

속이다 = to trick somebody

서다 = to stand

바람 = wind

열리다 = the state of being open

불 = light/fire

나다 = for something to come

up/arise/occur

내다 = to make something come

up/arise/occur

숙제 = homework

기억(하다) = memory (remember)

상자 = box

싸우다 = fight

얼굴 = face

시장 = market

몸 = body

자꾸 = repeatedly

Introduction

This lesson contains a lot of boring, confusing grammar. I am warning you now.

If you looked at the vocabulary list of this lesson before reading this, you may have

noticed something strange with some of the words. A lot of the words look very similar

to each other. The reason for this is because today you will learn about passive verbs in

Korean. Though I studied passive verbs very early in my studies, it is something that

actually took me a year to fully grasp – and not because it is incredibly difficult, but

rather that I never received any proper instruction regarding passive verbs.

What are passive verbs? A passive verb is a word that indicates that an action was done

in the past – which results in something being in a non-active state after that action. It’s

hard to explain with words – and much better explained with examples. In this sentence:

I open the door:

The verb “open” is an active verb because the subject (I) is acting on an object (the door).

But, in the following sentence:

The door is open:

The subject is actually “the door” and it is in the passive state of “being open.” Though it

is not explicitly shown, we can infer from that sentence the fact that ‘somebody

previously opened the door – so now – the door is ‘open’


If you are not good with languages (which I wasn’t) it is difficult to understand the

difference between active and passive verbs at first. I will show you more examples:

Active: I turn the computer on

Passive: The computer is on (which means, somebody had previously turned the

computer on – so now it is in the state of being on).

Active: I turn the computer off

Passive: The computer is off (which means, somebody had previously turned the

computer off – so now it is in the state of being off).

Active: I lock the door

Passive: The door is locked

In English, we add is/am/are before a verb to make it passive and usually attach ~ed to

the end of a verb:

lock – is locked

expect – is expected

annoy – is annoyed

In Korean, a different (but very similar looking) verb is used when saying a passive verb

instead of an active one. In this lesson, we will look at the different ways this can be done.

One thing that is absolutely essential in knowing before you start, however, is that in

sentences with passive verbs can NOT have objects in them. This means, that you can

never use 를/을 in a clause with a passive verb. For example, you can’t say: “The man

me was found.” In that sentence “me” is an object so must be eliminated to say: “The

man was found.” However, “me” can be used if you want to use another particle on it. In

English, we do this by using the particle “by”: “The man was found by me.” You will

learn about all of this in this lesson.

This is probably the most important paragraph in the entire lesson. It is unnatural to use

passive verbs in Korean. Passive verbs are used (quite often, actually) but the main

reason they are used is because Korean has been so heavy influenced by English over the

past 50 years. In almost every situation, it is more natural to use the active form of a verb.

For example, instead of saying “the house is built” it is more natural to say “somebody

built the house” (which implies that the house is now built).

One more quick thing – passive verbs are verbs – not adjectives. People sometimes think

that they are adjectives because they look, sound and feel similar to adjectives and they

never act on objects. Look at the similarities between these two:

The house is beautiful (beautiful = adjective)

The house is built (built = passive verb)

Always remember that passive verbs are verbs. Thus, you must conjugate them as verbs.


Korean Passive Verbs – 하다 to 되다

I’ve told you twice before that verbs ending in 하다 can usually be separated from 하다

to create a noun form of that verb. 하다 then has the meaning of “do”:

나는 일했어 = I worked which has the same meaning of:

나는 일을 했어 = I did work/I worked

When dealing with 하다 verbs, most of the time you can simply exchange 하다 with

되다, to make that verb passive. Look at the following example:

이 값은 세금을 포함해요 = this price includes tax

세금은 포함돼요 = the tax is included

*Adding 어 to 되 creates either 되어 or 돼 with no difference in meaning. (For example,

되다 in the past tense can either be 되었다 or 됐다)

More examples:

Active: 회사는 기계를 대체했어 = The company replaced the machine

Passive: 기계는 대체되었어 = The machine was replaced

Active: 저는 음식을 요리한다 = I cook food

Passive: 음식은 요리됐다 = the food was cooked

However, these sentences sound a little bit awkward (in English and Korea n). These

types of sentences usually sound more natural when you were to say them like this:

- The machine was replaced by the company

- The food was cooked by my friend

Remember though, clauses ending in a passive verb can NOT have an object – which

means that you CANNOT attach 를/을 to “my friend” or “the company.” For example,

you could not say this:

세금은 값을 포함된다 – this would translate to something like ‘Tax included price’

If you wanted to make that sentence perfect in English, you would have to say: “Tax is

included in the price.” Here, you can use ‘에’ to have the meaning “in the price”:

세금은 값에 포함된다 = The tax is included in the price

In addition, the particles 에 의해 or 에게 can also be used to have the meaning of “by” in

passive sentences (you will learn more about 에 의해 in a later lesson). 에게 is used

when it is done by a person, and 에 의해 is used when it is done by something other than

a person. Notice that 에게 can have very different meanings if used in other sentences.

밥은 제공된다 = food is provided

밥은 학교에 의해 의해 제공된다 = food is provided by the school


그것은 이해되었어 = it was understood

그 것은 학생들에게 이해되었어 = It was understood by the students

집은 청소되었어 = the house was cleaned

집은 아버지에게 청소되었어 = the house was cleaned by my dad

This is getting confusing – but this has to be said here.

Remember the meaning of (으)로 which you learned in Lesson 12. You learned that

(으)로 can be used to indicate with what tool/device/method/material something is

carried out. With means that you can say something like:

저는 집을 청소기로 청소했어요 = I cleaned the house with a vacuum cleaner

But, if you wanted to say that sentence by using the passive verb (to be cleaned), you

would have to again use (으)로 as the particle attached to 청소기 because that was the

method/tool that was used for it to be cleaned:

집은 청소기로로로로 청소되었어요 = the house was cleaned by a vacuum cleaner, whereas:

집은 청소기에에에에 청소되었어요 = is not correct, although most Korean people would

probably understand you.

Wow. Confusing.

It’s confusing for me, I’m sure it is confusing to you, and it is actually confusing to

Korean people as well – so don’t get too hung up on the difference between 에/에게

/(으)로 in these situations because, as I said – Korean people don’t use passive verbs as

much as they use active verbs.

What do you need to take from all of this? Because it is so confusing, I wrote the main

points that you should know:

1. Clauses ending in a passive verb can never have a word with an object marker

(를/을) within the clause.

2. Passive verbs are conjugated just like active verbs, even though they feel like

adjectives

3. Though clauses ending in a passive verb cannot have an object in the clause,

other particles can be attached to nouns to indicate how the passive action

occurred. These particles are usually:

A. 에 – as in 세금은 값에에에에 포합된다

B. 에 – to indicate that something occurred due to a non-person

C. 에게 – to indicate that something occurred due to a person

D. (으)로 – to indicate the tool/method in which something occurred

Now that you know all of that, the next few sections should be easy as these rules all

apply to the rest of the lesson.


Korean Passive Verbs – 하다 to 받다

In addition to the usual way of switching 하다 with 되다 to make a passive verb – there

is another (similar) way of making these verbs passive. This can only be done with

certain verbs (usually acting on people), and is done by switching 하다 with 받다 (to

receive). For example:

저는 저의 형을 존경해요 = I respect my brother

저의 형는 존경 받아요 = My brother is respected (literally-my brother receives respect)

The same rules apply with 에 and 에서 as described previously:

교장선생님은 선생님들에게 존경 받아요 = The principal is respected by the teachers

나는 너의 말에* 감동받았어 = I was impressed with what you said

*Remember that 말하다 means “to speak.” By removing 하다, 말 becomes the noun

form of “speak,” which is ‘words/the thing you said/what you said/etc…”

Korean Passive Verbs – Non-하다 verbs

So far you have only learned how to change ~하다 verbs into the passive tense. There are,

of course many verbs in Korean that don’t end in ~하다. When dealing with words not

ending in 하다, there is often a separate (but very similar) word that can be used to

indicate the passive voice. These words will always be presented separately in the

vocabulary lists. Here are some examples:

켜다 = to turn on

켜지다 = to be on

끄다 = to turn off

꺼지다 = to be off

닫다 = to close

닫히다 = to be closed

You can treat these passive verbs just like the passive verbs you learned in the previous

two sections (되다 and 받다 verbs). Make sure you use the passive verb and not the

active verb (for example – use 닫히다 instead of 닫다 in a passive sentence)

밥은 학교에 제공되었어요 = food is provided by the school

문은 바람에 닫혔어요 = The door was closed by the wind

When dealing with these passive verbs however, you need to think about whether or not

that passive verb is in the state of something. For example, every passive verb you

learned in the previous two sections (하다 to 되다 and 하다 to 받다) were not passive


verbs in the state of something. For example, again:

나는 너의 말에 감동받았어 = I was impressed with what you said

Simply means that you were impressed. It does not mean that you are in the state of being

impressed. But, in these sentences:

The computer is on.

The TV is off

The door is locked

All of those nouns are in the state of something. The computer is in the state of being on,

the TV is in the state of being off, and the door is in the state of being locked. To indicate

that something “is in the state” of something in Korean, you must add 아/어 있다 to the

passive verb:

저는 컴퓨터를 켰어요 = I turned the computer on

컴퓨터가 켜져 있어요 = The computer is (in the state of being) on

저는 TV를 껐어요 = I turned the TV off

TV가 꺼져 있어요 = The TV is (in the state of being) off

저는 문을 잠갔어요 = I locked the door

문이 잠겨 있어요 = The door is (in the state of being locked)

Notice that when using these ‘state’ words, 이/가 are used instead of 는/은. Nobody

knows why.

These forms can also be conjugated to the past tense as well:

문이 닫혀 있었어요 = The door was (in the state of being) closed

펜이 탁자에 놓여 있었어요 = The pen was (in the state of) laying on the table

In Korean, there are a lot of words that have respective passive and active forms. As I

said earlier, you always need to think about whether that verb can be in the ‘state’ of

something. Sometimes these passive verbs cannot be used in a ‘state’ of something. For

example, to make it perfectly clear:

닫다 = to close

닫히다 = to be closed

닫히다 could be used to describe the ‘state of being closed’ as in:

닫혀 있다 = is closed

속이다 = to trick somebody


속다 = to be tricked

You can say:

나는 친구를 속였어 = I tricked my friend

나는 친구에게 속았어요 = I was tricked by my friend

But, you cannot be in the ‘state’ of being tricked. Therefore, this does not make sense:

나는 속아 있다 – this would translate to something like ‘I am tricked’… which almost

makes sense, but doesn’t.

Korean Passive Verbs – 내다 and 나다

Finally, there are quite a few words in Korean that can either end in 나다 or 내다.

These two play the same role as 되다 and 하다, where a word ending in 나다 is passive

and a word ending in 내다 is active. 나다 and 내다 can actually be used as standalone

verbs as well as be attached to other words. Both of their meanings are very complex and

depend heavily on the situation, but:

나다 = for something to come up/arise/occur

내다 = to make something come up/arise/occur

Words ending in 나다 can also usually be switched to end in 내다 to change the meaning

from passive to active (and vice-versa). However, not all words ending in 나다 have an

equivalent 내다 verb (and vice-versa). For example, 어긋나다 is a word (to be out of

step with something) but 어긋내다 is not a word. At any rate, the two most common

words ending in 나다/내다 are:

끝내다 = to finish

끝나다 = to be finished

고장 내다 = to break

고장 나다 = to be broken

These can be used just like the 하다/되다 verbs:

저는 숙제를 끝났어요 = I finished my homework

숙제는 끝나요 = My homework is finished - more naturally said in the past tense in

Korean:

숙제는 끝났어요 = My homework is finished (literally "my homework was finished")

저는 컴퓨터를 고장 냈어요 = I broke the computer

컴퓨터는 고장 나요 = the computer is broken- more naturally said in the past tense in

Korean:

컴퓨터는 고장 났어요 = the computer is broken (literally "the computer was broken")


As I said before, 나다 itself means “for something to come up/arise/occur” which means

it can be used in a lot of sentences to indicate that some noun “comes up”. Two common

ways to use 나다 are with 기억 (a memory) and with 생각 (a thought):

아! 그 것이 기억나다! = Ah! I remember that! (Literally – my memory came up)

좋은 생각이 났어요! = I have a good idea (Literally – a good idea came up)

Korean Passive Verbs – Normal verbs

So far, you’ve learned about dealing with 하다/되다/받다 verbs, verbs that can be in a

state (닫다/닫히다) and 나다/내다 verbs. Sometimes, however, a verb that fits none of

these conditions can be put into the passive tense. All that needs to be done in these cases

is to add 어/아 지다 to the verb stem to make it passive. Note that this cannot be done

with all verbs, but some common examples are:

주다 = to give

주어지다 = to be given (should be 줘지다 but 주어지다 is used instead)

짓다 = to build

지어지다 = to be built (짓 + 어 = 지어) + 지다 = 지어지다

기회가 주어졌어요 = I was given a chance

그 집은 한국에서 지어졌어요 = that house was built in Korea

That’s it!

I warned you earlier, there was a lot of grammar in this lesson. Though all of the

grammar in this lesson is very important, and must be understood to continue your

development of Korean – keep in mind that it is always more natural to use active

sentences instead of passive sentences in Korean.

I’m sure you are very confused! But I did my best to describe everything somebody

would need to know when having to worry about the passive voice in Korean.

HowtoStudyKorean.com – Lesson 16

1

Words with *

풀다 can be used in a variety of different ways. Aside from being used to say

‘untie/unfasten/etc’ it can also be used when you are talking about solving a problem or

relieving stress (as in, “I unravel stress” or “I unravel a problem”)

운동은 스트레스를 풀어요 = exercise relieves stress

저는 그 수학 문제를 연필과 종이로 풀었어요 = I solved that math problem using a

paper and a pencil

조금 is a very common adverb – so common that I can’t believe it took me until lesson

16 to teach it to you. It is used as an adverb, so 를/을 are not added to it, although 만/도

are added to it often.

저는 조금 먹었어요 = I ate a little

저는 조금만 먹었어요 = I only ate a little

경제 = economy/economics

경제적 = economical

역사 = history

역사적 = historical

과학 = science

과학적 = scientific

충동 = impulse/shock

충동적 = impulsive

문화 = culture

문화적 = cultural

민주 = democracy

민주적 = democratic

개인 = individual/personal

개인적 = individual

자연 = nature

자연스럽다 = natural

실망(하다) = disappointment(disappointed

실망스럽다 = to be disappointing

사랑(하다) = love/(to love)

사랑스럽다 = loving/charming

만족(하다) = satisfaction/(to be satisfied)

만족스럽다 = satisfactory

관계 = relationship

풀다 = to untie/unfasten/loosen*

믿다 = believe

스트레스 = stress

연필 = pencil

색깔 = color

그 = he

그녀 = she

결과 = result

조금 = a little*

꿈 = dream (noun)

꿈꾸다 = to dream (verb)

세상 = the world

세계 = world

근처 = close/near by*

가깝다 = close/near by*

회화(하다) = (to have a) conversation

영어회화 = English conversation

태어나다 = to be born

나중에 = later

다니다 = to go somewhere frequently

문자 = text message

힘들다 = difficult to do something

제목 = title of something (book, etc)

그러나 = but/however

순수하다 = pure

최근에 = recently

가슴 = chest


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근처 and 가깝다 are words that have similar meanings, but 근처 is an adverb and

가깝다 is an adjective:

저의 친구는 (여기) 근처에 살아요 = My friend lives close (to here)

저의 친구의 집은 가까워요 = My friend’s house is close, or

저의 친구는 가까운 집에 살아요 = literally – my friend lives in a near by house

Korean suffix: ~적/적으로/적이다

~적 is an incredibly common suffix that can be added after some nouns of Chinese origin

(적 is of Chinese origin: 的). This can be added to some nouns, but not all nouns, and

there is no rhyme or reason as to which words it can be added to. The goal of this lesson

isn’t to show you all of the words that this can be attached to (that would take forever).

Rather, the goal of this lesson is to show you how you can recognize and use these words

when you come across them.

Adding ~적 to a word is usually the same as changing the ending of a word in English to

‘~al’ (although there are some exceptions). For example:

경제 = economy


역사 = history


문화 = culture


However, as I said, adding ~적 doesn’t mean that the word in English must end in ‘~al.’

What about this:

과학 = science

과학적 = scientifal?? Haha, not quite.




The main point of this lesson is to teach you how you can understand the meaning of a

word ending in ~적 even if you have never seen it before. This still happens to me fairly

regularly – I will read something, and come across a word I have never seen before

ending in 적.

For example, lets pretend that you don’t know the word ‘민주적’ (you probably don’t).

Lets also pretend that you DO know the word ‘민주’ (democracy).


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What could ‘민주적’ mean? I always just take the original word (without 적) and try to

think of how I can add a few syllables to make it longer.

Democracy – Democratic

The thing is, although words ending in ~적 are used very often, they are much more

commonly used when also connected to ~으로 or ~이다.

Adding 으로

Adding ‘으로’ to the end of ~적 turns that word into an adverb. These adverbs usually

have the ending ‘ly’ in English:

경제 = economy


경제적으로 = economically

역사 = history


역사적으로 = historically

문화 = culture


문화적으로 = culturally

과학 = science


과학적으로 = scientifically



충동적으로 = impulsively

민주 = democracy

민주적 = democratic

민주적으로 = democratically

저는 자주 옷을 충동적으로 사요 = I often buy clothes impulsively

그들은 그 문제를 과학적으로 풀었다 = They solved that problem scientifically

한국과 미국은 역사적으로 좋은 관계에* 있다 = Historically, Korea and the US have

had a good relationship

*(This will be the first time I will say this very important piece of advice: "don't get too

hung up on grammar - especially when reading." My Korean grammar told me that once.

I always asked him "why isn't this sentence like this? Why isn't this sentence like this?"


4

He eventually told me "Don't get hung up on things like that." In this sentence, you would

think that it should be written as "좋은 관계가 있다" - have a good relationship. For

whatever reason however, it is more naturally said with 에 instead of 가 - translating to

something like "they are in/have been in a good relationship." You just need to let go of

grammar sometimes and let your brain tell you what you think it should mean based on

the words around the grammar. To this day, I still read a lot of sentences that, although I

completely understand, are written in a way that looks weird to me.)

Adding 이다

Adding ‘이다’ to the end of ~적 turns that word into an adjective. These adjectives

usually are the same (in English) as without adding ‘이다:’

경제적이다 = economical

역사적이다 = historical

문화적이다 = cultural

과학적이다 = scientific

충동적이다 = impulsive

민주적이다 = democratic

You can now use these ‘적이다’ adjectives just like you would any other adjective:

저 학교는 역사적인 건물이에요 = That school is a historical building

미국은 민주적인 나라예요 = The US is a democratic nation

저는 너무 충동적이에요 = I’m too impulsive (notice that it is conjugated as 이다 at the

end)

The difference between a word with and without 이다 (for example, the difference

between 경제적 and 경제적이다) is that ~적 is a noun, whereas ~적이다 is an adjective.

Sometimes however, nouns can technically be used to sound like adjectives. For example:

That is a big bag = ‘big’ informs us of the type of bag it is. Big is clearly an adjective

which tells us about the bag (that it is big). However, “book” is clearly a noun, but if I

were to say:

That is a book bag = in this example, ‘book’ acts as an adjective because it informs us

about the type of bag it is (that it is a book bag).

This is usually the only time that ~적 is used in Korean. That is, when it is actually a

noun, but acting as an adjective within a sentence. Because it is usually used as an

adjective, you don’t really need to worry much about the difference between ~적 and

~적이다. Just be aware that ~적이다 is more commonly used.

You also may have noticed that 개인 and 개인적 both have definitions of “personal.”

That is not a typo. Adding 으로 to 개인적 turns it into “personally”


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Korean suffix: ~스럽다

Very similar to ~적 is ~스럽다 which can be added to nouns to turn that noun into an

adjective. Just like ~적, it cannot be added to any noun, and there is no rhythm or reason

to which nouns it can be added to. The only way of knowing if ~스럽다 or ~적 can be

added to a word is if you have specifically learned that it can. Because one can never

know which words ~스럽다 and ~적 can be added to, these words will always be

presented as a separate entry in our vocabulary lists.

Anyways, 스럽다 can be added to nouns to make that a noun a descriptive word (an

adjective):

Some examples provided in the vocabulary section of this lesson were:

자연 = nature

자연스럽다 = natural

사랑(하다) = love/(to love)

사랑스럽다 = loving/charming

Those words are pretty straight-forward.

The thing is, with some words ending in ~스럽다, the difference between ~하다 and

~스럽다 depends on the situation, and can sometimes have the same meaning. This is

something that is very minor - but I feel that it needs to be explained. In other ~스럽다

words, there is always a clear difference between ~하다 and ~스럽다. But in some words,

the meaning of ~스럽다 can be the same as ~하다 if the subject is "I." Look at the

following example:

실망(하다) = disappointment(disappointed)

실망스럽다 = to be disappointing

실망하다 means disappointed, which means you can say this:

저는 실망했어요 = I was disappointed,

실망스럽다 usually means "disspointing," but if the subject is "I" ("I am disappointed"),

you can also use:

저는 실망스러웠어요 = I was disappointed

Note that this does not mean "I was disappointing" as the meaning would suggest.

Because 실망스럽다 is an adjective, if you want to say that you were/am/will be

disappointed in something you can add a word attached to 이/가:


6

저는 학생들이 실망스러웠어요 = I was disappointed in the students

The same is with this example:

만족(하다) = satisfaction/(to be satisfied)

만족스럽다 = satisfactory

But, you can also use "만족스럽다" to mean "I am satisfied." Just like this 실망스럽다:

저는 만족스러웠어요 - does not mean "I was satisfactory" - instead, it means "I was

satisfied"

저는 만족했어요 = I was satisfied

저는 만족스러웠어요 = I was satisfied

At any rate, you can now use these ~스럽다 words as adjectives:

결과는 조금 실망스러웠어요 = The result was a little bit disappointing

결과는 만족스러웠어요 = The results were satisfactory

그 여자의 머리 색깔은 자연스러워 = That girl’s hair color is natural

You can also add ~게 to the ~스럽 to make 스럽게 which turns the adjective into an

adverb:

그는 한국어를 자연스럽게 말해요 = he speaks Korean naturally


과일 = fruit

술 = alcohol

우산 = umbrella

권 = a counter for books/magazines/etc

잎 = leaf

교회 = church

강 = river

반갑다 = good/happy

계절 = season

따뜻하다 = warm

부엌 = kitchen

담임 = homeroom

방학 = vacation

머무르다 = stay

배 = pear

당근 = carrot

무 = radish

감자 = potato

칼 = knife

분 = ‘person’ (high respect) also high-

respect counter for ‘people’

쉬다 = to relax/rest

보내다 = send

높다 = high

걸어오다 = to come to a place by walking

걸어가다 = to go to a place by walking

초대하다 = invite

단어 = word

문법 = grammar

울다 = cry

발 = foot

바다 = sea

신문 = newspaper

고객 = customer

환영하다 = welcome

부자 = a rich person

가난하다 = poor

교육 = education

새롭다 = new

기분 = feelings (emotional, etc…)

날씨 = weather

Connecting Particle ~고

With Verbs

When studying Korean, eventually your entire life becomes learning about the various

connecting particles and their meanings. There are so many of these things, whose

functions are essentially to connect two clauses, sentences or ideas. These particles

usually get attached to the end (i.e. the adjective/verb) of one clause connecting it to the

next clause. The simplest one of these connecting particles is ~고, which can be attached

to the stem of a verb/adjective.

The most basic usage of ~고 is to indicate that somebody does more than one verb:

저는 밥을 먹고 갈 거에요 = I will eat and then go

저는 자고 한국어를 공부했어요 = I slept and then studied Korean

Note that the tense is indicated in final verb and not the first verb (the tense of the first

verb can usually be implied by the context). However, sometimes the past tense can be

expressed in the first verb.

저는 열심히 공부했고 의사가 되었어요 = I studied hard and then became a doctor

However, indicating the past tense in the first verb is less common. It is usually better to

only conjugate the final verb – but be aware that the first verb can sometimes be

conjugated.


In the three previous sentences, ~고 represents the meaning of ‘and then,’ but it doesn’t

always have to have that meaning:

저는 과일도* 좋아하고 야채도 좋아해요 = I like fruit and vegetables too

*Notice that 도 can be added to both 과일 and 야채 in this example. In English, we

would just say “I like apples and vegetables too.” That sentence only has one “too,” but

in Korean, 도 can be used twice. That sentence before could also be said like this:

저는 과일과 야채도 좋아해요 = I like fruit and vegetables too

Essentially, ~고 is simply used to connect two sentences/clauses together. Korean people

LOVE making their sentences as short as possible – and using ~고 is one way of doing

this. All of the sentences above could be separated into two sentences:

저는 밥을 먹을 거에요. 그리고 저는 갈 거에요

= 저는 밥을 먹고 갈 거에요

저는 잤어요. 그리고 저는 한국어를 공부했어요

= 저는 자고 한국어를 공부했어요

저는 과일을 좋아해요. 저는 야채를 좋아해요

= 저는 과일도 좋아하고 야채도 좋아해요

Because of this, if you ever just want to shorten your speech,, you can usually just

connect two sentences/clauses with ~고:

이분은 저의 아버지입니다. 이분은 저의 어머니입니다

= 이분은 저의 아버지이고 이분은 저의 어머니입니다 = This person is my mother,

and this person is my father

If you really want to stress that you are doing something after doing something else, you

can add 나서 after ~고. For example:

저는 숙제를 끝내고 나서 집으로 갈 거에요 = I will finish my homework then go home

With Adjectives

You can also use ~고 when you want to string together adjectives to describe something:

그 사람은 착하고 똑똑해요 = That person is kind and smart

저의 여자 친구는 귀엽고 예뻐요 = My girlfriend is cute and pretty

With 가다/오다

Two major exceptions to using ~고 are 가다 and 오다. If you want to say that you

went/came somewhere and then did something, you cannot say this:

저는 학교에 가고 공부할 거에요–instead of ~고, you must add 아/어서 to 가다 / 오다:


저는 학교에 가서 공부할 거에요 = I will go to school and then study

우리는 집에 와서 바로 잤어요 = We came home and went to sleep immediately

Position verbs

There are also many position verbs that usually act differently than regular verbs (not just

in this situation, but in many situations). The most common of these are to sit (앉다),

stand (서다), and to lie down (눕다).

The reason these are treated differently is because these are verbs of position. For

example, if I just said:

저는 먹고 공부했어요 = I ate and studied

In that sentence, aside from the fact that one action happened after another, 먹다 and

공부하다 have no relation to each other. However, if you were to say:

저는 눕고 책을 읽었어요 - That would mean “I lied down, and then read a book” – as in,

I lied down, stood up again, and then read a book. I guess technically you COULD do

that, but nobody would ever do that. Instead, what you wanted to say is that you lied

down, and then, while lying down, you read a book. In these situations with position

verbs, the first action is related to the section action. That is why there are treated

differently. Anyways, if you want to use these position verbs in this way, you need to add

아/어서 to them:

저는 누워서 책을 읽었어요 = I lied down and read a book

나는 앉아서 쉴 거야 = I’m going to sit down and relax

I want to ____ (~고 싶다)

As I said earlier, ~고 is a verb that can connect two clauses/sentences together. However,

there are many other usages of ~고 when also combined with other words. What you are

about to learn is SO common (in Korean and English), and I almost want to apologize for

waiting until lesson 17 to finally introduce it to you. I just felt that there were other things

you needed to learn before this.

Anyways, enough apologizing, lets get down to business.

Adding ~고 싶다 to the stem of a verb gives it the meaning of “I want to ____.” Very

easy to use:

저는 한국어를 배우고 싶어요 = I want to study Korean

저는 캐나다에 가고 싶어요 = I want to go to Canada

저는 여자친구를 위해 편지를 쓰고 싶어요 = I want to write a letter for my girlfriend

It can be used with 되다 to indicate that you want to be something:

저는 선생님이 되고 싶어요 = I want to be a teacher


It can be used in the past tense as well:

저는 선생님이 되고 싶었어요 = I wanted to be a teacher

그 여자는 나랑* 결혼하고 싶었어 = that girl wanted to marry me

*Notice that when talking about ‘marrying’ somebody, ‘with’ must be used in Korean

instead of attaching ‘를/을.’ Because of this difference in English and Korean, many

Korean people will mistakenly say “I want to marry with you.”

Actually, you have come across this ~고 싶다 grammar concept before, but you probably

didn’t even realize it. In Korean, there are two ways to say “I miss ____.” One way is to

use the word “그립다” and is used when you “miss” something other than a person (I

miss my hometown). The word for missing a person in Korean is 보고 싶다. See

anything funny about that word? 보고 – 싶다? Literally, it means “I want to see:”

저는 친구를 보고 싶어요 = I miss my friend/I want to see my friend

~하고 싶다 can be used with adjectives, for example:

저는 행복하고 싶어요 = I want to be happy

But is generally not used like that. There is a way to use adjectives with ~고 싶다 but

you will learn that in another lesson (when you learn about adding 어/아지다 to

adjectives).

Really, the only confusing part about ~고 싶다 is that 싶다 actually becomes an

adjective, and must be conjugated as one. This is not that important now, but will be

important later on.

Also, notice the difference between 원하다 and ~고 싶다. You can you 원하다 when

you want an object:

저는 그 책을 원해요 = I want that book

and you can use ~고 싶다 when you want to do a verb:

저는 그 책을 읽고 싶어요 = I want to read that book

Pretty easy lesson, I think. Some grammar concepts are not used so much – but the

grammar concepts in this lesson are used all the time. Up until now, actually, it has been

hard for me to continue to create good example sentences without the use of ~고 and ~고

싶다. The further and further you go along in these lessons, the more complicated the

example sentences will become!


안타깝다 = unfortunate/sad/too bad

원숭이 = monkey

젖다 = wet (adjective)

교과목 = a class/subject in school

교과서 = textbook

소문 = rumor

충전기 = charger

청구서 = bill

계산원 = cashier

계산기 = calculator

출장 = business trip

주로 = mainly/mostly*

자르다 = cut

밥솥 = rice cooker

소설 = novel

백과사전 = encyclopedia

전공 = major (in university)

가위 = scissors

팀 = team

요청하다 = ask/request

군대 = army

군인 = soldier

지도 = map/atlas

낮다 = low

책상 = desk

어깨 = shoulder

내부 = in*

외부 = out*

백화점 = department store

대학생 = university student

중학교 = middle school

가수 = singer

저쪽 = in that direction

공기 = air

새벽 = dawn

다 = all*

궁금하다 = to wonder

부모님 = parents

피부 = skin

공 = ball

Words with *

주로 is an adverb that sounds a lot like an adjective in sentences. It is often put behind

nouns (like adjectives) to mean “mainly/mostly _(noun)__.” For example:

저의 친구는 주로 남자이에요 = My friends are mostly men

저는 주로 과일과 야채를 먹어요 = I mainly eat fruits and vegetables

다 is another adverb that sounds like it should be a noun. It actually may be a noun, but in

Korean, 를/을 is never attached to it, so my gut is telling me that it is an adverb and not a

noun. Anyways, you can use this when you want to say that you do “all” of something. It

can be used without a noun:

저는 다 했어요 = I did it all

Or with a noun to indicate what you did “all” of:

저는 숙제를 다 했어요 = I did all of my homework

내 and 외 are have origins in Chinese meaning “inside – 내(內)” and “outside – 외(外).”

You don’t need to worry about the Chinese characters just yet, but knowing that 외 and

내 usually have these meanings can help you tremendously when learning new words. If

you want to go further, 부(部) (as in, 내부 and 외부) means “part.” 내부 then means

“the inside part/the inside”, and 외부 means “the outside part/the outside.”

Not very important, but good to know.


Present Progressive (I am __ing) ~고 있다

Attaching ~고 있다 to the stem of verbs gives it the meaning of “I am ____ ing,” – as in,

I am currently doing something. It is called the “present progressive” because the action

is being done in the present, and is currently “progressing” as time goes on. Haha, well,

you don’t need to worry about why it is called that.

This grammatical form is common in Korean. Simply attach ~고 있다 to a verb stem:

나는 음악을 듣고 있어 = I am listening to music

저의 아버지는 자고 있어요 = My father is sleeping

여자들은 지금 영화를 보고 있어요 = The girls are watching a movie now

This same form can be used in the past tense to mean “I was ___ing.”

저는 밥을 먹고 있었어요 = I was eating

학생들은 수업 시간 동안* 자고 있었어요 = The students were sleeping during class

*You learned previously that 동안 has the meaning of “for” when placed after an

indication of time (10년 동안 = for 10 years). However, when placed after a noun, it has

the meaning of “during” (방학 동안 = during vacation/수업 시간 동안 = during class)

However, using ~고 있다 in the past tense is slightly awkward in Korean. It can be used

in the past tense, but instead of saying these:

저는 밥을 먹고 있었어요 = I was eating

학생들은 자고 있었어요 = The students were sleeping

It is more natural to just say this:

저는 밥을 먹었어요 = I ate

학생들은 잤어요 = The students slept

It can also be used in the future tense:

나는 다음 주에 시험 공부를 하고 있을 거야 =next week I will be studying for an exam

But, just like the past tense of this form (~고 있었다), it is much more natural to simply

say “I will do this next week”

저는 다음 주에 시험 공부를 할 거에요 = I will study for an exam next week

~고 있다 can usually be used easily, but there are three words that need special attention:

1) 살고 있다

In English, we can say “I live in Canada.” You could also say “I am living in Canada,”

but to me it sounds more natural to say “I live in Canada.” In Korean, however, “살고

있다” is often used when you want to say “I live in Canada:”


저는 한국에서 살고 있어요 = I live in Korea

저는 한국에서 살아요 = I live in Korea

살다 (to live) is a little bit strange because you can actually use ‘에서’ or ‘에’ to indicate

the place that you are living. For example, these are also correct, and have the same

meaning as the previous examples:

저는 한국에 살고 있다 = I live in Korea

저는 한국에 살아요 = I live in Korea

Although they both sound natural to Korean speakers, I’ve heard that 에서 is probably

the correct one.

2) 알고 있다

In English, almost every verb can go into the “I am ___ing” form. However, one word

that we would never say that way is “I am knowing ____.” In Korean, however, it is very

common to say “알고 있다.” Instead of translating this to “I am knowing” it needs to be

translated to “I know.”

나는 그 것을 알고 있어 = I know that

나는 그 것을 알아 = I know that

3) 가지고 있다

A word that you learned in a previous lesson is “가지다.” 가지다 is a verb that means

“to have/posses.” You also know that you can use 있다 to state that you “have”

something. For example:

나는 펜이 있다 = I have a pen (remember that this usage of 있다 requires that 이/가 be

added to the object, because 있다 is actually an adjective in this form).

When using 가지다, however, you would think that you could simply do this:

나는 펜을 가져 – I have a pen – But, it is not usually said like this. If you want to say

that you have something using 가지다, you should say “가지고 있다” instead of just

“가지다.” For example:

나는 펜을 가지고 있어 = I have a pen

Just like how we don’t say “I am knowing” in English, we also wouldn’t say “I am

having.” Therefore, when translating “를/을 가지고 있다” into English, you need to say

“I have ____.”

If you want to talk about ‘people’ that you ‘have,’ you should never use “가지고 있다.’

Instead, you should use just ‘있다.’ For example:


나는 여자 친구가 있어 = I have a girlfriend

나는 여자 친구를 가지고 있어 – this technically means “I have a girlfriend,” but it’s

meaning is more similar to “I possess a girlfriend.” If you say something like this in

Korean, Korean people will probably understand you, but laugh at your mistake (similar

to if somebody told me that they possess a girlfriend in English).

Using 고 있다 with Position Verbs

In the previous lesson, you learned that you cannot add ~고 to position verbs (like

앉다/서다 = sit/stand). Specifically, I said that these position verbs “usually act

differently than regular verbs (not just in this situation, but in many situations).” This is

another situation when these position verbs act differently than regular verbs. Adding ~고

있다 to these verbs can be done. For example:

저는 앉고 있다- I am sitting–but this means that you are actually in the process of sitting,

as in, you are currently bending your knees to sit. “저는 앉고 있다” is grammatically

correct, but you need to ask yourself when you would ever say this. What you want to say,

is “I am (in the state of) sitting”… as in, your butt is on the floor/on a chair. If you want

to do this, you have to add 아/어 있다 to these verbs instead of ~고 있다:

나는 앉아 있어 = I’m sitting

나는 학교 옆에 서 있어 = I’m standing next to the school

나는 침대에 누워 있어 = I’m lying in bed

One more time, for good measure:

나는 서고 있다 = This means that you are currently in the process of standing up -

which probably wouldn't be said... especially since Korean people have a specific word

for "getting up" - 일어나다.

나는 서 있다 = This means that you are in the state of standing up (probably what you

want to say in almost every situation).

Using ~고 있다 with Adjectives

In general, you cannot attach this form to adjectives. It is the same in English:

저는 행복해요 = I am happy – this is okay.

저는 행복하고 있어요 – I am… being happy? Doesn’t make any sense.

In English, you can say I am getting happy. The next section will teach you this.


Adjective + 아/어지다

Another powerful grammatical form in Korean is adding ~어/아지다 to the stem of an

adjective. This changes the meaning of an adjective from “be (adjective)” to “get

/become (adjective).” For example:

행복하다 = to be happy

행복해지다 = to get/become happy

비싸다 = to be expensive

비싸지다 = to get expensive

춥다 = to be cold

추워지다 = to get cold

크다 = to be big

커지다 = to get/become big

You can technically use these adjectives in the present tense, but they sound a little bit

weird (both in English and in Korean):

저는 행복해져요 = I get happy

날씨는 추워져 = The weather gets cold

It is more natural to use these types of words in sentences in the past/future tense:

날씨는 주말에 추워졌어 = The weather got cold over the weekend

or with other grammatical forms you have already learned

저의 여자 친구는 예뻐지고 있어요 = My girlfriend is getting pretty

집 값은 비싸지고 있어 = House prices are getting expensive

Remember that it is awkward to use adjectives with the ~고 싶다 form. If you want to

say “I want to be (adjective)” you should attach 아/어지다 to the adjective:

나는 행복해지고 싶어 = I want to become happy (I want to be happy)

나는 예뻐지고 싶어 = I want to become pretty (I want to be pretty)

There are some occasions when you can say (adjective)고 싶다, but it is not worth

worrying about. I would say, always use the (adjective)아/어지고 싶다 form when

speaking/writing, but if you hear a Korean person say (adjective)고 싶다 – don’t go

telling him that he is wrong. :P


더 = more

덜 = less

한식 = Korean food

양식 = western food

평소 = usual

키 = height*

키가 크다 = tall*

별 = star

여러 = many/various*

좁다 = narrow

넓다 = wide*

태도 = attitude

걱정하다 = worry

씻다 = wash*

특별하다 = special (adjective)

확인하다 = confirm/check

월급 = pay cheque

라면 = instant noodles (ramen)

주년 = anniversary

닥쳐 = shut up

도심 = downtown/center of a city

시내 = downtown

모으다 = gather/collect

이야기(하다) = talk with/conversation*

수집(하다) = collection/(collect)

추억 = memory

추억거리 = memories

옛 _____ = old something

옛 추억 = old memories

옛날 = old days

옛사랑 = old love

옛이야기 = old story (legend)

옛길 = old road/path

추천하다 = recommend

후보자 = candidate

게으르다 = lazy

편하다 = comfortable

안락하다 = comfortable

자세 = body position/posture

앞으로 = future

키 means height in Korean, but not the height of a building or something. It is only used

when talking about the height of a person. 크다 means ‘big.’ The adjective for tall is

키가 크다, which just indicates that your height is big. This is one of the occasions where

the ‘subject – object – adjective’ form (that I taught you in Lesson 15) is used. If you

want to say that “I am tall” you say: “나는 키가 크다.”

