Unit 1: Lessons 1 - 25: Last Edited On January 8, 2020

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Unit 1: Lessons 1 - 25
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Last Edited on January 8, 2020
© HowtoStudyKorean.com – Unit 1 1
Table of Contents
Lessons 1 – 8
Lesson 1: Korean word order, basic Korean particles, 이다, 그, 이.......................... p. 3
Lesson 2: Particles 이 and 가, to be somewhere/to have: 있다.................................. p. 15
Lesson 3: Korean verbs, Korean adjectives, particle 의, 좋다 and 좋아하다........... p. 23
Lesson 4: Conjugating adjectives: 은/ㄴ, 많다 and the particle 도............................ p. 30
Lesson 5: Past, present and future tenses............................ ....................................... p. 39
Lesson 6: Korean honorifics....................................................................................... p. 51
Lesson 7: Korean irregulars............................................................. .......................... p. 58
Korean Irregular Quick Reference.............................................................................. p. 76
Lesson 8: Korean adverbs, negative sentences........................................................... p. 79
Lessons 1 – 8 Mini-Test...................................... ....................................................... p. 88
Lessons 9 – 16
Lesson 9: Conjugating 이다....................................................................................... p. 90
Lesson 10: Korean numbers, Korean counters, 처음 and 마지막.............................. p.102
Lesson 11: Time: seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, next, last... p.114
Lesson 12: Korean particles: 들, 만, 에서, 부터, 까지, (으)로................................. p.124
Lesson 13: Korean particles: and, with, to, from, for, about....................................... p.135
Lesson 14: Korean passive verbs................................................................................ p.142
Lesson 15: Miscellaneous Korean grammar............................................................... p.158
Lesson 16: 적, 적으로, 적이다, 스럽다, 스럽게, 스러운........................................ p.173
Lessons 9 – 16 Mini-Test.......................................................................................... p.185
Lessons 17 – 25
Lesson 17: Connecting particle 고, I want to ~고 싶다.......................................... p. 188
Lesson 18: Present progressive: ~고 있다 .............................................................. p. 200
Lesson 19: Comparatives and Superlatives: 보다, 가장, 더 .................................. p. 208
Lesson 20: Do something “well,” do something “poorly”: 잘, 못.......................... p. 216
Lesson 21: Asking questions: why, when, where, who........................................... p. 224
Lesson 22: Asking questions: how, what, which, how many.................................. p. 235
Lesson 23: ㅎ irregular, Korean colors, using 이렇다, 그렇다, 저렇다................ p. 255
Lesson 24: Before, after, since, when, 전, 후, 이래로, 이내, 안............................ p. 268
Lesson 25: Anybody, anywhere, anything, everybody, somebody, nobody, etc..... p. 276
Lessons 17 – 25 Mini-Test....................................................................................... p. 290
Nouns: Nouns:
한국 = Korea 집 = house
도시 = city 차 = car
이름 = name 사람 = person
저 = I, me (formal) 책 = book
나 = I, me (informal) 컴퓨터 = computer
남자 = man 나무 = tree/wood
여자 = woman 소파 = sofa
이 = this 중국 = China
그 = that 일본 = Japan
저 = that (when something is far away) 문 = door
것 = thing 의사 = doctor
이것 = this thing 학생 = student
그것 = that thing
저것 = that thing Adverbs and Other Words:
의자 = chair 이다 = to be
탁자 = table 네 = yes
선생님 = teacher 아니 = no
침대 = bed
Greeting Words
Throughout my lessons, I will only use grammar and vocabulary that you have learned
from a previous lesson. In Unit 0, I taught you how to write words in Korean. Above, you
can see the first set of words you should study to get you started. I have not yet taught
you how to use those words or how conjugate them.
The words for “hello,” “thank you,” “how are you,” and “please” are actually quite
difficult in Korean. There is actually grammar within the words themselves. At this stage,
I would simply memorize these “greeting words” as one unit, and you can worry about
the grammar within them later when it becomes relevant. The words are:
안녕하세요 = hello
감사하다 and 고맙다 are the two words that are commonly used to say "thank you."
However, they are rarely used in those forms and are almost always conjugated. They can
be conjugated in a variety of ways, which will be introduced in Lesson 5 and Lesson 6.
The most common ways to conjugate these words are:
감사합니다
감사해요
고마워
고맙습니다
고마워요
The way to say “how are you” in Korean is:
잘 지내세요? = How are you
Although this is the most literal way to say “how are you” in Korean, it is not as common
as the English expression. Korean people love food, and common way to greet somebody
is to ask them if they have eaten. The idea of asking questions in Korean is taught in
Lesson 21.
The way to say “please” in Korean is:
제발 = Please
It is, of course, important for you to memorize these expressions 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 simply memorize them. We will get back to them in later
lessons when they become important.
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 (for example: I hamburger eat), Or

Subject – Adjective (for example: I beautiful)
I am going to quickly explain what a “subject” and “object” mean, as your ability to
understand later concepts depends on your understanding of this.
The subject refers to person/thing/noun/whatever that is acting. The subject does the
action of the verb. For example, the subject in each sentence below is underlined:
I went to the park

I will go to the park
My mom loves me
He loves me
The dog ran fast
The clouds cleared up
In English, the subject always comes before the verb.
The object refers to whatever the verb is acting on. For example, the object in each
sentence below is underlined
My mom loves me
The dog bit the mailman
He ate rice
Students studied Korean
In English, the object always comes after the verb. However, a sentence with a verb does
not require an object. For example:
I slept
I ate
He died
Sometimes there is no object because it has simply been omitted from the sentence. For
example, “I ate” or “I ate rice” are both correct sentences. Other verbs, by their nature,
cannot act on an object. For example, you cannot place an object after the verbs “to
sleep” or “to go:”
I sleep you
I go you
Subjects are also present in sentences with adjectives. However, there is no object in a
sentence with an adjective. The subjects are underlined in the following adjective-
sentences below:
School is boring
I am boring
The movie was funny
The building is big
My girlfriend is pretty
The food is delicious
Verbs and adjectives are placed at the end of a sentence. Actually, every Korean sentence
and clause must end in one of the following:
- A verb
- An adjective, or
- 이다
I talk about the meaning of 이다 later in this lesson. It is neither a verb nor an adjective,
but it behaves like them. Every verb, every adjective and 이다 end in “다,” and these are
the only words in Korean that can be conjugated.
Korean also has a formality system built into the language. That is, the way one speaks to
an older person who deserves high respect would be different than the way one speaks to
a friend. There are many ways words in a sentence can change depending on the
formality of the situation, but the two most common, basic and important things to be
aware of are:
1) There are two ways to say “I” or “me” in Korean:
나, used in informal situations, and

저, used in formal situations.
2) There are many ways to conjugate a word. As we saw above, the word 고맙다 can be
conjugated many different ways. It is important to know which conjugation to use in
which situation. This is taught in Lesson 6. Until Lesson 6, I make no distinction of
formality and the focus is more on sentence structure than conjugations. Until then, you
will see both 나 and 저 arbitrarily used. Don't worry about why one is used over the other
until Lesson 6, when formalities will be explained.
Okay, now that you know all of that, we can talk about making Korean sentences.
Korean Particles (~는/은 and ~를/을)

Most words in a Korean sentence have a particle (a fancy word to say ‘something’)
attached to them. These particles indicate the role of each word in a sentence –that is,
which word is the subject or object. Note that there is absolutely no way of translating
these particles to English, as we do not use anything like them.
The following are the most common particles:
는 or 은 (Subject)
This is placed after a word to indicate that it is the subject of a sentence
Use 는 when the last letter of the last syllable of the subject is a vowel. For example:
나 = 나는
저 = 저는
Use 은 when the last letter of the last syllable of the subject is a consonant. For example:
집 = 집은
책 = 책은
를 or 을 (Object)
This is placed after a word to indicate that is the object of a sentence.
Use 를 when the last letter of the last syllable is a vowel:
나 = 나를
저 = 저를
Use 을 when the last letter of the last syllable is a consonant:
집 = 집을
책 = 책을
We can now make sentences using Korean sentence structure and Korean particles.
1) I speak Korean = I 는 Korean 을 speak
는 is attached to "I" (the subject)
을 is attached to "Korean" (the object)
2) I like you = I 는 you 를 like

를 is attached to "you" (the object)
3) I wrote a letter = I 는 letter 을 wrote

을 is attached to "letter" (the object)
4) I opened the door = I 는 door 을 opened

는 is attached to “I” (the subject)
을 is attached to “the door” (the object)
5) My mom will make pasta = My mom 은 pasta 를 will make

은 is attached to “my mom” (the subject)
를 is attached to “pasta” (the object)
The same could be done for sentences with adjectives. However, remember that
sentences with adjectives will not have an object:
1) My girlfriend is pretty: My girlfriend 은 is pretty

은 is attached to "my girlfriend" (the subject)
2) The movie was scary = The movie 는 was scary

는 is attached to "the movie" (the subject)
We will now switch our focus to using actual Korean words to create sentences ending in 이다.
To be: 이다
Let’s start building sentences in Korean. In this lesson, we will start by making simple
sentences using the word 이다. The translation for “이다” is “to be.” English speakers
often don’t realize how difficult the word “to be” is. Depending on who is being referred
to, the word “to be” could be any of the underlined words below:
I am a man
He is a man
They are men
I was a man
They were men
In each of those sentences, a different word (is, am, are, was, were) is used depending on
the subject and tense of the sentence. I can’t imagine how difficult this would be for an
English learner. In Korean, the 이다 is used to represent all of those “to be” words.
As mentioned earlier, 이다 can be conjugated. In that way, 이다 is similar to verbs and

adjectives, but the rules for 이다 are often (but not always) different. I will teach you
how 이다 differs from verbs and adjectives as it becomes important in later lessons. For
example, in Lesson 52 you will learn that the process for quoting a sentence with 이다 is
different than with verbs and adjectives.
Like adjectives, 이다 can not act on an object. Only verbs can act on objects. For
example:
I eat hamburgers (eat is a verb, the object is a hamburger)

She meets my friend (meet is a verb, the object is my friend)
They study Korean (study is a verb, the object is Korean)
We listen to music (listen is a verb, the object is music)
All of those sentences (can) have objects because the verb is the predicate of the sentence.
However, in sentences that are predicated by adjectives, there will not be an object:
I am pretty
She is beautiful
They are hungry
We are smart
Look at those four sentences. When we use adjectives in English, we must also use “to
be” words like am, is and are. In other words, we cannot make sentences like this:
I pretty
She beautiful
They hungry
We smart
Unlike in English, 이다 is not used in these types of sentences. That is, we do not use
이다 to indicate that something “is” an adjective. The structure of sentences predicated
by adjectives is discussed in Lesson 3.
So, 이다 is not used in these types of sentences:
I am pretty
She is beautiful
They are hungry
We are smart
However, 이다 is used in these types of sentences:
I am a man
He is a man
They are men
I was a man
They were men
이다 is used to indicate that a noun is a noun. The basic structure for a sentence
predicated by “이다” is:
[noun 은/는] [another noun][이다]
For example:
I 는 man 이다 = I am a man
Now substitute the words for “man” and “I,” which are:
나=I
남자 = man
The Korean sentence would look like this:
나는 남자이다 = I am a man
Notice that 이다 is attached directly to the second noun. Verbs and adjectives are not
attached to nouns like this, but 이다 is. It would be incorrect to include a space between
the second noun and 이다. For example, this would be incorrect:
나는 남자 이다
Although it might look and feel like “남자” is an object in that sentence, it is not. 이다,
like adjectives and unlike verbs cannot act on an object. It would be incorrect to include
the object particle on the second noun. For example, this would be incorrect:
나는 남자를 이다
The focus of this lesson (and Lessons 2, 3 and 4) is to introduce you to simple Korean
sentence structure. Until you reach Lesson 5 and Lesson 6 you will not be exposed to the
conjugations and honorifics of Korean verbs, adjectives and 이다. These words are very
rarely used without conjugations and honorifics.
The conjugation of sentences is very important, but so is the structure of sentences. When
creating these lessons, I went back in forth many times thinking about which one I should
present first. You can’t conjugate sentences if you don’t have a logical sentence to
conjugate; and you can’t create a logical sentence if you don’t know how to conjugate it.
In the end, I figured it would make more sense to present the information this way –
where learners are introduced to sentence structure and then learn how to conjugate the
words within the sentence.
Throughout all of my lessons, I use example sentences to show how grammar can be
used. The example sentences in Lessons 1 – 4 are not conjugated. However, directly
beneath each non-conjugated sentence is a conjugated version of the same sentence in
parenthesis (one formal and one informal conjugation). You might want to glimpse at
how the words are conjugated, but remember that this will be taught in Lessons 5 and 6.
Below we can see other examples of how 이다 can be used:
나는 여자이다 = I am a woman
(나는 여자야 / 저는 여자예요)
나는 선생님이다 = I am a teacher
(나는 선생님이야 / 저는 선생님이에요)
나는 사람이다 = I am a person
(나는 사람이야 / 저는 사람이에요)
나는 ______이다 = I am a _______
(나는 _______ 이야 / 저는 _____이에요)
You can substitute any word into the blank space to make these sentences.
The words "this" and "that" are often used as the subject of these types of sentences. Let's
now look at how we can apply 이 것 , 그 것 and 저 것 to sentences with 이 다 .
This and That (이/그/저)
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 (For example: this pen - i.e. the one I am holding). Just like in English "이"
(this) is placed before the noun it is describing. For example:
이 사람 = This person
이 남자 = This man
이 여자 = This woman
이 차 = This car
이 탁자 = This table
이 의자 = This chair
Unfortunately, there are two words for “that”: 그 and 저. Early learners of Korean are
always confused with the difference between “그” and “저.”
We use 그 when we are talking about something from a previous sentence or from
previous context, regardless of if you could see it or not. Providing examples would be
too difficult right now because you do not know any Korean sentences. However, if I
were to say: “I don’t like that man [when your friend mentioned him in a previous
sentence].” The word “that” in that sentence would be how “그” is used.
We use 저 when we are talking about something that we can see, but cannot touch
because it is too far away.
We can place “그” or “저” before a noun to describe “this” or “that” thing just like we
did with “이.”
이 사람 = This person
그 사람 = That person
저 사람 = That person
이 남자 = This man
그 남자 = That man
저 남자 = That man
이 여자 = This woman
그 여자 = That woman
저 여자 = That woman
이 의자 = This chair
그 의자 = That chair
저 의자 = That chair
이 탁자 = This table
그 탁자 = That table
저 탁자 = That table
Again, although the English translations of “그” and “저” are the same, it is important
to remember that they do not have the same meaning in Korean.
One of the most common words in Korean is “것” meaning “thing.” When 이, 그 or 저
are placed before “것,” the result is a compound word. Therefore, when placing “것”
after 이, 그 or 저, there should not be a space between the two. In other words, the
following are words in and within themselves, and not two separate words:
이것 = this thing
그것 = that thing
저것 = that thing
We see this same phenomenon happen with other common words that you learn in future
lessons. You don’t need to worry about this now, but we see this same thing happen with
the word 곳 (meaning “place”) and 때 (meaning “time”).
With these words, the word “thing” isn’t necessary in the English translation. Let me
explain.
I’ll use “that” as an example, but the same idea can be applied to the word “this.”
“That” can be placed before a noun to describe it. As we saw earlier:
That person
That man
That woman
However, it can also be a noun itself. For example:
I like that
In this type of English sentence, “that” is referring to some thing that you like. It is a
noun. It is a thing.
Therefore, the sentence could just as easily be said as:
I like that thing
I don’t like to use grammatical jargon in my lessons, but if you know what these words
mean, it could be helpful. In both English and Korean, “that” can be a determiner (as in,
“I like that man”), and it can also be a pronoun (as in “I like that”). When used as a
determiner in Korean, you should place 그 before a noun. When used as a pronoun in
Korean, the word 그것 is used.
In this same respect, while “이, 그 and 저” translate to “this, that and that” respectively,
and are placed before nouns to indicate “this noun, that noun and that noun,” “이것, 그것
and 저것” are nouns (they are pronouns). Therefore, they do not need to be followed by
the redundant word “thing,” although their meanings would be exactly the same:
I like this
I like this thing
I like that
I like that thing
We can now use these nouns as subjects or objects in a sentence. We will look at how
they can be used with “이다” next.
Using This/That with 이다

Remember, 이다 translates to “to be” and is conjugated as “am/is/are” in English. Now
that we know how to use 이, 그 and 저 (and 이것, 그것 and 저것), we can now make
sentences like this:
That person is a doctor
We can start by putting those words into the Korean structure:

That person 는 doctor is
And then changing the English words to the appropriate Korean words:
그 사람은 + 의사 + 이다
그 사람은 의사이다
(그 사람은 의사야 / 그 사람은 의사예요)
More examples:
그 사람은 선생님이다 = That person is a teacher
(그 사람은 선생님이야 / 그 사람은 선생님이에요)
이것은 탁자이다 = This (thing) is a table

(이것은 탁자야 / 이것은 탁자예요)
저것은 침대이다 = That (thing) is a bed

(저것은 침대야 / 저것은 침대예요)
그 사람은 남자이다 = That person is a man
(그 사람은 남자야 / 그 사람은 남자예요)
그 사람은 여자이다 = That person is a woman

(그 사람은 여자야 / 그 사람은 여자예요)
그것은 차이다 = That (thing) is a car

(그것은 차야 / 그것은 차예요)
이것은 나무이다 = This (thing) is a tree

(이것은 나무야 / 이것은 나무예요)
Wow! That was an extremely difficult lesson. If you were to pick up another Korean
textbook, I am sure the first chapter would be much easier than this. Trust me though;
learning this at the start will be very useful to you later on. When I was learning how to
speak Korean, it took me months to realize some of these things (not because they were
hard, but because I was using a text book that never taught me the reason why things are
the way they are in Korean).
Nouns: Nouns:
나라 = country 캐나다 = Canada
가방 = bag, backpack 호텔 = hotel
창문 = window 학교 = school
잡지 = magazine 은행 = bank
방 = room
냉장고 = refrigerator Verbs:
개 = dog 있다 = to have
강아지 = puppy 있다 = to be at a location
고양이 = cat
Adverbs
쥐 = rat
안 = inside
펜 = pen
위 = on top
전화기 = phone
밑 = below
커피 = coffee
옆 = beside
식당 = restaurant
뒤 = behind
건물 = building
앞 = in front
텔레비전 = television
여기 = here
미국 = USA
Introduction
In Lesson 1 you learned about simple 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
In this Lesson, you will learn about the particles ~이/가 and specifically how it can
compare with ~는/은. In all situations, ~이 is attached to nouns in which the last letter is
a consonant (like ~은) and ~가 is attached to nouns in which the last letter is a vowel
(like ~는). For example:
책 ends in a consonant (ㄱ), so “~이” is added: "책이."

소파 ends in a vowel (ㅏ), so “~가” is added: "소파가."
But, in what situations should we use ~이/가? Before we get to that, I would like to teach
you how to use the word “있다” in sentences. Let’s get started.
있다: To have
The word “있다” has many meanings. To a beginner of Korean, we can simplify and
generalize these meanings into two forms or usages:
있다 = to have
있다 = to be at a location
Let’s talk about the first usage, “to have.” In English, “to have” is a verb that can act on
an object. For example:
I have a pen
I have a car
This usage of 있다 in Korean is an adjective. This is hard for a learner to wrap their head
around. At this point, this is important to you for one reason.
You learned in Lesson 1 that sentences with adjectives cannot act on an object. Thus, you
cannot have a word with the particle ~을/를 attached to it if the predicating word in a
sentence is an adjective (because ~을/를 indicates an object in a sentence). If this weren’t
the case, we could do the following to make the sentence “I have a pen:”
I 는 pen 을 있다
나는 + 펜을 + 있다
나는 펜을 있다 = I have a pen
However, the sentence above is incorrect. 있다 is an adjective and cannot act on an

object like this. Therefore, the use of ~을 on “펜” is incorrect. To get around this, we can
attach ~이/가 to the object instead of ~을/를 in sentences with 있다. This is one usage of
the particle ~이/가; that is, to indicate the thing that a person “has” in sentences with
“있다.” Look at the following example sentences:
나는 펜이 있다 = I have a pen
(나는 펜이 있어 / 저는 펜이 있어요)
나는 차가 있다 = I have a car
(나는 차가 있어 / 저는 차가 있어요)
나는 잡지가 있다 = I have a magazine

(나는 잡지가 있어 / 저는 잡지가 있어요)
나는 가방이 있다 = I have a backpack

(나는 가방이 있어 / 저는 가방이 있어요)
Again, note that ~이/가 is being used to indicate the object instead of ~을/를.
Remember that the example sentences provided in these lessons are not conjugated.
While conjugations are provided (one formal and one informal) in parentheses below
each example sentence, the grammar within these conjugations is too complicated for you
to understand right now. For now, focus on what is being presented in these first four
lessons before you start worrying about conjugating sentences and using honorifics.
A Particle to Indicate a Place or Time: ~에

In the previous lesson, you learned how to use the particles ~은/는 and ~을/를 to denote
the purpose of certain words in a Korean sentence. The particle ~에 is also used to denote
certain words in a sentence. Specifically, ~에 denotes a place or time. When used to
identify a place, it is similar to the underlined words in the English sentences below:
I am at school
I went to the park
I put a sticker on the wall
I put water into the bottle
I put the baby in the crib
~에 is also used to denote the time in which something happens. This is similar to the
underlined words in the English sentences below:
I ate breakfast at 10:00

I will go to school on Saturday
I was born in 1990
Yes, it is possible to have ~에 used twice in a sentence. For example, the Korean
translation of the sentence “I went to the park at 10:00” would have ~에 attached to the
word “park” and “10:00.”
It would be too much to discuss how ~에 can be used in all of these situations in this
lesson. In this lesson (just below), you will learn how to use ~에 to indicate where one is
– in order to create the sentence “I am at school” from above. In later lessons, as you
learn more complex words and grammar, you will see how ~에 can be used in the other
situations. For example, in the next lesson we will introduce you to sentences that use
~에 to denote a place in which one goes to. In Lesson 6, you will see examples of
sentences that use ~에 to denote that something happens at a particular time of the day. In
Lesson 8, you will learn how to attach ~에 to days of the week. In later lessons, you will
learn how to create all of the sentences shown above.
For now, let’s focus on the sentence “I am at school,” which will require you to learn
about 있다.
있다: To be at a location
있다 can also be used to indicate that something/someone is “at a location.” In the
previous section of this lesson, you learned about the particle ~에 in Korean. You learned
that this particle is used to indicate the place and/or time of something in a sentence.
Therefore, “~에” is often used in sentences with “있다” to indicate the location of
something/someone.For example: I am at school
If we wanted to write this sentence with Korean structure and particles, we would write:
I 는 school 에 am at
나는 + 학교에 + 있다
This is irrelevant to you now, but when 있다 is used like this, it is again seen as an
adjective. This is confusing, but or now, try to ignore it. I begin to discuss this more in
Lesson 5 when I discuss the conjugations of 있다.
나는 학교에 있다 = I am at school
(나는 학교에 있어 / 저는 학교에 있어요)
Another example:
나는 캐나다에 있다 = I am in Canada
(나는 캐나다에 있어 / 저는 캐나다에 있어요)
Notice the very big difference in meaning between the following sentences, and the role
that particles have in each case. Because 있다 has two different meanings, changing the
particles in a sentence can drastically change the meaning. For example:
나는 학교가 있다 = I have a school – this could make sense, but in most situations, you
would probably want to say:
나는 잡지가 있다 = I have a magazine

나는 잡지에 있다 = I am at the magazine (this doesn’t make sense)
We can also use position words to indicate specifically where someone/something is with
respect to another noun. The most common position words are:
안 = inside
위 = on top
밑 = below
옆 = beside
뒤 = behind
앞 = in front
These words are placed after a noun to indicate where an object is with respect to that
noun. The particle “~에” is then attached directly to the position words. For example:
학교 앞에 = in front of the school

사람 뒤에 = behind the person
집 옆에 = beside the house
저 건물 뒤에 = behind that building
These constructions can now act as the location in a sentence:
나는 학교 앞에 있다 = I am in-front of the school

(나는 학교 앞에 있어 / 저는 학교 앞에 있어요)
Let’s make some more sentences:

나는 학교 뒤에 있다 = I am behind the school
(나는 학교 뒤에 있어 / 저는 학교 뒤에 있어요)
나는 학교 옆에 있다 = I am beside the school

(나는 학교 옆에 있어 / 저는 학교 옆에 있어요)
나는 은행 안에 있다 = I am inside the bank

(나는 은행 안에 있어 / 저는 은행 안에 있어요)
개는 집 안에 있다 = The dog is in the house

(개는 집 안에 있어 / 개는 집 안에 있어요)
고양이는 의자 밑에 있다 = The cat is under the chair

(고양이는 의자 밑에 있어요)
나는 캐나다에 있다 = I am in Canada
(나는 캐나다에 있어 / 저는 캐나다에 있어요)
식당은 은행 옆에 있다 = The restaurant is next to the bank

(식당은 은행 옆에 있어 / 식당은 은행 옆에 있어요)
호텔은 학교 옆에 있다 = The hotel is next to the school

(호텔은 학교 옆에 있어 / 호텔은 학교 옆에 있어요)
You have learned that ~이/가 can be attached to nouns in sentences to indicate the object
that a person “has.” ~이/가 can also be used to indicate the subject of a sentence, similar
to ~는/은. What’s the difference? Get ready to embark on the most confusing
grammatical principle to foreign learners of Korean. So difficult and confusing, I wish I
could teach you this concept in Lesson 100. Unfortunately, you will see ~이/가 used in
almost every sentence – and thus – absolutely needs to be described early. Let’s get
started.
~이/가 as a Subject Marker

One of the most difficult things for a new learner of Korean to understand is the
difference between the particles ~는/은 and ~이/가. Earlier in this Lesson, you learned
that you should use ~이/가 on the object that a person “has” when using “있다.”
In addition to this, there are more functions of ~이/가 that you should know about.
In Lesson 1, you learned that you should add ~는/은 to the subject of the sentence. To
use an example using the grammar taught earlier in this Lesson, you could say:
고양이는 집 뒤에 있다 = The cat is behind the house

(고양이는 집 뒤에 있어 / 고양이는 집 뒤에 있어요)
In this sentence, notice that the particle ~는/은 indicates that the “cat” is the subject.
However the sentence above could also be written like this:

고양이가 집 뒤에 있다 = The cat is behind the house
(고양이가 집 뒤에 있어 / 고양이가 집 뒤에 있어요)
The two sentences could have exactly the same meaning and feeling. I emphasize “could”
because in some situations the meaning of the two sentences is exactly the same, but in
other situations the meaning of two sentences can be subtly different. This entirely
depends on the situation of the conversation (what was said before, how it was said,
etc…).
The reason why they could be identical:

~이/가, like ~는/은, is added to the subject of the sentence. In some situations, there is no
difference in meaning or feel between adding ~이/가 or ~는/은 to the subject.
The reason why they could be subtly different:

~는/은 has a role of indicating that something is being compared with something else.
The noun that “~는/은” is added to is being compared. In this example:
The speaker is saying that the cat is behind the house (in comparison to something else
that is not behind the house). The difficulty here is that there is only one sentence; which
gives the listener no context to understand what “the cat” is being compared with.
However, if I were to make up a context that fits into this situation, it could be that “The
dog is in the house, and, the cat is behind the house.”
However, saying:
…is simply stating a fact, and “the cat” is not being compared to anything.
Another example:
커피가 냉장고에 있다 = The coffee is in the fridge (This sentence is simply stating that
the coffee is in the fridge, and there is no intention of comparison)
커피는 냉장고에 있다 = The coffee is in the fridge (This sentence could simply be
stating that the coffee is in the fridge. It is also possible that the speaker is trying to
distinguish between the location of another object. For example, perhaps the tea is on the
table, but the coffee is in the fridge).
------------------------------------
You also might be wondering why “안” isn’t used if we are indicating that the coffee is in
the fridge. In cases like this, where the location being described happens to be “inside”
of something, “안” can be omitted. You can see the similarities of using “안” and not
using it in the following English and Korean sentences:
커피가 냉장고에 있다 = The coffee is in the fridge

커피가 냉장고 안에 있다 = The coffee is inside the fridge
------------------------------------
In both pairs of examples (using ~는/은 or ~이/가), the translation does not change by
altering the subject particle. Rather, the only thing that changes is the subtle feeling or
nuance that something is being compared.
Note that this “comparative” function of ~는/은 can be used in much more complicated
sentences, and can be attached to other grammatical principles – neither of which you
have learned yet. In future lessons, not only will you see examples of increasing
complexity applying this concept, but its usage with other grammatical principles will be
introduced specifically. You need to remember that the example sentences given at this
level are incredibly simple and do not really reflect actual sentences that you are likely to
hear as one-off sentences from Korean people. Real speech is much more complex and it
usually is an intricate combination of many clauses and grammatical principles.
Our lessons don’t really get into the use of multiple clauses until Lesson 24. Creating
sentences with more than one clause opens an entire other can of worms that you don’t
have the tools to deal with yet. I encourage you to NOT read ahead to that lesson. Rather,
I encourage you to keep the information from this lesson in mind as you eventually do
reach that level.
As you progress through our Lessons, you will see both “~는/은” and “~이/가” used as
the subject particles in the thousands of example sentences we have provided. As almost
all of our example sentences are just written as one sentence (without any background,
prior context, or explanation of the situation), there is no way to tell if something is being
compared to – and thus – their usage is usually arbitrary. That being said – every Korean
example sentence throughout all of our lessons is always checked by a native Korean
speaker to make sure that nothing is awkward (or incorrect).
In addition to the distinction discussed in this lesson, there are other situations where it
might be more appropriate to use ~이/가 or ~은/는. However, I am not able to fully
describe the distinction between these two particles with the limited amount of grammar
(and vocabulary) understanding you have to this point. The purpose of this lesson is to
give you a general understanding of ~이/가, and to introduce you to the comparison
between ~는/은.
At this point, I would like you to continue to Lesson 3 to continue learning other
grammatical principles you need to deepen your understanding of Korean in general.
In Lessons 17 and 22, we will come back to this problem and dive into more ways we can
distinguish the functions of ~이/가 and ~는/은. I want to stress that I do not want you to
read these now, but you should know that there is more to distinguishing ~는/은 and
~이/가 than is described here.
If you haven’t reached Lesson 17 (and especially if you haven’t even moved on to Lesson
3) you won’t understand what is being described in that lesson. Being able to fully
understand the difference between ~이/가 and ~는/은 is important, but not as important
(at the moment) as understanding other aspects of Korean grammar. I can’t stress this
enough – your understanding of the difference between the two will progress with your
Korean development in general.
The good thing is, even if you make a mistake with the usages of ~이/가 and ~는/은
(either because you are confused or because you haven’t reached the later lessons yet),
99.9% of the time, the listener will be able to understand exactly what you are trying to
express. Likewise, if you listen to somebody speaking, you will be able to understand
what they are trying to say regardless of if you have learned the more complex usages of
~이/가 and ~는/은. The difference between these two particles is about nuance and does
not dramatically change the meaning of the sentence.
Making a mistake between other particles, however, would cause other people to
misunderstand you. For example, using ~를/을 instead of ~는/은 would (most likely)
make your sentence incomprehensible.
That’s it for this lesson. Please keep all of this information in your mind for future
lessons. We will continue this discussion in Lesson 17. For now, please continue to
Lesson 3.
Nouns: Verbs:
음식 = food 먹다 = to eat
케이크 = cake 가다 = to go
공항 = airport 만나다 = to meet
병원 = hospital 닫다 = to close
공원 = park 열다 = to open
한국어 = Korean (language) 원하다 = to want (an object)
머리 = head 만들다 = to make
다리 = leg 하다 = to do
손가락 = finger 말하다 = to speak
귀 = ear 이해하다 = to understand
팔 = arm 좋아하다 = to like
눈 = eye
입 = mouth Adjectives:
배 = stomach 크다 = to be big
버스 = bus 작다 = to be small
배 = boat 새롭다 = to be new
우리 = we/us 낡다 = to be old (not age)
비싸다 = to be expensive
Adverbs: 싸다 = to be not expensive, to be cheap
아주 = very 아름답다 = to be beautiful
매우 = very 뚱뚱하다 = to be fat, to be chubby
너무 = too (often used to mean ‘very’) 길다 = to be long
좋다 = to be good
Some Quick Notes about Korean Verbs and Adjectives
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.
Verbs/adjectives that end in "~하다" are typically of Chinese origin and have an
equivalent Hanja (한자) form. Verbs that do not end in "~하다" are of Korean origin and
do not have a Hanja form. If you can speak Chinese, you will probably have an advantage
at learning more difficult Korean vocabulary, as a lot of difficult Korean words have a
Chinese origin.
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”
I 는 food 를 eat
To make a sentence, you simply need to substitute the English words with Korean words:
저는 + 음식을 + 먹다
저는 음식을 먹다 = I eat food
Although the structure of the sentences presented in this lesson is perfect, the verbs are
not conjugated, and thus, not perfect. You will learn about conjugating in Lesson 5 and
Lesson 6. Before learning how to conjugate, however, it is essential that you understand
the word-order of these sentences. However, because of some strange Korean
grammatical rules, the sentences provided in the "Adjectives" section are technically
perfect but are presented in an uncommon (but simplest) conjugation pattern. Again, you
will learn about these conjugations in Lesson 5 and Lesson 6. For now, try to understand
the word order of the sentences and how the verbs/adjectives are being used.
As with previous lessons, conjugated examples (one formal and one informal) are
provided beneath the un-conjugated example:
Let’s look at more examples:

나는 케이크를 만들다 = I make a cake
(나는 케이크를 만들어 / 저는 케이크를 만들어요)
나는 배를 원하다 = I want a boat

(나는 배를 원해 / 저는 배를 원해요)
나는 한국어를 말하다 = I speak Korean

(나는 한국어를 말해 / 저는 한국어를 말해요)
나는 공원에 가다 = I go to the park (notice the particle 에)

(나는 공원에 가 / 저는 공원에 가요)
나는 문을 닫다 = I close the door

(나는 문을 닫아 / 저는 문을 닫아요)
나는 창문을 열다 = I open the window

(나는 창문을 열어 / 저는 창문을 열어요)
Remember that sentences with verbs don’t necessarily need to have an object in them:
저는 이해하다 = I understand
(나는 이해해 / 저는 이해해요)
Some verbs by default cannot act on an object. Words like: sleep, go, die, etc. You cannot
say something like "I slept home", or "I went restaurant", or "I died her." You can use
nouns in sentences with those verbs, but only with the use of other particles - some of
which you have learned already (~에) and some that you will learn in later lessons. With
the use of other particles you can say things like:
I slept at home
I went to the restaurant
I died with her
We will get into more complicated particles in later lessons, but here I want to focus on
the purpose of ~를/을 and its function as an object particle.
Korean Adjectives
Korean adjectives, just like Korean verbs are placed at the end of a sentence. The main
difference between verbs and adjectives is that an adjective can never act on an object.
Notice in the sentences below that there is no object being acted on.
Adjectives are very easy to use. Just put them into the sentence with your subject:
(Remember that the examples in parentheses show sentences that have been conjugated
which you have not learned yet.)
나는 아름답다 = I am beautiful
(나는 아름다워 / 저는 아름다워요)
나는 작다 = I am small
(나는 작아 / 저는 작아요)
이 버스는 크다 = This bus is big

(이 버스는 커 / 이 버스는 커요)
그 병원은 새롭다 = That hospital is new

(그 병원은 새로워 / 그 병원은 새로워요)
There is one confusing thing about translating sentences with Korean adjectives to
English. Notice that in all examples above, the words "am/is/are/etc..." are used. In
English, these words must be used when using an adjective:
I am fat
He is fat
They are fat
Remember, the translation for "am/is/are" to Korean is "이다." However, you do not use
"이다" when writing a sentence like this in Korean. Within the meaning of Korean
adjective is "is/am/are." Early learners are always confused by this. The confusion stems
from the fact that it is done differently in English and Korean. Please, from here on,
abandon what you know of grammar based on English - it will only hold you back.
의 Possessive Particle
Note: The pronunciation of the letter "ㅢ" can change depending on how and when it is
used. You might want to check out the section where I discuss the pronunciation of ㅢ in
the Pronunciation Guide of Unit 0.
You already know that ‘I’ in Korean is 저/나. You also know the translation for various
objects in Korean.
"의" is a particle that indicates that one is the owner/possessor of another object. It has
the same role as " 's " in English (for most examples). For example:
저의 책 = my book
저의 차 = My car
저의 손가락 = my finger
그 사람의 차 = That person's car
의사의 탁자 = The doctor's table
선생님의 차 = the teacher’s car
You can use these words in sentences you already know (with verbs and adjectives):
선생님의 차는 크다 = The teacher’s car is big

(선생님의 차는 커 / 선생님의 차는 커요)
나는 선생님의 차를 원하다 = I want the teacher’s car

(나는 선생님의 차를 원해 / 저는 선생님의 차를 원해요)
나의 손가락은 길다 = my finger is long

(나의 손가락은 길어 / 저의 손가락은 길어요)
그 여자의 눈은 아름답다 = That woman’s eyes are beautiful

(그 여자의 눈은 아름다워 / 그 여자의 눈은 아름다워요)
You will find that words like “my/our/their/his/her” are often omitted from sentences. As
you will learn continuously throughout your Korean studies, Korean people love
shortening their sentences wherever possible. Whenever something can be assumed by
context, words are often omitted from sentences to make them more simple. For example:
나는 나의 친구를 만나다 = I meet my friend

(나는 나의 친구를 만나 / 저는 저의 친구를 만나요)
Can be written as the following:
나는 친구를 만나다 = I meet (my/a) friend

(나는 친구를 만나 / 저는 친구를 만나요)
In this case (and many others like it) you are clearly meeting “your” friend, so the word
“my” can be omitted from the sentence.
Always try to stay away from translating sentences directly, and try to focus more on
translating sentences based on context as done above.
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

(이 음식은 좋아 / 이 음식은 좋아요)
그 선생님은 좋다 = that teacher is good

(그 선생님은 좋아 / 그 선생님은 좋아요)
이 학교는 좋다 = This school is good

(이 학교는 좋아 / 이 학교는 좋아요)
There is also 좋아하다 which is a verb meaning ‘to like.’ Because 좋아하다 is a verb,
can use it just like any other verb:
나는 이 음식을 좋아하다 = I like this food

(나는 이 음식을 좋아해 / 저는 이 음식을 좋아해요)
나는 그 선생님을 좋아하다 = I like that teacher

(나는 그 선생님을 좋아해 / 저는 그 선생님을 좋아해요)
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
We, Us, and Our (우리)
At this point I would also like to introduce you to the word “우리” which you can see
from the vocabulary list of this lesson translates to “us” or “we.” In English, even though
they are technically the same word, the usage of “us” or “we” depends on its location
within the sentence it is used in. Just like “I” and “me”, if the word is the subject of a
sentence, “we” is used. For example:
I like you
We like you
However, if the word is the object in a sentence, the word “us” is used. For example:
He likes me
He likes us
In Korean, they do not make this distinction, and “우리” is used in both situations. For
example:
우리는 너를 좋아하다 = We like you

(우리는 너를 좋아해)
I deliberately didn't include a formal version of the sentence above because it is usually
awkward to say the word "you" politely in Korean. We'll get to this in a later lesson.
선생님은 우리를 좋아하다 = The teacher likes us

(선생님은 우리를 좋아해 / 선생님은 우리를 좋아해요)
By placing the possessive particle “의” after “우리” we can create the meaning of “our”.
While this can be done, I feel it is much more common to omit this particle when it is
used with “우리.” In fact, the particle “의” is very commonly omitted from words other
than “우리” as well. However, I don’t suggest thinking about doing this until you have a
better grasp of the language. At this point, I only suggest that you do this with “우리.”
For example:
우리 선생님은 남자이다 = Our teacher is a man

(우리 선생님은 남자야 | 우리 선생님은 남자예요)
우리 집은 크다 = Our house is big

(우리 집은 커 | 우리 집은 커요)
A formal version of “우리” is “저희”. However, even in formal situations it is acceptable

to use “우리”. At this point, you haven’t even begun to learn about the different levels of
formality of Korean, so I don’t want you to get too worried about this word.
Nouns: Verbs:
길 = street 오다 = to come
거리 = street, road 끝내다 = to finish something
손 = hand 춤추다 = to dance
영어 = English 알다 = to know
택시 = taxi 걷다 = to walk
열차 = train 배우다 = to learn
역 = train/subway station 연습하다 = to practice
버스 정류장 = bus stop 생각하다 = to think
비행기 = airplane 살다 = to live
자전거 = bicycle
아내 = wife Adjectives:
아이 = child 위험하다 = to be dangerous
아들 = son 잘생기다 = to be handsome
딸 = daughter 못생기다 = to be ugly
남편 = husband 피곤하다 = to be tired
아버지 = father 다르다 = to be different
어머니 = mother 슬프다 = to be sad
편지 = letter 맛있다 = to be delicious
맛 = taste 재미있다 = to be funny, to be fun
식사 = meal 많다 = to be many, to be a lot of
아침 = morning 행복하다 = to be happy
아침식사 = breakfast
Adverbs and Other Words:
물 = water
거기 = there
사과 = apple
저기 = there (when farther away)
돈 = money
지금 = now
Passive Verbs: 하지만 = but
끝나다 = to be finished
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.
안녕히 가세요 = Goodbye (said to a person leaving)
안녕히 계세요 = Goodbye (said when you leave)
만나서 반갑습니다 = Nice to meet you
실례합니다 = Excuse me
죄송합니다/미안합니다 = Sorry
제발 = Please
이름이 뭐예요? = What is your name?
저의 이름은 ______이다 = My name is ______
어디에서 왔어요? = Where are you from?
저는 _______에서 왔어요 = I am from ________
Now that we have gotten that out of the way, let’s start studying some actual material.
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:

(나는 배를 원해 / 저는 배를 원해요)
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:

나는 big 배를 원하다 = I want a big boat
Simple. So we just substitute the Korean word for big (크다) into that sentence?:
나는 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, for example:
small boy
big boat
soft hand
delicious hamburger
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. For example:
Word Stem Adjective that can describe a noun Example Translation

크다 크 큰 큰배 Big boat
비싸다 비싸 비싼 비싼 음식 Expensive food
싸다 싸 싼 싼것 Cheap thing
Words in which the last syllable of the stem ends in a consonant (작다/좋다/많다) you
add ~은 to the stem. For example:
Word Stem Adjective that can describe 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 큰 배를 원하다 = correct
The key to understanding this is being able to understand the difference between the
following:
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 predicates the noun of "expensive food." For example:
나는 비싼 음식을 먹다 = I eat expensive food

(나는 비싼 음식을 먹어 / 저는 비싼 음식을 먹어요)
The verb "to eat" predicates this sentence.
저는 비싼 음식을 좋아하다 = I like expensive food

(나는 비싼 음식을 좋아해 / 저는 비싼 음식을 좋아해요)
The verb "to like" predicates this sentence.
비싼 음식은 맛있다 = Expensive food is delicious

(비싼 음식은 맛있어 / 비싼 음식은 맛있어요)
The adjective "to be delicious" predicates this sentence. Notice that there is no object in
this sentence.
Remember, for the last time - you do not know how to conjugate verbs and adjectives at
the end of a sentence yet. This will be introduced in the next lesson. Because you do not
know how to conjugate verbs/adjectives at the ends of sentences, examples with un-
conjugated forms are presented in this lesson. Remember that these sentences are
technically incorrect, but understanding them is crucial to your understanding of the
Korean sentence structure.
As with the previous three lessons, I have provided conjugated examples below each un-
conjugated example. You will probably not be able to understand these conjugations.)
More examples of using adjectives to describe nouns within a sentence:
나는 작은 집에 가다 = I go to the small house

(나는 작은 집에 가 / 저는 작은 집에 가요)
나는 큰 차를 원하다 = I want a big car

(나는 큰 차를 원해 / 저는 큰 차를 원해요)
나는 잘생긴 남자를 만나다 = I meet a handsome man

(나는 잘생긴 남자를 만나 / 저는 잘생긴 남자를 만나요)
나는 많은 돈이 있다 = I have a lot of money
(나는 많은 돈이 있어 / 저는 많은 돈이 있어요)
나는 뚱뚱한 학생을 만나다 = I meet a fat student

(나는 뚱뚱한 학생을 만나 / 저는 뚱뚱한 학생을 만나요)
In Lessons 1 and 2, I explained that adjectives cannot "act" on objects. Many learners
look at the sentences above and say "Hey! Those sentences have an object and an
adjective!" Adjectives cannot act on an object to predicate a sentence. This means you
cannot use a sentence like this (in either language):
나는 집을 작다 = I small house
However, I didn't say anything about adjectives and objects being used in the same
sentence. Adjectives can be used to describe an object that is being predicated by a verb.
I will continue to talk about this in the examples below.
In the examples above, notice the difference in function between when an adjective is
used to describe a noun compared to when it is used to predicate a sentence. For example:
----------------------
나는 작은 집에 가다 = I go to the small house
(나는 작은 집에 가 / 저는 작은 집에 가요)
The verb "to go" predicates this sentence.
그 집은 작다 = That house is small

(그 집은 작아 / 그 집은 작아요)
The adjective "to be small" predicates this sentence. Notice that there is no object in this sentence.
----------------------
저는 큰 차를 원하다 = I want a big car
(나는 큰 차를 원해 / 저는 큰 차를 원해요)
The verb "to want" predicates this sentence.
이 차는 크다 = This car is big

(이 차는 커 / 이 차는 커요)
The adjective "to be big" predicates this sentence. Notice that there is no object in this sentence.
----------------------
In each of the examples above, even though the adjective always acts as a descriptive
word, in the cases when they are placed before nouns to describe them - those nouns are
able to be placed anywhere in the sentence (for example, as the subject, object, location,
or other places).
This same thing happens in English, where I can have a simple sentence like this:
남자는 음식을 먹다 = The man eats food

(남자는 음식을 먹어 / 남자는 음식을 먹어요)
I can use adjectives to describe each noun in the sentence. For example:
행복한 여자는 작은 차 안에 있다 = The happy girl is inside the small car

(행복한 여자는 작은 차 안에 있어 / 행복한 여자는 작은 차 안에 있어요)
You will see some adjectives that end in "~있다." The most common of these for a
beginner are:
맛있다 = delicious
재미있다 = fun, funny
When an adjective ends in “~있다” like this, instead of attaching ~ㄴ/은 to the stem, you
must attach ~는 to the stem. For example:
그 남자는 재미있는 남자이다 = that man is a funny man

(그 남자는 재미있는 남자야 / 그 남자는 재미있는 남자예요)
나는 맛있는 음식을 먹다 = I eat delicious food

(나는 맛있는 음식을 먹어 / 저는 맛있는 음식을 먹어요)
The difference here is due to what I call the "~는 것" principle. For now, you do not need
to think about why ~는 is added instead of ~ㄴ/은. It is sufficient at this point to just
memorize it as an exception. The concept behind this grammatical rule is introduced in
Lesson 26 and I continue to discuss it into other Lessons in Unit 2. This concept is related
to verbs being able to describe nouns. For example:
"The man who I met yesterday will go to the park that I want to go to"
However, this is very complex and is the whole basis to the ~는 것 principle that I
mentioned earlier. As I said, you will begin to learn about this in Lesson 26.
To be a lot of: 많다
A good way to practice your understanding of how adjectives can be used to describe a
noun in a sentence or to predicate an entire sentence is to apply your knowledge to the
word "많다." 많다 is an adjective that describes that there is "many' or "a lot" of
something. Its translation to English usually depends on how it is used in a sentence. For
example, when used to describe nouns in a sentence, it can be used in the following way:
나는 많은 음식을 먹다 = I eat a lot of food

(나는 많은 음식을 먹어 / 저는 많은 음식을 먹어요)
나는 많은 돈이 있다 = I have a lot of money

(나는 많은 돈이 있어 / 저는 많은 돈이 있어요)
나는 많은 아내가 있다 = I have a lot of wives (ha!)