여러 looks like an adverb but it acts as an adjective (meaning it can be placed before

nouns) with the meaning “many/several.” For example: 여러 날 = many/several days,

여러 번 = many/several times

넓다 means “wide” but Korean people often say “넓다” when in English we would say

“big.” Usually when they talk about how ‘big’ a room/house is, they will say that it is

very “넓어.” In English, it would be awkward to say “This place is so wide!!” but that is

how they say it in Korean.

이야기 means “conversation/story,” but the verb form means “to have a conversation/to

talk with. I could say

나는 어제 여자친구랑 이야기했어 = I talked with my girlfriend yesterday

이야기(하다) is often shortened to 얘기(하다), which will be one of the only times you

will ever use the letter ㅒ.


Introduction

Today’s lesson covers something that is very important when learning any language. And,

as I’ve been saying in the past few lessons – I am sorry that it took me this long to teach

this to you. There is so much Korean grammar that you need to know, and I felt that the

concepts in this lesson could be put off until now. I just want you to know that I (of

course) do plan on teaching you everything. When you learn everything, sometimes some

things have to take a back-seat. Nonetheless, lets get started.

Korean Word 더 (more)

Before we even get into using comparatives, I want to familiarize you with the

word ‘더,’ meaning “more” in English. The word ‘more’ (in English and Korean) is very

commonly used in sentences when comparing things (I am more handsome than you).

But, in both languages, you don’t necessarily need to be comparing something to

use ‘more.’ Let’s look at some examples of ‘더’ when not comparing. Look at the

following two sentences: (더 is an adverb, so it doesn’t need any particles attached to it.)

저는 밥을 먹고 싶어요 = I want to eat

나는 자고 싶어 = I want to sleep

Those are normal sentences without 더. By adding 더 you add the meaning of ‘more’:

저는 밥을 더 먹고 싶어요 = I want to eat more

나는 더 자고 싶어 = I want to sleep more

You can add 더 to a wide variety of sentences, including sentences with counters in them:

저의 여동생은 지난 주에 책 2권을 읽었어요 = My sister read two books last week

저의 여동생은 지난 주에 책 2권을 더 읽었어요 My sister read two more books last week

사람 2명은 올 거에요 = Two people will come

사람 2명은 더 올 거에요 = Two more people will come

나는 펜 2개가 있어 = I have two pens

나는 펜 2개가 더 있어 = I have two more pens

Also in sentences with the counter 번 in them:

나는 어제 학교에 2번 갔어요 = I went to school 2 times (twice) yesterday

나는 어제 학교에 2번 더 갔어요 = I went to school 2 more times yesterday

You can also use 더 in sentences with verbs if you also include an adverb:

나는 열심히 공부했어 = I studied hard

나는 더 열심히 공부했어 = I studied harder


Or without an adverb if you just want to say that did you did a verb ‘more’:

나는 공부했어 = I studied

나는 공부를 더 했어 = I studied more|

In these cases, the adverb 많이 can also be included:

나는 공부를 더 많이 했어 = I studied more

In a lot of cases, though, the word 더 is used in conjunction with 보다. Now that you

know a little bit about 더, let’s look at how to use these two together. .

Korean Comparatives – 보다

Though you can use 더 in sentences when not comparing (as taught in the previous

section), it is very commonly used in sentences when comparing. In English, comparing

is really hard and confusing. Look at these examples:

It is hotter than yesterday

It is more beautiful than yesterday

It is smellier than yesterday

In English, depending on the word that you are using to compare, the conjugation is

different. I can’t imagine how annoying this would be for an English learner. Luckily,

comparatives in Korean are all done using the exact same form every time!

All you need to do is add the word 보다 to the thing in the sentence that is being

compared to. Lets look at it step by step:

나는 잘생겼어 = I am handsome

나는 더 잘생겼어 = I am more handsome

To indicate that you are ‘more handsome than somebody’ you just insert

somebody보다 into the sentence:

나는 아버지보다 더 잘생겼어 = I am more handsome than my father

More examples|

선생님들은 더 똑똑해요 = Teachers are smarter

선생님들은 학생들보다 더 똑똑해요 = Teachers are smarter than students

한식은 더 매워 = Korean food is spicier

한식은 양식보다 더 매워 = Korean food is spicier than western food

오늘은 더 더워 = Today is hotter

오늘은 어제보다 더 더워 = Today is hotter than yesterday

저는 키가 더 커요 = I am taller

저는 남동생보다 키가 더 커요 = I am taller than my brother


You can use 보다 with verbs as well.

나는 밥을 더 먹었어 = I ate more

나는 남동생보다 밥을 더 먹었어 = I ate more than by brother

나는 어제보다 밥을 더 먹었어 = I ate more than yesterday

If you really want to get crazy, you can use counters in these sentences as well:

나는 내일 사람 2명을 만날 거야 = I will meet two people tomorrow

나는 내일 사람 2명 더 만날 거야 = I will meet two more people tomorrow

나는 내일 어제보다 사람 2명 더 만날 거야 I will meet two more people than yesterday tomorrow

A common word that 보다 is connected to is 평소 meaning “usual”:

나는 평소보다 더 공부하고 있어 = I am studying more than usual

And finally, you can throw some adverbs into the mix if you like:

나는 평소보다 더 열심히 공부하고 있어 = I am studying harder than usual

You can, of course, use ‘보다’ with verbs to indicate that you do something better/worse

than somebody else (I play hockey better than my brother – which is true, by the way).

Before you learn that, however, you need to know how to use the words 잘/못, which

will be taught in the next lesson.

There are two more words in particular that you should be aware about here:

낫다 – Better

There are really two ways to say “better” in Korean. First of all, be aware that “better” in

English is actually just “more good,” but we don’t say that. We just say “better.” You can

use the word ‘좋다 (good)’ in these situations (or ‘나쁘다’(bad) to mean worse):

바나나는 사과보다 더 좋다 = Apples are better than bananas

The thing is, this meaning is closer to “I like bananas more than apples,” and not “apples

are better than bananas.” Usually in Korean if you want to say “better”, the word 낫다 is

used. ‘낫다’ literally means ‘better’ (more good) which means that you don’t need to put

the word 더 in those sentences:

바나나는 사과보다 나아 = Apples are better than bananas

낫다 is also very commonly used when you are talking about getting better after being

sick. You can say things like this:

병은 나았어 = I’m better (literally – the sickness/disease is better)

감기는 나았어 = My cold is better


덜 – Less

덜 has a few meanings, but of the meanings is ‘less’ – as in – the opposite of more (더).

You can use it just like 더…although I feel that 더 is used much more frequently than 덜.

For example, instead of saying:

“I am less handsome than my brother”

It would be more natural to say

“My brother is more handsome than me”

Nonetheless, you can say:

나는 남동생보다 덜 잘생겼어 = I’m less handsome than my brother

한국에서 대학교는 고등학교보다 덜 어려워요 = In Korea, University is not as hard as

high school

One more quick thing – it is kind of funny/cute slang to pronounce 덜 as 들. I suggest

you try it out sometime. Korean people often get a kick out of foreign people speaking in

slang-like language. They usually can’t get over the fact that we know Korean, let alone

the fact that we know a bit of slang.

Korean Superlative – 가장

Korean superlatives, just like comparatives are so much easier in Korean than they are in

English. In English, depending on the word you are using, you have to conjugate

differently:

She is the hottest girl

She is the most beautiful girl

She is the smelliest girl

In Korean, instead of mucking around with different forms like in English, all you need

to do is add one word: 가장

예쁘다 = pretty

가장 예쁘다 = Prettiest

아름답다 = beautiful

가장 아름답다 = Most beautiful

You can then put these into sentences just like you would normal adjectives:

저의 여자 친구는 한국에서 가장 예쁜 여자에요 My girlfriend is the prettiest girl in Korea

가족은 가장 중요해요 = Family is the most important


You can’t really use 가장 with verbs unless there is also an adverb included within the

sentence. For example, you can’t say this:

나는 가장 달려 = I run… most?... doesn’t make sense

In these cases, you need to add an adverb to the sentence:

나는 가장 빨리 달려 = I run the fastest

However, you can add 가장 to 좋아하다 (to like) without an adverb to indicate that

you ‘like something the most.’ (This is also how you say “my favorite” in Korean).

나는 그 여자를 가장 좋아해 = I like that girl most (that girl is my favorite)

나는 수학을 가장 좋아해 = I like math most (math is my favorite)


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이상 is a word that seems similar to 더 (more) but is in fact, very different. You learned

previously that you use 더 in the following situation:

저는 3 시간 더 공부했다. This means that you studied for 3 more hours. However,

저는 3 시간 이상 공부했다 means that you studied for more than 3 hours.

By putting 이상 after a word (usually a time or a noun), it has the meaning of “more than

____”: For example: 18 세 이상 = over 18 years of age

You can also put 더 behind 이상 to make 더 이상 which is usually used in negative

sentences to mean “anymore”:

나는 이 영화를 더 이상 보고 싶지 않아 = I don’t want to watch this movie anymore

빠지다 is another word that can be used in a wide variety of situations (like 들다 or

걸리다). It’s main meaning is to “fall into _____.” Depending on what “____” is, the

meaning of 빠지다 can change slightly. One common usage of 빠지다 is “사랑에

빠지다” which means “to fall in love.”

빠지다 can also be combined with 나오가 or 나가다 to make 빠져나오다/빠져나가다,

which both mean “to escape.” However, when you use these words, the meaning of

“escape” is a little bit more complex. When you use 빠져나오다/빠져나가다 is sort of

means that you were somehow able to wriggle your way out of a situation.

잘하다 = to do something well

잘 = well (adverb)

못하다 = to do something poorly

못 = poorly

수영(하다) = swimming/to swim

~님 = adds respect to person’s position

교수 = professor

주인 = master/owner/proprietor

대우하다 = to treat somebody

잘못 = mistake/fault

기온 = temperature

퇴직하다 = retire

접수하다 = to receive-usually an application

동글다 = round/spherical

헷갈리다 = confusing

씹다 = chew

통역하다 = interpret

번역하다 = translate

젓다 = stir

거울 = mirror

가루 = powder

근육 – muscle

어둡다 (어두운) = dark

어둠 = darkness

~세 = years old (18 세 = 18 years old)

꼭 = surely/definitely

물론 = of course

사고 = accident

교통 = traffic

죽다 = die (교통사고로 죽는다)

그 동안 = during that time/meanwhile

기본= basic/basics

이상 = more than*

빠지다 = to fall into*

사랑에 빠지다 = to fall in love

빠져나오다 = to escape/come out of*

빠져나가다 = to escape/get out of*

또는 = or*

늘다 = to have gained/improved*

늘리다 = to gain/improve*


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또는 pretty simply means “or” but be careful not to use this with verbs. It can only

separate two nouns. You can use it with verbs if the verb is in noun form, but you don’t

know how to do that yet.

늘다 is the passive form of the verb ‘to increase’ – which means it’s definition is “to

have increased/to have gained.” A common way this is used is to indicate that

somebody’s skills increased:

저의 친구의 한국어 실력이 많이 늘었다 My friend’s Korean (skills) really increased/got better

The active form of this verb is 늘리다:

저의 친구는 한국어 실력을 늘렸다 = My friend increased his Korean skills

Always remember the difference between passive and active verbs.

Introduction

Until now, you have not learned how to say “I am good at something/I do something

well” or “I am bad at something.” In this lesson, you will learn about the words 잘하다

(to do something well) and 못하다 (to do something poorly). 못하다 is very hard to

understand perfectly, so I will ease you in by introducing you to 잘하다 first.

잘하다: To do something well

The main meaning of 잘하다 is “to do something well.” There are a few other situations

when 잘하다 can be used, but it’s meaning in those situations is very similar to “to do

something well.” To use 잘하다, simply place a noun in a sentence with 잘하다.

This is easy to do with 하다 verbs (for example, 수영하다 and 공부하다) because to

make a noun all you need to do is remove 하다 from those words. You don’t yet know

how to make non-하다 verbs into nouns (that lesson is coming very soon), but the

principal is the same. All you would need to do is:

나는 (noun form of verb)을/를 하다. For example:

나는 수영을 잘해 = I am good at swimming

저 학생은 공부를 잘해 = That student studies well

잘: Well

Just like 잘하다, you can use the word 잘 in sentences to indicate that you do something

well. Usually, when you remove 하다 from a word, the word without 하다 becomes a

noun. In this case, removing 하다 from 잘 does not make 잘 a noun. Instead, it is an

adverb… or at least it acts as an adverb. This only reason this is important is so that you

know that you can use 잘 in sentences just like other adverbs to mean “(to do something)

well.” It’s essentially the same as 잘하다, but used slightly different. For example:

그 주인은 고객님들을 잘 대우해요 = That owner treats the customers well

목소리가 잘 들려 = I hear you well

나는 어젯밤에 잘 잤어 = I slept well last night


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When I first learned about 잘하다 and 잘, I was trying to understand if there was a

difference between these two sentences:

나는 공부를 잘해 = I study well

나는 잘 공부해 = I study well

The answer: essentially, but not entirely.

The difference is so subtle that you don’t really need to worry about it. However, when I

learned this, I worried about it, so I think maybe you should worry about it too. The

reason I say “don’t worry about it” is because now when I speak I can’t really distinguish

the difference in meaning. The only way I could tell the difference is referring back to my

old notes from 2 years ago. Nonetheless, there is a subtle difference:

나는 공부를 잘한다 = I study well, or

“나는 (noun)을 잘한다” means that, in general, your ability to study is good. However,

나는 잘 공부한다 = I study well, or

“나는 잘 (verb)다” means that you can study well because of some situation (for

example, maybe you have a test coming up and you are studying really hard because of

that situation).

But really, don’t get too caught up on the difference between the two. Especially since

sometimes they look and sound almost exactly the same. If you separated 공부 and 하다

in the second example, you would get:

나는 공부를 잘 해 = I study well, which sounds (and almost looks) exactly the same as:

나는 공부를 잘해 = I study well

Anyways, don’t worry about it too much.

You already know the word 잘생기다 means “handsome.” That word is actually 잘 and

생기다 put together. 생기다 has a lot of meanings, but putting 잘 and 생기다 together, it

sort of means “to come out well.” The opposite is true for 못생기다 (to be ugly).

Always remember to not translate directly from English to Korean, as there are so many

things that are not 100% the same in both languages. For example, in English, we would

never say “I don’t know well,” but in Korean, it is very common to say:

저는 잘 모르겠어요 = I don’t know (well)

Also notice that the future tense 모르겠다 is used here. Even though it is in the present,

모르겠다 is used very commonly to indicate that you don’t know something – Even

though it directly translates to “I will not know.” For example:

나는 한국어를 모르겠어 would mean “I don’t know/can’t speak Korean”


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못하다: To do something poorly

Alright, this is where it gets hard. 잘하다 was easy. Let’s do this step by step.

First of all, 못하다 has the opposite meaning of 잘하다 – so it means “to do something

poorly/to be bad at something.” Which means it can be used in the same way:

나는 수영을 못해 = I am bad at swimming

저 학생은 공부를 못해 = That student does not study well

The difference between 못하다 and 못 is the same as the difference between 잘하다 and

잘. When you say a sentence like “나는 수영을 못해” it means that in general your

ability to swim is bad. Because of this, you need to be careful about the type of verb you

are using in this situation. For example, you couldn’t really use the verb “eat” in this

situation, because that would mean that “my ability to eat is bad.” Instead, what you

would probably want to say is that “I CAN eat, but because of some situation, I can’t

really eat right now.” That is when you need to use 못 instead of 못하다:

못: Poorly

Just like 잘, you can use the word 못 in sentences to indicate that you do something

poorly, but remember the difference between 못 and 못하다. Using 못 give the sentence

the meaning “I am physically capable of doing _____, but because of some situation, I

can’t do it well.” For example:

저는 어제 못 잤어요 = I didn’t sleep well last night (Even though you ARE capable of

sleeping (of course), some situation made it so that you couldn’t sleep well).

저는 어제 시험을 못 봤어요 = I did poorly on the exam yesterday

This is where it gets confusing. Both of those sentences could have two meanings.

The first example:

“저 는 어제 못 잤어요” could mean “I didn’t sleep well last night” OR “I didn’t sleep

last night”, which is also “저는 어제 안 잤어요/저는 어제 자지 않았어요.”

The second example:

“저는 어제 시험을 못 봤어요” could mean “I did poorly on the exam yesterday” OR “I

didn’t write the exam yesterday,” which is also “저는 어제 시험을 안 봤어요/저는

어제 시험을 보지 않았어요”

Confusing? Let me say it one more time. When you put 못 in a sentence, it indicates that

you did/do/will do something poorly (because of some situation) OR that you did not/are

not/will not do something. When it has the second meaning (“I didn’t do”) it is usually

the result of some situation. For example, if you wrote:

저는 어제 시험을 못 봤어요 to have the meaning “I didn’t write the exam yesterday” –

implied in the meaning is that you didn’t write the exam because of some situation (for

example, I was sick, so I didn’t write the exam”). So:


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저는 어제 못 잤어요 = I didn’t sleep well last night, OR

저는 어제 못 잤어요 = I didn’t sleep last night because of some situation

저는 어제 시험을 못 봤어요 = I did poorly on the exam yesterday, OR

저는 어제 시험을 못 봤어요 = I didn’t write the exam yesterday because of some situation

But, how can you distinguish the difference between somebody saying “I did something

poorly” and “I didn’t do something”? There are three ways I can teach you:

잘 못

If you want to stress that you do something poorly, you can include 잘 behind 못. This

specifically indicates that you “don’t do something well” and removes the ambiguity of

“I didn’t”:

저는 어제 시험을 잘 못 봤어요 = I didn’t do good on the exam yesterday

The word being used

Sometimes, the word being used makes it clear which meaning you are trying to express.

For example, if I said:

저는 어제 학교에 못 갔어요, This could have two meanings:

1) I didn’t go to school yesterday because of some situation

2) I didn’t go to school well yesterday

Which one of those two makes sense? In situations like this, it is easy to figure out which

meaning is being used. Is it possible to “go somewhere well?” I don’t think so.

A good real-world example of this is something that my co-worker said to me. The

school I work at was in the process of buying my plane ticket back home, and it happened

to be really expensive. My co-worker always wanted to go to Canada, but when she heard

how much my plane ticket was, she said to herself “캐나다에 못 가겠다.” The meaning

of this sentence is not “she will go to Canada poorly” but rather “she can’t/won’t go to

Canada because of some situation” (the ticket being too expensive).

Situation

Sometimes you just need to think about the context of the sentence to understand the

meaning completely. For example, if you already knew for sure that a friend wrote the

exam, and they later said “시험을 못 봤어요” – the sentence could only have one

meaning (because you already knew that he/she wrote the exam).


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~지 못하다

One more thing about 못하다. Similar in structure to ~지 않다, you can also write 못 as

~지 못하다. For example:

저는 어제 못 잤어요 AND

저는 어제 자지 못했어요 have the same meaning (I didn’t sleep [well] last night)

Remember that 못 and ~지 못하다 have the same meaning, which is subtly different than

를 못하다:

저는 어제 못 공부했어요 = I didn’t study well yesterday/I didn’t study yesterday

저는 어제 공부하지 못했어요 = I didn’t study well yesterday/I didn’t study yesterday

저는 공부를 못해요 = I am bad at studying

잘못

To make all of this even more confusing, the word 잘못 (with no space between 잘 and

못) has a different meaning. 잘못 means “mistake.” This word would normally be an

easy word to deal with. However, it is more difficult than it needs to be because 잘못 and

잘 못 have to different meanings. 잘못 can be used like this:

그 것은 제* 잘못이었어요 = That was my fault/my mistake

(*Normally when you say “my _____” you use 저의 or 나의. However, some nouns that

prefer to have 제 and 내 behind them instead of 저의/나의. 잘못 is one of these nouns.

Another example is 제/내 생각 (instead of 저의/나의 생각) meaning “my thought/my

opinion/what I think).

But you have to be careful to not confuse the word 잘못 with 잘 못.


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결혼식: 결혼 means “marriage,” 결혼하다 means “get married.” Usually, by adding 식

to the end of a noun in Korean, the noun turns into some sort of a ceremony. 결혼 + 식

= marriage ceremony (wedding).

역시: Used very similar to ~도. 역시, however, does not get added directly to nouns:

나 역시 수학을 좋아하지 않아 = I also don’t like math

몇몇: You learned in Lesson 12 that you can use the word 몇 behind counters to have

the meaning “some.” For example:

나는 펜 몇 개가 있어 = I have some pens

You also learned that you can use this with the counter 명 (for people).

나는 사람 몇 명을 만났어 = I met some people

몇몇 is the same as the “몇 명” in this case. You can use 몇몇 to mean “some people:”

몇몇 사람들은 밥을 좋아하지 않아 = Some people don’t like rice

낮잠 자다: 낮잠 is a noun that literally means “day sleep.” If you want to make it a

verb, you need to add “자다” after it:

나는 오늘 오후에 낮잠을 잤어 = I took a nap in the afternoon today

누구 = who

왜 = why

언제 = when

어디 = where

소식 = news (when hearing from somebody

엄마 = mom

아빠 = dad

결혼식 = wedding*

우표 = postage stamp

축복하다 = bless

신 = god

만화 = comics/cartoons

만화책 = comic book

역시 = also*

즐겁다 = pleasant (adjective)

예정 = schedule

미터 = meter

센티미터 = centimeter

몇몇 = some (only used with people)*

나중에 또 봐요 = see you later

논 = rice paddy

간단하다 = simple

벌써 = already

이미 = already

졸업하다 = to graduate

낮잠 (자다) = nap*

의견 = opinion/feedback

입원하다 = check into a hospital

퇴원하다 = check out of a hospital

이기다 = win

지다 = loose

후회하다 = regret

특히 = especially

수입 = income

크게 = greatly

점점 = gradually

타다 = ride (the metro/any vehicle)*

코딱지 = booger

사라지다 = disappear

부족하다 = lack of/not enough of


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타다: 타다 is another one of those verbs that has so many meanings depending on the

situation. One of the most common meanings, however, is to “ride.” It can be used in a

wide variety of situations where you are on something that is moving (boat, horse, taxi,

subway, elevator, bus, etc.):

나는 벌써 지하철을 타고 있어 = I am already riding the subway

Asking Questions in Korean

Asking questions in Korean, at first glance, is very easy. For the most part, asking

questions in Korean without the use of a “question” word

(who/what/when/where/why/how/how much/how many) is incredibly simple.

Asking questions in English is unnecessarily complicated. If I asked you the question

“Do you like sports?” In English, what is the meaning of the word “do” in that sentence?

In English, whenever we ask a question, we need to include the words did/do/will to

make the listener know that we are asking a question.

Did you go to the park? Do you like sports? Will you eat with us?

It’s so confusing in English, and my two sentence explanation doesn’t really explain it

very well. Luckily, this is not an English learning website! You are here to learn how to

ask questions in Korean. Enough of this English nonsense.

In Korean, if you are asking a question that does not require the use of a question word

(one more time: who/what/when/where/why/how/how much/how many) you don’t need

to do anything structurally to make that sentence a question. All you need to do is raise

the intonation of the end of the sentence to make it sound like a question. For example,

if you want to say “My mother ate” you already know that you can say:

엄마는 먹었어요 = My mom ate

But if you want to ask somebody “did you eat?” You just raise the intonation of the end

of the sentence to make it sound like a question:

엄마는 먹었어요? = (literally means “did mother eat?”)

Remember that Korean people rarely say the word “you,” so if you ask a question to the

person you are talking to about the person you are talking to, you can just omit the

subject of the sentence.


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밥을 먹었어? = did (you) eat?

집에 갔어? = did (you) go home?

소식을 들었어? = did (you) hear the news?

If you are talking to somebody and the subject of the sentence is not the person who you

are talking to, you can just use the subject as normal. Also notice that regardless of the

tense of the sentence (past/present/future) you don’t need to do anything special other

than raise the intonation at the end of the sentence:

남동생은 울었어요? = did your brother cry?

한국은 좋은 나라야? = is Korea a good country?

엄마도 올 거야? = will mom come too?

As I said, you don’t need to change anything structurally in these sentences to make

them questions. There are, however, a few ways that you can change the structure of a

sentence to make the sentence a question (if you want).

Korean Questions ~습니까

The formal high respect 습니다 is never used as a question. When asking a question,

instead of using ~습니다 you must use ~습니까 instead. You can do this will all tenses:

방학 동안 집에 안 갔습니까? = You didn’t go home during vacation?

Korean Questions ~니

When asking a question, instead of ending your sentences with 아/어요, you can end

them with ~니. You can do this in all tenses. For example:

Past tense: 했니, 먹었니, 갔니, 이었니

Present tense: 하니, 먹니, 가니, 이니

Future tense (usually connects to 겠): 하겠니, 먹겠니, 가겠니

However, note that using this form gives the sentence a slightly feminine feel to it (I’ve

never once used ~니.

시험을 잘 봤니? = Did you write the exam well (did you do good on the exam)?

서울에 가겠니? = Are you going to go to Seoul?


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Korean Questions ~은/ㄴ가

Just like ~니 you can also end your questions with ㄴ가/은가. You can add 요 to the

end of 가 to make it more formal. This form is less formal than the 습니까 form.

ㄴ/은가 gets added to the stem of adjectives. You add ㄴ/은 to adjective stems just like

you would when conjugating it to modify a noun:

예쁘다 + ㄴ/은 = 예쁜

작다 + ㄴ/은 = 작은

그 여자는 예쁜가? = Is that girl pretty?

이 것은 너무 작은가요? = Is this too small?

Remember that 이다 and 아니다 are actually adjectives (even though they feel like

verbs), and thus, must be conjugated to 인가 and 아닌가.

아닌가? Is very commonly used at the end of a full sentence to say “no?” when you are

asking yourself a question as if you are doubting yourself. For example:

그 여자는 한국에서 가장 예쁜 여자야. 아닌가? That girl is the most beautiful girl in

Korea… no?/isn’t she?

You can use this same form with verbs in some situations (by adding ~는가 instead of

ㄴ/은가). However, this form is generally not used with verbs, so don’t get too worried

about it yet (even I had to look it up in the dictionary). Just so you know, it can be

added to 있다 and 없다, to verbs in the past and future tense (by connecting it to 었/았

and 곘), plus a few other grammar forms that you don’t know yet.

But, like I said, don’t worry too much about using 는가 with verbs. ~ㄴ/은가 is fairly

common with adjectives, but not so much with verbs.

Now that you know how to ask questions without using one of the question words, lets

look at how you can do this with question words:

Using Question Words

Depending on which question word you are using, building a question can be really

easy or really confusing. I will teach you the easy examples in this lesson (who, when,

where, why) and the more confusing examples in the next lesson (what, how, how

much/how many).


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Why (왜)

Why (왜) is probably the easiest question word in Korean. ‘왜’ is an adverb, which

means it can be used/placed as an adverb in sentences (remember, adverbs can be used

very freely in sentences):

만화책을 좋아합니까? = Do you like comic books?

만화책을 왜 좋아합니까? = Why do you like comic books?

한국어를 왜 공부하고 있어요? = Why are you studying Korean?

왜 너무 빨리 먹었어요? = Why did you eat so fast?

When (언제)

The usage of ‘when’ (언제) is very similar to the usage of ‘왜’ in Korean. 언제 is also

an adverb, so it can also be placed as an adverb in sentences.

집에 언제 갔어? = When did you go home?

집에 언제 갈 거야? = When will you go home?

Particles can’t usually be added to adverbs, but 언제 is an exception to this. 부터 and

까지 are often added to 언제 to mean “since when” and “until when.”

언제부터 아팠어요? = Since when have you been sick?

한국에서 언제까지 있을 거에요? = Until when will you be in Korea?

언제 can also be used as a noun placed behind 이다 to ask when something “is”:

결혼식은 언제야? = When is the wedding?

Where (어디)

Where (어디) is very similar to ‘언제’ because it is an adverb that other particles can

sometimes be attached to.

어디 살아요? = Where do you live?

어디 가고 싶어요? = Where do you want to go?

As you already know, one usage of ‘에’ is do denote a place (i.e. 집에 간다). However,

Because ‘어디’ is clearly a place, 에 does not usually necessarily need to be attached to

어디 (although it can).


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However, when you are talking about doing something in a place, you always need to

add 에서 to that place (집에서 공부하다). The particle 에서 should be added to 어디

in the cases when where somebody does something.

어디 가요? = Where are you going? (어디 is not the place in which the action is being

done in, so you could add 에, but it is generally not added).

어디에서 먹어요? = Where are you eating? (어디 in the place in which the action

(eating) is being done in, so 에서 needs to be attached).

When writing 어디에서, 에서 is usually shortened to 서: 어디서

어디서 먹어요 = Where are you eating?

Also, if you want to ask ‘from/until where,’ the particles 에서/부터/까지 can be used:

어디까지 가고 싶어요? = How far/until when do you want to go?

어디에서 왔어요* = Where are you from (from where did you come?)

(*Actually, my biggest pet-peeves are the Korean textbooks that teach this sentence on

the very first page, without any introduction to grammar or anything. Of course, this

sentence is important, but I prefer understanding the grammar that I am saying. When I

first started learning how to speak Korean, this was one of the first sentences that I

learned, but I had no idea why it meant “where are you from?” It wasn’t until months

later that I learned all of the pieces within it to fully understand it).

Like 언제, it can also be used as the noun behind 이다 to ask where something “is”

집은 어디에요? = Where is your/the house? This can also be said like this:

집은 어디에 있어요? = Where is your/the house

Who (누구)

Using the word “who” in Korean is easy but slightly more difficult that using 어디 and

언제. Really, the only reason why 누구 is difficult is because it is so different from the

English usage. As mentioned, 어디 and 언제 are adverbs – but 누구 is a noun, which

means it can be used in the place of a noun in a sentence (the object, the subject or

behind 이다). This is the same in English – as you can see in the following three

examples:


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Who will study Korean tomorrow? – ‘who’ is the subject of the sentence

Who will you meet tomorrow? – ‘who’ is the object of the sentence -“you” is the

subject

Who is that person? = ‘who’ is ‘that person’ in the sentence

However, this is confusing in English because in both cases “who” is the first word of

the sentence regardless of it is the subject or object.

In Korean, instead of always placing ‘who’ at the start of the sentence, it should be

placed in the location of the subject (usually the start of the sentence), the object

(usually somewhere in the middle of the sentence) or behind 이다. I will show you an

example of each:

In the third sentence you can see an example of 누구 being used as a subject. The

subject is underlined in each case. When 누구 is used as the subject of a sentence, it is

changed to 누가.

너는 내일 한국어를 공부할 거야 = You will study Korean tomorrow

너는 내일 한국어를 공부할 거야? = Will you study Korean tomorrow?

누가 내일 한국어를 공부할 거야? = Who will study Korean tomorrow?

In the third sentence you can see an example of 누구 being used as an object. The

object is underlined in each case. The object particles can be used if 누구 is the object.

너는 내일 친구를 만날 거야 = You will meet a friend tomorrow

너는 내일 친구를 만날 거야? = Will you meet a friend tomorrow?

너는 내일 누구(를) 만날 거야? = Who will you meet tomorrow?

In the third sentence you can see an example of 누구 being used behind 이다:

그 사람은 너의 아버지야 = That person is your dad

그 사람은 너의 아버지야? = Is that person your dad?

그 사람은 누구야? = Who is that person?


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얼마나 = how much

몇 = how many ___ (with a counter)

뭐 = what (adverb)

무슨 = what (adjective)

무엇 = what (noun)

어떤 = which

어떤 = some*

어느 = which for places

어때? = How was … ?

살 = years old

대개 = usually

바깥 = outside

달걀 = eggs

올바르다 (올바른) = correct

복잡하다 = complicated

쯤 = approximately*

자리 = seat/place to put something*

차지하다 = to occupy a space

중요성 = importance/emphasis

수거하다 = collect

벌금 = a fine (ticket)

파일 = file

첨부하다 = attach

서로= reciprocally*

필독 = must read (noun)

로션 = lotion

제일 = the first/the most (가장)

학설 = theory

풍습 = customs (cultural customs)

찢다 = to tear/rip something

편지 = letter

며칠 = how many (days?)

다녀오다 = go and then come back

예상하다 = expect

순서 = turn (turn to go)/order

퍼센트 = percent

단계 = step/phase/stage

짧다 = short/brief

치마 = skirt

짓 = some sort of negative action

어떤 can mean “which” as in “which sport do you like best?” But it can also mean

“some” in the following example:

어떤 남자는 어제 여기에 왔어 = Some man came here yesterday

How do you differentiate if 어떤 means ‘some’ or ‘which?’ If the sentence is a question,

it will usually mean ‘which.’ If the sentence isn’t a question, it will usually mean ‘some.’

쯤: This can be used after nouns and numbers (usually time) to mean “approximately.”

저는 파일을 2시쯤 보낼 거에요 = I will send the file at approximately 2:00

자리: 자리 is an very common word that is used in very important situations. 자리 is

some area of space, but not really 3-dimensional space. It is more space on the ground or

something similar to that. For example, if somebody is standing where you are standing,

you could say “get out of my place/my spot!” In that case, you can use 자리. In practice,

it is very commonly used to have the meaning “seat”:

자리가 없어요 = There are no seats/there is nowhere to sit

서로: 서로 translates to a difficult word in English, but it is fairly common in Korean.

The best word to describe it is “reciprocally” but “each other” often works too. If you

have two/more people as the subject, you can use this word:

우리는 서로 편지를 줬어요 = We gave letters to each other


2

Introduction

In the previous lesson, you learned about how to make questions sentences in Korean.

Specifically, you learned how to use ‘who’ (누구), ‘when’ (언제), ‘where’ (어디) and

why (왜) in sentences. That lesson was easy. This lesson will be more difficult. As always,

I will explain everything as thoroughly as humanly possible.

How (어떻게)

The word 어떻게 is actually 어떻다 (a word you don’t know yet) turned into an adverb

by adding ~게 to the stem. (어떻 + 게). Though 어떻다 and 어떻게 are technically the

same word, don’t think of them that way. Just remember that 어떻게 means “how.” You

can use 어떻게 to ask how somebody does a verb but it can not placed behind an

adjective or adverb to mean “how (adjective/adverb).” For example:

“Learn” is a verb, so you can use 어떻게 in the following sentence:

How did you learn?

“Beautiful” is an adjective. “Often” is an adverb. Which means you can not use 어떻게

in the following sentences:

How beautiful is your girlfriend?

How often do you go to school?

You will learn another word (얼마다) later in this lesson to use in those sentences.

Back to 어떻게… 어떻게 is an adverb, so you can place it in sentences very freely:

그 것을 어떻게 해요? = How do you do that?

한국어를 어떻게 배웠어요? = How did you learn Korean?

One thing that is different between English and Korean is when you ask “what do you

think about…” If you want to say that in Korean, you have to use the equivalent of “how

do you think about…”:

그 여자에 대해 어떻게 생각해요? = What do you think about that girl?

That’s pretty much all you need to know with regards to ‘어떻게,’ but there is still more

that you should know about the word 어떻다.

어때?

The word 어떻다 is rarely used as 어떻다 in sentences. If you asked Korean people if

they thought that ‘어떻다’ and 어떻게’ are the same word, they would probably say that

the two are completely different words.

In addition to 어떻게, there is another way that you can use 어떻다 in sentences.

Somehow, 어떻다 can be changed to ‘어때.’ Haha, yes, they are the same word. I’ll

show you how 어떻다 changes to 어때, but you really don’t need to worry about how it

is changed (there are no other words in Korean that follow this strange transformation)


3

어떻다 is an adjective

하다 can be added to some adjectives (좋다 + 하다 = 좋아하다)

어떻다 + 하다 = 어떠하다 (the ㅎ is dropped)

어떠하다 is the dictionary form. 어떠하다 usually conjugates to 어떠해

Say 어떠해 fast enough and it comes out as “어때”

어때 is used to say “how is/was the…?” or “what do/did you think about…?” It is used

when you want to ask somebody’s opinion/evaluation of something:

점심 어때? = How was the lunch?/What did you think about the lunch? (was it

delicious? Expensive? Etc..)

남자친구 어때? = How is your boyfriend? (is he good/bad/handsome/etc..?)

It is also very commonly used in the present tense to say something like “what about this

one?/what do you think about this?” Think of this example. You and I are searching

through a bunch of pictures, trying to find the best one for my profile picture on

Facebook. I find one that I like, but I want to ask you “what do you think about this

picture/how about this picture?” In that case, I can say:

이 사진 어때? = How about this picture?

In fact, 어때 is probably the most commonly miss-translated word by Korean speakers

learning English. If you ask a Korean person what ‘어때’ means, they will all say it

means “how about.” Sometimes, this is true, but 어때 can only be used as “how about” in

a limited number of cases. In the example I just gave about choosing a good picture, 어때

can be translated to “how about.” But what about in the previous two examples:

How about the lunch?

How about your boyfriend?

Sounds weird, and most English people probably couldn’t understand the meaning.

Try it sometimes. If you have a Korean friend, ask him how to say “한국 어때?” in

English. I guarantee he will say “How about Korea?” But really, this should be translated

to “what do you think about Korea?/How is Korea?”

요 can be added to 어때 to make it more formal. Also, 어때 can be put into the past-tense

to ask about something in the past. But note that even if you are asking about the past, it

is not 100% necessary to use 어때 in the past tense:

시험 어땠어요? How was the exam?/What did you think about the exam?

What (뭐/무엇/무슨)

Now that you’ve learned all the easy ways to ask questions, lets work on the hard ways.

Figuring out how to ask “what” in Korean is probably the hardest thing you will come

across (grammatically) for a while. Essentially, there are three ways to say “what:”


4

뭐 – which is an adverb

무엇 – which is a noun

무슨 – which is an adjective

It is important that you recognize that each word is a different part of speech (i.e. that one

is an adverb, one is an adjective, and one is a noun). Why is this important? It is

important because you will need to know how to treat those words in sentences.

뭐

Adverbs are always easy, so lets start with that first:

뭐 can be used similar to 언제/왜/어디/어떻게 (other question words that are adverbs).

먹었어? = Did you eat?

언제 먹었어? = When did you eat?

어디서 먹었어? = Where did you eat?

왜 먹었어? = Why did you eat?

어떻게 먹었어? = How did you eat?

뭐 먹었어? = What did you eat?

More examples:

지난 주말에 뭐 했어요? = What did you do last weekend?

내일 뭐 하고 싶어요? = What do you want to do tomorrow?

무엇

무엇 is a noun, and must be treated as one in a sentence (which means, you can add

를/을 to it). It is very difficult to explain the difference between 뭐 and 무엇 because

essentially, they are the same except for the fact that 를/을 can be added to 무엇 but not

뭐. When you use 무엇, 무엇 simply replaces the noun in the sentence:

점심을 먹었어? = Did you eat lunch?

무엇을 먹었어? = What did you eat?

However, when you want to ask “what is ___”, 무엇 is rarely used at the end of the

sentence behind 이다. For example, instead of saying:

이것은 무엇이야?

It is more common to say: 이것은 뭐야? = What is this?

If you ever want to ask “what is (anything)” you can use this form:

이름은 뭐에요? = What your name?

무슨

무슨 also means “what” but it is an adjective. What does this mean? This means that you

can put it behind other nouns to mean “what _____...” For example:


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무슨 일을 하고 싶어요? = What work do you want to do? (what job do you want to

have?)

무슨 영화를 보고 싶어요? = What movie do you want to see?

Which (어떤/어느)

어떤

In English, we also use the word “which” to mean essentially the same thing as “what:”

What movie do you want to see?

Which movie do you want to see?

If you can explain the difference between those two sentences (I’m guessing you can’t)

then you can explain the difference between 어떤 and 무슨. 어떤 translates to “which,”

but (like in English) there is very little difference between “어떤” and “무슨.” There is a

small difference, but more Korean people would tell you there isn’t - just be aware that

there is a very very slight difference between the two.

어떤 영화를 보고 싶어요? = which movie do you want to see?

무슨 영화를 보고 싶어요? = what movie do you want to see?

어느

It is important to know that 어떤 cannot be used behind a word that is a place/location.

For example, you could not say “어떤 집에서 살아요?” You would think that this means

“which house do you live in,” but like I said, 어떤 cannot be used behind a place/location

(a house is a location). In cases when you want to say “which (location)” you must use

어느 instead of 어떤:

어느 집에서 살아요? = Which house do you live in?

어느 대학교를 다녀요? Which university do you go to?

How many (몇)___ (words with counters)

Before I explain how to ask somebody “how many ____?” as in “how many cars do you

have?” lets review how to say “I have # cars.” Remember that you need to use counters in

these types of sentences:

나는 차 2대가 있다 = I have 2 cars

What you want to ask “how many ___?” you must replace the counter with the word 몇:

차가 몇 대가 있어요? = How many cars do you have?

어제 학교에 몇 번 갔어요? = How many times did you go to school yesterday?

Make sure not to confuse these types of sentences with these similar sentences you

learned in a previous lesson:


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(저는) 차가 몇 대가 있어요 = I have some cars

(저는) 어제 학교에 몇 번 갔어요 = I went to school some times (a few times) yesterday

The only difference between the first two sentences and the last two sentences is that one

is a question and one is a statement. Remember when you are asking a question that the

intonation needs to rise at the end of the sentence.

By using 몇 ___ you also ask “how old are you?” and “what time is it?”:

몇 시예요? = What time is it?

몇 살이에요? = How old are you?

너의 남동생은 몇 살이야? = How old is your younger brother?

How many _______ (words without counters)

There are a few nouns that do not have counters. One of the most common of these is

“money” (돈). In these cases, when you want to ask “how much” you need to use the

combination of 얼마나 and 많다.

얼마나 is a common adverb that means “how” but is very different from 어떻게. 얼마나

is a word that is placed behind adjectives and adverbs to mean “how (adjective/adverb)”:

얼마나 많다 = how much/many

얼마나 예쁘다 = how pretty

얼마나 자주 = how often

얼마나 빨리 = how fast

Note that 어떻게 cannot be used this way. 어떻게 can only be used to ask how you do a

verb (how did you go home?) but 얼마나 is used behind adjectives/verbs.

Combining 얼마나 and 많다 makes “how much/many” and can be used to ask “how

much money…?”

얼마나 많은 돈을 가져갈 거야? = How much money will you bring?

Remember that 많이 is the adverb form of 많다. Which means you could also say this:

돈을 얼마나 많이 가져갈 거야? = How much money will you bring?

More examples:

한국어를 얼마나 자주 공부해요? = How often do you study Korean?

여자 친구는 얼마나 예뻐요? = How pretty is your girlfriend?

축구를 얼마나 잘 해요? = How well do you play soccer?

You can also put 얼마나 behind 이다 to ask “how much does this cost?”

이것은 얼마예요? = How much is this?


초록(색) = green

적색 = red

보라색 = purple

푸르다 = sea blue

빨갛다 = red

하얗다 = white

까맣다 = black

파랗다 = blue

이런 = this kind of

이렇게 = like this

그런 = that kind of

그렇게 = like that

저런 = that kind of

저렇게 = like that

셔츠 = shirt

눈 = snow

눈보라 = blizzard/snow storm

변경하다 = change

들르다 = stop by

섬세하다 = delicate

드러내다 = to reveal/to show (active)

드러나다 = to be revealed/be shown

작품 = a piece of work

날짜 = date

송이 = counter for “bunch” (flowers/bananas)

잔 = counter for a ‘glass’ of something

그릇 = bowl

교수 = professor

발표하다 = announce

등 = back (body part)

손등 = back of hand

손톱 = fingernail

독자 = readers

부부 = couple/married couple

종류 = counter for a “type/kind of thing”*

가지 = counter for a “type of thing”*

뉴스 = news

내려오다 = come down (ascend)*

내려가다 = go down (descend)*

전쟁 = war

내려오다/내려가다 = Compound verb of 내리다 (to descend) and 오다/가다:

가지/종류: These two have the same meanings, one that is difficult to understand. They

are used as a counter when you are talking about types of things. You use them just like

any other counter:

나는 3 대의 차가 있어 = I have three cars

나는 3 가지의 차가 있어 = I have three types of cars

You can also use it (usually 종류 and not 가지) in sentences when you are asking what

type of thing they want:

어떤 종류의 차를 원해요? = What type of car do you want?

Introduction

One of the most important and also most difficult things to understand in Korean for non-

native Korean speakers is the formation of nouns from verbs. Throughout Unit 1, I have

been telling you that “I will teach this concept to you soon.” I was originally thinking that

I would teach this to you in Unit 1, but there were always more simple things that you

needed to understand before diving into that deep-end.

I have decided that I will teach that concept in the first lesson of Unit 2 (it will probably

take three lessons to cover the entire thing). I just want you to know that there is a reason

that I keep delaying that lesson.

Today, however, we will be talking about the ㅎ irregular, and how it applies to Korean

colors and the words 이렇다, 그렇다 and 저렇다.


Korean Irregular: ㅎ

Colors

You learned all about the Korean irregulars in Lesson 7. On top of all of those irregulars,

there is one more that you should be aware of. The reason I didn’t include this irregular in

Lesson 7 is because it is an irregular irregular. Usually, if the last consonant of a word

stem ends in ㅎ, the word is not conjugated in any special way:

좋다 = 좋아

많다 = 많아

However, a lot of colors in Korean end with the final syllable ㅎ (see the vocabulary list

for a good list of these). When conjugating these words (which are adjectives) by adding

ㄴ/은 to them, the ㅎ gets dropped and ㄴ gets added directly to the word stem:

노랗다 = 노란

빨갛다 = 빨간

하얗다 = 하얀

까맣다 = 까만

파랗다 = 파란

You can use those words like that if you want to use them as adjectives:

빨간 사과는 가장 맛있어요 = red apples are the most delicious

그녀는 빨간 셔츠를 입고 있다 = She is wearing a red shirt

If you want to use these words as nouns (as in, the color white, the color blue, the color

green), you can add “색” after the adjective form of the color (색 means ‘color’):

노란색 = yellow

파란색 = blue

These words, along with other words of color that are not adjectives (for example,

“보라색” is not an adjective, but is a noun meaning “purple”) can be used like adjectives

without actually being adjectives. For example, you could say:

나는 하얀 차를 사고 싶어 = I want to buy a white car

하얀 in that situation is a an adjective. But if you want to use 하얀색, you can say:

나는 하얀색 차를 사고 싶어 = I want to buy a white car

하얀색 here is an noun that is acting as an adjective. Just like the noun “high school” acts

as an adjective in “high school student.”

큰 차 = big car

작은 차 = small car

하얀 차 = white car

하얀색 차 = white car


이렇다/그렇다/저렇다

There aren’t many words that follow this ㅎ irregular, but three more examples are

그렇다, 이렇다 and 저렇다. These words are all adjectives. Each word is essentially the

same – the only difference being the difference between 이, 그 and 저. Remember the

difference between these?

이 means “this”

그 means “that” when something is close to you. It is also used when you are referring to

something in a previous sentence. For example:

“I went to Canada last week. At that time I forgot about my test that I had to write.

저 means “that” when something is far from you.

이렇다, 그렇다 and 저렇다 are very important and common in Korean, so lets look at

them one by one.

이렇다

이렇다 means “like this,” but (as with 그렇다 and 저렇다) is rarely used in its dictionary

form. It is generally used in two different ways: as an adjective and as an adverb:

As an Adjective: 이런

By adding ㄴ/은 to the stem of 이렇다 we get 이런, which means “this sort of/this kind

of/this type of.” For example:

이런 일은 위험하다 = This type of work is dangerous

이런 차는 너무 커요 = This type of car is too big

As an Adverb: 이렇게

By adding 게 to the stem of 이렇다 we get 이렇게, which means “like this.”

저는 이렇게 하고 싶어요 = I want to do it like this

왜 이렇게 일찍 가요? = Why are you going so early (like this)?

이 일은 왜 이렇게 어려워요? Why is this so hard (like this)?

You’ll notice that in the last two examples, the words “like this” in English don’t

necessarily need to be in the sentence. It is hard to fully explain in words, as this is

something that you really just pick up after a while when learning Korean. When Korean

people a “why” question, they often stress “why” by using 이렇게.

그렇다

Now that you know about 이렇다, learning about 그렇다 is simple. Like 이렇다,

그렇다 is usually used as an adjective or an adverb:


As an Adjective: 그런

By adding ㄴ/은 to the stem of 그렇다 we get 그런, which means “that sort of/that kind

of/that type of.” For example:

저는 그런 사람을 믿지 않아요 = I don’t trust that type of person/those types of people

저는 그런 것을 좋아하지 않아요 = I don’t like that type of thing

As an Adverb: 그렇게

By adding 게 to the stem of 그렇다 we get 그렇게, which means “like that.”

저는 그렇게 생각하지 않아요 = I don’t think like that

저는 그렇게 운동 하고 싶어요 = I want to exercise like that

저렇다 can be used the same way (i.e. as 저런 or 저렇게) but is used much less

commonly than 이렇다 and 그렇다. All you need to do is to keep in mind the differences

between 이, 그 and 저.

저는 저런 여자를 좋아하지 않아요 = I don’t like that kind of girl

아빠는 저렇게 왜 말하고 있어요? = Why is dad talking like that?


전 = before/ago

직전 = just before

후 = after/later

직후에 = right after

이래 = since

날다 = fly

설탕 = sugar

달다 = sweet

경찰관 = policeman

경찰서 = police station

깊다 = deep

구름 = cloud

걷히다 = clear up (in weather)

조용하다 = to be quiet

잠시 (잠시 후에) = a moment*

잠깐 = a short time*

구경하다 = sightseeing

뒤처지다 = fall behind

앞지르다 = pass/overtake

이내 = within

금하다 = prohibit

경쟁 = competition

경쟁사 = competitors

뜨겁다 = to be hot*

차갑다 = to be cold*

감독하다 = supervise

느끼다 = to feel

느껴지다 = to be felt

피 = blood

지우다 = erase/remove/wipe off

구두 = shoes/boots

목욕 = bath

번호 = number

전화번호 = phone number

친절하다 = nice/kind

열쇠 = key

수박 = watermelon

과자 = candy/cookies

양복 = suit

두다 = put/set/place something

잠깐 means “for a short time” but is most commonly used as “잠깐만” to mean “only for

a short time.” This is a very common expression that you can use whenever you want to

say “please wait for 1 second.”

잠시 is very similar but is used differently. 잠시 is usually placed before 후에 to mean

“just a minute later/just a minute after.”

뜨겁다 and 차갑다 mean “hot/cold” respectively. There are not, however, used when

talking about the weather or the temperature of your body. Instead, they are used to

describe objects that are hot or cold. You will often hear people scream “아! 뜨거워!”

When they touch something really hot. This is usually shortened to “아! 뜨거!” in speech.

Want an example? Check out this hilarious one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD5FUjqGnqw (he says “앗! 뜨거 뜨거… 앗! 뜨거

뜨거 several times throughout the song)

Introduction

In Lesson 11, you learned a wide variety of different “time” words that you can use in

sentences. In that lesson, I said that there were two more words that were very important

when talking about time (전 and 후). In that lesson, I said that I would teach you those

two words sometime later. Well, this is now later.

In this lesson, you will learn how to use the words 전 and 후 as well as some other

similar words. Lets get started:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD5FUjqGnqw


Before/Ago (전)

The word ‘전’ means ‘before’ or ‘ago’ in English. When placed after any indication of

time (2 seconds, 5 minutes, 10 hours, 4 days, 3 weeks, 2 years, etc…) it has the meaning

of “ago:”

2 초 전에 = 2 seconds ago

5 분 전에 = 5 minutes ago

10 시간 전에 = 10 hours ago

4일 전에 = 4 days ago

3 주 전에 = 3 weeks ago

Notice that ‘에’ gets added to ‘전’ because it is referring to a time.

You can now use those words in sentences very intuitively:

저는 2주 전에 남동생을 만났어요 = I met my brother 2 weeks ago

구름은 5분 전에 걷혔어요 = The clouds cleared up 5 minutes ago

When ‘전’ is placed after a verb, it has the meaning of “before.” When you want to use

전 like this, you must add 기 to the verb stem of the preceding verb:

제가 먹기 전에 = before I ate

제가 가기 전에 = before I go

제가 오기 전에 = before I come

A few very important things before I say anything else:

There is a reason why ~기 is added to the stem of a verb. However, that grammar is a

little bit too difficult for you right now. Not only that, if I were to describe the reason for

adding ~기 to the stem of a verb, it would take an entire lesson. That lesson is coming. It

will probably be discussed in Lesson 27.

Another thing. You can essentially add any sentence to the (verb-stem)~기 전에

grammatical form and it will have the meaning of “before (this happened).” You could

say something like “the country of Canada becomes a sovereign state기 전에” and it

would have the meaning of “before Canada became a sovereign state”… Of course, that

is a terrible example because in English the verb doesn’t come at the end of the sentence.

Either way, with the use of ~기 전에, the complexity of your Korean sentences will be

able to increase tremendously.

One more (very important) thing. This is really the first time that you will have any

practical usage for the subject particles 이 and 가. Many learners of Korean find it

difficult distinguishing the difference between 은/는 and 이/가. I described this

difference in depth in Lesson 2, but I will describe it briefly here. 는/은 are added to the

subject of the main clause of the sentence. A lot of the times, there is only one clause

(and thus, one subject) in a sentence:


나는 밥을 먹었어 = I ate (rice)

One sentence, one clause, one subject (나)

But in the following sentence:

엄마가 오기 전에 나는 밥을 먹었어 = Before my mom came, I ate (rice)

One sentence, two clauses, two subjects. The subject of the first clause is my mother. The

subject of the second clause is me. The main clause is the fact that “I ate rice” so 는/은

gets added to 나.

Almost all of the time, when you are making a clause to go behind ~전에 the subject of

that clause will have 이/가 attached to it. The only time this isn’t the case is when the

subject of both clauses is the same person. For example, instead of saying:

내가 오기 전에 나는 밥을 먹었어 = Before I came, I ate

You should just say:

나는 오기 전에 밥을 먹었어 = Before I came, I ate

Remember that Korean people love shortening their sentences. Every chance they get,

they want to eliminate something from their sentences. So, instead of saying “내가…

나는…” you only need to say “I” once.

Also notice that (like a lot of things in Korean), no indication of tense is made behind ~기

전에. Instead, the tense is determined by the main clause:

엄마가 오기 전에 나는 먹었어 = Before mom came, I ate

엄마가 오기 전에 나는 먹을 거야 = Before mom comes, I will eat

More examples:

한국에 오기 전에 저는 한국어를 배웠어요 = I learned Korean before I came to Korea

제가 아내와 결혼하기 전에 우리는 2년 동안 사귀었어요 = Before marrying my wife,

we went out/dated for 2 years

After/Later (후)

The word ‘후’ means ‘after’ or ‘later/from now’ in English. When placed after any

indication of time (2 seconds, 5 minutes, 10 hours, 4 days, 3 weeks, 2 years, etc…) it has

the meaning of “later/from now:”

2 초 후에 = 2 seconds later/from now

5 분 후에 = 5 minutes later/from now

10 시간 후에 = 10 hours later/from now

4일 후에 = 4 days later/from now

3 주 후에 = 3 weeks later/from now


You can use these sentences intuitively just like “~전에” sentences:

2시간 후에 갈 거에요 = I will go 2 hours from now

수업은 2 분 후에 끝날 거에요 = Class will finish 2 minutes from now

When ‘후’ is placed after a verb, it has the meaning of “after.” You learned earlier in this

lesson that you must add 기 to the stem of verb to make “~하기 전에.” When saying

“후” you don’t add ~기 to the stem of the word. Instead, you have to add 은/ㄴ to the

stem of a verb. 은 gets added to a stem where the final syllable ends in a consonant. ㄴ

gets added directly to stems ending in a vowel:

내가 먹은 후에 = After I eat

내가 간 후에 = After I go

These can now go into sentences like “~하기 전에”

숙제가 끝난 후에 나는 집에 갈 거에요 = After my homework is finished, I will go home

밥을 먹은 후에 친구를 만났어요 = After I ate I met a friend

Since (이래로)

The word “since” in Korean (이래로) can be used exactly like ~은/ㄴ 후에. Instead of

having the meaning “after I ….” it has the meaning “since I…”:

한국에 온 이래로 한국어 배우고 있어요 = Since coming to Korea, I have been learning Korean

열심히 공부한 이래로 실력은 빨리 늘었어요 = Since studying hard, my skills have been increasing

Those two sentences are perfectly correct, but Korean people rarely use the word 이래로.

You can use it, and everybody will understand what you mean (they will probably be

impressed because 이래로 is a difficult word), but it is not common in Korean

conversation. If Korean people want to say “since…” they usually use ~후에 instead:

한국에 온 이래로 한국어를 배우고 있어요.. is better said like this:

한국에 온 후에 한국어를 배우고 있어요 = After coming to Korea, I have been learning Korean

열심히 공부한 이래로 실력은 빨리 늘었어요… is better said like this:

열심히 공부한 후에 실력은 빨리 늘었어요 = After studying hard, my skills have been increasing

Within/inside (안/이내)

Two other words that you can use in similar situations as 전 and 후 are 안/이내. You

already know the word “안” can be used in sentences to mean “inside:”

나는 집 안에 있다 = I am inside the house

If 안/이내 are placed after an indication of time, they have the meaning of “within” that

time period:

나는 5년 이내에 외국어를 5개를 배우고 싶어 = I want to learn 5 languages within 5 years

나는 5년 안에 외국어를 5개를 배우고 싶어 = I want to learn 5 languages within 5 years

HowtoStudyKorean.com Unit 2 – Lesson 27 1

외롭다 = lonely

소중하다 = significant/precious

담다 = put something in/on a bottle/plate*

담기다 (담겨 있다) = to be put on*

따로 = separately/privately

중앙 = middle/center

인내 = patience/endurance

인내심 = patience

서명하다 = (to) sign/signature

저축하다 = to save money

낭비하다 = waste

이유 = reason

방법 = a way to do something

예술 = art/the arts

예술가 = artist

그리다 = draw

내용 = contents (books contents)

밝히다 = to reveal/disclose something

밝히다 = to light (candle)/brighten (a light)

정치 = politics

온도 = temperature

종업원 = employee/server

영원히 = forever

포기하다 = give up

식탁 = dinner table

찾아오다 = visit/come looking for

종종 = often

얇다 = thin

서서히 = gradually/slowly

기술 = technology

춤추다 = dance

순전히 = purely

취직하다 = to find a job

오렌지 = orange (fruit – not color)

달력 = calendar

소풍 = outing/picnic/excursion

공책 = notebook

서점 = bookstore

강요하다 = force/impose/pressure

경치 = view/scenery

비누 = soap

세수하다 = wash up/wash ones face

찌개 = stew

에어컨 = air conditioning

요일 = day of week

숟가락 = spoon

간호사 = nurse

간호하다 = to nurse/to care for

밤새 = overnight

약국 = pharmacy

증가하다 = increase/growth

인구 = population

사회 = community

충격 = shock/impact (받다)

지나다 = pass/go by (time passing as well)

그 후로 = since then

인간 = human/human being

법 = law

화재 = fire

시민 = citizen

감각 = sense/feeling

실패하다 = fail

아마 = probably

한계 = limit (reaching the limit)

고통 = pain

이르다 = arrive/reach

다다르다 = arrive/reach

사투리 = dialect

도장 = seal/stamp that many Koreans have

마르다 = dry (adjective)

환승하다 = transfer (bus/subway)

손님 = guest/visitor

승객 = passenger

대통령 = president (of country)

독립 = independence

독립적 = independent

바치다 = devote/dedicate (목숨을 바치다)

유지하다 = to keep/maintain

차이(점) = differences(between two things)

멈추다 = to stop


발음하다 = pronunciation/pronounce

주스 = juice

우체국 = post office

대사관 = embassy

정류장 = bus/train stop/station

휴지 = toilet paper

햄버거 = hamburger

땀 = sweat

상처 = wound

보험 = insurance

회원 = member

무시하다 = ignore

다루다 = treat/deal with

장 = chapter (of book)

생각해보다 = think about it

대중교통 = public transportation

막차 = last bus/last train

태양 = sun

근무하다 = working at

배고프다 = hungry

담다 means to put something on/into something (usually a plate or a bottle):

저는 빵을 그릇에 담았다 = I put the bread in/on the bowl.

담기다 is the passive form of 담다, and can be used like this:

빵이 그릇에 담겨 있다 = The bread is in/on the bowl

Introduction

In the previous lesson, you learned about the ~는 것 principle and how you can

- turn clauses/sentences into nouns to make sentences like this:

저는 친구가 사과를 가져오는 것을 원해요, and

- use verbs to describe nouns to make sentences like this:

저는 과학을 좋아하는 여자들을 좋아해요.

In this lesson, you will build on what you learned in the previous lesson by learning other

ways that you can apply the ~는 것 principle.

Describing Nouns with Adjectives in the Past-Tense

As of now, you have learned a lot about describing nouns with adjectives, for example;

예쁜 여자 = pretty girl

똑똑한 학생 = smart student

나쁜 선생님 = bad teacher

In the past two lessons, you have also learned a lot about describing nouns with verbs in

the present tense:

걷고 있는 여자 = the girl that/who is walking

공부하고 있는 학생 = the student that/who is studying

가르치고 있는 선생님 = the teacher that/who is teaching

… and the past/future tenses:


걸은 여자 = the girl that/who walked

걸을 여자 = the girl that/who will walk

공부한 학생 = the student that/who studied

공부할 학생 = the student that/who will study

가르친 선생님 = the teacher that/who taught

가르칠 선생님 = the teacher that/who will teach

You know that whenever you use verbs to describe nouns, in English we usually need to

say “that” or “who” or “where”: “the girl that/who …” “the student that/who …”.

Actually, these same words can also be applied to adjectives as well. Even though these

are all okay:

예쁜 여자 = pretty girl

똑똑한 학생 = smart student

나쁜 선생님 = bad teacher

We could also say these:

예쁜 여자 = the girl that/who is pretty

똑똑한 학생 = the student that/who is smart

나쁜 선생님 = the teacher that/who is bad

However, we don’t need to say them like that. Instead, we can just say “pretty girl/smart

student/bad teacher.”

But… (in English) when we describe nouns with adjectives in the past/future tense, we

need to use the “the girl that/who” form. Do these make sense?:

The prettied girl

The will be pretty girl

No. Those don’t make sense. In these cases, when describing nouns with adjectives in the

past/future tense, we need to use the “that/who/where” method:

The girl that/who was pretty

The girl that/who will be pretty

The student that/who was smart

The student that/who will be smart

The teacher that/who was bad

The teacher that/who will be bad


You can do this in Korean too (obviously). Lets look at how to do it, starting with the

past tense:

Past Tense

When you want to describe nouns with adjectives in the past tense, you can add ~던 OR

~었/았던 to the stem of a word. Adding ~던 is simple:

좋던

예쁘던

행복하던

When adding ~었/았던, you need to conjugate the stem by adding 었/았 first, then add

던 after that:

좋았던

예뻤던

행복했던

If you put these behind nouns, they have the meaning of:

좋던/좋았던 것 = a thing that was good

예쁘던/예뻤던 = a thing that was pretty

행복하던/행복했던 = a thing that was happy

These are not used nearly as much as adjectives in the present tense, but there are some

occasions where you might have to use them. Some examples:

그 날은 좋았던 날이었다 = That was a good day

행복했던 기억을 생각하고 있다 = I’m thinking about happy memories

Notice that in English we wouldn’t actually say “I’m thinking about memories that were

happy.” We would just simply say that they are “happy memories.” This is the same in

Korean, in that it is usually more natural to just use the present-tense form of the

adjective when describing nouns. Nonetheless, this is an important grammar concept that

you should be aware of because there are obviously some occasions when you need to

describe a noun with a past-tense adjective.

I can share an example from the song “나에게 넌”

Songs are very complex grammatically and include a lot of poetry-like grammatical

structures, but you might be able to understand this one line:

소중했던 우리 푸르던 날을 기억하며

소중하다 means “precious”


푸르다 usually means a beautiful ocean-like/natural blue/green color… but in this case it

would mean “nice” in the same way that an ocean-like color is “nice.”

우리 means “us” or “our” (our should be 우리의 but sometimes the 의 is omitted)

It’s a little bit confusing because they are using two adjectives (which you aren’t familiar

with yet) behind the noun. Actually, it’s not usually done like that in speech, so it’s

probably something that you don’t even need to worry about. But either way:

소중했던 날 = the day that was precious

푸르던 날 = the day that was nice

소중했던 우리 푸르던 날을 = our day that was precious and nice

기억하다, you know means “remember”

You don’t yet know the grammar concept of ~며. You will learn about it later… but an

oversimplified translation for now would be “as…”:

기억하며 = as I remember

소중했던 우리 푸르던 날을 기억하며 = as I remember our precious, sad day(s)

Another example from later in the same song:

~외롭던 지난 시간을

외롭다 = lonely

외롭던 것 = the thing that was lonely

외롭던 지난 시간 = the last time, which was lonely (remember the difference between

지난 and 마지막!!)

Future tense

Just like the past tense, you can use adjectives in the future tense to describe nouns.

However, (also like the past tense) it isn’t used as often as the present tense. Again, there

are some occasions where you would have to say “the ____ that will be ____.” But, even

in English, it is a little bit awkward. Think about it, how often do we say “the girl who

will be pretty?”

Nonetheless, if you absolutely must use a future tense adjective to describe a noun, you

can add ~ㄹ/을 to it just like you would to verbs:

행복할 사람 = a person that will be happy

똑똑할 사람 = a person that will be smart

Funny. I’m trying to make examples for you using this concept. I typed “행복할 사람”

into Google, and it automatically asked me “Did you mean 행복한 사람?” I guess that

goes to show you how strange using this grammar concept would be. However, (Korean)

websites do exists where people write “행복할 사람 (or another noun).” There are also

many other times where you will have to use (adjective)+ㄹ/을 to describe (what I like to

call) a pseudo-noun. You will learn about that in the next lesson.


~던 or ~었던/았던 with verbs

Early in this lesson you learned about adding ~던 or ~었던/았던 to adjectives to allow

them to describe nouns in the past tense. You can also add ~ 던 or 었던/았던 to verbs to

describe nouns in the past tense, but their meanings are more complex than simply saying

“past tense.”

You already know how to change verbs to be able to describe adjectives in the past tense

simply:

먹은 사람 = the person who ate

공부한 학생 = the person who studied

Adding ~던 or ~었던/았던 to a verb is slightly different than those two examples of

adding ㄴ/은.

One of the hardest things for anybody to do in Korean (regardless of how good you are

with grammar) is distinguishing the difference between adding ~던 to a verb and adding

~었던/았던. With adjectives, there doesn’t seem to be a difference. With verbs, there is a

slight difference.

~던

Adding ~던 to the end of a verb allows you to describe nouns. Adding 던 gives the verb

the implication that something occurred repeatedly over time in the past. Because of this,

~던 can’t be used to describe something that only occurred once in the past. If you were

to say:

내가 사던 책 – you would think that this would mean “the book that I bought,” but the

act of buying that book only occurred once – and thus – is not something that occurred

repeatedly in the past. Instead you could say something like:

내가 읽던 책 = The book that I read (repeatedly over a time)

Similarly, you shouldn’t say:

내가 사던 옷, because the act of buying clothes only occurred once

Instead, you could say something like:

내가 입던 옷 = the clothes that I read (repeatedly over a time)

Notice however that you could simply use the simple past tense ~ㄴ/은 in any of those

situations:

내가 산 책 = the book that I bought

내가 읽은 책 = the book that I read

내가 산 옷 = the clothes that I bought

내가 입은 옷 = the clothes that I wore


Adding ~ㄴ/은 to verbs is more of an umbrella term that can be used in all past situations,

but if you want to make your sentence a little bit more specific (and grammatically

complicated), you could say ~던. The specific translation of ~던 is something like “the

___ that I was ___ing…”:

내가 읽던 책 = the book I was reading

내가 입은 옷 = the clothes I wore

…But you don’t need to get hung up on exact translations. The better thing to do is to

realize that ~던 means something happened in the past repeatedly.

내가 읽던 책은 재미없었어 = the book I was reading wasn’t funny

~었/았던

Whereas ~던 can be added to verbs to describe something that happened in the past

repeatedly, adding ~었/았던 to verb stems allows you to describe nouns with a very

similar meaning to ~ㄴ/은. I have asked many native Korean speakers, they all say that

these are identical:

내가 산 책 = the book I bought

내가 샀던 책 = the book I bought

For all intensive purposes, 었/았던 and ㄴ/은 seem to be almost exactly the same. It may

be slightly more complicated than that, but that is all you really need to worry about.

Here’s an example: 우리가 지난 번에 먹었던 곳에서 먹고 싶어요 = I want to eat at the place that we ate at last time

Would essentially be the same as:

우리가 지난 번에 먹은 곳에서 먹고 싶어요

Diving just a little bit deeper into the exact difference between ~았/었던 and

~ㄴ/은 causes a whole lot of headaches to learn something that will literally never come

up. Ask a Korean person, this is how the conversation would go:

English person: What is the difference between 읽던 책 and 읽은 책?

Korean person: Well, 읽던 책 sounds like you read the book many times and that it is

progressing, but with 읽은 책, you could have only read it once. It’s not clear.

English person: Ahh, I see… then what about the difference between 산 책 and 샀던 책?

Korean person: huh?

English person: What is the difference between 산 책 and 샀던 책?

Korean person: They have exactly the same meaning to me.

English person: Really? The thing is, I’m really picky with Korean grammar... I would

like to know the difference.

Korean person: Forget it… Korean people can’t tell the difference.


If you really want to make your head spin and come out understanding it the exact same

way as you did after reading this lesson, you can try reading this page (including all the

comments: http://koreanlanguagenotes.blogspot.kr/2009/09/do-we-really-need-to-

use.html

HowtoStudyKorean.com – Unit 1: Lesson 25 1

모든 __ = every ____

모든 것 = everything

어디나 = everywhere

언제나 = every time

누구나 = everyone

뭔가 = something

어딘가 = somewhere

언젠가 = sometime

누군가 = somebody

아무거나 = anything

아무데나 = anywhere

아무 때나 (언제든지) = anytime

아무나 = anybody

아무것도 = nothing

아무데도 = nowhere

아무도 = nobody

마다 = every

모두 = all

언제든지 = anytime

젓가락 = chopsticks

혀 = tongue

지갑 = wallet/purse

기숙사 = dorm

산책하다 = to go for a walk

주소 = address

메뉴 = menu

아시아 = Asia

동남아시아 = south east Asia

하루 종일 = all day long

예전 = old days/past

관심이 있다 = to be interested in*

무관심하다 = indifferent

눈물 = tears

회의 = meeting/conference

이 때 = at this moment

고향 = hometown

심하다 = severe/extreme

휴일 = holiday

사귀다 = to go out with/date

아기 = baby/infant

관심 is a very common noun that you can use to say “I am interested” in something. “에”

is added to the thing you are interested in, and 관심 is followed by ~이 있다. Translates

directly to “I have interest in ____.”:

저는 한국역사에 관심이 있어요 = I am interested in Korean history

Introduction

For the first time, and probably for the last time, the vocabulary list of this lesson is the

lesson. These words are very difficult to understand on their own, so I dedicated an entire

lesson to understanding them. Here, you will learn how to say:

Every ____ (everybody, every time, everywhere, etc…)

Any _____ (anybody, anytime, anywhere, etc…)

Some ____ (somebody, sometime, somewhere, etc…)

No ______ (nobody, nowhere, nothing)

I left spaces in the vocabulary list between different sets of these words (for no reason

other than to make it organized).


Everything/Everywhere/Every time/Everyone

Everything

The most common way to say “every _____” is to place the word ‘모든’ behind a noun.

모든 looks, sounds, and acts like an adjective, but I think it is an adverb. Even though

모든 ends in ㄴ (which all adjectives would also end in placed behind a noun – 예쁜,

아름다운, 똑똑한), the dictionary form of 모드다 does not exist, so my gut is telling me

that 모든 is an adverb. What does that mean to you? Nothing, really – just know that

even though 모든 looks like an adjective, a sentence cannot end with 모든 (because, like

I said, I don’t think it is an adjective).

Anyways, I’m going to the first sentence of that paragraph again: The most common way

to say “every _____” is to place the word ‘모든’ behind a noun:

모든 것 = everything

모든 사람 = all people/every person

모든 과일 = all fruits/every fruit

모든 선생님 = all teachers/every teacher

Those can now go in sentences very easily:

모든 아시아 사람들은 첫가락을 잘 쓴다 = All Asian people use chopsticks well

모든 학생들은 하루 종일 잤어 = All students slept all day

There is also another word that you should know: 모두, which has the meaning of “all.”

The word 모두 more or less has the same meaning as 모든, but is used differently.

Actually, I learned 모두 at the same time as when I learned 모든, but I never use 모두

when I speak. I hear it all the time, I read it all the time, I know what it means all the time,

but the usage is more complicated than 모든, so I always just use 모든 instead. There

doesn’t seem to be one simple way to use 모두, but I will try to explain it the best I can:

모두 gets placed after a noun. An adverb, it has a similar meaning and usage to the word

“다,” also meaning “all.”

선생님들은 모두 똑똑해요 = All teachers are smart, which could also be written as:

선생님들은 다 똑똑해요 = All teachers are smart, or

모든 선생님들은 똑똑해요 = Every teacher is smart

‘다’ can also be placed after 모두 in the same sentence:

선생님들은 모두 다 똑똑해요 = All teachers are smart

It can also be used as a noun to mean “everybody” with or without a particle:

모두는 이해했어요 = Everybody understood (my girlfriend says this sentence is correct

but sounds awkward).


모두 이해했어요 = Everybody understood OR it could mean:

(나는) 모두 이해했어 = I understood everything

모두 is a difficult word that doesn’t seem to follow a specific rule. Because of that, it is

hard to teach. My best advice to you is to do what I did: be aware of it to the point that

you can recognize it when you hear/see it, but you don’t need to worry about using it.

Everywhere/Every time/Everyone

나 can be added to the words ‘where,’ ‘when,’ and ‘who’ to mean ‘everywhere,’ ‘every

time,’ and ‘everyone’:

어디 = where

어디나 = everywhere

언제 = when

언제나 = every time/always

누구 = who

누구나 = everyone

Particles are usually not added to these words:

나는 한국에서 어디나 여행하고 싶어 = I want to travel everywhere in Korea

그녀는 언제나 늦게 와요 = She comes late every time

누구나 그 여자를 알아요 = Everybody knows that girl

Something/Somewhere/Sometime/Somebody

ㄴ가 can be added to the words ‘what,’ ‘where,’ ‘when,’ and ‘who’ to mean ‘something,’

‘somewhere,’ ‘sometime,’ and ‘somebody’:

뭐 = what

뭔가 = something

언제 = when

언젠가 = sometime

어디 = where

어딘가 = somewhere

누구 = who

누군가 = somebody

Particles are not usually added to 언젠가:

나는 언젠가 선생님이 되고 싶어 = I want to become a teacher someday

Particles can be added to 누군가, 어딘가 and 뭔가. There doesn’t seem to be any

rhythm or reason to when they should/shouldn’t be added.

열쇠를 어딘가(에) 두웠어 = I left my keys somewhere

나는 방금 뭔가(를) 봤어 = I just saw something a minute ago

누군가(는) 너를 찾고 있어 = Somebody is looking for you


Anything/Anywhere/Anytime/Anybody

By placing a noun between 아무 and 나, you can create the meaning “any _(noun)__.”

The nouns usually used in this situation are:

거 = short form of 것, meaning “thing”

데 = meaning “place” but “데” is only used in certain situations. I will explain all of

those to you as we go on to other lessons.

때 = meaning “time”

Particles are usually not attached to these words:

저는 아무거나 먹고 싶어요 = I want to eat anything

나는 아무데나 가고 싶어요 = I want to go anywhere (more naturally translated to

English as “I’d go anywhere”)

아무때나 좋아요 = anytime is good

아무나 (anybody) is slightly different from the three above words because there is no

noun between ‘아무’ and ‘나’ – it is simply 아무나. Like the above words, particles are

not usually added to 아무나, but they can be in some situations.

나는 아무나* 사귀고 싶어 = I want to go out with anybody (I’d go out with anybody)

(*Usually, (이)랑/과/와 or other particles meaning “with” in Korean are added to the

person that you are “going out with.” But, like I said, particles aren’t usually attached to

아무나. If you wanted to say “I am going out with that girl,” you could say “저는 그

여자랑 사귀고 있어요.”)

Nobody/Nothing/Nowhere

You can replace “나” in 아무나, 아무데나 and 아무거나 with “도” to create ‘nobody,’

‘nothing,’ ‘nowhere:’

아무나 = anybody

아무도 = nobody

아무거나 = anything (the reason ㅅ is removed in 아무거나 is because it is harder to

say “아무것나” than “아무거나”)

아무것도 = nothing

아무데나 = anywhere

아무데도 = nowhere

You can’t really add 도 to 아무때~ because that would be… what? Notime? Doesn’t

make sense.


Here is the complicated part. When using the form 아무__도, the end of the sentence

must be negative. This is counter intuitive for English speakers. In English, we would

say:

Nobody likes me

“Nobody” is negative, so we don’t need to say: “Nobody doesn’t like me.” That is a

double negative that simply means “Everybody likes me.”

But, in Korean, when you want to use “아무__도” the sentence must end in a negative

way, however weird it may sound to you at first:

아무도 나를 좋아하지 않아 = Nobody likes me (Even though it looks like “nobody

doesn’t like me”)

저는 아무거도 먹고 싶지 않아요 = I don’t want to eat anything/I want to eat nothing

아기는 아무데도 가지 않았어 = The baby didn’t go anywhere/The baby went nowhere

Placing other nouns (besides 거, 때 and 데) between ‘아무’ and ‘나’ is rarely done.