(나는 많은 아내가 있어 / 저는 많은 아내가 있어요)
Now, if we use "많다" to predicate a sentence, it can be used like this:
사람이 많다
In your Korean studies, you need to realize that it is never effective to think of a Korean
sentence as an exact translation in English. The fact is, Korean and English grammar are
completely different, and trying to force the rules/structure of English into Korean is
unnatural. If we stuck with the translation of "a lot of" for the meaning of "많다" and
forced the English translation to the sentence "사람이 많다", we would get:
People are a lot of
... But that clearly is not accurate. Instead, what is the sentence "사람이 많다" describing?
It is describing that there is a lot of something, therefore, the translation should be:
사람이 많다 = there is a lot of people

(사람이 많아 / 사람이 많아요)
Therefore, when 많다 predicates a sentence, its translation is usually "There is/are a lot
of...". Here is another example:
음식이 많다 = there is a lot of food

(음식이 많아 / 음식이 많아요)
Of course, this can be applied to very complex sentences as well, but this is just the very
beginning. Eventually, you will be able to make a sentence like:
There are a lot of singers who become famous and spend all of their money too quickly
This sentence as well would also end in "많다." The structure would basically be:
(singers who become famous and spend all of their money too quickly)가 많다
You are still very far from understanding how complex sentences like that work, but I
want to show you that the content you learned in this lesson brings you one step closer.
Also notice that the particles 이/가 are attached to the subjects in sentences ending with
"많다." There are some words where the use of the particles ~이/가 on the subject of the
sentence is more natural than the use of ~는/은. 많다 is one of these words. We will
continue to tell you in which situations it is more natural to use ~이/가 instead of ~은/는
as we progress through our lessons.
~ Particle 도
~도 is another particle that is very useful in Korean. It has the meaning of “too/as well.”
It can replace the subject particles (는/은) OR the object particles (를/을), depending on
what you are saying “too” with. For example:
저도 한국어를 말하다 = I speak Korean as well (In addition to other people)

(나도 한국어를 말해 / 저도 한국어를 말해요)
which is different from:
저는 한국어도 말하다 = I speak Korean as well (in addition to other languages)

(나는 한국어도 말해 / 저는 한국어도 말해요)
Make sure you notice the difference between the previous two examples. In English these
two are written the same, but sound different when speaking.
In the first example, you are emphasizing that YOU also speak Korean, in addition to
other people that you are talking about. In the second example, you are emphasizing that
(in addition to other languages), you also speak Korean.
See the two examples below for the same issue:
저도 사과를 먹다 = I eat apples as well

(나도 사과를 먹어 / 저도 사과를 먹어요)
저는 사과도 먹다 = I eat apples as well

(나는 사과도 먹어 / 저는 사과도 먹어요)
Notice the difference in pronunciation in English. The first one has the meaning of “other
people eat some apples, but I too eat some apples.”
The second example has the meaning of “I eat some other food as well, but I also eat
apples.” It is important to recognize that whatever noun "~도" is attached to (the subject
or object) is the thing that is being expressed as "too."
More examples:
나도 그것을 알다 = I know that, too
(나도 그것을 알아 / 저도 그것을 알아요)
나도 피곤하다 = I am tired, too

(나도 피곤해 / 저도 피곤해요)
나의 딸도 행복하다 = My daughter is happy, too

(나의 딸도 행복해 / 저의 딸도 행복해요)
Nouns: Adjectives:
동생 = younger sibling 지루하다 = to be boring
남동생 = younger brother 마르다 = for a person to be too thin
여동생 = younger sister 멀다 = to be far away
형 = older brother, when you are a man 마르다 = to be dry
오빠 = older brother, when you are a woman 비슷하다 = to be similar
누나 = older sister, when you are a man 싫다 = to not be good
언니 = older sister, when you are a woman 오래되다 = for an object to be old
삼촌 = uncle 배고프다 = to be hungry
이모 = aunt (on mother’s side)
고모 = aunt (on father’s side) Adverbs and Other Words:
아저씨 = older man not related to you 오늘 = today
아주머니 = older woman not related to you 월요일 = Monday
할아버지 = grandfather 화요일 = Tuesday
할머니 = grandmother 수요일 = Wednesday
친구 = friend 목요일 = Thursday
사진 = picture 금요일 = Friday
안경 = glasses 토요일 = Saturday
비밀 = secret 일요일 = Sunday
비 = rain 어제 = Yesterday
가게 = store/shop 내일 = tomorrow
박물관 = museum 모레 = the day after tomorrow
가스 레인지 = stove (gas range) 년 = year
오리 = duck (animal) 일 = day
꼬리 = tail 시간 = time
공 = ball
Verbs:
Verbs: 싫어하다 = to not like
기대하다 = to expect 떠나다 = to leave a place
건너다 = to cross (a road/etc) 농담하다 = to joke
공부하다 = to study 던지다 = to throw
How to say “I” or “me” in Korean
First of all, I want to point out the difference between “I” and “me” in English. This is
something that I never knew/realized until I started to learn Korean as you will find that
learning a foreign language will vastly increase your understanding of your mother
tongue and languages in general. In English “I” and “me” have the same meaning, but
they differ in their usage. When the speaker is the subject of a sentence “I” is used. When
the speaker is the object (or other part) of a sentence “me” is used. For example:
I love you (“I” is the subject of the sentence)

You love me (“me” is the object of the sentence)
In Korean, the same word is used to say “I” or “me.” That is, there is no difference in the
Korean word if it used as a subject or object. However, remember that different particles
will have to be attached to these words.
Although the word in Korean for “I/me” doesn’t change based on its usage in a sentence,
it does change based on the politeness of a sentence. For example:
저 means “I/me” and is used in formal situations

나 means “I/me” and is used in informal situations
~는 can be attached to 저 and 나 to indicate “I” is the subject of a sentence. For example:
저는
나는
(I am purposely not providing example sentences because you still haven’t learned
proper conjugations. You will finally learn about conjugations in this lesson)
~를 can be attached to 저 and 나 to indicate that “me” is the object of a sentence. For
example:
저를
나를
~가 can be attached to 저 and 나 to indicate “I” is the subject of a sentence or clause. I

have already briefly distinguished the difference between ~이/가 and ~은/는 in Lesson 2.
The difference between these particles is very subtle and takes years to fully grasp. I
discuss these differences more deeply in Lesson 17 and Lesson 24, but this isn’t
immediately important to you right now. What is immediately important to you is that
you remember that when ~가 is attached 나 changes to 내, and 저 changes to 제. For
example:
내가
제가
In the lesson below, all of the sentences are conjugated in an informal style. Therefore, all
of the example sentences below use the informal “나” or “내.” In this lesson, don’t worry
about formality and just focus on the information that I present. In the next lesson, you
will learn more about formal and informal speech, and you will see “저” and “제” being
used.
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) (Name 선생님), 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) In informal situations, you can use the word “너.” ~는 and ~를 can attach to “너”
when “you” is the subject or object of a sentence, respectively. If ~가 is added to
~너, it changes to “네가.” In order to distinguish the pronunciation of “네가” and
“내가” from each other (which, technically should be pronounced the same),
“네가” is pronounced as “knee-ga.”
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
As I have said in every lesson so far - every sentence that you have learned thus far has
not been conjugated. 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 tests, books (not in dialogue),
research papers, newspaper articles, magazine articles, and other times when one is not
speaking/writing to a specific audience. It is also sometimes called the “plain form.”
If you used this form in a sentence, you should use the informal "나," as this conjugation
is seen as informal. As such, throughout this lesson, you will see the word "나" used for
"I." However, as I mentioned, this conjugation form is also used in print (books,
newspapers, articles, etc...). When this is done, the sentence is neither formal or informal
- as it is just relaying facts. When used like this, no specific person is the speaker, and
nobody is getting directly spoken to. Therefore, you don't generally see "저" or "나" in
these forms of Korean, and there is no need to see these writings as formal or informal.
It is possible to use this "diary" or "plain" form in conversation, but you are more likely
to hear one of the conjugations discussed in the next lesson. Although the plain form is
not very common in conversation, the conjugation itself is incredibly important if you
want to understand more complex grammar later on or learn to read most printed forms
of Korean (books, newspaper, etc…). You will learn the most important conjugations for
conversation in the next lesson, but I highly recommend you to understand the
conjugations presented in this lesson first.
The only part of speech that gets conjugated in Korean is verbs and adjectives (and 이다).
As you already know, a sentence must end in either a verb or adjective or 이다.
Let’s look at how to conjugate verbs and adjectives into the past, present and future
tenses.
Verbs
Present Tense
When the last syllable of a 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)
Examples:
나는 문을 닫는다 = I close the door
나는 밥을 먹는다 = I eat rice
When the last syllable of the stem ends in a vowel, you add ~ㄴ to the last syllable
followed by 다
c. 배우다 = 배운다 = to learn (배우 + ㄴ다)
d. 이해하다 = 이해한다 = to understand (이해하 + ㄴ다)
e. 가다 = 간다 = to go (가 + ㄴ다)
Examples:
나는 친구를 만난다 = I meet a friend
나는 그것을 이해한다 = I understand that
나는 한국어를 배운다 = I learn Korean
나는 집에 간다 = I go home
Past Tense
Before you learn this, you need to know something important. Korean grammar is based
on adding things directly to verbs or adjectives to create a specific meaning. For example,
earlier in this lesson you saw how ~는다 or ~ㄴ다 can be added to the stem of a verb in
order to conjugate that verb to the present tense.
Hundreds of grammatical principles (not just conjugations, but grammatical principles

that have actual meanings in sentences) are created by adding certain things to the stems
of verbs and adjectives. You will learn about these in later lessons as you progress
through your studies. For example, the following is a short list of additions that can be
added to the stems of verbs and/or adjectives to create a specific meaning:
 ~기 to create a noun form of a verb or adjective (Lesson 29)

 ~아/어서 to give reason (Lesson 37)
 ~(으)시 to denote an honorific acting agent (Lesson 39)
 ~(으)세요 to make a command (Lesson 40)
 ~자 to make a suggestion (Lesson 44)
 ~아/어야 하다 to indicate that one must do something (Lesson 46)
 ~ㄴ/는다고 to quote somebody (Lesson 52)
The list could go on and on forever.
Notice that some of these grammatical principles require the addition of “~아/어.” Many
grammatical principles (or conjugations, or any other thing) require the addition of
“~아/어” to the stem of a verb or adjective. Notice that the “slash” indicates that you
need to choose what actually gets added to the stem. In some cases it is “~아”, and in
some cases it is “~어”. The following is the rule that you can use to determine if you
should add “~아” or “~어”:
- If the last vowel in a stem is ㅏ or ㅗ (this includes rare cases of the last vowel
being ㅑ or ㅛ) you add ~아 followed by the remainder of the grammatical
principle. (The only exception is "하." If the last syllable in a stem is "하", ~여
must be added to the stem followed by the remainder of the grammatical principle
instead of ~아.
- If the last vowel in a stem is anything but ㅏ or ㅗ you add ~어 followed by the
remainder of the grammatical principle
When conjugating to the past tense, we need to add “~았/었다” to the stem of a word (or
였다 in the case of 하다). Following the rule above, ~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. Finally, ~였다 is added to words with the last syllable being "하." For
example:
나는 밥을 먹다 = I eat rice (note that this sentence is unconjugated)

The last vowel in the stem is ㅓ. This is not ㅏ or ㅗ. So, we add 었다 to the stem:
나는 밥을 먹었다 = I ate rice (먹 + 었다)
나는 문을 닫다 = I close the door (note that this sentence is unconjugated)

The last vowel in the stem is ㅏ. So we add 았다 to the stem:
나는 문을 닫았다 = I closed the door (닫 + 았다)
나는 창문을 열다 = I open the window (note that this sentence is unconjugated)

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)
나는 한국어를 공부하다 = I study Korean (note that this sentence is unconjugated)

The last syllable in the stem is "하". Therefore, we add ~였다 to the stem:
나는 한국어를 공부하였다 = I studied Korean (공부하 + 였다)
What makes this complicated (at first) is that for verbs that have a last syllable that end in
a vowel (including 하다), the ~았다/었다 gets merged to the actual stem itself.
This is how ~아 and ~어 (and ~여) 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: 나서 + 었다 = 나섰다)
여 + 어 = 여 (example: 켜다 + 었다 = 켰다)
하 + 여 = 해 (example: 공부하다 + 였다 = 공부했다)
Although 하 + 여 can be written as "해," there will be some situations (usually official
documents) where you will see “하여” used instead of “해”:
Words where the last vowel is “ㅡ” (for example: 잠그다) are complicated and will be
covered in Lesson 7.
Many people have asked me “what if the last vowel in a stem is a more complicated
vowel, like ㅠ, ㅑ, ㅔ, etc…?” You will find that the stem of almost all verbs and
adjectives in Korean do not end in these complex vowels. The most common words I can
think of that have stem that ends in one of these complex vowels are:
바래다 (to fade)

매다 (to tie up)
메다 (to put on/carry something on one’s shoulder)
With these words (and others like it), the same rule applies as above. That is, the final
vowel does not end in ㅏ or ㅗ, so we need to add “어” plus whatever we are adding.
With these complex vowels, it is irrelevant if you merge the addition to the stem. Both
forms (merged and non-merged) would be correct. For example:
바래 + 었다 = 바랬다 or 바래었다
매다 + 었다 = 맸다 or 매었다
메다 + 었다 = 멨다 or 메었다
Here is a more detailed breakdown:
가다 = to go
The last vowel in the stem is ㅏ. So we add 았다 to the stem.
나는 박물관에 가았다
But, because the stem ends in a vowel, 았다 can merge with 가:
나는 박물관에 갔다 = I went to the museum
오다 = to come
The last vowel in the stem is ㅗ. So we add 았다 to the stem.
삼촌은 가게에 오았다
But, because the stem ends in a vowel, 았다 can merge with 오:
삼촌은 가게에 왔다 = (My) uncle came to the store
배우다 = to learn
The last vowel in the stem is ㅜ. So we add 었다 to the stem.
오빠는 영어를 배우었다
But, because the stem ends in a vowel, 었다 can merge with 우:
오빠는 영어를 배웠다 = (My) older brother learned English
던지다 = to throw
The last vowel in the stem is ㅣ. So we add 었다 to the stem.
나는 공을 던지었다
But, because the stem ends in a vowel, 었다 can merge with 지:
나는 공을 던졌다 = I threw the ball
건너다 = to cross
The last vowel in the stem is ㅓ. So we add 었다 to the stem.
나는 길을 건너었다
But, because the stem ends in a vowel, 었다 can merge with 어:
나는 길을 건넜다 = I crossed the street
만나다 = to meet
The last vowel in the stem is ㅏ. So we add 았다 to the stem.
나는 친구를 만나았다
But, because the stem ends in a vowel, 았다 can merge with 나:
나는 친구를 만났다 = I met friends
공부하다 = to study
The last vowel in the stem is 하. So, we add 였다 to the stem.
나는 한국어를 공부하였다
But, 하 and 여 can be merged to formed 해:
나는 한국어를 공부했다 = I studied Korean
Future Tense
Future tense is easy, and is simply a matter of adding “~겠다” to the stem of a word.
Unlike the past and present tense conjugations, there is no difference if the stem ends in a
vowel or a consonant. For example:
나는 먹다 = I eat (unconjugated)
나는 먹겠다 = I will eat
나는 가다 = I go (unconjugated)
나는 가겠다 = I will go
나는 배우다 = I learn (unconjugated)

나는 배우겠다 = I will learn
Two verbs specifically that are often conjugated in the future tense without actually
having a meaning in the future tenses are 알다 (to know) and 모르다 (to not know). I
don’t want to make any example sentences (because they would be too complicated at
this point), but it would be good to remember that the words 알다 and 모르다 are often
conjugated to 알겠다 or 모르겠다. Although they are conjugated to the future tense,
those two words are typically used to express that somebody knows/doesn’t know
something in the present tense.
Also note that the ending of the conjugation will often change as well depending on the
different honorifics that you will learn in the next lesson.
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/는다 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
나의 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)
그 식당이 오래되었다 = That restaurant is old
The meaning of “오래되다” is not “old” in a bad, negative sense. Rather, it is indicating
that something has existed for a long time, and now it is “old.” A more appropriate way
to indicate that something is “old and decrepit” is to use the word “낡다”… not to be
confused with the word “늙다”, which refers to an “old” person.
This is a little bit complicated for you now, but although ~었다 is attached to 되 to make
“되었다”, this can be contracted. Teaching this is not the focus of this lesson, so don’t
worry about this for now. You will learn more about 되다 in future lessons. See Lesson 9
or Lesson 14 for lessons nearby that discuss ‘되다.’
While 되다 is commonly used and conjugated as a verb, in this case, 오래되다 is an

adjective. Which means that [in addition to other ways it will change when used with
other grammatical principles], ~ㄴ can be added to it to describe a noun. For example:
우리는 오래된 집에 갔다 = We went to the old house
As with verbs, if the final letter of a verb/adjective stem is a vowel, 았다/었다 is merged
to the actual stem itself:
이것은 비쌌다 = This 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:
나는 행복하겠다 = I will be happy

그것은 맛있겠다 = That thing will be delicious
나는 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
있다 is one of the most complex and versatile words in Korean. Unfortunately, it is also
one of the most common words. It is often very difficult for learners of a language to
fully understand some of the most commonly used words in whatever language they are
studying. For example, a native English speaker might think that the word “the” is one of
the easiest words as it is used so frequently. However, try explaining the meaning and
purpose of “the” to a Korean person and you will quickly discover that its usage is very
complex.
있다 can be an adjective, or it can be a verb. Whether it is an adjective or a verb depends

on its usage.
있다 is an adjective when it is used to indicate that one “has” something. You learned
these sentences in Lesson 2:
나는 차가 있다 = I have a car
나는 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.
When 있다 is used to indicate that something/someone is “at/in” a location, it is also an
adjective. This is also very difficult for an English speaker to wrap their head around.
You learned these sentences in Lesson 2:
나는 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
Again, because this usage of 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 in the
plain form and grammatically correct.
However, the usage of 있다 is much more complex than just these two meanings. 있다
has many usages. In fact, there are times when 있다 is considered a verb. At this point,
your understanding of Korean is not strong enough to see example sentences of 있다 as a
verb because you haven’t learned some critical grammatical principles yet. What I want
you to take from this is that 있다 can be a verb – and thus – is conjugated as a verb
sometimes. Therefore, although the example sentences above with 있다 are properly
conjugated, there are times when the proper conjugation of 있다 in the “plain form”
would be 있는다.
있다 is considered a verb when a person (or animal) is not only “at” a location, but
“staying” at a location or in a state for a period of time. The difference between the
adjective “있다” (to indicate something/someone is at a location) and the verb “있다” (to
indicate that someone stays at a location or in a state) is confusing.
Below are some complicated ways that 있다 can be seen as a verb. You absolutely do not
need to understand these now. I suggest that you worry about them when you reach that
particular lesson in your studies:
- In Lesson 14 when ~아/어 있다 is used to indicate the passive state of a verb

- In Lesson 18 when ~고 있다 is used to indicate one continues doing
something
- In Lesson 40 when telling somebody to stay in a location or in a state
- In Lesson 44 when ~자 is used to make a suggestion to stay in a place
Wow, that is a lot of grammar. Understanding this will probably be your the hardest step
you will need to make in learning Korean. I really mean that. If you can get through this
lesson, almost everything you will learn will relate back to the principles in this lesson in
one way or another. Don’t give up!
Nouns: Verbs:
신발 = shoe 노력하다 = to try
남방 = shirt 앉다 = to sit
질문 = question 만지다 = to touch
문제 = question/problem 자다 = to sleep
나이 = age 보다 = to see
화장실 = bathroom, restroom 기다리다 = to wait
부장님 = boss 청소하다 = to clean
분위기 = the atmosphere of something 약속하다 = to promise
차 = tea 듣다 = to hear
바지 = pants 들어보다 = to listen
교실 = classroom 그만하다 = to stop
급식 = food at school 운동하다 = to exercise
교감선생님 = vice principal 놀라다 = to be surprised
교장선생님 = principal
풀 = glue Adjectives:
수도 = capital city 빠르다 = to be fast
병 = bottle 느리다 = to be slow
병 = disease, sickness 착하다 = to be nice
생선 = fish
야채 = vegetable
곧 = soon
언덕 = hill
항상 = always
선물 = present
주 = week
기타 = guitar
아래 = bottom
종이 = paper
우유 = milk
손목 = wrist
시계 = clock
손목시계 = wristwatch
영화 = movie
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 at 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.
The names of each form of speech might be different in every source, but I have chosen
the words above to describe each form. In addition, you learned the "Plain form" in the
previous lesson.
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.
Also, in the previous lesson, you learned that if a stem of a word ends in a vowel,
“~았/었다” gets merged to the actual stem itself when conjugating into the past tense.
In this lesson, two of the conjugations you will learn will require the addition of ~아/어.
When adding ~아/어 to the stem of a word, the same rule applies from previous lesson.
That is, if ~아/어 gets added to a stem that ends in a vowel, ~아/어 will be merged to the
stem itself. For example:
가다 + ~아/어 = 가 (가 + 아)
오다 + ~아/어 = 와 (오 + 아)
배우다 + ~아/어 = 배워 (배우 + 어)
끼다 + ~아/어 = 껴 (끼 + 어)
나서다 + ~아/어 = 나서 (나서 + 어)
켜다 + ~아/어 = 켜 (켜 + 어)
하다 + ~아/어 = 해 (하 + 여)
Conversely, if a stem ends in a consonant, ~아/어 is attached to the stem, but not merged
to it. For example:
먹다 + ~아/어 = 먹어 (먹 + 어)
앉다 + ~아/어 = 앉아 (앉 + 아)
There are many situations when you will have to add ~아/어 (or other vowels) to stems.
Conjugating is just one of these situations. Always keep this rule in mind, as you will see
it throughout this lesson, and throughout your studies.
Okay, let’s look at some conjugations.
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:
먹다 = to eat (not conjugated)

나는 먹는다 = I eat (conjugated – present tense)
배우다 = to learn (not conjugated)

나는 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:
Remember, 나 is the informal way to say “I” and 저 is the formal way to say it. As such,
you will always see 나 used in informal situations and in sentences conjugated informally.
Conversely, you will see 저 used in formal situations and in sentences conjugated
formally.
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)
In Lesson 1, you were introduced to the function of ~에 as a particle which identifies a

location or a time in which something occurs in a sentence. Since then, you have seen
many cases of ~에 being used to indicate a place, but you have yet to see any examples of
it being used to indicate a time. This is just a quick reminder that ~에 is (in addition to
other things) attached to part of a sentence to indicate time.
Also notice in the examples above that “항상” (always) is placed in two different places
within a sentence. Adverbs are usually able to be placed wherever the speaker desires.
The usage and placement of adverbs is discussed in Lesson 8

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:

나는 먹었다 = I ate (conjugated – past tense)

나는 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:

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

나는 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)

After 겠 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, which I call the “plain form” or “diary
form.”
먹다 Past Present Future

Informal low 먹었어 먹어 먹겠어
Informal high 먹었어요 먹어요 먹겠어요
Plain form 먹었다 먹는다 먹겠다
Formal high 먹었습니다 먹습니다 먹겠습니다
자다 Past Present Future

Informal low 잤어 자 자겠어
Informal high 잤어요 자요 자겠어요
Plain form 잤다 잔다 자겠다
Formal high 잤습니다 잡니다 자겠습니다
이해하다 Past Present Future

Informal low 이해했어 이해해 이해하겠어
Informal high 이해했어요 이해해요 이해하겠어요
Plain form 이해했다 이해한다 이해하겠다
Formal high 이해했습니다 이해합니다 이해하겠습니다
Adjectives
Thankfully, adjectives are conjugated the exact same way as verbs when using 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
Plain form 비쌌다 비싸다 비싸겠다
Formal high 비쌌습니다 비쌉니다 비싸겠습니다
길다 Past Present Future

Informal low 길었어 길어 길겠어
Informal high 길었어요 길어요 길겠어요
Plain form 길었다 길다 길겠다
Formal high 길었습니다 깁니다 * 길겠습니다
*Irregular conjugation. You will learn about irregulars in the next lesson.
착하다 Past Present Future

Informal low 착했어 착해 착하겠어
Informal high 착했어요 착해요 착하겠어요
Plain form 착했다 착하다 착하겠다
Formal high 착했습니다 착합니다 착하겠습니다
Nouns: Adjectives:
눈썹 = eyebrow 쉽다 = to be easy
교사 = teacher 덥다 = to be hot
반 = class of students in school 그립다 = to miss (a thing)
직장 = location of work 귀엽다 = to be cute
벽 = wall 춥다 = to be cold
털 = hair (not on head)/fur 어렵다 = to be difficult
머리카락 = hair (on head) 더럽다 = to be dirty
저녁 = dinner, evening 바쁘다 = to be busy
점심 = lunch, noonish 같다 = to be the same
옷 = clothes 안전하다 = to be safe
오전 = morning 딱딱하다 = to be hard, to be rigid
오후 = afternoon 부드럽다 = to be soft
매일 = everyday 가능하다 = to be possible
여름 = summer 불가능하다 = to be impossible
가을 = fall 예쁘다 = to be pretty
겨울 = winter
봄 = spring Adverbs and Other Words:
일찍 = early
Verbs:
찾다 = to search for, to find Verbs:
가르치다 = to teach 잊다 = to forget
일하다 = to work 돕다 = to help
짓다 = to build 주다 = to give
가지다 = to own, to possess 맞다 = to be correct
잠그다 = to lock
Irregulars
As with all languages, there are some irregular conjugations that you need to know.
Irregulars are applied to certain verbs or adjectives when adding something to the stem of
the word. Korean grammar is based on these “additions” that are added to stems. I
mentioned this in Lesson 5, but I want to reiterate it here.
There are hundreds of additions that you can add to the stem of a verb or adjective. Some
of these are conjugations and some of them are grammatical principles that have meaning
in a sentence. You have learned about some of these additions now. For example:
~ㄴ/는다 to conjugate to the plain form

~아/어요 to conjugate to the informal high respect form
~ㅂ/습니다 to conjugate to the formal high respect form
~았/었어 to conjugate to the informal low respect form in the past tense
~ㄴ/은 added to an adjective to describe an upcoming noun
In future lessons, you will learn about many more of these additions. For example, some
of them are:
~ㄴ/은 후에 to mean “after”

~기 전에 to mean “before”
~기 때문에 to mean “because”
~아/어서 to mean “because”
~(으)면 to mean “when”
~아/어야 하다 to mean “one must”
~아/어서는 안 되다 to mean “one should not”
Notice that some of these additions start with a vowel, and some of them start with a
consonant. Most of the irregulars are applied when adding a vowel to a stem. The ㄹ
irregular that is introduced at the end of the lesson is the only irregular that applies when
adding a consonant to a stem.
Let’s look at one example before I introduce each irregular one by one. Let’s say we want
to conjugate the word “어렵다” into the past tense using the informal low respect form.
The following would happen:
어렵다 + ~았/었어 = 어려웠어
Here, you can see that the actual stem of the word changed. This is referred to as the “ㅂ
irregular” because the same phenomenon happens with many (but not all) words whose
stem ends in “ㅂ”.
As I mentioned previously, most of these irregulars are applied when adding a vowel to a
stem. There are many additions that start with a vowel, and you got a start on learning
some of those conjugations in Lessons 5 and 6:
~아/어
~아/어요
~았/었어
~았/었어요
~았/었습니다
~았/었다
As such, this lesson will present the Korean irregulars and how they change as a result of
adding these conjugations. In later lessons when you learn about other additions, you can
apply what you learned in this lesson to those concepts. For now, let’s get started.
ㅅ Irregular
If the last letter of a word stem ends in ㅅ (for example: 짓다 = to build), the ㅅ gets
removed when adding a vowel. 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. When conjugating to the plain form,
for example, you only add “~는다” to the stem and thus ㅅ does not get removed:
집을 짓는다 = to 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 not aspirated - which makes it barely
audible). 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.
Some other examples of words that follow this irregular are (these words are too difficult
for you right now, but I'm just showing you):
낫다 = better (adjective) - You will learn more about this word in Lesson 19
잇다 = to continue (verb)
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
Here is a table with the word “짓다 (to build)” being conjugated using all the honorific
forms you have learned. The irregular conjugations are in bold. Notice that this only
occurs when ~아/어 (or one of its derivatives like ~았/었어요) is added to the verb stem.
짓다 = build Past Present Future

Informal low 지었어 지어 짓겠어
Informal high 지었어요 지어요 짓겠어요
Plain form 지었다 짓는다 짓겠다
Formal high 지었습니다 짓습니다 짓겠습니다
Note that when a word stem has ㅅ as the fourth consonant, this irregular does not apply.
For example, this does not apply to 없다, which you will learn about in the next lesson.
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, it simply stays as 걷어. In
addition, 걸다 means “to hang.” When conjugating, by adding a vowel it stays as 걸어
Confusing enough? Let’s 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 it is not something that comes up a lot.
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
Here is a table with the word “걷다 (to walk)” being conjugated using all the honorific
forms you have learned so far. The irregular conjugations are in bold. Notice that this
only occurs when ~아/어 (or one of its derivatives like ~았/었어요) is added to the verb
stem.
걷다 = walk Past Present Future

Informal low 걸었어 걸어 걷겠어
Informal high 걸었어요 걸어요 걷겠어요
Plain form 걸었다 걷는다 걷겠다
Formal high 걸었습니다 걷습니다 걷겠습니다
ㅂ Irregular
If the last letter of a word stem ends in ㅂ (쉽다 = easy), the ㅂ changes to 우 when
adding a vowel. 우 then gets added to the next syllable in the conjugated word.
This is mostly done with adjectives. Many verbs end with ㅂ but this rule is rarely
applied to verbs (some of the few verbs where this rule applies are: 줍다 (to pick up),
눕다 (to lie down)). For example:
쉽다 = to be easy
쉽 + 어 = 쉬 + 우 + 어 = 쉬워
그것은 쉬워 = That is easy
어렵다 = to be difficult
어렵 + 어요 = 어려 + 우 + 어요 = 어려워요
그것은 어려워요 = That is difficult
귀엽다 = cute
귀엽 + 어요 = 귀여 + 우 + 어요 = 귀여워요
그 여자는 귀여워요 = That girl is cute
In the words “돕다” (to help) and “곱다” (an uncommon way to say “beautiful”) ㅂ
changes to 오 instead of 우. For example:
돕다 = to help
돕 + 았어요 = 도 + 오 + 았어요 = 도왔어요
저는 저의 어머니를 도왔어요 = I helped my mother
Note: The ㅂ in 돕다 and 곱다 changes to 오 only when ~아/어 (or any derivative like
~았/었다 or ~아/어요) is added. When adding any other vowel, ㅂ changes to 우. As of
now, you haven’t learned when you would need to add a different vowel. For example, in
future lessons you will learn about adding ~ㄹ/을 to verbs. When this gets added to 돕다,
it changes to 도울. This isn’t immediately pressing to you now, but you should make a
mental note of it.
Because the ㅂ 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 = Apples are big

나는 큰 사과를 좋아한다 = I like big apples
In the first sentence, ‘big’ is an adjective that describes the noun (apple) at the end of the
sentence. In the second, ‘big’ describes the apple (as ‘a big apple’) and then “like” acts
on the noun. In Lesson 4, you learned how to describe a noun by placing an adjective
with ~ㄴ/은 before it. Adding ~ㄴ/은 to adjectives where the stem ends in “ㅂ” causes
this irregular to come into play.
When placing an adjective (who's stem ends in "ㅂ") before a noun to describe it, 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
쉽 + ㄴ = 쉬 + 우 + ㄴ = 쉬운
저는 쉬운 일을 했어요 = I did easy work
부드럽다 = soft
부드럽 + ㄴ = 부드러 + 우 + ㄴ = 부드러운
나는 부드러운 손이 있어 = I have soft hands
춥다 = cold
춥 + ㄴ = 추 + 우 + ㄴ = 추운
저는 추운 날씨를 좋아해요 = I like cold weather
Note that in most irregulars, the word changes differently if the last vowel in the stem is
ㅗ OR ㅏ. However, in the ㅂ irregular, except for 돕다 and 곱다, all applicable words
are changed by adding 우. Therefore, even in words where the last vowel in the stem is
ㅏ (ex: 아름답다) or ㅗ (ex: 새롭다), 우 is added. For example:
아름답다 = beautiful:
아름답 + 어요 = 아름다 + 우 + 어요 = 아름다워요
그 여자는 아름다워요 = That girl is beautiful
새롭다 = new
새롭 + 어요 = 새로 + 우 + 어요 = 새로워요
그 학교는 새로워요 = That school is new
그것은 새로운 학교예요 = That (thing) is a new school
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 some words ending in ㅂ. Some common words where 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”
잡다 (to catch/grab) = 저는 공을 잡았어요 = I caught the ball
Here is a table with the word “춥다 (cold)” being conjugated using all the honorific
forms you have learned so far. The irregular conjugations are in bold. Notice that this
only occurs when ~아/어 (or one of its derivatives like ~았/었어요) is added to the verb
stem.
춥다 = cold Past Present Future

Informal low 추웠어 추워 춥겠어
Informal high 추웠어요 추워요 춥겠어요
Plain form 추웠다 춥다 춥겠다
Formal high 추웠습니다 춥습니다 춥겠습니다
Adjective form 추운 날씨 = cold weather
ㅡ Irregular
If the final letter in a stem is ㅡ (for example: 잠그다 = to lock), when adding ~아/어,
you can not determine whether you need to add ~어 or ~아 to the stem by looking at ㅡ.
Instead, you must look at the vowel in the second last syllable. For example, in the word
잠그다, the second last syllable in the stem is 잠, and the vowel here is ㅏ. We use the
same rules as above to determine whether 아 or 어 is added. If the vowel in the second
last syllable is ㅏ or ㅗ, 아 is added. If the vowel in the second last syllable is anything
other than ㅏ or ㅗ, 어 is added. For exmaple
Where the vowel in the second last syllable is ㅏ or ㅗ:

잠그다 + ~아/어
= 잠그아
Where the vowel in the second last syllable is anything butㅏ or ㅗ:

슬프다 + ~아/어
Unfortunately, that is not all that happens. When ~아 /어 is added to a stem where the last
letter is ㅡ , ~아 /어 merges to the stem and the ㅡ is eliminated. That is quite confusing,
so let's look at examples of how this is done.
잠그다 = to lock
This stem ends in ㅡ . If we were to add ~아 /어 , we need to look at the second last
syllable, which is 잠 . The vowel in this syllable is ㅏ , so ~아 needs to be added to the
stem.
잠그 +아
~아 merges to the stem and the ㅡ is eliminated:
잠그 +아 =잠가
바쁘다 = to be busy
syllable, which is 바 . The vowel in this syllable is ㅏ , so ~아 needs to be added to the
stem.
바쁘 +아
~아 merges to the stem and the ㅡ is eliminated:
바쁘 +아 =바빠
예쁘다 = pretty
This stem ends in ㅡ. If we were to add ~아/어, we need to look at the second last
syllable, which is 예. The vowel in this syllable is not ㅏ or ㅗ, so ~어 needs to be added
to the stem.
예쁘 + 어
~어 merges to the stem and the ㅡ is eliminated:
예쁘 + 어 = 예뻐
슬프다 = to be sad
syllable, which is 슬 . The vowel in this syllable is not ㅏ or ㅗ , so ~어 needs to be added
to the stem.
슬프 +어
슬프 +어 =슬퍼
This merging of ~아/어 to the stem occurs when ~아/어 is added, or any of its derivatives,
including ~아/어요 and past tense conjugations like ~았/었어 or ~았/었어요. For
example:
저는 문을 잠갔어요 = I locked the door

저 는 바 빠 요 = I am busy
그 여 자 는 예 뻐 요 = That girl is pretty
저 는 아 주 슬 퍼 요 = I am very sad
Some stems only have one syllable. For example, the stem of 크다 is just 크. In this case,
we know that we need to use the ㅡ irregular, but there is no previous syllable to draw on
to determine what should be added to the stem. In these cases, ~어 is added to the stem.
크다 = to be big
syllable, but there is none, so ~어 needs to be added to the stem.
크 +어
크 +어 =커
그 집은 커요 = That house is big
Sometimes the last vowel of a stem is ㅡ, but the stem ends in a consonant. In these cases,
there is no merging and ~어 is always chosen instead of ~아. For example:
긁다 = to scratch
The last vowel in the stem is ㅡ. However, the stem does not end in ㅡ and instead ends
with a consonant. Therefore, 어 is added.
긁 + 어요 = 긁어요
저는 머리를 긁었어요 = I scratched my head
듣다 = to hear
with a consonant. Therefore, 어 is added.
듣 + 었어요 = 듣었어요
But wait! Don’t forget the ㄷ irregular.

듣 + 었다 = 들었다
저는 쥐를 들었어요 = I heard a mouse
만들다 = to make
with a consonant. Therefore, 어 is added. Regardless of what the vowel in the previous
stem is, because the stem ends in a consonant, 어 is added.
만들다 + ~아/어요
= 만들어요
Here is a table with the word "잠그다 (to lock - which is a verb)" being conjugated using
all the honorific forms you have learned so far. The irregular conjugations are in bold.
Notice that this only occurs when ~아/어 (or one of its derivatives like ~았/었어요) is
added to the verb stem.
Here is a table with the word “잠그다 (to lock – which is a verb)” being conjugated using
Notice that this only occurs when ~아/어 (or one of its derivatives like ~았/었어요) is
added to the verb stem.
잠그다 = lock Past Present Future

Informal low 잠갔어 잠가 잠그겠어
Informal high 잠갔어요 잠가요 잠그겠어요
Plain form 잠갔다 잠근다 잠그겠다
Formal high 잠갔습니다 잠급니다 잠그겠습니다
And here is a table with the word “예쁘다 (pretty – which is an adjective)” being
conjugated using all the honorific forms you have learned so far. The irregular
conjugations are in bold. Notice that this only occurs when ~아/어 (or one of its
derivatives like ~았/었어요) is added to the verb stem.
예쁘다 = pretty Past Present Future
Informal low 예뻤어 예뻐 예쁘겠어
Informal high 예뻤어요 예뻐요 예쁘겠어요
Plain form 예뻤다 예쁘다 예쁘겠다
Formal high 예뻤습니다 예쁩니다 예쁘겠습니다
Finally, here is a table with the word “만들다 (to make – which is a verb)” being
conjugated using all the honorific forms you have learned so far.
만들다 = to make Past Present Future

Informal low 만들었어 만들어 만들겠어
Informal high 만들었어요 만들어요 만들겠어요
Plain form 만들었다 만든다 만들겠다
Formal high 만들었습니다 만듭니다 만들겠습니다
You will learn how 만든다 and 만듭니다 are formed later in the lesson when you learn
about the ㄹ irregular.
르 Irregular
If the final syllable in a stem is 르 (마르다), it is conjugated differently when adding
~아/어. This irregular only applies when adding ~아/어(or any of its derivatives) to a
stem and not when adding any other grammatical principles that starts with a vowel or
consonant. Up until now, you haven't learned about any of these other grammatical
principles, that can start with anything other than ~아/어~, so don't worry about this
distinction too much.
When adding ~아/어 to these words, 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 (the
only exception is 따르다 = to follow/to pour). For example:
다르다 = different
다르 + 아요 = 다 + ㄹ + 라요 = 달라요
그것은 달라요 = That thing is different
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
Here is a table with the word “고르다 (to choose – which is a verb)” being conjugated
using all the honorific forms you have learned so far. The irregular conjugations are in
bold. Notice that this only occurs when ~아/어 (or one of its derivatives like ~았/었어요)
is added to the verb stem.
고르다 = choose Past Present Future

Informal low 골랐어 골라 고르겠어
Informal high 골랐어요 골라요 고르겠어요
Plain form 골랐다 고른다 고르겠다
Formal high 골랐습니다 고릅니다 고르겠습니다
And here is a table with the word “빠르다 (fast/quick – which is an adjective)” being
conjugated using all the honorific forms you have learned so far. The irregular
conjugations are in bold. Notice that this only occurs when ~아/어 (or one of its
derivatives like ~았/었어요) is added to the verb stem.
빠르다 = fast Past Present Future

Informal low 빨랐어 빨라 빠르겠어
Informal high 빨랐어요 빨라요 빠르겠어요
Plain form 빨랐다 빠르다 빠르겠다
Formal high 빨랐습니다 빠릅니다 빠르겠습니다
Adjective form 빠른 남자 = Fast man
ㄹ Irregular
As you know, there are times when you must choose between two things to add to a stem.
For example:
~아/어 means you must choose between adding ~아 or ~어
~ㄴ/은 means you must choose between adding ~ㄴ or ~은
~ㅂ/습 means you must choose between adding ~ㅂ or ~습
~ㄹ/을 means you must choose between adding ~ㄹ or ~을
As you know, you must choose the correct addition based on the stem.
If the final letter of a stem is ㄹ AND you add any of the following:
~ㄴ/은
~ㄴ/는
~ㅂ/습
~ㄹ/을
The first option (~ㄴ/ ~ㅂ / ~ㄹ ) should be used. In addition, the ㄹ is removed from the
stem and ~ㄴ / ~ㅂ / ~ㄹ is added directly to the stem. Let's look at each one individually.
ㄹ Irregular: Adding ~ㄴ/은 to words
You have learned about adding ~ㄴ/은 to adjective stems when describing nouns.
Usually, you add ~ㄴ directly to the stem of an adjective ending in a vowel, and ~은 to
the stem of an adjective ending in a consonant, for example:
크다 = 큰 남자
작다 = 작은 남자
When adding ~ㄴ/은 to a stem ending in ㄹ, the 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)
There will be times when you have to add ~ㄴ/은 to verbs stems as well, but you haven't
learned about this yet. I introduce this concept in Lesson 26, and then talk about the
irregular being applied in Lesson 28. I don't want you to think about this too much until
those lessons, but just so you know, the concept is the same as adding ~ㄴ/은 to an
adjective. For example:
열다 = to open
열+ㄴ=연
Although you haven't learned about adding ~ㄴ/은 to stems, you have learned about
adding ~ㄴ/는다 to verb stems. Normally, you add ~ㄴ다 to the stem of a verb ending in
a vowel, and ~는다 to the stem of a verb ending in a consonant. For example:
나는 집에 간다 = I go home
나는 밥을 먹는다 = I eat rice
But when adding ~ㄴ/는다 to a verb stem that ends in ㄹ, you must remove ㄹ and add
~ㄴ다 to the verb stem:
나는 문을 연다 = I open the door

나는 케이크를 만든다 = I make a cake
ㄹ Irregular: Adding ~ㅂ/습 to words
You have also learned about adding ~ㅂ/습니다 to verb and adjective stems when
conjugating in the Formal high respect form: Normally, you add ~ㅂ니다 to the stem of a
word ending in a vowel, and ~습니다 to the stem of a word ending in a consonant. For
example:
Verbs:
저는 집에 갑니다 = I go home
저는 밥을 먹습니다 = I eat rice
Adjectives:
그 여자는 예쁩니다 = That girl is pretty
이 방은 넓습니다 = This room is big/wide
But when adding ~ㅂ니다 to the stem of a word that ends in ㄹ, you must remove ㄹ and
add ~ㅂ directly to the stem. For example:
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 머리카락은 깁니다 = That girls hair is long
머리 can mean ‘head’ or ‘hair’ depending on the context. If you want to specifically
mention your hair, you can say “머리카락,”which always means the hair on one’s head.
머리 or 머리카락 does not refer to the hair on an animal, or the body hair of a human.
This hair is referred to as “털” and extends to most of the hair that can be found on
animals (fur, the wool on a sheep, etc)
The addition of ~ㅂ/습니다 only affects words that end in ㄹ. There is no irregular that
occurs if adding ~ㅂ/습니다 to any other type of stem. For example, notice how only the
stem of 길다 changes as a result of adding this:
Irregular Example Word + ~ㅂ/습니다

ㅅ Irregular 짓다 짓습니다
ㄷ Irregular 걷다 걷습니다
ㅂ Irregular 쉽다 쉽습니다
ㅡ Irregular 예쁘다 예쁩니다
르 Irregular 마르다 마릅니다
ㄹ Irregular 길다 깁니다
Here is a table with the word “열다 (to open – which is a verb)” being conjugated using
Notice that this only occurs when ~ㄴ or ~ㅂ is added to the verb stem.
열다 = open Past Present Future

Informal low 열었어 열어 열겠어
Informal high 열었어요 열어요 열겠어요
Plain form 열었다 연다 열겠다
Formal high 열었습니다 엽니다 열겠습니다
And here is a table with the word "길다 (long - which is an adjective)" being conjugated
using all the honorific forms you have learned so far. Notice that this only occurs when
~ㄴ or ~ㅂ is added to the verb stem (it would happen when ~ㄴ is added, but you don't
add ~ㄴ/는 to an adjective when you conjugate it like this. There are times, however,
when this would happen, but you haven't even gotten close to learning about them yet.
For example, in Lesson 76, we talk about the addition of ~ㄴ/는데 to clauses. This would
make 길다 turn into 긴데. Please don't even think about looking ahead until Lesson 76
until you've finished with this lesson, and the 69 lessons in between.
길다 = long Past Present Future

Formal high 길었습니다 깁니다 길겠습니다
Adjective form 긴 거리 = long road
I don’t want to confuse you too much more because I am sure you are already really
confused. Just the amount of content on this page alone is enough to make somebody cry.
That being said, I think it is a very good exercise to try to compare how the words 듣다
and 들다 differ in their conjugations. Don’t worry about the meaning of 들다 yet (it is a
very complex word that has many meanings), but just assume it is a verb in this case. For
now, let’s just focus on how they are conjugated.
Notice that when conjugating 듣다, you need to consider the following irregular patterns:
 ㄷ irregular (because it ends in ㄷ)

 ㅡ irregular (because the final vowel is ㅡ)
The following table shows how 듣다 should be conjugated across the honorifics and
tenses you have learned so far: (Irregular conjugations are in bold)
듣다 = to hear Past Present Future

Informal low 들었어 들어 듣겠어
Informal high 들었어요 들어요 듣겠어요
Plain form 들었다 듣는다 듣겠다
Formal high 들었습니다 듣습니다 듣겠습니다
Notice when conjugating 들다, you need to consider the following irregular patterns:
 ㄹ irregular (because it ends in ㄹ)

 ㅡ irregular (because the final vowel is ㅡ)
The following table shows how 들다 should be conjugated across the honorifics and
tenses you have learned so far: (Irregular conjugations are in bold)
들다 Past Present Future

Informal low 들었어 들어 들겠어
Informal high 들었어요 들어요 들겠어요
Plain form 들었다 든다 들겠다
Formal high 들었습니다 듭니다 들겠습니다
I feel that comparing these two is a very good exercise because you can see that
sometimes, because of the irregular conjugations, 듣다 might look exactly like 들다. For
example, in all of the past tense conjugations, there is no way to distinguish between the
two based on sound, and the only way to distinguish them is by context in a sentence.
There is no easy way around memorizing stuff like this. The only words of
encouragement I can give you is that – as you become more and more familiar with the
language, and as you expose yourself to it more and more, it does become second nature.
I know you can’t believe that now, but it does.
Adding ~ㄴ/은 to Adjectives
I mentioned this in some of the sections above, but I would like to organize it all here. In
Lesson 4, you learned how to add ~ㄴ/은 to adjectives to describe an upcoming noun.
Some irregulars will come into play when doing this because of the possibility of adding
a vowel to a stem. Let’s look at the word “어렵다” as an example. 어렵다 has a
consonant as its final letter, which means that ~은 must be added (instead of ~ㄴ).
Therefore, we end up with:
어렵은
Because of this, we now have the final consonant “ㅂ” followed by a vowel, which
causes the ㅂ irregular to be applied. The correct conjugation of 어렵다 + ~ㄴ/은 is
therefore “어려운.”
Below is a table that shows how irregular adjectives can change because of adding
~ㄴ/은:
Irregular Example Word Does this apply? Application

ㅅ Irregular 낫다 (better) YES 나은
ㄷ Irregular NA NA NA
ㅂ Irregular 쉽다 (easy) YES 쉬운
ㅡ Irregular 바쁘다 (busy) NO 바쁜
르 Irregular 빠르다 (fast) NO 빠른
ㄹ Irregular 길다 (long) YES 긴
Looking Ahead to Grammatical Principles that you will Learn in Future Lessons
There are many additions that you will learn in future lessons. You will learn the meaning
and usage of all of these when they become important for your level of study. When you
learn about a new addition in a future lesson, I will explain how it causes irregular words
to change.
The good thing is – if you learn how one format of addition causes irregulars to change,
every addition with the same initial letters will cause the same change. For example,
adding ~아/어 causes ㅅ to be eliminated in words that follow the ㅅ irregular. Likewise,
any other addition that starts with ~아/어 causes the same change. For example, if I add
~아/어 or ~았/었다 to 짓다, we see the same change to the word stem – that is 짓다
changes to 지어 and 지었다 respectively.
This same idea can be applied to grammatical additions that will be introduced in later
lessons. For example, in Lesson 43 you will learn how ~(으)면 causes irregular words to
change. The change that results from adding ~(으)면 is exactly the same as the change
that results from adding similar additions like ~(으)며 and ~(으)면서. Therefore, you
don’t need to memorize how each one affects irregulars, but rather how the general
format of adding ~(으)ㅁ… will affect irregulars. I know the road ahead to memorizing
these new additions and their effects on irregulars looks daunting, but this grouping of
formats will allow your brain to compartmentalize the information.
Each time a new format/style of addition is introduced in my lessons, I will explain how
irregulars adapt to it. This only needs to be done once for each format, because each
successive addition with the same format will create the same change to irregulars. Below
is a list of grammatical principles you will learn in future lessons. Each one follows a
particular style. In each of these lessons, I will explain how they cause irregular words to
change. Furthermore, I will explain the other grammatical principles that follow the same
format that will create the same change:
~ㄹ/을 (Lesson 9)
~니 (Lesson 21)
~ㅁ/음 (Lesson 29)
~(으)려고 (Lesson 32)
~(으)시다 (Lesson 39)
~(으)면 (Lesson 43)
~(으)니까 (Lesson 81)
For now, focus on the concepts that were introduced in this lesson. When you reach each
of the lessons above, I will bring up the discussion of irregulars again. At that point, we
can talk about how that grammatical principle causes irregular words to change
Check out our Irregular Guide (which is included next) 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 futureI 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.
ㅅ Irregular (verb)
짓다 = build Past Present Future
Informal low 지었어 지어 짓겠어
Informal high 지었어요 지어요 짓겠어요
Plain form 지었다 짓는다 짓겠다
Formal high 지었습니다 짓습니다 짓겠습니다
ㅅ Irregular (adjective)
낫다 = better Past Present Future
Informal low 나았어 나아 낫겠어
Informal high 나았어요 나아요 낫겠어요
Plain form 나았다 낫다 낫겠다
Formal high 나았습니다 낫습니다 낫겠습니다
Adjective form 나은
ㄷ Irregular (done only with verbs)

걷다 = walk Past Present Future
Informal low 걸었어 걸어 걷겠어
Informal high 걸었어요 걸어요 걷겠어요
Plain form 걸었다 걷는다 걷겠다
Formal high 걸었습니다 걷습니다 걷겠습니다
ㅂ Irregular (Done mostly with adjectives)

춥다 = cold Past Present Future
Informal low 추웠어 추워 춥겠어
Informal high 추웠어요 추워요 춥겠어요
Plain form 추웠다 춥다 춥겠다
Formal high 추웠습니다 춥습니다 춥겠습니다
Adjective form 추운 날씨 = cold weather
ㅂ Irregular (verb)
눕다 = lie down Past Present Future
Informal low 누웠어 누워 눕겠어
Informal high 누웠어요 누워요 눕겠어요
Plain form 누웠다 눕는다 눕겠다
Formal high 누웠습니다 눕습니다 눕겠습니다
ㅡ Irregular (verb)
잠그다 = lock Past Present Future
Informal low 잠갔어 잠가 잠그겠어
Informal high 잠갔어요 잠가요 잠그겠어요
Plain form 잠갔다 잠근다 잠그겠다
Formal high 잠갔습니다 잠급니다 잠그겠습니다
ㅡ Irregular (adjective)
예쁘다 = pretty Past Present Future
Informal low 예뻤어 예뻐 예쁘겠어
Informal high 예뻤어요 예뻐요 예쁘겠어요
Plain form 예뻤다 예쁘다 예쁘겠다
Formal high 예뻤습니다 예쁩니다 예쁘겠습니다
르 Irregular (verb)
고르다 = choose Past Present Future
Informal low 골랐어 골라 고르겠어
Informal high 골랐어요 골라요 고르겠어요
Plain form 골랐다 고른다 고르겠다
Formal high 골랐습니다 고릅니다 고르겠습니다
르 Irregular (adjective)
빠르다 = fast Past Present Future
Informal low 빨랐어 빨라 빠르겠어
Informal high 빨랐어요 빨라요 빠르겠어요
Plain form 빨랐다 빠르다 빠르겠다
Formal high 빨랐습니다 빠릅니다 빠르겠습니다
Adjective form 빠른 남자 = Fast man
ㄹ Irregular (verb)
열다 = open Past Present Future
Informal low 열었어 열어 열겠어
Informal high 열었어요 열어요 열겠어요
Plain form 열었다 연다 열겠다
Formal high 열었습니다 엽니다 열겠습니다
ㄹ Irregular (adjective)
길다 = long Past Present Future
Formal high 길었습니다 깁니다 길겠습니다
Adjective form 긴 거리 = long road
Nouns: Adjectives:
기계 = machine 완벽하다 = to be perfect
대학교 = college, university 아프다 = to be sick, to be sore
트럭 = truck 똑똑하다 = to be smart
검은색 = (the color) black 중요하다 = to be important
흰색 = (the color) white 젊다 = to be young
음료수 = beverage, drink 늙다 = to be old
외국 = foreign country 나쁘다 = to be bad
외국인 = foreigner
고등학교 = high school Adverbs and Other Words::
도서관 = library 즉시 = immediately
곳 = place 바로 = immediately
동시 = the same time 빨리 = quickly/fast
밤 = night 자주 = often
어젯밤 = last night 가끔 = sometimes
낮 = daytime 많이 = many/a lot of
동 = East 방금 = a moment ago
남 = South 갑자기 = suddenly
서 = West 매년 = every year
북 = North 다시 = again
혼자 = alone
Verbs: 안 = not
놀다 = to play
쓰다 = to use
쓰다 = to write
실수하다 = to make a mistake
수리하다 = to repair
잡다 = to catch, to grab, to grasp
읽다 = to read
내다 = to pay for
받다 = to get, to receive, to acquire
도착하다 = to arrive
여행하다 = to travel
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
In this lesson, you will learn how to use adverbs in Korean sentences. Let's get started!
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, let’s 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 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 to 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 beside 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
Korean people don’t add ~에 when using 오늘 (today), 내일 (tomorrow) and 어제

(yesterday). For example:
저는 한국에 오늘 도착했어요 = I arrived in Korea today

저는 도서관에 어제 갔어요 = I went to the library yesterday
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.