However, it is common to place other nouns between ‘아무’ and ‘도’:

저는 엄마랑 아무 관계도 없어요 = I don’t have any relationship with my mother/I have

no relationship with my mother

저는 아무 말도 하지 않았어요 = I didn’t say anything/I said nothing

Each (마다)

When I first learned about the word 마다, I was very confused about the difference

between 모든 ____ and ___마다. 마다 means “each” and is placed after a noun:

날마다 = each day

학생마다 = each student

금요일마다 = each/every Friday

30분마다 = each/every 30 minutes

When I first learned about this, I asked the following question to my grammar teacher:

“What is the difference between ‘모든 학생’, and 학생마다?”

The answer is so subtle, but there is a difference. The only way I can explain it is by

saying the following:

If you can explain the difference between “every student” and “each student” in English,

than you fully understand the difference between “모든 학생” and “학생마다.”


But really, can you explain the difference between “every student” and “each student”?

There is a difference. I know there is a difference. “each” has something to do with ‘each

individual student,’ whereas “every” has something to do with ‘all students.’… huh?

I don’t know. I always think I can explain the difference between “each” and “every” in

English, but it’s too confusing.

Just remember that 마다 means “each” and “모든” means “every.” That is more than

enough.

이 버스는 10분마다 와요 = This bus comes each/every 10 minutes

학생마다 달라요 = Each student is different

… and with that, you have finished Unit 1! You have come a really long way from our

first lessons. When you first started learning through our website, you were learning

sentences like: “저는 선생님이다.”

Hopefully you enjoyed our first unit, and hopefully you didn’t get too confused – because

in Unit 2 you will start learning Korean grammar concepts that will not only make your

sentences much more complex, but also make your head explode.

HowtoStudyKorean.com – Unit 2 - Lesson 26 ㅈ 1

무료(로) = free

개발하다 = develop

그 후에 = after that

그 날 = that day

별일 = special*

밖 = out/outside*

아줌마 = middle aged/older woman

깎다 = peel/cut/trim/shave

물건 = thing/stuff

복도 = hall/hallway

국제 = international

알아보다 = go look/find out/investigate

알아보다 = to recognize something

목적지 = destination

틀리다 = incorrect

영업 시간 = business hours

극복하다 = overcome

향기 = good smell/fragrance

안내(하다) = guidance (guide)

태우다 = pick up/take on (in a vehicle)

태우다 = to burn something

국가 = nation/country

목숨 = life*

간신히 = barely

생계 = life/living

똥 = poo

동네 = neighborhood

몸매 = figure (body shape/figure)

재산 = wealth/fortune

단계적으로 = step by step/phased in

학비 = tuition

오전 = morning

위원회 = committee

무기 = weapon

모르게 = without knowing/realizing it

맞추다 = adjust/fix/set (alarm)

정답 = right/correct answer

점수 = grade/score

동점 = tie (tie game)

선수 = player (in sports)

교정하다 = correct/emend a mistake

다치다 = to get hurt

답하다 = answer/respond

순순히 = obediently

경찰 = police

담배 = tobacco/smoke cigarettes

환자 = patients

옷걸이 = hanger

허전하다 = empty/missing something*

남녀 = men and women/couple

맑다 = clear/clean/pure

계속하다 = continue

허리 = waist

새 = bird

사장 = boss of company

달 = moon

키 = height

인사 = greeting

소금 = salt

불다 = blow (wind)

장소 = location/place

피우다 = smoke/light a fire of some sort

연기 = smoke (noun)

참 = really/very/extremely

깨끗하다 = clean (adjective)

뒷맛 = aftertaste

결정하다 = decision (decide)

결심(하다) = decision (decide)

동사 = verb

명사 = noun

형용사 = adjective

부사 = adverb

이혼(하다) = divorce

새해 = new years

물어보다 = ask

다녀가다 = stop in (come then go back)

선 = line

의도하다 = intend

반대되다 = to be opposite

경기 = economics/match or game


합격하다 = pass an exam

통하다 = circulate/move through

정시= a set time

때마침 = just in time

나타나다 = appear/show up (passive)

나타내다 = appear/show up (active)

남다 = to be remaining/left over

일반 = usual/normal

일반적으로 = usually

암내 = smelly armpits

경기장 = sports stadium

경기력 = sports performance

합당하다 = reasonable

청소년 = youth

지역 = this area/region

참가하다 = sign up

명상하다 = meditate

즉시 = immediately

노엽다 = to be angry

사이 = space between two things*

별일 – If you break it down, 별 means “special” and 일 means “task/job/work.” When

you put them together, 별일 literally means “special task/job/work.” But, 별일 is only

ever used when combined with 없다 to make ‘별일 없다.” You say this when you have

nothing to do/not busy/nothing wrong. You can also ask somebody if everything is

okay/if they are busy with this:

별일 없어? = Is everything okay? Are you busy these days?

밖 means outside and it usually put after another noun and followed by 에 because it

usually refers to a location.

건물 밖에 = outside the building

학교 밖에 = outside the school

It can also be used on its own to mean “outside”

나는 밖에 나갔어 = I went outside

목숨 means “life” but is usually only used when you ‘lose, save or risk’ a life. It is a

noun, but you can use other common verbs when using 목숨:

사람 4 명은 목숨을 잃었다 = 4 people lost their lives (4 people died)

사이 - If you place 사이 in between two nouns, it represents the space between those two

nouns:

저는 차 두 대 사이에서 서 있어 = I am standing between 2 cars

저와 학생 사이는 좋다 = The space (relationship) between my students and I is good

허전하다 is a bit of a weird adjective that you can use when you feel that there is

something missing about a situation. It usually reflects that you are sad (your heart is

empty) when something about a situation isn’t perfect:

마음이 허전해요 = I feel emptiness in my heart


Introduction

Okay, it is time to kick it up a notch.

Most of what you learned in Unit 1 was taught simply to be a foundation to what you will

learn here in Unit 2 (and later in Units 3, 4, 5 etc…). Of course, the content you learned

in Unit 1 was very important but here in Unit 2 it will be slightly different.

When learning Korean, you eventually reach a point where the only thing you are

learning is other ways to end sentences. There are hundreds upon hundreds of different

things that you can add to the end of sentences (to end them or to connect them to other

sentences) to give a sentence a different meaning. I’m not going to lie: most of what you

will learn from here on out (aside from vocabulary) will be these sentence

enders/connectors.

Not today, though. Today you will learn the most important aspect (in my mind) of

Korean grammar. It took me months to fully grasp this concept – but not because it is

terribly difficult, but rather because I did not have good enough explanations when

learning it. That is why I am here. I am going to break down this concept for you like

crazy – spanning probably three lessons.

I am talking, of course, of ~는 것.

Understanding this concept will literally make your ability to create sentences increase

dramatically. Lets get started.

This lesson is long. Please read the entire lesson to fully understand everything. If

something is confusing, it will more than likely be resolved later in the lesson.

~는는는는 것것것것: Modifying Nouns with Verbs

Adjectives (in Korean and in English) get placed behind nouns to modify them. You

learned this a long time ago in Lesson 4. You learned that when you want to use an

adjective to describe a noun, you must add ~ㄴ to the stem of the adjective.

예쁘다 = 예쁜

똑똑하다 = 똑똑한

젊다 = 젊은

To describe nouns in the following way:

Pretty girl: 예쁜 여자

Smart student: 똑똑한 학생

Young teacher: 젊은 선생님

Simple enough.

But, what you don’t know is that verbs can also describe nouns in this same way. It is the

exact same premise with adjectives, but it is very difficult for English speakers to

understand this (it was for me, anyways).


This same thing (verbs modifying adjectives) is also done in English, but is done

differently than in Korean.

As you know, In English and Korean, when an adjective describes a noun, the adjective

comes before the noun:

However, In English, when a verb describes a noun, the verb comes after the noun:

The girl who walks

The student who studies

The teacher who eats

The word “who” was added in all three examples, but it doesn’t necessarily need to be

“who” in English:

The girl that walks

The student that studies

The teacher that eats

In those three examples, “that” was added, and each example essentially has the same

meaning as when “who” was written instead.

You don’t need to worry about if it should be “who/that” or whatever because you are not

learning English – you are learning Korean.

The point I am trying to get at here, is that verbs can also describe nouns. In English,

verbs are placed after the nouns to modify them.

The next sentence is the most important sentence of the entire lesson:

In Korean, verbs are placed before nouns to describe them - very similar to how it is done

with adjectives.

How is this done? Like this:?

걷다 여자

공부하다 학생

먹다 선생님

Are those correct? Haha. No. Not by a long shot.

When you adjust adjectives to describe nouns, you know that you should add ~ㄴ to the

stem of the word.

When you adjust verbs to describe nouns, you must add ~는 to the stem of a verb:

걷다 = 걷는

공부하다 = 공부하는

먹다 = 먹는


These are all verbs that can now be placed behind a noun to describe that noun to us:

걷는 여자 = the girl who walks

공부하는 학생 = the student who studies

먹는 선생님 = the teacher who eats

Now, I know what you are thinking. You are thinking “Okay, that is great, but when

would I ever say ‘the girl who walks’ in a sentence?”

That is a good question. Really, you would never (or very rarely) say something like that

in a sentence – but understanding that sentence is the foundation for understanding

everything else about ~는 것.

Remember, in regular sentences (in English and Korean), it is very rare to just use the

present tense conjugation. For example, are these natural?:

여자는 걷는다 = The girl walks

학생은 공부한다 = The student studies

선생님은 먹는다 = The teacher eats

Yes, they are natural, but who would ever just say “the girl walks.” Usually in every-day

sentences, you would add more information or conjugate the sentence in other tense:

여자는 학교에 걸었어요 = The girl walked to school

여자는 학교에 걸을 거에요 = The girl will walk to school

여자는 빨리 걷는다 = The girl walks fast

etc…

You can use the same information to describe the noun (the girl):

The girl who walked to school

The girl who will walk to school

The girl who walks fast

Lets stick to the one in the present tense for now:

The girl walks: 여자는 걷는다

The girl who walks: 걷는 여자

The girl walks fast: 여자는 빨리 걷는다

The girl who walks fast: 빨리 걷는 여자

Okay, so what’s the point? When would I ever want to say “The girl who walks fast”?

The thing is, now that you have made the clause “the girl who walks fast/빨리 걷는

여자” you can now place that noun in sentences that:


- end in an adjective

- end in a verb

- end in 이다

You have been doing the exact same things with adjectives since Lesson 4.

예쁜 여자 = Pretty girl

예쁜 여자는 어려요 = The pretty girl is young

저는 예쁜 여자를 만났어요 = I met a pretty girl

저는 예쁜 여자예요 = I am a pretty girl

빨리 걷는 여자 = The girl who walks fast

빨리 걷는 여자는 어려요 = The girl who walks fast is young

저는 빨리 걷는 여자를 만났어요 = I met a girl who walks fast

저는 빨리 걷는 여자예요 = I am a girl who walks fast

Those sentences may not be that common/natural in English/Korean, but that is the basis

of this entire lesson.

It is important to realize that entire sentences can be put behind this form, including

sentences with subjects in them. Remember, when the subject of the clause is not subject

of the entire sentence, you must attach 이/가 to that subject:

제가 만나는 사람 = The person I meet

제가 보는 영화 = The movie I watch

제가 먹는 음식 = The food I eat

All more naturally said like this:

제가 만나고 있는 사람 = The person I am meeting

제가 보고 있는 영화 = The movie I am watching

제가 먹고 있는 음식 = The food I am eating

Again, now that you have those nouns, you can do whatever you want to them:

제가 만나고 있는 사람은 예뻐요 = The person I am meeting is pretty

제가 보고 있는 영화는 재미있어요 = The movie I am watching is funny

제가 먹고 있는 음식은 맛있어요 = The food I am eating is delicious

More examples:

제가 자주 가는 곳 = The place I often go

저는 제가 자주 가는 곳에 가고 있어요 = I am going to the place I often go to

친구는 제가 자주 가는 곳에 가고 있어요 = My friend is going to the place I often go


Actually, I feel like this is getting a little bit too complicated. I want to break this down

one more time.

This sentence should be simple to you:

친구는 학교에 가고 있어요 = My friend is going to school

Simple enough. Subject – place – verb.

If you want to describe that school, you could do so with adjectives:

큰 학교 = big school

작은 학교 = small school

나쁜 학교 = bad school

… or verbs:

제가 자주 가는 학교 = The school I go to often

Then, it is simply a matter of putting those nouns into sentences:

친구는 큰 학교에 가고 있어요 = My friend is going to the big school

친구는 작은 학교에 가고 있어요 = My friend is going to the small school

친구는 나쁜 학교에 가고 있어요 = My friend is going to the bad school

친구는 제가 자주 가는 학교에 가고 있어요 = My friend is going to the school that I go to often

Incredibly complicated at first, incredibly simple once you get the hang of it. The only

problem is that it is difficult for English speakers to get used to because we describe a

noun with a verb after the noun.

Many more examples:

과학을 좋아하는 여자 = the/a girl that likes science

저는 과학을 좋아하는 여자들을 좋아해요 = I like girls that like science

제가 보고 있는 시험 = The exam I am writing

제가 보고 있는 시험은 어려워요 = The exam I am writing is difficult

제가 사귀고 있는 여자 = The girl who I am going out with

제가 사귀고 있는 여자는 미국에 갔어요 = The girl who I am going out with went to the US

엄마가 요리하는 음식 = The food that my mother cooks

엄마가 요리하는 음식은 항상 맛있어요 = The food that my mother cooks is always delicious

공부하지 않는 학생들 = students who do not study

공부하지 않는 학생들은 똑똑하지 않아요 = Students who do not study are not smart


제가 공원에 가는 날 = the day(s) I go to the park

저는 공원에 가는 날에 항상 행복해요 = I am always happy on the days I go to the park

Actually, Korean people have the same problem with this concept when translating to

English. If you meet a Korean person who can’t speak English well, they will always say

sentences like this in their ‘Korean style.’

Instead of saying: “girls that like science,” they say: “like science girls’

Instead of saying “the exam I am writing,” they say: “I write exam”

Instead of saying “the girl I am going out with,” they say: “I go out with girl”

Instead of saying “the food my mother cooks,” they say: “my mother cooks food”

Anyways, enough of what Korean people say.

It is hard to translate the definition of this concept directly in English, but it sometimes

translates to ‘who,’ ‘when,’ or ‘that.’ These words however don’t need to be in the

sentence in English, as you will see in the following examples. All of these have the same

meanings:

My friend is going to the school I go to often

My friend is going to the school that I go to often

The exam I am writing is difficult

The exam that I am writing is difficult

The girl I am going out with went to the US

The girl who I am going out with went to the US

The girl that I am going out with went to the US

The food my mother cooks is always delicious

The food that my mother cooks is always delicious

Students that do not study are not smart

Students who do not study are not smart

I am always happy on the days I go to the park

I am always happy on the days that I go to the park

I am always happy on the days when I go to the park

“That” can be used in most situations. If the noun you are using is a person, “who” can be

exchanged for “that.” If the noun you are using is a time, “when” can be exchanged for

“that.”


I’m going to say this one more time. Read it a few times to make sure you understand it

completely (it is complicated). The noun that you create by describing it with a verb can

be placed anywhere that other nouns can be placed!

Lets describe one more noun and see where it can be placed:

내가 가르치는 학생들 = the students that I teach

Placed as the object in a sentence:

나는 내가 가르치는 학생들을 싫어해요 = I don’t like the students that I teach

Placed as the subject of a sentence: 내가 가르치는 학생들은 수업을 듣고 싶지 않아 = The students that I teach don’t want to come to class

Behind 이다:

그 사람은 내가 가르치는 학생이다 = That person is a student that I teach (I teach that student)

Placed in any clause within a sentence:

내가 가르치는 학생들이 수업에 오기 전에 나는 교실을 청소했어 = Before the

students that I teach came to class, I cleaned the classroom

.. okay, I think you get it.

So far in this lesson you have learned how to describe nouns using verbs in the present

tense:

The place I go

The food I eat

The student I teach

But what about the past tense?

The place I went

The food I ate

The student I taught

Or the future tense?

The place I will go

The food I will eat

The student I will teach

Lets talk about those now.


~는 것 Past Tense

You can also describe nouns with verbs in the past tense to make nouns like:

The place I went

The food I ate

The student I taught

To do this, instead of adding ~는 to the stem of a verb, you must add ~ㄴ/은. You must

add 은 to stems ending in a consonant (먹다 = 먹은), and ㄴ should be added directly to

stems ending in a vowel (가다 = 간):

제가 간 곳 = The place I went

제가 먹은 음식 = The food I ate

제가 가르친 학생 = The student I taught

The general idea is the same as the present tense; the verb is simply conjugated into the

past. More examples:

엄마가 요리한 음식은 너무 맛있어요 = The food my mom cooked is delicious

저는 엄마가 요리한 음식을 다 먹었어요 = I ate all the food my mom cooked 제가 어제 만난 사람은 저를 다시 만나고 싶어요 = The person I met yesterday wants to meet me again

남은 음식을 포장하고 싶어요 = I want to pack up the food that is left over

내가 작년에 가르친 학생 1 명은 벌써 의사가 되었어 = One of the students I taught

last year has already become a doctor

내가 회사에 가지 않은 날에 병원에 갔어 = On the day I didn’t go to work, I went to the office

~는 것 Future Tense

You can also describe nouns with verbs in the future tense to make nouns like:

The place I will go

The food I will eat

The student I will teach

To do this, instead of adding ~는 to the stem of a verb, you must add ~ㄹ/을. You must

add 을 to stems ending in a consonant (먹다 = 먹을) and ㄹ should be added directly to

stems ending in a vowel (가다 = 갈):

내가 갈 곳 = The place I will go

내가 먹을 음식 = The food I will eat

내가 가르칠 학생 = The student I will teach


Many more examples:

제가 갈 곳은 제주도이다 = The place I will go is Jeju-do

저는 할 일이 있어요 = I have something/work to do

저는 그 사람이 저에게 줄 선물을 받고 싶지 않아요 = I don’t want to accept the gift

that that person will give me

제가 받을 점수는 중요해요 = The score I will receive is important

Actually, you know this concept already – sort of.

In Lesson 9, you learned how to conjugate verbs into the future by adding ㄹ/을 to verbs

and adjectives. When I explained that concept, I also explained that you wouldn’t be able

to understand the grammar behind the reasoning for doing so. I just said “memorize it…

you will be able to understand it eventually.”

Well, now is “eventually.” Adding ㄹ/을 to the stem of a verb to describe a noun in the

following example:

제가 먹을 음식 (the food I will eat)

Has the exact same grammar (but not the same meaning) as:

저는 먹을 것이다 (I will eat)

Remember, “것” is a noun that means “thing.” Saying “저는 먹을 것이다” breaks down to:

제가 먹을 것 = a thing I will eat

+

이다 = is

= 저는 먹을 것이다

This literally translates to “I am a thing that I will eat”.. but you cannot translate it like

that. Whenever a sentence ends in ~ㄹ 것이다, you need to just think of that as a “future”

conjugation despite what the grammar within it suggests.

All incredibly complicated, but you don’t really need to worry about the intricacies of

~ㄹ 것이다. Just know that it is a future conjugation.

…

…. All of this brings me to the last point of this lesson:

~는 것

The name for everything you learned in this lesson is “~는 것” (or ~ㄴ 것 for past tense

and ~ㄹ 것 for future tense). So far, I have shown you many examples of other nouns in

place of “것”:


제가 먹는 음식 = The food I eat

제가 먹은 음식 = The food I ate

제가 먹을 음식 = The food I will eat

제가 가르치는 학생 = the student I teach

제가 가르친 학생 = the student I taught

제가 가르칠 학생 = the student I will teach

제가 가는 날에 = the day I go

제가 간 날에 = the day I went

제가 갈 날에 = the day I will go

Question:

So why is the grammar concept called “~는 것”?

Answer: (This answer is ridiculously important)

If you ever want to change a sentence (or any part of a sentence) into a noun, you must do

so by adding ~는 것 to the clause. … which leads to the next question:

Question:

Why on earth would I want to change a sentence into a noun?

Answer:

Look at the following example:

You know this already:

저는 사과를 원해요 = I want apples

Very simple sentence. Subject – object – verb,

But what if you wanted to say the following:

I want my friend to bring apples.

The structure is actually identical in the two sentences:

I want apples

I want my friend to bring apples

In both cases, I will put the thing that you want in brackets:

I want (apples)

I want (my friend to bring apples)

In Korean:

저는 (apples)를 원해요

저는 (my friend to bring apples)를 원해요


The first one is easy, you already know:

저는 사과를 원해요

But the second one? How would I say this in Korean?:

저는 (my friend to bring apples)를 원하다

How can you say “my friend brings apples” in Korean?

친구는 사과를 가져와요 = My friend brings apples

But! You need to change that sentence to a noun. THIS is the situation when you will

need to change clauses/sentences to nouns. Lets change that sentence into a noun:

친구가 사과를 가져오는 것

This is very hard to translate into English. 것 means “thing.” The rest of it is an adjective

describing that “thing.” If I had to translate it, I would say “the thing of my friend

bringing apples.”.. but, again, it cannot really be translated.

So, if we look at our sentences again:

I want (apples)

I want (my friend to bring apples)

Apples = 사과

My friend brings apples (noun form) = 친구가 사과를 가져오는 것

저는 (apples)를 원해요

저는 (my friend to bring apples)를 원해요

저는 (사과)를 원해요

저는 (친구가 사과를 가져오는 것)을 원해요

저는 사과를 원해요 = I want apples

저는 친구가 사과를 가져오는 것을 원해요 = I want my friend to bring apples

Wow, complicated.

Lets look at another example.

I like movies.

저는 영화를 좋아해요

Simple sentence. Subject – object – verb


But what if you wanted to say

“I like making movies,” or

“I like watching movies”

Again, I will put the things that you like in brackets:

I like (movies)

I like (making movies)

I like (watching movies)

Movies: 영화

I make movies: 영화를 만들어요

I watch movies: 영화를 봐요

Into noun form?:

영화

영화를 만드는 것

영화를 보는 것

저는 (movies)를 좋아해요

저는 (making movies) 좋아해요

저는 (watching movies) 좋아해요

저는 (영화)를 좋아해요

저는 (영화를 만드는 것)을 좋아해요

저는 (영화를 보는 것)을 좋아해요

저는 영화를 좋아해요 = I like movies

저는 영화를 만드는 것을 좋아해요 = I like making movies

저는 영화를 보는 것을 좋아해요 = I like watching movies

I didn’t realize this when I first learned this grammar concept. In almost every sentence

you will ever say, you need to put this concept into use – whether you realize it or not.

Think about it, how often do you simply say “I want to eat food”? You usually make it

more complex by saying:

나는 그 사람이 먹고 있는 것을 먹고 싶어 = I want to eat what that person is eating

나는 우리가 지난 번에 같이 먹은 것을 먹고 싶어요 = I want to eat what we ate last time

나는 엄마가 요리하는 것을 먹고 싶어요 = I want to eat my mom’s cooking

Etc…


Or, if you want to talk about what your dream is. Before this lesson, you could have said

this:

저의 꿈은 선생님이다 … but that tranlates to “My dream is teacher”…. Is that natural?

My dream is teacher? Intead, it would sound more natural if you said:

저의 꿈은 선생님이 되는 것이다 = My dream is becoming a teacher

Just one more quick note specifically about translating from English to Korean or vice-

versa. You don't need to worry about this too much, but it does help if you understand it:

As I said earlier, when you translate "~는 (noun)" the meaning becomes "the (noun)

that..." or "the (noun) who... " or "the (place) where" as in:

달린 남자 = The man who ran/The man that ran

내가 간 곳 = The place where I went/the place that I went

This would also include if the noun you are talking about is "thing:"

내가 가져오는 것은 밥이다 = The thing that I am bringing is rice

내가 가장 원하는 것은 차야 = The thing that I want most is a car

However, when you want to turn an clause into a noun by using "~는 것것것것" it "는

것" usually translates to "to" or "~ing" :

저는 친구가 사과를 가져오는 것을 원해요 = I want my friend to bring apples

저의 꿈은 선생님이 되는 것이다 = My dream is becoming a doctor/My dream is to

become a doctor

저는 영화를 보는 것을 좋아해요 = I like watching movies/I like to watch movies

Very complicated, but not overly important to be aware of right now. The rest of the

lesson, however - very important. Please, if you can’t understand something, let us know.

I cannot stress the importance of the content in this lesson enough.

That’s it for this lesson, but in the next 3 – 4 lessons I will be going deeper and deeper

into the ~는 것 grammar concept. This first lesson should give you a good first step.


적다 = few*

향상(하다) = improve/develop/progress

발전(하다) = improve/develop/progress

우울증 = depression

장르 = genre

장학금 = scholarship

어른 = adult

어린이 = child

힘내 = cheer up

결국 = eventually

도박(하다) = gamble

노름(하다) = gamble

노동(하다) = work/labor

내내 = throughout (a month/year)

해외 = abroad/overseas

주의 = caution

양초 = candle

솔직하다 = true (true feelings [frank])

정확하다 = exact (adjective)

강하다 = strong

드디어 = finally/at last

마침내 = finally/at last

최종적으로 = finally/at last

진실 = truth

공주 = princess

국민 = people of a country/citizen

연구(하다) = research

야생 = wild (wild ____ animal)

영향 = influence*

및 = as well as (Korea as well as Canada)

글 = some sort of writing

문학 = literature

지방 = district/local area

독학 = self study

추측(하다) = guess

옆집 = next door

재즈 = jazz

집중하다 = concentrate

이웃 = neighborhood

이웃사람 = neighbor

정신 = mind/spirit/soul

이용하다 = use

설거지 = dishwashing

등록(하다) = registration (register)

농구 = basketball

배구 = volleyball

불편하다 = uncomfortable

전체 = whole/entire thing

정상 (산 정상에) = top

조사 = investigation

사생활 = personal life

헛소문 = groundless rumor

자연 = nature

터 = site/ground/lot

매다 = carry something on your shoulder

(bag/purse)

친하다 = become familiar with/be close with

(friends)

충분하다 = enough

현재로는 = as of now

지금으로(서)는 = as of now

튼튼하다 = robust/strong

표정 = facial expression

성격 = character/personality

세우다 = to stand up/line up/erect

대회 = big meeting/conference

방향 = direction

움직이다 = move

단체 = organization/corporation

알려지다 = becoming known

지구 = earth

이루다 = make/achieve

정리(하다) = arrangement (arrange)

정돈(하다) = arrangement (arrange)

정리정돈하다 = tidy

약간 = slightly/a little bit

물다 = bite

긴장감 = tension

퍼지다 = diffuse/spread out/spread

내려다보다 = look down


시대 = times (these times, our times, etc..)

주장(하다) = argument (argue)

환경 = environment

자체 = itself/its own*

농장 = farm

부분 = parts/sections

나누다 = divide (verb)

바르다 = apply lotion/condiments on smth

변화 = change

그냥 = only/just*

중심 = center/heart/middle of something

철저히 = thoroughly

사건 = events (the events that happened)

년대 = (2010년대) = year

지키다 = protect/defend

졸립다 = sleepy

놓치다 = to miss (a train/buss/opportunity)

탈출하다 = escape

방귀 = fart*

취소하다 = cancel

고개 = head

광고 = advertisement

적다 is an adjective that means ‘few’ which has the opposite meaning of ‘많다.’ Which

means you could say something like this:

많은 학생들은 나를 좋아해 = Many students like me

적은 학생들은 나를 좋아해 = Few students like me

However, 적다 is much more commonly used after applying the ~는 것 principle. This

was very hard for me to grasp when I first learned this, but it is something you should

know. Instead of saying ‘적은 학생들은 나를 좋아해’ you should say:

나를 좋아하는 학생들은 적어 = There are few students who like me

Notice that this is done by creating a noun of “the students who like me” (나를 좋아하는

학생) and then putting the adjective (적다) after the noun. You can also do this with

많다: 나를 좋아하는 학생들은 많아 = There are many students who like me

영향 is a noun that you need to use whenever you want to say that something ‘influences’

something. The thing that is being influenced needs to have 에 attached to it, and you can

add the verbs 주다 or 미치다 to act on the noun ‘영향:’

부모님들은 아이에 영향을 준다/미친다 = parents have an influence on their children

Because 영향 is a noun, you can put adjectives behind it:

부모님들은 아이에 큰 영향을 준다/미친다 = parents have a big influence on their

children

자체 is a hard word for me to understand, even now. It is one of the words in Korean that

we don’t exactly have in English. It means something like “on its own/by itself” – but it

heavily depends on the situation. I suggest going to the Naver dictionary and looking up

examples.

그냥 is probably the most common word that you don’t know yet. You can use this word

in sentences when you want to say “just/for no reason” (in the meaning of “we are just

friends” or “I just wanted to leave for no reason”):

저는 학교에 그냥 왔어요 = I just came to school (for no reason)


It is a very common word. It is also often said in response to a “why” question.

a) 학교에 왜 왔어요?

b) 그냥.

방귀 is a funny word, but a word nonetheless. It means “fart.” 방귀를 하다 doesn’t make

sense, you need to use the verb 끼다 after 방귀. Also, the pronunciation of 방귀 is

actually 방구.

방귀를 꼈어? = did you just let one rip? Haha

Irregulars with ~는는는는 것것것것

Present Tense

In Lesson 7 you learned all about Korean irregulars. From lesson 7:

As with all languages, there are some irregular conjugations that you need to know. The

irregulars apply at times when you add 아아아아/어어어어/여여여여 (or another vowel/consonant) to a

verb/adjective stem (aside from conjugating, you have yet to learn other times when you

must add a vowel to a word. You will learn about these later).

Irregulars can act differently depending on what vowel/consonant you are adding to them.

Up to now, you have learned a lot about adding 어/아 to verbs/adjectives and how

irregulars change as a result of this addition. For example:

걷다 + 어/아 = 걸어

부르다 + 어/아 = 불러

But, adding ~는 것 to these words doesn’t change them:

걷다 + ~는 것 = 걷는 것

부르다 + ~는 것 = 부르는 것

However, the ㄹ irregular does come into play when adding ~는 것 in the present tense.

The ㄹ irregular from lesson 7 says:

If the final vowel of a stem ends in ㄹ AND you add ~ ㄴ/~ㅂ to that stem, the ㄹ is

removed and the ㄴ /ㅂ get added on directly to the stem. However, if you are adding

‘는’ or something starting with ㅅ to the stem – the ㄹ is removed and ~는/~ㅅ is added

directly after the stem.

In this case, we are adding ~는 (것) to the stem of words. Therefore, if we add ~는~ to

words ending in ㄹ, the ㄹ must be removed:

열다

문을 여는 것 = opening a door

Which can be put into a sentence as a noun:


저는 친구가 문을 여는 것을 봤어요 = I saw my friend opening the door

Spotting this irregular in text is usually obvious, but even to this day I get confused when

I see the ㄹ irregular in use. Sometimes, I will see something like “여는 것” and I think

to myself “…huh? 여다 is not a word?” But then I realize that it is actually 열다 + 는 것.

Past and Future Tense

Three irregulars come into play when adding the past/future tense of ~는 것 (ㄴ/은 것

and ㄹ/을 것).

ㅅ Irregular: From lesson 7:

If the last letter of a word stem ends in ㅅ (for example: 짓다 = to make/build), the ㅅ

gets removed when adding a vowel.

It’s a little bit confusing in this case, because you are adding ㄴ/은 or ㄹ/을.

Lets stick to the past tense for now (ㄴ/은), and we’ll get to the future tense later.

Lets look at two words: 잊다 and짓다.

잊다 (to forget) ends in a consonant (ㅈ). This means that you must add 은 것 to it:

잊은 것

There is no ㅈ irregular, so 잊은 것 is perfect.

짓다 (to build) ends in a consonant (ㅅ). This means that you must add 은 것 to it:

짓은 것.

But, this is incorrect. Remember the ㅅ irregular. Because you are adding a vowel (은) to

the stem of 짓다, you must remove the ㅅ:

지은 것

그 집을 지은 사람은 누구예요? = Who is the person that built that house?

The same process occurs in the future tense:

짓다 + ㄹ/을 것 = 지을 것

저는 집을 지을 거에요 = I will build a house (remember here that the future tense

conjugation of ~ㄹ 것이다 is actually just ~ㄹ 것 + 이다)

ㄷ Irregular: From lesson 7:

If the last letter of a word stem ends in ㄷ (for example: 걷다 = to walk), the ㄷ gets

changed to ㄹ when adding a vowel.

The confusion involved with this implementation is similar to the confusion involved

with the ㅅ irregular. Lets look at the verb 걷다 (to walk) as an example:


걷다 ends in a consonant (ㄷ). This means that you must add 은 것 to it:

걷은 것.

But, this is incorrect. Remember the ㄷ irregular. Because you are adding a vowel (은) to

the stem of 걷다, the ㄷ must be changed to ㄹ:

걸은 것

The same process occurs in the future tense:

걸을 것

그 사람은 서울에서 부산까지 걸은 첫 번째 사람이었다 = That person was the first

person who walked from Seoul to Busan

ㄹ Irregular: From Lesson 7:

When you add ~ㄹ/을 to a stem of a word that ends in ㄹ, you actually drop the ㄹ/을

altogether:

Lets look at an example again.

잊다 (to forget) ends in a consonant (ㅈ). This means that you must add 을 것 to it:

잊을 것

There is no ㅈ irregular, so 잊을 것 is perfect.

팔다 (to buy) ends in a consonant (ㄹ). This means that you must add 을 것 to it:

팔을 것.

But, this is incorrect. Remember the ㄹ irregular. Pronouncing “팔을” is weird, and

flows more naturally if you just say “팔”:

팔 것

그는 문을 열 사람이에요 = He is the person who will open the doors

… I’m not sure when you would say that sentence, but it’s difficult to think up of a

sentence where I can apply this irregular and make it sound natural. This irregular is often

applied when conjugating to the future tense by adding ‘ㄹ/을 것이다’ to the end of a

sentence:

저는 내일 시장에서 사과를 팔 거에요 = I will sell apples at the market tomorrow

My Favorite Thing: 가장 좋아하는 것

This is one of the first sentences that people learn whenever they learn any language. In

Korean however, the grammar within this sentence is a little bit difficult (you only just

learned it), so that is why you are just learning about it now.

In Korean, they don’t have a word for “favorite.” Instead, they just use “like most” –

“가장 좋아하다.” You have known how to make these sentences for a long time:


저는 우리 학교를 좋아해요 = I like our school

저는 우리 학교를 가장 좋아해요 = I like our school most

But you haven’t yet learned how to specifically say “My favorite ____ is…”

Lets look at adjectives first. These should all be easy to you:

가장 큰 것 = the biggest thing

가장 작은 것 = the smallest thing

가장 어려운 것 = the most difficult thing

However, in those sentences, only adjectives are describing the noun. Now that you have

learned how to describe nouns with verbs, you can now say:

내가 가장 좋아하는 것 = the thing that I like most (which is also – my favorite thing)

Notice that it is not “나의나의나의나의 가장 좋아하는 것.” Really, you are not saying “my favorite

thing” – you are saying “the thing that I like most.” So even though in English we say

“my” in Korean you shouldn’t use 나의/저의 in place of 내가/제가 in these sentences.

You could take 가장 out to simply mean “the thing that I like”

내가 좋아하는 것 = the thing that I like

Or change the subject:

저의 친구가 가장 좋아하는 것 = The thing that my friend likes most

Now that you have created the noun of “the thing that I like most” you can place it in

sentences:

제가 가장 좋아하는 것은 음식이에요 = My favorite thing is food

음식은 저의 가장 좋아하는 것이에요 = Food is my favorite thing

You can also replace “것” with any other noun:

제가 가장 좋아하는 음식은 김치예요 = My favorite food is kimchi

제가 가장 좋아하는 날은 금요일이에요 = My favorite day is Friday

As I said before, people often don’t realize the power of the ~는 것 principle. Now that

you can you can describe nouns with verbs, you can say much more complicated (and

natural) sentences. Look at the following example:

내가 가장 좋아하는 것은 영화야 = My favorite thing is movies

Is that natural? It would probably sound more natural if you were to say my favorite thing

is “watching movies” or “making movies.” You learned in Lesson 26 how to make those

nouns:

영화를 보는 것 = watching movies


영화를 만드는 것 = making movies

내가 가장 좋아하는 것은 영화를 보는 것이야 = My favorite thing is watching movies

The easiest mistake to make in that sentence is (incorrectly) not changing the latter part

of the sentence to a noun. Many learners of Korean would just say the following:

내가 가장 좋아하는 것은 영화를 봐요…

But that just translates to “My favorite thing watches movies.” You need to say “My

favorite thing is watching movies” which requires you to change the second clause of the

sentence to a noun and then add 이다 (is).

친구는 선생님이다이다이다이다 = My friend is a teacher

내가 가장 좋아하는 것은 영화를 보는 것이다이다이다이다 = My favorite thing is watching movies

… heh, complicated. That’s why I waited until this lesson to teach it to you.

Words that seem like verbs but are adjectives

There are a few words that seem a lot like verbs but are actually adjectives. In fact, I have

taught these to you before. When you first learned about 있다 in Lesson 5 I told you that

in this sentence:

나는 펜이 있다 = I have a pen

있다 is actually an adjective (which is why the object markers (를/을) can’t be added to

them).

Also, when using 있다 to form a present progressive (I am ____ing):

나는 밥을 먹고 있다 = I am eating

있다 is an adjective

Also, when you learned about ~고 싶다 in Lesson 17, I told you that ‘싶다’ is an

adjective.

When I told you that these words are adjectives, I also told you that “this pretty much

means nothing to you right now, but there will be some times when you will need to

know that these words are adjectives.” Well, now you need to know.

Lets look at ~고 싶다 first.

싶다 is an adjective, so you must treat it as any other adjective when describing a verb.

This means that if you want to describe nouns in the present tense using 싶다 you must

add ㄴ/은:

예쁜 사람 = beautiful person

똑똑한 사람 = smart person

내가 만나고 싶은 사람 = the person (who/that) I want to meet


Examples:

먹고 싶은 것이 있어요? = Do you want something do eat? (literally – do you have

something that you want to eat?) 제가 가장 만나고 싶은 사람은 유재석이에요 = The person who I want to meet most is 유재석

When you want to use 싶다 to describe nouns in the past tense, you also must treat it as

an adjective by adding 던 or 었던 to it:

그 것은 제가 말하고 싶었던 것이었어요 = That is what I wanted to say

Dealing with 있다 is a little bit more complicated when describing nouns.

As I said earlier, 있다 is an adjective when using it in these two ways:

나는 펜이 있다

나는 먹고 있다

You know, that when using adjectives to describe nouns in the present tense, you should

add ㄴ/은 to the stem of the adjective:

예쁜 사람 = beautiful person

똑똑한 사람 = smart person

내가 만나고 싶은 사람 = the person (who/that) I want to meet

Grammatically it should be correct to do this to 있다 as well:

내가 있은 펜 = the pen that I have

내가 먹고 있은 것 = The thing I am eating

But these are incorrect. For whatever reason, when using 있다 to describe a noun in the

present tense (even though it is an adjective) you must treat it as a verb. Which means

that instead of adding ㄴ/은 것 to it – you must add 는 것:

내가 있는 펜 = the pen I have

내가 먹고 있는 것 = The thing I am eating

There are only a few times in all of the grammar in Korean when using 있은 would be

correct. One of which is when you add ㄴ/은 후에 to verb stems to say “after I ….” as

you learned in Lesson 24.