While other adverbs are generally free to be placed anywhere in a sentence, adverbs like
this that indicate a degree to which something is done are typically placed immediately
before the verb. For example:
저는 저의 친구를 자주 만나요 = I meet my friend often

저는 밥을 많이 먹었어요 = I ate a lot of food (rice)
저는 집에 바로 갔어요 = I went home immediately
저는 숙제를 빨리 했어요 = I did my homework quickly
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 하다 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 and 많이 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 adverbs in a sentence. To look at the list I showed
you earlier:
I ran really quickly = 저는 매우 빨리 달렸어요

I ate fast = 저는 빨리 먹었어요
I left immediately = 저는 바로 떠났어요
I often meet my friend on Thursday = 저는 저의 친구를 목요일에 자주 만나요
I eat too much sometimes = 저는 가끔 너무 많이 먹어요
Though you can do that, using two adverbs 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:
1. By adding 안, which acts as an adverb in the sentence. 안 is typically placed

immediately before the final verb or adjective. For example:
그 여자는 안 예뻐요 = That girl isn’t pretty

저는 생선을 안 좋아해요 = I don’t like fish
저는 내일 학교에 안 가겠어요 = I’m not going to school tomorrow
2. By adding ~지 않다 to the stem of the final verb or adjective. 않다 then becomes the
verb or adjective in that sentence and must be conjugated accordingly. For example:
그 여자는 예쁘지 않아요 = That girl isn’t pretty

저는 생선을 좋아하지 않아요 = I don’t like fish
저는 내일 학교에 가지 않겠어요 = I’m not going to school tomorrow
Their respective meanings are identical. It is up to the speaker to decide which one will
be used. There are times when it will be more natural to use “안” and there will be times
when it will be more natural to use “~지 않다.” At this point, you can consider them the
same. Throughout your studies you will constantly be exposed to 안 and ~지 않다, and
through this exposure you can gradually develop a preference for which one should be
used and in which circumstance.
I like to share my observations that I have made through my experiences with the Korean
language. I think this can be helpful to learners as they struggle to understand when to
use some grammatical principles over others. There are a few things I would like to talk
about regarding these negative sentences.
---------------------------------------------
As you know, most verbs ending in ~하다 can be turned into a noun-form of that verb by
removing ~하다. For example:
공부하다 = to study
공부 = the noun form of “study”
실수하다 = to make a mistake

실수 = a mistake
여행하다 = to travel
여행 = a trip
When indicating that one “does not do” a ~하다 verb, it is common to separate ~하다
from the noun and place “안” in between them. For example:
저는 공부를 안 했어요 = I didn’t study

Instead of:
저는 안 공부했어요
저는 실수를 안 했어요 = I didn’t make (do) a mistake

Instead of:
저는 안 실수했어요
저는 여행을 안 했어요 = I didn’t travel

Instead of:
저는 안 여행했어요
It would also be appropriate to use the ~지 않다 form with these words. However, in
these cases, it doesn’t matter if the noun is separated from ~하다 or not. For example:
저는 공부하지 않았어요 = I didn’t study

저는 공부를 하지 않았어요 = I didn’t study
저는 실수하지 않았어요 = I didn’t make a mistake

저는 실수를 하지 않았어요 = I didn’t make a mistake
저는 여행하지 않았어요 = I didn’t travel

저는 여행을 하지 않았어요 = I didn’t travel
Many adjectives end in ~하다. It is unnatural to remove the ~하다 in these words and
place “안” between them. You can’t separate an adjective and “act” on it with ~하다
because they are adjectives. For example, the following would be incorrect:
저는 행복을 안 해요 (This does not mean “I am not happy”)
However, you could use ~지 않다 on a -하다 adjective or place “안” before the verb
without separating it. For example:
저는 안 행복해요 = I am not happy

저는 행복하지 않아요 = I am not happy
---------------------------------------------
It is possible to use an adverb indicating degree with one of these negative constructions,
but only in the right situation. If just making a statement without context, it is usually
more natural to use the opposite-meaning adverb. For example, instead of saying:
저는 밥을 빨리 먹지 않았어요 = I didn’t eat (rice) quickly
It would usually be more natural to use the adverb “천천히” (slowly) instead of “빨리”
(quickly). For example:
저는 밥을 천천히 먹었어요= I ate rice slowly
However, there are situations where “저는 밥을 빨리 먹지 않았어요” could be correct.

For example, if somebody asked you “Why are you finished eating so quickly? Did you
eat really fast?” You could respond with “저는 밥을 빨리 먹지 않았어요.” Make a note
of this for later, but explaining this is not in the scope of this lesson. As you continue to
learn how to create context in Korean sentences (for example, by asking questions and
providing reason), you will naturally be able to come up with situations where these types
of sentences can be used. For now, I want the focus of my lessons to be about creating
simple sentences so that you can apply these simple concepts to more advanced sentences
later.
To not be: 아니다
아니다 (to not be) is the opposite of the word 이다 (to be), but they are used a little bit
differently. Remember that 이다 is always attached directly to a noun. For example:
나는 대학생이다 = I am a university student
However, when using 아니다, the particle ~이/가 is attached to the noun, and 아니다 is
used as a separate word:
나는 선생님이 아니다 = I am not a teacher
나는 대학생이 아니다 = I am not a university student
Below are some examples, with possible conjugations of 아니다. You have learned how
to conjugate verbs and adjectives, but you still haven't learned how to conjugate 이다 and
아니다. You will learn this in the next lesson.
나는 선생님이 아니다 = I am not a teacher

(저는 선생님이 아니에요)
나는 너의 친구가 아니다 = I am not your friend

(나는 너의 친구가 아니야)
나는 대학생이 아니다 = I am not a University Student

(저는 대학생이 아니에요)
없다
Just like how 아니다 is the opposite of 이다, 없다 is the opposite of 있다. You learned
that 있다 can 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 can have the meanings of “to not have” or “to not be in/at a location/for there to be
none of.” For example:
To not have:
저는 돈이 없어요 = I don’t have money
저는 시간이 없어요 = I don’t have time
우리는 차가 없어요 = We don't have a car
To not be in a location:
저의 친구는 지금 한국에 없어요 = My friend is not in Korea now
For there to be none of: 사람이 없었어요 = There was no people
To not like: 싫어하다 and 싫다
While we are talking about negative words, I want to talk about 싫어하다 quickly.
"싫어하다" is a verb that is used to indicate that one dislikes something. 싫어하다 is the
opposite of 좋아하다 (to like). For example:
저는 과일을 싫어해요 = I dislike fruit

저는 과일을 좋아해요 = I like fruit
In Lesson 3, you learned how 좋다 and 좋아하다 are different. I explained that 좋다 is
an adjective (meaning "to be good"), and thus cannot act on an object. For example:
그 선생님은 좋다 = That teacher is good

이 학교는 좋다 = This school is good
The adjective form of 싫어하다 is 싫다. However, contrary to what you probably expect,
싫다 is not used to mean "to not be good." In order to indicate that something is "not
good" (i.e. "bad"), the adjective 나쁘다 is commonly used. Instead, 싫다 is often used to
indicate that one dislikes something (just like 싫어하다). For example:
저는 과일이 싫어요 = I dislike fruit
Notice that because 싫다 is an adjective, it cannot act on an object, so the particles

~이/가 are attached to the noun. This type of sentence is a little bit too complex right now,
so I don't want to dig too deep into it. I discuss this more deeply in Lesson 15.
It is possible to use 싫다 or 싫어하다 in a negative sentence, but this is another example

of a sentence that would require context to sound natural. For example, without any
context, it would be unnatural to just say:
저는 과일을 싫어하지 않아요 = I don’t dislike fruit
However, given the right context, this could be correct. Imagine your friend sees you
enjoying your dinner, but witnessed you pass on the fruit for dessert. You don’t hate fruit,
but your also don’t love it either. It might be something that you are indifferent about.
Your friend might ask you “Do you not like fruit?”
In response, you could say “과일을 싫어하지 않아요,” which, in this context indicates
that you don’t dislike it, but (again, by context), you don’t like it either. Again, make a
mental note of this, but explaining this is not in the scope of this lesson. As you continue
in your studies, you will naturally understand where this can be appropriate. For instance,
this sentence would actually be more natural if said as “과일을 싫어하진 않아요”
(notice the use of “ㄴ” on 싫어하지). This is very complex, and is discussed in Lesson
104.
Make it through Lessons 1 through 8 without being too confused? That’s great! But now
it is time to test your knowledge on what you have learned so far!
Every eight lessons, a Mini-Test like this will be uploaded. In addition, at the end of
every unit, a Unit Test will be uploaded so you can test your knowledge on everything
you learned from that unit!
Doing tests like this are a great way to help you remember things. If you forget
something, don’t worry! You can always go back and review what you have forgotten!
1) Choose the Korean particle that is being used correctly:

a) 저는 공원를 갔어요
b) 저는 펜을 있어요
c) 나는 친구가 만났어
d) 나는 병원 옆에 있어
2) Choose the adjective that is being used correctly:

a) 나의 친구는 행복해 사람이다
b) 나의 형은 똑똑했 남자이다
c) 나의 아버지는 재미있은 사람이다
d) 나의 어머니는 예쁜 사람이다
3) Choose the correct verb conjugation:

a) 저는 문을 열었어요
b) 저는 밥을 먹았어요
c) 저는 학교에 간았어요
d) 저는 친구를 만났요
4) Choose the honorific ending that is being used correctly:

a) 나는 학교에 갔어요
b) 나는 학교에 가요
c) 저는 학교에 갔어요
d) 저는 학교에 가겠어
5) Choose the irregular conjugation that is being conjugated correctly:

a) 저는 집을 짓었어요
b) 그 일이 어렵었어요
c) 저는 어제 너무 바빴어요
d) 저의 어머니는 예쁜다
6) Choose the proper translation for “I am a teacher”:
a) 나는 선생님이 아니다
b) 나는 선생님이다
c) 니는 학생이다
d) 나는 선생님을 만납니다
7) Choose the correct sentence:

a) 저는 빨리 조용하게 달렸어요
b) 나는 학교에 간았어요
c) 나는 의사를 아니다
d) 나는 돈이 없어
Look below for the answers!
1: d
2: d
3: a
4: c
5: c
6: b
7: d
Nouns: Verbs:
공장 = factory 되다 = to become
열 = fever 시작하다 = to start
극장 = theater 행동하다 = to act
회사 = company 소개하다 = to introduce
장소 = place/location 발견하다 = to find
간판 = a sign 방문하다 = to visit
직업 = job 잃다 = to lose
수업 = class (that you “take” or “teach”) 잃어버리다 = to lose
고기 = meat 입다 = to put on one’s clothes, to wear
돼지 = pig 벗다 = to take off one’s clothes
돼지고기 = pork 웃다 = to laugh
소 = cow
소고기 = beef Adjectives:
꽃 = flowers 부끄럽다 = to be shy
값 = price 건강하다 = to be healthy
땅콩 = peanut
축구(하다) = (to play) soccer
이제 = now
야구(하다) = (to play) baseball
현재 = now/present
여권 = passport
수건 = towel
체육 = physical education
지하철 = subway
미래 = future
Conjugating 이다
In earlier lessons, you learned a lot about conjugating verbs and adjectives. Exactly three
things can be conjugated in Korean: verbs, adjectives and 이다. The conjugation of 이다
is different than verbs and adjectives. Actually, there are many times where 이다 behaves
differently than verbs and adjectives - which you will learn in future lessons. In this
lesson, you will learn how to conjugate 이다, and you will see how the conjugation
differs from verbs and adjectives. The sentence below shows the plain form, present tense
conjugation of 이다, which you have seen in lessons up to this point:
If the last letter of the noun before 이다 ends in a vowel, you can eliminate 이. For
example:
나는 의사다 = I am a doctor
나는 의사이다 = I am a doctor
Both of the above can be seen as correct. Here, the pronunciation of “이” is merging with
the pronunciation of the vowel in the noun. If you pronounce the two sentences above,
you can see that there is very little difference. Conversely, if the last letter of the noun
before 이다 is a consonant, this merging cannot happen. For example:
나는 선생님이다 = I am a teacher (correct)

나는 선생님다 – incorrect
This merging of 이다 does not happen because it has nothing to merge with. Furthermore,
if you try to pronounce “선생님다”, it just doesn’t flow properly. It is hard to get your
mouth to move from the “ㅁ” sound immediately to the “ㄷ” sound. This same principle
occurs in other conjugations of 이다, but it is a little bit more complex.
In almost every case, you can conjugate 이다 differently depending on if the noun it is
being attached to ends in a vowel or consonant. The reason they are conjugated
differently is similar to the example above with 의사다 vs. 의사이다. Here, the
pronunciation of “이” is being merged with something, and can therefore disappear. You
will learn about each conjugation specifically, but I will give you an example here to
prepare you for all the future explanations. Try not to worry about the meanings of these
sentences, and just focus on what I am presenting.
As you will learn later, when conjugating 이다 into the past tense in the plain form,
"었다" is added to the stem of “이다” (이). This is actually quite simple for you to
understand, because every other verb and adjective follows this same rule. For example:
의사이었다 선생님이었다
However, the pronunciation of 이었다 can merge to “였다” when the noun that it is
being attached to ends in a vowel. For example, both of these are correct:
의사이었다 의사였다
Pronounce both of those, and listen to how little of a difference there is between the two.
Not only that, the pronunciation of both of those is very easy and it flows off the tongue.
Conversely, 이 and 었다 cannot merge when the noun it is added to ends in a consonant.
For example:
선생님이었다 – correct 선생님였다 – incorrect
Pronounce both of those and listen the difference. Not only that,‘선생님였다’ is hard to
pronounce. It is difficult to move your mouth from the ㅁ sound directly to the 여 sound.
It is much easier to pronounce it like this: 나는 선생님-이-었-다.
Although I am only talking about the past tense plain form in this example, this same rule
applies in many situations. If you keep this in mind when learning the conjugations in this
lesson, they 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 the stem "이" to the typical past tense
addition of "었다", present tense conjugations have additions that are not seen with any
other verb or adjective. Let's talk about these first.
Informal Low Respect

Add ~이야 to a word ending in a consonant, or ~(이)야 to a word ending in a vowel:
나는 좋은 학생이야 = I’m a good student

그것은 책이야 = That thing is a book
나는 선생님이야 = I am a teacher
이것은 여권이야 = This is a passport
그것은 사과야 = That thing is an apple
나는 의사야 = I am a doctor
야구는 좋은 스포츠야 = Baseball is a good sport
When conjugating "아니다" in this respect, you simply add "~야" to "아니다:"
나는 학생이 아니야 = I am not a student
그것은 책이 아니야 = That thing is not a book
Informal High Respect

Add ~이에요 to a word ending in a consonant, or ~예요 to a word ending in a vowel:
그것은 사진이에요 = That thing is a picture

저는 선생님이에요 = I am a teacher
저는 좋은 학생이에요 = I am a good student
이 사람은 저의 누나예요 = This (person) is my sister

저는 의사예요 = I am a doctor
저것은 사과예요 = That thing is an apple
When conjugating "아니다" in this respect, you simply add ~에요 to 아니다:
저는 학생이 아니에요 = I am not a student
저는 의사가 아니에요 = I am not a doctor
Note that Korean people are often confused if they need to add “~예요” or “~에요” to
아니다. Therefore, it is not uncommon to see somebody use “아니예요.”
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
저는 좋은 학생입니다 = I am a good student
이 고기는 돼지고기입니다 = This meat is pork
With words ending in vowels, you can eliminate ~이 and attach ~ㅂ니다 directly to the
word. This is more commonly done in conversation, and not usually written (의삽니다).
When conjugating "아니다" in this respect, you must add "~ㅂ니다" directly to
"아니다." For example:
저는 의사가 아닙니다 = I am not a doctor

저는 학생이 아닙니다 = I am not a student
그것은 저의 직업이 아닙니다 = That (thing) is not my job
그것은 저의 여권이 아닙니다 = That (thing) is not my passport
그 건물은 극장이 아닙니다 = That building is not a theater
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 can combine to make 였
Informal Low Respect

Add ~이었어 to all words. If the word ends in a vowel, ~이었어 can contract to ~였어.
나는 바쁜 선생님이었어 = I was a busy teacher

나는 학생이었어 = I was a student
나는 선생님이었어 = I was a teacher
나는 나쁜 애기였어 = I was a bad baby
나는 나쁜 의사였어 = I was a bad doctor
Informal High Respect

This conjugation is the same as above (Informal Low Respect), except for that "~요" is
added to the end of ~이었 or ~였. That is, you should add ~이었어요 to all words. If the
word ends in a vowel, ~이었어요 can contract to ~였어요.
그것은 큰 비밀이었어요 = That was a big secret

저는 선생님이었어요 = I was a teacher
저는 나쁜 애기였어요 = I was a bad baby
저는 의사였어요 = I was a doctor
Plain Form
Same as above, but you should add the regular "~다" ending instead of "~어요." That is,
you should add ~이었다 to all words. If the word ends in a vowel, ~이었다 can contract
to ~였다.
나는 선생님이었다 = I was a teacher

나는 의사였다 = I was a doctor
나는 선생님이었다 = I was a teacher
그것은 큰 비밀이었다 = That was a big secret
Formal High Respect

add ~이었습니다 to all words. If the word ends in a vowel, ~이었습니다 can contract to
~였습니다.
저는 선생님이었습니다 = I was a teacher

저는 의사였습니다 = I was a doctor
그것은 큰 비밀이었습니다 = That was a big secret
In all situations in the past tense, 아니다 is conjugated just like any other word. An
example of each respect:
나는 학생이 아니었어
나는 학생이 아니었다
저는 학생이 아니었어요
저는 학생이 아니었습니다
The weird thing is that Korean speakers sometimes would use these:
나는 학생이 아니였어
나는 학생이 아니였다
저는 학생이 아니였어요
저는 학생이 아니였습니다
Just going by the rules of the language, I’d have to assume that the first set is correct. I
base this on the fact that in no other word do we add “~였~” to a stem. In other words,
“~였~” is created from “이 + 었,” but it is never added as a stand-alone thing.
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 a word stem. Though adding ~겠~ to a word stem is one
way to conjugate words 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 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
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This is going to sound extremely complicated (and it is): adding ~ㄹ/을 to the stem of an
adjective changes it to a word that can describe a noun in the future tense. For example:
행복한 사람 = happy person

행복할 사람 = a person that will be happy
Similarly, (this is where it gets complicated) adding ~ㄹ/~을 to a stem of a verb turns it
into a word that can describe a noun in the future:
먹을 음식 = the food that will be eaten.
In practice, entire clauses – ending in verbs, which in turn describe the noun – are
commonly used. For example:
제가 먹을 음식 = the food that will be eaten by me (the food that I will eat)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 be
discussed very deeply in Lessons 26 – 29. If you want to jump ahead to those lessons,
feel free. However, the mechanics within the grammar are not important to you yet. For
now, these are the three major points I want you to think about:
Things you should try to understand are:
1) Adding ~ㄹ/~을 to the stem of an adjective allows that adjective to describe a

noun in the future tense
2) Adding ~ㄹ/~을 to the stem of a verb allows that verb to describe a noun in the
future tense
3) 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:
나는 좋은
Because 좋은 is an adjective which modifies a noun, a noun must follow 좋은:
나는 좋은 사람
Now, to end the sentence, you need to add 이다 to the noun:
나는 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.
나는 행복할
나는 먹을
나는 공부할
But this changes verbs/adjectives into words that describe nouns. Therefore, a noun must
follow these words. The noun that is always used in this situation is 것 (thing):
나는 행복할 것
나는 먹을 것
나는 공부할 것
Now, to end those sentences, you need to add 이다 to the noun:
나는 행복할 것이다
나는 먹을 것이다
나는 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 their actual meanings are:
나는 행복할 것이다 = I will be happy

나는 먹을 것이다 = I will eat
나는 공부할 것이다 = 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
Notice that ~이에요 is added when 것 (which ends in a consonant) is used and ~예요 is
added when 거 (which ends in a vowel) is used. This is the same rule that you learned
earlier in the lesson when conjugating 이다 depending on if the final letter of a noun
ends in a consonant or vowel.
Note that Korean people are often confused if they need to add “~이에요,” or “~예요”
or “~에요” to 거 in these cases. Therefore, it is not uncommon to see somebody use “할
거예요.”
Other examples:
나는 내일 친구를 만날 것이야 = I will meet my friend tomorrow

나는 내일 친구를 만날 거야 = I will meet my friend tomorrow
저는 내일 학교에 갈 것입니다 = I will go to school tomorrow
저는 영어를 공부할 거예요 = I will study English
------------------------------
In Lesson 7, you learned how irregular words change as a result of adding different
additions. This is the first time you have been introduced to adding ~ㄹ/을. Let’s look at
how irregulars change as a result of adding this grammatical principle.
‐ The ㅅ irregular, ㄷ irregular and ㅂ irregular all follow the same rules that were
introduced in Lesson 7. The addition of the vowel causes a change (or
elimination) of the last letter of the stem.
‐ The ㅡ and 르 irregular are not affected by this addition.
‐ Adding ~ㄹ/을 to a word that follows the ㄹ irregular brings about a change you
are not familiar with. Normally, you would add ~ㄹ to the stem of a word ending
in a vowel, and ~을 to the stem of a word ending in a consonant. For example:
잃다 + ~ㄹ/을 = 잃을
예쁘다 + ~ㄹ/을 = 예쁠
However, when you add ~ㄹ/을 to a stem of a word that ends in ㄹ, the ㄹ is
dropped and ㄹ is attached directly to the stem. In effect, you removed something
and replace it with exactly the same thing. For example:
갈다 + ㄹ/을 = 갈
빨다 + ㄹ/을 = 빨
저는 문을 열 거예요 = I will open the door
Below is a table showing the changes that result from adding ~ㄹ/을 to a word.
Irregular Word Does this apply? + ~ㄹ/을 것이다
ㅅ Irregular 짓다 (to build) YES 지을 것이다
ㄷ Irregular 걷다 (to walk) YES 걸을 것이다
ㅂ Irregular 쉽다 (to be easy) YES 쉬울 것이다
ㅂ Irregular 돕다 (to help) YES 도울 것이다
ㅡ Irregular 잠그다 (to lock) NO 잠글 것이다
르 Irregular 다르다 (to be different) NO 다를 것이다
ㄹ Irregular 길다 (to be long) YES 길 것이다
Notice that I also included the word 돕다. As you learned in Lesson 7 – ㅂ changes to 오
when ~아/어 (or any derivative) is added. When any other vowel is added, ㅂ changes to
우 as you can see above. You will see these same changes to irregulars anytime you add
something that begins in ~ㄹ/을. For example:
~ㄹ/을래(요) – Lesson 44
~ㄹ/을까(요) – Lesson 63
~ㄹ/을게(요) – Lesson 63
~ㄹ/을걸(요) – Lesson 115
Future 이다 - Using 되다
Conjugating 이다 to the future tense is the same as is done above, but it is also possible
to use another verb; 되다. 되다 is one of the hardest words in Korean, mainly because it
has so many meanings. You will be introduced to each of these meanings as you progress
through our lessons, but the first meaning of ‘되다’ is “to become”… which is slightly
different than “to be”. Let me introduce the word “되다” to you by showing you
examples of it being used in the past tense:
(Note the way 되다 is used. ~이/가 is attached to the noun that the subject “becomes”
instead of ~를/을)
저는 선생님이 되었어요 = I became a teacher
Which is slightly different than:

저는 선생님이었어요 = I was a teacher
Very similar, but the difference between “to become” and “to be” (which in this case is in
the past tense of ‘was’) is “become” suggests that prior to that time, the situation was
different. I’m sure you get it, but let me describe it using English examples:
I became a teacher last year

I was a teacher last year
When you say “I became a teacher last year”, you are indicating that – before last year
you were not a teacher – but last year you became a teacher.
When you say “I was a teacher last year”, you are not specifying if you were a teacher
before that time as well, or even if you are still a teacher. All you are specifying is that
you were a teacher last year, and no other information is given.
되다 can be used in the present tense as well (and again differs slightly from 이다). I'll
save examples for when I've presented more grammar principles further into the course.
My whole purpose in mentioning it is to explain the application to the future tense. First
off, it is awkward to conjugate 이다 to the future tense using ~겠다.
나는 선생님이겠다
If you want to say that something “will be” something in the future, because of the nature
of the word “되다” there is no real difference if you use 되다 or 이다. For example:
저는 곧 선생님이 될 것입니다 = I will become a teacher soon

저는 곧 선생님일 거예요 = I will be a teacher soon
Other examples:
나는 미래에 의사가 될 거야 = I will become a doctor in the future

나는 미래에 의사일 거야 = I will be a doctor in the future
I just want to point out here that the "일" you are seeing above is not the word "일".
Rather it is the future conjugation (using the conjugation taught in the lesson) of 이다.
선생님이다 becomes 선생님 + 이다 + ~ㄹ/을 것이다.
한국이 곧 좋은 나라가 될 것이다 = Korea will become a good country soon

한국이 곧 좋은 나라일 것이다 = Korea will be a good country soon
이 장소는 공원이 될 것이다 = This place will become a park

이 장소는 공원일 것이다 = This place will be a park
As you build vocabulary, you will be able to apply this same format of sentences to
create sentences like:
- This place will become a park next year, or

- I will become a doctor in a few months
In Lesson 11, you will learn the vocabulary necessary to create those types of sentences.
The sentences above using 이다 and 되다 in the future tense can be used to make
negative sentences as well. When making the negative form of a 되다 sentence, you can
just add 안 or ~지 않다 just like with any other verb or adjective. When making the
negative form of an 이다 sentence, you should use 아니다. You can change each pair of
sentences above to a negative sentence. For example:
나는 미래에 의사가 되지 않을 거야 = I won’t become a doctor in the future

나는 미래에 의사가 아닐 거야 = I won’t be a doctor in the future
한국이 곧 좋은 나라가 되지 않을 거야 = Korea won’t become a good country soon

한국이 곧 좋은 나라가 아닐 거야 = Korea won’t be a good country soon
이 장소는 공원이 되지 않을 거야 = This place won’t become a park

이 장소는 공원이 아닐 거야 = This place won’t be a park
Those sentences, while kind of ridiculous, are all grammatically correct. I can’t think of
any time when you would actually want to say a sentence like that, but they are all
possible if the right situation came up. Most of the time, there would be a better way to
say each of the sentences above.

For example, instead of saying:
나는 미래에 의사가 되지 않을 거야 = I won’t become a doctor in the future
It would probably be more natural to say something like “I don’t want to become a doctor
in the future.” You will learn how to say this, and other grammatical principles that can
make your speech more natural as you progress along with your studies. For now, try to
understand what is being done grammatically, and don’t worry too much about when you
would actually use a sentence like that.
One other quick thing; and I really don’t want to spend too much time on this because I
have already overwhelmed you with grammar in this lesson. However, the future
conjugation of 이다 is introduced in this lesson and I feel this needs to be talked about
here. By using the future ~ㄹ/을 것이다 conjugation on 이다, you can also create a
sentence where the speaker is guessing about a certain situation in the present tense.
Look at some examples first:

그 사람이 의사일 거예요 = That person is probably/most likely a doctor
그것은 여권일 거예요 = That thing is probably/most likely a passport
문제는 돈일 거예요 = The problem is probably/most likely money
Remember, you are not adding 일 to these nouns. You are adding ~이다 followed by
adding ~ㄹ 것이다 to 이다. I get a lot of questions from learners asking me where this
“일” came from.
These sentences as well can be said using 아니다 instead of 이다:

그 사람이 의사가 아닐 거야 = That person is probably/most likely not a doctor
그것은 여권이 아닐 거야 = That thing is probably/most likely not a passport
문제는 돈이 아닐 거야 = The problem is probably/most likely not money
Notice that in these cases the speaker is not talking about him/herself. Also, even though
the sentence is conjugated into the future tense, the speaker is guessing that something is
the case in the present tense. Thus, it is weird to include time indicators in these sentences
(for example “next year” or “in a few months from now”) because the speaker is not
trying to create this meaning.
The question then becomes – how can I distinguish if somebody is saying one of these
“guessing” sentences or saying “something will become something”. You will learn
continuously throughout your Korean studies that understanding a Korean sentence is all
about context – and the situation almost always makes it clear what the speaker wants to
express.
For now, rather than concern yourself with guessing nuances, I suggest focusing on how
to use the ~ㄹ/을 것이다 form to conjugate verbs/adjectives into the future tense – and
realize that 되다 can be used instead of 이다 when conjugating to the future tense.

Numbers: 영 = zero
하나 = one 공 = zero
둘 = two
셋 = three 개 = counter for things
넷 = four 번 = counter for behaviors/actions
다섯 = five 번째 = counter for 1st/2nd/3rd/etc..
여섯 = six 명 = counter for people
일곱 = seven 대 = counter for automobiles
여덟 = eight 잔 = counter for a ‘glass’ of ____
아홉 = nine 살 = counter for age (“years old”)
열 = ten
스물 = twenty 처음 = the first time/beginning
서른 = thirty 마지막 = last
마흔 = forty 첫 번째 = first (1st)
쉰 = fifty 두 번째 = second (2nd)
분 = minute
일 = one 초 = second
이 = two 시 = “o’clock”
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
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 ninety (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 100)
만 = ten thousand
십만 = one hundred thousand
백만 = one million
천만 = ten million
The Sino-Korean numbers are used in limited situations. As each of these are taught
throughout the upcoming lessons, you will slowly learn when to use the Sino-Korean
numbers over the Korean numbers. For now, don’t worry about memorizing when they
should be used, as it will come naturally.

- 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: 열하나 (10 + 1)
12: 열둘 (10 + 2)
21: 스물하나 (20 + 1)
59: 쉰아홉 (50 + 9)
Notice that there are no spaces between the words representing numbers for both the
Sino-Korean and pure Korean numbers. I discuss this in Lesson 130, where large
numbers are introduced. For now, it is more important to focus on how to use simple
numbers in sentences.
After 60, regardless of what you are doing, pure Korean numbers are rarely used. I was
talking to my wife 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.
Again, don’t worry about memorizing each of those yet. Whenever I talk about numbers,
I will tell you which set you are expected to use.
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 most things in Korean, 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” (the counter for “thing”) instead. You will
learn the more difficult counters as you progress through future lessons. For now, the
goal is to get you accustomed to using these three simple counters.
When counting in English, we usually don’t use counters. Rather, we just say “two
people,” as in:
I met two people
But some things in English require the use of these counters. 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 almost everything in Korean.
The words 1, 2, 3, 4 and 20 change when adding a counter:
1 = 하나 changes to 한
2 = 둘 changes to 두
3 = 셋 changes to 세
4 = 넷 changes to 네
20 = 스물 changes to 스무

Place a number, followed by a counter, after a noun to indicate how many of that thing
there are. For example:
사람 두 명 = 2 people
사람 한 명 = 1 person
펜 다섯 개 = 5 pens
펜 마흔네 개 = 44 pens
————
It is also possible to put the number-counter combination before the noun that is being
counted. However, the method shown immediately above is much more common. When
placed before the noun, “~의” is added to the counter, for example:
두 명의 사람 = 2 people
한 명의 사람 = 1 person
다섯 개의 펜 = 5 pens
마흔네 개의 펜 = 44 pens
The purpose and function of ~의 in this type of construction is discussed in Lesson 23. As
I said, it is usually less common to count using this method, so for now, don’t worry
about this grammar. I simply want you to know that it can be done. Pay more attention to
the “사람 두 명” form instead of the “두 명의 사람” form.
————
When writing out the word instead of using the numeral (for example, writing “한”
instead of “1”) the correct form is to have a space between the written number and the
counter. For example:
한 개 instead of 한개
두 번 instead of 두번
세 명 instead of 세명
When the Korean numbers are used (i.e. when counting things or actions), the word is
more typically used than the numeral. In our lessons, you will usually see the Korean
word written out when a counter is used.
In other situations where Sino-Korean numbers are used, there is no difference if you use
the Sino-Korean numeral or the word. I will come back to this in the next lesson when
you learn applications for Sino-Korean numbers.

These nouns that we have counted can now become the object of a sentence:
나는 펜 네 개를 샀어 = I bought four pens

나는 햄버거 두 개를 먹었어 = I ate two hamburgers
나는 어제 친구 다섯 명을 만났어 = I met five friends yesterday
————
The number-counter combination can be placed before the noun, as we discussed earlier:
나는 네 개의 펜을 샀어 = I bought four pens

나는 두 개의 햄버거를 먹었어 = I ate two hamburgers
나는 어제 다섯 명의 친구를 만났어 = I met five friends yesterday
------------
Although the placement of the particles is important for your initial understanding of
Korean grammar, eventually, you will become more comfortable with omitting particles
altogether. Omitting particles is not something I recommend for a beginner because it is
very important that you understand how to use them perfectly for more complex
sentences. Nonetheless, most often in speech, particles in this situation are often omitted.
For example, you might hear something like this:
나는 펜 네 개 샀어 = I bought 4 pens
In this structure, it is also possible to put the particle on the noun instead of the counter,
for example:
나는 펜을 네 개 샀어 = I bought 4 pens
Try not to worry about this too much at this stage, as the following three sentences would
sound perfect to Korean people:
나는 펜 네 개 샀어
나는 펜을 네 개 샀어
나는 펜 네 개를 샀어
------------
Here are some more examples of counters in use:

그 사람은 차 네 대가 있어요 = That person has four cars
저는 우유 두 잔을 샀어요 = I bought two glasses of milk
저는 땅콩 두 개를 먹었어요 = I ate two peanuts

Zero
I figure since I am talking about numbers, I should mention something about how/when
the number zero is used. Just like other numbers, there are two ways to say “zero” in
Korea. However, unlike other numbers, both ways of saying “zero” are of Chinese origin.
영, which is (from what I understand), the way Chinese people say “zero”
공, which is sort of like the meaning of “nothing”
That isn’t really very important, but what is important is knowing which word to use in
which situation.
You should use “영” when talking about:

- Points that can be given or taken away, like in a game. For example, when saying
the score “2 – 0”, you would say “이 대 영”. Another example would be if you
are in a quiz show, and you ask your friend how many points she has, she could
say “영점”
- The temperature “zero”
- When using numbers in math (which, if you’re just learning Korean now, you
probably won’t do for a long time)
You should use “공” when talking about:

- Phone numbers. For example, when saying “010 – 5555 – 5555”, all the zeros
should be read as “공.” If you don’t live in Korea, you probably won’t know this,
but “010” is the typical area code for a cell phone (in Seoul, at least). Therefore,
when giving your phone number, you usually start out by saying “공-일-공”.
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. Putting a number before “번” creates an adverb that tells you how
many times something was done. It is an adverb, so 를/을 is not attached to it.
저는 어제 학교에 세 번 갔어요 = I went to school three times yesterday

저는 그 영화를 다섯 번 봤어요 = I saw that movie five times
저는 오늘 두 번 운동할 것입니다 = I will exercise twice (two times) today
저는 어제 고기를 두 번 먹었어요 = I ate meat twice yesterday
저는 오늘 축구를 네 번 할 거예요 = I will play soccer four times today
This is fairly simple to use, but you will continue to learn about this word in the next
lesson when you learn how to say “this time,” “next time,” and “last time.”

Telling Korean Time
There are so many different ways to talk about time (seconds, minutes, hours, days,
weeks, months, years, etc…). You will learn more about how to indicate when you
did/do/will do something using these ‘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. For example:
2 시 30 분 = 2:30, or
두 시 삼십 분 = Two thirty
Earlier in the lesson I said that when a pure Korean number is used with a counter, it is
more commonly written out instead of using the numeral. In this case, “시” could be seen
as a counter as we are counting “hours.” However, writing the numeral or the word is
equally as common and acceptable when referring to the time. In my case, I much prefer
to use the numeral instead of the word.
To indicate the minute, Sino-Korean numbers are used and (just like all times when Sino-
Korean numbers are used) there is no difference if you use the numeral or the word. I
prefer to use the numeral in these cases.
The spacing of these also needs to be discussed. As I mentioned earlier, when a written
number is placed before a counter, there should be a space between the number and the
counter. This is true for the number before “분” as well. For example, if you were writing
the words out:
두 시 should be written instead of 두시

삼십 분 should be written instead of 삼십분
However, when using the numeral, it is acceptable to omit the space and attach the
numeral directly with the following counter. For example:
2 시 30 분

Officially, there should be a space. However, most people do not include a space and it is
also seen as correct to omit it. Other examples:
3 시 10 분 = 3:10
세 시 십 분 = Three ten
12 시 50 분 = 12:50
열두 시 오십 분 = Twelve fifty
You will see more examples of this in the next lesson when you learn more applications of
numbers (specifically Sino-Korean numbers). If you can’t get it into your brain yet, it will
be easier when you see more examples in the next lesson.
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 왔어 = I came at 2:30
우리는 야구를 1 시에 할 거예요 = We will play baseball at 1:00
우리는 7 시 20 분에 시작할 거예요 = We will start at 7:20
Age
When indicating how old a person is, you should use pure Korean numbers along with
the word “살” which is a counter for ages. For example:
저는 열 살이에요 = I am ten years old

저의 여자 친구는 스물여섯 살이에요 = My girlfriend is twenty six years old
It would sound weird to use the Sino-Korean numbers to indicate the age of somebody
who is under thirty. However, after thirty, it is not uncommon to use the Sino-Korean
numbers instead of the pure Korean numbers. The older the age, the more likely you will
hear the Sino-Korean number used instead of the pure Korean number. After 50, you are
most likely to exclusively hear the Sino-Korean numbers.
You haven’t learned how to ask questions yet, so it is difficult for me to explain how to
ask about a person’s age. You will understand the following sentence better once you are
confident with the content introduced in Lessons 21 and 22. Nonetheless, it would be
good to memorize this sentence because of how common of a question it is:
(나이가) 몇 살이에요? = How old are you?

번째: First, Second, Third, etc…
번째 can be used after a number like a counter to mean first/second/third/etc. When
saying “first”, “첫” replaces “한”. For example:
첫 번째 = first
저의 첫 번째 친구는 착했어요 = My first friend was nice
저는 첫 번째 차를 싫어했어요 = I didn’t like that first car
If you think that is confusing, explain how ‘one’ gets changed to ‘first,’ ‘two’ gets
changed to ‘second’ and ‘three’ gets changed to ‘third.’
After “first,” you can use the regular Korean numbers. Just like with counters, the
numbers 2 – 4 change when 번째 follows. For example:
두 번째 = second
그 두 번째 선생님은 똑똑했어요 = That second teacher was smart
저는 두 번째 남자를 골랐어요 = I chose the second man
세 번째 = third
이 여권은 저의 세 번째 여권이에요 = This is my third passport
저는 세 번째 문을 열었어요 = I opened the third door
네 번째 = fourth
저는 네 번째 사람이었어요 = I was the fourth person
이 아이는 저의 네 번째 아들이에요 = This person is my fourth son
After the number four, the words don’t change when adding 번째. For example:
이 수업은 오늘 저의 열 번째 수업입니다 = This is my tenth class today

저는 백 번째 페이지를 읽었어요 = I read the 100th page
Sometimes you might see these numbers + counters used in the following way:
첫 번째 = 첫째 = first
두 번째 = 둘째 = second
세 번째 = 셋째 = third
네 번째 = 넷째 = fourth
etc.…

These shortened forms can’t be used in as many situations as their longer counterparts.
The most common situation where these are used is when talking about your
first/second/third/etc. children. For example:
우리 둘째 아들은 고등학생이에요 = Our second son is a high school student

우리 셋째 아이는 야구를 좋아해요 = Our third child likes baseball
이 아이는 우리 첫째 아들이에요 = This (child) is our first son
In these cases, it is common to just refer to the child as “one’s first” or “one’s second.”
We often do the same thing in English. For example:
우리 둘째는 고등학생이에요 = Our second (child) is a high school student

우리 셋째는 야구를 좋아해요 = Our third (child) likes baseball
이 아이는 우리 첫째예요 = This (child) is our first (child)
However, as I mentioned, it would be unnatural to use these words in sentences like this:
저는 셋째 문을 열었어요 (very understandable, but awkward)

저는 넷째 사람이었어요 (very understandable, but awkward)
Another place you will see words like 첫째 and 둘째 is when making lists about things
that need to be done, and the speaker/writer is indicating “Firstly… and then secondly…”
For example:
첫째, 저는 야채를 많이 먹겠습니다 = First, I will eat a lot of vegetables

둘째, 저는 매일 운동하겠습니다 = Second, I will exercise everyday
Another useful word is 마지막 which often translates to ‘last.’ It is often confusing for
English speakers to understand the usage of 마지막 at first because the word “last” has
more than one usage in English. 마지막 is used to refer to the final (last) thing at the end
of sequence… as in “first meal… second meal… third meal… fourth meal… final (last)
meal.” It is not used to refer to a “previous” thing. Notice the difference between these
two usages of “last night”:
Last night (the previous night) I went to the movies

The last night (the final night) of our trip was the best
The second example would be where you could use 마지막, because you are referring to
the final (last) night of a sequence of nights on a trip. In the first example, you are talking
about the previous night. I will introduce how you can refer to a “previous” thing in the
next lesson where I introduce 지난.

Here are some examples of 마지막 in use:
이것은 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 a descriptive word, even though it is not an
adjective in its original form (it is not an adjective because it does not end in 다, and
cannot be conjugated). Words can be used this way in English as well. The word “face” is
a noun. But in the sentence “I put on face paint,” the word “face” describes the type 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 can 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
저는 처음에 체육 수업을 싫어했어요 = At first I didn’t like PE class
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 갈 것입니다 = I will go to Korea for the first time tomorrow

Averbs and Other words: Months of the year:
동안 = for (for 2 weeks)/during 1 월 (일월) = January
달 = month 2 월 (이월) = February
개월 = month 3 월 (삼월) = March
날 = day 4 월 (사월) = April
하루 = one day 5 월 (오월) = May
이틀 = two days 6 월 (유월) = June
사흘 = three days 7 월 (칠월) = July
지난 주 = last week 8 월 (팔월) = August
지난 달 = last month 9 월 (구월) = September
이번 주 = this week 10 월 (시월) = October
이번 달 = this month 11 월 (십일월) = November
다음 주 = next week 12 월 (십이월) = December
다음 달 = next month
작년 = last year Nouns:
올해 = this year 기회 = chance/opportunity
내년 = next year 계획 = plans
평생 (동안) = in my whole life 회사원 = office worker
보통 = usually 요리사 = a cook/chef
운전사 = a driver
Verbs:
달리다 = to run Adjectives:
요리하다 = to cook 두렵다 = to be scared
운전하다 = to drive 이상하다 = to be strange
죽다 = to die
Introduction
In this lesson, you will build on what you learned in Lesson 10 by learning how to use a
variety of different words of time in Korean. Using these words, you will be able to say
“I did X for 2 months” or “I didn’t do Y last week.” You will also learn whether you
should use the pure Korean or Sino-Korean numbers when using these words of time.
The use of pure Korean or Sino-Korean numbers may seem random, but there is a reason
for it. Anytime the 'time' word is of Chinese origin, the Sino-Korean numbers are used.
For example "개월" (month) is counted using Sino-Korean numbers, because "개월" is
of Chinese origin and has corresponding Chinese (한자) characters. "달" (also meaning
month) is a Korean word, and thus, is counted using Korean numbers. A lot of Korean
words are of Chinese origin and have corresponding Chinese (한자) characters. You will
learn about those later.

This lesson is a little bit less organized than the previous lessons. It was difficult to teach
everything in this lesson together because you need to have a mutual understanding of all
concepts in order to understand one of them. In order to understand how to use 동안, you
need to know how to use 주. But in order to understand how to use 주, you should
understand how to use 동안. Around and around we go.
“For” a certain amount of time (동안 )

동안 is a very useful word that can be used to indicate how long an action occurs. It is
typically placed after a duration of time, for example:
2 분 = 2 minutes
2 분 동 안 = for 2 minutes
10 분 = 10 minutes
10 분 동 안 = for 10 minutes
이틀 = two days
이틀 동 안 = for two days
동안 can also be used to indicate that an action occurs "while" another action
occurs. You will learn about that application in Lesson 33 after learning some key
grammar points in the lessons to come.
Those can then be added into sentences to indicate how long one does something for.
Notice also that no additional particle is added to 동안. One would think that 에 should
be added, but it is not.
저는 10 분 동안 걸었어요 = I walked for 10 minutes

저는 30 분 동안 공부했어요 = I studied for 30 minutes
While the translation of “동안” in these examples is usually “for”, in essence, what you
are doing is stating “for that period of time.” Understanding this will help you understand
later usages of “동안” in future lessons. For example:
저는 10 분 동안 걸었어요 = I walked for (a period of) 10 minutes

저는 30 분 동안 공부했어요 = I studied for (a period of) 30 minutes
저는 이틀 동안 안 잤어요 = I didn’t sleep for two days
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Remember: It doesn’t matter if you use the word or the numeral when writing a number.
However, typically the word is written when a pure Korean word is used with a counter
like 개, 명, 번, 시간, 대, 살, etc. In situations where Sino-Korean numbers are written
(for example, in the sentences above) it makes no difference if you write the numeral or
the word.

Also remember that the spacing is different depending on if you write a numeral or a
word. If writing the word, there should be a space between the number and the word. For
example:
저는 십 분 동안 걸었어요
If writing a numeral, it doesn’t matter if you include a space or not. Both are seen as
acceptable:
저는 10 분 동안 걸었어요
저는 10 분 동안 걸었어요
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I want to show you more and more examples of 동안, and I expect you might not want to
limit yourself to only “분” (minutes), so let’s move on to hours.
Korean Hours (시간)

Talking about minutes is easy because you always simply use 분. For example:
3 시 20 분 means “3:20”, and

20 분 동안 means “for 20 minutes”
When talking about hours, however, 시 is used when talking about the hour on a clock,
whereas 시간 is used when counting hours. Notice the difference between these two sets:
3 시 = 3:00
세 시 = Three o’clock
3 시간 동안 = for 3 hours
세 시간 동안 = for three hours
Remember that pure Korean numbers are used when talking about hours. I usually write
out the Korean word when I’m referring to an amount of hours as in the examples below.
For example:
저는 세 시간 동안 잤어요 = I slept for 3 hours

저는 한 시간 동안 달렸어요 = I ran for one hour
저는 여덟 시간 동안 운전했어요 = I drove for eight hours
저는 어제 한 시간 동안 야구를 했어요 = I played baseball for an hour yesterday
저는 어제 두 시간 동안 TV 를 봤어요* = I watched TV for two hours yesterday
*Notice that 보다 (to see) is used when watching something. You can also use 보다 when
you watch a performance or concert, or similar things. In English “I saw a TV” and “I
watched TV” have two different meanings, but Koreans simply say “I see TV.”

At this point you are probably asking saying “Okay, I understand how to say that I have
done things for X hours or minutes, but what about if I want to say something like:
I will eat in three hours, or

I ate three hours ago
I will go in 10 minutes, or
I came 10 minutes ago”
You will learn how to create those types of sentences when you learn about 전 and 후 in
Lesson 24. For the moment, there is a ton of content in this lesson, so try to focus on what
is presented here.
Korean Seconds (초)

When talking about seconds, you need to use the Sino-Korean numbers. When putting a
number before “초,” it doesn’t matter if you use the word or the numeral. For example:
1 초 = 1 second
일 초 = one second
2 초 = 2 seconds
이 초 = 2 seconds
2 초 동안 = for 2 seconds
이 초 동안 = for two seconds
Examples in sentences:
저는 2 초 동안 달렸어요 = I ran for 2 seconds
저는 그 사람을 10 초 동안 만났어요 = I met that person for 10 seconds
1 분은 60 초입니다 = One minute is sixty seconds
Last/Next (지난/다음)
지난 and 다음 are two words that you can use in many situations, including in situations
related to time. In Lesson 10, you learned about 마지막, which can be used to refer to the
“last” or “final” thing in a sequence. Remember, Korean people use another word when
referring to a “previous” (or last) thing, as in: “I saw a movie last (the previous) week.”
In order to refer to a “previous” thing, the word “지난” can be used. I drew a picture to
depict the image I have in my head distinguishing 마지막 and 지난. Imagine you are on
a six week trip, and you are currently in your fourth week of the trip. You can use “지난”
to refer to the previous week, and you can use “마지막” to refer to the final week. (You
can refer to them both as “last week” in English). For example:

지난 can be added immediately before some words of time (I discuss “some” a little bit
later) to refer to a “previous” thing. This often translates to “last,” though. For example:
저는 지난 주에 영화를 봤어요 = I saw a movie last week

저는 지난 주에 캐나다에 갔어요 = I went to Canada last week.
저는 지난 수업을 안 들었어요 = I didn’t go to/attend the last/previous class
In order to say “attend a class,” Korean people say “수업을 듣다,” which literally
translates to “listen to/hear a class.” As such, you can see that the particle ~을 is
attached to “수업” because “the class” is the noun that is being listened to. Korean
learners are sometimes confused as to why “~에” is not attached to “수업” because they
are accustomed to the English way of saying “I didn’t go to the last class”.
Also, note that this sentence is also correct, but is referring to a different class:
저는 마지막 수업을 안 들었어요 = I didn’t attend the last class
지난 can be added only before some words of time. For example, you couldn’t say “지난
분/지난 초.” These would mean “last minute/second” as in ‘the last minute/second’ that
just passed – which doesn’t make any sense. Notice that they do not have the meaning of
“I handed in my paper at the last minute.” This meaning refers to the last minute in a
sequence of minutes; therefore, “마지막” must be used in this case.
시간, however, means “time” in addition to being a counter for “hours.” So, “지난 시간”
can be used to mean “last time” (but not “last hour”).
저는 그것을 지난 시간에 배웠어요 = I learned that (thing) last time
You can also use the word 번 to refer to the last “time” something happened.
저는 그것을 지난 번에 배웠어요 = I learned that (thing) last time
우리가 지난 번에 계획이 없었어요 = We didn’t have plans last time
우리는 지난 번에 돼지고기를 먹었어요 = We ate pork last time
다음 is used in the same way as 지난, but it means “next.” For example:
저는 다음 주에 영화를 볼 거예요 = I will see a movie next week
저는 다음 주에 캐나다에 갈 거예요 = I will go to Canada next week

Like above, 다음 can be used with 시간 to mean “next time,” but not “next hour.”
우리는 다음 번에 학교에 갈 거예요 = We will go to school next time
우리는 다음 시간에 학교에 갈 거예요 = We will go to school next time
나는 너를 다음 번에 방문할 거야 = I will visit you next time
나는 너를 다음 시간에 방문할 거야 = I will visit you next time
Korean Days (일/날/하루)

Days are very confusing in Korean because there are a few different words you need to
be acquainted with. You learned the names of the days of the week in the vocabulary
section of another lesson. You should have noticed that every day of the week ends in 일.
일 means “day” but it is never used alone (if it is used alone, it means ‘work’). I’m
looking at my Korean calendar now, and see a variety of words ending in “일.” Don’t
worry about these words now, just recognize the importance of “일” within them:
총선 = general election
총선일 = the day of the general election (election day)
현충일 = Memorial day
일 is also the counter for days. You learned in Lesson 10 that you must use pure Korean
numbers when counting. When you count days, however, you use Sino-Korean numbers.
When putting a number before “일,” it doesn’t matter if you use the word or the numeral.
나는 3 일 동안 공부했어 = I studied for 3 days

나는 삼 일 동안 공부했어 = I studied for 3 days
나는 3 일 동안 학교에 안 갔어 = I didn’t go to school for 3 days

나는 삼 일 동안 학교에 안 갔어 = I didn’t go to school for 3 days
저는 5 일 동안 계획이 없을 거예요 = I won’t have plans for 5 days

우리는 6 일 동안 만나지 않았어요 = We didn’t meet for 6 days
To make things more confusing, if you are counting days from 1 – 10 there is a word that
corresponds to “one day,” another word that corresponds to “2 days,” another word that
corresponds to “3 days” etc… The most common of these words is 하루 which means
“one day.” 하루 is used much more than 일 일. But 2 일 (이 일)/3 일 (삼 일)/4 일 (사
일)/5 일 (오 일)/etc are used more than their corresponding words.
저는 하루 동안 여행했어요 = I travelled for 1 day

저는 사흘 동안 밥을 안 먹었어요 = I didn’t eat rice for 3 days
저는 삼일 동안 밥을 안 먹었어요 = I didn’t eat rice for 3 days
우리는 이틀 동안 미국에 있었어요 = We were in America for two days
우리는 10 일 동안 한국에 있을 거예요 = We will be in Korea for ten days

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You can place a (Sino-Korean) number before 일 to refer to a specific day in a month. It
seems like it would be easy to confuse when one is talking about the day of a month
(3 일) and when doing something for a specific period (3 일).
In sentences, these are easily distinguishable:
나는 3 일에 수업을 들었어 = I went to class on the 3rd (day of the month)

나는 3 일 동안 수업을 들었어 = I went to class for three days
You can refer to a specific day and month by adding #일 after #월.
For example:
3 월 2 일 = March 2nd
5 월 25 일 = May 25th
저는 8 월 15 일에 도착할 거예요 = I will arrive on August 15th
저는 이 여권을 1 월 2 일에 받았어요 = I received my passport on January 2nd
날 is another word that means “day” and can be used as a stand alone word, but not
counted. It is used when talking about a specific day by itself. For example:
저는 그 날에 갔어요 = I went on that day

저는 그 날에 계획이 있어요 = I have plans on that day
저는 그 날에 선생님이 되었어요 = I became a teacher on that day
우리는 그 날에 시작할 거예요 = We will start on that day
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If you want to talk about doing something on the first/second/third day, you can use 번째
(which you learned in the previous lesson) with 날. For example:
우리는 두 번째 날에 서울에 갔어요 = We went to Seoul on the second day

우리는 둘째 날에 서울에 갔어요 = We went to Seoul on the second day
우리는 세 번째 날에 안 만났어요 = We didn’t meet on the third day

우리는 셋째 날에 안 만났어요 = We didn’t meet on the third day
저는 네 번째 날에 계획이 없어요 = I have no plans on the fourth day

저는 넷째 날에 계획이 없어요 = I have no plans on the fourth day
첫날 is a word that specifically refers to the first day:
저는 첫날에 명동에 갔어요 = I went to 명동 on the first day

저는 첫날에 그 여자를 만났어요 = I met that girl on the first day

Korean Weeks (주)
Weeks in Korean can be used in sentences just like 일 (day) except that there are no other
weird words to worry about. You use Sino-Korean numbers when talking about weeks:
저는 다음 주에 미국에 갈 거예요 = I will go to the US next week

지난 주에 저는 계획이 많았어요 = I had a lot of plans last week
The word “주” can also be used as a counter to count weeks. When counting weeks, just
like when counting days, Sino-Korean numbers are used. When putting a number before
“주,” it doesn’t matter if you use the word or the numeral. For example:
저는 2 주 동안 한식을 안 먹었어요 = I didn’t eat Korean food for 2 weeks

저는 4 주 동안 여자친구를 안 만났어요 = I didn’t meet my girlfriend for 4 weeks
저는 이 주 동안 한식을 안 먹었어요 = I didn’t eat Korean food for two weeks
저는 사 주 동안 여자친구를 안 만났어요 = I didn’t meet my girlfriend for four week
The word “주일” can also be used as a counter for weeks. This is acceptable, but it
sounds a bit more natural to use “주” as shown above. For example:
저는 2 주일 동안 한식을 안 먹었어요 = I didn’t eat Korean food for two weeks

저는 4 주일 동안 여자친구를 안 만났어요 = I didn’t meet my girlfriend for four weeks
Korean Months (달/개월)

First, notice that the names of each month correspond to the number of the month in the
calendar. For example:
January = 1 월
February = 2 월
December = 12 월
When counting months, you can either use 달 or 개월. When using 달, you must use the
pure Korean numbers, and when using 개월, you must use the Sino-Korean numbers.
There is no difference in meaning, and both are used frequently. When putting a number
before 달, I prefer to write the Korean word. When putting a number before 개월, it
doesn’t matter if you use the word or the numeral.
저는 두 달 동안 한국어 수업을 들었어요 = I took a Korean class for 2 months

저는 2 개월 동안 한국어 수업을 들었어요 = I took a Korean class for 2 months
저는 이 개월 동안 한국어 수업을 들었어요 = I took a Korean class for 2 months
My Korean grammar teacher told me years ago that ‘동안’ is actually incorporated into
the meaning of 달, which would mean that you wouldn’t have to say 동안 after 달. Still,
though, most people use 동안 after 달.

Korean Years (년)
Years are used just like weeks, which means that you must use the Sino-Korean numbers.
When putting a number before “년,” it doesn’t matter if you use the word or the numeral:
저는 3 년 동안 형을 안 만났어요 = I didn’t meet my brother for 3 years

저는 10 년 동안 한국어를 공부했어요 = I studied Korean for 10 years
저는 삼 년 동안 형을 안 만났어요 = I didn’t meet my brother for three years

저는 십 년 동안 한국어를 공부했어요 = I studied Korean for ten years
However, if you want to say “last/next year” in Korean, you can’t use “지난/다음 년.”
Instead, you must use separate words. The words are:
작년 = last year
내년 = next year, for example:
나는 내년에 한국에 갈 거야 = I will go to Korea next year

그 사람은 작년에 죽었어요 = That person died last year
This Week/This Month/This Time (이번)

Finally, you can use 이번 just like 지난/다음 when talking about weeks or months to
mean “this week/this month.” You cannot say “이번 년,” instead you must use the
separate word “올해.”
저는 이번 주에 계획이 없어요 = I have no plans this week

저의 어머니는 올해 한국에 올 것입니다 = My mom will come to Korea this year
Note here that it is common to see “에” omitted from the word “올해.” You can also see
in the section above that this is not the case with 작년 and 내년.
You cannot use 이번 when talking about minutes/seconds/hours. “I want to go to school

this hour” doesn’t make any sense. But remember, in addition to meaning ‘hour’ 시간
also means “time.” This means that you can say 이번 시간 to mean “this time,” which is
usually used when talking about “this time in class.” For example:
우리는 이번 시간에 많이 배웠어 = We learned a lot this time
In most other cases, it is more natural to use “이번에” instead of “이번 시간:”
나는 너를 이번에 안 만날 거야 = I won’t meet you this time
번 can also be added after 지난/다음 to mean “last/next time”
저는 박물관에 다음 번에 갈 거예요 = I will go to the museum next time

저는 박물관에 지난 번에 갔어요 = I went to the museum last time

“Per”
When talking about each of these units of time, you can add the particle ~에 to indicate
within that unit of time, how much something was done. You can usually translate this to
“per” in English. For example:
저는 이 약을 하루에 두 번 먹어요 = I eat (take) this medicine twice per day

저는 그 친구를 1 주일에 한 번 만나요 = I meet that friend once per week
저는 여기에 한 달에 세 번 와요 = I come here three times per month
저는 1 년에 두 번 미국에 가요 = I go to America twice per year
Almost all the examples in this lesson used 동안 in them. There are other ways that you
can talk about these time words without using 동안 (for example, “I will go to Canada 3
days from now”). However, this lesson was reaching the 6 page mark, and I didn’t want
to overload you more than I already have. I feel like the material in this lesson alone is
enough to make your head spin for a while, so I will end it here.
In later lessons, you will learn how to apply the concepts you learned in this lesson to
more complicated sentences.

Nouns: Verbs:
점원 = store assistant 속삭이다 = to whisper
배우 = actor 복습하다 = to review, to re-study
목 = neck/throat 바꾸다 = to change
소리 = noise/sound 유학하다 = to study abroad
목소리 = voice 넘어지다 = to fall
의미 = meaning 독서하다 = to read a book
상황 = situation 출발하다 = to depart
닭 = chicken 마시다 = to drink
문장 = sentence 내리다 = to get off, to go/come down
기름 = oil/grease/gasoline 나오다 = to come out
생활 = lifestyle/life 나가다 = to go out
그들 = them 모르다 = to not know
신청하다 = to apply
Adverbs and Other Words: 쓰다 = to cover one’s head (to wear a hat)
꽤 = fairly/quite 사다 = to buy
열심히 = hard/well (to study “hard”) 팔다 = to sell
완전히 = perfectly
층 = floor Adjectives:
몇 = some ____, how many (used with counter) 얇다 = to be thin (not used with people)
때 = time, when 적당하다 = to be moderate
그때 = at that time 어리다 = to be young
쪽 = side/direction 기쁘다 = to be glad
Introduction
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. In this lesson, you will learn
about ~들, ~만, ~에서, ~부터, ~까지 and ~(으)로! Let’s get started!
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. This will be done from
time to time throughout our lessons.

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 한 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: 두 개/두 명/두 번. When
몇 replaces a number in these cases (몇 번/몇 명/몇 개), it has the meaning of “some
____.” For example, instead of saying: “나는 사과 한 개를 샀어”, you could say:
나는 사과 몇 개를 샀어 = I bought SOME apples

More examples (remember that 펜 한 개 and 한 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. However, adding ~들 to a noun that is not referring to a person is
usually unnatural. Therefore, it would be unnatural to say something like this:
저는 사과들을 샀어요
Instead, ~들 is usually only attached to the word “person” (사람) or other words with the
meaning of people (for example: actors, workers, doctors, etc…). For example:
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)
The particle ~만 is very common and has the meaning of “only.” It can be attached
directly to the end of a noun to express “only (that noun).” For example:
나는 물만 마셔 = I only drink water
It can be attached to the subject or the object of a sentence, and in each case it replaces
the particle that would normally be attached there (~은/는 or ~을/를) or For example:
나만 그 여자를 좋아해 = Only I like that girl

나는 그 여자만 좋아해 = I only like that girl
나만 사과를 샀어 = Only I bought apples

나는 사과만 샀어 = I only bought apples
You could also stress that you only bought one apple (or any other number of things) by
placing ~만 on a counter:
나는 사과 한 개만 샀어 = I only bought one apple

저는 차 두 대만 있어요 = I only have two cars
저는 친구 한 명만 만났어요 = I only met one friend
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 (for example: 가다, 먹다, 보내다).
The way that you can change those verbs into a form that allows ~만 to be attached will
be discussed in Lesson 29.
The examples above show ~만 attached to nouns, but really it can be attached to a wide
variety of things – including grammatical principles and other particles, which we'll get
into after a few more lessons on Korean basics.
When ~만 gets attached to more complicated things, it usually doesn’t replace something,
but overlaps it. What I mean is, when ~만 is attached to the subject or object, ~을/를 or
~은/는 get eliminated. However, when ~만 is attached to something else, everything
usually stays in place.
I'll show now how it can be attached to the ~에 particle we've covered, and follow up in
later lessons with other particles.
우리는 학교에만 갔어요 = We only went to school

학생들은 교실 안에만 있어요 = The students are only in their classrooms
저는 밤에만 운동해요 = I exercise only at night
저는 커피를 낮에만 마셔요 = I drink coffee only during the day
저는 그 여자를 그때만 사랑했어요 = I loved her only at that time
When using 그때, ~에 is often omitted because it can be assumed.
Korean Particle ~에서

Foreign learners of Korean are often very confused as to when they should use ~에서
instead of ~에, as they both denote places in Korean sentences. ~에서 is used to denote
the location in which the subject is doing something. For example:
저는 학교에서 공부할 거예요 = I will study at school

저는 저의 친구를 병원에서 봤어요 = I saw my friend at the hospital
저는 남편을 공원에서 만날 거예요 = I will meet my husband at the park
저는 한국어를 한국에서 배웠어요 = I learned Korean in Korea
In order to help you understand the purpose of ~에서, I would like to make a distinction
between ~에 and ~에서. As I said, ~에서 is used to indicate the location in which the
subject is doing something.

This does not mean the location that he/she is going to
This does not mean the location that he/she looking at
This does not mean the location that he/she places something on
This does not mean the location that he/she places something in
All of the locations from those examples above would require the particle “~에” to
denote the location.
~에서, on the other hand refers to the location in which the subject – the acting agent of
the sentence – is when actually doing the action. Let’s look at the following example:
저는 건물에 간판을 봤어요
In this sentence, where is the subject (저) when doing the action (보다)? ~에서 is not
used in this sentence, so it is unknown as to where the subject was when he/she saw the
sign. It might be known from context, but this specific sentence is not describing it.
Therefore, the person is saying that he/she saw the sign “on the building” – as if he/she
was walking by and saw the sign attached to the building in some way. The action did not
occur at/on/in the building, it’s just the location in which he/she was looking at.
Conversely, look at this sentence:

저는 건물에서 간판을 봤어요
In this sentence, where is the subject (저) when doing this action (보다)? ~에서 is
attached to “건물.” Therefore, the subject was in the building and saw the sign.
Another example:
저는 병을 탁자에 놓았어요
In this sentence, where is the subject (저) when doing the action (놓다)? ~에서 is not
used in this sentence, so it is unknown as to where the subject was when he/she put the
bottle on the table. It might be known from context, but this specific sentence is not
describing it. Therefore, the person is saying that he/she put the bottle “on the table.”
Conversely, look at this sentence:

저는 병을 탁자에서 놓았어요
This sentence is nonsense. It is indicating that, the action actually occurred on/in the table.
That is, the subject somehow within the table placed the bottle somewhere. But the
sentence is so nonsensical that it is not even indicating where the bottle is placed. It could
translate to something like “(While I was) in the table, I placed the bottle.” Don’t get too
hung up on that translation because it’s hard to translate a sentence that doesn’t make
sense.

However, because ~에서 can be used to indicate where the subject is acting, and because
~에 can be used to in this sentence to indicate where the bottle is placed, both ~에 and
~에서 can be used in the same sentence. For example:
저는 방에서 탁자에 병을 놓았어요 = I placed the bottle on the table in the room
This is the same reason that the particle ~에 is placed on the location to which a person is
going. For example, if I said something like this:
저는 한국에서 갈 거예요
(This sentence is correct, but it is stating that the person left from Korea because the
action of “going” (가다) is occurring at/in Korea). This function is talked about a little
bit later.
Instead, in order to indicate the place to which you are going (and, therefore, not
currently in/at), you must use ~에. For example:
저는 한국에 갈 거예요 = I will go to Korea
~에서 can also be attached to a location where an adjective “occurs.” The word “occurs”
is a bad way to describe this (because adjectives don’t really “occur”, but I can’t think of
a better word. Just like how a verb can be used with a subject…:
저는 잤어요 = I slept
…and a location can be used in this sentence to indicate where that action occurred:
저는 집에서 잤어요 = I slept at home
In that same sense, adjectives can be used with a subject…:

과일은 비싸요 = Fruit is expensive
… and a location can be used in this sentence to indicate where that adjective “occurs”:
과일은 한국에서 비싸요 = Fruit is expensive in Korea
Here are some other examples:

저는 학교에서 추웠어요 = I was cold at school
고등학교는 한국에서 어려워요 = High school is difficult in Korea
녹차는 한국에서 유명해요 = Green Tea is famous in Korea
I don’t want to provide a ton of examples for this because in order to make perfectly
natural sentences, it requires the use of other, more complicated grammar that you
haven’t been introduced to yet. For now, try to understand this specific function of ~에서
and how it can be used to indicate where a verb or adjective “occurs.”

When you indicate where something is using 있다, you should use ~에 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 general meaning of “from.” In it’s most basic
sense, it can be used to indicate the place from which the subject is departing from. This
is the usage I mentioned earlier. For example:
저는 한국에서 갈 거예요 = I will go from Korea

다음 버스는 저 정류장에서 출발할 거예요 = The next bus will depart from that station
This same usage can be applied to more complicated scenarios that are similar to
“departing.” For example:
When you are getting off of something (bus/train):

저는 서울역에서 내릴 거예요 = 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…
It is also important to know that when ~에서 is added to the words 여기/거기/저기 (here,
there, there), it is common to write/say:
여기서 instead of 여기에서

거기서 instead of 거기에서
저기서 instead of 저기에서

In addition to the examples provided, there are more ways in which ~에서 can be used to
mean “from.” Below is a sneak preview of more ways ~에서 can be used to mean
“from,” but I've used some grammar forms not yet introduced. Making a mental note of
these types of sentences might help you when you come across similar sentences later.
저는 학교에서 멀리 살고 있어요 = 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
When a word has a lot of meanings in Korean – and the corresponding English word also
has a lot of meanings - mastering the usage can be challenging, but also rewarding when
it all comes together.
Korean Particles ~부터 and ~까지

Two more important Korean particles are ~부터 and ~까지.
~까지 can be used in sentences with or without ~에서 to have the meaning of “to/until a
place/time.” For example:
3 시까지 기다릴 거예요 = I will wait until 3:00

그 여자를 지금까지 좋아했어요 = I liked that girl until now
저는 그 회사에서 5 월까지 일할 거예요 = I will work at that company until May
저는 그때까지 김치를 먹지 않았어요 = I hadn’t eaten Kimchi until that time
저는 오늘 이 책을 여기까지 읽었어요 = Today, I read up to here in this book
저는 한강까지 달렸어요 = I ran until (I reached) the Han River
~부터 is a particle that is often confused with ~에서 because both can translate to “from”
and have seemingly overlapping usages. You learned earlier that one usage of ~에서 is to
indicate the location from which an action is departing. For example:
우리는 집에서 출발할 거예요 = We will depart from home
~부터 is very similar, but is specifically identifying the place (or time) in which
something starts from. If we look at this sentence:
나는 인천에서 서울까지 갈 거야 = I will depart from Incheon and go to (until) Seoul
The particle ~에서 identifies that the person departed from 인천. In theory, this could
also be seen as the starting point. Therefore, this sentence could also be written as:
나는 인천부터 서울까지 갈 거야 = I will go from Incheon to Seoul

These two sentences (despite the slight nuance of “departing” and “starting”) are
essentially the same. In both cases, the subject is going from Incheon to Seoul. They can
both be seen as correct, but most Koreans would rather use ~에서 when talking about the
location in which something starts/departs.
For example, I showed these two sentences to a Korean person and asked him to explain
the difference:
다음 버스는 저 정류장에서 출발할 거예요 = The next bus will leave from that stop
다음 버스는 저 정류장부터 출발할 거예요
He said: “The first one sounds more natural. The second one sounds as if the place the
bus is leaving from is the bus garage… like the absolute starting point of the bus. In most
situations, it would be most natural to say the first sentence.”
Instead, ~부터 is commonly attached to a time to indicate when something starts. For
example:
저는 어제부터 아팠어요 = I have been sick since (from) yesterday

저는 내일부터 한국어를 공부할 거예요 = I’m going to study Korean from tomorrow
내년부터 우리는 서울에서 살 거예요 = From next year, we will be living in Seoul
저는 3 시부터 학교에 있을 거예요 = I will be at school from 3:00
저는 작년부터 한국어를 배웠어요 = I have been learning Korean since last year
It is very common to see ~까지 used in the same sentence as ~부터. Here, ~부터
indicates the starting point and ~까지 indicates the end point. For example:
저는 아침부터 밤까지 공부만 했어요 = From morning to night, I only studied

나는 캐나다에 1 일부터 8 일까지 있을 거야 = I will be in Canada from the 1st to the 8th
It is common to see “부터” attached to 처음 to translate to something like “from the

start” or “from the beginning.” For example:
그들은 저를 처음부터 싫어했어요 = They didn’t like me from the start

우리는 그 일을 처음부터 시작할 거예요 = We will start that job/task from the beginning
When used to say “from start to finish,” the word “끝” is often used to mean “finish.”
For example:
저는 그 상황을 처음부터 끝까지 몰랐어요 = I didn’t know that situation from start to finish
저는 그것을 처음부터 끝까지 복습했어요 = I reviewed that from start to finish
저는 그 책을 처음부터 끝까지 읽었어요 = I read that book from start to finish

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 그것을 손으로 만들었어요 = I built that with my hands
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In this same respect, ~(으)로 can be used to indicate the language which something is
spoken. Here, just like in some of the examples above, the language acts as the “tool” in
which something was communicated. For example:
저는 그 문장을 한국어로 말했어요 = I said that sentence (using) in Korean

저는 그것을 영어로 할 거예요 = I will say that (using) in English
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If somebody does an action in line with a bunch of other people, you can use ~(으)로 to
indicate the order something is done by attaching it to a number + 번째. For example:
저는 그것을 두 번째로 했어요 = I did that second (I was the second to do that)
저는 학교에 두 번째로 왔어요 = I came to school second (I was second to come to school)
저는 그것을 첫 번째로 할 거예요 = I will go (do it) first
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The other main meaning of ~(으)로 is to indicate the direction that something is
happening in. This sometimes has the same meaning as "에."For example:
저는 집으로 갈 거예요 = I will go in the direction of home, which would be the same as:
저는 집에 갈 거예요 = I will go home
~(으)로 is often added after ~쪽 to make “~쪽으로”. ~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 = 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 안에서 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!

Nouns: Verbs:
사실 = fact 축하하다 = to congratulate
약 = medicine 일어나다 = to rise, to get up
음악 = music 준비하다 = to prepare, to get ready
하늘 = sky 들어오다 = to come in
땅 = land 들어가다 = to go in
지하 = underground 입장하다 = to enter (verb form of admission)
빵 = bread 숨쉬다 = to breathe
쓰레기 = trash/garbage
회계사 = accountant Adjectives:
녹차 = green tea 흥미롭다 = to be interesting
이 = teeth 늦다 = to be late
정부 = government 시원하다 = to be cool, to be relaxing
성격 = personality 질투하다 = to be jealous
온도 = temperature 맵다 = to be spicy
커튼 = curtains 죄송하다 = to be sorry
숨 = breath 미안하다 = to be sorry
무겁다 = to be heavy
Adverbs: 가볍다 = to be light
요즘 = these days 유명하다 = to be popular, to be famous
같이 = together 익숙하다 = to be familiar with something
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.
For example:
우리는 밥과 빵을 팔아요 = We sell rice and bread
나는 사과와 바나나를 샀어 = I bought apples and bananas
The two examples above show ~와/과/랑/이랑/하고 placed between two nouns that
together act as the object of the sentence. Notice that although there are two nouns, both
of them (together) sort of act as the single object of the sentence.

Other particles can attach to the construction made by using ~와/과/랑/이랑/하고 as well.
For example:
나는 인천이랑 서울에 갈 거야 = I will go to Seoul and Incheon

형하고 아버지는 영화를 봤어 = My brother and dad saw a movie
저는 약과 녹차만 샀어요 = I only bought medicine and green tea
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/와, ~랑/이랑 and ~하고

Just when you thought this was going to be an easy lesson! Ha! This sounds crazy to an
English speaker, but the same particles are used to mean “and” and “with” in Korean.
You can distinguish them purely by the context of the conversation, which sounds like it
would be difficult. However, even though you probably think it is difficult, it is always
clear (even to a beginner) if the speaker is trying to express the meaning of “and” or
“with” because of the sentence structure.
For example, when used to have the meaning of “and,” a noun will always follow
과/와/(이)랑/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.” If ~와 in that
sentence had the meaning of “and”, it would translate to:
I went, my friend and… (this sentence is nonsense)
Here are some examples:

저는 친구와 집에 갔어요 = I went home with my friend
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
요즘에 사람들이 친구들이랑 매운 음식을 먹지 않아요 = These days, people don’t eat
spicy food with their friends
Also notice that you can actually use these particles to mean both “and” and “with”
within the same sentence:

저는 밥을 친구랑 저의 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.”
Two adverbs that are commonly used in sentences with “with” are 같이 and 함께. Both
of them mean “together,” and can be used in sentences even if the sentence doesn’t have
one of the particles meaning “with” (과/와/랑/이랑/하고). For example:
우리는 빵을 같이 먹었어요 = We ate bread together

우리는 빵을 함께 먹었어요 = We ate bread together
우리는 집에 같이 들어갔어요 = We went into the house together

우리는 집에 함께 들어갔어요 = We went into the house together
우리는 음악을 같이 들었어요 = We listened to music together

우리는 음악을 함께 들었어요 = We listened to music together
The use of the word “together” in the same sentence as the word “with” in English is
usually unnatural. For example, it sounds unnatural for me to say something like this:
I ate bread together with a friend
Instead, in English, we would say one of the following sentences:
I ate bread with a friend

We ate bread together
In Korean however, it is okay to use 같이 or 함께 in either of these situations; that is –

with the word “with” in the sentence, or without it. For example:
저는 빵을 친구랑 같이 먹었어요 = I ate bread with a friend (together)

저는 빵을 친구와 함께 먹었어요 = I ate bread with a friend (together)
저는 빵을 친구랑 먹었어요 = I ate bread with a friend

저는 빵을 친구와 먹었어요 = I ate bread with a friend
Notice that I used ~와 with 함께 instead of ~랑. Just like with the meaning of “and,”
“~와/과” is more likely to be used in writing and in formal situations, whereas
“~(이)랑” is more likely to be used is speech. This entirely depends on the person who is
speaking/writing, but it is generally true. Likewise, the use of “함께” is generally used in
writing and formal situations. Therefore, the use of 함께 is more likely to be paired with
~과/와 in these cases.

To add an additional level of complexity to this explanation – 같이 is more commonly
used than 함께 (같이 is probably one of the most common words in Korean, while 함께
would fall much further down the list). However, when 함께 is used, it is more likely to
be used with ~과/와. These are just generalizations based on observations of years of
speaking with Korean people.
More examples:
저는 녹차를 엄마랑 같이 마셨어요 = I drank green tea with my mom

저는 엄마랑 유명한 영화를 같이 봤어요 = I saw/watched a famous movie with my mom
저는 선생님과 함께 공부했어요 = I studied with my teacher

저는 여자 친구와 함께 영화를 봤어요 = I watched a movie with my girlfriend
You can also use these particles to say that you are simply ‘with’ somebody in a location.
In order to do this, you must use 있다 along with one of the adverbs meaning “together”.
For example:
나는 친구랑 같이 있어 = I’m with my friend

저는 친구와 집에 함께 있어요 = I’m with a friend at home
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 by which you did something, so, as you learned
in Lesson 12 ~(으)로 should be used in those situations. For example:
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). For example:
아버지는 아들에게 돈을 준다 = The father gives money to his son

나는 학생들한테 한국어를 가르쳤어 = I taught Korean to the students
저는 부장님께 그 사실을 말할 거예요 = I will tell that (fact) to my boss

In the sentence above using ~께, a different verb (말씀) and grammatical form (드리다)
would more likely be used to conjugate the sentence. At this point, you haven't learned
either of those words (or how they are used), so I refrained from using them in this
example. These will be introduced in Lesson 39. For now, focus on the use of ~께 in this
sentence.
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 to 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
Again, the word “드리다” would most likely be used instead of 주다 here. For now,
focus on the use of ~께 and we will continue to discuss this in Lesson 39.
Korean Particles (from): ~에게서/한테서/~(으)로부터

You learned in Lesson 12 that ~에서 can be used to mean “from” in a wide variety of
situations. ~에게서/한테서 can also have the translation of “from,” but they are used in a
more restricted way.
~에게서/한테서 has the meaning that is opposite of ~에게/한테/께, which means it is

used when somebody receives something from somebody. These particles are attached to
the person from whom one receives something. For example:
나는 나의 여자친구에게서 편지를 받았어 = I received a letter from my girlfriend
The “thing” that is being received doesn’t need to be something physical. It could be
something abstract like stories, explanations, or other things. For example:
저는 교감선생님에게서 한국어를 배웠어요 = I learned Korean from my vice principal

저는 그것을 친구한테서 들었어요 = I heard that from my friend
A very similar particle is ~(으)로부터. This particle can also be attached to the person
from whom one receives something from.
For example:
나는 나의 여자친구로부터 편지를 받았어 = I received a letter from my girlfriend
저는 교감선생님으로부터 한국어를 배웠어요 = I learned Korean from my vice principal
저는 그것을 친구로부터 들었어요 = I heard that from my friend
저는 친구들로부터 사랑을 많이 받았어요 = I received a lot of love from friends
아버지로부터 선물이 왔어요 = A present came from my father

~(으)로부터 can also be used when receiving something from a non-person thing (a
company/the government/etc). For example:
나는 돈을 정부로부터 받았어 = I received money from the government

이것을 하늘로부터 받았어요 = I received this from the sky (heaven)
However, you cannot use ~에게서/~한테서 to indicate that you received something from
a non-person.
To summarize, ~(으)로부터 can be used to indicate that one receives something from a
person or non-person. ~에게서 and ~한테서 have a similar meaning, but can only be
used when one receives something from a person.
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(서) 꽃을 샀어 = I bought flowers for my girlfriend

저는 부장님을 위해(서) 이것을 썼어요 = I wrote this for my boss
저는 친구를 위해 빵을 만들었어요 = I made bread for my friend
아버지를 위해 시원한 물을 준비했어요 = I prepared cool water for my father
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 거예요 = I will work hard for the company
The important thing is that the thing for which you are doing something must be a noun.
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
Lesson 32 once you have learned 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 which you are waiting for, so, in Korean,
you attach the particle 을/를 to ‘bus’ but not 을/를 위해:
나는 버스를 기다린다

This isn’t incredibly important right now, but I thought I’d mention it. “위 해 ” is actually
a verb, and the base form of the verb is 위 하 다 . When ~아 /어 /여 is added to 위 하 다 , it
changes to 위 하 여 . This was first presented in Lesson 5. 하 다 officially changes to 하 여
when adding ~아 /어 /여 , but this is commonly shortened to 해 . Therefore, it is possible to
use “위 하 여 ” instead of “위 해 .” Technically, this is possible in any word that finishes in
~하 다 , but it seems to be much more common with 위 하 다 than any other verb or
adjective.
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 생각했어 = I thought about you

나는 나의 아버지에 대해 말했어 = I spoke about my father
나는 그것에 대해 책을 쓸 거야 = I will write a book about it
그 회계사는 정부에 대해 나쁜 말을 했어요 = That accountant said bad things about the government
Just like with ~을/를 위해서, there is very little (if any) difference between ~에 대해
and ~에 대해서. For example, the sentences above could all be written as:
나는 너에 대해서 생각했어 = I thought about you

나는 나의 아버지에 대해서 말했어 = I spoke about my father
나는 그것에 대해서 책을 쓸 거야 = I will write a book about it
그 회계사는 정부에 대해서 나쁜 말을 했어요 = That accountant said bad things about the government
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, even though we haven't covered the
grammar, Ah, what the heck – I’ll show you – even though full understanding won't
come until Lesson 28
너에 있어서 내가 가장 좋아하는 것은 너의 눈이다.
Too complicated for you right now, the grammar within that sentence will be discussed in
Lesson 28. 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!

Nouns: Verbs:
냄새 (나다) = smell 켜다 = to turn on
청소기 = vacuum cleaner 끄다 = to turn off
얼굴 = face 숨다 = to hide oneself
시장 = market 숨기다 = to hide an object
몸 = body 고장내다 = to break
불 = light/fire 놓다 = to lay an object down
숙제 = homework 눕다 = to lie down
기억 = memory 존경하다 = to respect
상자 = box 대체하다 = to replace
바람 = wind 제공하다 = to provide, to offer
세금 = tax 포함하다 = to include
내다 = to make something come up/arise/occur
Passive Verbs: 싸우다 = to fight
잠기다 = to be locked 속이다 = to trick somebody
켜지다 = to be turned on 감동하다 = to impress
꺼지다 = to be turned off 서다 = to stand
나다 = to have something you didn’t have
고장나다 = to be broken Adverbs:
화나다 = to be mad 자꾸 = repeatedly
짜증나다 = to be annoyed
놓이다 = for an object to be lying down
열리다 = to be open
닫히다 = to be closed
속다 = to be tricked
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.
I don’t really like explaining English grammar too much in my lessons. However, an
understanding of what passive verbs are and how they are used in English sentences will
help you with your understanding of their equivalent Korean sentences.

An active verb is used when a subject does an action. For example:
In the examples below, the subject is “I”
I eat
I learn
I open
Active verbs often act on an object. For example:
The word “object” here refers to the part of speech that a verb can act on. Sometimes
learners get confused and think that an object means “a thing,” for example; “a pencil”
or “a door.” In theory, any noun can be an object of a sentence – including people or
abstract ideas that are not considered “objects” in the literal (non-language) sense. For
example, the objects are underlined in the following sentences:
I love my father
He wants respect
I eat rice
I learn Korean
I open the door
Some active verbs by their nature cannot act on an object. For example, the active verbs
are underlined in the examples below:
I went to the park

I arrived at the park
“The park” in the above examples are not objects. The verb is not acting on that part of
speech. They just indicate places within the sentence.
In all of the above examples, regardless of if there is an object in the sentence or not, the
subject performs the action. These are all active sentences.
Passive sentences indicate that an action is performed on the subject. For example:
I was kicked
The door was opened
The hamburger was eaten

In English, passive verbs feel like adjectives because their sentence structures are similar.
For example:
I was handsome
The door was big
The hamburger was delicious
Let’s look at an active verb and passive verb being used in similar sentences:
1) I opened the door

2) The door was opened
In the first example “I” am the subject and I performed the action (opening) on the object
(the door). In the second example, “the door” is the subject and the action (opening) was
performed on it.
Below are some more active-passive pairs to help you see how they differ from one-
another:
All of the examples below are in the present tense. In the present tense, these passive
sentences (just like most plain sentences used in the present tense) sound unnatural. For
example, I would never say “I turn the computer on.” However, I am using the present
tense simply because this is the basic “raw” form of the sentence. They could be applied
to the past, the future, or other complicated things could be applied to them.
I turn the computer on

The computer is turned on
I lock the door

The door is locked
I respect my friend
My friend is respected
I cooked the rice

The rice is cooked
Passive verbs (like adjectives) cannot act on an object. For example:
I opened the door (active verb) – correct

The door was opened me (passive verb) - incorrect
The door was big me (adjective) – incorrect

However, sentences with passive verbs can include more information to indicate by
whom (or by what) the action was performed. For example:
The door was opened by me

The door was opened by the wind
The door was opened by the guard
I’ll do the same with all of the passive sentences that I showed you earlier:
The computer was turned on by me

The door was locked by the teacher
My friend is respected by many people
The rice was cooked by my mother
Because passive verbs cannot act on an object, you will never see ~을/를 in a sentence
predicated by a passive verb in Korean. Remember, ~을/를 is used to mark objects in
Korean sentences – and therefore their usage is impossible with passive verbs.
This is probably the most important paragraph in the entire lesson; it is usually unnatural
to use passive verbs in Korean. 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).
Nonetheless, understanding how passive verbs are used in Korean is crucial to your
development.
There are many ways to make a passive sentence in Korean. In this lesson, we will look
at the different ways this can be done.
It is also important to remember that passive verbs are verbs – not adjectives. Korean
learners often think they are adjectives because they look, sound and feel similar to
adjectives and they never act on objects. Always remember that passive verbs are verbs.
This is important because you must conjugate them as verbs and not as adjectives.
Alright, let’s get started.

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. For example:
포함하다 = to include
포함되다 = to be included
제공하다 = to provide
제공되다 = to be provided
대체하다 = to replace
대체되다 = to be replaced
You can use passive verbs to create sentences that have similar meaning to sentences
with each respective active verb. Structurally the sentences will be different however,
because the passive version of a verb cannot act on an object. For example:
이 값은 세금을 포함해요 = This price includes tax

세금은 포함돼요 = The tax is included
저는 점심을 준비했어요 = I prepared (the) lunch
점심이 준비되었어요 = (The) lunch was prepared
회사는 기계를 대체했어 = The company replaced the machine
기계는 대체되었어 = The machine was replaced
Adding 어 to 되 creates either 되어 or 돼 with no difference in meaning. (For example,

되다 in the present tense can either be 돼 or 되어. In the past tense, it can either be
되었다 or 됐다.
Often the speaker wants to indicate by whom/what the lunch was prepared, or by
whom/what the machine was replaced. For example:
- The lunch was prepared by the school

- The machine was replaced by the company

In the examples above, although we are still using a passive verb, information about how
the passive verb occurred is given. This is an example of when it is much more common
to use the active form over the passive form in Korean. In Korean (and most likely in
English as well), it would be much more natural to say "I prepared the lunch" instead of
"The lunch was prepared by me." Nonetheless, the grammar within these sentences is
important, so I need to continue teaching it to you here.
In order to create these sentences, you need to remember that sentences with a
predicating passive verb can NOT have an object – which means that you CANNOT
attach ~를/을 to “the school” or “the company.” For example, the sentence below would
be ridiculous and probably wouldn't be understood at all:
점심이 학교를 준비되었어요
In these types of sentences, in order to indicate how/the means in which a passive verb
occurred, you need to use different particles. If this part of a sentence is a person, it is
acceptable to attach the particle "에게" to the noun. For example:
그것은 이해되었어 = it was understood

그것은 학생들에게 이해되었어 = It was understood by the students
집은 청소되었어 = the house was cleaned

집은 아버지에게 청소되었어 = the house was cleaned by my dad
Again, I highly suggest that you refrain from using this passive voice in Korean. I need
you to understand what is being introduced here so I can build on it in later lessons. The
two sentences above would be better said as:
학생들은 그것을 이해했어요 = The students understood that

아버지는 집을 청소했어요 = My dad cleaned the house
The particle ~에 can be used when this part of a sentence is a non-person. For example:
점심이 학교에 준비되었어요 = The lunch was provided by the school
The particle “~에 의해” can also be attached to nouns that are non-people in these
situations, but the distinction between ~에 and ~에 의해 isn't formally introduced until
Lesson 78, Since I'm advising against using this passive form, it's best to focus on the
current presentation and not skip ahead.
Also, 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. This 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 청소기로 청소되었어요 = the house was cleaned by a vacuum cleaner, whereas:

집은 청소기에 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:
1. 에 – to indicate that something occurred due to a non-person
2. 에 의해 – to indicate that something occurred due to a non-person, but we
haven't studied this specifically yet
3. 에게 – to indicate that something occurred due to a person
4. ~(으)로 – to indicate the tool/method by which something occurred
One other thing. Just because a noun in a passive sentence has the particle ~에 (or ~에게,
or ~에 의해 for that matter) attached to it, it doesn't necessarily mean that is the noun that
caused the passive verb to occur. ~에 could also have its more familiar function of
designating a place.