Anyways, what is weird is that if you want to use 있다 to describe nouns in the past tense,

you must treat it as an adjective. This means that if you want to describe a noun with

있다 in the past tense you can attach 었던/던 to it:

그 곳에 있었던 사람들은 다 죽었다 = All the people there died


All that is kind of weird, I’ll say it one more time step by step:

- Adjectives can describe nouns. You know this. You can add ㄴ/은 to the stem of an

adjective to describe a noun: 예쁜 사람. Just like you learned in Lesson 3.

- You can also use verbs to describe nouns: 만나는 사람 - like you learned in Lesson 25.

- 싶다 is an adjective, which means you have to add ㄴ/은 to it to describe a noun:

만나고 싶은 사람

- 있다 is also an adjective, but when using 있다 to describe a noun in the present tense,

you must treat it as a verb (내가 먹고 있는 것). However, when describing a noun in the

past tense, you should treat 있다 as an adjective (내가 먹고 있었던 것).

Using 그 (and other smaller words) in ~는 것 sentences

One thing that I want to mention before this lesson ends is how to include words like

이/그/나의/저의 in 는 것 sentences. It’s hard to describe what I mean without examples

(it’s not really a “concept” so I better show you some examples.)

In English, we could say:

The person who I met. Translated into Korean would be easy: 내가 만난 사람

However, in English, we could also say something like “that person I met.” Almost the

same meaning, but not exactly the same. If you were to translate that directly, it would

come out like this:

그 내가 만난 사람

But in Korean, they always place those small words that can go behind nouns

(이/그/저/나의/저의) immediately before nouns. So, instead of saying:

그 내가 만난 사람 you should say:

내가 만난 그 사람

It’s hard to translate some of these sentences into Korean. Look at next example. You

will probably be able to understand it completely, but translating it to English is difficult:

선생님이 본 나의 영화

It would translate to something like “my movie that the teacher watched” but that sounds

a little bit unnatural in English.

When these sentences come up, you should realize that the noun being described (영화 –

movie) is being described by two different things:

나의 영화 = my movie, and

선생님이 본 영화 = the movie that the teacher watched


Even though it is unnatural to say the full sentence in English (my movie that the teacher

watched), you should be able to understand the meaning without needing to translate it

directly.

Really, learning about the ~는 것 principle is the most confusing part about Korean

grammar. After conquering it, there isn’t much more to be all that confused about (the

difficulty later on doesn’t come from confusion – it just comes from the pain of

memorization, haha). There are still 2 or 3 more lessons where we will be talking about

~는 것. Stay tuned, because they will be coming right after this.


확대하다 = expand/enlarge

검색하다 = search for/browse/surf the net

싸움 = a fight

기쁨 = happiness/gladness

도움 = help (noun)

걸음 = step

죽음 = death

느낌 = a feeling (noun)

압착하다 = squeeze

데다 = to burn (part of a body)

행정 = administration

일부 = part/portion

세기 = century

구역 = zone/area

주차하다 = park (a car)

보행자 = pedestrian

좌석 = seat

보호 = protection

사전 = dictionary

합법 = legal

불법 = illegal

술집 = bar

훔치다 = steal

죄 = crime

도둑 = thief

튀다 = bounce

언어 = language

국어 = the Korean language

연료 = fuel

전기 = electrical

끔찍하다 = terrible

전 세계적으로 = worldwide

바라보다 = look at

기여하다 = contribute

향하다 = to face

문단 = paragraph

각자 = each/every

노동자 = laborer

음악가 = musician

능력 = capabilities

늘 = always

마치다 = finish

오늘날 = these days

순간 = second/moment

방송 = broadcast

현대 = modern times

시절 = the good “days”, my school “days”

직접 = directly (heard it from her directly)

작가 = writer/author

효과 = effects/effectiveness

불교 = Buddhism

악수하다 = shake hands

쳐다보다 = stare

난처하다 = embarrassed

끌다 = pull/drag/haul

최고 = the best/first

다양 = various

공공 = public

질서 = public order

접시 = plate

놀이터 = playground

모이다 = gather/congregate

제대로 = properly

스스로 = for oneself/by oneself

공간 = space/room (for something)

벌이다 = to plan to start to do something

통일 = unification

일으키다 = helping somebody rise up

정보 = information

낳다 = give birth

역할 = role (your role is to…)

국내 = inside the country

예 = example

흐르다 = flow/passed by

모양 = shape

상품 = products/goods

조건 = conditions/stipulations

넘다 = cross over/climb over (a border/mnt

자라다 = grow up

마을 = village/town


자료 = data

제품 = manufactured products

사업 = business

감정 = emotion

표현 = expression/express

즐기다 = enjoy oneself

변하다 = change

쌀 = uncooked rice

붙이다 = stick/stamp/label/attach

붙다 = to be stuck

대표하다 = represent

강조하다 = stress/emphasize(stress a point

맡다 = undertake/take on/handle/manage

기자 = journalist

외식하다 = eating out

다행 = good luck/good fortune

기준 = standard crtria used as basis for jdgm

말 (4 월 말에) = end of time period

반드시 = surely/definitely

구하다 = rescue

Introduction

In the past few lessons, you have learned a lot about adding ~는 (or ㄴ/은 for past tense

and ㄹ/을 for future tense) to verb stems to turn them into descriptive words that can

describe nouns. One more time, for example:

밥을 먹다 = to eat rice

밥을 먹는 사람 = the person who eats rice

빨리 가다 = to go fast

내가 빨리 가는 곳 = the place I am going to fast

A lot of times, the noun following the descriptive verb is 것, which allows an entire

sentence to be turned into a noun:

나는 사과를 가져온다 = I bring apples – is a sentence

내가 사과를 가져오는 것 – is the same sentence as above, but in noun form. This noun

can now be placed in other sentences just like other nouns:

나의 여자 친구는 내가 사과를 가져오는 것을 원했다 = My girlfriend wanted me to

bring apples

So that’s what you already know. What you don’t know is that in addition to the ~는 것

principle, there are other ways that you can modify verbs to change them into nouns. We

will look at this today.

Changing Verbs to Nouns ~기기기기

Adding ~기 to the stem of a verb changes that verb into a noun. The noun can technically

be used like any other noun:

가다 = to go

가기 = the noun form of “to go”

읽다 = to read


읽기 = the noun form of “to read”

먹다 = to eat

먹기 = the noun form of “to eat”

So… the million dollar question is, “what is the difference between ‘~는 것’ and ‘~기’?”

Well, first, notice exactly what ~는 것 is. Adding ~는 to a verb stem allows you to

describe nouns (것, 사람, 음식, etc…). Adding ~기 to a verb stem does not allow you to

describe anything. It just turns verbs into nouns.

But, turning verbs into nouns is one of the functions of ~는 것. Remember, there are two

main functions of ~는 것:

1) To describe nouns:

밥을 먹고 있는 사람 = the person who is eating rice

2) To change verbs into nouns:

사과를 가져오는 것 = the noun form of “to bring apples” – “bringing apples”

Adding ~기 is essentially the same as the second function described above. That is, you

can use ~기 to turn verbs into nouns – but you cannot use ~기 to describe nouns. So this:

내가 사과를 가져오는 것 and 내가 사과를 가져오기 essentially have the same

meaning, being “the noun form of “to bring apples.”

Which means you can use ~기 in sentences like:

나의 여자 친구는 내가 사과를 가져오기를 원해 = My girlfriend wants me to bring

apples

Technically you can say it that way, but I very rarely hear verbs turned into nouns using

~기 in that way. If you ask a Korean person, they will say that sentence sounds fine, but

somebody like me who analyzes grammar will notice that it is not used as much as “나의

여자 친구는 내가 사과를 가져오는는는는 것것것것을 원해.”

However, there are certain times when using ~기 is more natural than (or equally as

natural as) using ~는 것. Lets look at these.

Practical Uses for ~기기기기

As I said, it is not very common to use ~기 over ~는 것 in most situations. However, in

some situations it is okay (or even preferred).

~기 시작하다

One of the most common uses of ~기 comes behind 시작하다 (to start). This is a really

good grammar construction that you can use in a lot of situations to say “start to ____”


먹기 시작하다 = to start to eat

나는 밥을 벌써 먹기 시작했어 = I already started to eat

다음 달에 한국어를 배우기 시작할 거야 = I will start learning Korean next month

Strangely, when you want to say that you stop something, it is more common to use the

~는 것 form:

다음 달에 한국어를 배우기 시작할 거야 = I will start learning Korean next month

다음 달에 한국어를 배우는 것을 그만할 거야 = I will stop learning Korean next month

~기 싫다

It is also very common to put verbs behind ~기 싫다 to indicate that you don’t want to do

something. Literally, this translates to “I don’t like _____”

밥을 먹기 싫어 = I don’t want to eat

가기 싫어 = I don’t want to go

Again, strangely, this isn’t commonly used with 좋다 (the opposite of 싫다). Instead, I

guess it would be more common to say “밥을 먹고 싶다/가고 싶다.”

Other uses

You will often see the ~기 grammar principle being used in a wide variety of situations to

simply mean the noun of a verb. It is very hard to describe this, but I will show you some

really good examples.

On a computer, if you wanted to “zoom” in on a picture, you would press the “zoom”

button. In Korean, the verb “zoom” is “확대하다.” On Korean computers, they usually

don’t put verbs on buttons on the screen – instead they put the noun form of the verb. For

~하다 verbs, the noun form is easy to find. The noun form of 확대하다 is 확대. Simple.

But, what is the noun form of 보다? (to see)

What about 열다? (to open)

If you wanted to see something on a Korean screen, or click on the “view” button at the

top of every screen, you would have to press “보기.”

If you wanted to open something, you could press the “열기” button

Want to close something? Press 닫기.

Want to search? You might see a “찾기” button or “검색” – which is the noun form of

검색하다 also meaning “search/find.”

Want to send an e-mail? You would have to press “보내기”


There are a lot of applications for ~기, they just might not seem apparent at the moment.

As you learn more and more Korean grammar, you will see that there will be more

applications where you can use ~기. I just can’t cover them all right now because they

are too difficult.

One other small application. On language tests, there are usually many sections like

‘writing,’ ‘reading’ and ‘listening.’ How would you say these in Korean?

Writing – 쓰기

Reading – 읽기

Listening – 듣기

Here’s an example:

Person 1: 시험은 어땠어?

Person 2: 쓰기랑 듣기는 너무 어려웠어. 하지만 읽기는 너무 쉬웠어.

Translation:

Person 1: How was the exam?

Person 2: The writing and listening (parts) were really hard. But the reading (part) was

really easy.

As I said, aside from what I showed you, there are many applications for using ~기 – we

just haven’t gotten there yet. Up to now, the applications you should be aware of are:

1) Turning any verb into a noun: 사과를 가져오기

2) Put behind 시작하다: 먹기 시작했다

3) Put behind 싫다: 먹기 싫어

4) On computer screens/tests, etc…

Before we go any further, lets look at another way you can turn verbs (or even

adjectives) into nouns.

Changing Verbs/Adjectives to Nouns ~ㅁㅁㅁㅁ/음음음음

Adding ㅁ/음 to verbs or adjectives to turn them into noun. ㅁ get added to stems ending

in a vowel, and 음 gets added after stems that end in a consonant.

This form can be used to change entire sentences into noun forms, just like with ~는 것:

나는 네가 먹고 있는 것을 알았어 = I knew you were eating

나는 네가 먹고 있기를 알았어 – sounds wrong to a Korean person, but would look

correct to a foreign learner of Korean

나는 네가 먹고 있음을 알았어 = I knew you were eating


Like I said earlier. You can use ㅁ/음 to turn entire sentences into nouns, but this is

rarely done in speech. It is done much more commonly in books/poems (for whatever

reason).

The main usage of ㅁ/음 is to turn single words (verbs or adjectives) into nouns, and not

full sentences. Some of these you may have already come across:

싸우다 = to fight

싸움 = a fight

꾸다 = to dream

꿈 = a dream

아프다 = to be sore/sick

아픔 = pain

기쁘다 = to be happy/glad

기쁨 = happiness/gladness

돕다 = to help

도움 = help

죽다 = to die

죽음 = death

걷다 = to walk

걸음 = a step

느끼다 = to feel

느낌 = a feeling

Adding ㅁ/음 to verbs/adjectives is usually done to words that don’t end in 하다. The

reason for this is because there is already a very simple way to make a 하다

verb/adjective a noun – by removing the 하다 from the rest of the word (설명하다 = to

explain – 설명 = an explanation).

These noun form words can then be added to sentences as usual:

나는 형이랑 싸움에서 이겼어 = I won in a fight with my brother

나는 아빠의 죽음을 잊지 않았어 = I didn’t forget the death of my father


깨지다 =breaking up/breaking glass/mirror

꺼내다 = taking something out(of a wallet)

꺼내다 = bringing something up (a topic)

전하다 = convey/deliver

정하다 = set (a price/a rule/a goal)

주사 = injection

결근하다 = to be absent from work

쌀쌀하다 = chilly

연고 = ointment

가렵다 = itchy

골프 = golf

큰길 = main road

택배 = delivery

반복하다 = repeat

그대로 = as it is

품목 = items

단단하다 = hard/stiff

가격 = price

용돈 = allowance

아르바이트 = part time

벌다 = earn (money)

대중 = mass (mass transit, etc…)

늘어나다 = stretch

사망 = death

사망자 = dead people (death toll)

각종 = all sorts/all types

빛 = light (the noun of the actual light)

시인 = poet

특징 = specific physical characteristic

마련하다 = prepare/arrange/provide

주제 = subject (to talk about – 꺼내다)

관리 = management/admin

그룹 = group

커다랗다 (커다란) = huge

인생 = life

기르다 = cultivate/raise (kids, etc..)/train

전통 = tradition/culture/heritage

요금 = fare/price

계란 = eggs

(#) 호선 = line ____ (in subway)

밝다 = bright

마찬가지 = the same

데려오다 = to bring (a person)

기간 = period of time

막다 = obstruct/block/stop/close

자식 = one’s children

전국 = whole country

가정 = family

농업 = agriculture

목적 = purpose/aim/goal

발생하다 = originate from/occurred

차례 = order (same as 순서)

남성 = male

여성 = female

내놓다 = release/put out

신선하다 = fresh

재료 = materials/ingredients (to make smth

자유 = freedom

특성 =specific chctstc-some sort of motion

특기 = special skills/specialties

각각 = each (we each bought a scarf)

책임 = responsibility

구체적인 = detailed/concrete/specific

소비자 = consumer

미 = beauty

접촉사고 = fender bender

튀김 = deep fry/fry

번개(치다) = lightning

천둥(치다) = thunder

조심하다 = be careful

안개 (끼다) = fog (to be foggy)

금연 = no smoking/giving up smoking

출입 = enter and exit

수술 = surgery/operation

해병 = marines

비상 = emergency

훈련 = training

실물 = in person/real thing

만두 = dumplings

동호회 =club for people with same interest


징그럽다 = gross/creepy

줄이다=reduce/ct dwn/shrtn (active)

줄다 = decrease/diminish (passive)

해안 = coast

위치 = position/location

하룻밤 = one night

달라지다 = change/become different

통신 = communications/correspondence

모임 = gathering/get together

식품 = food products

엽서 = postcard

이메일 = e-mail

선약 = previous engagement

간지럽다 = ticklish

목마르다 = thirsty

대출하다 = loan

계단 = steps/stairs/staircase

허락하다 = allow/give permission

버리다 = to throw away*

잊어버리다 = to forget*

잊어버리다 – You will notice that a few words in Korean can end in ‘아/어버리다.’

버리다 by itself means ‘to throw away,’ and is often combined with words like ‘forget,’

or ‘lose’ to put emphasis on the fact that you ‘lost/forgot’ something.

Introduction

Up to now, you have learned a lot (probably too much!) about adding ~는 (or ㄴ/은 or

ㄹ/을) to the stem of a verb/adjective to describe nouns. One more time:

내가 가는 곳 = the place I am going

내가 만난 사람 = the person I met

내가 먹을 음식 = the food I will eat

The list of nouns that you can add after ~는 is endless. In addition to this endless list,

there are a handful of nouns that have no meaning unless placed immediately after a

describing verb or adjective.

That is a very confusing sentence. I understand it perfectly, but I know Korean grammar.

Read it again and try to understand what I am trying to say before I show some examples:

There are a handful of nouns that have no meaning unless placed immediately after a

describing verb or adjective.

These nouns have no ‘noun’ meaning, but they have grammatical meaning when placed

in these positions.

One of the most common of these nouns is 지. We will talk about 지 today.

The Noun of Uncertainty: 지지지지

I didn’t know what title to give to 지, but I came up with the “noun of uncertainty” which

I feel describes it well. 지 is used just like 것 in the following sentences:

우리가 먹은 것

형이 가는 것


엄마가 옷을 사는 것

BUT, 지 is placed instead of 것 when the sentence is something you are unsure of. In

practice, this is usually done when there is a question word in the sentence. Look at the

following sentence:

저는 우리가 뭐 먹은 것을 잊어버렸어요

If we break that down, we get the sentence:

저는 (----) 잊어버렸어요 = I forgot (----)

What did you forget? You forgot the noun within the brackets:

저는 (우리가 뭐 먹은 것)을 잊어버렸어요

So, the sentence reads:

저는 우리가 뭐 먹은 것을 잊어버렸어요 – I forgot what we ate

BUT! Because there is a question word within the sentence, instead of using 것, you

should use 지:

저는 우리가 뭐 먹은 지 잊어버렸어요 = I forgot what we ate

I’ll say it one more time for good measure:

When you make a noun-form sentence using the ~는 것 principle, and if that sentence is

a question or uncertain, you should use 지 instead of 것 as the noun.

More examples using question words:

저는 엄마가 밥을 왜 혼자 먹은 지 몰라요 = I don’t know why mom ate by herself

저는 선생님이 그 것을 언제 가르친 지 기억 안 나요 = I don’t remember when the

teacher taught that

열쇠를 어디 둔 지 잊어버렸어요 = I forget where I put my keys

Note that a question word doesn’t necessarily need to be in the sentence to use 지. All

that is needed is that there is uncertainty in the sentence. When there is no question word

in a sentence that includes “지” the English word “if” is usually included:

저는 엄마가 왜 먹은 지 몰라요 = I don’t know why mom ate

저는 엄마가 뭐 먹은 지 몰라요 = I don’t know what mom ate

저는 엄마가 언제 먹은 지 몰라요 = I don’t know when mom ate

저는 엄마가 어디서 먹은 지 몰라요 = I don’t know where mom ate

저는 엄마가 밥을 먹은 지 몰라요 = I don’t know if mom ate

You could also create the equivalent of “if ___ or not” using this same principle. For

example, if you wanted to say: “I don’t know if my mom ate or not”:


저는 엄마가 밥을 먹은 지 안안안안 먹은먹은먹은먹은 지지지지 몰라요 = I don’t know if mom ate or not

In the above sentence, the bolded part in Korean corresponds to the bolded part in

English. Notice that you need to write out the verb again, which more directly translates

to: I don’t know if mom ate or didn’t eat.

When you are dealing with non-하다 verbs (like 먹다), you need to write out the verb

again to indicate “I don’t know if mom ate or not.” However, when dealing with 하다

verbs, the sentence can usually be shortened by eliminating the word behind 하다 when

you say the verb the second time. For example, instead of saying:

저는 엄마가 공부한 지 공부하지 않은 지 몰라요

You could just say:

저는 엄마가 공부한 지 하지 않은 지 몰라요 = I don’t know if mom studied or not

Remember that Korean people love shortening their sentences, and taking out the

redundant “공부” the second time around is more natural in Korean.

More examples from everything you’ve learned in this lesson so far:

저는 그 학생이 어느 대학교를 다니는 지 기억 안 나요 = I don’t remember which

university that student attends

그 사람이 한국어를 언제 배우기 시작한 지 몰라요 = I don’t know when that person

started to learn Korean

그가 내 말을 들은 지 몰라 = I don’t know if he was listening to me

그가 내 말을 들은 지 안 들은 지 몰라 = I don’t know if he was listening to me or not

There is actually another very practical usage of 지, which we will look at next.

I might/I don’t know if… ~ㄹ 지 모르다

If you ever want to say that you ‘might do something’ in the future, you can use the

grammatical construction ~ㄹ 지 모르다. Literally, this translates to “I don’t know if I

will ____” which is essentially the same as “I might…”

나는 내일 학교에 갈 지 몰라요 = I don’t know if I will go to school tomorrow/I might

go to school tomorrow

남자 친구랑 헤어질 지 몰라요 = I might break up with my boyfriend

You can use this same form to talk about other people or other things as well:

오후에 비가 올 지 몰라요 = It might rain in the afternoon

You can also add 도 after 지, and eliminate the space between ㄹ and 지 with no

apparent difference in meaning:


나는 내일 학교에 갈지도 몰라요 = I don’t know if I will go to school tomorrow/I

might go to school tomorrow

오후에 비가 올지도 몰라요 = It might rain in the afternoon

There is actually another meaning to the noun ‘지’ – one that has absolutely no relation to

what you have learned so far. Lets look at this next.

I have been doing X for Y – 지지지지

When I first learned about the noun 지, I thought I understood it completely, until I saw a

sentence that looked like this:

한국에 온 지 2년 됐다

… Man was I confused. I understood every word in the sentence, I knew the

grammatical meaning of ‘지,’ but I couldn’t piece together the meaning of the sentence. I

am guessing that you can’t either. The reason you can’t (and I couldn’t) understand the

meaning of that sentence is because the noun ‘지’ has another meaning.

When placed after a verb with ㄴ/은 attached (for example):

온 지

사귄 지

먹은 지

… and when followed by an indication of time:

온 지 2 년

사귄 지 6개월

먹은 지 5분

… and then followed by 되다 (usually in the past tense):

온 지 2년 됐다

사귄 지 6개월 됐다

먹은 지 5분 됐다

All of these have the meaning of “I have been doing X for Y amount of time.” You can

only say this when you are still doing the thing that you are talking about. You cannot,

however, use this to say “I had been doing X for Y amount of time.” If you want to say

something like that, you would have to simply say “I did X for Y amount of time: 저는

2시간 동안 먹었어요.”

Anyways, using this grammatical concept, you can make sentences like this:


한국에 온 지 2년 됐어요 = I have been in Korea for 2 years (notice that to say this you

actually need to use the word 오다 – to come. This literally translates to ‘I have been

coming to Korea for 2 years’ – but it actually means ‘I have been in Korea for 2 years.’

여자 친구랑 사귄 지 6개월 됐어 = I have been going out with my girlfriend for 6

months

밥을 먹은 지 5분 됐다 = I have been eating for 5 minutes

You can also use this same form to ask questions to people about how long they have

been doing something by using 얼마나 or words like 오래:

한국어를 공부한 지 얼마나 되었어요? = How long have you been studying Korean?

운동한 지 오래 됐어? = Have you been exercising for a long time?

미소 = smile

혼잡 = congestion

교통혼잡 = traffic jam

부럽다/부러워하다 = envy

글씨 = handwriting

배달 = delivery

어울리다=socialize/get along with/hangout

알리다 = inform/tell/report/notify

아끼다 = spare- when u will use again

절약하다 = spare-when not used again

남기다 =leaving an impression/handing down

남겨주다 = leave

남겨두다 = leave

놔두다 = leave

식 = way/manner (그런 식)

떠오르다 = come into somebody’s head

있잖아 = you know… (at start of sentence)

훤칠하다 = tall and handsome

긍정적이다 = positive

부정적이다 = negative

반지 = ring

체격 = person’s physical build

외모 = outside appearance of person (face)

입술 = lips

앞줄 = front row

미술 = art

야시장 = night market

결혼기념일 = wedding anniversary

명도하다 = shave

예순 = sixty

동갑 = same age

빌려주다 = lend

목걸이 = necklace

슬리퍼 = slipper

차다 = to wear a watch

수영복 = bathing suit

귀고리 = earrings

미역국 = seaweed soup

간식 = snacks

아이 쇼핑 = window shopping

삼촌 = uncle on fathers side

칠판 = blackboard/chalkboard

쓰이다 = state of being written on

딸기 = strawberry

아까 = earlier

섬기다 = work for/serve a master

정성 = sincerity/from the heart/with care

정성껏 = putting your heart into something

삶다 = boil

상추 = lettuce

실상활 = real life

따라가다 = follow

부활 = revive

멍청이 = stupid

선택 = choice

공사 = construction

교시 = class (first class, second class)

조퇴하다 = leave early

펴다 = unfold/open/spread out (map/book)

종교 = religion

혹은 = or

공동 = joint/communal–doing smt together

까닭 = reason

소녀 = little girl

소년 = little boy

마지못해 = reluctantly

징수하다 = collecting money/fees/taxes

회비 = membership fees

소득세 = income tax

연간 = annual (annual income)

지나가다 = go passed (and keep going?)

시청 = city hall

꽉 = tight (hold tight)

붙잡다 = hold on/also detain (hold people)

속도 = speed/velocity

제한 = limit (restriction)

속도제한 = speed limit

훌륭하다 = excellent

새로 = newly/anew

키우다 = raise/train/develop

샤워하다 = shower

마리 = counter for animals

노인 = old man

경영 = management/administration

달성하다 = achieve a goal (same: 이루다)

목표 = specific goal (loose 20 pounds)

숲 = forest

덮다 = cover up/close a book/keep a secret

없어지다 = disappear/lose

주머니 = pocket

주요 = major/primary (primary exports)

인상하다 = raise (only about price raise)

삭감하다 = lower (payment that I receive)

참다 = hold back (fight/drink/pee)/endure

크기 = size

서양 = western countries

동양 = eastern countries

문명 = civilization

떨어지다 = to drop/fail a test*

바람을 피우다 = to cheat on somebody

떨어지다 is another word that has many meanings depending on the context. You will

learn more meanings as you go along (it might be good for you to take a peak in the

dictionary to get an idea) but the general meaning is ‘to drop’ something. We provide an

example later in this lesson with this word being used as:

시험을 떨어지다… which literally means “drop a test” – but in this context, 떨어지다

would mean “fail”

Introduction

I keep saying this, but you have learned a lot about using the ~는 것 principle. Don’t

think that you’re out of the woods yet – because there is still a lot to know.

In this lesson, you will learn how to use ~는 것 with 이다, and also a little bit about how

to understand ~는 것 when it is presented like this: 한다는 것.

Lets get started.

Using ~는 것 with 이다

You’ve learned a lot about how to add ~는 것 to any verb (and technically adjectives as

well by using ㄴ/은 것), but you have yet to learn about how to add it to 이다.

The first thing you are probably asking to yourself is: When would I ever want to add

~는 것 to 이다. Well, lets remember what ~는 것 does:

If you want to just say a noun, you can just say a noun. For example:

Man = 남자

If you want to describe that noun, you can use adjectives:

똑똑한 남자 = smart man

Or verbs:

먹고 있는 남자 = the man who is eating

But… now think about this for a second… what if you want to describe a noun with a

noun? Look at the difference (or similarities) between the three:

똑똑한 남자 = the smart man (or – man who is smart)

먹고 있는 남자 = the man who is eating

_____________= the man who is a teacher

How would you do that? For the moment, think of 이다 as a verb. If I wanted to say “the

man who is a teacher, it would make sense if you could write:

선생님이는 남자…

…It would make sense if you could do that, but that is incorrect. There are two ways to

use ~는 것 with 이다:

1)If the noun you are attaching 이다 to ends in a consonant, you must add 이라는 것 to it

For example:

선생님이라는 남자 = the man who is a teacher

2) If the noun you are attaching 이다 to ends in a vowel, you must add 라는 것 to it.

의사라는 여자 = the woman who is a doctor

In practice, however, this is often used when talking about somebody’s name or what

something is called (I am looking for somebody named Steven). The grammar within that

usually deals with quoting, so we will cover this a little bit more when you learn lessons

about how to quote in Korean.

Nonetheless, sometimes it is necessary to say things like “the (noun) who is a (noun)”:

선생님이라는 남자들은 매일 술을 마셔요 = men who are teachers drink alcohol every

day

그 사람이 나쁜 사람이라는 것을 알고 있어요 = I know that that person is a bad

person

Which could also be said like this:

그 사람이 나쁜 것을 알고 있어요 = I know that that person is bad

Using ~는 것 with 이다 is also done sometimes when conjugating to the future tense

when conjugating as ‘~ㄹ 것이다.’ We will talk about this later in the next section of this

lesson. Before we get into that, I want to show you something else.

~ㄴ/는다는 것

This is kind of a weird grammatical principal to describe – and I didn’t even know where

to put it. When I first learned about ~는 것, I often saw sentences that – instead of being

written like this:

내가 가는 것…

were written like this:

내가 간다는 것…

Before we get into what it means – notice how it is written.

The verb that ~는 것 is being added to is being conjugated into the plain form (formal

low respect as it is always called in our lessons). To refresh your memory, the present

tense (for verbs) of this conjugation would be:

가다 = 간다

먹다 = 먹는다

Past tense would be:

가다 = 갔다

먹다 = 먹었다

Future tense would be:

가다 = 가겠다

먹다 = 먹겠다

As I said, when I was learning about ~는 것, I would sometimes notice things like this:

내가 간다는 것

Which is the plain (formal low respect) form conjugation plus ~는 것. An example of this

in use would be:

그가 나를 싫어하지 않는다는다는다는다는 것을 알아요, instead of:

그가 나를 싫어하지 않는 것을 알아요

The first would be:

I know the fact that he doesn’t like me

The second would be:

I know that he doesn’t like me

This appears to be the main difference in translation between ~는 것 and ~ㄴ/는다는 것.

That is, ~ㄴ/는다는 것 is translated to “the fact that…” and “는 것” is not translated that

way. BUT in most situations (in English and Korean) there is no difference between

saying “the fact that…” and not saying it. Can you tell the difference between the two in

English?:

I know the fact that he doesn’t like me

I know that he doesn’t like me

Very, very similar. In Korean – it is the same. There is a difference between using ~는 것

and ~ㄴ/는다는 것, but it is very minor. I wish I could describe it more, but this is one of

the grammar concepts that you literally need to just get a feel for. As you hear/read more

and more of the language, you will gradually pick up on how/when to use ~ㄴ/는다는

것 over ~는 것. A few tips I can give you:

When using 소문 (rumor) or 사실 (fact), as the noun replacing 것 - ~ㄴ/는다는 것 is

almost always used: For example:

그 여자의 남편이 비서랑 바람을 피운다는 소문이 있어요 = There is a rumor that that

woman’s husband is having an affair with his secretary

Instead of:

그 여자의 남편이 비서랑 바람을 피우는 소문이 있어요 = There is a rumor that that

woman’s husband is having an affair with his secretary

This same principle can be used in the past tense as well (remember to be using the plan

[formal low respect]) form:

그녀가 시험을 떨어졌다는 소문을 들었어요 = I heard a rumor that she failed the test

그녀는 아이가 죽었다는 사실을 숨겼어요 = She hid (the fact that) her child died

You can actually use this principle in this future tense as well, but fasten your seat belts –

because it gets tricky. Remember the best way to conjugate to the future tense. Instead of

saying “먹겠다” it is more common to say “먹을 것이다.”

You now know that “먹을 것이다” is made of the future conjugation of ~는 것 (먹을

것) followed by 이다. Even though 먹을 것이다 is made up of 먹을 + 것 + 이다, you

were taught to just think of “~ㄹ 것이다” as one grammatical unit (instead of being a

verb describing a noun, followed by 이다).

So, anyways, if you want to use the ~ㄴ/는다는 것 way to add 는 것 to verbs/adjectives,

you can do this by applying what you learned at the start of this lesson.

Remember what you learned earlier in this lesson about applying ~는 것 to 이다? That

same principle can apply here:

Present tense: 먹다 + 는 것 = 먹다는 것

Past tense: 먹다 + 었다는 것 = 먹었다는 것

Future tense: 먹을 것 + 이다 + 는 것 = 먹을 것이라는 것, or 먹을 거라는 것

Notice that because in this case (~ㄹ 것이다) the word you are adding ~는 것 to is 이다

– so 라/이라 must be attached to it.

The examples given (먹을 것이라는 것/먹을 거라는 것) sound awkward like that, but

remember, any noun can replace 것 – including (very commonly) 소문 and 사실.

그녀가 곧 결혼할 거라는 사실사실사실사실을 잊어버렸어요 = I forgot (the fact that) that she will

be getting married soon

대통령이 한국에서 떠날 거라는 소문소문소문소문이 있다 = There is a rumor that the president will

leave Korea soon

Also remember how to conjugate adjectives using this plain form (in the present tense).

Remember once again that, for example, when conjugating verbs, you need to do:

가다 = 간다

먹다 = 먹는다

But with adjectives in the plain form, you just leave them as they are:

행복하다 = 행복하다

예쁘다 = 예쁘다

너의 여자 친구가 예쁘다는 것을 잊어버렸어 = I forgot (the fact that) that your

girlfriend was pretty


명령하다 = to order (order somebody)

빼다 = pull out/extract

전문 = specialty (specialty store = 전문점)

귀중품 = valuables

강아지 = puppy

그치다 = a verb for when rain stops

불친절하다 = not kind

복수하다 = revenge

지원 = support (food/financial/military/etc)

지원하다 = volunteer for/apply for

임금 = wages/pay

흔히 = commonly

기적 = miracle

배려 = good deed

약하다 = weak

노약자 = the old and weak

모시다 =serve/attend on someone(섬기다)

끼리 =among ourselves (우리끼리)

마주치다 = bump into/make eye contact w

소원 = a wish/a desire

신다 = putting on shoes/socks

신기다 = putting shoes/socks on smbdy

else

차량 = vehicles

따르다 = pour/fill a glass, etc….

채우다 = fill (fill a bag/box) w/ something

가득 = full

비다 = to be empty (adjective)

비우다 = to empty/drain (verb)

빈칸 = blank(s)

관객 = audience

자선단체 = charity organization

끊기다 = to be cut off (passive)

끊다 = to break contact/to cut off

따라오다 = follow (being followed)

헤어지다 = break up

연락 = contact

당분간 = for the time being

의문 = question

자세히= detailed/elaborate/carefully

공연 = performance/show/concert/play

심각하다 = serious/critical

살리다 = save a life/spare from dying

썰다 = chop/slice/dice

업무 = work to do for business

취하다 = to be drunk

말리다 = to dry something

간장 = soy sauce

고생 = hard time/life(mostly about money)

반품하다 = return something

탈의실 = change room

표 = ticket

매표 = to sell tickets

매표소 = ticket office

평일 = regular/usual day (weekday)

예매하다 = purchase in advance

예약 = appointment/reservation

막히다 = to be congested

망가지다 = to be broken (고장 나다)

세일 = sale

매진 = selling out

심심하다 = to be bored

휴대폰 = hand phone

뜻 = meaning

새다 = to stay up at night

거지 = homeless/no money

이력 = background/personal history

이력서 = resume/c.v.

서류 = documents/papers

제출하다 = submit (applications/resume…

목격하다 = to witness

외과 = surgery ward

육실 = bathroom

비서 = secretary

드나들다 = to go in and out of

한동안 = for a while/for some time

수시로 = frequently

점검 = inspect(tion) (safety checks, etc…)

연예 = entertainment

연예인 = celebrity


자세하다 = detailed (adj)

덕분에 = … thanks to you

(지하)자원 = (underground) resources

도표 = chart/diagram

보고(하다) = report/(to report)

치과 = dentistry

치과의사 = dentist

정신과 = psychiatry

정신과의사 = psychiatrist

지적이다 = intelligent

출구 = exit (way out) – not verb

통제하다 = control

평가 = evaluation/assessment

선배 = one’s senior

구하다 = searching for worker/job

그러므로 = therefore

금액 = amount (of money)

행사 = event/function

판단하다 = make a judgment/decision

해결하다 = solve/resolve a problem

Introduction

In this lesson, you will learn about three different grammatical patterns that have similar

meanings, depending on this situation. As always, I will do my best to describe them.

With the intention of doing…: ~려고려고려고려고/러러러러

Adding ~(으)려고 to the stem of the verb gives it the meaning of “with the intention

of…/in order to/to.” 려고 gets added to stems ending in a vowel and 으려고 gets added

to stems ending in a consonant. For example:

밖에 나가려고… With the intention of going outside/in order to go outside/to go outside…

친구를 만나려고… With the intention of meeting a friend/in order to meet a friend/to meet a

friend

If you add ~(으)러 to verb stems, it has a very similar (if not identical) meaning to

~려고:

밖에 나가러… With the intention of going outside/in order to go outside/to go outside…

친구를 만나러… With the intention of meeting a friend/in order to meet a friend/to meet a friend

You can then finish these sentences by adding a clause to the end of them:

밖에 일찍 나가려고 숙제를 빨리 했어요 = I did my homework early with the intention

of going out

친구를 만나러 왔어 = I came (here) to meet my friend

공부하러 학교에 가고 있어 = I’m going to school to do my homework

Both of these are very common connectors that are used in a lot of sentences. In an earlier

lesson you learned about adding ~기 위해 to stems. ~기 위해 seems to have a very

similar if not identical meaning to ~려고/~러.

친구를 만나기 위해 여기로 왔어 = I came here to meet a friend

친구를 만나러 여기로 왔어 = I came here to meet a friend

친구를 만나려고 여기로 왔어 = I came here to meet a friend


It is important to notice that in all of these cases the tense is indicated in the final clause

of the sentence. That is – no indication of tense is to be made before ~기 위해/~러/~려고.

You can add the verb 노력하다 after ~려고 to have the meaning of “I tried to do…,”

which we will talk about next.

~려고 노력하다

If you want to say “I tried to ___” you can add 노력하다 after adding ~려고 to a verb

stem. This is rarely (or never) done following ~러, but it sometimes done after ~기 위해.

I wouldn’t worry about thinking about if you should say “~러 노력하다” or “~기 위해

노력하다” or “려고 노력하다” because it seems that it is always more natural to say

“~려고 노력하다.” For example:

그 친구를 매 주말 만나려고 노력해요 = I try to meet that friend every weekend

한국어를 배우려고 노력하고 있어요 = I am trying to learn Korean

노력하다 itself means to try/put effort into something. So literally, the sentences mean

“In order to meet that friend every weekend, I try”, and

“In order to learn Korean, I am trying”

But neither of those sentences (in English) sound natural. It is more natural to just say “I

try…”

You could also add this to a long line of other words. It’s hard to explain, and you would

never really need to say something like this, but understanding it will help you with

grammar (a little bit). When I first started learning things like this, I always asked how I

would say “I think I want to start to try to learn Korean.” Perfect sentence, but nobody

would ever really say anything that ridiculous. You know everything in that sentence

except “I think,” so with what you learned today, you should know how to say “I want to

start to try to learn Korean:”

한국어를 배운다 = I learn Korean

한국어를 배우려고 노력한다 = I try to learn Korean

한국어를 배우려고 노력하기 시작한다 = I start to try to learn Korean

한국어를 배우려고 노력하기 시작하고 싶다 = I want to start to try to learn Korean

… Heh, like I said – saying something that complex is unnecessary, but understanding it

is always good grammar practice.