For example, we saw this sentence before:
세금은 포함돼요 = the tax is included
I could put the noun "값" in the sentence to indicate the location of where the tax is
included in.
세금은 값에 포함된다 = The tax is included in the price
Notice in the example above that the particle "~에" is not denoting that the tax is
included by the price. Rather, it is included in the price. Being able to recognize things
like this just takes practice and your understanding of this will increase as you progress
through your studies. For now, try not to focus too much on the tiny parts of this lessons,
and focus more on the big-picture.
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. Some verbs become passive verbs
by switching 하다 with 받다, which means “to receive. For example:
저는 저의 형을 존경해요 = I respect my brother

저의 형은 존경받아요 = My brother is respected (literally-my brother receives respect)
The same rules apply with ~에 and 에게 ~ 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 turned on
끄다 = to turn off
꺼지다 = to be turned off
닫다 = to close
닫히다 = to be closed
열다 = to open
열리다 = to be open
잠그다 = to lock
잠기다 = to be locked
-----------------------------
The words above are just some examples of active verbs and their passive equivalents.
There are many more of these active-passive pairs, and unfortunately there is no way to
instinctively know which one is active and which one is passive. In all of the examples
above, the longer word (i.e. the word with one more syllable) is the passive verb.
However, sometimes the longer word is the active verb, for example:
붙다 = to be attached
붙이다 = to attach
끓다 = to be boiling
끓이다 = to boil
If you look at these examples, you might think “Oh, so maybe the pattern is – if there is
an active-passive pair where “이” is the difference between the two, then the longer
word will be the active verb.” Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Here are two other
examples of active-passive pairs that show the opposite:
쓰다 = to write
쓰이다 = to be written

보다 = to see
보이다 = to be seen
There are many instances of these active-passive pairs in Korean, and there is no way to
know which one is active or which one is passive unless you have specifically memorized
it. This is just something that you will have to memorize whenever you come across it.
The only thing that is helpful is that the active verb usually looks very similar to the
passive verb – with just one syllable added or deleted from the active form.
Notice that ~이/가 is used in the passive sentences above. In most cases, this is usually
more natural with these types of sentences. Don't worry about that for now (I'll discuss it
in Lesson 17), and focus more on how the verbs (both active and passive) are being used.
-----------------------------
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 locked. To indicate that
something “is in the state” of something in Korean, you must add ~아/어 있다 to the
passive verb. For example:
As you know, 있다 has many usages and meanings in Korean. Sometimes 있다 is a verb,
and sometimes it is an adjective. When used as ~아/어 있다 as described here, 있다 is a
verb. For now, this is only important to you when conjugating in the plain form. In the
future, there will be other times when this distinction will be important.

저는 컴퓨터를 켰어요 = I turned the computer on
컴퓨터가 켜져 있어요 = The computer is (in the state of) on
저는 TV 를 껐어요 = I turned the TV off

TV 가 꺼져 있어요 = The TV is (in the state of) off
저는 문을 잠갔어요 = I locked the door

문이 잠겨 있어요 = The door is (in the state of) locked
Notice that ~이/가 is used in the passive sentences above. In most cases, this is usually
more natural with these types of sentences. Don’t worry about that for now (I’ll discuss it
in Lesson 17), and focus more on how the verbs (both active and passive) are being used.
I get a lot of people who are confused about this “state” nonsense of these passive verbs. I
would like to fully describe how these words can be used to describe that something is in
a “state” and compare them to the same passive verb that is not in that state. For example:
저는 문을 닫았어요 = I closed the door

This sentence is an active sentence. It has an active verb, and has an object. This should
be no problem.
문이 닫혔어요 = The door was closed

This is a passive sentence. It is indicating that at some point in the past, the door was
closed by something or something. This is the exact passive equivalent of “저는 문을
닫았어요” – the only difference is that we have no idea who/what closed the door.
Though you could assume that the door (after that point) was in the state of “closed” this
sentence does not specifically indicate that.
문이 바람에 닫혔어요 = The door was closed by the wind

This is essentially the same sentence as above, but in this case we know how the door
was closed. Again, though you could assume that the door (after that point) was in the
state of “closed” this sentence does not specifically indicate that.
문이 닫혀 있었어요 = The door was closed

This is another passive sentence, but notice the difference between this sentence and the
two examples above. Here, the sentence is specifically indicating that the door was in the
state of “closed”. Here, we have absolutely no idea if something/somebody had closed it
recently; all we know is that, at that time, the door was not open.
저는 문을 닫아요 = I close the door

This is another active sentence with an active verb. Though it makes sense, it probably
wouldn’t be said like this unless there was some sort of adverb or other information in the
sentence (for example, “I close the door every day at 9:00pm”)

문이 닫혀요 = The door closes
While technically correct, you would need some other information to make this sentence
more natural (for example, “the door closes every day at 9:00pm”). This is the exact
passive equivalent of “저는 문을 닫아요” - except for that in this example, there is no
information given as to who/what will close the door. The sentence is not referring to the
door being in the state of “closed”, but rather, indicating that door somehow closes.
문이 닫혀 있어요 = The door is closed

Notice the difference between this example and the one above. This sentence is not
referring to the door closing. It is only stating that the door is currently in the state of
“closed”
문이 닫힐 거예요 = The door will close

Again, this example is referring to the door somehow closing. It is the exact passive
equivalent of “저는 문을 닫을 거예요” – except for that in this example, there is no
information given as to who/what will close the door.
문이 닫혀 있을 거예요 = The door will be closed

This is a passive sentence that is indicating that the door will be in the state of “closed” in
the future. It does not indicate who/what will close the door; all we know is that, at that
time in the future, the door will be closed.
Just because an active verb has a passive equivalent, it does not mean you can attach
~아/어 있다 to that word to describe that it is in the “state” of something. Typically this
is only done for words like on, off, open, closed, etc…
A good example of this not working with a passive verb is with 속이다 and 속다.
속이다 = to trick somebody

속다 = to be tricked
나는 친구를 속였어 = I tricked my friend (the recording incorrectly says “요” at the end)
This is an active sentence.
나는 친구에게 속았어 = I was tricked by my friend

This is a passive sentence
나는 속아 있다…
… I am… in the state of being tricked.
This doesn’t make sense. Once you’re tricked, you’re tricked. You do not continue being
in the state of “tricked” like a door continues to be open once it is open.

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. For example:
끝내다 = to finish
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
their general meanings are:
나다 = for something to come up/arise/occur

내다 = to make something come up/arise/occur
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
고장 내다 = to break
고장 나다 = to be broken
It is very common to use the past tense conjugation of both of these words in the passive
voice even when the thing is currently broken/finished. In English, we would say these
sentences in the present tense, but in theory the thing/task was broken/finished in the past.
For example:
숙제는 끝났어요 = My homework is finished

컴퓨터는 고장 났어요 = The computer is broken
It is possible to use the active voice to express these sentences, but the use of “나다” (as
seen above) is more common than the use of 내다 in these cases. Nonetheless, the
following are acceptable:
저는 숙제를 끝냈어요 = I finished my homework

저는 컴퓨터를 고장냈어요 = I broke the computer

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”. Three common
ways to use 나다 are with 기억 (a memory) with 생각 (a thought) and with 냄새 (a
smell):
아! 그것이 기억났다! = Ah! I remember that! (Literally – my memory came up)

좋은 생각이 났어요! = I have a good idea (Literally – a good idea came up)
그 가방에서 냄새가 났어요 = That bag is smelly (A smell is coming out of that bag)
그 방에서 냄새가 났어요 = That room is smelly (A smell is coming out of that room)
Remember that 나다 is a passive verb and cannot act on an object. Therefore, the
particle ~이/가 must be used on “것.” You will learn more about this sentence structure
in the next lesson.
Another common example of “나다” in use is in the following phrase:

큰 일 났어요!
Literally, this translates to “a big thing/task/work came up!” In Korean, this expression is
used similar to the expression “Oh no! Something bad just happened!” A more common
expression would probably be “Oh crap!”
You will see “나다” used with many other words throughout your Korean studies. The
most common examples of 나다 (or it’s active 내다 form) are the examples above. Other
common examples that you will learn shortly are provided below. I haven’t included
these words in the vocabulary list above, so you don’t need to memorize them now. I am
simply introducing them to you at this point because they are related to this topic.
소리 = sound
소리가 나다 = the verb of a sound happening (for a sound to “come up”)
화 = anger, rage
화가 나다 = to be angry (for anger to “come up”)
사고 = accident
사고가 나다 = to get into an accident (for an accident to “arise”)
땀 = sweat
땀이 나다 = to be sweating (for sweat to “come up”)
전쟁 = war
전쟁이 나다 = for a war to start (for a war to “come up”)
멀미 = motion sickness
멀미가 나다 = for motion sickness to “come up”

In a lot of these cases, you will see 나다 conjugated into the past tense when we as
English speakers would think of the situation in the present tense. To explain this
phenomenon, let me bring up an example from before:
아! 그것이 기억났다! = Ah! I remember that!
Notice here that 나다 is conjugated to the past but I have translated the English sentence
into the present tense. If you imagine your memory as a thing that can “come up,” in
theory, the memory had already came up before you said that sentence – therefore
making it in the past tense. Here, the context of the conversation can inform you if the
speaker is referring to something in the past or present tense.
It is possible to use these words in the present tense, but that would mean that the noun is
currently coming up. A good example from that list above would be:
땀이 났어요 = I’m sweating
Here again, you can see 나다 conjugated to the past tense but the English sentence is
translated into the present tense. Just by the nature of the word “나다” (to come out) in
Korean, when sweat has “come out” of your body it means that you now have sweat on
your body which we as English speakers would say as “I’m sweating.”
When 나다 is conjugating into the present tense in these cases, it insinuates that the thing
is currently “coming up.” In most situations, the difference is negligible and
distinguishing them would really be splitting hairs. However, let’s split some hairs:
땀이 났어요 = Sweat was coming out of my body… which means that there is currently
sweat on my body… which means that I am wet from the sweat on my body that had
previously come out of my body.
땀이 나요 = Sweat is literally currently coming out of my body
저는 그것이 기억 났어요 = I remembered that… which means that I also currently

remember that fact... which means that I know that fact that I had previously remembered
저는 그것이 기억 나요 = That memory is literally currently just coming to my mind
Really, this whole past/present thing is quite advanced and is not something I developed
an understanding of until many years of exposure to Korean. As a beginner (you are still
a beginner if you are only at Lesson 14!) you probably don’t need to worry about splitting
these hairs. However, when I was learning, I would have wanted this to be explained to
me at some point, so here I am explaining it to you.

I should point out that we don’t see this same phenomenon when these words are used in
negative sentences. For example, if I say:
그것이 기억 안 났어
Does the fact of your memory “not coming up” mean that it is currently not up when you
said the sentence? Huh…. I can’t even wrap my head around that sentence.
This type of past-tense-conjugated negative sentence with 나다 would only be used to

say that you didn’t remember something sometime in the past. If you want to say that you
cannot currently remember something, you can use the present tense. For example:
나는 그때 기억이 안 났어 = I didn’t remember (that) at that time

나는 그것이 기억 안 나 = I don’t remember that
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 voice. All that needs to be done in these cases
is to add ~아/어지다 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
(Note that the word is 주어지다 and not 줘지다)
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. ’m sure you are very confused!

Nouns: Verbs:
잠 = sleep 들다 = to lift, to carry, to hold
모자 = hat 들다 = to enter, to go into
줄 = line, string, rope, queue 가져오다 = to bring an object
감기 = a cold 가져가다 = to take an object
기침 = cough 돌리다 = to turn, to run a machine
설사 = diarrhea 돌다 = to turn oneself, to rotate oneself
독감 = the flu 돌아보다 = to look back
재채기 = sneeze 돌아가다 = to return, to go back
동아리 = a club in school or university 돌아오다 = to return, to come back
취미 = hobby 돌려주다 = to give back
수학 = math 자랑하다 = to show off
가족 = family 걸다 = to hang
실력 = skills 주문하다 = to order
사촌 = cousin 결혼하다 = to get married
삶 = life 부르다 = to call out
맥주 = beer 고르다 = to choose, to pick
과거 = past 넣다 = to insert, to put inside
마음 = one’s heart/mind 경험하다 = to experience
그림 = picture, painting 설명하다 = to explain
속 = inside
Passive verbs:
Adjectives: 걸리다 = to be hanging
똑같다 = to be exactly the same 걸리다 = to be caught/stuck/trapped
자랑스럽다 = to be proud 걸리다 = to catch a cold/sickness
또 다르다 = another 걸리다 = to “take” a certain amount of time
시끄럽다 = to be noisy, to be loud
흔하다 = to be common Adverbs and Other words:
드물다 = to be rare 아마도 = maybe/might
Introduction
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 배웠어요 = I learned Korean
And then subsequently learned “공부하다,” it would be easy to figure out that you could
also say:
저는 한국어를 공부했어요 = 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.
More about 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:
말 = speech/words/the thing that you say

말하다 = to speak
주문 = an order
주문하다 = to order
결혼 = marriage
결혼하다 = to marry
존경 = respect
존경하다 = to respect
This cannot be done with 좋아하다 and 싫어하다. That is:
좋아 is not a noun that means “likeness” (or whatever), and

싫어 is not a noun that means “dis-likeness “(or whatever)
Note, however that 좋아 and 싫어 can be found in sentences, but only as conjugated
forms of 좋다/싫다 and not as the noun form of 좋아하다 and 싫어하다. You learned in
previous lessons that 좋다 and 싫다 are adjectives. As adjectives, they can describe an
upcoming noun or predicate a sentence. For example:
저는 좋은 김치를 먹었어요 = I ate good kimchi

김치는 좋아요 = Kimchi is good
Just a quick note. Only in rare cases would you actually say ‘김치는 좋아요.’ In most
cases if you wanted to describe 김치 by saying it was good, you would use the word
맛있다 instead. You would only really use this sentence if you/somebody was talking
about something bad (like maybe something bad for your health), and then you could say
“… is bad, but Kimchi is good.” Nonetheless, it is grammatically correct, and I am
specifically using this sentence to make a point that you will understand later in the
lesson.

좋아하다 is made by adding ~아/어하다 to the stem of 좋다. This changes 좋다 from an
adjective (good) to a verb (to like). Likewise,
싫어하다 is made by adding ~아/어하다 to the stem of 싫다. This changes 싫다 from an
adjective (not good) to a verb (to dislike).
It would be good to note that you can add ~아어하다 with some other adjectives as well.
좋다 and 싫다 are the most common (and the most important) to worry about right now,
but other common examples are:
부끄럽다 = shy (this is an adjective)

부끄러워하다 = shy (this is a verb)
부럽다 = envious (this is an adjective)

부러워하다 = envious (this is a verb)
Aside from knowing that one is a verb and one is an adjective, you don’t need to worry
about these other words now. I discuss this concept and how they are used differently, but
not until much later in Lesson 105. For now, let’s just focus on 좋아하다 and 싫어하다.
As a verb, 좋아하다 can be used to indicate that one “likes” something. For example:
김치는 좋아요 = Kimchi is good

저는 김치를 좋아해요 = I like Kimchi
Likewise, 싫어하다 can be used to indicate that one “dislikes” something. For example:
김치는 싫어요 = Kimchi is bad/not good

저는 김치를 싫어해요 = I don’t like Kimchi
However, the use of “좋다” and “싫다” in these sentences is commonly used to say:
김치가 좋아요 = I like Kimchi, and

김치가 싫어요 = I don’t like Kimchi
Or, other examples:

학교가 좋아요 = I like school
학교가 싫어요 = I don’t like school
맥주가 좋아요 = I like beer

맥주가 싫어요 = I don’t like beer
The mechanics to how this is done is talked about next.

Subject – Object – Adjective Form
One of the basic fundamentals of grammar (not just Korean grammar) is that an adjective
cannot act on an object. This means in Korean you can never have a sentence predicated
by an adjective that is acting on a word with the object particle ~를/을. This means that
you cannot say this:
저는 김치를 좋다 = I kimchi good

(this doesn’t make sense in either language)
But, you can say any of these:
저는 김치를 먹었어요 = I ate kimchi

An object predicated by a verb
김치가 좋아요 = kimchi is good

A subject predicated by an adjective
저는 좋은 김치를 먹었어요 = I ate good kimchi

An object being described by an adjective predicated by a verb
That being said, sometimes, Korean people actually DO make sentences that are
predicated by adjectives and also have an “object.” 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:
김치는 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 or
passive verb that acts on objects. However, these adjective/passive verbs must (of course)
always be treated as an adjective or passive verb.
Adjectives and passive verbs can never act on objects, so instead of using ~를/을 in these
situations, you have to use ~이/가. Another example where this is commonly done is
with 그립다:
그립다 = this word is translated as “to miss,” but is usually used when talking about
missing a non-person (it is sometimes used to say that you miss a person, but we will talk
about how to say you miss a person in Lesson 17).

그립다 is an adjective in Korean (because it actually describes the feeling rather than an
action verb). This means that if you want to say “I miss Korean food” you cannot say:
저는 한국 음식을 그리워요. Instead, you must say:

저는 한국 음식이 그리워요 = I miss Korean food
More examples. Notice that the predicating word of each sentence in an adjective:
나는 네가 자랑스러워 = I am proud of you

나는 그 사람이 싫어 = I don’t like that person
저는 한국이 좋아요 = I like Korea
You also saw this same phenomenon in the previous lesson with passive verbs.
Remember, you cannot have a passive verb act on an object. Therefore, we saw the
following types of examples in the previous lesson:
저는 그것이 기억나요! = I remember that!

저는 땀이 나요! = I’m sweating!
저는 화가 났어요 = I was/I am angry
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
Both of these usages are overarching situations that most of the usages of 들다 can fit
into. The difficulty with 들다 is, because it can be used in so many different ways, it is
often hard to come up with a translation that fits all possible situations.
Let me show you three examples of how 들다 can be used under the overarching
situation of “to enter/go into something/somewhere.”
나는 동아리에 들었어 = I joined a club (I “entered” a club)

(나는) 잠이 들었다 = I fell asleep (I “entered” sleep)
저는 그 그림이 마음에 들어요 = I like that picture (That picture enters my heart)
The definition of the word 마음 generally refers to one’s heart/one’s mind

Now, let me show you examples of how 들다 can be used under the overarching situation
of “to carry/hold something.”
저는 손을 들었어요 = I raised my hand (I “held up” my hand/carried my hand)

저는 가방을 들었어요 = I carried the/my bag
Okay, so what’s my point?
Well, I have three points actually.
1) First, I wanted to introduce how 들다 can be used. With a general understanding

of the two overarching usages presented here (along with the specific situations
outlined in the example sentences), you should be able to tackle most usages of
들다 as you continue to study more advanced sentences.
2) This is really crucial to your development of Korean and how it relates to the
meanings you have of words from your understanding of English. You have to
realize that Korean and English are fundamentally different, and it is very difficult
to translate sentences sometimes. In cases like these, you should try not to
translate the meaning of a word directly into a specific definition. Rather, you
should be open to the fact that it can have many meanings depending on the
context.
For example, imagine if you knew the following words and their definitions:
- 저 = I/me
- 마음 = heart/mind
- 들다 = enter
- 그림 = picture, painting
And you saw the following sentence:
저는 그 그림이 마음에 들어요
Would you be able to understand its meaning if I had not explained it to you
earlier? Many learners of Korean might read that and say “Well, it looks like that
person has a picture entering his heart/mind… but I’m not quite sure what that
means.”
This is the first of many times where I will encourage you to not
translate/understand sentences literally. Instead, try to understand what the
meaning of a sentence could be based on your understanding of the words within
it. For example, if you come across the word “들다” in your studies, realize that it
can have many usages – and just because it doesn’t immediately look like it will
translate to “enter” or “carry,” an open mind might allow you to see things in
different ways.

3) I specifically wanted to teach you the meaning of 들다 because it is commonly
used in compound words, which I will talk about in the next section.
Korean Compound Verbs

You will notice (or may have already noticed) that many Korean verbs are made by
combining two verbs together. This is usually done by adding one verb to the stem of the
other, along with ~아/어. When this happens, the meanings of both of the words form to
make one word. For example:
들다 = to enter something
가다 = to go
들다 + 가다 = 들 + 어 + 가다
= 들어가다 = to go into something
아버지는 은행에 들어갔어요 = My dad went into the bank
들다 = to enter something
오다 = to come
들다 + 오다 = 들 + 어 + 오다
= 들어오다 = to come into something
남자는 방에 들어왔어요 = The man came into the room
나다 = to arise out of something/come up/come out

가다 = to go
나다 + 가다 = 나 + 아 + 가다
= 나가다 = to go out of something
저는 집에서 나갔어요 = I went out of home (I left home)
나다 = to arise out of something/come up/come out

오다 = to come
나다 + 오다 = 나 + 아 + 오다
= 나오다 = to come out of something
학생은 학교에서 나왔어요 = The student came out of school

가지다 = to own/have/posses
오다 = to come
가지다 + 오다 = 가지 + 어 + 오다
= 가져오다 = to bring something
나는 나의 숙제를 가져왔어 = I brought my homework

그 학생은 숙제를 가져오지 않았어 = That student didn’t bring his homework
가지다 = to own/have/posses
가다 = to go
가지다 + 가다 = 가지 + 어 + 가다
= 가져가다 = to take something
저는 저의 모자를 가져갈 거예요 = I will bring my hat
가져오다 often translates to “to bring” and 가져가다 often translates to “to take.”
However, the translation of “to bring” could work for both 가져오다 and 가져가다.
가지다 means “to possess” and “오다” and “가다” mean “to come” and “to go”
respectively. Deciding to use 가져오다 or 가져가다 depends on the point of reference
of the acting agent in the sentence to the speaker. Specifically, whether the acting agent
is coming or going to the location in question.
Imagine you have money at your house, and you will go to your friend’s house later to
give it to him. Therefore, you will have to “bring” or “take” (same meaning) that money
with you when you head over there. If you are currently at your house and are talking to
your friend about what you will do, you should use the word “가져가다” because you
are going to your friend’s house while in possession of the money (저는 돈을 가져갈
거예요). In this example, 가져가다 is used and the best English translation would be “I
will bring the money.”
However, imagine you have already arrived at your friend’s house with the money. You
can use the word “가져오다” because you came to your friend’s house while in
possession of the money (저는 돈을 가져왔어요). In this example, 가져오다 is used and
the best English translation would be “I brought the money.”
People would read those two examples and think “Oh, so if it is something happening in
the future – I should use 가져가다 and if it is something happening in the past, I should
use 가져오다.”

No. It has nothing to do with the tense of the sentence. It has everything to do with the
point of reference of the acting agent of the sentence to the speaker.
For example, imagine you are at your house with the money. If your friend wants to tell
you to “bring the money,” he should use the word “가져오다” because you are coming
(not going) to him. To his reference, you are “coming.” In this case, 가져오다 should be
used.
You will come across many of these words when you are learning 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).
Another word that you will see commonly in these compound words is “돌다”:
돌다 = to turn/to spin/to rotate
Examples of compound words:
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 9 월 1 일에 캐나다에 돌아갈 거예요 = I will go back to Canada on September 1st

저는 친구에게 책을 돌려줬어요 = I gave my friend back his book
That’s good enough for now, but you will continue to see these as you progress through
your studies.

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, in simple sentences, they can be
used just like any other adjectives. For example:
그것은 비슷해요 = That is similar

우리는 매우 달라요 = We are so different
우리는 같아요 = We are the same
The sentence above sounds unnatural in Korean. Although “같다” translates to “the
same,” in most cases (especially in cases like this where nothing is being compared), it is
more natural to use the word “똑같다,” which usually translates to “exactly the same.”
For example:
우리는 똑같아요 = We are exactly the same
When comparing things like this in English, we use a different preposition for each word.
For example:
I am similar to my friend
That building is different from yesterday
Canadian people are the same as Korean people
In Korean, the particle ~와/과/랑/이랑/하고 can be used to represent all of these

meanings. For example:
저는 친구와 비슷해요 = I am similar to my friend

그 건물은 어제와 달라요 = That building is different from yesterday
캐나다 사람들은 한국 사람들과 같아요 = Canadian people are the same as Korean people
이 학교는 우리 학교와 똑같아요 = This school is exactly the same as our school
The ability of ~와/과/랑/이랑/하고 to be used in all of these cases creates confusion for
Korean people when they learn English. You will often hear mistakes from Korean
people like:
“This school is the same to our school”

Notice in the sentences above that the particle ~와/과/랑/이랑/하고 is used to denote that
something is different from, similar to, or the same as something else. In theory, you
could change the order of the sentences (to make the sentence structure similar to what
you learned in Lesson 13) to indicate that two things (this and that) are different, similar
or the same. For example:
저와 저의 친구는 비슷해요 = Me and my friend are similar

우리 학교와 이 학교는 똑같아요 = Our school and this school are exactly the same
As you can see with the English translation – this doesn’t create any difference in
meaning. It merely changes the wording of the sentences and the function of the particles
slightly.
I talk about the usage of 같다 later in Lessons 35 and 36. Specifically, in Lesson 36 I talk
about how 같다 is more commonly used to say “something is like something.” I don’t
want to get into this too much in this lesson, because the purpose of this section was for
me to introduce you to the grammar within these sentences so you could apply it to what
I am about to introduce next.
Check this grammar out. This is probably an easy sentence to you now:
나는 잘생긴 남자를 만났어 = I met a handsome man
Subject – adjective (describing an) – object – verb
What about these next sentences?

나는 비슷한 남자를 만났어 = I met a similar man, or
나는 같은 남자를 만났어 = I met the same man
These sentences have the same structure as before:

Subject – adjective (describing 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

This structure is very complex and is an introduction to describing nouns with phrases
instead of simply using one adjective. In Lesson 26, you will learn more about how to
describe nouns with things other than simple adjectives - such as verbs and complex
phrases.
The meaning of “different” in English has more than one nuance, which are possessed by
“다르다” as well. Although the meaning of “different” in the two sentences below is
similar, try to see that they are slightly different:
I am different than him

I saw a different movie
The first one describes that something is not the same as something else.
The second one has a meaning similar to “other” or “another,” where (in this case) the
person did not see the movie that was originally planned, but instead saw “another” or a
“different” movie.
다르다 can be used in both situations. For example:
저는 그와 달라요 = I am different from him

저는 다른 영화를 봤어요 = I saw a different (another) movie
“또 다르다” usually translates to “another,” while “다르다” translates to “other.”
However, in the example above, replacing “another” with “other” makes it sound weird.
The function of “또 다르다” is hard to explain, but it is easier to explain (and

understand) if you think of it as two separate words (which it actually is). It is a
combination of the adjective “다르다” and the adverb “또”, which is used when
something happens again.
“또 다르다” is used when one particular thing has already been described, and you are
explaining another thing. For example, imagine you are sitting in a meeting with your
coworkers discussing potential problems for a plan. People are all discussing the
problems they see, and you can point out:
또 다른 문제는 그것이 비싸요 = Another problem is that (that thing is) expensive
In this same respect, you can say the following sentence, and although the translation in
English is similar, try to understand the difference in adding "또":
저는 또 다른 영화를 봤어요 = I saw ANother movie

In this, maybe the person saw one movie, and then again saw a different movie.

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, most of which can
fit into three or four broad definitions.
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 be caught/stuck/trapped
걸리다 = to “take” a certain amount of time
걸리다 = to catch a cold/sickness
There are more usages, but let’s 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
걸리다 = to be caught/stuck/trapped
An verb that can be used when something trips/gets caught/gets trapped:
나는 줄에 걸렸어 = 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 두 시간 걸려요 = It takes 2 hours to get from Seoul to Incheon

우리학교에서 식당까지 10 분 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 really 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
Notice how "에" is used in these sentences due to 걸리다 having the nuance of being
stuck IN something
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 (a cough) and 재채기 (a sneeze), although not originally nouns of Chinese origin,
are both nouns where you can add 하다 to get the respective verb form (to cough and to
sneeze). For example:
저의 아들은 시끄럽게 기침했어요 = My son coughed loudly

(Probably more naturally translated to “My son was coughing loudly.” Korean people
don’t really distinguish between simple and progressive past tenses as much as we do in
English. You will learn about the progressive tense in Lesson 18.)
That’s it for this lesson! That was a long one!

경제 = economy/economics Nouns:
경제적 = economical 관계 = relationship
역사 = history 스트레스 = stress
역사적 = historical 연필 = pencil
과학 = science 색깔 = color
과학적 = scientific 그 = he, him
충동 = impulse/shock 그녀 = she, her
충동적 = impulsive 결과 = result
문화 = culture 꿈 = a dream
문화적 = cultural 세상 = world
민주 = democracy 세계 = world
민주적 = democratic 회화 = conversation
개인 = individual/personal 문자 = text message
개인적 = individual 가슴 = chest
자연 = nature 제목 = title of something (book, etc)
자연스럽다 = natural 근처 = vicinity, something close by
실망(하다) = disappointed 나중 = later
실망스럽다 = to be disappointing 최근 = recent times
사랑(하다) = love/(to love)
사랑스럽다 = lovely Verbs:
만족(하다) = satisfaction/(to be satisfied) 풀다 = to untie, to unfasten, to loosen
만족스럽다 = satisfactory 꿈꾸다 = to dream
태어나다 = to be born
Adverbs and Other Words: 다니다 = to go somewhere frequently
조금 = a little 믿다 = to believe
그러나 = but/however
Adjectives:
가깝다 = to be close to, to be near
힘들다 = to be difficult to do something
순수하다 = to be pure
Introduction
In this lesson, you will learn about ~적 and ~스럽다, which can be added to some words
in Korean to give them slightly different meaning.
Korean suffix: ~적/적으로/적이다

~적 is a common suffix that can be added after some nouns of Chinese origin (적 (的) is
of Chinese origin). At first, there is no way to anticipate or expect which nouns this can
be added to. As you progress through your Korean studies, you can sort of start
anticipating this, but still, the only real way of knowing if ~적 can be added to a
particular noun is if you have specifically learned that it can.

The goal of this lesson isn’t to teach you all of the words that ~적 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 noun changes it into a descriptive word that has the meaning of “relating
to, or having the properties of’ the original noun. For example:
문화 = culture
문화적 = relating to, or having the properties of culture
경제 = economy
경제적 = relating to, or having the properties of economy
역사 = history
역사적 = relating to, or having the properties of history
However, the translations above are nonsense and a more accurate way to translate words
with ~적 is to add “-al” to the English word. For example:
문화 = culture
문화적 = cultural
경제 = economy
경제적 = economical
역사 = history
역사적 = historical
Adding “-al” doesn’t always work with the English word, though. For example:
과학 = science
과학적 = relating to, or having the properties of science = scientific
충동 = impulse/shock
충동적 = relating to, or having the properties of impulse = impulsive
The 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 happens to me fairly regularly –
I will read something, and come across a word I have never seen before ending in ~적.
For example, if you knew that the word “민주” meant “democracy” What do you think
“민주적” would mean?

A descriptive word that has the properties of democracy – that would be “democratic.”
민주 = democracy
민주적 = democratic
Though these descriptive words can be used in sentences, it is easy for a beginner to
understand them when they are used by adding ~이다 or ~으로.
Adding 으로
Adding ‘으로’ to the end of ~적 changes the word into an adverb. These adverbs usually
have the ending ‘ly’ in English. Below are the most common examples of using ~적으로
with example sentences for each:
문화 = culture
문화적으로 = culturally
한국은 지난 50 년 동안 문화적으로 많이 변했어요 = Korea has changed a lot

culturally in the period of/during/for the past 50 years
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
경제 = economy
경제적으로 = economically
그것은 경제적으로 가능하지 않아요 = That isn’t economically possible

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
역사 = history
역사적으로 = historically
한국과 미국은 역사적으로 좋은 관계가 있다 = Historically, Korea and the US have

had a good relationship
과학 = science
과학적 = scientific
과학적으로 = scientifically
그들은 그 문제를 과학적으로 풀었다 = They solved that problem scientifically

충동 = impulse/shock
충동적 = impulsive
충동적으로 = impulsively
저는 자주 옷을 충동적으로 사요 = I often buy clothes impulsively
민주 = democracy
민주적으로 = democratically
Any examples I can make using “민주적으로” require me to use words that you haven’t
learned before. Forgive me:
미국은 대통령을 민주적으로 선출해요 = America elects its president democratically
Adding 이다
Adding ‘이다’ to the end of ~적 turns the word into an adjective that can predicate a
sentence or describe an upcoming noun. The translation of these adjectives are usually
are the same (in English) as without adding ‘이다.” For example:
문화 = culture
문화적이다 = cultural
캐나다와 미국은 문화적인 차이가 있다 = Canada and the US have a cultural

difference (차이 = difference)
경제 = economics
경제적이다 = economical
미국은 경제적인 결정을 했어요 = The US made an economical decision
역사 = history
역사적이다 = historical
저 학교는 역사적인 건물이에요 = That school is a historical building

과학 = science
과학적 = scientific
과학적이다 = scientific
이것은 과학적인 문제예요 = This is a scientific problem
충동 = impulsive
충동적 = impulsive
충동적이다 = impulsive
저는 너무 충동적이에요 = I’m too impulsive

Notice that when a word ending in ~적이다 is used to predicate a sentence, 이다 is
conjugated as if it were actually 이다.
민주 = democracy
민주적이다 = democratic
미국은 민주적인 나라예요 = The US is a democratic nation
A question that always comes up here is – What is the difference between using ~적이다
and just using ~적? For example, what is the difference between these two:
경제적이다 = economical
The difference between these 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’ describes the type of bag it is. Big is clearly an adjective which is telling us about
the type of bag that it is (that it is big). “Book” is clearly a noun.
However, in the following example:
That is a book bag
In this example, ‘book’ acts as a descriptive word because it describes the type of bag it is
(that it is a book bag).

This is usually the only time that ~적 (with nothing following it) is used in Korean. That
is, when it is actually a noun, but acting as a descriptive word within a sentence. Because
it is usually used as this type of descriptive word, you don’t really need to worry much
about the difference between ~적 and ~적이다. Just be aware that ~적이다 is more
commonly used, and how they are used within a sentence. That is, when using
“~적이다,” 이다 should be conjugated, and when using “~적” nothing needs to be
conjugated because it is a noun. For example:
미국은 민주적인 나라예요 = The US is a democratic nation

북한에는 민주적 정부가 없습니다 = There is not a democratic government in North Korea
At this point, I don’t want you to spend too much time dwelling over when you need to
use ~적 vs. 적이다 . The purpose of this lesson was to introduce you to what
~적(이다/으로) can do to a word and how it can be used. I’ve created four more
examples of ~적 vs. ~적이다 that I would like to show you, but please don’t worry about
these too much. If anything, just try to understand the use of ~적(이다) in these sentences:
경제적 문제가 있다 = There is a financial problem

경제적인 문제가 있다 = There is a financial problem
캐나다와 미국은 문화적 차이가 있다 = Canada and the US have a cultural difference
캐나다와 미국은 문화적인 차이가 있다 = Canada and the US have a cultural difference
나는 개인적 문제로 회사를 그만두었다 = I quit the company due to personal problems
나는 개인적인 문제로 회사를 그만두었다 = I quit the company due to personal problems
(그만두다 = to quit a job or school)
이 건물은 역사적 건물이다 = This building is a historical building

이 건물은 역사적인 건물이다 = This building is a historical building
In all cases above, I would rather use ~적인 to describe the upcoming noun. The native
Korean speaker beside me says the same thing. However, she also says that the first
example of each (the examples just using ~적 instead of ~적인) are also acceptable. In
my opinion, the use of ~적인 instead of ~적 is more common in speaking and in printed
sources. However, you are more likely to see ~적 in print sources compared to hearing it
in spoken Korean. (i.e. ~적이다 is more common than ~적 in all cases. However, when
compared only to itself, you are more likely to find ~적 in print than in speech).
Okay, enough of that for now. Let’s talk about something else.

Korean suffix: ~스럽다
~스럽다 can also be added to some nouns to change them into an adjective, much like
the function of ~적(이다). When doing this, ~스럽다 changes the noun into an adjective
that has the “properties” of that noun. The two easiest examples to explain this change are:
사랑 = love
사랑스럽다 = “with the properties of love”
자연 = nature
자연스럽다 = “with the properties of nature”
For example:
그 여자가 아주 사랑스러워요 = That girl is something “with the properties of love”

그 여자의 머리 색깔은 자연스러워 = That girl’s hair color has “the properties of nature”
Of course, those translations are nonsense. A more accurate translation of these words
would be:
사랑스럽다 = lovely
자연스럽다 = natural
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 noun a descriptive word:
The two examples above are fairly straight-forward. However ~스럽다 is sometimes
added to words that seem to already have an adjective form. For example:
실망 = disappointment
실망하다 = to be disappointed
실망스럽다 = “with the properties of disappointment” (disappointing)
I’ll do the best I can to distinguish between 실망스럽다 and 실망하다 for you.
실망하다 is used to describe a person’s emotions. This could be referring to anybody’s

emotions; not necessarily just the speaker’s emotions. For example:
저는 실망했어요 = I was disappointed

우리 아버지는 어제 실망했어요 = Our dad was disappointed yesterday

If you want to say that somebody is disappointed in a person using 실망하다, you must
attach the particle ~에게/한테 to the person he/she is disappointed in. For example:
저는 친구에게 실망했어요 = I was disappointed in my friend

우리 아버지는 저에게 실망했어요 = Our dad was disappointed in me
If you want to say that somebody is disappointed in a non-person using 실망하다, you
must attach the particle ~에 to the thing he/she is disappointed in. For example:
저는 영화에 실망했어요 = I was disappointed in the movie

우리 아버지는 식당에 실망했어요 = Our dad was disappointed in the restaurant
Hmmm… Adding ~에게/한테 to a person, and adding ~에 to a non-person. What does

this remind you of? Remember, you learned this same rule in Lesson 14 when predicating
sentences with passive verbs.
Well, 실망하다 is a verb. In English, it definitely feels like an adjective, but in Korean
the dictionary (and the use of the particles ~에게/한테 and ~에) indicate that it is a verb.
Here, 실망하다 is a verb (much like passive verbs) that cannot act on an object. Other
verbs like this are 자다 (to sleep), 죽다 (to die), etc. This really means very little, and the
only thing you need to take from this is:
In order to say one is disappointed, you can use 실망하다:

우리 아버지는 어제 실망했어요 = Our dad was disappointed yesterday
In order to say one is disappointed in something/somebody, you can use 실망하다 along
with the use of the particles ~에게/한테 (for a person) or ~에 (for a non-person). For
example:
저는 친구에게 실망했어요 = I was disappointed in my friend

우리 아버지는 저에게 실망했어요 = Our dad was disappointed in me

우리 아버지는 식당에 실망했어요 = Our dad was disappointed in the restaurant
Now, 실망스럽다 usually is not describing one’s emotions. Rather, it is describing

something that has the “properties of disappointment.” This usually translates to
“disappointing.” For example:
결과는 조금 실망스러웠어요 = The result was a little bit disappointing

그 영화는 조금 실망스러웠어요 = The movie was a little bit disappointing

That being said, you might sometimes hear 실망스럽다 being used like this:
저는 실망스러웠어요
In this case, what do you think this would mean?
I guess in theory this could sometimes mean “I am disappointing.” But very rarely would
somebody say that. Most of the time, this sentence would translate to “I am
disappointed.”
Wait a second… I thought the word to describe one’s emotions as “disappointed” was
“실망하다.” In this sentence, why is “실망스럽다” being used to describe the person’s
emotions in this sentence.
It’s not.
If you heard the sentence “저는 실망스럽다” in Korean, it would most likely be from a
person describing that something is disappointing, but they have omitted it from the
sentence. For example, using the adjective “실망스럽다” you can use the Subject –
Object – Adjective form in the following way:
저는 친구가 실망스러워요 = I am disappointed in my friend

(My friend is disappointing, and therefore I am disappointed)
저는 학생들이 실망스러웠어요 = I was disappointed in the students

(My students were disappointing, and therefore I was disappointed)
저는 그 영화가 실망스러웠어요 = I was disappointed in the movie

(The movie was disappointing, and therefore I was disappointed)
If you just walked into a room and said:

저는 실망스러워요! = I am disappointed (in something….)
Whoever was listening to that sentence would probably say “In what?”
What the speaker has done when saying “저는 실망스러워요” is they have simply
omitted the object that they are describing.
Wow… that’s a lot of stuff to wrap your head around. Let’s break it down one more time:
- 실망하다 is a verb that describes one’s emotions of being disappointed:
- 실망하다 cannot act on an object (like 자다, 죽다, or any passive verb).
Therefore, the following is incorrect:
저는 학생을 실망했어요

- Instead, as with passive verbs, the use of ~에게/한테 should be used to
indicate that you are disappointed in a person:
저는 학생에게 실망했어요 = I was disappointed in the student
- ~에 can be used to indicate that you are disappointed in a non-person:

- 실망스럽다 is an adjective that describes something which is disappointing:

그 영화는 조금 실망스러웠어요 = The movie was a little bit disappointing
- The adjective 실망스럽다 can be used in the subject – object – adjective form
to indicate that you were disappointed in something:
저는 그 영화가 실망스러웠어요 = I was disappointed in that movie
- In the sentence above, the object can be omitted from the sentence, in which
case the speaker is indicating that something was disappointing (and by virtue,
he/she is disappointed), but has omitted the noun that is disappointing:
저는 실망스러웠어요 = I was disappointed (something was disappointing…)
I realize that is incredibly confusing.
This same phenomenon happens with the word 만족스럽다. Look at the following three
words:
만족 = satisfaction
만족하다 = to be satisfied
만족스럽다 = “with the properties of satisfaction” (satisfactory)
Just like with 실망하다, 만족하다 is used to describe a person’s emotions. This could be
referring to anybody’s emotions; not necessarily just the speaker’s emotions. For example:
저는 만족해요 = I am satisfied
그는 만족해요 = He is satisfied
Again, just like with 실망스럽다, 만족스럽다 is not describing one’s emotions. Rather,
it is an adjective that is describing something that has the “properties of satisfaction.”
This usually translates to “satisfactory.” For example:
결과는 만족스러웠어요 = The results were satisfactory
만족스럽다 can be used in the Subject – Object – Adjective form to indicate that one is
satisfied in something.

For example:
저는 결과가 만족스러웠어요 = I was satisfied with the results
저는 음식이 만족스러웠어요 = I was satisfied with the food
In this Subject – Object – Adjective form, the object can be omitted and the speaker can
indicate that something was satisfactory (and thus he/she was satisfied). For example:
저는 만족스러웠어요 = I was satisfied (something was satisfying…)
Don’t worry too much about the difference between words like 실망하다 vs.
실망스럽다 and 만족하다 vs. 만족스럽다. I’m really going deep into this, and it is not
something you really need to worry about as most Korean people wouldn’t know the
difference unless they really think about it.
In other words with -스럽다, the difference is much less ambiguous because the -스럽다
version of the word is an adjective, but the –하다 version is a verb that can act on an
object. For example:
저는 그 여자를 사랑해요 = I love that girl

그 여자는 사랑스러워요 = That girl is lovely
Another good example of –스럽다 is:

자랑하다 = to show off (verb)
자랑스럽다 = proud (adjective)
Here as well, 자랑하다 is a verb that can act on a noun, so its usage is very simple:
저는 저의 한국어 실력을 자랑했어요 = I showed off/boasted my Korean skills
자랑스럽다 is usually used in the Subject – Object – Adjective form to indicate who
somebody is proud of. For example:
저는 저의 딸이 아주 자랑스러워요 = I am very proud of my daughter

저는 학생들이 자랑스러워요 = I am proud of the students
It’s also good to recognize that because all of these ~스럽다 words are adjectives, they
can also describe an upcoming noun (just like any other adjective) by placing ~ㄴ/은 to
the stem of the word. For example:
우리 딸은 사랑스러운 여자예요 = Our daughter is a loving/lovely girl

Also, ~게 can be added to the end of the stem of –스럽다 to change the word into an
adverb. For example:
그는 한국어를 자연스럽게 말해요 = he speaks Korean naturally

저는 그를 사랑스럽게 봤어요 = I looked at him lovingly
그는 실망스럽게 행동했어요 = He acted disappointingly (in a disappointing way)
저는 일을 만족스럽게 끝냈어요 = I finished the work/job satisfactorily (in a
satisfactory way)

All finished lessons 9 – 16? Now it is time to take the test to see if you remember
everything right? As I said before with the previous mini-test, a test like this will be
posted after each group of 8 lessons. Even though they are pretty small, when I was
learning Korean, I didn’t have these types of tests – but I wish I did!
If you forget something, don’t worry! You can always go back and review what you have
forgotten! Either way, good luck on the test!
(The answers are at the bottom of the page)
1) Choose the correct conjugation of 이다:
a) 나는 작년에 대학생이야
b) 나는 내일 학교에 가일 거야
c) 선생님들은 보통 좋은 사람들이야
d) 저의 형은 지금 의사였습니다
2) Choose the incorrect future conjugation:
a) 나는 내일 학교에 가겠어
b) 나는 내일 학교에 갈 거야
c) 나는 내일 학교에 갈 것이야
d) 나는 내일 학교에 갈 겠이야
3) Choose the incorrect usage of a counter:
a) 사람 세 개는 올 것입니다
b) 저는 책 두 권을 샀어요
c) 나는 어제 운동을 두 번 했어
d) 저의 친구는 두 개의 펜이 있어요
4) Choose the incorrect sentence:
a) 이 수업은 저의 지난 수업이에요
b) 저는 마지막 사람을 좋아했어요
c) 나는 어제 공항에 처음 갔어
d) 처음에 나는 그 사람을 싫어했어

5) Choose the incorrect usage of the word 동안
a) 나는 2 주 동안 캐나다에 있었어
b) 나는 다음 주 동안 학교에 안 갈 거야
c) 나는 45 분 동안 기다렸어
d) 나는 2 년 동안 외국에서 살았어
6) Which of the following is not used in conjunction with a Sino-Korean number:
a) 주
b) 개월
c) 분
d) 달
7) Read the following three sentences and choose the correct order of the particles that
can be placed into the blanks 1-3
나는 사과_1_ 사고 싶었어.
가게_2_ 갔어
하지만 바나나_3_ 샀어.
a) b) c) d)
를 로 를 만
로 만 만 를
만 를 로 로
8) Which of the following does not mean “and?”
a) 과
b) 랑
c) 과 함께
d) 이랑
9) Choose the incorrect usage of the underlined part:
a) 저의 회사는 저에게 돈을 줬어요

b) 저의 회사는 저를 위해 선물을 샀어요
c) 저는 회사에 대해 선물을 받았어요
d) 저는 회사로부터 선물을 받았어요

10) Which of the following is an incorrect usage of a passive verb:
a) 컴퓨터가 켰어요
b) 그것은 값에 포함된다
c) 숙제가 다 끝났어요
d) 집은 작년에 지어졌어요
11) Choose the incorrect usage of the word 걸리다:
a) 나는 옷을 걸렸어요
b) 나는 줄에 걸렸어요
c) 나는 감기에 걸렸어요
d) 서울까지 두 시간 걸렸어요
12) Choose the correct usage of the underlined part:
a) 나의 머리 색깔은 자연스럽게이다
b) 학생들은 문제를 과학적으로 봤어요
c) 결과는 너무 실망적일 것이다
d) 저는 역사적이다 곳에 갔어요
1) c
2) d
3) a
4) a
5) b
6) d
7) a
8) c
9) c
10) a
11) a
12) b

Nouns: Nouns:
과일 = fruit 교육 = education
술 = alcohol 기분 = feelings
우산 = umbrella 산 = mountain
잎 = leaf 순서 = turn (turn to go)/order
교회 = church
강 = river Verbs:
계절 = season 머무르다 = to stay
날씨 = weather 쉬다 = to relax, to rest
부엌 = kitchen 보내다 = to send
담임선생님 = homeroom teacher 걸어오다 = to come by walking
방학 = vacation 걸어가다 = to go by walking
배 = pear 초대하다 = to invite
당근 = carrot 울다 = to cry
무 = radish 환영하다 = to welcome
감자 = potato
Adjectives:
칼 = knife
반갑다 = to be happy when meeting
단어 = word
따뜻하다 = to be warm
문법 = grammar
높다 = to be high
발 = foot
가난하다 = to be poor
바다 = sea
낮다 = to be low
신문 = newspaper
고객 = customer
Other words:
부자 = a rich person 권 = a counter for books/magazines/etc
시험 = exam 분 = ‘person’ – high respect form
Introduction
In this lesson, you will be introduced to your first (of very many) connecting particles in
Korean. You can usually use these particles to separate two ideas/phrases/sentences. In
this lesson you will learn about 고 and how it can be used in sentences, also using the
example of ~고 싶다. You will also learn that some words (usually position-like words)
play by different rules than most verbs in these situations.
Connecting Particle ~고
When studying Korean, eventually your entire life becomes learning about the various
connecting particles and their respective 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 one action occurs, and then something
happens after that. The most common translation of this usage of “~고” is “then.” For
example:
저는 밥을 먹고 갈 거예요 = I will eat then go

저는 자고 한국어를 공부했어요 = I slept then studied Korean
저는 책을 읽고 바로 잤어요 = I read a book then slept immediately
저는 10 분 동안 쉬고 갈 거예요 = I will rest for 10 minutes then go
애기가 1 분 동안 울고 배를 먹었어요 = The baby cried for 1 minute and then ate a pear
저는 당근을 칼로 자르고 냉장고에 넣었어요 = I cut the carrots with a knife then put them in the fridge
우리는 서울에서 2 일 동안 머무르고 부산에 갈 거야 = We’ll stay in Seoul for 2 days, then go to Busan
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 거예요 = I will finish my homework and then go home
저는 친구를 만나고 나서 은행에 갈 거예요 = I will meet a friend and then go to the bank
In the sentences I presented so far, ~고 represents the meaning of ‘then,’ but it doesn’t
always have that meaning. It can also be used to simply connect two clauses that have a
similar idea. For example:
저는 과일도 좋아하고 야채도 좋아해요 = I like fruit, and I like 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 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. I don’t need to write all of
them, but for example:
저는 밥을 먹을 거예요. 그리고 저는 갈 거예요

= 저는 밥을 먹고 갈 거예요
저는 잤어요. 그리고 저는 한국어를 공부했어요

= 저는 자고 한국어를 공부했어요
저는 과일을 좋아해요. 저는 야채를 좋아해요

= 저는 과일도 좋아하고 야채도 좋아해요

You can also use ~고 when you want to string together adjectives to describe something.
Again, while each of these sentences could be split into two separate sentences, you can
use ~고 to connect two clauses with a similar idea. For example:
그 사람은 착해요. 그 사람은 똑똑해요 = That person is nice. That person is smart.
= 그 사람은 착하고 똑똑해요 = That person is kind and smart
저의 여자 친구는 귀여워요. 저의 여자 친구는 예뻐요 = My girlfriend is cute. My girlfriend is pretty.