V 어어어어/아아아아 보다보다보다보다

Adding 어/아 보다 to the stem of a verb gives it the meaning of “attempt/try …” The

translations to English are very similar – if not identical to ~려고/~러/~기 위해 but the

meanings are different. For example, if you say:


나는 밥을 먹으려고 노력했다… it means that you tried to eat rice, in the sense that you

put effort into eating

나는 먹어 봤어…it means that you tried rice, similar to the meaning that you

experienced eating rice.

Very confusing, and the difference becomes more clear when you here it/use it more and

more. Try looking at some examples:

엄마가 요리한 음식을 먹어 봤어? = Did you try the food mom cooked?

결혼하기 위해 남자들을 만나 봤어 = In order to get married, I tried meeting a lot of

men

Unfortunately, one of the most common usages of this grammatical form is when you are

telling somebody to do something. In essence, telling somebody to “try” something. I

haven’t yet taught you how to tell somehow how to do something (it will be covered in a

later lesson – soon), but just to show you:

그 것을 확인해 봐!! = (try) Check(ing) that

이 것을 먹어 봐! = (try) Eat(ing) this!

Another common usage of the 어/아 보다 grammatical form is used in conjunction with

the pseudo-noun 적, which we will talk about next.

적

In lesson 30, you learned about the pseudo-noun ‘지.’ In that lesson, I told you that there

are a handful of nouns that have no meaning when used on their own. However, when

used in connection with a describing verb or adjective, they have meaning.

적 is another one of these nouns which cannot be used on its own. However, if you add

ㄴ/은 to a verb stem and place 적 after ㄴ/은, 적 has the meaning of “experience.”

Really hard to imagine, and it is times like this when people realize just how different

Korean and English grammar really is.

So, lets go through this step by step. First, you need a verb: 먹다

Add ㄴ/은 to the verb stem. 은 gets added to words ending in a consonant, ㄴ gets added

directly to words ending in a vowel: 먹은

Add 적: 먹은 적

If I were to say:

김치를 먹은 적

It would mean “the experience of eating kimchi.” Remember that ‘적’ actually means

‘experience’ when used this way.


But, 적 is a noun – and you can’t end sentences with nouns, so you need to finish the

sentence with 있다 or 없다 to mean “to have the experience of eating kimchi/to not have

the experience of eating kimchi.”

For example:

김치를 먹은 적이 없어요 = I don’t have the experience of eating kimchi…

… which is translated naturally to “I have never eaten kimchi”

More examples:

거기에 간 적이 없어요 = I have never gone/been there/I haven’t been there

그 여자를 만난 적이 없어요 = I have never met that girl/I haven’t met that girl

그 영화를 본 적이 있어요? = Have you seen that movie?/Have you ever seen that

movie?

The interesting thing is that the 어/아 보다 principle is very often used in combination

with 적. For example, instead of saying the three sentences above, you could (probably

more naturally say):

거기에 가 본 적이 없어요 = I have never been there

그 여자를 만나 본 적이 없어요 = I have never met that girl/I haven’t met that girl

그 영화를 봐 본 적이 있어요? = Have you seen that movie?/Have you ever seen that

movie?

Notice that even in the final example, the word 보다 (to see/watch) is not the same as the

보다 in the 어/아 보다 grammatical principle. Therefore, it is not unnatural to say 보다

twice in a row.


독신 = single (bachelor)

어리석다 = stupid

상담 = consult

장면 = movie scene

민감하다 = being sensitive

싱겁다 =something being flat/dull/tasteless

전공 책 = major text book

디저트 = desert

도움 구/청/요청하다 = ask for help

무제한 = unlimited

오랫동안 = for a long time

냄비 = pot/pan

모습 = outside appearance (everything)

기분이 상하다 = being offended/hurt

상하다 = damage/bruise/etc..

그중 = of those people (한 명은 먹었어)

자신만만하다 = confident

높이다 = to raise something

수출 = export

수입 = import

무척 = very/really/extremely

비용 = expense/charge

원래 = originally/by nature

귀가하다 = returning home

옳다 = right/proper/correct

갚다 = pay back

자 = ruler

정숙하다 = quiet

지우개 = eraser

수표 = cheque

잔돈 = small change

짜리 = worth of (1000원짜리)

자리 = geography

진통제 = painkiller

일부러 = on purpose

편집 = edit

촬영하다 = film (a movie or something)

감정적이다 = emotional

막상 = ultimately/in the end

태극이 = the Korean flag

신고하다 = report (to the police/gvrnmt…)

강의 = lecture

수리비 = repair charges

전원 = electricity/power

하품 = yawn

화면 = screen/monitor

알아듣다 = understand/recognize

엔진 = engine

부품 = mechanical part

프린터 = printer

엘리베이터 = elevator

맡기다 = to leave/entrust with somebody

차비 = carfare

집값 = price of houses

변명 = excuse

경연대회 = contest

예의 바르다 = polite

해내다 = finish something like a job/work

적용 = applying a law

규칙 = rule/regulation

경우 = a hypothetical case/event

대다 = present/press against

한결같다 = stay the same/not changed

매매 = to buy and sell

올리다 = raise/lift

들어올리다 = raise/lift/put up

불다 = blow (a wind instrument)

중소기업 = small and medium enterprises

주름 = wrinkle

마늘 = garlic

교환학생 = exchange student

상가 = a group of stores

임대 = lease/rent

계약 = contract/agreement

우등상 = honor prize

복구하다 = restore/recover

짝 사랑 = one sided love

미소 짓다 = verb for smile

웃음 = laughter/smile

부치다 = send something through the mail


국기 = flag

보관하다 = store

보관소 = storage center

분실하다 = loose something

분실물 = the lost item (noun)

분실물 보관소 = lost and found

가구 = furniture

미팅 = meeting

보증 = warranty/guarantee

보증 기간 = warranty period

학기 = semester

애매모호하다 = ambiguous

하락하다 =going down (opp of 증가하다)

신용하다 = trust

최선 = the best way/plan

돌보다 = watch/take care

음악회 = concert

복잡하다 = complex/crowded

예정대로 = on schedule

의욕 = drive/morale

Introduction

You’ve learned just about all you can learn about ~는 것, but there are still other

grammar concepts in Korean that are related to this principle. Today, we will look at how

to use the words 중 and 동안 – and how these words can sometimes be used with 는 것.

중중중중

중 is a very important word in Korean. By itself, it has the meaning of “middle” but it is

never really used on its own. Combined with other words or grammatical principles, this

one word can have a lot of meanings – most of them similar to the meaning “middle.”

The Chinese (Hanja) of this word is one of the easiest to know and recognize, as it is one

of the few characters where the picture actually means something: 中 (the strike down the

“middle.”). Lets look at how we can use 중 in Korean.

~하는하는하는하는 중중중중

중 is a noun, which means it can replace 것 in ~는 것. When this is done, it gives the

sentence the meaning of “I am doing… (I am in the middle of).” For example:

나는 먹는 중

나는 공부하는 중

Notice however, that 중 is a noun – and you can’t just end a sentence with a noun like

that. Therefore, if you want to make those sentences perfect, you need to say:

나는 먹는 중이야 = I am eating

나는 공부하는 중이야 = I am studying

Also notice that this has the same meaning of ~고 있다:

나는 먹고 있어 and 나는 먹는 중이야 have the same meaning.

Before you learn more about how to use 중 in other sentences, lets first look at how you

can use ~하는 동안 just like how you can use 하는 중.


~하는 동안

You learned in a lesson a long time ago that you can place 동안 after a unit of time to

mean “for 2 minutes” or “for 2 hours.” For example:

2시간 동안 공부했어요 = I studied for 2 hours

2 분 동안 기다렸어요 = I waited for 2 minutes

You can also place 동안 as the noun in ~는 것, similar to how you use 중 in this situation.

When doing this, it gives the sentence the meaning of “while I was…” For example:

내가 밥을 먹는 동안 열쇠를 잊어버린 것을 깨달았어요 = While I was eating I

realized that I forgot my keys

영화를 보는 동안 다른 사람들이 너무 시끄러웠어요 = While watching the movie, the

other people were really loud

Pretty simple grammatical principle that can be used in a lot of applications. Now that

you know that, lets move on to learn more about 중.

~중중중중 – Of all …

This is where it starts to get interesting. When 중 is placed after a noun of two or more

things, it has the meaning of “of all ….”. For example:

나의 남동생 3명 중에... = Of all my younger brothers…

나의 친구들 중에… = Of all my friends…

A few things that you need to be aware of:

First – Notice the meaning of the sentences. These sentences are incomplete, but you can

fill in the latter part of the sentences as you please. As I said before, placing 중 after a

noun of two or more things, you are giving it the meaning of “of these things…” The

latter part of the sentence then usually describes something about one of those things:

나의 남동생 3명 중에 그는 가장 똑똑해 = Of all my younger brothers, he is the smartest

나의 친구들 중에 나는 슬기를 가장 좋아해요 = Of all my friends, I like Seulgi the most

It’s slightly easier to grasp the meaning of this concept if you remember the meaning of

“중” is “middle.” Essentially, by making these sentences, you are saying “in the middle

of all my friends.” Heh, not sure if that helps you, but it helped me understand it.

Second – Notice that 에 is placed after 중 in this grammatical form. This should always

be there.

Third – Remember that I said that 중 can be placed after a noun of two or more things.

This means that you can also use ~는 것 to create nouns (것/음식/etc..) that can be used

with this principle. Hard to describe in English, but look at the following example:


모든 영화 중에.. would mean “of all the movies…”

But if you wanted to specifically say “of all the movies I (that) I have seen, you need to

use the ~는 것 principle to describe 영화:

내가 본 영화 중에… of all the movies I have seen

When talking about people, again you could say this:

나의 친구들 중에 = Of all my friends…

But you could also express “Of all my friends (that) I have…

In these cases, you shouldn’t use 있다 to talk about people – because you can’t really

“have” friends. When you want to express “Of all my friends (that) I have…” you should

use 만나다 to change the meaning to “Of all the friends (that) I have met…”

내가 만난 친구들 중에 너는 나의 가장 좋은 친구야 = Of all of my friends (that I have

met), you are my favorite

When talking about places you have gone, or things you have eaten/tried, you should

attach the 아/어 보다 principle to the verbs you are using:

내가 먹어본 음식 중에… = Of all the food I have eaten…

내가 가 본 곳 중에… = Of all the places I have been…

More examples from everything:

내가 가지고 있는 펜 중에 이것은 가장 좋아요 = Of all the pens I have, I like this one

most

내가 가 본 곳 중에 미국은 가장 무서웠어요 = Of all the places I’ve been, the US was

the scariest

내가 한국에서 먹어 본 것 중에 제일 맛있는 것은 떡복이였어 = Of all the things that

I ate in Korea, the most delicious thing was 떡복이.

Introduction

A few things before we start this lesson.

I feel that I have been putting too much vocabulary in our lessons thus far in Unit 2. Up

until Unit 2, you were learning 30 – 60 words per lesson, and I always had the plan to

bump that up to 100 words per lesson in Unit 2.

However, I feel that the vocabulary that you are learning is getting too difficult for the

level of grammatical understanding that you have in Korean. Therefore, I will be teaching

you less vocabulary from now on (30 words per lesson to start off) until I feel you we

need to bump that up again.

In this lesson specifically, I am building a whole lesson just on vocabulary. There are

many words that require long explanations in order to understand them. I will use this

lesson to teach you about some words that I wanted to teach you earlier, but couldn’t

because they require too much explanation.

First, lets look at the vocabulary I want you to know:

흔들다 = shake

흔들거리다 = wave hands

두리번거리다 = look around

머뭇거리다= to hesitate

자기 = oneself

자신 = oneself

아직 = still/yet

여전히 = still

별로 = not very (only negative sentences)

전혀 = not at all (only negative sentences)

훨씬 = much more

관하다 = about (에 대해)

관련하다 = related to/regarding

주위 = around the circumference

일단 = once (once I study…)

몸무게 = body weight

살 = body weight

무게 = weight

찌다 = to gain weight

빠지다 = to lose weight

Let’s look at each word (or groups of words) specifically.

~거리다

~거리다 is a ending that you will often see at the end of words. Sometimes, you will see

~거리다 at the end of a word that can also end another way. For example, 흔들다 means

“to shake/swing/wave.” But you could also say 흔들거리다. What is the difference

between the two?

When a word ends in ~거리다, it means that whatever is being done, is being done

repeatedly. So:

흔들다 = to shake

흔들거리다 = to continually shake

Note that you can’t just add ~거리다 to every word to give it the meaning of ‘being

repeated.’ Only certain words can use this ending, and you should consider words ending

in ~거리다 as a separate word, not just a normal word with a special ending.

In addition, some words only end in ~거리다 – that is – other than their ~거리다 form,

there is no other way that they can be used. For example:

머뭇거리다 = to continually hesitate

두리번거리다 = to continually look around.

자기 and 자신

Two more very important – and very difficult words are 자기 and 자신. Let’s start with

자기 first. I will try to explain this word the best I can, but it will help for you to look in

the dictionary for a lot of examples.

Whenever you say a sentence and you are talking about somebody in the third person,

you can use 자기 to refer to that person the second time in the sentence. That sentence I

just wrote is crazy hard to understand, but it makes sense. I will show you what I mean

with some examples.

그는 한국을 좋아해요 = He likes Korea

In that sentence, you are talking about somebody in the third person (he/그). But you

don’t talk about that person again. However, in this next sentence:

“He likes his appearance.”

From what you have learned before this lesson, you would probably translate that to:

그는 그의 외모를 좋아해요

This is right, but you could also say it like this:

그는 자기(의) 외모를 좋아해요 = He likes his appearance

So, like I said: you can use 자기 to replace the person you are talking about the second

time you mention that person. Some examples (with 자기 and its translation in bold):

우리 아들은 자기자기자기자기(의의의의) 일을 항상 혼자 하고 싶어요 = Our son always wants to do his

work alone

저의 아내는 자기자기자기자기가 요리한 것을 보통 안 먹어요 = My wife usually doesn’t eat the

food she cooks

자신 is used in the same way, but is usually done when saying words like oneself,

himself, herself, themselves, yourself or myself:

그는 자신자신자신자신에 대해 아무것도 알고 있지 않아요 = He doesn’t know anything about

himself

When using 자신 to mean “himself/herself” you can place 자기 behind it with no

difference in meaning:

그는 자기자기자기자기 자신자신자신자신에 대해 아무것도 알고 있지 않아요 = He doesn’t know anything about

himself

You can also place other words behind 자신 have special meanings:

내 자신 = myself (low respect)

제 자신 = myself

너 자신 = yourself (low respect)

그들 자신 = themselves

청소년들은 그들 자신을 사랑하지 않는다 = Young people don’t love themselves

저는 한국에서 제 자신에 대해 많이 배웠어요 = I learned a lot about myself in Korea

Still - 아직

Seems like a simple word, but a lot of very similar (but slightly different) words in

Korean make this a very difficult word to understand.

아직 means “still” which means you can use it like this:

저는 아직 안 먹었어요 = I still haven’t eaten/ate

저는 아직 기다리고 있어요 = I am still waiting

That is simple. What makes the word “still” in Korean difficult is the following words:

아직도 = still

아직은 = still

여전히 = still

All with the same meaning in English, buy slightly different meanings in Korean. I’ll

explain the subtle nuisances between each one:

아직도 is used when you are emphasizing that something is still the case. For example:

저는 운동을 아직도 하지 않았어요 = I STILL haven’t exercised (putting emphasis on

the “still” meaning that you should have exercised by now, but haven’t)

아직은 is used when you are saying that you haven’t done something yet, but you have

plans to do it soon (or will do it soon). For example:

저는 운동을 아직은 하지 않았어요 = I still haven’t exercised (but I will exercise soon)

여전히 is used when the action that is still being done/still hasn’t been done will continue

into the foreseeable future. For example:

저는 운동을 여전히 하지 않았어요 = I still haven’t exercised (and I don’t think I will

exercise soon).

But, the simple word of 아직 will cover you in all situations – but if you ever wanted to

be more specific, you could use 아직도, 아직은 or 여전히.

Words that need negative endings

When you learned about using the words 아무도, 아무것도, 아무데도 and 아무때도,

you learned that the sentences in which those words are in must always have a negative

ending. For example, instead of saying:

아무도 나를 좋아해 (incorrect)

You would have to write:

아무도 나를 좋아하지지지지 않아않아않아않아 or 아무도 나를 안 좋아해 = nobody likes me

There are a handful of other words that require this negative ending, and from this point, I

will always write “neg. ending” in the vocabulary list to let you know. Today, I want to

teach you about 별로 and 전혀.

별로 and 전혀 both have very similar meanings – but 전혀 is more extreme. 별로 has

the meaning of “really” or “that” in these types of sentences:

I’m not really/that hungry

I don’t really want to go

He’s not that handsome

To say those sentences in Korean, you can use 별로 as an adverb within the sentence, and

then (like I said) put a negative ending on the sentence:

나는 별로 배고프지 않아 = I’m not really hungry

나는 밖에 별로 나가고 싶지 않아 = I don’t really want to go outside

그는 별로 잘생기지 않았다 = He’s not that handsome

전혀 has a similar meaning, but it is more extreme. 전혀 has the meaning of “at all” in

the following sentences:

I’m not hungry at all

I don’t want to go outside at all

He’s not handsome at all

Same thing here, just add 전혀 to the sentence as an adverb and then put a negative

ending on the sentence:

나는 전혀 배고프지 않아 = I’m not hungry at all

나는 밖에 전혀 나가고 싶지 않아 = I don’t want to go outside at all

그는 전혀 잘생기지 않았다 = He’s not handsome at all

훨씬 = much more

훨씬 is a little bit easier to explain than the other words in this lesson, but it still needs to

be mentioned briefly. You can use 훨씬 in sentences just like the word 더 (when

comparing things, for example), but the meaning is stronger than 더. For example:

나는 나의 남동생보다 훨씬 똑똑해 = I am way/much smarter than my brother

한국어는 영어보다 훨씬 어렵다 = Korean is much more difficult than English

You can also put 더 in the sentence after 훨씬 with no difference in meaning:

나는 나의 남동생보다 훨씬 더 똑똑해 = I am way/much smarter than my brother

관하다 and 관련하다

You learned how to use ~에 대하다 (에 대해) a long time ago in sentences like this:

나는 너에 대해 많이 생각했어 = I was thinking about you a lot

나는 한국역사에 대한 영화를 봤어 = I saw a movie about Korean history

I would say that using ~에 대하다 (에 대해/에 대한) is more common that using ~에

관하다, but my native Korean speaker beside me is saying that they both sound 100%

natural. That is:

나는 한국역사에 대한 영화를 봤어 = I saw a movie about Korean history, and

나는 한국역사에 관한 영화를 봤어 = I saw a movie about Korean history

However, this sounds awkward:

나는 너에 관해 많이 생각했어

The best translation for 에 관하다 would be “regarding.” So, in English, this would be

okay:

I saw a movie regarding Korean history (나는 한국역사에 관한 영화를 봤어)

But this wouldn’t be okay:

I was thinking regarding you (나는 너에 관해 많이 생각했어)

So, the best advice I can give you, is that ~에 관하다 means “… regarding…” but you

can use ~에 대하다 instead of ~에 관하다 if you like. However, you cannot always do it

the other way around (that is, using ~에 관하다 instead of ~에 대하다).

A word that is similar is form is ~에 관련하다. It is used in the same way as ~에 대하다

and ~에 관하다. Notice the difference in meanings:

환경에 대해 = About the environment

환경에 대한 것 = A thing about the environment

환경에 관해 = About/regarding the environment

환경에 관한 것 = A thing about/regarding the environment

환경에 관련해 = Relating to the environment

환경에 관련한 것 = A thing relating to the environment

So, the best translation is “… relating to…” but a few things you should know.

~에 관련해 is usually written/spoken as 관련하여. Remember that 해 is actually the

shortened form of 하여. 하여 isn’t usually written, but when using 관련하다, 관련하여

is used more often than 관련해.

Also, ~에 관련한 is usually written as ~에 관련된. So, the two examples I showed

above should be written as:

환경에 관련하여 = Relating to the environment

환경에 관련된 것 = A thing relating to the environment

Some examples:

환경에 관련된 많은 영화가 있다 = There are a lot of movies relating to the

environment

이 문제에 관련하여 회의가 있을 것이다 = There will be a meeting relating to this

problem

주위 – Around the circumference

주위 is also a fairly simple word, but a little bit of explanation will probably help you

understand it better. One of the first lessons you learned through this website talked about

the words ‘inside,’ ‘outside,’ ‘beside,’ etc… For example:

학교 앞에 = in-front of the school

학교 뒤에 = behind the school

학교 안에 = inside the school

You can use 주위 in the same way, but to mean “around.” For example:

나는 학교 주위를 걷는 것을 좋아해 = I like walking around the school

일단 = Once

In Lesson 24 you learned about how to use ~ㄴ/은 후에 to say sentences like this:

제가 밥을 먹은 후에 밖에 나갈 거에요 = After I eat, I will go outside

You can put the word 일단 in these sentences to give it the meaning of “once…” For

example:

일단 제가 밥을 먹은 후에 밖에 나갈 거에요 = Once I eat, I will go outside

The two sentences are almost the same (in English and Korean) but there is a subtle

difference between the two.

The word 이상 is often used instead of 후에 when using 일단 in these situations:

일단 제가 시작한 이상 멈추지 않을 거에요 = Once I start, I won’t stop

Weight Words

There are a lot of words that relate to weight/body weight that aren’t very easy to

understand. I want to take some time to explain these words to you.

First things first, the word for weight is ‘무게’

You already know that the word for body is ‘몸.’ If you specifically want to say ‘body

weight’ you can say ‘몸무게.’

You can also use the word ‘살’ to talk about your body weight. The word 살 can also be

applied to meat/flesh of other animals.

There are two ways that you can say “I weigh ____ kilograms.” Also note that in Korea,

they don’t use pounds – so indicating that you “weigh 150 pounds” wouldn’t be the best

way to express this situation. Instead, you should express how much you weigh in

kilograms.

The first way to indicate how much you weigh is like this:

나는 몸무게가 ___킬로야 = I weigh ____ kilograms

Or you could say it like this:

나는 몸무게가 ____킬로가 나간다 =

I can’t really explain the grammar within those sentences – as the grammar concepts

being used don’t apply to any other sentences. The best thing you can do is just

remember those sentences.

If you want to ask “how much do you weigh?” you can turn those two sentences into

questions:

몸무게가 몇 킬로야? = How much do you weigh?

몸무게가 몇 킬로가 나가? How much do you weigh?

The other common sentences that you can use when talking about weight are when you

are talking about ‘losing weight’ or ‘gaining weight.’

The most common way to do it is to use 살 instead of 몸무게:

The verbs you should use are 찌다 (to gain) and 빠지다 (to lose). The thing is, 찌다 and

빠지다 have many other meanings. Therefore, you shouldn’t think that the definitions of

these words are “gain weight” and “lose weight.” Instead, when you come across these

words, realize that they can be used in many situations. Usually, 찌다 is used in

situations when something is rising/increasing, and 빠지다 is used when something is

falling/decreasing.

Both of these words are actually passive verbs, so they cannot act on objects within a

sentence. In practice, all this means is that you cannot put 을/를 in a sentence/clause that

ends in 찌다/빠지다. The best way to use these words in situations of gaining and losing

weight is:

나는 작년에 살이 많이 쪘어 = I gained a lot of weight last year

나는 살이 많이 빠졌어 = I lost a lot of weight

When you want to lose weight, you should use the word 빼다. 빼다 an active verb, so it

can act on an object:

저는 살을 빼고 싶어요 = I want to lose weight

That’s it!

This lesson was a little bit different than our usual lessons, but I felt that before going any

further, you needed to know how to use these important words in Korean. In the next

lesson, we will go back to our usual format of teaching you a lot of Korean grammar. In

the mean time, make sure you are comfortable with what was taught in this lesson.


수영장 = swimming pool

펴다 = to unfold/unroll

펴지다 = unrolled (passive of 펴다)

넘치다 = overflowing

오히려 = on the contrary

당연하다 = proper/right/fair

홍수= flood

보건 = preservation of health

답답하다 = stuffy

새우 = lobster

피하다 = avoid

멋있다 = stylish

소나무 = pine tree

따돌리다 = leave somebody out

왕따 = outcast

답장 = answer a letter/text/etc…

변태 = pervert

낚시 = fishing

후배 = one’s junior

봉사 = public service

꿀 = honey

허벅지 = inner thigh

말 = horse

휴가 = holiday/vacation

휴식 = break (from walking or whatever)

중개인 = intermediary

공인 = somebody licensed to do something

신기하다 = marvelous/wonderful

평화롭다 = peaceful

바닥 = floor

Introduction

Over the past 10 lessons, you have been learning a lot about how to use ~는 것 and

things related to ~는 것 in Korean. We have just about reached the extent to what you

need to know about ~는 것 and how to use it. In this lesson (as well as in Lesson 36), you

will learn a variety of grammatical forms that can be used to say “to seem like” or “to

look like.” After this lesson, we won’t be focusing so much on ~는 것 anymore – instead,

we will be looking into a word that will take a series of lessons to explain – “because.”

To seem like/to be likely to: ~ㄹㄹㄹㄹ 것것것것 같다같다같다같다

In Lesson 15, you learned how to use ‘같다’ in sentences by placing 같다 after a noun

connected with 와/과 or 랑/이랑. For example:

저 식당은 이 식당과 같아요 = That restaurant is the same as this one

Since then, you have been learning a lot about ~는 것 and how to use it. Here, you will

learn about how to use this ~는 것 principle with the word 같다.

Actually, the principle itself isn’t that hard to learn – as it is in a form that you are already

familiar with. The difficultly of this lesson is understanding the specific meaning

imposed when using this grammatical principle. I will do my best, as always, to describe

it. In order to create this (I will show you how to create it and then teach you the

meaning), you need to write a sentence in the future tense using the ~ㄹ 것이다 method:

나는 밥을 먹을 것이다 = I will eat rice


Remember again what the ending of this sentence is made up of. The ending is actually

made up of ‘~는 것’ in the future tense (~ㄹ 것) followed by 이다 (~ㄹ 것 + 이다). If

we remove the ‘이다’ we are left with “…~ㄹ 것:

나는 밥을 먹을 것 – This is an incomplete sentence, so it is hard to translate, but it

loosely translates to “the thing of me eating rice.” Remember again that 것 is a noun

(thing). If we place 같다 after that noun, it gives the sentence a special meaning:

나는 밥을 먹을 것 같다

This sentence means something similar to “I might eat rice”

Whenever you finish a sentence using ~ㄹ 것 같다, the meaning changes to something

that will probably happen/is probably happening/probably happened. Also compare this

with the ~ㄹ 지 모르다 principle you learned in Lesson 30:

나는 먹을 것이다 = I will eat rice

나는 먹을 것 같다 = I will probably eat rice

나는 먹을 지 안 먹을 지 모른다 = I don’t know if I will eat rice (or not)

You can use this grammatical form to express things that seem to be true, might be true,

or might happen. The subject of the sentence can be anything as long as the rest of the

sentence makes sense:

비가 올 것 같아 = It will probably rain/it seems like it will rain

우리 아빠는 저 것을 싫어할 것 같아 = Dad will probably not like that

You can also use this same form on adjectives:

우리는 늦을 것 같아 = We will probably be late

Notice however, that even though you are using ‘~ㄹ 것’ in the sentence, you don’t

necessarily need to be talking about something that will probably happen in the future.

The ~ㄹ 것 같다 principle can also be used to talk about things in the present tense. You

can differ between the present and future tense in these situations by the context of the

conversation. For example:

엄마는 지금 기다리고 있을 것 같아요 = Mom is probably waiting now

You can also talk about something that “probably” happened in the past by conjugating

the verb/adjective into the past tense first, then adding ~을 것이다 to 했/었/았:

그는 그녀를 지난 주에 해고했을 것 같아요 = He probably fired her last week

그는 가고 싶지 않았을 것 같아요 = He probably didn’t want to go


(that previous sentence has a lot of grammatical principles in one sentence! ~고 싶다 +

~지 않다 + ~ㄹ 것 같다. Hopefully you understand it! If you do, you’re awesome!)

Also note that instead of using ~ㄹ 것 in these sentence you can also grammatically use

~ㄴ/은 것 or 는 것 to make:

~ㄴ/은 것 같다, or

~는 것 같다

However, it is usually more common to use the ~ㄹ 것 같다 form.

그렇다그렇다그렇다그렇다 + ~ㄹㄹㄹㄹ 것것것것 같다같다같다같다

Also, in Lesson 23 you learned a lot about the word 그렇다, and how it’s meaning is

similar to ‘like that.’ You can treat 그렇다 like a regular verb/adjective, but remember

that when conjugating this word you need to remove the ㅎ. So, by adding ~을 것 같다

to 그렇다 you get 그럴 것 같다.

Literally ‘그럴 것 같다’ means “it is probably like that.” It is used very often in Korean

to indicate that something “might be the case” or “is probably true.” For example:

엄마가 어디에 있어요? 병원에 갔어요?

그럴 것 같아요

- Where is mom? Did she go to the hospital?

- Probably/I think so


떨어지다 = drop (passive)*

떨어뜨리다 = to drop (active)*

제안(하다) = proposal/propose

투자(하다) = invest(ment)

투자자 = investor

주식 = stocks

주식시장 = stock market

취재 = to cover (report) a scene/request int

취재진 = crowds of reporters

입구 = entrance

교복 = school uniform

세수 = to clean one’s face

인기 = popularity (usually combined 끌다)

여신 = goddess

북적거리다 = crowded/packed

별명 = nickname

망설이다 = hesitate

귀찮다 = annoying

기업 = enterprise

훗날 = the distant future

현실 = reality

곰곰이 = to think hard about

되짚다 = backtrack/retrace steps

되짚어보다 = reminisce about the past

깨닫다 = realize

폼 = posture

배분하다 = distribute

고르게 = evenly/flatly

부정하다 = deny

제사 = praying to ancestors on a holiday

떨어지다/떨어뜨리다: You will often see pairings of words that have the endings

“~지다” and “~뜨리다.” Whenever you see these words, you should be aware that the

word that ends in “~지다” is the passive form of the “~뜨리다” form.

In this case, “떨어지다” can be used when something is falling, and “떨어뜨리다” can

be used when you (or somebody/something) makes something fall. Note the difference

between the two following examples:

병이 탁자에서 떨어졌다 = The bottle fell from the table

나는 병을 떨어뜨렸다 = I dropped the bottle

Introduction

In the previous lesson, you learned about how to use 아/어서 to create the meaning of

“because” in Korean sentences. There are actually many ways you can create the

meaning of ‘because’ in Korean – the most common of those being by connecting two

clauses with 아/어서.

In this lesson however, you will learn another very common way to say “because” in

Korean, which is pretty much interchangeable with 아/어서. Lets get started.

Because/Therefore: ~기기기기 때문에때문에때문에때문에

Look up the word “때문” in the dictionary and the translation is something like “reason”

or something similar to that. This word technically can be used in sentences by itself to

have the meaning “reason” but it is much more commonly used as ~기 때문에. By

connecting two clauses with ~기 때문에, you can create the same meaning as ~아/어서.

For example, if I were to say:

저는 배고파서 밥을 먹고 싶어요 = I’m hungry, therefore, I want to eat (I want to eat

because I am hungry)


You could also say:

저는 배고프기 때문에 밥을 먹고 싶어요 = I want to eat because I am hungry

The two are exactly the same. You can add ~기 때문에 to adjectives or verbs:

저는 행복하기 때문에 죽고 싶지 않아요 = I don’t want to die because I am happy

지금 공부를 하고 있기 때문에 너랑 통화하고 싶지 않아 = I don’t want to talk with

you on the phone because I’m studying now

…or 이다:

내가 남자이기 때문에 그런 영화를 좋아해 = I like those kinds of movies because I am

a man

Pretty simple. Lets look at the past and future tenses.

Past Tense: ~했기 때문에

When adding 아/어서 to connect two clauses, you should always remember that you do

not conjugate the verb/adjective that 아/어서 is being added to in the past tense. For

example, you should never do this:

내가 밥을 벌써 먹었어서 지금 먹고 싶지 않아

Instead, you know that you should say this

내가 밥을 벌써 먹어서 지금 먹고 싶지 않아 = Because I already ate, I don’t want to

eat now

However, when you add ~기 때문에 to a clause in the past tense, you can/should

conjugate it as such. For example:

내가 밥을 벌써 먹었기 때문에 지금 먹고 싶지 않아 = Because I already ate, I don’t

want to eat now

More examples:

저는 시험을 못 봤기 때문에 대학교에 못 가요 = Because I did bad on the test, I won’t

be able to go to university

핸드폰이 없었기 때문에 연락하지 못했어요 = Because I didn’t have my phone, I

couldn’t contact you

Again, pretty simple – but make sure you remember that you can conjugate the clause

into the past tense when adding ~기 때문에 but not when adding ~아/어서.

Now lets look at how you can add ~기 때문에 to the future tense.


Future Tense: ~ㄹ 것이기 때문에

As you know, the future tense conjugation for verbs is actually just made up of ~는 것 +

이다. Therefore, if you want to add ~때문에 to a clause in the future tense, you should

do so as if you were adding ~때문에 to 이다:

Just like the example I showed you earlier with 이다:

내가 남자이기 때문에 그런 영화를 좋아해 = I like those kinds of movies because I am

a man

… in the underlined portion of that sentence, there is a noun (남자) followed by 이다,

followed by ~기 때문에. The very same steps are done with this sentence:

내가 나중에 먹을 것이기 때문에 지금 먹고 싶지 않아 = Because I am going to eat

later, I don’t want to eat now

… again, in the underlined portion of that sentence, there is a noun (것) followed by 이다

followed by ~기 때문에.

Another example:

나는 내년에 대학교에 갈 것이기 때문에 지금 열심히 공부하고 있어요 = Because I

will be going to university next year, I am studying hard now

Other Uses of 때문에

Aside from adding ‘~기 때문에’ to a verb/adjective to connect two clauses, there are a

few other uses of the word 때문(에) that I would like you to be aware about.

The first is just adding ‘때문’ after a noun without a verb/adjective. This can be done in

some situations if you just want to say “because of (noun)…” For example:

일 때문에 나는 너를 못 만날 것 같아 = Because of work, I probably won’t be able to

meet you

남자 친구 때문에 새로운 남자를 못 만나 = Because of my boyfriend, I can’t meet

another man

Another good usage of the word 때문 is putting it at the end of a sentence as a noun. If I

were to write this:

사람들이 너무 많이 있었기 때문…

You would think that would mean “because there were too many people…”… but that is

an incomplete sentence. Why do you think it is an incomplete sentence?

Can you end a sentence in a noun?

No you cannot.

Therefore, you must add 이다 to 때문에 to make it a full sentence:


사람들이 너무 많이 있었기 때문이야 = Because there were too many people

The best part about that sentence (and this is where this lesson starts to get really

hard/confusing) is that “때문” turns into a noun of “[because there were too many

people].” I put that “noun” into [brackets] because I’m going to show you what you can

do with it. Look at the following example:

내가 방에 들어가지 않은 이유 = translates to “the reason I didn’t go in the room”

Because this is a noun (being described by 내가 방에 들어가지 않은) we can make this

the subject of our sentence:

내가 방에 들어가지 않은 이유는 = The reason I didn’t go into the room…

Now if I wanted to say what the reason is, I would need to say:

The reason I didn’t go into the room is (something):

내가 방에 들어가지 않은 이유는 ______ 이다

What could I put in the place of that blank? I need to put a noun in there. How about the

noun we made before: “[because there were too many people]”:

The reason I didn’t go into the room is [because there were too many people].

In Korean:

내가 방에 들어가지 않은 이유는 [사람들이 너무 많이 있었기 때문]이야

Without the brackets:

내가 방에 들어가지 않은 이유는 사람들이 너무 많이 있었기 때문이야 = The reason

I didn’t go into the room is because there is too many people

Which would make more sense if it said:

The reason I didn’t go into the room is because there were too many people.

To fix this, we need to change 이다 from the present tense to the past tense:

내가 방에 들어가지 않은 이유는 사람들이 너무 많이 있었기 때문이었어 = The

reason I didn’t go into the room is because there were too many people

More examples:

내가 한국에 간 이유는 한국어를 배우고 싶기 때문이었어 = The reason I went to

Korea was because I wanted to learn Korean

내가 여기서 일하고 싶은 이유는 새로운 경험을 하고 싶기 때문이야 = The reason I

want to work here is because I want to have a new experience


All of which are technically the same as these:

사람들이 너무 많이 있어서 나는 방에 들어가지 않았어 = Because there were too

many people, I didn’t go into the room

한국어를 배우고 싶어서 한국에 갔어 = Because I wanted to learn Korean, I went to

Korea

새로운 경험을 하고 싶어서 여기서 일하고 싶어= Because I want to have a new

experience, I want to work here

You might be comfortable using ~기 때문에 in sentences by now, but you are probably

still a little bit confused about how to use :~하는 이유는 ____~기 때문이다” right now.

Don’t worry about that. When you become more and more comfortable not only with

때문에 but also with Korean grammar in general, using sentences like that will become

more and more natural. In the mean time, keep studying and get ready for our next

lesson!

소방서 = fire station

무릎 = knee

얼음 = ice

흡연 = smoking

종아리 = calf

사무 = desk/office work

이사하다 = moving (moving houses)

귀국하다 = return to your home country

관리비 = management fees

치료 = treatment/cure

치료비 = medical fees

보관료 = storage fees

땅값 = land prices

원룸 = one room apartment (studio)

입장료 = entrance fees

화장 = makeup

일방적이다 = one sided

얻다 = gain (somebody’s trust/receive sth)

임신하다 = to get pregnant

여우 = fox

아껴 쓰다 = to save something

짜다 = salty

터지다 = explode

기대다 = lean against

소방 = firefighting

초등학교 = elementary school

첫차 = first bus

가격표 = price tag

등록금 = tuition/registration fee

교통비 = transportation fees

To Look Like: ~ 같이같이같이같이 보이다보이다보이다보이다

One of the most common words in Korean is 보다 which means “to see.” A long time

ago, you learned the difference between passive and active verbs in Korean (and English).

The word 보이다 is actually the passive form of 보다, which means you can say

sentences like:

TV가 안 보여 = I can’t see the TV (literally – the TV is not being seen)

여기서 산이 안 보여 = I can’t see the mountains from here (literally – the mountains are

not being seen from here)

Aside from this application, you can use the word 보이다 in sentences to give them the

meaning of “… look like…” I’ll show you how to build the sentences first, and then

describe the meaning:

The first thing you need is a noun: 원숭이 (monkey)

Then place 같이 (the adverb form of 같다) after the noun

Then place the passive verb 보이다 after 같이.

One more time:

(noun) + 같이 보이다

원숭이 같이 보이다

Writing a sentence like that means “to look like a monkey.” Throw in a subject and you

have a full sentence: 너는 원숭이 같이 보여 = You look like a monkey

Other examples:

저의 남자친구는 교수님 같이 보여요 = My boyfriend looks like a professor

너는 고등학생 같이 보여 = You look like a high school student

Notice a few things: First, there is no particle attached to the word before 같이. As I said,

보이다 is a passive verb, so if any particle would be attached to it, it would either be

이/가 or 에. Nonetheless, neither of those are placed on the ‘object’ of that sentence .