= 저의 여자 친구는 귀엽고 예뻐요 = My girlfriend is cute and pretty
오늘 고객이 많아요. 오늘 분위기가 좋아요 = Today there are a lot of customers. Today the atmosphere is good
= 오늘 고객이 많고 분위기가 좋아요 = Today there are a lot of customers and the atmosphere is good
In a lot of Korean grammatical principles that connect sentences (which you will start
learning a lot of soon), you will notice that the verb/adjective in the first clause is not
conjugated, and that the grammatical principle is added directly to the stem of the word in
the first clause. In these cases, the tense is usually indicated in the final verb/adjective of
the sentence and the tense of the first verb/adjective can usually be implied by the context.
When attaching ~고 to the first clause, it is possible for the first verb/adjective to be
conjugated. I have noticed that there are two cases when you would do this:
1) When one action happens after another action (just like I introduced at the beginning
of this lesson), but when a considerable amount of time has passed between the two
actions. The two actions are often connected in a way in that the first clause led to the
possibility of the second clause to happen. For example:
저는 열심히 공부했고 의사가 되었어요 = I studied hard and (then) became a doctor
저는 영어 문법을 열심히 공부했고 시험을 잘 봤어요 = I studied English grammar
hard and then did well on the test
Notice that Korean people say “시험을 보다” to mean “to take/do a test”
2) When connecting two clauses that have a similar idea that both happened in the past
tense. Here, there is no real indication of one action happening after another. Instead, the
person is just indicating that both things happened. For example:
저는 방학 동안 영어 문법을 많이 공부했고 영어 신문도 많이 읽었어요 = During

vacation I studied a lot of English grammar, and I also read a lot of English newspapers
The sentences I provided at the beginning of the lesson (where one clause happens [right]
after the other clause) would sound awkward if the first clause was conjugated. For
example
저는 잤고 한국어를 공부했어요
저는 책을 읽었고 바로 잤어요

You started learning about the particles ~는/은 and ~이/가 in Lesson 2. I continue to
discuss the difference in purpose between these particles later in the lesson. Before that, I
would like to introduce you to usage of ~는/은 because it is commonly used in sentences
with ~고.
In Lesson 2, I mentioned that ~는/은 has a comparative function. One way that it is often
used is to say “this thing is one way, and this other thing is another way.” For example:
이 산은 높아요. 저 산은 낮아요. = This mountain is high. That mountain is low.

문법은 어려워요. 단어는 쉬워요. = Grammar is difficult. Words are easy.
이 사람은 부자예요. 저 사람은 가난해요 = This person is rich. That person is poor.
이분은 저의 아버지입니다. 이분은 저의 어머니입니다 = This person is my father.
This person is my mother
In these situations, it is common to use ~고 to connect the two sentences as they are
expressing a similar idea. In these cases, ~는/은 is attached to both things that are being
compared. For example:
이 산은 높고 저 산은 낮아요 = This mountain is high, but that mountain is low

문법은 어렵고 단어는 쉬워요 = Grammar is hard, but words are easy
이 사람은 부자이고 저 사람은 가난해요 = That person is rich, but that person is poor
이분은 저의 아버지이고 이분은 저의 어머니입니다 = This person is my father, and
this person is my mother
I continue to talk about the use of ~는/은 and ~이/가 later in the lesson.
For now, let’s move on to applying this meaning to other verbs.
Using ~아/어서
Another way to indicate that one action happens after another action is to attach ~아/어서
to the verb in the first clause. The verb before ~아/어서 is never conjugated to the past
tense. For example:
저는 당근을 칼로 잘라서 냉장고에 넣었어요 = I cut carrots with a knife and then put them into the
fridge
You must be thinking, then: “What is the difference between using ~고 and using
~아/서.” For example:
저는 당근을 칼로 잘라서 냉장고에 넣었어요

저는 당근을 칼로 자르고 냉장고에 넣었어요
= I cut the carrots with a knife then put them in the fridge
Both sentences are effectively saying the same thing.

However, from my experience ~아/어서 is more likely to be used when the action of the
first clause is intrinsically linked with the action of the second clause.
The best way to explain this is to look at why specifically ~아/어서 is more commonly
used with the verbs 가다 and 오다 instead of ~고.
If you want to say that you go somewhere then do something, you should not say this:
저는 학교에 가고 공부할 거예요
Instead of ~고, you must add ~아/어서 here:

저는 학교에 가서 공부할 거예요 = I will go to school and then study
Likewise, if you want to say that you come somewhere and do something, you should not
say this:
우리는 집에 오고 바로 잤어요
Instead of ~고, you must add ~아/어서 here:

우리는 집에 와서 바로 잤어요 = We came home and went to sleep immediately
The reason for this is simply due to the nature of the verbs 오다 and 가다. When
connecting two clauses with ~고 containing other verbs, (for example: 먹다), the first
and second action, despite the fact that one happened before the other one, have no real
connection. For example, in an example I presented previously:
저는 밥을 먹고 갈 거예요 = I will eat and then go
This sentence is implying that you will eat, and then finish eating, and then go
somewhere. Aside from the fact that one happened after another, the act of eating didn’t
affect the act of going.
However, with “가다” and “오다,” the fact that you are “coming” or “going” is directly
connected to the next action; in that, in order to do the second action, you needed to have
gone somewhere or came from somewhere.
I drew a picture to express the image that I have in my brain about this explanation.

When you use 가서 … 먹다, the verb of “going” leads up to the verb of “eating.”
However, when you use 먹고 … 가다, even though the verb of “eating” happened before
the verb of “going,” they aren’t related to each other.
In this same sense, it is possible to attach ~아/어서 to verbs other than 가다 or 오다 to

connect two clauses. Below are some examples that show this being done:
우리는 맛있는 고기를 골라서 같이 먹었어요

= We chose delicious meat then ate together
문을 열어서 밖으로 나갔어요

= I opened the door and then went outside
While it is very important to know how to use “~고”, and how to use “~아/어서” with
“가다/오다” at this point, being able to fully understand the nuance of adding
“~아/어서” to other words is beyond your current ability. The usage of ~아/어서 is much
more complex, and I will continue to discuss its usage in Lesson 70. Also note that the
sentence connector ~아/어서 has another meaning that will be discussed in Lesson 37.
It is possible to connect ~고 to “가다” and “오다”, but only in situations where the
speaker is connecting sentences that have a similar idea, and not where one goes/comes
to a place and does something.
For example, I was in my office today and one of my coworkers was telling a current
student about all the former students who came to visit him the day earlier (it was
Teacher’s Day). He said:
혜원도 오고… 슬기도 오고… 승하도 오고… 지혜도 오고…

= 혜원 came, 슬기 came, 승하 came, 지혜 came, …
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 second action (similar to how 가다 and 오다 are
related to the upcoming verb). That is why they are treated differently. 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
저는 줄에 서서 순서를 기다렸어요 = I stood in line and waited for my turn
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, let’s 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
저는 새로운 차를 사고 싶어요 = I want to buy a new car
저는 내일 쉬고 싶어요 = I want to rest tomorrow
저는 저의 친구를 파티에 초대하고 싶어요 = I want to invite my friend to the party
저는 방학 동안 책 두 권을 읽고 싶어요 = I want to read two books during vacation
It can be used with 되다 to indicate that you want to be/become something:

저는 선생님이 되고 싶어요 = I want to be/become 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
~고 싶다 is not used with adjectives. In English, it is acceptable to say something like "I
want to be happy." If you want to say something like this in Korean, you need to add an
additional grammatical principle that changes the meaning to "I want to become happy."
You will learn how to create this meaning with ~아/어지다 in the next lesson.
One thing to note is that 싶다 actually acts as an adjective, and must be conjugated as one.
This means that:
나는 먹고 싶다 (I want to eat) would be a correct conjugation, however

나는 먹고 싶는다, would be an incorrect conjugation
Also, notice the difference between 원하다 and ~고 싶다. You can say 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
You can also use “안” or attach “~지 않다” to 싶다 to indicate that one does not want to
do something. For example:
저는 술을 안 마시고 싶어요 = I don’t want to drink alcohol

저는 울고 싶지 않아요 = I don’t want to cry
나는 너를 파티에 초대하고 싶지 않아 = I don’t want to invite you to the party
저는 부자가 되고 싶지 않아요 = I don’t want to become a rich man
방학 동안 저는 학교에 있고 싶지 않아요 = I don’t want to be at school during vacation
Sometimes you will learn grammatical principles that are not used so much – but the
concepts you learned 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!
Before you move to the next lesson, I would like to continue the discussion from Lesson
2 about ~이/가 and ~는/은.

~이/가 and ~는/은 Revisited
Now it is time to continue what was presented back in Lesson 2. In Lesson 2, you started
learning about the differences between ~이/가 and ~는/은.
Now that you have increased your understanding of Korean grammar, I can continue to
explain the nuances between ~이/가 and ~는/은. At this point, I encourage you to re-read
Lesson 2 in order to refresh yourself on what we talked about at that time. One problem
with both of these particles is that they both have many functions.
Another specific function of ~는/은(in addition to the comparison function that you
learned in Lesson 2 and the examples I showed you earlier in the lesson) is to indicate a
general fact or statement. For example:
Rocky (로키) 산은 높아요 = The Rocky Mountains are/is high)
This would be said as a general fact. Everybody would typically know that the Rocky
Mountains are high, so this could be said in a general way as seen as above.
This can be contrasted with ~이/가. Used this way, ~이/가 wouldn’t be used to describe a
general fact about something. Rather, it would be used to describe a specific situation that
(usually) the speaker just realized or observed. For example, if you were hiking with your
friend, and suddenly got a glimpse of a nearby mountain, you could say:
와! 산이 높다! = Wow! The mountain is high!

Note here that even though the speaker is talking about this one specific mountain, he or
she is not comparing it with something else (for example, another mountain), as this
would require the use of ~는/은 (albeit, in its other usage)
Let’s look at more simplified versions of the sentences above:
산은 높다
산이 높다
Remember that the difference between ~이/가 and ~는/은 is more about nuance, and not
about creating a different translation in your head. If I attempted to make a translation
that describes this nuance for the two examples above, I could maybe write:
산은 높다 = In general, mountains are high

산이 높다 = This mountain that I’m looking at, which I’ve never seen or noticed before, is high
At the same time (and this is where people really get confused with these particles)
~는/은 could be used in this situation to have a comparing function.

For example, I could say:
이 산은 높아요. 하지만, 저 산은 낮아요 = This mountain is tall. But that mountain is low (small)
This is precisely what causes the confusion among foreigners when trying to distinguish
the difference between ~이/가 and ~는/은. Both of them can be used to express different
nuances that seem to overlap each other. For example, if I say:
“산은 높다”
What am I trying to say? Am I trying to say…:

“In general, mountains are high”, or
“This mountain, in comparison to that other mountain (or some other thing) is high”
The only way you can distinguish between the particular nuances being used is by
understanding the situation in which they are said.
Let’s look at another example. If I said:
여름 날씨는 좋다 = (in general) summer weather is good

The purpose of this sentence would be to express a general fact about summer weather.
That is, that summer weather is (in general) good. However, if you just walked outside
and saw /experienced that the weather is good, you would be more inclined to say:
날씨가 좋다 = The weather (right now that I am experiencing) is good
Here, the speaker is just indicating that the weather at the moment is good, and is not
talking about the weather being good all the time.
This doesn’t mean that “날씨는 좋다” is incorrect. You definitely could use this sentence,
but only in an appropriate situation. This is a dialogue I had with a Korean person:
- Me: When would you be able to say “날씨는 좋다”. It clearly isn’t used as a
general statement, because weather (in general) isn’t always good. So when could
I say this?
- Korean person: It sounds like you are comparing it with something. Like, you are
saying that the weather is good, but something else might be bad.
- Me: For example?
- Korean person: Maybe, “여기 음식이 맛이 없어요. 하지만 날씨는 좋아요.”
(The food here isn’t delicious, but the weather is good). Here, you’re saying that
the weather is good, but the food is bad.
That’s the thing about ~이/가 and ~는/은. It’s not about understanding their meanings.
Their meanings can’t be translated into English. It’s about understanding the nuances
they possess when used in different situations.

Let’s look at another example:
다이아몬드는 딱딱하다 = (in general) Diamonds are hard
(This is a statement that can be applied generally. Most people would know that
diamonds are hard, and this is not new information or anything like that)
However, if somebody picked up a diamond and felt it, and realizes exactly how hard that
particular diamond is, they would be more inclined to say:
다이아몬드가 너무 딱딱하다 = Diamonds are hard (due to the experience that I have
right now with this diamond, I can see/realize that this diamond is very hard!)
(Ignore my attempt to translate this nuance. It would never actually be translated to that.)
Now, if we changed the noun:

밥은 딱딱하다 = The rice is hard
This would not be expressed as a general statement. Why? Because rice is generally not
hard. However, if you were about to have dinner with the rice on your plate and you
touched it, you could say:
밥이 딱딱하다 = The rice is hard (due to what I am experiencing right now, I can say
that this particular rice is hard)
(Again, please ignore this ridiculous translation)
Now this:
밥은 딱딱하다 = The rice is hard

Again, this is not a general statement. Therefore… is it wrong?
No, because there are other purposes of ~는/은. Maybe here the speaker wanted express
the comparison function of ~는/은. Maybe to say that the soup is hot (and ready to eat),
but the rice is hard. Remember, all of this is situational.
Another example: (빨갛다 = red, 노랗다 = yellow. Sorry. These are from Lesson 23.)
사과는 빨갛다 = (in general) apples are red, or
사과는 빨갛다. 바나나는 노랗다 = Apples are red. Bananas are yellow
사과가 빨갛다 = the apple is red (the apple that I am looking at that I just noticed)
사과가 파랗다 = the apple is blue (this would not normally be the case and therefore
would never be used with ~는/은 to express a general statement meaning. However,
~이/가 is used here to specifically describe the apple that the speaker is experiencing –
which may or may not follow what is typical of other apples)
Another example:
의사들은 똑똑하다 = (in general), doctors are smart
그 의사가 아주 똑똑하다 = the doctor is smart (the one specific doctor who is in the
room, for example)

This is why, when you want to say “it is raining” you must use the following sentence:
비가 와요 = It’s raining
Instead of:
비는 와요… (incorrect)
The use of “비는 와요” would suggest that, in general, it rains; which wouldn’t make
sense. Instead, the fact that it is raining/rained/will rain would always fall into the
particular situation that “이/가” is used for.
I said this at the end of Lesson 2, but I’m going to say it again here. Your understanding
of exactly when to use ~는/은 over ~이/가 and vice-versa will progress with your general
understanding of Korean grammar.
Also remember that sentences (in every language, including Korean) are usually much
more complicated than what is presented in this lesson. In addition, very rarely are
sentences said as just ‘one-off’ sentences. Rather, they are said in response to a question
or statement, which is important information in understanding the nuances of both ~이/가
and ~는/은.
I am sorry to do this again, but you still haven’t learned everything you need to know
about ~이/가. Once again, I need to send you along without having learned everything.
In order to understand the next explanation detailing the usages of ~이/가 and ~는/은,
you need to have some understanding of how questioning works in Korean. I will
continue this explanation at the end of Lesson 22.
For now, continue on to Lesson 18.

Nouns: Nouns:
원숭이 = monkey 책상 = desk
교과목 = a subject in school 어깨 = shoulder
교과서 = textbook 백화점 = department store
소문 = rumor 대학생 = university student
충전기 = charger 중학교 = middle school
청구서 = bill 가수 = singer
계산원 = cashier
계산기 = calculator Verbs:
출장 = business trip 자르다 = to cut
밥솥 = rice cooker 요청하다 = to ask, to request
소설 = novel
Adjectives:
백과사전 = encyclopedia
궁금하다 = to wonder
전공 = major (in university)
안타깝다 = to be unfortunate
가위 = scissors
젖다 = to be wet
팀 = team
부모님 = parents
피부 = skin 주로 = mainly, mostly
군대 = army 이쪽 = this direction
군인 = soldier 그쪽 = that direction
지도 = map 저쪽 = that direction
공기 = air
새벽 = dawn
내부 = inside part
외부 = outside part
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.
This grammatical form is common in Korean. Simply attach ~고 있다 to a verb stem:
As you know, 있다 has many usages and meanings in Korean. Sometimes 있다 is a verb,
and sometimes it is an adjective. When used as ~고 있다 as described here, 있다 is a
verb. For now, this is only important to you when conjugating in the plain form. In the
future, there will be other times when this distinction will be important.

나는 음악을 듣고 있어 = I am listening to music
저 의 아 버 지 는 자 고 있 어 요 = My father is sleeping
여 자 들 은 지 금 영 화 를 보 고 있 어 요 = The girls are watching a movie now
저는 사과를 자르고 있어요 = I am cutting the apple
저는 청구서를 지금 내고 있어요 = I am paying the bill 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 (10 년 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
like this, but it is often more natural to use the regular past tense conjugation instead. For
example:
저는 밥을 먹고 있었어요 = I was eating

학생들은 자고 있었어요 = The students were sleeping
In most situations the sentences above could be said in the following way without any
real difference in meaning:
저는 밥을 먹었어요 = I ate
학생들은 잤어요 = The students slept
Nonetheless, if you really want to stress that you were doing something, you can use this
form. More examples:
저는 백화점에서 쇼핑했어요 = I shopped at the department store

대학생은 책상에서 공부를 했어요 = The university student studied at his desk
저는 백화점에서 쇼핑하고 있었어요 = I was shopping at the department store

대학생은 책상에서 공부를 하고 있었어요 = The university student was studying at his desk
~고 있다 can also be conjugated into the future tense. For example:
나는 다음 주에 시험 공부를 하고 있을 거야 = Next week, I will be studying for an exam

But, just like with the past tense of this form, the same meaning can be expressed by just
using a regular future tense conjugation. Therefore, although the sentence above is
correct, the same meaning can be expressed by saying:
저는 다음 주에 시험 공부를 할 거예요 = Next week, I will study for an exam
~고 있다 can usually be used very easily with most verbs, but there are some special
situations that we need to talk about before we move on.
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 _______:” For example, both of these
are acceptable:
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 both 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.
알고 있다
In English, almost every verb can go into the “I am ___ing” form. For example:
I am studying
I am praying
I am listening
I am playing
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,” because we would never say “I am
knowing” in English.
나는 그것을 알고 있어 = I know that

나는 그것을 알아 = I know that
While we are on the subject of “알다,” let’s talk about other ways that this word is
commonly used.
When a person tells you something and you want to say “okay,” Korean people would
use “알다” in these situations. One common time you would want to say “okay” or
“알다” in this respect is when responding to a command. I haven’t taught you how to
give commands yet (you will learn that in Lesson 40), but for the moment just accept that
“집에 빨리 와” means “come home quickly.”
Person 1: 집에 빨리 와! = come home quickly

Person 2: 알았어 = Okay
However, this doesn’t need to be used in response to a command. It could just be any
piece of new information that you want to say “okay” to. For example:
Person1: 우리는 내일 6 시에 출발 할 거야 = We will leave at 6:00 tomorrow

Person 2: 알았어 = Okay
In formal situations, it is possible to use “알았어요,” but it is also very common to use
the future tense formal conjugation of 알겠습니다. For example:
Person 1: 이 일을 내일까지 해야 합니다 = You have to finish this work by tomorrow

(You haven’t learned the grammar for this sentence yet, so don’t worry about the Korean
sentence. Focus more on the English sentence, because what I am trying to teach you
here is the response to that question in Korean)
Person 2: 네, 알겠습니다 = Yes, okay. (I got it)
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. Examples
of these verbs were:
앉다 = to sit
서다 = to stand
Specifically, I said:
“These position verbs usually act differently than regular verbs (not just in this situation,
but in many situations).”
~고 있다 is another situation where these position verbs act differently than regular verbs.
First of all, adding ~고 있다 to these verbs can be done. For example:
저는 앉고 있다 = I am sitting – but note that this only means that you are actually in the
process of sitting; as in, you are currently bending your knees getting ready 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, etc.. If you want to do this, you have to add ~아/어 있다 to these verbs
instead of ~고 있다. For example:
나는 앉아 있어 = I’m sitting
나는 학 교 옆 에 서 있 어 = I’m standing next to the school
나는 침 대 에 누 워 있 어 = I’m lying in bed
In theory, this is the same concept that you used when you added ~아/어 있다 to state-
like words in Lesson 14. For example:
컴퓨터가 켜져 있어요 = The computer is (in the state of) on

TV 가 꺼 져 있 어 요 = The TV is (in the state of) off
문 이 잠 겨 있 어 요 = The door is (in the state of) locked
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 (probably what you want
to say in almost every situation)
Another common word that this is used with is 살다. Earlier in this lesson, you learned
how you can use ~고 있다 with 살다. For example:
저는 한국에서 살고 있어요 = I live in Korea
By adding “~아/어 있다” to 살다, you can create the meaning of “in the state of living”
(as in, the opposite of dead. For example:
그 돼지는 살아 있어요 = That pig is living (alive)

그 소는 살아 있지 않아요 = That cow isn’t living (alive)
Using ~고 있다 with Adjectives

You cannot attach ~고 있다 to adjectives. Adjectives, by their nature, are not able to
"progress" as verbs do. This is the same as in English. For example:
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 how to do
that.

Adjective + ~아/어지다
Another powerful grammatical form in Korean is adding ~아/어지다 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
춥다 = to be cold
추워지다 = to get cold
비싸다 = to be expensive
비싸지다 = to get expensive
크다 = to be big
커지다 = to get/become big
따뜻하다 = to be warm
따뜻해지다 = to get warm
You can technically use these adjectives in the present tense, but just like with verbs, you
only ever really use the present tense conjugation to indicate common truths or to indicate
the frequency of something happening. For example, you would rarely ever say:
I eat rice
But you might be more inclined to say:
I eat rice everyday
Same thing here:

날씨가 추워져 = The weather gets cold
날씨가 매일 밤에 추워져요 = The weather gets cold every night
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
기름 값은 비싸졌어요 = The price of oil got expensive
그 사람은 밥을 먹고 나서 행복해졌어요 = That person ate, and then became happy
우리 강아지는 지난 1 년 동안 많이 커졌어요 = Our puppy got a lot bigger in the last year
저는 군대에 갔고 똑똑해졌어요 = I went to the army and got smart
대학교 수업은 내년에 어려워질 거예요 = University classes will get difficult next year

When ~아/어지다 is added to an adjective, the entire construction is a verb. In practice,
this is rarely an issue because most times the conjugation of an adjective and a verb is the
same. However, there are some conjugation patterns (which you learned about in Lessons
5 and 6) that are different depending on if the word is an adjective or verb. For example,
when conjugating these using the “diary form,” it should be conjugated as:
날씨가 매일 밤에 추워진다 = The weather gets cold every night, instead of:
날씨가 매일 밤에 추워지다 = The weather gets cold every night
Keep this on your mind when you reach Lessons 26 – 30, where I introduce the ~는 것
principle. In those lessons, you will learn about another grammatical principle that is
treated differently depending on if it is added to verbs or adjectives. It also allows
grammatical principles that otherwise wouldn't be able to be attached to adjectives to be
attached to this new "verb" word.
As I mentioned earlier, you cannot attach ~고 있다 to an adjective. However, by

attaching ~아/어지다 to an adjective, you can indicate that something "becomes" an
adjective. It is then possible to attach ~고 있다 to an adjective that has ~아/어지다
already attached. For example:
저의 여자 친구는 예뻐지고 있어요 = My girlfriend is getting pretty

집 값은 비싸지고 있어 = House prices are getting expensive
피부가 부드러워지고 있어요 = My skin is getting soft
In the previous lesson, you learned that you cannot add ~고 싶다 to an adjective. By
attaching ~아/어지다, you can indicate that something "becomes" an adjective. It is then
possible to attach ~고 싶다 to an adjective as with ~고 있다. For example:
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)
That's it!

Nouns: Adjectives:
한식 = Korean food 좁다 = to be narrow
양식 = western food 넓다 = to be wide, to be spacious
키 = height 특별하다 = to be special
별 = star 게으르다 = to be lazy
태도 = attitude 편하다 = to be comfortable
월급 = pay cheque 안락하다 = to be comfortable
도심 = downtown
시내 = downtown Adverbs and Other words:
추억 = memory 더 = more
후보자 = candidate 덜 = less
자세 = body position/posture 가장 = the most (superlative)
라면 = instant noodles (ramen) 제일 = the most (superlative)
주년 = anniversary 여러 = many/various
평소 = usual 옛 _____ = something old
옛날 = old days
옛사랑 = old love
옛길 = old road/path
Verbs:
걱정하다 = to worry
씻다 = to wash
확인하다 = to confirm, to check
모으다 = to gather, to collect
이야기하다 = to talk with
수집하다 = to collect
추천하다 = to recommend
Introduction
In this lesson, you will learn how to make comparative and superlative sentences in
Korean. Using comparative sentences, you will learn how to make sentences like “I am
more beautiful than you” or “he is faster than his brother.” Using superlative sentences,
you will learn how to make sentences like “I am the most handsome person in the world.”
In addition, we will take an in-depth look at the word 더, which is commonly used in
comparative sentences. Let's get started.
More: 더
Before we even get into using comparatives, I want to make you familiar with the
word 더, meaning “more” in English. The word ‘more’ (in English and Korean) is very
commonly used in sentences when comparing things. For example:
I am more handsome than you

In order to understand how 더 is used, let’s first look at sentences where it is not used:
여기는 편해요 = Here is comfortable (it is comfortable here)

라면은 매워요 = Ramen is spicy
Those are simple sentences without 더. By adding 더 you can indicate that the particular
subjects are “more comfortable” or “spicier” than something else. For example:
여기는 더 편해요 = Here is more comfortable (it is more comfortable here)

라면은 더 매워요 = Ramen is spicier
At this point we haven’t specifically indicated what the subjects are being compared to,
but we will get to that later in the lesson. For now, let’s just focus on the use of 더. Below
are many more examples:
도심은 더 멀어요 = Downtown is further

이 방은 더 좁아요 = This room is smaller (narrower)
추억은 더 중요해요 = Memories are more important
한식은 더 맛있어요 = Korean food is more delicious
저는 더 특별한 것을 사고 싶어요 = I want to buy something more special
저는 더 넓은 집에서 살고 싶어요 = I want to live in a bigger (wider) house
In all of the examples above, 더 is used with adjectives. It can also be used with verbs to
indicate that an action will happen “more.” For example:
저는 밥을 더 먹을 거예요 = I will eat more

저는 더 공부할 거예요 = I will study more
저는 더 기다릴 거예요 = I will wait more (longer)
그 회사는 월급을 더 줘요 = That company gives more of a paycheque
우리는 돈을 더 모을 거예요 = We will collect more money
저는 손을 더 씻을 거예요 = I will wash my hands more
In sentences where 더 is used with verbs, it is common to place an adverb after 더 to

indicate the degree in which the action occurs. When used like this, it’s not that the action
happens more – but rather that the verb happens more in a way of the adverb. For
example:
저는 더 열심히 공부할 거예요 = I will study harder

저는 밥을 더 건강하게 먹을 거예요 = I will eat healthier
그 학생들은 더 시끄럽게 이야기했어요 = Those students talked louder

It is also common to use 조금 before 더 to indicate that something occurs “a little bit
more.” For example:
이 방은 조금 더 좁아요 = This room is a little bit smaller

저는 조금 더 기다릴 거예요 = I will wait a little bit more
저는 조금 더 열심히 공부할 거예요 = I will study a little bit harder
-------------------
You can also add 더 to sentences with counters in them. For example:
나는 펜 두 개가 있어 = I have two pens

나는 펜 두 개가 더 있어 = I have two more pens
사람 두 명이 올 거예요 = Two people will come

사람 두 명이 더 올 거예요 = Two more people will come
저의 여동생은 지난 주에 책을 두 권 읽었어요 = My sister read two books last week

저의 여동생은 지난 주에 책을 두 권 더 읽었어요 = My sister read two more books last week
나는 어제 학교에 두 번 갔어 = I went to school two times (twice) yesterday

나는 어제 학교에 두 번 더 갔어 = I went to school two more times yesterday
-------------------
It is common to use the word 좋다 with 더 to indicate that something is “more good.” Of
course, we don’t say “more good” in English. Instead, we say “better.” For example:
도심이 더 좋아요 = Downtown is better

그 자세가 더 좋아요 = That position/posture is better
그 학생의 태도가 더 좋아요 = That student’s attitude is better
-------------------
It is also common to use the word 많다 with 더 to indicate simply that there is more of
something. For example:
저는 돈이 더 많아요 = I have more money

여기는 별이 더 많아요 = There are more stars here
So far, you have seen how 더 can be used in simple sentences without any specifically
identified comparison. It is also possible to indicate what the situation is being compared
to. I will discuss this in the next section.

Korean Comparatives – 보다
As you learned in the previous section, you can use 더 in sentences when not making any
specific comparison. 더 is often used in sentences when a specific comparison is being
made. 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 much simpler (or is it more simple?).
In Korean, you can make a specific comparison by attaching the particle ~보다 to the
thing that is being compared to. I feel like it is most logical to present sentences using
~보다 in the same order that I presented the sentences using 더. So here we go:
You can use ~보다 to make a specific comparison with adjectives:
나는 더 잘생겼어 = I am more handsome

나는 아버지보다 더 잘생겼어 = I am more handsome than my father
Notice here the example “잘생기다” (handsome) is conjugated into the past tense. When
conjugating 잘생기다 and 못생기다 it is always more natural to use the past tense
conjugation.
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
추억은 더 중요해요 = Memories are more important

추억은 돈보다 더 중요해요 = Memories are more important than money
You don’t really need 더 in these types of sentences. The use of ~보다 in these types of
sentences would also carry this meaning. However, there is no harm in including it.

You can use ~보다 to make a specific comparison with verbs:
나는 밥을 더 먹었어 = I ate more

나는 남동생보다 밥을 더 먹었어 = I ate more than my brother
나는 어제보다 밥을 더 먹었어 = I ate more than yesterday
저는 더 공부할 거예요 = I will study more

저는 친구들보다 더 공부할 거예요 = I will study more than my friends
저는 작년보다 더 공부할 거예요 = I will study more than last year
You can use adverbs in these sentences to indicate that they occur more as a function of
the adverb:
저는 친구들보다 더 열심히 공부할 거예요 = I will study harder than my friends

저는 작년보다 더 열심히 공부할 거예요 = I will study harder than last year
You can compare things in sentences with counters as well. For example:
나는 친구보다 펜이 두 개 더 있어 = I have two more pens than my friend

어제보다 두 명 더 올 거예요 = Two more people will come compared to yesterday
저의 여동생은 지난 주보다 이번 주에 책을 두 권 더 읽었어요 = My sister read two
more books this week than she read last week
------------------
The words 좋다 and 많다 are often used with ~보다 as well. For example:
저는 옛날보다 돈이 더 많아요 = I have more money than a long time ago

저는 저의 아버지보다 돈이 더 많아요 = I have more money than my father
그 학생의 태도가 지난 주보다 더 좋아요 = That student’s attitude is better than last week
------------------
Another way you can create the meaning of “better” is by using the adjective 낫다. 낫다
is very much like 좋다, but it is more naturally used when a specified comparison is
being made. Therefore, it is common to see 낫다 used in sentences with ~보다. For
example:
그 학생의 태도가 지난 주보다 나아요 = That student’s attitude is better than last wek
라면보다 밥이 더 나아요 = Rice is better than Ramen
한식보다 양식이 더 나아요 = Western food is better than Korean food

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
Although ~보다 is not used in the sentences above, by context the listener assumed that
the speaker is referring to the time where he/she had a cold.
------------------
Two words that ~보다 is commonly attached to are 평소 and 생각. For example:
저는 요즘에 평소보다 더 바빠요 = These days, I am busier than usual

나는 평소보다 더 공부하고 있어 = I am studying more than usual
오늘 하늘에 별이 평소보다 더 많아요 = Tonight, there are more stars in the sky than usual
도심은 생각보다 멀어요 = Downtown is further than I thought

별이 생각보다 더 많아요 = There are more stars than I thought
한식은 생각보다 매워요 = Korean food is spicier than I thought
덜 – Less
The word “덜” can be used to have the opposite meaning of 더. That is, it can be used to
mean “less.” For example:
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
These sentences are correct, and would be perfectly understood, but it is usually more
natural and common to create the opposite sentence and use 더 instead. For example, I
would much rather say the following sentences than the two sentences above:
남동생이 나보다 더 잘생겼어 = My brother is more handsome than me

한국에서 고등학교는 대학교보다 더 어려워요 = In Korea, high school is harder than
university
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 Superlatives – 가장/제일
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 it differently:
She is the hottest girl

She is the most beautiful girl
She is the smelliest girl
In Korean, instead of mucking (I said “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
A synonym of “가장” is “제일,” which is often used in speech.

You can then put these into sentences just like you would normal adjectives:
저의 여자 친구는 한국에서 가장 예쁜 여자예요 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
우리가 집에 제일 늦게 도착했어요 = We arrived home the latest (we were the latest
people to arrive at home)
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)

Note here that in most real situations it is probably more natural [in English and in
Korean] to say something like:
I am the fastest runner - instead of – I run the fastest
Math is my favorite subject – instead of – Math is my favorite
To this point, you haven’t learned how to add this extra dimension to your sentences with
verbs. This concept is introduced in Lesson 26. That being said, it is essentially the same
as making this change to adjectives:
가족은 가장 중요해요 = Family is the most important

가족이 가장 중요한 것이에요 = Family is the most important thing
In order to express a negative superlative, of course, you can use a word that has a
negative meaning, for example:
저는 사과를 가장 싫어해요 = I dislike apples the most

저는 사과를 제일 싫어해요 = I dislike apples the most
You could technically add ~지 않다 or ~안 to the sentence to make it a negative

superlative sentence. For example:
그 여자는 우리 반에서 가장 예쁘지 않은 여자예요 = That girl is the least pretty in our class
그 여자는 우리 반에서 제일 예쁘지 않은 여자예요 = That girl is the least pretty in our class
수학은 가장 쉽지 않아요 = Math is the least easy

수학은 제일 쉽지 않아요 = Math is the least easy
However, those sentences would sound much more natural (in English and Korean) if
you just used a word with the opposite meaning. For example:
그 여자는 우리 반에서 제일 못생긴 여자예요 = That girl is the ugliest in our class
수학은 제일 어려워요 = Math is the hardest
In most of these superlative sentences, it would usually sound much more natural to add
“Of all X”. For example:
Of all subjects at school, math is the most difficult

Of all fruit, I dislike apples the most
The grammatical principle needed to add this extra level of complexity to your sentences
is introduced in Lesson 33.
Two adverbs that 가장/제일 are often used with are 잘 and 못, which will be talked
about in the next lesson.

Nouns: Verbs:
교수 = professor 잘하다 = to do something well
주인 = master/owner/proprietor 못하다 = to do something poorly
잘못 = mistake/fault 수영하다 = to swim
기온 = temperature 대우하다 = to treat somebody
거울 = mirror 퇴직하다 = to retire
가루 = powder 접수하다 = to receive (an application)
근육 = muscle 씹다 = to chew
어둠 = darkness 통역하다 = to interpret
기본= basic/basics 번역하다 = to translate
사고 = accident 젓다 = to stir
교통 = traffic 늘리다 = to gain, to improve, to increase
이상 = a noun to indicate that something is 빠지다 = to fall into
more than something else 빠져나오다 = to escape, to come out of
빠져나가다 = to escape, to go out of
Adverbs and Other Words: 헷갈리다 = to be confusing
잘 = well
못 = poorly Passive Verbs:
님 = adds respect to person’s name or position 늘다 = to be gained, to be improved
또는 = or
세 = counter for “years” of age Adjectives:
꼭 = surely/definitely/must 동글다 = to be round, to be spherical
물론 = of course 어둡다 = to be dark
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/I do something poorly” 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.” To use 잘하다, place a noun in
a sentence with 잘하다 as the verb.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.
I discuss making non-하다 verbs into nouns in Lesson 26, but the principal is the same
for any noun form of a verb. All you need to do is:
나는 (noun form of verb)을/를 잘하다.

For example:
나는 수영을 잘해 = I am good at swimming
저 학생은 공부를 잘해 = That student studies well
우리 애기는 말을 잘해요 = Our baby speaks well
저는 야구를 잘해요 = I play baseball well
잘하다 is a verb, but now we need to talk about “잘,” which is an adverb.
잘: Well
Just like “잘하다,” you can use the word 잘 in sentences to indicate that one does
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. The only reason this is important is so that you know that you can use 잘
in sentences just like other adverbs, in this case to mean “(to do something) well.” It is
essentially the same as “잘하다”, but used slightly different. For example:
그 주인은 고객님들을 잘 대우해요 = That owner treats the customers well

나는 어젯밤에 잘 잤어 = I slept well last night
When I first learned about 잘하다 and 잘, I was trying to understand if these two
sentences were the same:
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 do something is good.
However,
나는 잘 공부한다 = I study well, or

“나는 잘 (verb)다” means that you can do something 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 모르다 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.”
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 can be used to indicate
that one generally is poor at something. For example:
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 “in general, 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
Using 못하다 and understanding the meaning it creates is quite simple, especially if you
can understand how 잘하다 is used. If you use the adverb 못, the meaning depends on
the situation. Here are two simple examples we can look at:
저는 어제 못 잤어요
저는 어제 시험을 못 봤어요
This is where it gets confusing. Both of those sentences could have two meanings.
The first example:

저는 어제 못 잤어요 could mean either of the following:
I didn’t sleep well last night because of some situation, or

I didn’t sleep last night because something prevented me from sleeping
The second example:

저는 어제 시험을 못 봤어요 could mean either of the following:
I did poorly on the exam yesterday because of some situation, or

I didn’t take the exam yesterday because something prevented me from doing so
(My translations of “… One didn’t … because something prevented him/her from …” is

often simply translated to “One couldn’t” or “One can’t.” These English terms are
complex, and might be related to one not doing something because something prevented
them or related to one’s ability. Another way to say “one couldn’t” or “one can’t” in
Korean is by using ~ㄹ/을 수 없다 , which I discuss in Lesson 45).
Confusing? Let me say this again. When you put 못 in a sentence, it can indicate that one
does something poorly (or not well) OR that one does not do something because
something prevented him/her from doing it. When it has the second meaning (“I didn’t
do”) it is the result of some situation preventing you.
I want to distinguish this from other negative sentences – specifically using 안 or ~지

않다 which you learned in Lesson 8. When you use 안 or ~지 않다, there is no deeper
meaning that “something prevented you from doing the action.” For example, if I said:
저는 어제 시험을 안 봤어요, or 저는 어제 시험을 보지 않았어요
I am just saying that I didn’t write the exam yesterday – as if yesterday specifically was
not the day that I was supposed to write the exam anyway (or something like that). Why
would I write the exam when it is not the exam day? Of course I wouldn’t. Nothing is
preventing me from writing the exam. It’s just not the day to write the exam. It’s also
possible that I just didn’t do the exam because I didn’t want to. Either way, nothing is
preventing me from doing it, I just didn’t do it.

However, if I say:
저는 어제 시험을 못 봤어요
It probably was the day to write the exam, but something prevented me from writing it.
The thing that prevented me from writing it could be anything – it could have been that I
had to go to a party with my wife, or it could of been that I had explosive diarrhea. Either
way, both of those things (especially the latter) would prevent me from writing the exam.
——————–
In order to explain this further, I can explain a very common mistake that English
speakers make when speaking Korean.
You don’t know how to ask questions yet (you’ll learn that in the next lesson), but
imagine if somebody asks you
“Did you hear what I say?” (내 말을 들었어?)
English speakers learning Korean often respond with:
아니. 안 들었어.
However, if you say that, it’s kind of like you are specifically/purposely trying not to hear
what the person said. Instead, you obviously can hear, but something prevented you from
hearing the person. Maybe it was the loud TV, maybe it was the motorcycle driving by,
or maybe it was your explosive diarrhea. Either way, something prevented you from
hearing the person, so you should say:
아니. 못 들었어. = No, I didn’t (couldn’t) hear (you)
——————–
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:
잘못
If you want to stress that you do something poorly, you can include 잘 before 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).
Let’s look at some examples. If somebody said:

저는 밥을 못 먹어요
This could technically mean two things. It could mean:

1) That the person can't eat (well)
2) That the person won't eat because of some situation (most likely because he/she
is full/doesn't like that particular food, etc...)
In this case, the first possibility does not make sense because everybody (99.9% of the
time) has the ability to eat. Therefore, this person is expressing that he/she is not going to
eat because of some situation that is causing him/her to not want to eat.
Another example:
저는 답을 잘 못 썼어요
This sentence could really only mean one thing. Because of the use of “잘,” we know that
the speaker is expressing that he/she did not do something well. Therefore, the sentence
above translates to “I didn’t answer well.

There is still another way that 못/못하다 can be used to have yet another similar meaning
to what has been described so far.
~지 못하다
One more thing about 못하다. Similar in structure to ~지 않다, you can also write ~지
못하다 to have the same meaning as 못. 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 couldn’t study yesterday

저는 어제 공부하지 못했어요 = I didn’t study well yesterday/I couldn’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 two different meanings. 잘못 can be used like this:
그것은 제 잘못이었어요 = That was my fault/my mistake

Normally when you say “my _____” you use 저의 or 나의. However, some nouns prefer
to have 제 and 내 before 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.”
잘 and 못 with Comparatives and Superlatives

One final thing before I finish. In the previous lesson, you learned about using ~보다 and
가장/제일 to make comparative and superlative sentences. The concepts you learned in
this lesson are very commonly used alongside ~보다 or 가장/제일 in sentences to say
that somebody can do something better/worse, or do something the best/worst. Some
examples:
Comparative Sentences:
우리 아들은 친구들보다 축구를 더 잘해요 = Our (my) son is better than (his) friends at soccer
그 교수는 다른 교수들보다 수업을 더 잘해요 = That professor teaches classes better
than other professors
저는 수영을 작년보다 더 잘해요 = I am better at swimming than last year

Superlative Sentences:
우리 아들은 축구를 가장 잘해요 = Our (my) son is the best at soccer
그 교수는 수업을 제일 잘해요 = That professor teaches classes the best (is the best at
teaching classes
저는 축구를 제일 못해요 = I play soccer the worst

저는 수영을 제일 못해요 = I swim the worst
Again, in most situations, these sentences would sound more natural with the use of other
grammatical principles. For example, to say “I am the one who plays soccer the worst”
or “Of all people, I play soccer the worst.” To be able to wrap your head around those
sentences, you’ll need to read/understand the grammar taught in Lessons 26 and 33
respectively.

Nouns: Adjectives:
소식 = news 즐겁다 = to be pleasant
엄마 = mom 부족하다 = to not be enough, to be lacking
아빠 = dad 간단하다 = to be simple
결혼식 = wedding
우표 = postage stamp Adverbs and Other Words:
신 = god 누구 = who
만화 = comics, cartoons 왜 = why
만화책 = comic book 언제 = when
예정 = schedule 어디 = where
코딱지 = booger, a small amount 역시 = also
논 = rice paddy 몇몇 = some (only used with people)
낮잠 = nap 벌써 = already
의견 = opinion, feedback 이미 = already
특히 = especially
Verbs: 점점 = gradually
사라지다 = to disappear
졸업하다 = to graduate
입원하다 = to check into a hospital
퇴원하다 = to check out of a hospital
이기다 = to win
지다 = to lose
후회하다 = to regret
타다 = to ride
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 (without a question word), 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 is 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 mom 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.
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 ~ㅂ/습니까?

The formal high respect ~습니다 is never used as a question. When asking a question in
this form, instead of using ~습니다 you must use ~ㅂ/습니까. ~ㅂ니까 gets added
directly to stems ending in a vowel, and ~습니까 gets added after a stem ending in a
consonant.

You can do this with all tenses:
방학 동안 집에 안 갔습니까? = You didn’t go home during vacation?

그 사람을 만나고 싶습니까? = Do you want to meet that person?
내일 학교에 갈 겁니까? = Are you going to school tomorrow?
내일 학교에 갈 것입니까? = Are you going to school tomorrow?
I work at a school in Seoul. In the bathrooms, there are charts on the walls that the
cleaning staff is supposed to check once per day. Written on these charts is a list of
questions about the state of the bathroom.
While you will not understand most of the words on this list, notice that all of the
sentences (except for the last one) has the ending ~ㅂ/습니까?
Some of the words provided in the 10 sentences above are fairly difficult. However, I
would like to translate it for you (note that it is difficult to translate some directly):
1) Is the bathroom floor clean?

2) Is the sink clean?
3) Has the mirror been wiped clean?
4) Is there extra soap?
5) Is the toilet paper ready?
6) Is the bathroom’s garbage can empty?
7) Are there no toilets that haven’t been flushed?
8) Are any lights broken?
9) Is there any smell?
10) Are there any places, the doorknob, the faucet, etc that are broken?
There are other ways you can change a sentence to make it a question. ~ㅂ/습니까 is
typically the most formal. We will talk about the others in the upcoming sections.