Secondly, essentially any noun can be placed before ~같이 보이다 – even nouns being

described with ~는 것. For example:

그가 공연에 가고 싶지 않을 것 같이 보여 = He looks like he doesn’t want to go to the

performance

경기를 이긴 것 같이 보여 = You look like you won the game

So, you can use this grammatical principle to talk about when something looks like

something (a noun). But what about when something tastes like something? Smells like

something?

To Smell/Taste Like: 맛맛맛맛/냄새냄새냄새냄새

The word 맛 is the noun form of the word “delicious.” The word “냄새” is the noun form

for the word “smell.” In the previous section you learned how to say:

“___ looks like ____.”

In this section, you will learn how to say

“___ tastes like ____.” and

“___ smells like ____.”

The grammar within these principles is similar, but not identical to what you were

learning previously. All you need to do is put the a noun (that has a taste or smell) behind

맛 or 냄새, followed by “같다.” For example:

____ 맛 같다 = tastes like

____ 냄새 같다 = smells like

For example:

김치 맛 같아 = Tastes like Kimchi

김치 찌깨 냄새 같아 = It smells like Kimchi Jjigae

Throw in a subject and you’ve got a full sentence:

이 떡은 쓰레기 맛 같아 = This 떡 tastes like garbage

Pretty simple, but I thought you should know because I always wanted to know how to

say these sentences when I was learning Korean.

To Look (Adjective): ~어어어어/아아아아 보이다보이다보이다보이다

At the start of this lesson, you learned how to express that something looks like a noun.

However, there are many times when you can say “you look (adjective).” For example:

You look happy

You look sad

You look strong

In order to do this, you need to add 어/아 to an adjective, and then place 보이다 after it.

For example:

행복해 보이다 = to look happy

슬퍼 보이다 = to look sad

강해 보이다 = to look strong

Some examples:

왜 그렇게 행복해 보여요? = Why do you look so happy?

저의 여자친구는 어제 너무 슬퍼 보였어요 = My girlfriend looked really sad yesterday

Very easy, but very common grammatical principle that you should take some time to

memorize.


왜냐하면 = because

그래서 = therefore

때때로= sometimes

도약하다 = jump

설레이다 = heart beating fast

깜빡하다 = forget

여행자 = traveler

최신(의) = the latest _______

피해 = damage (입다 – verb to go with it)

빨다 = suck

성형 = plastic surgery

뜨다 = opening eyes

떠지다 = passive state of eyes opened

감다 = closing eyes

고속도로 = highway

감기다 = passive state of eyes closed

연휴 = continuous holidays

흥분하다 = to be excited/aroused

개설하다 = establish/open/start

반면에 = on the other hand

한편으로 = on the other hand

발전하다 = develop(ment)

전반 = general

전반적으로 = generally

스님 = Buddhist monk

당국 = authorities

도시락 = lunch box

다투다 = to fight verbally (verbal argmt)

겨루다 = compete/fight/vie for

진심(으로) = sincerely/truly/seriously

Introduction

Okay, now it is time to get really serious. Up until now, you have not been taught how to

say one of the most common words in the English language: “because.” Its not that I

didn’t want to teach you this word, but rather that you didn’t have the knowledge to fully

understand this word up until this point. In Korean, because is not generally said as a

word. Okay, that is slightly untrue. There is a word in Korean for “because”: 왜냐하면.

However, “왜냐하면” is not nearly used as much as the grammatical principle that has

the meaning of “because” in Korean. For example, Korean people would never say

something like this:

나는 밥을 먹는다 왜냐하면 배고팠어요

In fact, that sentence makes no sense (I was trying to write it in a way that didn’t make

any sense).

You could technically write something like this:

나는 밥을 먹었어. 왜냐하면 나는 배고팠어 = I ate. Because I was hungry.

However, that wouldn’t sound natural at all in Korean. Instead, (as I said) Korean people

use a grammatical principle to have the meaning of “because.” This grammatical

principle is done by adding 어/아서 to verbs/adjectives. We will talk about this principle

in this lesson


Because/Therefore: V/A + 아아아아/어서어서어서어서

In order to create the meaning of “because” in a Korean sentence, you need to add

아/어서 to a verb or adjective stem. You should know by now that 아서 gets added to

words where the last vowel is 아 or 오, and 어서 gets added to words where the last

vowel is anything else.

First, lets look at how “because” sentences are formed in English. When saying a

sentence with “because,” there are two clauses:

I want to eat

I am hungry

Both are independent clauses that can be sentences on their own. However, if we insert

“because” in between the two clauses, we can make:

I want to eat because I am hungry

Or:

I want to go to the park because I am bored

The hardest part about saying these sentences in Korean is that the order is reversed. So,

instead of saying:

I want to eat because I am hungry

I want to go to the park because I am bored

In Korean, we say:

Because I am hungry, I want to eat

Because I am bored, I want to go to the park

Now lets look at these sentences in Korean. We have our two clauses again:

저는 밥을 먹고 싶어요 = I want to eat

저는 배고파요 = I am hungry

Same as in English, both are independent clauses and can be sentences on their own.

However, by inserting 아/어서 in between the two, we can create the meaning of

“because:”

저는 배고프(+아서) 저는 밥을 먹고 싶어요

= 저는 배고파서 밥을 먹고 싶어요 = Because I am hungry, I want to eat

Notice, (as usual in Korean) when you have the same subject in both clauses of the same

sentence, the subject in the second clause can be omitted (as it is inferred by context)


You could think of the translations like that, but I found it easier to remember the

meaning of “아/어서” when I thought of it as “Therefore.” For example:

저는 배고파서 밥을 먹고 싶어요 = I am hungry, therefore, I want to eat

The other example:

저는 심심해서 공원에 가고 싶어요 = I am bored, therefore, I want to go to the park

(because I am bored, I want to go to the park)

If the first and second clauses don’t have the same subject, the second clause is the main

clause. Therefore, you should attach 는/은 to the subject in the second clause but 이/가 to

the subject in the first clause:

그 여자가가가가 너무 예뻐서 저는는는는 그녀를 만나고 싶어요 = That girl is very pretty, therefore,

I want to meet her (because that girl is very pretty, I want to meet her).

So far, we have only looked at using 아/어서 in the present tense. In the next few

sections, we will look at how to use it in the past and future tenses:

아/어서 in the Past Tense

The weirdest thing about this grammatical principle is that you cannot add 아/어서 to a

clause in the past tense. Instead, the past tense is inferred by the final clause. For example,

instead of saying:

저는 배고팠아서 밥을 먹었어요, you should say:

저는 배고파서 밥을 먹었어요 = I was hungry, so I ate

When I first learned this, I was really confused. I thought my sentences would never

make sense without having the past tense on the first clause. Even though it goes against

the grammatical understanding you have from English – trust me, it makes sense in

Korean. Other examples:

학생들이 너무 시끄러워서 저는 교수님의 말을 못 들었어요 = The students were too

loud, so I couldn’t hear the professor

저는 공부하지 않아서 시험을 못 봤어요 = I didn’t study, therefore, I didn’t do well on

the exam

Again - notice how in both of those examples, the past tense is only indicated on the final

clause.

Before you learn how to add 아/어서 to verbs/adjectives in the future tense, you need to

learn how to add it to 이다.


Adding 아/어서 to 이다

When adding 아/어서 to 이다, the same principle as before applies. Again, lets look at

two clauses:

I want to go to the park = 저는 공원에 가고 싶어요

It is Sunday = 일요일이다

Again, both are independent clauses that can be sentences on their own. However, if we

insert “because” in between the two clauses, we can make:

I don’t want to go to the park because it is Sunday

Which, in Korean, would be written as:

일요일이다 (+ 아/어서) 저는 공원에 가고 싶어요

Which is done like this:

일요일이어서 저는 공원에 가고 싶어요 = It is Sunday, so I want to go to the park

However, notice that 일요일 ends in a consonant. Whenever you add 아/어서 to 이다 –

if the noun ends in a consonant, you do it like this:

일요일이어서

건물이어서

공원이어서

etc…

(it is always 어서 and never 아서 when adding 아/어서 to 이다 because the last vowel in

이다 (이) is not 아 or 오)

However, if the noun that 이다 is being added to ends in a vowel, the following must be

done:

의사여서

여자여서

남자여서

… which is a combination of 이 + 어.

There is a difference simply because of ease of pronunciation. If you were to say

“일요일여서” it is hard to pronounce because it is hard to move your tongue from the ㄹ

to the 여 right away.

So yeah, to summarize: when adding 아/어서 to 이다, you must first look at the noun

that 이다 is attached to. If the noun ends in a consonant, you can add 이어서. If the noun

ends in a vowel, you can add 여서.


Adding 이라(서) or 라(서) have the exact same meanings of 이어서 and 여서

respectively. That is, you can add 이라(서) to nouns ending in a consonant and 라서 to

nouns ending in a vowel. There is no difference in adding ‘서’ to 라 in any of those

examples.

Lets look at some examples:

일요일이라서 공원에 가고 싶어요 = It is Sunday, so I want to go to the park

예쁜 여자여서 똑똑하지 않을 것 같아 = She is a pretty girl, so she is probably not

smart

예쁜 여자라서 똑똑하지 않을 것 같아 = She is a pretty girl, so she is probably not

smart

Now that you know this, you can add 아/어서 to clauses which are in the future tense.

아/어서 in the Future Tense

When adding 아/어서 to 이다, the same principle as before applies. Again, lets look at

two clauses:

My friend will come here = 저의 친구는 여기에 올 것이다

I won’t leave = 밖에 안 나갈 것이다

Again, both are independent clauses that can be sentences on their own. However, if we

insert “because” in between the two clauses, we can make:

저의 친구가 여기에 올 것이다 (아/어서) 밖에 안 나갈 거에요

Remember that the future tense conjugation is actually just ~는 것 + 이다. So, because of

this, you can just use the same rule that you learned earlier (about adding 아/어서 to

이다). Any of the following would work:

저의 친구가 여기에 올 것이어서…

저의 친구가 여기에 올 거여서…

저의 친구가 여기에 올 것이라서…

저의 친구가 여기에 올 거라서

Remember that 것 is usually shortened to 거. So you can choose if you would rather use

것이어서 or 거여서 (and remember that 이어서 is added when the noun ends in a

consonant and 여서 is added when a noun ends in a vowel).

More examples:


나중에 밥이 없을 거라서 저는 지금 먹고 싶어요 = There will not be any food later,

therefore, I want to eat now

친구가 거기에 많을 거라서 그 파티에 가고 싶어요 = Many of my friends will be

there, so/therefore I want to go to that party

All very confusing, but you really only need to know how to say one of the future

아/어서 conjugations (and then just be aware of the other ones). I personally only ever

say ~이라(서) or ~라(서) and never say ~이어서 or ~여서.

그래서

You learned a long time ago that the meaning of the word ‘그렇다’ is something close to

the meaning of ‘like that.’ One of the most common words in Korean is actually ‘그래서’

which is a shortened version of 그렇다 + 아/어서. Literally, the meaning is “therefore, it

is like that” or “that is why it is like that” but it is generally just used as “therefore.” So,

you could say something like this:

저는 밥을 다 먹었어요. 그래서 지금 배불러요 = I ate all the food. So/Therefore, I am

full now

However, as you know, Korean people love shortening their sentences. The example I

just wrote would usually be shortened into:

저는 밥을 다 먹어서 지금 배불러요 = I ate all the food, so/therefore, I am full now

그래서 is used in other sentences (as the meaning of “therefore”) very often in Korean,

usually at the beginning of a sentence:

Person 1: 비가 왔어요? = Is it raining?

Person 2: 응, 그래서 나가기 싫어요 = Yeah, that’s why/therefore I don’t want to go out

This lesson may have been a little difficult, but everything in this lesson is very important.

In the following lesson, you will continue to learn about how to give the meaning of

“because” using the word 때문.


드시다 = formal “먹다”

잡수시다 = formal “먹다”

주무시다 = formal “자다”

계시다 = formal “있다”

말씀하다 = formal “말하다”

드리다 = formal “주다”

소변(을) 보다 = pee

얼마든지 = as much as you like

자네 = you

또래 = age/peer group

대답(하다) = answer/reply

볼 = cheek

이따(가) = later

치다 = to tap

그저께 = the day before yesterday

세제 = cleaner/cleaning material

망치다 = spoil/ruin/screw up

뒷모습 = appearance from behind

지켜보다 = watch over (지키다 + 보다)

다가가다 = approach

다가오다 = approach

불륜(을 저지르다) = (have an) affair

폭포 = waterfall

봉지 = paper bag

국립 = national (national park, etc…)

가파르다 = steep

산소 = oxygen

종 = bell

그저 = combined with 만 ‘nothing but’*

주방 = kitchen

그저: If you put ‘그저’ behind a noun that has ~만 (only) attached to it, it gives the

sentence an emphasis of “nothing but.” For example:

나는 사과만 먹었어 = I ate only apples

나는 그저 사과만 먹었어 = I ate nothing but apples

Introduction

In this lesson, you are going to learn something that we haven’t specifically looked at in a

very long time. Way back in Lesson 6, you learned about how to apply Korean honorifics

to the endings of verbs and adjectives. In addition to what you learned in that lesson,

there is still more that you must know in terms of adding respect to Korean sentences. We

will cover more of that here, starting with the use of ‘시’ in sentences.

Honorific Addition – 시시시시

This one is hard for English speakers to understand. Before you learn specifically when

to add ‘시’ to your sentences, lets remember when you should use honorifics in the first

place. Remember, if you are talking to somebody who deserves a high level of respect,

you should use honorifics. These types of people can be: bosses, parents, people older

than you, guests, customers, etc… If you are talking to your boss, you should say:

저는 열심히 일했어요/일했습니다 = I worked really hard

But, if you are talking to your friend (for example) you can use the lower form:

나는 열심히 일했어 = I worked really hard

Therefore, the use of those honorifics solely depend on the person you are speaking to.


The use of ‘시’ is a little bit tricky at first. You should add ‘시’ to verbs/adjectives in

which the acting person deserves respect, regardless of who you are speaking to. You can

add ‘시’ to words stems ending in a vowel and ‘으시’ to words ending in a consonant.

Once ‘시’ is added, the verb/adjective gets conjugated as usual, instead with 시 at the end.

Lets look at an example. If I am talking to my friend and the person I am talking about is

that friend’s mother – the mother deserves respect. Therefore, I should not say this:

어머님은 너에게 돈을 줬어? = Did your mother give you money?

Remember, the mother (who deserves respect) is the person acting in that sentence.

Therefore, 시 should be added to the verb. This would be more correct:

어머님은 너에게 돈을 주셨어? = Did your mother give you money?

You should always keep the information you learned in Lesson 6 in mind as well –

because depending on who you are speaking to, the form can change as well. If I were to

say a sentence where I was talking to somebody who deserves respect (your boss, for

example) about somebody who deserves respect, I should say:

어머님은 미용실에 가셨습니까? = Did your mother go to the beauty salon?

Again, notice the situation of this sentence. You are talking to somebody of high respect,

about somebody of high respect. Notice all of the situations that can take place:

어머님은 미용실에 가셨어? = Did your mother go to the beauty salon?

Situation: To somebody of low respect, about somebody of high respect

친구는 미용실에 갔어? = Did your friend go to the beauty salon?

Situation: To somebody of low respect, about somebody of low respect

친구는 미용실에 갔습니까? = Did your friend go to the beauty salon?

Situation: To somebody of high respect, about somebody of low respect

어머님은 미용실에 가셨습니까? = Did your mother go to the beauty salon?

Situation: To somebody of high respect, about somebody of high respect

More examples:

선생님은 우리를 너무 잘 가르치셨어 = Our teacher taught us really well

부장님은 그 집을 나무로만 만드시고 싶어요 = Our boss wants to make that house

using only wood

(Notice that when adding 시 to words ending in ㄹ, the ㄹ should be eliminated. Refer

back to Lesson 7 to review how the irregulars work).

Now that you know all of that, there are certain words that change completely when the

acting person in the sentence deserves respect. We will look at those one by one:


드리다 and ~께

You should use the word 드리다 in place of the word 주다 when the person you are

giving something to deserves high respect. Also, remember the formal version of

에게/한테 is 께, so 께 should be attached to the person that you are giving something to.

Confusing. Lets look at an example:

할아버지께 선물을 드리고 싶어 = I want to give my grandfather a present

If you are also saying this sentence to somebody who deserves respect, you can also add

the sentence using honorifics as well:

할아버지께 선물을 드리고 싶어요 = I want to give my grandfather a present

I wasn’t sure, so I had to ask my Korean friend. It seems like nobody would ever say

“드리시다”… which I thought would be used when somebody of high respect is giving

something to somebody of high respect. It appears, though, that 드리다 is formal enough

to cover both the person acting and the person receiving.

Now on to a less confusing word:

말씀하다

You should use 말씀하다 in place of 말하다 when the person speaking deserves high

respect. For example:

모든 사람들은 교수님이 말씀하기 시작하는 것을 기다렸다 = Everybody was

waiting for the professor to start talking

드시다/잡수시다

드시다 (which is actually just 들다 + 시다) and 잡수시다 are both ways to say “먹다”

(to eat) when the acting person deserves high respect. 들다 instead of 드시다 also works

as well, but 드시다 shows more respect. Using 잡수시다 shows a ridiculous amount of

respect, and saying it to anybody other than people who deserve that amount of respect

will most likely just make people laugh. When I first met my girlfriend’s parents, I used

‘잡수시다’ and they both thought it was funny. I usually only reserve that word for the

rare time that I have dinner with my girlfriend’s grandparents – in which case, after the

meal, I ask them “잘 잡수셨어요?”

계시다

계시다 is the formal equivalent of the word “있다.” Pretty simple:

할아버지가 여기에 계신 지 몰랐어요 = I didn’t know you were here, grandpa

주무시다

주무시다 is the formal equivalent of the word “자다” (to sleep). If you ever happen to be

in a situation where you are waking up in the same house/place as your significant other’s

parents house (doesn’t happen very often in Korea), it would be much appreciated if you

asked the mother or father “잘 주무셨어요?” (did you sleep well?)


수고하다 = work hard

부끄러워하다 = to be shy

슬퍼하다 = to be sad

말다 = do not do

먼저 = first/in advance

오른(쪽) = right (side)

왼(쪽) = left (side)

직진하다 = to go straight

올라가다 = go up

올라오다 = come up

오줌 = urine

후들거리다 = shake/tremble

추진 = propel/push ahead (on a plan)

추진력 = (when object) momentum/thrust

추진력 = (when person) drive/initiative

권력 = power/authority

남용하다 = abuse (power and drugs)

수준 = level/standard (high level)

동등하다 = equal (equal rights)

학력 = level of education

직원 = employee/staff member

허가 = permission

보안 = security

감시(하다) = surveillance/watch

유쾌하다 = pleasant/delightful/enjoyable

줄곧= continuously/constantly/all the time

온순하다 = gentle

시선 = ones eyes (looking at/attention)

올려다보다 = look up

물체 = object

Introduction

In this lesson, you will learn how to tell people how to do things. If you are a grammar

buff, you know this as the Imperative Mood. If you’re not so into grammar, this “mood”

is used when giving people commands/telling people what to do. You will learn how to

do this in Korean, often in conjunction with the word ‘주다,’ which we will talk about in

the next lesson.

The Imperative Mood

There are many (many!) ways to end a sentence. Depending on who you are speaking to

(and a whole bunch of other factors) the way you end a sentence can vary tremendously.

If you just wanted to say “I will eat rice,” some of the ways you can say this are:

나는 밥을 먹겠다

나는 밥을 먹겠어

저는 밥을 먹겠어요

저는 밥을 먹겠습니다

나는 밥을 먹을 것이다

나는 밥을 먹을 거다

나는 밥을 먹을 것이야

나는 밥을 먹을 거야

저는 밥을 먹을 것입니다

저는 밥을 먹을 겁니다

저는 밥을 먹을 것이에요

저는 밥을 먹을 거예요

All of those mean exactly the same thing. In the imperative mood as well, there are many

different ways you can give a command to somebody. Lets cover these from the least

formal, to the most formal.


Imperative mood: Verb stem + ~아/어

The easiest (and least formal) way to give a command in Korean is simply by adding

아/어 to a verb stem. There isn’t much more to explain, so I will show you some

examples:

밥을 천천히 먹어 = Eat your food slowly

열심히 공부해! = Study hard!

Notice that in both English and Korean, the subject isn’t usually used in a sentence when

giving a command. This is because the person you are giving the command to is usually

the subject, so it is omitted.

You can use this form when you are giving a command to somebody who is much

younger than you, or somebody who you are close to. Saying something like “빨리 가!”

to your superior would most likely warrant a slap in the face.

You can actually just add “요” to those examples shown above. Doing so would

transform the examples I showed you into more formal versions of the same sentence.

In addition to adding 아/어(요) to a verb stem, there are other ways you can give a

command.

Imperative mood: Verb stem + ~아/어라

Another way to give a command in Korean is by adding ~아/어라 to a verb stem. The

formality is similar to the 아/어 form you learned previously. Some examples:

빨리 가라! = Go fast!

그렇게 해라! = Do it like that

However, the ~아/어라 form is generally used by much older people (parents or

grandparents) when they are giving orders to their children/grandchildren. As I said, the

formality is very similar (if not the same) as using ~아/어, but I would much prefer to use

~아/어 over ~아/어라. One time I said something to my girlfriend like “가라” and she

just laughed and said “Who are you? My grandfather?”

If you want to give a command to somebody in a formal way, check out the next section.

Imperative Mood: Verb stem + ~세요

I’m sure most of you reading this are already quite familiar with the ~세요 form, as it is

usually one of the first things that people learn when they study Korean. I waited until

Lesson 40 to teach it to you because I thought that there was more important things to

learn first.


Anyways, When you want to give somebody a command in a formal way, you should

add ~세요 to a verb stem:

수고하세요! = work hard! (A common greeting when people leave a place of business)

열심히 운동하세요! = work out hard!

먼저 가세요! = Go first

안녕히 가세요 = “go in peace” – which also means “bye,” said to the person going

안녕히 계세요 = “stay in peace” – which also means “bye,” said to the person staying.

The formal “계시다” is used in this sentence (계 + 시(formal ending) + 세요).

Remember that because ~세요 starts in ㅅ, it can often create irregulars. If ㅅ is added to

a verb stem that ends in a consonant, 으 should be added:

이 것을 받으으으으세요 = Take this (receive this)

If ‘으’ is added, it can change the stem of some words ending in ㄷ:

걷다 = to walk

걷다 + 세요 = 걷 + 으 + 세요

걷 + 으 + 세요 = 걸으세요

걸으세요 = walk!

A similar phenomenon occurs when adding ~세요 to words ending in ㅅ:

짓다 = to build

짓다 + 세요 = 짓 + 으 + 세요

짓 + 으 + 세요 = 지으세요

지으세요 = build!

Refer back to Lesson 7 on irregulars to review these concepts.

One weird thing, is that people rarely (if ever) say 세요 connected to 먹다 (to eat).

Instead, it is much more natural to add ~세요 to 들다 (which is a more formal way to say

“eat”). Another irregular also comes into place when words end in the consonant ㄹ:

들다 = to eat (formal)

들다 + 세요 = 드세요

Other examples:

열다 = 여세요

팔다 = 파세요

There is an even more formal version the imperative mood that you should be aware of.

You will learn about this after you learn about another usage for the ending ~세요.


Using ~세요 to Make Questions

Although adding ~세요 to a verb stem usually creates the imperative mood, It is possible

to create a sentence with the ending ~세요. This is a formal way to ask questions, and is

done less often than the other ways you learned to ask questions in Lessons 21 and 22.

Nonetheless, you can use the 세요 ending to form a question:

어디 가세요? = Where are you going?

Imperative Mood: Verb stem + ~십시오

Adding ~십시오 to a verb stem is done in the same manner as when adding ~세요. That

is, the same irregulars come in to play. However, adding ~십시오 to a verb stem allows

you to give a command very formally. You will most likely only use this form in a few

circumstances, as it is usually reserved for times when speaking to people who deserve a

ridiculous amount of respect. If you were to meet your girlfriend/boyfriend’s

grandparents for the very first time, you might use this ending. You will also see it

sometimes in government buildings/stores/restaurants on signs telling you to “come

again” or stuff like that. For example:

여기서 내리십시오 = Get off here (I think this is the message that is broadcasted in the

Seoul subway at every stop, telling you to “get off”)

Now that you know how to say “do this,” it is time to learn how to say “don’t do this”

Negative Imperative Mood: ~지 말다

If you want to say “don’t do ___” you need to use a very special word, 말다. 말다

technically means “to not do,” but it is only ever used when connected to another verb

with ~지. It would look like this:

공부하지 말다

가지 말다

먹지 말다

However, those examples above do not mean anything. You should only use ‘말다’ when

telling somebody not to do something. If you want to give a command to somebody to

say “don’t do _____” you need to use the ~지 말다 form in addition to using the

imperative mood forms I taught you earlier in the lesson.

Very confusing, lets look at some examples.

Lets choose the word 가다 (to go). If you wanted to tell somebody to go, you should take

that word and remove the stem (가). Once the stem is removed, you could add one of

many ‘imperative mood’ endings to it. You could say (in order of formality):


가!

가라!

가요!

가세요!

가십시오!

The same is done when telling somebody not to do something. Lets start with our word

first: 가지 말다 (to not go). ). If you wanted to tell somebody to not go, you should take

that word and remove the stem (가지 말). Once the stem is removed, you could add one

of many ‘imperative mood’ endings to it. You could say (in order of formality):

1) 가지 말아! 가지 마! (or 가지 마라)

2) 가지 말아라 !

3) 가지 말요! 가지 마요! (or 가지 마라요)

4) 가지 마세요!

5) 가지 마십시오!

Notice that numbers 1 and 3 go against the normal grammatical rules of Korean. Instead

of saying 가지 말아 and/or 가지 말요, 가지 마 (or 가지 마라) and/or 가지 마요 are

used.

Remember that the ~지 말다 form is only used when giving somebody negative

commands in the imperative mood. It is not a substitute for ~지 않다 or 안 하다.

Some examples of this negative imperative mood being used:

너무 빨리 먹지 마세요 = Don’t eat your food too fast!

부끄러워하지 마세요 = Don’t be shy!

그렇게 하지 마! = Don’t do it like that!

Before we finish this lesson, there is still one more thing you should know about 말다.

~하지 말고

You already know the connector ‘고’ is used to connect two clauses in Korean. Often

times, if you want to say, “don’t do this, but/and…” you can use 고 after 말다. For

example:

매일 같은 운동을 하지 말고 많이 쉬세요 = Don’t exercise every day, and get lots of rest

그렇게 하지 말고 내 말을 들어봐 = Don’t do it like that, and listen to what I have to say


Giving Directions

Now that you know how to give people commands, you are able to give people directions.

Check out the following list for commonly used direction-like sentences:

오른 쪽으로 가세요 = Go right

왼 쪽으로 가세요 = Go left

직진하세요 = Go straight

건물을 지나가서 오른 쪽으로 가세요 = Go past the building, then go right

건물을 지나가서 오른 쪽으로 가지 말고 계속 직진하세요 = Go past the building,

then don’t turn right, but keep going straight


놀러 오세요 = come visit

초(에) = beginning of a time period

상대하다 = deal with people

상대 = rival

결코 = put with negative sentences to stress

장군 = general

동료 = colleague

멀리 = far/far away (adverb)

미치다 = go crazy

사거리 = intersection

너무나 = extremely

최초 = the first person to do something

놀이방 = day care center

뿌리 = roots (literal and figuratively)

무역 = trade (in commerce)

턱 = chin

왼발 = left foot

왼손 = left hand

오른발 = right foot

오른손 = right hand

손바닥 = palm

음성 = voice

이마 = forehead

뺨 = cheek

볼 = cheek

발가락 = toe

발목 = ankle

엉덩이 = butt

신체 = body

감옥 = prison

Introduction

In the previous lesson, you learned how to give commands to people (the imperative

voice). In this lesson, you will learn how to use주다, often in conjunction with the

imperative voice to give these commands. In addition, you will learn how to use 주다 in

other sentences when people do something for you (or for other people). Lets get started.

주다주다주다주다 = to give

주다 means “to give” and you already know how to use it in a wide variety of sentences

when you are talking about somebody giving you (or somebody else) something:

저는 저의 친구에게 돈을 줬어요 = I gave my friend money

아빠는 나에게 음식을 줬어 = Dad gave me food

However, what if you wanted to tell somebody to give something to you? This would

involve using the imperative mood that you learned yesterday. If you wanted somebody

to give you a book, you could attach any of the forms you learned yesterday to 주다:

그 책을 (나에게) 줘 = Give me that book

그 책을 (나에게) 줘라 = Give me that book (usually pronounced as 주라)

그 책을 (저에게) 주세요 = Give me that book

Other examples:

맥주 1병 주세요 = Give me one bottle of beer (please)

저 숟가락을 주세요 = Give me that spoon (please)

The thing is, those sentences only involve somebody giving you some sort of an object.

What if you wanted somebody to do something for you?


Verb stem + ~아/어 주다

You learned in the previous lesson how to add the imperative mood ending to verbs. You

can use those endings to give somebody a command. However, if you want somebody to

do something for you, you could also include 주다 in that ending.

If you add ~아/어 주다 to a verb stem, it gives the sentence the meaning of “do __ for

me.” For example:

점심을 요리해 주세요! = Please, make me lunch

이 것을 만들어 주세요 = Please, make this for me

The hardest thing is actually distinguishing the difference between those two sentences

and these two:

점심을 요리하세요 = Make lunch

이 것을 만드세요 = Make this

Those two types of sentences essentially have the same meaning. The only difference

being that when adding ‘주다’ you are specifically asking for some sort of ‘service.’

‘Service’ isn’t exactly the best word to describe the difference, but it is the best I can do.

When you do not include ‘주다,’ you are just telling somebody to do something.

However, by saying 주다, you are indicating that the person is doing something for you.

Note that sentences don’t necessarily need to be in the imperative mood for you to add

~아/어 주다 to the ending. You can also add ~아/어 주다 to normal sentences (i.e.

sentences not in the imperative mood) to indicate that some form of service was done/will

be done/is being done, for example:

그 선생님은 한국어를 저에게 가르쳐 줬어요 = That teacher taught me Korean


그 선생님은 한국어를 저에게 가르쳤어요 = That teacher taught me Korean

You can use both sentences in that situation. As I said, by adding ‘주다,’ it puts more

emphasis on the fact that the teacher provided some sort of service by teaching you.

Using 주다 with Negative Imperative Sentences

Just like you learned in the previous lesson, you can tell people not to do something by

adding ~지 말다 to the stem of a verb. You can also add ~아/어 주다 after ~지 말다 to

have the same effect as described previously. The same grammatical principal applies as

before (하다 + ~말다 + 아/어 주다 + 세요 = 하지 말아 주세요):

그 것을 말하지 말아 주세요 = Please don’t say that


그 것을 말하지 마세요 = Don’t say that


Many more examples about everything you learned in this lesson:

그 책을 제자리에 두세요 = Put that book back in its place

그 책을 제자리에 둬 주세요 = Please put that book back in its place (for me)

밥을 많이 주세요 = Give me lots of rice

Thank You For…

This is where everything starts to come together. You can use the concepts you learned in

this lesson, the previous lesson, and in Lesson 37 (all together) to say “thank you for….”

If you wanted to say, “thank you for listening” you would have to use multiple concepts.

First off, a word: 들어보다 (to listen)

By adding ~아/어 주다 to 들어보다, we get: 들어봐 주다, which can mean many things

depending on how you end the sentence:

그는 제 말을 들어봐 줬어요 = He listened to me

제 말을 들어봐 주세요 = Listen to me, please

But, if you take 들어봐 주다 and add 아/어서 (because), you get:

들어봐 줘서…

which means something like “because you listene(d).”

If you add “감사하다” (thank you) after 아/어서, you get:

들어봐 줘서 감사합니다 = Because you listened, thank you (thank you for listening)

Okay, one more time.

1) Take a verb: 요리하다 (to cook)

2) Add 아/어 주다: 요리해 주다

3) Add 아/어서: 요리해 줘서

4) Add 감사하다 = 요리해 줘서 감사합니다 = thanks for cooking

It seems really confusing because there are so many concepts wrapped in one sentence.

More examples will help you get the hang of it:

열심히 공부해 줘서 감사합니다 = Thanks for studying hard

이 것을 가르쳐 줘서 감사합니다 = Thanks for teaching that to me

문을 열어 줘서 감사합니다 = Thanks for opening the door for me

To make it even more confusing, often time the formal addition 시 is added to 주다 in

these situations (because, usually when you are thanking somebody, you are trying to be

formal):


이 것을 가르쳐 주셔서 감사합니다 = Thanks for teaching that to me

(가르치다 + 아/어 주다 + 시 + 아/어서 + 감사합니다)

And that is why I waited until lesson 41 to teach you about this concept. There would

have been no way that you would have been able to grasp everything I taught in this

lesson if I had taught it earlier. It took us so long to get to the point where I was

comfortable teaching concepts like 아/어서 and ‘시,’ and now we are using both of those

concepts together in addition to what you learned in this lesson.

Tough stuff, but hopefully you understood everything correctly.


예의가 바르다 = polite/honest

찰과상 = abrasion/scratch

버티다 = endure (pain, etc…)

견디다 = endure/bear

어쨌든 = at any rate/in any case/anyways

다하다 = to do everything/to finish

깊이 = depth/deepness

응원하다 = aid/assist/moral support

겨우 = barely/hardly/narrowly

레인 = lane

얕다 = shallow

뼈 = bone

뼈마디 = joints

도매 = wholesale

소매 = retailer

사인 = autograph

뇌 = brain

응시하다= gaze/look

짐작(하다) = guess

가짜 = fake

집안 = inside the house

배경 = background

죽이다 = kill

다행히 = fortunately

감다 = bathe/wash hair

시간표 = timetable

사막 = desert

곤충 = bug/insect

하루에 = per day

복권 = lottery ticket

Introduction

In this lesson, you will learn a very common grammatical concept. When using this

concept, you will almost always use the particles 이/가 instead of 는/은. We

distinguished the difference between 이/가 and 는/은 way back in Lesson 2. In that

lesson, you were taught the following sentence:

When my mother ate a hotdog, I ate a hamburger

I showed you this sentence because I wanted to describe the difference between the main

and secondary clauses in Korean. In that sentence, “I ate a hamburger” is the main clause,

and “When my mother ate a hotdog” is the secondary clause that tells you when you ate

the hamburger. Remember, when you have a subject in a clause that is not the main

clause of a sentence, you must add 이/가 to that subject.

Okay, you know that.

What you don’t know is how to actually say things like:

When my mother ate a hotdog…

When I was in Korea…

When I go to Korea…

When I… ~ㄹ 때

If you ever want to express “When I….” you can add ~ㄹ 때 to the stem of the

verb/adjective at the end of clause. 을 gets added to stems ending in a consonant, and

ㄹ gets added directly to stems ending in a vowel. This form isn’t usually used in the

present tense. It is usually used to describe when you did something in the past:


When I ate…

Or when you will do something in the future:

When I eat… (conjugated in the present, put with the meaning of being in the future).

When it is used to describe something in the future tense, it is done by adding ~ㄹ 때 to

the stem of the verb/adjective (as just previously shown):

내가 밥을 먹을 때… = When I eat…

선생님이 여기에 계실 때… = When the teacher is here…

제가 돈을 받을 때… = When I receive (the) money…

Notice that this is the exact same as the ~는 것 concept. Here, we are using the future

conjugation of ~는 것 (ㄹ/을 것) followed by “때” – a noun which means “when/time.”

Even though 때 is a description of time, you do not need to add the time particle ‘에’ to it.

So anyways, these clauses with ~ㄹ 때 that we made earlier can now go in sentences to

describe “when” something happens:

내가 밥을 먹을 때 너에게 음식을 조금 줄 거야 = When I eat, I will give you some

food

선생님이 여기에 계실 때 나는 선생님의 말을 듣기 시각할 거야 = When the teacher

is here, I will start listening to him/her

저는 돈을 받을 때 행복할 거에요 = When I receive (the) money, I will be happy

Also notice that (as you should know) when the subject of both clauses is the same, you

don’t need to write the subject twice.

This can be done with most verbs or adjectives, but cannot be done with two verbs

specifically. When describing a time in the future you cannot add ~ㄹ 때 to 가다 (to go)

or 오다 (to come). If you do want to say:

When I go…

When I come…

You need to say “…오면” or “…가면.” You will learn how to use ~면 in the next lesson.

Now, however, you need to learn how to use ~ㄹ 때 in the past tense.

When I did… ~했을 때

You learned in the previous section how to use ~ㄹ 때 when talking about a time in the

future. You also learned that people usually say “When I …” when talking about when

something that will happen, or when something that did happen. When you want to talk

about when something did happen, you need to conjugate the stem into the past tense, but

leave off the ending of 다/어/습니다/etc…


For example:

먹었

갔

공부했

Then you simply add ~을 때:

먹었을 때 = When I ate

갔을 때 = When I went

공부했을 때 = When I studied

Just like when used in the future tense, these clauses can be put in full sentences:

내가 밥을 먹었을 때 말하고 싶지 않았어 = When I ate, I didn’t want to talk

엄마가 갔을 때 저는 울었어요 = When mom left, I cried

내가 공부했을 때 문법만 공부했어 = When I studied, I only studied grammar

The only time you would ever really use this grammatical form in the present tense is

when you want to say something like “Every time I….” as I will describe next:

Every time I… ~ㄹ때마다

You know now how to say:

내가 공부할 때 = When I study, and

내가 공부했을 때 = When I studied,

But if you wanted to say “Every time I study(ied)…” you can put the particle 마다 after

때 to have this meaning:

내가 공부할 때마다 = Every time I study

내가 공부했을 때마다 = Every time I studied

More example sentences:

내가 한국에 있을 때마다 한국어로 말하고 싶어 = Every time I am in Korea, I want to

speak Korean

제가 저의 여자 친구의 부모님을 만날 때마다 저는 너무 긴장돼요 = Everytime I

meet my girlfriend's parents, I am nervous

As I mentioned earlier, there are times when you would have to use ~면 instead of ~ㄹ

때 to express these meanings. In the next lesson, we will talk about ~면 and the

differences between ~ㄹ 때.


존경하다 = respect

만약 = put in sentences with “if”

콜라 = Cola

기초하다 = based on

보존하다 = preserve/conserve(ation)

과학자 = scientist

부자연스럽다 = unnatural

진정하세요 = calm down

균등하다 = even(ly) ( when distributing)

어색하다 = awkward

대접하다 = serve also ‘treat’

장거리 = long distance

기술 = technique (also technology)

기도하다 = pray

신호 = sign/signal

날개 = wing

가지 = eggplant

고추 = hot pepper

낯설다 = unfamiliar

신부 = bride

교훈 = ‘lesson’ ‘moral’

버릇 = habit

햇살 = the rays of the sun

빨래 = laundry

어떡하지? = what am I going to do?

이슬 = dew

비바람 = rainstorm

수상하다 = suspicious

습도 = humidity

양쪽 = both sides

Introduction

In the previous lesson, you learned how to make sentences like “when I eat/ate” by

adding ~ㄹ 때 to verb/adjective stems. I also mentioned that there is a similar way that

you can create this same meaning by using ~면. You will learn about this ending in this

lesson.

When/If… ~(으으으으)면면면면

By adding ~(으)면 to the end of verbs/adjectives, you can create the meaning of

“when…” as described in the previous lesson with ~ㄹ 때. (으) 면 gets added to stems

ending in a consonant, and ~면 gets added to stems ending in vowel. The meaning is very

similar, if not identical to ~ㄹ 때. For example:

내가 공부를 하면 엄마는 TV를 끈다 = When I study, my mother turns of the TV

내가 TV를 보면 엄마는 싫어한다 = When I watch TV, my mother doesn’t like it

The confusing thing about ~(으)면 is that it also has the meaning of “if…” This sounds

crazy, because technically in English “When I….” and “If I…” seem to have distinct

meanings. However, if you look at the two sentences side by side, they actually have very

similar meanings. Look at these:

내가 공부를 하면 엄마는 TV를 끈다 = When I study, my mother turns of the TV

내가 공부를 하면 엄마는 TV를 끈다 = If I study, my mother turns of the TV

내가 TV를 보면 엄마는 싫어한다 = When I watch TV, my mother doesn’t like it

내가 TV를 보면 엄마는 싫어한다 = If I watch TV, my mother doesn’t like it


In each example, the meaning is so similar in English, and this is why the ~(으)면 ending

can take on both meanings. More examples:

피자을 먹으면 나는 콜라를 보통 마신다 = When/If I eat pizza, I usually drink cola

잠을 못 자면 다음 날에 몸이 피곤해져요 = When/if you don’t sleep well, the next day

you will be tired

~면 can also be added to adjectives and 이다 simply by adding it to the stem of each:

내가 행복하면 숙제를 잘 해 = When/If I am happy, I do my homework well

내가 선생님이면 학생들을 잘 가르칠 거야 = If/When I am a teacher, I would teach

students well

Notice the use of ‘would’ in this example. In English, when something is not 100%

certain in the future (usually preceded by an “if” clause) we need to use the word

“would” to indicate this hypothetical situation. However, this is not done in Korean, and

the simple future tense is sufficient:

There is actually another way to specifically express “if” without also carrying the

meaning of “when.” We will talk about this now.

If… ~ㄴㄴㄴㄴ/는다면는다면는다면는다면

If you want to specifically express the meaning of “if” without the meaning of “when”

you can add ~ㄴ/는다면 to verbs/adjectives.

~는다면 gets added to verb stems ending in a consonant. ~ㄴ다면 gets added directly to

verb stems ending in a vowel. The easy way to remember how this is added to words, is

to remember the formal low respect conjugation ending for verbs. Remember these:

먹다 = 먹는다

공부하다 = 공부한다

가다 = 간다

All that you need to do to add ~ㄴ/는다 to verb stems is conjugate the verb in this form,

and then instead of finishing it with ‘다’ finish it with ‘면.’ For example:

먹는다면…

공부한다면…

간다면…

These can then replace the following:

먹으면…

공부하면…

가면…


…to explicitly express the meaning of “if” instead of “when. ” For example:

네가 안 먹는다면 배고플 것 같아 = If you don’t eat, you will be hungry

This is the first you have learned about this, but there are a handful of words that have

absolutely no meaning, but are put into sentences to help the listener understand.

Probably the most common of these words is “만약(에),” which is put at the beginning of

“if” sentences:

(만약) 공부한다면 성공할 거야 = If you study, you will succeed

(만약) 학교에 간다면 나에게 알려주세요 = If you go to school, let me know

However, you should remember, that when conjugating adjectives at the end of a

sentence, you cannot add ~ㄴ/는. Which means, you cannot write these:

행복한다

슬픈다

Instead, the proper conjugations for adjectives (in this form) would be to just leave them

as the infinitive version of the word:

행복하다

슬프다

This has implications on what we are learning today as well. When adding ~ㄴ/는다면 to

adjectives, you actually only need to add ~면 after the infinitive version of every

adjective. One more time, instead of doing this:

행복한다면…

슬픈다면…

You should use:

행복하다면…

슬프다면…

Some examples:

제가 행복하다면 일을 더 잘 할 거에요 = If I am happy, I will work harder

제가 슬프다면 친구를 만나지 않을 거에요 = If I am sad, I’m not going to meet my

friend

If you want to add ㄴ/는다면 to 이다, you need to do the following:


Add 라면 to nouns ending in a vowel: 의사라면

Add 이라면 to nous ending in a consonant: 선생님이라면

Examples:

만약 제가 의사라면 돈을 많이 벌 것 같아요 = If I were a doctor, I would earn a lot of

money

만약 제가 선생님이라면 학생들에게 존경을 받고 싶을 거에요 = If I were a teacher, I

would want to be respected by students

All of the examples so far in this lesson talk about using “if” in the present tense, but

nothing was mentioned about how to say it in the past/future tenses.

If you want to say ‘if’ in the future in Korean, it can be done, but it is not very common.

When you say ‘if,’ it automatically makes the sentence something that is hypothetical –

usually a hypothetical situation in the future. Because of this, conjugating ‘it’ into the

future is rarely done in Korean. Think about it in English, as well: If I were to say:

If you will come, I will eat

The first clause of that sentence is more naturally said as:

If you come, I will eat

I know that I have never once said “if” in the future tense in Korean, and I can’t recall

any time that I have heard it spoken or seen it written. Nonetheless, you could write:

내가 먹겠다면… or

내가 먹을 거라면… or technically:

내가 먹을 것이라면…

but you honestly don’t need to worry about the situations when these would have to be

used… yet.

Saying ‘if’ in the past tense however opens up a whole new can of worms, which I will

talk about in the next lesson.


공평하다 = fair

익숙해지다 = get used to/accustomed to

외우다 = memorize

저버리다 = back out on plans/promise/

모집하다 = recruit

복제하다 = duplicate/replicate

요새 = these days

울리다 = to be vibrating

올리다 = a bell ringing

희망하다 = hope/wish

소망 = hope/desire

알몸 = naked

나체 = naked

숙어 = idiom

장례 = funeral

연수 = training for skills

규정 = rules/regulations (like 규칙)

작성하다 =make(list)/fill out/draw/writeup

연기하다 = delay/put off

유창하다 = fluent

놀리다 = tease

무대 = stage (a place to perform)

측정(하다) = measurement (measure)

틀다 = turn/turn on

벌 = punishment (받다/주다)

시행(하다) = enforce/conduct/implement

실시(하다) = enforce/conduct/implement

엄격하다 =(adj) strict/severe (punishment)

쪽지 = message (를 보내다)

환불 = refund

Introduction

In the previous lesson, you learned about adding ~(으)면 and ~ㄴ/는다면 to

verbs/adjectives/이다 in the present tense, but not in the past tense. In this lesson, I will

show you how to add these to words conjugated to the past tense, as well as how to say “I

would have…”

~(으으으으)면면면면 in the Past Tense

You learned in the previous lesson how to add ~(으)면 to verbs/adjectives in the present

tense:

내가 가면…. = If/when I go…

내가 먹으면… = If/when I eat…

내가 공부하면… = If/when I study…

If you wanted to say “if I went/ate/studied” you can do that by conjugating the

verb/adjective into the past tense, and replacing ‘다’ with (으)면:

내가 갔으면… = If I went…

내가 먹었으면… = If I ate

내가 공부했으면… = If I studied

In the present tense, adding ~(으)면 to verbs/adjectives can create the meaning of both if

and when. However, in the past tense, these sentences can only mean “if.”

I want to explain a few more things before I start showing example sentences.


~ㄴㄴㄴㄴ/는다면는다면는다면는다면 in the Past Tense

You learned in the previous lesson how to add ㄴ/는다면 to verbs/adjectives in the

present tense:

내가 간다면… = If I go

내가 먹는다면… = If I eat…

내가 공부한다면… = If I study…

In order to do that, you simply needed to conjugate the word to the formal low respect

form, and add 면 instead of 다. The same can be done when adding this form to the past

tense – that is, conjugating the word to the formal low respect form, but in the past tense.

Remember the formal low respect past conjugations:

내가 갔다

내가 먹었다

내가 공부했다

By adding ㄴ/는다면 (았/었/했다면):

내가 갔다면… = If I went

내가 먹었다면… = If I ate

내가 공부했다면… = If I studied

There is essentially no difference between:

내가 갔으면… = If I went…

내가 먹었으면… = If I ate

내가 공부했으면… = If I studied

and:

내가 갔다면… = If I went

내가 먹었다면… = If I ate

내가 공부했다면… = If I studied

In addition, you could also say/write the following form, which you have not been

introduced to yet:

내가 갔더라면… = If I went…

내가 먹었더라면… = If I ate…

내가 공부했더라면… = If I studied…


This is where things get complicated. Almost every time the verb/adjective after ‘if’ is in

the past, the later clause ends in “would have…” English examples:

If I studied, I would have passed the test

If I ate, I would have not been hungry

If I met my friend, it would have been fun

The way this gets done is by adding 았/었/했을 것이다 to the verb in the later clause of

the sentence. For example:

내가 공부했더라면 시험을 합격했을했을했을했을 것이다것이다것이다것이다 = If I studied, I would have passed the

test

내가 밥을 먹었다면 배고프지 않았을았을았을았을 것이다것이다것이다것이다 = If I ate, I wouldn’t have been hungry

친구를 만났으면 재미있었을었을었을었을 것이다것이다것이다것이다 = If I met my friend, it would have been fun

This is one of your first introductions to fairly complex grammar. Knowing that

~았/었/했을 것이다 should following 었/았/했다면 (or its similar counterparts) will get

you a ton of Korean speakers, because it will sound so natural to them. Some more

examples:

돈을 다 쓰지 않았더라면 그 것을 샀을 거야 = If I didn’t spend all my money, I would

have bought that

내가 사과를 다 안 먹었다면 너에게 한 개를 줬을 것이다 = If I didn’t eat all of my

apples, I would have given you one


들리다 = to be able to hear/hear

기한 = time limit/deadline/time period

자습 = self teaching

윤리 = ethics/morals

온몸 = entire body

독 = poison

물길 = a waterway/watercourse

생기다=occurred/happened/come up

미끄럽다 = slippery

미끄러지다 = slip

체험 = personal experience

술술 = smoothly

공석 = vacancy

비켜서다=move aside/step out of the way

비켜주다 = move/step aside for someone

박수 소리 = applause

유치원 = kindergarten/preschool

진화하다 = evolve (evolution)

뚫다 = punch/poke a whole through

뚫리다 = to be punctured/pierced

통화하다 = talking over the phone

정치자 = politician

원인 = cause

견인하다 = tow (a car)

꽃다발 = bouquet of flowers

곰 = bear

인형 = puppet/marionette

장난감 = toy

통로 = passage way/path

연못 = pond

Introduction

Up to now, you have learned a lot of different grammatical concepts that you can use

very frequently in Korean conversation. Eventually, the importance of each concept will

be less and less, because they will get harder and harder, and be more and more rare in

conversation. However, the grammatical concepts you will learn in this lesson are

incredibly important – and used all the time in Korean conversation.

I can do... (~ㄹㄹㄹㄹ 수수수수 있다있다있다있다)

By adding ~ㄹ 수 있다 to the ends of sentences (attached to verbs/adjectives), you can

create the meaning of “I can....” ‘ㄹ 수 있다’ gets added to stems ending in a vowel, and

‘을 수 있다’ gets added to words ending in a consonant.

“수” is what I like to call a ‘pseudo-noun.’ You have already learned a few of these

pseudo-nouns in other lessons. For example, “지” in both of the following examples are

pseudo-nouns:

제가 언제 먹을 지지지지 몰라요 = I don’t know when I will eat

제가 한국에서 산 지지지지 1 년 됐어요 = I have been living in Korea for 2 years

In both examples, 지 follows a descriptive verb, and thus, must be a noun. However,

these ‘pseudo-nouns’ cannot be placed anywhere but these specific locations, and

therefore, are not true nouns.

‘수’ in ‘~ㄹ 수 있다’ is also a pseudo-noun. If you look it up in the dictionary, its

meaning is something similar to “ability” or something like that. Then, if we describe that

“ability” noun with a verb, we can get:


공부할 수: the ability to study

However, it is never written like that, and is always followed by 있다/없다:

공부할 수 있다 = I have the ability to study (I can study)

Better examples:

저도 그것을 할 수 있어요 = I can to that too

저는 몇몇 한국사람들보다 한국어를 더 잘 말할 수 있어요 = I can speak Korean

better than some Korean people

오늘 밤에 만날 수 있어요? = Can you meet tonight?

I can’t do… (~ㄹㄹㄹㄹ 수수수수 없다없다없다없다)

The exact same thing can be done to express “I can’t…” by changing 있다 to 없다:

여기가 너무 시끄러워서 저는 집중할 수 없어요 = I can’t concentrate here because it

is too loud

제가 너무 아파서 많이 먹을 수 없어요 = I can’t eat much because I am very sick

저 사람은 한국어를 말할 수 없어요 = The person can’t speak Korean

Both ~ㄹ 수 있다 and ~ㄹ 수 없다 sentences can be expressed in the past and future

tenses. Note that the verb/adjective in the sentence does not get conjugated, and only

있다 or 없다 do:

저는 그 여자를 볼 수 없었어요 = I can’t see that girl

저는 다음 번에 더 잘 할 수 있을 거에요 = I will be able to do better next time

Adding particles to 수수수수

Because 수 is a noun, some particles can be attached to it. The two most common

particles that are attached to 수 are 가 and 도.

In both cases, adding 가 and 도 don’t change the meaning of a sentence significantly.

Explaining why ‘가’ is sometimes added is fairly simple. If I were to say:

아무거나 선택할 수 있다 = You can choose anything

Remember, ‘수’ is a noun. I’m sure you are also very comfortable with the meaning of

‘있다’ and how it is used. Remember that when using ‘있다’ the particles 이/가 should

be added to the noun that you have. In this case, ‘수’ is actually the noun that you have,

so you can add 가 to it if you like:

아무거나 선택할 수가 있다 = You can choose anything


I personally never use ‘수가’ when I speak/write in Korean, but I hear it often.

Determining whether or not you need to use 가 or not is one of those things that you have

to get used to. If you asked any Korean person why they used ‘가’ instead of omitting it,

their answer will always be “it just sounds better that way.”

Adding 도 is equally as ambiguous. Technically, you could also say:

아무거나 선택할 수도 있다 = You can choose anything

Similar to what I described earlier, determining when you should use 도 or not is

something that you can only learn from practice. However, remember what the meaning

of the particle 도 is. Adding 도 gives the meaning of “too/as well” to the noun that it is

attached to. Therefore, you can insert this meaning to 수 by attaching 도 to it. For

example, I could say:

이렇게 하면 죽을 수 있어요 = If you do it like that, you could die

However, by describing another scenario/situation in the same sentence:

이렇게 하면 위험하고 죽을 수도 있어요 = If you do it like that, it is dangerous, and

you could die (as well/too)

In both situations, adding 도 isn’t necessary, but it gives the sentence a little bit more

complexity.

However, as I described earlier, the meaning doesn’t change that much, and

understanding it completely is something that can only be done when you get used to

hearing it from Korean people.


생생하다 = vivid/graphic(mostly memory)

보여주다 = show

예외 = exception

실제 = actual

실제로 = actually

동의하다 = agree

가까이 = closely

복사기 = photocopier

신입생 = freshman

운명 = fate

운명적으로 = “fatefully”

시력 = vision

조개 = shell fish

검토하다 = review/examine

성숙하다 = mature

뺏다 = take using some sort of force/power

캐릭터 = character

영웅 = hero

신화 = myth

왕비 = queen

뽑다 = pull smth out of smth

반말 = casual speaking

성공(하다) = succeed (success)

제자리 = in place/in the right place

울타리 = fence

식단 = diet

단자 = terminal box

연결(하다) = connection/connect

워낙 = so/very

협조(하다) = cooperation (cooperate)

Introduction

Just like the grammatical concepts you learned in the previous lesson, the two concepts

you will learn in this lesson are incredibly common. The two concepts you will learn in

this lesson are very similar to each other, but (just like in English) they are two different

ways to essentially express the same thing. In this lesson, you will learn how to say:

I need to…

I have to….

Which, again, are almost identical to each other in meaning. There is a way to express

each one specifically in Korean. Lets get started.

I have to… (~아아아아/어어어어 야야야야 하다하다하다하다)

By adding 아/어 야 하다 to the stem of a verb/adjective at the end of a sentence, you can

create the meaning of “I have to….” The verb/adjective that 아/어 야 하다 gets

connected to does not get conjugated, and instead, the ‘하다’ at the end of ‘아/어 하다’

gets conjugated.

Some examples:

공부해 야 하다 = I have to study

먹어 야 하다 = I have to eat

가 야 하다 = I have to go

These can then get put into sentences:

친구를 만나러 지금 가 야 해요 = I have to go now to meet my friend


대학교에 가고 싶다면 열심히 공부해 야 해요 = If you want to go to university, you

have to study hard

먹어 야 해서 늦게 왔어요 = I was late because I had to eat

Using 되다 instead of 하다 can be done with absolutely no difference in meaning:

우리는 빨리 가 야 돼 = We have to go fast

One thing that you might often hear as well, is the 하다/되다 at the end of 아/어 야

하다/되다 being replaced by ‘지.’ This is only ever done in conversation, and it very

informal (Korean people say it to their friends, or younger people). It’s weird, and adding

‘지’ to the end of a sentence is something that can be done, but we haven’t talked about

that yet. For now, just know that 지 can replace 하다/되다 at the end of the 아/어 야

하다/되다 concept:

우리가 빨리 가 야 지! = We have to go fast!

먹어 야 지! = you have to eat!

I need … (필요하다)

You can essentially create the same meaning of “I have to” with “I need to” in Korean by

using another grammatical concept. Before we talk about that, though, lets look at the

word “필요하다.” 필요하다 is one of those nouns like ‘있다’ that feels like a verb, but

is actually conjugated like an adjective. The only thing that this means is that when

conjugating into the present tense, this can’t be done:

필요한다

Instead, this should be done:

필요하다

Anyways, this can be added to sentences to have the meaning of “to need.” However,

because this words acts as an adjective, you cannot write this:

저는 밥을 필요하다

Instead, because 필요하다 acts like an adjective, you cannot use the object particle 를/을

in the sentence. Therefore, if you want to say that you “need” something, you should

write add the particle 이/가 to the noun that you “need:”

저는 밥이 필요하다 = I need food/rice

저는 여자 친구가 필요하다 = I need a girlfriend

You could also say that you “need to __(verb)__. We will talk about how to do this in the

next lesson:


I need to… (~ㄹ 필요가 있다/없다)

If you want to say that you “need to” do a verb, as in:

I need to eat

I need to sleep

You can add ~ㄹ 필요가 있다 to a stem of a verb/adjective. ~ㄹ 필요가 있다 attaches to

stems ending in a vowel, and ~을 필요가 있다 attaches to stems ending in a consonant.

Notice the make up of this grammatical concept. “필요” acts as a noun that you “have”

(있다). So, if you were to say:

공부할 필요가 있다 – it literally translates to “I have the need to study” – which is more

naturally said as “I need to study.”

Some examples:

저는 그 여자랑 결혼할 필요가 있어요 = I need to marry that girl

시험공부를 곧 할 필요가 있어요 = I need to study soon

You can make sentences to express that you “do not need” to do something by changing

있다 with 없다. For example:

그렇게 할 필요가 없어요 = You don’t need to do it like that


혹시 = indicates something is unknown*

내밀다 = stick/stretch smth out of smth*

너머(로/에) = beyond/over*

우선 = first/priority

사인하다 = to sign something

얼다 = freeze

서구문화 = western culture

서구문명 = western civilization

소리 지르다 = shout/scream

잔디 = grass

마취하다 = to give someone an anesthetic

부분 마취하다 = local anesthetic

경비 = security/guard (not a verb)

경비 아저씨 = security guard

로그인하다 = log in

인권 = human rights

시급하다 = urgent

고립되다 = isolated

참고하다 = refer to/consult

첫눈에 = at first sight

정장 = suit/formal dress

등 = etc…

교과 = curriculum

지점 = point (a place)

현장 = scene of the _______ “field”

선거 = election

세탁 = laundry

장난치다 = joke (or play around)

동물 = animal

걷(어올리다) = roll up sleeves

혹시 – Bit of a weird word, that has no meaning, but has a lot of feeling. It is similar to

the word “만약” in that the word itself has no meaning, but indicates that a certain mood

is coming later on in the sentence. When you say “만약” it indicates that an “if” sentence

is coming. When you say “혹시” at the beginning of a sentence, it indicates that

something later on in the sentence is unknown. This is often put in question sentences:

혹시 파티에 갈 거야? = Are you going to the party?

Which would be the exact same as:

파티에 갈 거야?

But, the sentence doesn’t always need to be a question in order to use 혹시. It is also

often used (as I said in the definition in the vocabulary list) in sentences where there is

something unknown:

혹시 오시면 연락해주세요 = If you come, let me know

The usage is fairly confusing, and one of the only words that I actually “picked up”

simply from listening to Korean – as it was never a word that I studied.

내밀다 can be used when you are doing something “over,” “through” or “beyond”

something. The word 너머 can be used in these situations (just like other words of

position like 위/밑/옆/뒤/etc..) to indicate the thing that you are doing something

“through.” For example:

저는 창문 너머에 봤어요 = I looked through the window

저는 팔을 창문 너머로 내밀었어요 = I stuck my arm through the window


우선 is a very common word that is hard to translate into English, simply because there is

no exact word that describes it. 우선 is used in sentences when you want to say that you

will do something before something else. For example:

나는 우선 밥을 먹고 싶어 = I want to eat first

Or,

우리가 가지 전에 나는 우선 밥을 먹고 싶어 = Before we go, I want to eat first

Introduction

This lesson will have two more common grammatical concepts that you need to learn.

Two concepts that look very similar (they look like they should be exact opposites of

each other), but their meanings aren’t connected at all. Lets look at the first one first:

I don’t have to… 안안안안 해도해도해도해도 되다되다되다되다

In the previous lesson, you learned about adding 아/어 야 하다 to the ends of sentences

to express the meaning of “I have to…”. Later in that lesson, you learned that by adding

~ㄹ 필요가 있다 or 없다 to the end of sentences, you could express the meaning of “I

need to/I do not need to…”. However, you never learned how to say “I do not have to…”,

which would be the opposite of “아/어 야 하다.” The reason I waited until this lesson to

teach you about this grammatical concept, is because of its similarities (in appearance) to

the concept you will learn later in this lesson.

Anyways, if you add 안 before a verb/adjective, and then add 아/어도 되다 to the stem

of that word, you can create the meaning of “do not have to.” For example:

안 가도 되다 = Don’t have to go

안 먹어도 되다 = Don’t have to eat

안 공부해도 되다 or 공부를 안 해도 되다 = Don’t have to study

These can then be put into sentences where you want to express that you do not have to

do something:

저는 밥을 벌써 먹어서 다시 안 먹어도 돼요 = I don’t need to eat because I already did

여기에 사인을 안 해도 돼요 = You don’t need to sign her

이 음식에 소금을 안 넣어도 돼요 = You don’t need to put salt on this food

With this concept as well, the verb before 아/어도 되다 should not be conjugated, and

instead, 되다 should be conjugated.

그 시험을 합격하기 위해 공부를 안 해도 되었다 = I didn’t need to study to pass that test

This grammatical concept looks very similar to the concept that will be presented next.

However, there meanings are completely different.


May I… (아아아아/어어어어도도도도 되다되다되다되다)

By doing the exact same thing that was described in the previous section, but by leaving

out “안” you can create the meaning of “May I…” in Korean. For example:

저가 일찍 가도 돼요? = May I go early?

What’s weird about this one, is that you should use 내가/제가 as the subject of the

sentence instead of 나는/저는. More examples:

밥을 많이 먹어도 돼요? = May I eat a lot?

화장실에 가도 돼요? = May I go to the bathroom?

Two very easy concepts that you absolutely must know in order to move on in your

studying of Korean.


미리 = in advance/beforehand

구입하다 = purchase

정원 = garden

달콤하다 = sweet (in a cute way)

교환하다 = exchange (numbers/info, etc)

새끼 = baby animals

어미 = mother for animals

반값 = half price

일대일(로) = one on one

승패 = victory/defeat (outcome)

면담하다 = face to face talk

개별 = individual/ly

정기적으로 = regularly

건축 = architecture

건축가 = architect

강가 = area around the river

막내 = youngest person in the family

창피하다 = ashamed

마법사 = witch

급하다 = urgent (adj)

급히 = urgently

미루다 = delay

동굴 = cave

보석 = treasure (rubies and diamonds)

안다 = hug

수레 = cart

태풍 = typhoon

박람회 = a fair/exhibition

호수 = lake

호숫가 = area around the lake

Introduction

In this lesson, you will learn three common endings to sentences that will allow you to

speak Korean with more fluency. All three of these endings are fairly simple to use, and

have simple meanings, but their meanings are less important than the grammar that you

have learned thus far. Thus, I waited until Lesson 48 to introduce them to you. In addition,

as I continually told you as you were working your way through the earlier lessons –

because the grammar you have been leaning to this point has been so difficult, it paved

the way for you to make learning future grammar much easier.

Anyways, enough nonsense. In this lesson, you will learn about ~자 and ~(으)ㅂ시다,

which are two common endings that you can use in similar situations. In addition, you

will learn about how to use ~ㄹ래요 which has a similar meaning to ~자 and

~(으)ㅂ시다, but it a little bit different. Lets get started.

Let’s ____: ~자 and ~(으)ㅂ시다

By adding ~자 to the stem of a word at the end of a sentence, you can create the meaning

of “Lets ______.” It is a very easy ending to know/remember, and it is used very

commonly. ~자 gets added to stems ending in consonants and vowels:

밥을 먹자! = Lets eat!

내일 공원에 가자! = Tomorrow, lets go to the park!

If you want to say “Lets not do something” you should use the word 말다, which you

learned in Lesson 40. Remember, if you wanted to say “don’t’ go,” you should say:

가지 말다 = Don’t go, which is usually conjugated in any of the following ways:

가지 마, or 가지 마라, or 가지 마세요


However, if you wanted to say “lets not go,” you simply add ~자 to 말다:

내일 공원에 가지 말자 = Lets not go to the park tomorrow

우리 애기를 위해 그 것을 사지 말자 = Lets not buy that for our baby

Another way to create the meaning of ~자 is to add ~(으)ㅂ시다 to stems. ~읍시다 gets

added to stems ending in a consonant, and ~ㅂ시다 gets added directly to stems ending

in a vowel.

밥을 먹읍시다! = Let’s eat!

내일 공원에 갑시다! = Tomorrow, let’s go to the park!

The thing that you have to be aware of is that there are no formal ways to say these.

Therefore, you should never use these forms when talking to somebody who is older than

you or your superior (or anybody that you would be using honorifics with). If you want to

say something like “lets eat!” to your superior, you would have to do something like this:

같이 먹고 싶어요? = Do you want to eat together?...

…or something along those lines.

More specifically, the ~(으)ㅂ시다 ending is usually used by people who are older, and

the ~자 ending is used more by people in the younger generation. Nonetheless, neither

should be used when talking to somebody of higher social status (age or position).

There is another ending, however, that you can use to say something similar to “lets…”

that allows you to add a formal ending to it. We will learn about this next.

Shall we…: ~ㄹ래(요)

By adding ~ㄹ래(요) to the stem of words at the end of sentences, you can create the

meaning of “shall we…?” ~을래(요) gets added to stems ending in a consonant, and

~ㄹ래(요) gets attached directly to stems ending in a vowel.

내일 공부하러 독서실에 갈래요? = Shall we go to the library tomorrow to study?

서울에 있는 공연에 보러 갈래요? = Shall we go to the show in Seoul?

As you can see, unlike the forms ~자 and ~(으)ㅂ시다, you can make these sentences

formal by adding “요” to the end of ~ㄹ래.” Also, although not many people in English

actually say “Shall we…,” this is the best translation for “ㄹ래요” in Korean. The

following two translations would also be perfectly acceptable:

내일 공부하러 독서실에 갈래요? = Would you like to go the library with me tomorrow

to study?

서울에 있는 공연에 갈래요? = Would you like to go to the show with me in Seoul?


매력 = charm

감독관 = supervisor

편리하다 = convenient/handy

파악하다 = understand/grasp/figure out

불쾌하다 = unpleasant/nasty

살아나다 = revive-person/economy

동반하다 = accompanied with (을/를)

심장 = heart

미인 = beautiful person

미남 = handsome man

수염 = facial hair

기르다 = growing hair

회복하다 =restore/rcvr-economy/non objct

명예 = honor

당구 = billiards

얼룩말 = zebra

단단히 = solidly

탁구 = table tennis

시합 = game/match/competition

인문 = humanities/liberal arts

자격 = qualification

자격증 = certificate

교도소 = prison

죄수 = prisoner

기억력 = memory

먹이 = prey/food

육식 = meat diet

육식동물 = predator/carnivore

여중 = girls middle school

여고 = girls high school

Introduction

I say this in every lesson, but in this lesson (again) you will learn endings/connectors to

words that are used very commonly. You will learn about two endings that are similar

that have the meaning of “though, even though…” using ~지만 and ~아/어도.

Even though… ~지만

One of the most common words in Korean is 하지만, which means “but.” You can use

this word like this:

저는 먹고 싶어요. 하지만 배고프지 않아요 = I want to eat. But, I am not hungry.

Though those are two perfectly good sentences, there are a lot of syllables that you can

eliminate from them. You should be aware by now, that Korean people always want to

make their sentences as short as possible. Lets look at how we can do this.

The origin of the word “하지만” (but) probably came from using the stem of 하다 (하)

and then simply adding ~지만 to it. I’m not a Korean language history scholar, but that is

the way it feels like. Regardless of where “하지만” came from, by connecting ~지만 to

the stem of any verb or adjective, you can create the meaning of “I do something, but....”

This also translates to “even though…” in English. Notice how the following two

sentences in English are exactly the same:

Even though I want to eat, I am not hungry.

I want to eat, but I am not hungry.

Essentially, by adding ~지만 to the stem of a word, that clause gets negated, and the

opposite it usually described in the latter clause. To look at the example we saw before:


저는 먹고 싶어요. 하지만 배고프지 않아요 = I want to eat. But, I am not hungry.

This could also be (and is more naturally) written as:

저는 먹고 싶지만 배고프지 않아요 = Even though I want to eat, I am not hungry

More examples:

요즘에 한국어를 열심히 공부하고 있지만 아직도 잘 말할 수 없어요 = Even though I

am studying Korean hard these days, I still can’t speak well

부산에 가고 싶지만 차가 없어서 못 가요 = Even though I want to go to Busan, I can’t

go because I don’t have a car

This form can also go in the past tense:

원래 한국에 여행하러 가고 싶었지만 돈이 없어서 못 갔어요 = Originally I wanted to

go to Korea to travel, but because I didn’t have any money, I couldn’t go

밥을 먹었지만 배고파요 = Even though I ate, I am hungry

Or the future tense, using both the ~ㄹ 것이다/~ㄹ 거다 or ~겠다 forms:

한국에 안 갈 것이지만 여전히 한국어를 배우고 싶어요 = Even though I will not go

to Korea, I still want to learn Korean, or:

한국에 안 갈 거지만 여전히 한국어를 배우고 싶어요 = Even though I will not go to

Korea, I still want to learn Korean, or:

한국에 안 가겠지만 여전히 한국어를 배우고 싶어요 = Even though I will not go to

Korea, I still want to learn Korean, or:

There is actually another grammatical form that is very similar to ~지만, but translates to

something slightly different in English. Lets look at this next.

Regardless of how much… : ~아/어도

By adding 아/어도 to stems at the end of one clause, you can create the meaning of

“regardless of how much ….” 아도 gets added to stems where the last vowel is 아 or 오,

and 어도 gets added to all other stems (except 하다 which changes to 해도).

As I mentioned, this form is very similar to adding ~지만 to a stem, although there are

slight differences in feeling that you can only get from listening to/practicing the usage.

For example, these two have almost essentially the same meaning in Korean:

요즘에 제가 한국어를 열심히 공부하고 있지만 아직 한국어를 잘 말하지 못해요 =

Even though I am studying Korean hard these days, I still can’t speak it well

요즘에 제가 한국어를 열심히 공부해도 아직 한국어를잘 말하지못해요 =

Regardless of how much I study Korean (these days), I still can’t speak it well


Another example:

제가 그 여자를 싫어해도 그녀를 위해 선물을 사 야 되었어요 = Regardless of how

much I disliked that girl, I still had to buy her a present

This form cannot attach to past or future tenses, although it can attach to adjectives:

여자들이 예뻐도 똑똑하지 않으면 매력이 없어요 = Regardless of how pretty girls are,

if they are not smart, they have no charm

아무리

When you learned how to say “if” in sentences, you also learned about the word ‘만약.’

You learned that 만약 actually has no meaning, but is often put in sentences with ‘if’ for

no other reason than for feeling. For example, you could say this:

제가 학교에 간다면… = if I go to school…

But you could also say this with no difference in meaning, but a slight difference in

feeling:

만약 제가 학교에 간다면… = if I go to school

The word ‘아무리’ has the same role, but is used in sentences with 아/어도. Like the

word ‘만약,’ 아무리 has no real meaning, and is simply used in sentences for feeling to

let the listener/reader know that 아/어도 is coming later in the sentence. Like 만약, it is

usually put at the very beginning of the sentence:

아무리 여자들이 예뻐도 똑똑하지 않으면 매력이 없어요 = Regardless of how pretty

girls are, if they are not smart, they have no charm

아무리 제가 그 여자를 싫어하지만 그녀를 위해 선물을 사 야 되었어요 = Regardless

of how much I disliked that girl, I still had to buy her a present

그래도/그렇지만

그래도 is a very common word, but I don’t like teaching words like this until I have

taught the grammar within it. 그래도 is made up of 그렇다 + ~아/어도, which turns into

그래도. If you remember, the meaning of 그렇다 is “like that.” If we add 아/어도 to the

end of it, the meaning changes to “regardless of if it is like that.”

In practice, this meaning is closer to “however/nevertheless/though/at any rate/etc…”

그렇지만 is very similar to 그래도, and is made up of 그렇다 + ~지만. Adding these

two, we get the meaning of “even though it is like that.” In practice, however, this

meaning is closer to “however/but/etc…”


소규모 = small scale

대규모 = large scale

굽다 = roast/grill/bbq/

굽다 = to be curved/bent

굽히다 = to bend your body

구부리다 = to bend something

방어하다 = defend

포도 = grape

껍질 = skin/bark/peel

복숭아 = peach

참외 = oriental melon

민족 = race/people/ethnic group

그만두다 = stop (usually work or school)

낡다 = old/beaten up

눈앞 = in-front of my eyes

수능 = the Korean SAT

고열 = high fever

참치 = tuna

통조림 = can

벗기다 = undress smby/take off/peel/dicvr

판사 = judge (the person)

변호사 = lawyer

권리 = the right to do something right

채식 = vegetarian

채식주의자 = vegetarian (person)

증상 = symptom

장화 = boots/rubber boots

불쌍하다 = pitiful

규모 = scale/size

섬 = island

Introduction

Though we haven’t specifically talked about ~는 것 in the past few lessons, there are still

a few more concepts that you should know that are related to it. In this lesson we will talk

about three common nouns that you can use in replace of 것 in ~는 것. Though these

three nouns are very easy to imagine and use (especially once you have a deep

understanding about how ~는 것 works), they are almost separate grammatical forms

because of how commonly they are used. Lets look at each one specifically.

I am scheduled to… :~ㄹ/을 예정

You should remember what meaning ~는 것 has when adding it to verb stems from

previous lessons. Just to review briefly, adding this to verb stems turns the verb into a

word that can describe the noun that is in-front of it.

This can be done using ~ㄴ/은 것 to describe the noun in the past tense:

제가 먹은 것 = The thing I ate

Or using ~는것 to describe the present tense:

제가 먹는 것 = The thing I eat

Or using ~ㄹ/을 것 to describe the future tense:

제가 먹을 것 = The thing I will eat

If you use the future descriptor ~ㄹ/을 것 and use the word “예정” instead of 것, you

get:

제가 할 예정, or

제가 먹을 예정


As you should know well by now, “제가 할 예정” and “제가 먹을 예정” is not a perfect

sentence, as it has no verb or adjective at the end of it. In order to do this, you need to add

‘이다’ to 예정:

제가 할 예정 이다

제가 먹을 예정이다

By doing this, you create the meaning of “I am scheduled to…”

Some examples:

우리는 10시에 만날 예정이에요 = We are scheduled to meet at 10:00

수업이 4시쯤에 시작될 예정이에요 = The class is scheduled to start at about 4:00pm

비행기가 9시에 출발할 예정이지만 눈이 많이 와서 못 출발할 것 같아요 = The

plane is scheduled to depart at 9:00, but it probably won’t because it is snowing a lot.

I have plans to…: ~ㄹ/을 계획이 있다

By using a similar composition as was described in the previous section (~ㄹ/을

예정이다), you can create the meaning of “I have plans to…”

If you add “ㄹ/을 계획” to a verb, you can describe the type of plans that you have. For

example:

먹을 계획 = plans to eat

공부할 계획 = plans to study

갈 계획 = plans to go

In English as well as in Korean, we say “I have plans to…” Therefore, in order to finish

these sentences, you need to add 있다 to them. Some examples:

먹을 계획이 있다 = to have plans to eat

공부할 계획이 있다 = to have plans to study

갈 계획이 있다 = to have plans to go

This form can then be used in more complex sentences:

제가 친구를 만날 계획이 있었지만 친구는 안 왔어요 = I had plans to meet my friend,

but he didn’t come

원래 대학교에 갈 계획이 있었지만 수능을 잘 못 봐서 대학교에 갈 수 없었어요 = I

had plans to go to university, but I couldn’t get in because I did bad on the SAT test


To be ready for… ㄹ 준비

Another one of these nouns that can go after “(verb)ㄹ/을” is 준비, which means

“ready.” There are a few common expressions that you can create with this pattern:

I am ready to…:할 준비(가 ) 됐다

If you want to say that you are ready to do something, you can put the verb that you are

ready to do, followed by ㄹ/을 준비(가) 됐다:

갈 준비가 됐다 = ready to go

먹을 준비가 됐다 = ready to eat

공부할 분비가 됐다 = ready to study

These can then go in more complicated sentences:

저는 지금 갈 준비가 됐어요 = I am ready to go now

저는 아무 때나 일을 시작할 준비됐어요 = I am ready to start working any time

I am not ready to…:할 준비(가) 안 됐다

You can create the opposite meaning as described above (i.e. I am not ready to…) by

creating a negative sentence. You can do this either by adding 안, or by adding ~지 않다:

저는 5분 후에 갈 예정이었지만 아직 갈 준비가 안 됐다 = I was scheduled to go in 5

minutes, but I am still not ready yet

저는 아직 결혼할 준비되지 않았어요 = I’m still not ready to get married

Are you ready to…: 할 준비가 됐다?

You can change the two types of sentences that you learned previously into questions just

like you normally would with other questions:

파티에 갈 준비가 됐어요? = Are you ready to go yet?

비행기가 아직 출발할 준비가 안 됐습니까? = Is the plane not yet ready to go

Get ready to…: 할 준비하세요

To create a command where you can say “Get ready to…,” you can simply add “하세요”

to 준비:

For example:

갈 준비를 하세요 = Get ready to go!

먹을 준비를 하세요 = Get ready to eat!

공부할 준비를 하세요 = Get ready to study!

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