Korean Questions ~니
When asking a question, instead of ending your sentences with ~아/어, you can end them
with ~니. This is an informal way to ask a question, and it works for all tenses. For example:
Past tense: 했니, 먹었니, 갔니, 이었니

Present tense: 하니, 먹니, 가니, 이니
Future tense (겠): 하겠니, 먹겠니, 가겠니
Future tense (~ㄹ 것이다): 할 거니, 할 것이니, 먹을 거니, 먹을 것이니
However, note that using this form gives the sentence a slightly feminine feel to it (I’ve
never once used ~니). However, I work at a Korean high school, and I hear female
Korean teachers use this form all the time when asking questions to a student.
시험을 잘 봤니? = Did you write the exam well (did you do well on the exam)?
서울에 가겠니? = Are you going to go to Seoul?
몇 반이니? = What class are you in?
이미 졸업했니? = Did you already graduate?
In Lesson 7, you learned how irregular words change as a result of adding different
additions. This is the first time you have been introduced to adding ~니. The only
irregular that applies when adding ~니 is the ㄹ irregular. When you add ~니 to a stem of
a word that ends in ㄹ, you must drop the ㄹ from the stem, and attach the grammatical
principle to the remainder of the word. For example:
열다 + ~니 = 여니
As you know, some additions require the speaker to choose between two possible options
– for example, choosing between ~아 and ~어 when adding ~아/어. Notice that when
adding ~니 there is no choice. I call this a “solid ㄴ.” That is, there is only one choice,
and it starts with ㄴ.
In later lessons, you will learn other grammatical additions that have a solid ㄴ:
~나 (later in this lesson)

~는 (Lesson 26)
~는데 (Lesson 76)
~네 (Lesson 83)
~나 (Lesson 109)
All grammatical additions where a solid ㄴ is attached to a word follow the same rule as
when ~니 is added. Below are some examples of ~니 in use with the ㄹ irregular:

뭐 만드니? = What are you making?
마음에 드니? = Do you like it?
어디 사니? = Where do you live?
Korean Questions ~ㄴ/은가(요)

Just like ‘~니’ you can also end your questions with ~ㄴ/은가(요). Adding "요" to the
end makes it more formal. This form is less formal than the high-respect ~ㅂ/습니까
form.
~ㄴ/은가(요) gets added to the stem of adjectives. Using this form makes a question a
little bit softer than using the forms described previously. The exact difference cannot be
translated perfectly, but sort of like how “would it be okay if I go into the park?” sounds
slightly softer than “can I go into the park.”
You add ~ㄴ/은 to adjective stems like you would when conjugating it to describe a noun:
예쁘다 + ㄴ/은 = 예쁜
작다 + ㄴ/은 = 작은
And then attach “가(요)” after that construction:
예쁜가(요)?
작은가(요)?
It is only conjugated into the present tense and therefore usually only used to ask about
some sort of present situation. For example:
그 여자는 예쁜가? = Is that girl pretty?

이것은 너무 작은가요? = Is this too small?
그 학교가 좋은가? = Is that school good?
일이 너무 복잡한가요? = Is this work/task too complicated?
~ㄴ/은가(요) is commonly added to 이다 as well. For example:

그 사람이 선생님인가? = Is that person a teacher?
그 사람이 우리 엄마인가? = Is that person our mom? (Is that our mom?)
아닌가(요)? 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?
너무 복잡해! 아닌가? = This is too complicated. Isn’t it?

Korean Questions ~나(요)
Using ~나(요) at the end of a sentence to ask a question has the same function of
~ㄴ/은가(요). That is, it can be used to make a question sound slightly softer than the
other ways to ask a question. However, ~나(요) is more often used with verbs and with
있다 and 없다. For example:
Notice that the ㄹ irregular needs to be applied in appropriate situations again:
밥이 있나? = Is there rice?

사과도 여기서 파나요? = Do you sell apples here too?
소녀시대 콘서트를 여기서 하나요? = Is the Girl’s Generation concert here?
지하철을 타고 있나요? = Are you on (riding) the subway now?
This form can be used in the past tense as well. For example:
교통카드가 있었나요? = Did you have your bus (transportation) card?

그 소식을 들었나요? = Did you hear that/the news?
만화책을 샀나요? = Did you buy the comic book?
어제 병원에 입원했나요? = Did you go to the hospital yesterday?
It is possible to use this in the future tense, but it only sounds natural when applying it to
the ~겠다 future conjugation. Adding ~나(요) to 이다 is typically not done, and
therefore adding it to words that are conjugating using ~ㄹ/을 것이다 is unnatural. For
example:
내일 퇴원할 거나요?
내일 퇴원할 것이나요?
Now that you know how to ask questions without using a question word, let’s 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 confusing examples in the next lesson (what, how, how much/how many).

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. Many of the question words that
you will learn in this lesson (and the following lesson) are adverbs. As you know,
adverbs can be used very freely in sentences and do not have any specific location that
they need to be used. However, the most common position for these adverb-question
words is before the verb. If there are other adverbs in the sentence (including the negative
“안”) the question word is usually placed first.
With these adverb-question words, you can typically just take a statement and change it
into a question by inserting the word into the sentence. For example:
만화책을 좋아합니까? = Do you like comic books?

만화책을 왜 좋아합니까? = Why do you like comic books?
(저는) 한국어를 공부하고 있어요 = I am studying Korean

한국어를 왜 공부하고 있어요? = Why are you studying Korean?
(저는) 너무 빨리 먹었어요 = I ate really fast

왜 너무 빨리 먹었어요? = Why did you eat so fast?
(저는) 어제 학교에 안 갔어요 = I didn’t go to school yesterday

어제 학교에 왜 안 갔어요? = Why didn’t you go to school yesterday?
왜 is also used to respond when somebody calls your name (because they want you for
some reason). In English, we would say “what,” but in Korean, they say “왜.” For
example:
Person 1: 슬기야! = Seulgi!

Person 2: 왜? = Why/what do you want?
Notice that saying “why” in English is unnatural. This is how they say it in Korean.

When (언제)
The usage of ‘when’ (언제) is very similar to the usage of ‘왜’ in Korean. As an
adverb, it can be used to ask “when” something happens. For example:
집에 갔어? = Did you go home?

집에 언제 갔어? = When did you go home?
집에 갈 거야? = Will you go home?

집에 언제 갈 거야? = When will you go home?
그 여자가 사라졌어요 = That girl disappeared

그 여자가 언제 사라졌어요? = When did that girl disappear?
낮잠을 잤어요? = Did you take a nap?

낮잠을 언제 잤어요? = When did you take a nap?
아빠가 왔어요? = Did dad come?

아빠가 언제 왔나요? = When did dad come?
Particles like ~부터 and ~까지, which are often used to indicate from/until when
something happens can be attached to 언제 to indicate that it is unknown “from/until
when” something happens. For example:
어제부터 아팠어요 = I have been sick since yesterday

언제부터 아팠어요? = Since when have you been sick?
Notice that 어제 and 언제 are not the same word.
한국에서 내년까지 있을 거예요 = I will be in Korea until next year

한국에서 언제까지 있을 거예요? = Until when will you be in Korea?
작년부터 한국어를 공부했어요 = I have been studying Korean since last year
언제부터 한국어를 공부했어요? = Since when have you been studying Korean?
언제 can also be attached to “이다” to ask “when” something is. In these cases as well,
it replaces the noun that would normally be attached to 이다. For example:
결혼식은 내일이야 = The wedding is tomorrow
결혼식은 언제야? = When is the wedding?
방학은 다음 주야 = Vacation is next week
방학은 언제야? = When is vacation?
~든지 is commonly attached to 언제 to form 언제든지. For now, you can think of this
simply as a word that means “whenever.” When you learn about the function of ~든지 in
Lesson 106, you will understand how this meaning is formed.

Where (어디)
어디 works very much like 언제. It can be used to ask “where” something happened if
the place is unknown. For example:
집에 가고 싶어요= I want to go home

어디 가고 싶어요? = Where do you want to go?
한국에 살아요 = I live in Korea

어디 살아요? = Where do you live?
Like 여기, ~에 is often omitted from “어디.” 어디에서 is often contracted to 어디서.
More examples:
그것을 집에서 하고 싶어요 = I want to do that at home
그것을 어디서 하고 싶어요? = Where do you want to do that?
한국에서 왔어요 = I came from Korea

어디에서 왔어요? = Where are you from (from where did you come?)
The particle ~까지 is commonly attached to 어디. ~부터 is not commonly attached to
어디 for the same reason that ~부터 is not commonly attached to a place, as described in
Lesson 12. For example:
부산까지 가고 싶어요 = I want to go until Busan

어디까지 가고 싶어요? = How far/until where do you want to go?
지하철을 서울역까지 탈 거예요 = We will take/ride the Subway until Seoul Station
지하철을 어디까지 탈 거예요? = Until where will we ride the subway?
Like 언제, it can be used as the noun before 이다 to ask where something “is.”
Placing 어디 before 이다 is really only done if asking somebody directly where they are:
어디야? = Where are you?
Or when asking where a place is:

너의 집이 어디야? = Where is your house?
그곳이 어디야? = Where is that place?
학교가 어디예요? = Where is the/your school?

When asking where another person, or an object is, it is more natural to use 있다 in these
sentence. For example:
친구가 어디에 있어요? = Where is your friend?

엄마가 어디에 있어요? = Where is mom?
펜이 어디에 있어요? = Where is the pen?
아빠가 어디에 있어? = Where is dad?
그 만화책이 어디에 있어? = Where is that comic?
These would be unnatural:
아빠가 어디야?
그 만화책이 어디야?
Just like 언제, there are of course more complicated ways that 어디 can be used. For now,
this is good enough.
Who (누구)
In Korean, 누구 has the function of a pronoun.
Actually, some of the ways you use 언제 and 어디 in Korean are as pronouns. I chose
not to explain this to you because the definition of a pronoun in Korean and English is
not exactly the same. 언제 and 어디 can act as pronouns in Korean, but this same usage
would be called an adverb in English. I actually had an explanation typed out, but
decided not to include it into this lesson because it makes things more confusing than
they actually are. However, knowing that 누구 is a pronoun in English and Korean is
helpful (if you know what pronouns are).
As a pronoun, 누구 can be used in the place of a noun in a sentence – that is, it can be
used to replace the object, the subject or as a noun before 이다.
This is the same in English – as you can see in the following three examples:
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 all three cases “who” is the first word of
the sentence regardless its role.
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 before 이다. I will show you an example of
each:

In the third sentence below 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 below 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 below you can see an example of 누구 being used before 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?
That's it for this lesson, but there is still lots for you to know about asking questions in
Korean! This lesson covered the first half of what you need to know, and the following
lesson will cover the rest!

Nouns: Adverbs and Other Words:
계란 = eggs 얼마나 = how much
자리 = a seat, a place to put something 몇 = how many ___ (with a counter)
중요성 = importance, emphasis 뭐 = what
벌금 = a fine 무슨 = what
파일 = file 무엇 = what
로션 = lotion 어떤 = which
습관 = customs, habit 어떤 = some
치마 = skirt 어느 = which
단계 = step, phase, stage 어때? = How was … ?
짓 = some sort of negative act 대개 = usually
바깥 = outside
Verbs: 쯤 = approximately
차지하다 = to occupy a space 짓 = some sort of negative action
수거하다 = to collect, to come and pick up 서로= reciprocally
첨부하다 = to attach (a file) 필독 = must read (noun)
찢다 = to tear, to rip 며칠 = how many (days?)
다녀오다 = to go and then come back 퍼센트 = percent
예상하다 = to expect
Adjectives:
올바르다 = to be correct
복잡하다 = to be complicated
짧다 = to be short, to be brief
Introduction
In the previous lesson, you learned about how to make question sentences in Korean. In
this lesson, you will build on what you learned in Lesson 21 by learning more ways to
ask questions in Korean. Specifically, you will learn how to ask questions using the
following words: how, what, which and how many.
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 be placed before an
adjective or adverb in Korean 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 (얼마나) later in this lesson to use in those sentences.
어떻게 is an adverb, so you can place it in sentences very freely. You can use it to ask
questions in the past, present or future tense. For example:
그것을 어떻게 해요? = How do you do that?

한국어를 어떻게 배웠어요? = How did you learn Korean?
그 자리를 어떻게 찾았어요? = How did you find that seat?
그 파일을 어떻게 보낼 거예요? = How are you going to send that file?
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.
Through conjugation, 어떻다 can change to ‘어때.” I’ll show you how 어떻다 changes
to 어때, but you really don’t need to worry about how it is changed (there are only a few
other words in Korean that can take on a similar transformation)
- 어떻다 is an adjective
- ~아/어하다 can be added to some adjectives
(You already know about 좋다 + ~아/어하다 = 좋아하다)
- The addition of ~아/어하다 causes the ㅎ to drop
(you will learn more about this in the next lesson)
- 어떠하다 can conjugate 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. It sounds more
natural in Korean for the thing you are asking about with “어때” to not have a particle.
For example:
남자 친구 어때? = How is your boyfriend? (is he good/bad/handsome/etc..?)
It is also very commonly used in the present tense to say “how about... ?/what do you
think of...?" For example:
점심 어때? = How about lunch? / What do you think about lunch?
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(이) 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 example with the boyfriend?:
How about your boyfriend?
Sounds weird, and most English-speaking people probably couldn’t even understand the
meaning of this sentence.
Try it sometime. If you have a Korean friend (one that can’t speak 100% perfect English),
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? (was it hard/easy?)
점심 어땠어요?
= How was the lunch?/What did you think about the lunch? (was it delicious?)

What (뭐/무엇/무슨)
Now that you’ve learned all the easy ways to ask questions, let’s 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:”
뭐 – which is a pronoun
무엇 – which is a pronoun
무슨 – which is a word that can be placed before nouns to describe them
Let me explain how each one is used.
뭐 and 무엇
These two essentially have the same meaning and function. Let me introduce 뭐 first.
뭐 can be used similar to 언제, 어디 and 누구. That is, to represent an unknown thing in
a sentence. For example:
밥을 먹었어 = I ate rice

뭐 먹었어요? = What did you eat?
계란을 샀어요 = I bought eggs

뭐 샀어요? = What did you buy?
Like 누구 (as you learned in the previous lesson), “뭐” and “what” act as a pronouns in
their respective sentences. More examples:
파일을 첨부했어요 = I attached the file

뭐 첨부했어요? = What did you attach?
치마를 입었어요 = I put on a skirt

뭐 입었어요? = What did you wear/put on?
Particles are not usually attached to 뭐 when asking a question like this. For example,
these would be unnatural:
뭐를 먹었어요?
뭐를 첨부했어요?
뭐를 입었어요?

One of the times it is possible to attach a particle to 뭐 is when asking somebody what
they are referring to in a previous sentence where a noun was omitted.
For example, if you look at this dialogue:
Person 1: 저는 많이 먹었어요 = I ate a lot

Person 2: 뭐를? = what? (you ate a lot of what?)
Here, the first person didn’t specifically indicate what he/she ate. The second person is
asking for clarification of what was eaten, and can use “뭐를.” Here, “뭐” essentially acts
as the noun that was omitted in the previous sentence.
무엇 is very similar to 뭐. However, it is more common to attach ~을 to 무엇 than 뭐.
For example:
점심을 먹었어? = Did you eat lunch?

무엇을 먹었어? = What did you eat?
무엇을 입었어요? = What did you put on/wear?
무엇을 샀어요? = What did you buy?
When used before 이다 to ask what something “is,” it is more common to use 뭐 than to
use 무엇. For example:
이것은 뭐야? = What is this?

이름이 뭐예요? = What is your name?
점심이 뭐야? = What is (for) lunch?
Instead of:
이것이 무엇이야?
이름이 무엇이야?
점심이 무엇이야?

무슨
무슨 also translates to “what” but it is instead placed before nouns to describe them.
For example:
그 영화를 보고 싶어요? = Do you want to see that movie?

무서운 영화를 보고 싶어요? = Do you want to see a scary movie?
무슨 영화를 보고 싶어요? = What movie do you want to see?
The dictionary form of 무슨 is 무슨. Although it looks like an adjective with ~ㄴ/은
attached to it, the word itself is 무슨, and thus, is not actually an adjective. However, it
looks and feels like an adjective because of how it is used in sentences.
무슨 is used when the speaker doesn’t know what an object is, and is asking about what
it may be. The most common situations you will see 무슨 used are the following:
그것이 무슨 냄새야? = What is that smell?

무슨 생각(을) 해? = What are you thinking?
그것이 무슨 소리야? = What is that sound?
무슨 말이야? = What do you mean?
(The last two examples are often used to ask “what do you mean” or “I can’t understand
what you are trying to say”)
One way I like to think of 무슨 and how it can be distinguished from 어떤 and 어느
(which you will learn next in the lesson), is that 무슨 is used when the speaker is asking a
question and has no idea what the answer will be. The answer could be almost an
unlimited choice of options. For example, if I ask:
무슨 냄새야? = What is that smell?
I might use that if I just walk into a room and smell something for the first time. Because
of this, I would not know the source of the smell and would have no idea what the answer
to my question might be. The answer could be anywhere from “my fart” to “the toaster.”
Likewise, if I ask:
무슨 생각(을) 해? = What are you thinking?
I might be looking at somebody and seeing them staring into space. In this case, I would
not be able to even guess what that person is thinking, so I have no idea what the answer
to my question might be. The answer could be anywhere from “my future” to “eating
pizza.”
Simple enough, right? Let’s talk about other words that are often confused with 무슨.

Which (어떤/어느)
어떤
어떤 is another one of these words that, although not an adjective, we can place before a
noun to describe it. For example:

어떤 영화를 보고 싶어요? = Which movie do you want to see?
Or
그 차를 사고 싶어요? = Do you want to buy that car?

비싼 차를 사고 싶어요? = Do you want to buy an expensive car?
무슨 차를 사고 싶어요? = What car do you want to buy?
어떤 차를 사고 싶어요? = Which car do you want to buy?
The first question every learner has when learning about 어떤 is how it can be
differentiated from 무슨. 어떤 usually translates to “which” and 무슨 usually translates
to “what.” Their meanings are very similar and their respective English translations don’t
really give any hints as to what the differences between the two are.
The difference is subtle, and at this point you don’t really need to fully understand how
they are different. The difference is even hard for Korean people to understand, and using
one of them in place of the other usually creates a sentence with essentially the exact
same meaning. That being said, let me give you a brief introduction of how they are
different.
In the case of asking questions, 어떤 is used for two main reasons.
 To choose from a selection of options

For example, in: “어떤 차를 사고 싶어요?” Maybe you are selling cars and
giving a person a selection of cars to choose from. Here, although you technically
don’t know the answer to the question, you can assume that it will be from a
limited number of choices given.
 To ask about the type of properties or characteristics related to a person/object

For example, in: “어떤 차를 사고 싶어요?” Maybe you are asking your friend
about the type of car he wants to buy based on the characteristics of it. Here, you
could be asking if he wants to buy a van, an SUV, a truck, etc…
By looking at those two main usages, you can see how 어떤 should not be used to replace
무슨 in most situations. For example, in the examples earlier with 무슨, I showed you
this sentence: 무슨 냄새야? = What is that smell?

Here, “무슨 냄새야?” would be used when the person doesn’t know the source of the
smell, and has no idea what the smell could be. Like I said earlier, the answer to the
question would likely indicate the source of the smell and could literally be anything
from “farts” to “the toaster.”
However saying “어떤 냄새야?” in most situations would be ridiculous. It could only
really be used if you are asking a person to tell you about the characteristics of a smell
they are smelling. For example, imagine if you had a bouquet of flowers and put the
flowers to your friend’s nose. In this case, you want your friend to describe the
characteristics of the smell – “Is it a nice smell? A fresh smell? A rosy smell?” The
answer to this question would likely be describing (the characteristics) of the smell.
Despite this distinction, there are many situations where 어떤 and 무슨 could basically
be used interchangeably. For example, ask a Korean person if they can describe the
differences between the two sentences:

(In theory, the speaker would have no idea what the answer to the question would be)

(In theory, the speaker would have given the listener a choice to choose from, or would
be asking about the type of movie the listener wants to see [for example, a comedy, a
horror movie, or a love story]).
Just when you thought you might actually be understanding this confusion, we have to
look at another word with a similar meaning.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another usage of 어떤 that is completely unrelated to asking questions can be seen in this
sentence:
어떤 남자는 어제 여기에 왔어 = Some man came here yesterday
Here, 어떤 is used to show that the speaker knew a man came, but is unsure of
specifically who he was. This can be applied to other nouns as well when the speaker is
aware of some object, but is unsure of what specific object is in question. For example
저는 어떤 책을 읽고 있었어요 = I was reading some book

(the speaker doesn’t know exactly what book he was reading)
저는 어떤 건물에 들어갔어요 = I went into some building

(the speaker doesn’t know exactly what building he went into)

어느
Another way you can ask this type of question is with the word 어느. Like 무슨 and
어떤, 어느 is placed immediately before nouns.
Unfortunately for your brain, 어느 translates to “which.” For example:

어느 영화를 보고 싶어요? = Which movie do you want to see?
In the case of asking questions, 어느 is used in a similar way to the first explanation I
gave of 어떤 from above. That is, “to choose from a selection of options.” It would not
be used to refer to the type of characteristics or properties of an object, and it would not
be used to refer to something unknown.
Here, you can see that the usages of 무슨, 어떤 and 어느 overlap on multiple levels.
Although this overlap leads to confusion, it also allows each word to be used
interchangeably in most cases, which makes using them easier than you think. In my
opinion, it is just as important to realize how not to use each of these words when asking
a question. Let me brief that for you:
무슨:
Don’t use this when asking about the type of characteristics or properties of something
Don’t use this when giving somebody options to choose from
However,
Do use this when you can’t expect what the answer will be at all
어떤:
Don’t use this when asking about something that you can’t expect the answer for
However,
Do use this when asking about the type of characteristics or properties of something
Do use this when giving somebody options to choose from
어느:
Don’t use this when asking about the type of characteristics or properties of something
Don’t use this when asking about something that you can’t expect the answer for
However,
Do use this when giving somebody options to choose from

Here are a bunch of similar examples which each word being used:
무슨 집에서 살아요? = What house do you live in?

어떤 집에서 살아요? = Which house do you live in?
어느 집에서 살아요? = Which house do you live in?
무슨 대학교를 다녀요? = What university do you go to?

어떤 대학교를 다녀요? = Which university do you go to?
어느 대학교를 다녀요? = Which university do you go to?
무슨 쪽으로 가고 싶어요? – This would generally not be said in Korean. You would
most likely say this when standing on a street (or somewhere similar), where you have a
selection of options to choose from. Therefore, one of the following would be used instead:
어떤 쪽으로 가고 싶어요? = Which way do you want to go?
어느 쪽으로 가고 싶어요? = Which way do you want to go?
무슨 치마를 샀어요? = What skirt did you buy?

어떤 치마를 샀어요? = Which skirt did you buy?
어느 치마를 샀어요? = Which skirt did you buy?
This table is equally confusing, but it helped me organize my thoughts, so I want to

present it to you. I have attempted to organize the main usages of 무슨, 어떤 and 어느.
무슨 어떤 어느
Object is unknown 무슨 냄새야? 어떤 냄새야? 어느 소리야?
What is that smell? Could be okay, but it would be Awkward
referring to the characteristics
of the smell, not the source.
Characteristics 그 사람이 무슨 사람이야? 그는 어떤 사람이야? 그 사람이 어느 사람이야?
Awkward What type of person is he? Awkward
Choosing among options 무슨 차를 사고 싶어요? 어떤 차를 사고 싶어요? 어느 차를 사고 싶어요?
More in Lesson 33 What car do you want to buy? Which car do you want to buy? Which car do you want to buy?
(This fits in with the “object is (This could also be referring to
unknown” usage) the characteristics/type of car)
Unsure of specifics 나는 무슨 책을 읽었어 나는 어떤 책을 읽었어 나는 어느 책을 읽었어
Awkward I read some book Awkward
This is a good start, but there are other specific situations when you might use one of
these words. For example, 어느 has other usages as well. You will learn about some of
the other usages of 어느 in Lesson 25 and Lesson 72.
In addition, as 어떤 and 어느 are used when options are given, we will continue to talk
about these words in Lesson 33 when you learn how to give options to people.

How many (몇)
Before I explain how to ask somebody “how many ____?” as in “how many cars do you
have?” let’s review how to say “I have # cars.” Remember that you need to use counters
in these types of sentences:
저는 차 두 대가 있어요 = I have two cars

저는 친구 세 명을 만났어요 = I met three friends
저는 어제 학교에 두 번 갔어요 = I went to school three times yesterday
If you want to ask “how many ___?” you must include “몇” before the counter:
차가 몇 대 있어요? = How many cars do you have?

친구를 몇 명 만났어요? = How many friends did you meet?
어제 학교에 몇 번 갔어요? = How many times did you go to school yesterday?
파일을 몇 개 보냈어요? = How many files did you send?
치마를 몇 개 샀어요? = How many skirts did you buy?
그 종이를 몇 번 찢었어요? = How many times did you rip that paper?
Notice the difference in the placement of the particles. When you say “몇 번” or “몇 대”
or “몇 명” you have essentially created a question word. Just like most other question
words, particles are not typically attached. Nonetheless, if you placed the particles after
“몇 ___”, your questions would still be understood, but to me it is more natural to place
them after the noun that you are asking about, and not after the counter. Just to show you,
these would be understandable:
차 몇 대가 있어요? = How many cars do you have?

친구 몇 명을 만났어요? = How many friends did you meet?
Also make sure not to confuse these types of sentences with these similar sentences you
learned in a previous lesson:
(저는) 차 몇 대가 있어요 = I have some cars
(저는) 어제 학교에 몇 번 갔어요 = I went to school some times (a few times) yesterday
(저는) 친구를 몇 명 만났어요 = I met some friends
The difference between the first three sentences and the last three sentences is the first
three are questions and the last three are statements. Remember when you are asking a
question that the intonation needs to rise at the end of the sentence.
By using 몇 ___ you can 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, How many (얼마나)
The word “얼마나” can be placed before adjectives and adverbs to mean “how.” In these
cases, the speaker is asking to what extent something occurs. For example:
Adjectives
얼마나 짧다 = how short
얼마나 예쁘다 = how pretty
얼마나 많다 = how much/many
Adverbs
얼마나 자주 = how often
얼마나 빨리 = how quickly
얼마나 잘 = how well
For example:
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?
It can also be used before verbs when the speaker is not making a distinction between
countable objects in his/her question. Instead, the speaker’s inquiry falls within an
uncountable continuum. For example, notice the difference between these two questions:
How many pieces did you eat?

Speaker is making a distinction between countable objects
How much did you eat?

Speaker is not making a distinction between countable objects. Here, the speaker’s
inquiry falls within an uncountable continuum.
When used like this with a verb, the most common translation for “얼마나” is “how
much.” For example:
빵을 얼마나 먹었어요? = How much bread did you eat?

그 여자를 얼마나 사랑해요? = How much do you love that girl?
돈을 얼마나 가져갈 거예요? = How much money will you take?
물을 얼마나 마셨어요? = How much water did you drink?
그 책상은 자리를 얼마나 차지해요? = How much space does that desk take up?
The adverb 많이 is sometimes used in these sentences, and creates essentially the same
meaning. In fact, the translation usually would not change when using 많이 in these types
of sentences.

For example:
빵을 얼마나 많이 먹었어요? = How much bread did you eat?

그 여자를 얼마나 많이 사랑해요? = How much do you love that girl?
돈을 얼마나 많이 가져갈 거예요? = How much money will you take?
물을 얼마나 많이 마셨어요? = How much water did you drink?
그 책상은 자리를 얼마나 많이 차지해요? = How much space does that desk take up?
Using 많이 in the sentences above just stresses that the speaker knows that the answer is
“a lot” (remember, the meaning of 많이 is “a lot” or “many”), and is sort of asking “okay,
I know it is a lot, but how much a lot?” (I realize that sentence is grammatically incorrect).
많이 (the adverb) can also be used as 많다 (the adjective) in these sentences. The
meaning is still the same, but the structure of the sentence changes so 많다 describes the
noun in question:
-----------------
많이 (the adverb) can also be used as 많다 (the adjective) in these sentences. The
meaning is still the same, but the structure of the sentence changes so 많다 describes the
noun in question. For example:
얼마나 많은 빵을 먹었어요? = How much bread did you eat?

얼마나 많은 돈을 가져갈 거예요? = How much money will you take?
얼마나 많은 물을 마셨어요? = How much water did you drink?
Although correct and understandable, I highly suggest you refrain from using this style of
sentence. It sounds much more natural to say "빵을 얼마나 먹었어요?" or "빵을 얼마나
많이 먹었어요?" instead of "얼마나 많은 빵을 먹었어요?"
-----------------

When the speaker is making a distinction between countable objects, the counter should
be used as you learned in the previous section. For example:
빵을 몇 개 먹었어요? = How many pieces of bread did you eat?

몇 명의 여자를 사랑해요? = How many girls do you love?
Note that although “얼마나” translates to “how” in all of these usages above. This is
different from the usage of 어떻게 which also translates to “how” in English.
Notice the difference between the use of “how” in the sentences below:
한국어를 얼마나 자주 공부해요? = How often do you study Korean?

한국어를 어떻게 배웠어요? = How did you learn Korean?
The word “얼마” can be used to ask how much something costs. For example:
얼마나 and 얼마 are technically not the same word. However, I am presenting 얼마 in
this form here because it is very common and it is in the form of a question.
그 로션이 얼마예요? = How much is that lotion?

저 바지가 얼마예요? = How much are those pants?
벌금은 얼마였어요? = How much was the fine?
이게 얼마예요? = How much is this?
Remember, 이게, 그게 and 저게 are contractions of 이것이, 그것이 and 저것이

respectively.
--------------------------------
I just want to point out that it is possible to use most of these question words by
themselves to ask for more information about a situation. If somebody is talking, and you
want more information about who, what, when, where, why or how something occurs,
you can use 누구, 뭐, 언제, 어디, 왜 or 어떻게 by themselves as questions. I don’t show
this, but you can also add “요” after any of these words if you are speaking in a more
formal situation. For example:
왜
In Lesson 21, you saw that you can use this when somebody calls you, for example:
Person 1: 슬기야! = Seulgi!

Person 2: 왜? = Why/what do you want?
It can also be used by itself to ask “why” something occurs. For example:
Person 1: 저는 내일 캐나다에 갈 거예요 = Tomorrow, I will go to Canada

Person 2: 왜? = Why (will you go to Canada tomorrow)?

언제
Person 1: 저는 캐나다에 갈 거예요 = I will go to Canada
Person 2: 언제? = When (will you go to Canada)?
어디
Person 1: 저는 내일 갈 거예요 = I will go tomorrow
Person 2: 어디? = Where (will you go tomorrow)?
누구
Person 1: 내일 그 사람을 만날 거예요 = I will meet that person tomorrow
Person 2: 누구(를)? = Who(m) (will you meet)?
You can use 누가 by itself when asking about the acting agent of a sentence. For
example:
Person 1: 내일 어떤 사람이 여기 올 거예요 = Tomorrow, some person will come here

Person 2: 누가? = Who (will come here)?
뭐
You saw this already in this lesson:
Person 1: 저는 많이 먹었어요 = I ate a lot

Person 2: 뭐(를)? = what? (you ate a lot of what?)
어떻게
Person 1: 저는 공항에 갈 거예요 = I will go to the airport
Person 2: 어떻게? = How (will you go to the airport)?
--------------------------------
That’s it for asking questions in Korean! There was a lot of content in this lesson and the
one before it (Lesson 21). Make sure you review those concepts a lot, because they are
very important!
Before we go to the next lesson, though, we need to revisit ~는/은 and ~이/가 again.

~는/은 and ~이/가 Revisited (again)
Now that you have continued to increase your understanding of Korean grammar over the
past few lessons – and specifically learned how to ask questions in Korean, I can continue
to explain the nuances between ~이/가 and ~는/은.
Assuming that the situation is not set up in a way that would be grammatically
appropriate to compare yourself with somebody else, it would be very awkward for you
to say the following:
내가 밥을 먹었어
If you just walked into a room without anybody saying anything to you, or without any
prior back-story, and simply said “내가 밥을 먹었어” (despite being able to understand
you perfectly) it would sound very awkward to Korean people.
When you use ~이/가 over ~는/은, the speaker is putting an enormous amount of stress
on the fact that it was that particular subject that did the action. The speaker isn’t
comparing anything, but specifically stressing that it was the subject who/that does the
action in the sentence (or has the properties described by the adjective, or “is” the thing
attached to 이다). Again, this is just a nuance, and cannot be expressed in translation to
English. The only way it can be explained is through descriptions.
The reason why “내가 밥을 먹었어” sounds weird is because it is just like walking into
a room and saying:
“I am the one who ate rice!”

Note here that I wouldn’t actually translate “내가 밥을 먹었어” to “I am the one who
ate rice.” I would still translate it to “I ate.” I am using the translation “I am the one
who ate” to show how the stress can be on the subject.
Nobody would ever say that without anything prompting a person to say it. Instead, you
would just say:
나는 밥을 먹었어 = I ate rice
Note that here, you are not comparing anything. You are also not stating a general fact.
You are just indicating the subject of the sentence. How can I know that nothing is being
compared? How can I know that this isn’t just a general fact? How can I know that
~는/은 is just acting as a plain old subject marker?
I am going to reiterate what I said in Lesson 17:

This is precisely what causes the confusion amongst foreigners when trying to distinguish
the difference between ~이/가 and ~는/은. Both of them can be used to express more
than one nuance. The only way you can distinguish between the particular nuances being
used is by understanding the situation in which they are used.
The whole process of distinguishing ~이/가 from ~는/은 is incredibly confusing. I want
to share an important phrase that I came up with that you should always think about when
trying to learn the purposes of these particles:
“It’s not about understanding them – it’s about understanding when to use them.”
At this point I would like to dive a little bit deeper into this purpose of stressing the
subject of a sentence. Like I said, to have this purpose, it would need some sort of back-
story indicating why the speaker would need to stress the subject.
It would be weird in most situations to just say the following as a one-off sentence:
내가 학생이야
… this is just like walking into a room and saying “It is me who is a/the student!”
However, imagine two students in a class arguing about who gets to sit in the front row
(the best seats in the class). After arguing for a few minutes, the class president can come
in and say:
내가 반장이야! = I am the class president! (반장 = class president)
In this situation, the speaker is stressing that it is he/she that is the class president, and
therefore has the power to solve the situation.
I waited until Lesson 22 to talk about this usage because now you know how to ask
questions. The particle ~이/가, in its usage as a subject stressor, is used when somebody
specifically asks “who” did a particular action.
For example, in the following dialogue:
누가 밥을 먹었어? = Who ate the rice?

내가 밥을 먹었어 = I ate the rice
This could also be shortened to only include the subject:
내가 = “I did”, or “me”
Another example:
누가 피자를 만들었어? = Who made the pizza?
내가 만들었어 = I made it (me)

Notice here that just because (in English) somebody asks a “who” question doesn’t mean
that ~이/가 must be used on the subject. This is only relevant when the speaker is asking
“who” the subject was – and not who the object was (in effect, when “who” translates to
누가 and not to 누구”).
누가 그녀를 좋아해? = Who likes her?

내가 그녀를 좋아해 = I like her
Notice above the question is asking who the subject is
너는 누구를 좋아해? = Who do you like?

나는 그녀를 좋아해 = I like her
Notice above the question is asking who the object is. The use of “는” on the subject
takes the stress off of the subject and “는” just acts as a subject marker.
The same thing can be done with other question words, as long as the question is asking
for the subject. For example:
어떤 것이 더 좋아요? = Which one is better?

이것이 더 좋아요 = This one is better
I can’t stress enough that all of these nuances are all situational.
A particular sentence with ~는/은 can make sense in one situation, but could be awkward
in another situation. That same sentence might be awkward with ~이/가 in one situation,
but appropriate in another situation. In some situations, they could be exactly the same.
Ask a Korean person to distinguish between the following:
내 친구가 밥을 먹었다
내 친구는 밥을 먹었다
They will tell you that – depending on the situation – they could be exactly the same. It
entirely depends on the nuance that the speaker is trying to make.
Before we finish, I would like to organize everything that we’ve done and try to describe
the usages of ~는/은 and ~이/가 very quickly. Notice that I say “try.” It is almost
impossible to do this in any form, let alone in just a few sentences. Korean people
literally write their doctoral theses on this topic. Nonetheless, here we go:

~는/은:
1) To denote a subject of a sentence. For example:
나는 밥을 먹었다 = I ate rice
내 친구는 밥을 먹었다 = My friend ate rice
나는 그녀를 좋아해 = I like her
This may or may not have an overlapped meaning with the following purposes:
2) To compare something. For example:

이 산은 높다 = This mountain is high (but maybe another mountain is low)
사과는 빨갛다. 바나나는 노랗다 = Apples are red. Bananas are yellow.
3) To state a general fact. For example:

로키산은 높다 = The Rocky Mountains are high
여름 날씨는 좋다 = Summer weather is good (nice)
다이아몬드는 딱딱하다 = Diamonds are hard
사과는 빨갛다 = Apples are red
~이/가:
1) To denote a subject of a sentence. For example:
This may or may not have an overlapped meaning with the following purposes:
2) To indicate something based on a recent experience/observation. For example:

날씨가 좋다 = The weather is nice!
비가 와요 = It’s raining!
사과가 파랗다 = The apple is blue
3) To stress that the subject does the action (or is the adjective). For example:
누가 그녀를 좋아해? = Who likes her?
- 내가 그녀를 좋아해 = I like her
내가 반장이야! = I am the class president!
4) Placed on objects in sentences that are predicated by adjectives. For example:

나는 학교가 싫다 = I don’t like school
나는 그것이 좋다 = I like that
5) Placed on the object before 아니다 to indicate what something is not. For
example:
나는 학생이 아니다 = I am not a student
나는 의사가 아니다 = I am not a doctor

6) Placed on the object predicated by “되다” to indicate what something becomes.
For example:
나는 의사가 되고 싶다 = I want to become a doctor
나는 선생님이 되고 싶다 = I want to become a teacher
In Lesson 14 you also learned about creating passive sentences with verbs that act in the
“state” of something. For example:
문이 열려 있다 = The door is open
In that lesson, I told you that you should use ~이/가 on the object that is in the state of
something. I can only assume that the purpose of this is what is described in number 2)
above. That is, “the door being open” is not some general statement because (obviously)
not all doors are open. Rather, the speaker is referring to a particular door in a particular
situation that is open, and thus, requires the use of ~이/가. Adding ~는/은 to “문” (or any
other object in that situation) would only be acceptable in a comparison situation.
One last time before we put this to bed for a while:

Your understanding of this will progress along with your understanding of Korean in
general. Through Lesson 2, 17 and 22 I hope you have a better understanding of this.
However, I know that you will still be confused. Don’t worry, that is normal, and I
promise your understanding will evolve as you keep progressing with your Korean.
In our later lessons, you will continue to be introduced to when it is more appropriate to
use either ~는/은 or ~이/가. For now, focus on what we have learned so far.

Nouns: Verbs:
초록색 = (the color) green 변경하다 = to change
연두색 = (the color) light green 들르다 = to stop by
분홍색 = (the color) pink 내려오다 = to come down
갈색 = (the color) brown 내려가다 = to go down
회색 = (the color) gray 드러내다 = to reveal, to show
보라색 = (the color) purple 발표하다 = to announce
적색 = (the color) red
셔츠 = shirt Adjectives:
눈 = snow 푸르다 = to be sea blue
눈보라 = blizzard, snow storm 노랗다 = to be yellow
뉴스 = news 빨갛다 = to be red
전쟁 = war 하얗다 = to be white
작품 = a piece of work 까맣다 = to be black
날짜 = date 파랗다 = to be blue
그릇 = bowl 섬세하다 = to be delicate
등 = one’s back 이렇다 = to be like this
손등 = back of hand 그렇다 = to be like that
손톱 = fingernail 저렇다 = to be like that
독자 = readers
부부 = couple/married couple
대부분 = most
Passive Verbs: 송이 = counter for a bunch of bananas or single flower
드러나다 = to be revealed, to be shown 종류 = counter for a “type of thing”
가지 = counter for a “type of thing”
Introduction
In this lesson, you will learn how to use colors in Korean by applying the ㅎ irregular. In
addition, you will learn about the words 이렇다, 그렇다 and 저렇다 and how the ㅎ
irregular can be applied to those words. Let’s get started.
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. For example:
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) to allow

them to describe an upcoming noun, we can add ~ㄴ/은, just like it is done with other
adjectives. However, in some words (mostly colors) the ㅎ gets dropped and ㄴ gets
added directly to the word stem. For example:
Word Word + ~ㄴ/은 Word + noun Translation

노랗다 = yellow 노란 노란 공 Yellow ball
빨갛다 = red 빨간 빨간 공 Red ball
하얗다 = white 하얀 하얀 공 White ball
까맣다 = black 까만 까만 공 Black ball
파랗다 = blue 파란 파란 공 Blue ball
You can use those color words to describe objects in sentences where appropriate. For
example:
저 노란 집이 예뻐요 = That yellow house is pretty

빨간 사과는 가장 맛있어요 = Red apples are the most delicious
그녀는 빨간 셔츠를 입고 있다 = She is wearing a red shirt
나는 하얀 차를 사고 싶어 = I want to buy a white car
저는 보통 까만 양복을 입어요 = I usually wear black suits
파란 불이 제일 뜨거워요 = The blue flame is the hottest
If you want to use these words as nouns (as in, “the color white” or “the color red”), you
can add “색” after the adjective form of the color (색 means ‘color’):
노란색 = the color yellow

빨간색 = the color red
하얀색 = the color white
까만색 = the color black
파란색 = the color blue
Though these words are nouns, they are often placed before another noun to describe it.
For example:
저 노란색 집이 예뻐요 = That yellow (colored) house is pretty

그녀는 빨간색 셔츠를 입고 있다 = She is wearing a red (colored) shirt
나는 하얀색 차를 사고 싶어 = I want to buy a white (colored) car
저는 보통 까만색 양복을 입어요 = I usually wear black (colored) suits
파란색 불이 제일 뜨거워요 = The blue (colored) flame is the hottest
Here, each of these “color” nouns is describing an upcoming noun without being an
adjective.

This is a good time to teach you about another usage of the particle “~의”. “~의” can be
attached to words that commonly describe nouns (like adjectives) but are inherently not
adjectives. What I mean by this is that you will often find words that are always (or very
commonly) placed before nouns to describe them, but are technically classified as
adverbs or nouns (and hence, don’t end with “~다” like a typical adjective). It is
acceptable to attach the particle “~의” to these adjective-like adverbs or nouns when they
describe an upcoming noun. The meaning is the same when using “~의” or not using it,
but in speech it is more common to not use it.
For example, all of the above could be written as:
저 노란색의 집이 예뻐요 = That yellow (colored) house is pretty

그녀는 빨간색의 셔츠를 입고 있다 = She is wearing a red (colored) shirt
나는 하얀색의 차를 사고 싶어 = I want to buy a white (colored) car
저는 보통 까만색의 양복을 입어요 = I usually wear black (colored) suits
파란색의 불이 제일 뜨거워요 = The blue (colored) flame is the hottest
Although acceptable and understandable, it would be slightly more natural to not use ~의
with these color words. In other situations with other (non-color) words, you will more
commonly see ~의 attached to a noun or adverb being used to describe a noun.
For example, a common word that ~의 is attached to is “대부분,” which translates to

“most.” Just like in English 대부분 is usually placed immediately before a noun to say
“most (noun).” For example:
대부분 사람들… = Most people…

대부분 부부들… = Most couples…
대부분 독자들… = Most readers…
In each case, it is also possible to attach ~의. For example:
대부분의 사람들… = Most people…

대부분의 부부들… = Most couples…
대부분의 독자들… = Most readers…
These constructions can now be used in sentences where appropriate. For example:
대부분의 사람들은 아침밥을 먹지 않아요 = Most people don’t eat breakfast (rice breakfast)
대부분 사람들은 아침밥을 먹지 않아요 = Most people don’t eat breakfast (rice breakfast)
대부분의 부부들은 같은 침대에서 자요 = Most couples sleep in the same bed

대부분 부부들은 같은 침대에서 자요 = Most couples sleep in the same bed

대부분의 독자들은 그 작품을 안 좋아해요 = Most readers don’t like that work
대부분 독자들은 그 작품을 안 좋아해요 = Most readers don’t like that work
Using ~의 here is in effect the same reason why we can attach ~의 to counters when
placed before a noun (as you learned in Lesson 10). To jog your memory, in that lesson I
said it was acceptable to place a counter before a noun you are counting followed by the
use of “~의.” For example:
나는 네 개의 펜을 샀어 = I bought four pens

나는 두 개의 햄버거를 먹었어 = I ate two hamburgers
나는 어제 다섯 명의 친구를 만났어 = I met five friends yesterday
The number-counter pairs in the above sentences are effectively describing the upcoming
noun. Of course, the number-counter pairs are not adjectives, so ~의 can be used.
I dig deeper into the use of “의” and specifically how it relates to “적” (which was
introduced in Lesson 16) later in the lesson. I want you to be aware of this usage of ~의
and how it can be attached to adverbs and nouns when describing an upcoming noun.
However, the main purpose of this lesson is to talk about color words and the ㅎ irregular,
so I will continue with that now.
Often, the most common way to describe a color is to use a word that only exists as a
noun and does not have an adjective form. For example, look at the following:
초록색 = (the color) green

연두색 = (the color) light green
보라색 = (the color) purple
분홍색 = (the color) pink
갈색 = (the color) brown
회색 = (the color) grey
The above are all color words, but they do not have a respective adjective form (like
빨갛다 and 빨간색). In order to use these words to describe the color of something, they
can be placed immediately before a noun (naturally) without ~의 and (slightly
unnaturally) with 의 just as described earlier. For example:
저는 초록색(의) 펜으로 쓰고 싶어요 = I want to write this with a green pen

연두색(의) 바지를 샀어요 = I bought green pants
대부분(의) 여자들은 분홍색(의) 가방을 골랐어요 = Most girls chose the pink bag
남자 친구가 보라색(의) 꽃 한 송이를 샀어요 = My boyfriend bought one purple flower
When adding “~아/어” (or any of its derivatives) to color words where the stem ends in
‘ㅎ,’ an irregular conjugation applies. For now, the only situation you know where you
would add ~아/어 (or a derivative like ~았/었) is when conjugating using the honorifics

introduced in Lesson 6. Note that there are other times when you would have to add
~아/어 to words, you just haven’t learned about them yet.
When adding ~아/어 to these words, the ㅎ is dropped and the final vowel changes to
either ㅐ or ㅒ. If the final vowel is ㅏ or ㅓ, it changes to ㅐ, and if the final vowel is ㅑ,
it changes to ㅒ. For example:
Word Word + ~아/어 Word + ~았/었어

노랗다 노래 노랬어
빨갛다 빨개 빨갰어
하얗다 하얘 하얬어
까맣다 까매 까맸어
파랗다 파래 파랬어
Here are some of these used in sentences:

불이 노래요 = The light is yellow
얼굴이 왜 빨개요? = Why is your face red?
유럽 사람의 피부는 하얘요 = European people’s skin is white
그 여자의 머리가 까매요 = That girl’s hair is black
저 남자의 눈이 진짜 파래요 = That man’s eyes are really blue
In each case, it would also be acceptable to use the noun form of each of the words above
and conjugate the sentence with 이다. For example:
불이 노란색이에요 = The light is (the color) yellow

얼굴이 왜 빨간색이에요? = Why is your face (the color) red
유럽 사람의 피부는 하얀색이에요 = European people’s skin is (the color white)
그 여자의 머리가 까만색이에요 = That girl’s hair is (the color) black
저 남자의 눈이 진짜 파란색이에요 = That man’s eyes are really (the color) blue
A more advanced Korean speaker (or a Korean person) could argue that the two sets of
sentences are not completely identical. Their meanings and translations could be exactly
the same, but they could have a slightly different nuance. For example, “얼굴이 왜
빨개요?” would be more about a face being red as a result of it blushing, whereas
“얼굴이 왜 빨간색이에요?” would be more about a face that is actually red from
something like paint. This nuance is very subtle and not something you need to worry
about as a beginner. Even as an advanced learner, I find it very hard to articulate this
difference into words. In a way, I find the difference between the two similar to “why is
your face red?” and “why is your face the color red?”
---------------------

So far, you have seen how ~ㄴ/은 and ~아/어 cause the ㅎ irregulars to change. Since the
beginning of this course, you have also learned the following additions that could
potentially cause a change to a word stem:
~ㅂ/습니다 (Lesson 6)
~ㄹ/을 (Lesson 9)
~니 and ~나 (Lesson 21)
To this point, you have seen how these additions can cause changes to irregulars
introduced in Lesson 7. Because this is your first time learning about the ㅎ irregular, we
should quickly discuss the changes that occur as a result of adding these to ㅎ irregular
words:
‐ Adding ~ㅂ/습니다 does not cause a change to ㅎ irregular words. ~습니다 is

added directly to the stem. For example:
노랗다 + ~ㅂ/습니다 = 노랗습니다
‐ Adding ~ㄹ/을 causes a change to ㅎ irregular words. The ㅎ is removed, and

~ㄹ is added to the stem. For this addition, the ㅎ irregular and ㄹ irregular
follow the same rule. For example:
살다 + ~ㄹ/을 = 살
노랗다 + ~ㄹ/을 = 노랄
‐ Adding ~니 causes a change to ㅎ irregular words. The ㅎ is removed, and ~니 is

added after the stem. For this addition, the ㅎ irregular and ㄹ irregular follow the
same rule. For example:
살다 + ~니 = 사니
노랗다 + ~니 = 노라니
The table below shows all of the additions you have learned so far that can cause a
change to a word stem. This table shows how these additions affect various words,
including words that follow the ㅎ irregular. Examples where irregulars apply are in bold.
Word (translation) + ~ㄴ/은 ~ㅂ/습니다 ~아/어 ~ㄹ/을 ~니

짓다 (to build) 지은 짓습니다 지어 지을 짓니
걷다 (to walk) 걸은 걷습니다 걸어 걸을 걷니
쉽다 (to be easy) 쉬운 쉽습니다 쉬워 쉬울 쉽니
돕다 (to help) 도운 돕습니다 도와 도울 돕니
잠그다 (to lock) 잠근 잠급니다 잠가 잠글 잠그니
다르다 (to be different) 다른 다릅니다 달라 다를 다르니
살다 (to live) 산 삽니다 살아 살 사니
노랗다 (to be yellow) 노란 노랗습니다 노래 노랄 노라니

You will learn more additions in later lessons. In those lessons, you will learn how each
addition affects each irregular – including the ㅎ irregular.
The words 이렇다, 그렇다 and 저렇다 are not colors, but they also follow the ㅎ
irregular. I will talk about those in the section below.
이렇다/그렇다/저렇다
이렇다, 그렇다 and 저렇다 are adjectives. There are all very similar – the difference
being the difference between 이, 그 and 저. Remember the difference between these?
- 이 means “this”
- 그 means “that” when 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 important and common in Korean, so let’s 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 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 ask a “why” question, they often stress “why” by using 이렇게.

Also notice the usage of “일” in the sentence above. Although the best translation of the
word “일” is “work” (in noun form), it is very common for Korean people to use “일” to
represent some sort of task or thing that somebody has to do (regardless of if we would
call it “work” in English). I am reluctant to show you the most common example of this
being used because you haven’t learned the grammar within it yet. Nonetheless, you will
often see “저는 할 일이 있어요” which translates to “I have something to do.” As of
now, you haven’t learned how “할” is being used, but try to focus on the usage of “일” in
this sentence. The sentence is essentially saying “I have a task that I will do.” The
sentence above could also be written as “이것은 왜 이렇게 어려워요.”
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 운동하고 싶어요 = I want to exercise like that
저렇다
저렇다 can be used the same way as 이렇다 and 그렇다; as 저런 and 저렇게. All you
need to do is to keep in mind the differences between 이, 그 and 저.
As an adjective: 저런
저는 저런 여자를 좋아하지 않아요 = I don’t like that kind of girl
저는 저런 차를 사고 싶어요 = I want to buy that type of car
As an adverb: 저렇게
아빠는 왜 저렇게 말하고 있어요? = Why is dad talking like that?
저 사람이 왜 저렇게 걸어요? = Why is that person walking like that?
Just like our color words presented earlier in this lesson, when ~아/어 (or a derivative) is
added to 이렇다, 그렇다 or 저렇다, an irregular conjugation occurs. Let’s look at this
next.

이렇다, 그렇다 and 저렇다 As Predicating Words
이렇다, 그렇다 and 저렇다 can also be used as the predicating word (i.e. the end) of a
sentence. These are usually only seen in relatively simple sentences asking or indicating
if something is “like this/like that.” For example:
이 학교도 그렇지 않습니까? = Is this school not like that as well?

네, 그렇습니다 = Yes, that is correct (that is the way it is)
The most common way that you will see any of these words being used, especially for a
beginner, is in the following form:
왜 이래?
왜 그래?
왜 저래?
Notice that the same ㅎ irregular applies to the words above. That is, when adding ~아/어
(or one of its derivatives), the ㅎ is dropped and the ㅓ changes to ㅐ.
In each case, the speaker is asking “Why are you like this/that?” This is very common in
Korean conversation, as it essentially is like saying “what’s wrong?” or “what’s the
matter” or “what the **** are you doing?”
그렇다 specifically is also commonly used by people to express their content/agreement

with some sort of statement or situation. For example:
Person 1: 내일 공원에 같이 가고 싶어요? = Do you want to go to the park together tomorrow?

Person 2: 그래요. 같이 가요 = Sure (like that is fine). Let’s go together.
Person 1: 제가 지금 갈 거예요 = I’m going to go now

Person 2: 그래요! = Sure (like that is fine)
Person 1: 저는 내일 회사에 못 와요 = Tomorrow, I can’t come to work

Person 2: 그래요! 월요일에 봐요! = Sure (like that is fine). See you on Monday!
In this same respect, it is often used as a question to express one’s “disbelief” or “shock.”
In reality, the speaker isn’t actually “shocked” or “in disbelief” but is merely showing
his/her interest in the conversation. This would be akin to using the word “Really?!” in
English. For example:
Person 1: 저는 지난 주에 캐나다에 있었어요 = I was in Canada last week

Person 2: 그래요? 어디에 갔어요? = Really!? Where did you go?
Person 1: 나는 보통 고기를 안 먹어 = I usually don’t eat meat

Person 2: 그래? 왜 안 먹어? = Really? Why don’t you eat it?

Person 1: 이 물이 맛이 없어 = This water doesn’t taste good
Person 2: 그래? = Really?
Many other grammatical principles can be added to 이렇다, 그렇다 and 저렇다 but
these haven’t been introduced yet.
Specifically, you will find that many grammatical principles can attach to 그렇다 to have
their respective meaning combined with the meaning of 그렇다. These will all be
introduced in future lessons (where the grammatical principle is introduced), but here is a
quick taste of what I am referring to. I suggest browsing through this list just to get an
idea of:
a) How versatile 그렇다 is

b) The general meaning of 그렇다
c) How this meaning can be applied to many other grammatical principles.
This list is by no means exhaustive, but rather a small taste of some of the concepts that
you will be learning in the next 100 lessons or so.
그렇다 + ㅁ/음 (Introduced in Lesson 29)

그럼 = “Yes, like that.”
그렇다 + ~ㄴ/은지 (Introduced in Lesson 30)

왜 그런지 몰라요 = “I don’t know why it is like that”
그렇다 + ~ㄹ/을 것 같다 (Introduced in Lesson 35)

그럴 것 같아요 = “It is probably like that”
그렇다 + ~아/어서 (Introduced Lesson 37)

그래서 = “It is like that, so…” (Therefore)
그렇다 + ~기 때문에 (Introduced in Lesson 38)

그렇기 때문에 = “It is like that, so…” (Therefore)
그렇다 + ~(으)면 (Introduced in Lesson 43)

그러면 = “If it is like that…”
그렇다 + ~지만 (Introduced in Lesson 47)

그렇지만 = “Even though it is like that”
그렇다 + ~았/었으면 좋겠다 (Introduced in Lesson 61)

그랬으면 좋겠다 = “It would be nice if it is like that”

그렇다 + ~ㄹ/을까? (Introduced in Lesson 63)
그럴까? = “Do you think it is like that?”
그렇다 + ~ㄴ/은데 (Introduced in Lesson 76 and 77)

그런데 = “It is like that… so…”
그렇다 + ~구나 (Introduced in Lesson 82)

그렇구나 = “Oh! It is like that”
그렇다 + ~네(요) (Introduced in Lesson 83)

그러네 = “Oh! It is like that”
그렇다 + ~지/죠 (Introduced in Lesson 93)

그렇죠 = Sure, yep, it is like that
At this point, I hope you can understand how 이렇다, 그렇다 and 저렇다 can be used,
and their general meanings. In addition, I hope you can understand how color words can
be used in sentences. Just below, I will continue the discussion of the use of ~의 and how
it is used on words where ~적 is commonly attached.
I have had some people ask me about the difference between using “의” on a word to
describe a noun and using “적” on a word to describe a noun. The grammar below is a
little bit advanced, but this is the lesson that it belongs in (as I am already discussing the
purpose of “~의” attached to nouns or adverbs to describe an upcoming noun). It might
be good to glimpse over this, and then come back to it later when you have a better
understanding.
As you will recall from Lesson 16, “적” can be added to words to change them into a
type of adjective as well. As I mentioned in Lesson 16, the addition of “적” to a noun
causes the word to change a little bit. It’s hard to say exactly how the word changes,
because it is a little bit different for every word. Examples that are given in the lesson are:
경제 = economy/economics 충동 = impulse/shock
경제적 = economical 충동적 = impulsive
역사 = history 문화 = culture
역사적 = historical 문화적 = cultural
과학 = science 개인 = individual/personal
과학적 = scientific 개인적 = individual

Some other examples that you might want to jot down, but not memorize at this point
because they are quite advanced:
열정 = passion 획일 = standardization
열정적 = passionate 획일적 = standardized
체계 = system 세계 = world
체계적 = systematic 세계적 = global
Before I start, I want to first mention that the “의” that we are talking about here is not
the possessive particle that is discussed in Lesson 3. Rather, it is a particle that is added to
a word that is inherently not an adjective, but allows it to describe an upcoming noun
(like an adjective).
Most of the time, adding “적” literally changes the translation of the word. As you can
see in the list above, the word changes when “적” is added. For example, from “passion”
to “passionate”. However, when just “의” is added to the word, the translation would not
change – and using “noun+의” only makes sense if that word (the original word) can
actually act as an adjective (without being an adjective) to begin with.
The easiest examples to start with are ones that work with “적” but not with “의”. For
example: 열정 means “passion.” I can say things like:
과학에 대한 학생의 열정은 놀라워요 = The student’s passion for science is surprising
“적” can be added to mean “passionate”. For example:

그는 열정적인 사람이다 = He is a passionate man
However, simply adding “의” to the noun (열정) does not change it from “passion” to
“passionate”. The meaning still stays as “passion”. Using this in a sentence would yield:
그는 열정의 사람이다 = He is a passion man – which doesn’t make sense
In the same way “과학” means “science”

과학적 means “scientific”
과학의 still means “science”
I can use “과학적” to describe a noun that would be natural being described by
“scientific”. For example:
과학적인 증거 = scientific proof

However, “과학의 증거” literally translates to “science proof” which doesn’t sound right.

Now, just like everything in life, there are some exceptions. Specifically, the word
“개인” (without the use of “적” or “의”) actually means personal. Therefore, just like
how the word “대부분(의)” (most) isn’t actually an adjective but feels like an adjective,
“개인의” can be placed before a noun to describe it.
“개인적” also works, as it also means “personal.”
My advice is to learn words with “적” as separate words. Don’t try to think of words with
“적” as a noun followed by a grammatical principle, but try to think of them as their own
words with their own translation. From what I can see – there are some words where the
“-적” version of the word is the same as the non-적 version of the word. In these cases, it
appears that both “의” and “적” can be used.

Nouns: Verbs:
설탕 = sugar 날다 = to fly
경찰관 = policeman 걷히다 = to clear up (in weather)
경찰서 = police station 구경하다 = to sight see
구름 = cloud 뒤처지다 = to fall behind
경쟁 = competition 앞지르다 = to pass, to overtake
경쟁자 = competitors 감독하다 = to supervise
피 = blood 느끼다 = to feel
구두 = shoes, boots 치우다 = to remove, to clear away
목욕 = bath 지우다 = to wipe off, to erase
번호 = number 두다 = to put, to set, to place something
전화번호 = phone number
열쇠 = key Adverbs and Other Words:
수박 = watermelon 전 = before/ago
과자 = candy, cookies, snacks 직전 = just before
양복 = suit 후 = after/later
직후에 = right after
Adjectives: 이래 = since
달다 = to be sweet 잠시 = a moment
깊다 = to be deep 잠깐 = a short time
조용하다 = to be quiet 이내 = within
뜨겁다 = to be hot
차갑다 = to be cold
친절하다 = to be nice, to be kind
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. Let’s get started.
Before/Ago (전)
The word ‘전’ translates to ‘before’ or ‘ago’ depending on where it is used. 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.”

For example:
2 초 전에 = 2 seconds ago
5 분 전에 = 5 minutes ago
열 시간 전에 = 10 hours ago*
4 일 전에 = 4 days ago
3 주 전에 = 3 weeks ago
2 년 전에 = 2 years ago
*I typically write the word instead of the numeral when referring to an hour. To see why,
check out Lesson 10 and 11.
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 2 주 전에 남동생을 만났어요 = I met my brother 2 weeks ago

구름은 5 분 전에 걷혔어요 = The clouds cleared up 5 minutes ago
When ‘전’ is placed after a verb, it translates to “before.” When you want to use 전 like
this, you must add ~기 to the verb stem of the preceding verb. For example:
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. Adding ~기 to the stem of a
verb is a topic I cover in detail in Lesson 29.
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 state 기 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.

You are now ready to create two-clause sentences. Up to this point we have dealt with
sentences having only one clause, meaning one subject, one object, and one predicating
verb or adjective. To illustrate, in the following sentences subjects are colored red,
objects are blue, and predicating verbs or adjectives are green. (Adverbs and other parts
of the sentences are not colored):
나는 너를 사랑해 = I love you

아버지는 언제 왔어요? = When did dad come?
저와 엄마는 밥을 같이 먹었어요 = Mom and I ate (rice)
그 여자들은 예뻐요 = Those girls are pretty
저는 똑똑한 여자들만 좋아해요 = I only like smart girls
However, there are grammatical principles (in English and Korean) that allow us to create
more than one clause. Each clause is able to have a subject, object and also a
verb/adjective. A sentence with more than one clause could therefore have more than one
subject, object or verb/adjective.
For example:
When I go home, my mom will be waiting for me

When my mother ate a hotdog, I ate a hamburger
Before I eat, I want to wash my hands
After I saw the movie, my friend called me
I don’t want to meet him because he isn’t nice
The grammatical rules of a Korean sentence with two (or more) clauses are similar those
with only one clause. However, when a sentence has two (or more) clauses, the particle
~는/은 cannot be placed on the subject of both clauses. Instead, it can only be attached to
the subject of the main clause of the sentence.
The main clause of a sentence is the clause that is expressing the main idea of the
sentence. One way to find the non-main clause (referred to as the “sub-clause” for the
remainder of this lesson) is by looking for the part of the sentence that tells us
when/where/why/how the main idea is happening. For example:
When I go home, my mom will be waiting for me Main clause: My mom will be waiting for me
When will this happen? When I go home
When my mother ate a hotdog, I ate a hamburger Main clause: I ate a hamburger
When did this happen? When my mother ate a hotdog
Before I eat, I want to wash my hands Main clause: I want to wash my hands
When did this happen? Before I eat
After I saw the movie, my friend called me Main clause: My friend called me
When did this happen? After I saw the movie
I don’t want to meet him because he isn’t nice Main clause: I don’t want to meet him
Why does this happen? Because he isn’t nice

Notice that if you eliminate the sub-clause, the main clause still makes sense. However, if
you eliminate the main clause, you are left with an incomplete sentence.
Let’s go back to ~기 전에 and see how these rules apply. In the following sentence:
“Before my mom came, I ate rice”
Which clause is the main clause? Which clause is the sub-clause?

“I ate rice” is the main idea of the sentence. It is a perfect sentence by itself.
“Before my mom came” describes when the action in the main clause takes place. It is
also an incomplete sentence by itself.
Therefore, this sentence in Korean can be written as:

엄마가 오기 전에 나는 밥을 먹었어 = Before my mom came, I ate (rice)
I am going to talk about how the particles ~는/은 and ~이/가 can be used in these
sentences. I’m going to separate this discussion with a line before and after it in an
attempt to organize it a little bit.
Notice that ~는/은 is attached to the subject of the main clause of the sentence. The
reverse would be incorrect. For example:
엄마는 오기 전에 내가 밥을 먹었어 – incorrect
Placing ~는/은 on both subjects would also be incorrect:

엄마는 오기 전에 나는 밥을 먹었어 – incorrect
However, placing ~이/가 on both subjects is acceptable. That is, it is not necessary to
place ~는/은 on the subject of the main clause of the sentence, just like how (as you
learned in Lesson 2) it is not necessary to place ~은/는 on the subject of the following
sentence:
고양이가 집 뒤에 있어요 = The cat is behind the house
Placing ~는/은 on the subject of the main clause of a multi-clause sentence has the same
effect of adding ~는/은 to the subject of a sentence with one clause. That is, it could
indicate that something is being compared with something else. It could also have the
exact same meaning as a sentence with “~이/가” used as the subject particles. In both
situations, the context is the only thing that can determine if there is a subtle difference in
meaning. For example:
친구가 오기 전에 저는 은행에 갔어요 = Before my friend came, I went to the bank, or

친구가 오기 전에 제가 은행에 갔어요 = Before my friend came, I went to the bank

There could be a difference between these two sentences. If the context allowed for it, the
feeling is that “I” is being compared to another noun. For example, “before your friend
came, (maybe) your girlfriend stayed home but you (I) went to the bank.”
Sometimes, the use of “~는/은” as the subject particle creates a different translation in
English, although the end result of the sentence is the same. Notice the difference
between the following possible English translations:
친구가 오기 전에 저는 은행에 갔어요 = Before my friend came, I was the person who
went to the bank (compared to my girlfriend who stayed home)
친구가 오기 전에 제가 은행에 갔어요 = Before my friend came, I went to the bank
If you are unsure of this distinction between ~은/는 and ~이/가 I encourage you to re-
read the distinction made in Lesson 2 and Lesson 22.
Almost all of the time, when you are making the sub-clause to go before “~전에,” ~이/가
will be attached to the subject of that clause. The only time this isn’t the case is when the
subject of both clauses is the same. In these cases, it is acceptable to place “~는/은” on
the subject of the first clause, and eliminate it from the second clause. For example:
나는 오기 전에 밥을 먹었어 = Before I came, I ate, Instead of:

내가 오기 전에 나는 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 before ~기
전에. Instead, the tense is determined by the conjugation of 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
Many more examples of ~기 전에:

한국에 오기 전에 저는 한국어를 배웠어요 = I learned Korean before I came to Korea
수박을 먹기 전에 사과를 먹었어요 = Before I ate an apple I ate watermelon
양복을 입기 전에 목욕을 했어요 = Before putting on the suit I took a bath
구름이 걷히기 전에 비가 왔어요 = Before the clouds cleared it rained
집에서 나가기 전에 방을 치웠어요 = Before leaving the house I cleaned my room
제가 아내와 결혼하기 전에 우리는 2 년 동안 사귀었어요 = Before marrying my wife,
we went out/dated for 2 years

After/Later (후)
The word ‘후’ translates to ‘after’ or ‘later/from now’ depending on how it is used in
Korean sentences. 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:” For
example:
2 초 후에 = 2 seconds later/from now

5 분 후에 = 5 minutes later/from now
열 시간 후에 = 10 hours later/from now*
4 일 후에 = 4 days later/from now
3 주 후에 = 3 weeks later/from now
2 년 후에 = 2 years later/from now
*I typically write the word instead of the numeral when referring to an hour. To see why,
check out Lesson 10 and 11.
You can use these sentences intuitively just like sentences with “전.” For example:
두 시간 후에 갈 거예요 = I will go two hours from now

수업은 2 분 후에 끝날 거예요 = 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 a verb to make “~기 전에.” When using “후”
after a verb, you do not add ~기 to the stem of the word. Instead, you must add ~ㄴ/은 to
the stem of the 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. For example:
내가 먹은 후에 = After I eat
내가 간 후에 = After I go
These can now go into sentences like “~기 전에”

숙제가 끝난 후에 나는 집에 갈 거야 = After my homework is finished, I will go home
밥을 먹은 후에 친구를 만났어요 = After I ate I met a friend
과자를 많이 먹은 후에 배가 아팠어요 = After eating a lot of candy, my stomach was sore
구두를 신은 후에 의자에서 일어났어요 = After putting on my boots, I got up from the chair
방을 치운 후에 밖에 나갔어요 = After cleaning up my room, I went outside
It is also possible to substitute the word 다음 (which you learned about in Lesson 11) for
후 to create the same meaning.

For example:
숙제가 끝난 다음에 나는 집에 갈 거예요 = After my homework is finished, I will go home

밥을 먹은 다음에 친구를 만났어요 = After I ate I met a friend
과자를 많이 먹은 다음에 배가 아팠어요 = After eating a lot of candy, my stomach was sore
구두를 신은 다음에 의자에서 일어났어요 = After putting on my boots, I got up from the chair
방을 치운 다음에 밖에 나갔어요 = After cleaning up my room, I went outside
You can see in the vocabulary list that there are also these words:
직전 = just before
직후 = right after
These two can be used just like 전 and 후 respectively – the difference being that the
addition of “직” emphasizes that something was done immediately before or after the
action or indication of time. For example:
아들이 저녁 먹기 직전에 과자를 먹었어요 = Right before having dinner, he (the son) ate candy
경찰관이 오기 직전에 그 사람이 갔어요 = That person left right before the police came
양복을 입은 직후에 밖에 나갔어요 = Right after I put on the suit, I went outside
전화번호를 받은 직후에 잃어버렸어요 = Right after I got his phone number, I lost it
One quick thing. In a lot of the example sentences above, I placed the ~기 전에 or
~ㄴ/은 후에 clauses before the main clause of the sentence. It is important to recognize
something here – what we are essentially doing is creating a unit that gives us an
indication of time. For example:
친구가 오기 전에 저는 은행에 갔어요 = Before my friend came, I went to the bank
“친구가 오기 전에” can just be seen as one unit that can be placed elsewhere in a
sentence, just like other adverbs that give us an indication of time. For example:
저는 (at some time) 은행에 갔어요 =I went to the bank (at some time)
저는 (어제) 은행에 갔어요 = I went to the bank (yesterday)
저는 (친구가 오기 전에) 은행에 갔어요 = I went to the bank (before my friend came)
Therefore, although I often place this indication of time before the clause, it doesn’t
always need to be there, and it is the discretion of the speaker that will decide exactly
where to place it. Being able to create a single unit from a clause like this is a quick
introduction to what you will begin learning in Lesson 26 – where you will be able to
manipulate entire clauses to describe nouns in the middle of sentences.

Since: ~ㄴ/은 이래로
The word “since” in Korean (이래로) can be used in place of “후” in ~ㄴ/은 후에 to
have the meaning of “since I…”:
한국에 온 이래로 한국어를 배우고 있어요

= Since coming to Korea, I have been learning Korean
열심히 공부한 이래로 실력은 빨리 늘었어요

= Since studying hard, my skills have been quickly 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). Instead, it is more common for Korean
people to use ~ㄴ/은 후에 to have the meaning of “since.” For example:
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 quickly increasing
Within/inside (안/이내)
Two other words that you can use in similar situations as 전 and 후 are 안 and 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. For example:
나는 5 년 이내에 외국어 다섯 개를 배우고 싶어 = I want to learn 5 languages within 5 years

나는 5 년 안에 외국어 다섯 개를 배우고 싶어 = I want to learn 5 languages within 5 years
우리는 1 년 이내 결혼할 거예요 = We will get married within one year

우리는 1 년 안에 결혼할 거예요 = We will get married within one year
This was a bit of an easy lesson as well! This lesson and the one before it were pretty
easy - but don't worry - you are almost at Unit 2, and the lessons in that unit will be really
hard!

모든 __ = every ____ Nouns:
모든 것 = everything 젓가락 = chopsticks
어디나 = everywhere 혀 = tongue
언제나 = every time 지갑 = wallet, purse
누구나 = everyone 기숙사 = dorm
주소 = address
뭔가 = something 메뉴 = menu
어딘가 = somewhere 아시아 = Asia
언젠가 = sometime, some day 동남아시아 = south east Asia
누군가 = somebody 눈물 = tears
회의 = meeting, conference
아무 거나 = anything 고향 = hometown
아무 데나 = anywhere 휴일 = holiday
아무 때나 (언제든지) = anytime 아기/애기 = baby, infant
아무나 = anybody
Verbs:
아무 것도 = nothing 산책하다 = to go for a walk
아무 데도 = nowhere 사귀다 = to go out with, to date
아무도 = nobody
Adjectives:
마다 = each 무관심하다 = to be indifferent
모두 = all 심하다 = to be severe, to be extreme
다 = all
데 = place Adverbs and Other Words:
언제든지 = anytime 하루 종일 = all day long
예전 = old days/past
관심이 있다 = to be interested in
이때 = at this moment
Introduction
Once again, the vocabulary list of this lesson is the lesson. While all slightly similar,
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/All
모든
The most common way to say “every _____” is to place the word ‘모든’ before a noun.
모든 looks, sounds, and acts like an adjective, but it can not be used to predicate a clause
or sentence. This means that you won't see the word "모든" at the end of a sentence, just
like in English. For example, you can't say something like:
He is every...
Even though 모든 ends in ~ㄴ (which is the same as all adjectives when placed
immediately before a noun to describe them – 예쁜, 아름다운, 똑똑한), the dictionary
form of 모드다 does not exist.
However, as I mentioned, (like an adjective) “모든” can be placed before a noun. If you
place “모든” before a noun, it has the meaning of “every _____.” For example:
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 젓가락을 잘 쓴다 = All Asian people use chopsticks well

모든 학생들은 하루 종일 잤어 = All students slept all day
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다
Another possible word to use in similar situations is 다. 다 is used as an adverb in
sentences to indicate that “all” of something is done.
One way this is done is to use it in a sentence with an object to indicate that some action
was completed without leaving anything behind. For example:
저는 라면을 다 먹었어요 = I ate all the ramen

저는 숙제를 다 했어요 = I did all of my homework
저는 소설을 다 읽었어요 = I read the whole book – or – I read all the books
저는 월급을 이미 다 썼어요 = I already spent all of my paycheque
In these situations using “모든” and “다” create a slightly different meaning. ‘다’ is more
about doing one action to completion and leaving nothing behind. 모든 is indicating that
the action was performed on all possible nouns after “모든”.

For example, if I say:
저는 라면을 다 먹었어요 = I ate all of the ramen
In this sentence, I am indicating that I have completed the action of “eating ramen” and
nothing was left behind. There is no ramen left in my bowl because I ate it all.
However, in this sentence:

저는 모든 라면을 먹었어요 = I ate every ramen
This sentence is a little bit ambiguous and a little but unnatural because in most situations
you wouldn’t say this. However, bear with me as I use it to explain the difference in
nuance. In this situation, there might have been many different types of ramen at my
house. I would use this sentence to indicate that I ate/tried “every one of them.” It is
ambiguous as to whether or not I finished eating them, which means that there could still
be some left – either in my bowl or in the cupboard.
If you did actually eat every one of them and finished all of the ramen in your house, it
would be more natural to use “저는 라면을 다 먹었어요” because the action was
completed and nothing was left behind.
This is why I provided two translations for this sentence:

저는 소설을 다 읽었어요 = I read the whole book
저는 소설을 다 읽었어요 = I read all the books
Depending on the situation, that sentence could be translated to either of those English
translations. In the first sentence, the action of ‘reading’ was completed on the subject
(one book) without leaving any pages behind within that book. In the second sentence,
the action of ‘reading’ was completed on the subject (more than one book) without
leaving any pages behind in any of those books.
However, by just saying:

저는 모든 소설을 읽었어요
I am more indicating that I have tried reading every book, but there is no indication on if
I have finished reading any of them.
다 can also be used to indicate that all the members/things that represent a subject do
some action (or are some adjective).
For example:
사람들이 다 왔어요 = All the people have come
사람들이 다 죽었어요 = All the people died
부모님은 다 그래요 = All parents are like that
남자들은 다 게을러요 = All men are lazy

학생들은 다 공부하고 있어요 = All of the students are studying
애기들이 다 낮잠 자고 있어요 = All the babies are taking a nap
In these cases, I have noticed that there is effectively no difference between using 다 or
모든. For example, each of these sentences would have the same meaning:
모든 사람들이 왔어요 = All the people have come

모든 사람들이 죽었어요 = All the people died
모든 부모님은 그래요 = All parents are like that
모든 남자들은 게을러요 = All men are lazy
모든 학생들은 공부하고 있어요 = All of the students are studying
모든 애기들이 낮잠을 자고 있어요 = All the babies are taking a nap
The only difference I feel is ‘모든’ is considering the subjects (although groups of people)
almost as unique individuals/things within a group, but ‘다’ is describing the subjects a
groups. At this point, this is not something you need to worry about. Understanding the
precise nuance is more about feeling (which you will develop with time).
The similarities in these usages allow them to be used in the same sentence. For example:
모든 사람들이 다 왔어요 = All the people have come

모든 사람들이 다 죽었어요 = All the people died
모든 부모님은 다 그래요 = All parents are like that
모든 남자들은 다 게을러요 = All men are lazy
모든 학생들은 다 공부하고 있어요 = All of the students are studying
모든 애기들이 다 낮잠 자고 있어요 = All the babies are taking a nap
All of these can also be used in negative sentences, for example:

사람들이 다 안 왔어요 = Not all the people have come
저는 라면을 다 안 먹었어요 = I didn’t eat all of the ramen
저는 숙제를 다 하지 못했어요 = I couldn’t do all of my homework
다 can also be used as a noun. In this form, it is usually placed before 이다 or 아니다 to
indicate that something is (or isn’t) “all.” For example:
그게 다야? = Is that all

이게 다가 아니야 = This isn’t all
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

모두
There is also another word that you should be aware of: “모두,” which has the meaning
of “all.” It can generally be used in the following ways:
As an adverb
In these cases, 모두 essentially has the same meaning as “다.” For example:
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
In this adverb form, 다 can also be placed after 모두 in the same sentence. For example:
선생님들은 모두 다 똑똑해요 = All teachers are smart
In this adverb form, you would not see particles attached to it.
As a (pro)noun
In these cases 모두 typically means “everybody” or “everything.” Particles are usually
attached to it. For example:
모두가 이해했어요 = Everybody understood

모두가 산책하고 있어요 = Everybody is going for a walk
Here’s the part that is a bit confusing. Often times when the sentence structure is just
Subject – 모두 – Verb, the ~를 is omitted from 모두. For example:
나는 모두를 이해했어 would be better said as:

나는 모두 이해했어 = I understood everything
and
저는 모두를 먹고 싶어요 would be better said as:
저는 모두 먹고 싶어요 = I want to eat everything
It took me a long time to come to this conclusion, but my explanation as to why this is
done is because in these cases 모두 is acting as an adverb. Therefore, it is not so much
that the ~를 is being omitted, but rather that the 모두 is serving a different function (and
the sentence ends up having the same meaning anyways).
Just like how you would not see ~를 attached to 다 in the following sentences:
나는 다 이해했어 = I understood everything

저는 다 먹고 싶어요 = I want to eat everything

Often times a word that represents a group of people is placed before 모두. In these cases,
~를 is usually attached to 모두. For example:
저는 가족 모두를 사랑해요 = I love all of my family

저는 학생 모두를 가르쳤어요 = I taught all of the students
The same structure works when the group of people is the subject of a sentence. For
example:
학생 모두가 기숙사로 갔어요 = All of the students went to the dorm

가족 모두가 고향에 갔어요 = All of the/my family went to the/our hometown
선생님 모두가 회의에 갔어요 = All of the teachers went to a meeting
Other particles can be attached to it as well, for example:

저는 선물을 모두에게 주었어요 = I gave a present to everybody
Everywhere/Every time/Everyone
~나 can be added to the words ‘where,’ ‘when,’ and ‘who’ to mean ‘everywhere,’ ‘every
time,’ and ‘everyone.’ Particles are usually not added to these words. For example:
어디 = where
어디나 = everywhere
나는 한국에서 어디나 여행하고 싶어 = I (would) want to travel everywhere in Korea

우리는 동남아시아에 어디나 갈 거예요 = We will go everywhere in South East Asia
밥은 어디나 맛이 똑같아요 = Rice tastes the same everywhere
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
언제 = when
언제나 = every time/always
그녀는 언제나 늦게 와요 = She comes late every time

저는 언제나 똑같은 메뉴를 먹어요 = I always eat the same menu
저는 언제나 똑같은 시간에 일어나요 = I always wake up at the same time
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
누구 = who
누구나 = everyone
누구나 그 여자를 알아요 = Everybody knows that girl

누구나 우리 애기를 보고 싶어요 = Everybody wants to see our baby
누구나 한국을 좋아해요 = Everybody likes Korea
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Something/Somewhere/Sometime/Somebody
~ㄴ가 can be added to the words ‘what,’ ‘where,’ ‘when,’ and ‘who’ to mean
‘something,’ ‘somewhere,’ ‘sometime,’ and ‘somebody.’ For example:
뭐 = what
뭔가 = something
The subject and object particles in general can be omitted from any sentence (although I
don’t suggest omitting particles until you have a very deep understanding of Korean), but
they seem to be more commonly omitted from these types of sentences. Many examples:
나는 방금 뭔가(를) 봤어 = I just saw something a minute ago

등에 뭔가(가) 있어요 = There is something on your back
등에 뭔가(가) 있나요? = Is there something on my back?
저는 팔에 뭔가(가) 느껴져요 = I feel something on my arm
저는 뭔가(를) 먹고 싶어요 = I want to eat something
저는 뭔가(를) 말하고 싶어요 = I want to say something
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
어디 = where
어딘가 = somewhere
By the nature of the word “somewhere,” you are most likely to use the particles ~에 or
~에서 in these sentences. It would be acceptable to omit the particle ~에 from 어딘가
but less acceptable to omit the particle ~에서. Many examples:
열쇠를 어딘가(에) 뒀어 = I left my keys somewhere

전쟁이 아시아 어딘가에서 났어요 = A war broke out somewhere in Asia
피가 어딘가에서 나오고 있어요 = Blood is coming out of somewhere
저는 그릇을 어딘가(에) 두었어요 = I put the bowl in some place
선생님들이 회의를 어딘가에서 하고 있어요 = The teachers are having a meeting somewhere
저는 휴일에 어딘가에 가고 싶어요 = I want to go somewhere on the holiday
저는 어딘가에서 커피를 마시고 싶어요 = I want to drink a cup of coffee somewhere
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
언제 = when
언젠가 = sometime/someday
~에 is typically not attached to 언젠가. Many examples:
그 날이 언젠가 올 거예요 = The day will come sometime

구름이 언젠가 걷힐 거예요 = The clouds will clear eventually/sometime
저는 언젠가 경찰관이 되고 싶어요 = I want to become a police officer someday
저는 언젠가 중국어도 배우고 싶어요 = I want to learn Chinese as well some day
저는 언젠가 고향에 돌아가고 싶어요 = I want to return (go back) to my hometown some day

When I first learned about this word, I wondered if particles like ~까지 or ~부터 could
be attached to it because 언젠가 represents a place. I kept bugging Korean people to try
to make me example sentences of these particles attached to 언젠가 and they always
came up with nothing. I realized that in both English and Korean, it isn’t logical to make
sentences with “until someday” or “from someday.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
누구 = who
누군가 = somebody
누군가(는) 너를 찾고 있어 = Somebody is looking for you

저는 누군가의 열쇠를 찾았어요 = I found somebody’s keys
경찰관들은 누군가와 얘기하고 있어요 = The policemen are talking with somebody
누군가가 지갑을 잃어버렸어요 = Somebody lost their wallet
누군가가 그 파일을 저에게 보냈어요 = Somebody sent that file to me
어느
In Lesson 22, you learned about using 어느 in sentences. Another usage of 어느 is to
reference a vague place or point in time. I am including this explanation here because of
the similarities with the sentences above.
You would often see this in stories, poetry or news reports where the specific location
does not need to be given. This would be similar to something like this at a start of a story:
A long time ago in a far-away castle, or

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away
In this usage, 어느 is placed before a broad indication of time or place. For example:
어느 날 = some day (an ambiguous day)
어느 밤 = some night (an ambiguous night)
어느 겨울 = some winter (an ambiguous winter)
어느 여름 = some summer (an ambiguous summer)
어느 마을 = some village (an ambiguous village)
어느 시장 = some market (an ambiguous market)
Here, the person speaking/writing this way because he/she does not need to specifically
reference the time. Some example sentences:
어느 겨울 꽃이 다 사라졌다 = Some winter, all the flowers disappeared

어느 마을에서 애기 두 명이 태어났다 = Two babies were born in some village
그 다음 날, 할머니가 어느 시장을 구경하고 있었다 = The next day, the grandmother
was browsing around some market
Again, like I said, you would most likely see these types of sentences used in stories,
often setting up the scenario or something within a book.

It is also possible to use a question word to refer to an ambiguous place, thing or person.
This is most commonly done with the following words:
어디
Person 1: 엄마가 집에 있어? = Is mom at home
Person 2: 아니요. 어디 갔어. = No, she went somewhere
뭐
우리가 이미 뭐 먹었어요 = We already ate something
누구
나는 내일 누구 만날 거야 = Tomorrow I’m going to meet somebody
Using these words like this is quite advanced, and is not something I learned until a few
years of exposure with Korean. What makes these usages even more confusing is that
you can use these words in sentences when you are asking a question. For example:
뭐 먹었어요? Could mean both:

– What did you eat? or
– Did you eat something?
어디 갔어요? Could mean both:

– Where did you go? or
– Did you go somewhere
누구(를) 만났어요? Could mean both:

– Who did you meet? Or
– Did you meet somebody
Distinguishing them, believe it or not, can be done by understanding which word is being
stressed. When using “뭐, 어디 or 누구” as the question word in the sentence, the stress
of the sentence should on the question word itself. For example:
뭐 먹었어요? = What did you eat?
어디 갔어요? = Where did you go?
누구 만났어요? = Who did you meet?
When using “뭐, 어디 or 누구” to refer to an ambiguous thing, place or person, the stress
of the sentence should be on the verb. For example:
뭐 먹었어요? = Did you eat something?
어디 갔어요? = Did you go somewhere?
누구 만났어요? = Did you meet somebody?
As I mentioned, this is quite advanced. You might not be able to notice the difference at
this stage in your learning, but it is good to be aware of as you continue your studies.

아무
Anybody/Nobody
아무 is a pronoun that refers to “any” person. When using it in a sentence, the speaker is
indicating the person he/she is referring to is not a specific “set” person, but could
actually be “anybody.”
It is most commonly used with ~나 attached to it. This particle (when attached to other
nouns as you will learn in Lesson 55) often indicates the same indifference meaning that
“아무” itself has.
When used together, it can almost be seen as one unit that means “anybody.” As ~나 is
actually a particle in itself, when used as the subject or object of a sentence, particles ~는
or ~가 are not usually doubled up on top of ~나. For example:
아무나 그 책을 좋아할 거예요 = Anybody will/would like that book

이렇게 좋은 학교에서는 아무나 공부를 잘 할 거예요 = Anybody can study well at this school
However, particles can be added before ~나 if the word being used has other functions
within a sentence (other than the subject or object). Because 아무 refers to a person in
this case, the most common particles you would see here are particles meaning “to”
(~에게/한테) and “with” (~와/하고). For example:
나는 아무와나 사귀고 싶어 = I want to go out with anybody

저는 이 선물을 아무에게나 주고 싶어요 = I want to give this present to anybody
저는 아무하고나 축구를 하고 싶어요 = I want to play soccer with anybody
When ~도 replaces ~나 in these cases, we get the opposite meaning. 아무도 can be used
as the subject or object of a sentence to mean “nobody.” Just like 아무나, particles are
not usually attached to 아무도 as “~도” is actually the particle being used.
When using 아무도, the sentence must be conjugated in a negative way or end with some
negative word like 없다. This is counter intuitive for English speakers – because it makes
us think we are saying a double negative. For example, the following sentence:
집에 아무도 있어요 looks like it should mean “there is nobody at home.” However, as I
said, a sentence with “아무도” should end in a negative way. Therefore, this is correct:
집에 아무도 없어요 = There is nobody at home/There isn’t anybody at home
Because of the double negative in the Korean version, this creates a confusing translation
for the English version. In the English version, we can usually say either “anybody” with
a negative conjugation, or “nobody” with a positive conjugation.

For example:
저는 아무도 못 봤어요 = I didn’t see anybody/I saw nobody
저는 아무도 만나고 싶지 않아요 = I don’t want to meet anybody/I want to meet nobody
아무도 집에 가지 않았어요 = Nobody went home
아무도 나를 좋아하지 않아 = Nobody likes me
Particles can be added before ~도 if the word being used has other functions within a
sentence (other than the subject or object). Because 아무 refers to a person in this case,
the most common particles you would see here are particles meaning “to” (~에게/한테)
and “with” (~와/하고). For example:
저는 그 말을 아무에게도 안 했어요 = I didn’t say that to anybody/I said that to nobody

저는 아무하고도 얘기하고 싶지 않아요 = I don’t want to talk with anybody/I want to talk with nobody
It is very easy to be confused with these double negatives at first. To make it simple at the
beginning, just tell your brain to use “아무나” when you want to say something that
ends positively, and to use “아무도” when you want to say something that ends
negatively. In theory, 아무나 and 아무도 are the same word in Korean (with different
particles attached). One just happens to be used with positive sentences, and the other
happens to be used in negative sentences.
아무 Used Before Other Nouns

Another function that 아무 has is to be placed before a thing/place/time to describe it.
The most common nouns you will see after 아무 are:
거 = short form of 것, meaning “thing”

데 = meaning “place”
때 = meaning “time”
When ~나 is attached to these nouns, the speaker is indicating that the thing/place/time is
not a specific “thing/place/time,” but could actually be “anything,” “anywhere” or
“anytime.” For example:
저는 아무 거나 먹고 싶어요 = I want to eat anything (I’d eat anything)

아무 때나 좋아요 = Anytime is good
저는 아무 데나 가고 싶어요 = I want to go anywhere (I’d go anywhere)
In the example above, you can see that “데” is used to refer to a place. When the verb
being used requires “~에” to be attached to that place, “~에” is omitted. However, when
the verb being used requires “~에서” to be attached to that place “~에서” should be
added before ~나.

For example, even though the same place is being used in both sentences below, because
of the nature of the verbs 가다 and 먹다, ~에 should be used in one case, and ~에서
should be used in the other.
저는 공원에 가고 싶어요 = I want to go to the park

저는 밥을 공원에서 먹고 싶어요 = I want to eat in the park
The difference between these two sentences is the same as the difference between these
two sentences:
저는 아무 데나 가고 싶어요 = I want to go anywhere

저는 아무 데서나 먹고 싶어요 = I want to eat (at) anywhere
~도 can replace ~나 in these cases to have the meaning of “nothing” or “nowhere.” For
example:
저는 아무 것도 먹고 싶지 않아요 = I don’t want to eat anything/I want to eat nothing

아기는 아무 데도 가지 않았어 = The baby didn’t go anywhere/The baby went nowhere
“아무 때도” means “no time?” This doesn’t make sense. Instead, the word 전혀
(introduced in Lesson 34) should be used.
It is possible to use other nouns after 아무. For example:
저는 아무 버스나 타고 갈 거예요 = I’m going to take any bus and leave

저는 아무 말도 하지 않았어요 = I didn’t say anything/I said nothing
저는 엄마랑 아무 관계도 없어요 = I don’t have any relationship with my mother/I have
no relationship with my mother
However, by far the most common three things to use after 아무 are 거, 데 and 때.
I would love to provide way more examples, but many of the examples I want to make
with 아무 (and the words it can create) use grammatical principles that you haven’t been
introduced to you yet. The two most common grammatical principles that you haven’t
learned yet that would be used in these situations are:
Making a command (introduced in Lesson 40), and

One can/cannot do (Introduced in Lesson 45)
Here are some quick examples using those two principles. The only reason I am showing
you these is because I think it is likely you have learned about these either by looking
ahead or by using some other resource.

Making a command
가방을 아무 데나 두세요 = Put your bag down anywhere
아무 거나 고르세요! = Choose anything!
아무 거나 먹자! = Let’s eat anything!
One can/cannot do
아무나 그것을 할 수 있어요 = Anybody can do that
It also might be helpful to take a peek at Lesson 55 to see how ~나 can be used when not
used in these specific cases of 아무나, 아무 거나, 아무 때나, etc. In theory, I should
have presented these words after I taught you about ~나, but in my opinion the use ~나
as it is used in this lesson is more common (and therefore more important) than the
general use of ~나 introduced later.
Each (마다)
마다 means “each” and is attached directly to the end of a noun:
날마다 = each day

학생마다 = each student
금요일마다 = each/every Friday
30 분마다 = 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,
then 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 10 분마다 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: “나는 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.
Before moving on to Unit 2, try taking our Mini-Test to test your knowledge on what you
learned in Lessons 17 – 25 (it is included next).
We also have a Unit Test, where you can test everything you learned from all of Unit 1.
The thing is, there are listening questions as well, so we suggest that you go to the actual
website and take the test online.

You’ve made it through Lessons 17 – 25! Congratulations! Try writing this Mini-Test
before you move on to the Unit Test.
If you forget something, don’t worry! You can always go back and review what you have
forgotten! Either way, good luck on the test!
(The answers are at the bottom of the page)
1) Choose the incorrect usage of the connecting particle ~고:

a) 저는 아름답고 밥을 먹었어요
b) 그녀는 예쁘고 키가 커요
c) 저는 이것을 하고 갈 거예요
d) 저는 그것을 좋아하고 이것을 싫어해요
2) Which of the following means “I want to drive that car?”

a) 저는 그 차를 원해요
b) 저는 운전하고 싶어요
c) 저는 그 차를 운전했어요
d) 저는 그 차를 운전하고 싶어요

a) 저는 집에 가고 있어요
b) 저는 차를 운전하고 있어요
c) 저는 학교에 서고 있어요
d) 저는 밥을 먹고 있어요

a) 저는 날씨를 추워졌어요
b) 날씨가 추워졌어요
c) 날씨가 더워지고 있어요
d) 저는 더운 날씨가 싫어요
5) Which is the biggest thing:

강아지는 고양이랑 쥐보다 더 커요
a) dog
b) mouse
c) cat
d) lion

6) What are you good at?:
수영을 못해
공부를 잘하지 않아
한국어를 잘해
a) speaking Korean
b) studying
c) swimming
d) nothing
7)Finish the conversation:
- 누구랑 먹었어?
- __________
a) 네, 먹었어
b) 점심을 먹었어
c) 엄마와 먹었어
d) 먹고 싶어
8) Which one does not fit with the rest?
a) 뭐 했어?
b) 무엇을 했어
c) 어떤 것을 했어?
d) 왜 했어?
a) 몇 돈이 있어요?
b) 몇 잔 마셨어요?
c) 여기에 얼마나 자주 와요?
d) 이 탁자는 얼마예요?

10) When will you eat dinner?
엄마가 온 후에 저는 저녁식사를 먹을 거예요
a) Before mom comes
b) After mom comes
c) I’m not going to eat
d) After mom eats
a) 아무도 그렇게 해요
b) 아무도 그렇게 하지 않아요
c) 아무것도 안 먹었어요
d) 아무데도 가지 않았어요
Answers:
1) A
2) D
3) C
4) A
5) A
6) D
7) C
8) D
9) A
10) B
11) A
That’s it for this Unit! Like I said earlier, before moving on to Unit 2, try taking our Unit
1 test, which is online (there are audio files as well, so I couldn’t include it in this PDF).

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HowtoStudyKorean.

PDF file available for download at howtostudykorean.com

The way to say “how are you” in Korean is:

잘 지내세요? = How are you

The way to say “please” in Korean is:

Korean Sentence Structure

Subject – Object – Verb (for example: I hamburger eat), Or

I went to the park

1) There are two ways to say “I” or “me” in Korean:

나, used in informal situations, and

Korean Particles (~는/은 and ~를/을)

The following are the most common particles:

Use 을 when the last letter of the last syllable is a consonant:

2) I like you = I 는 you 를 like

3) I wrote a letter = I 는 letter 을 wrote

4) I opened the door = I 는 door 을 opened

5) My mom will make pasta = My mom 은 pasta 를 will make

1) My girlfriend is pretty: My girlfriend 은 is pretty

2) The movie was scary = The movie 는 was scary

As mentioned earlier, 이다 can be conjugated. In that way, 이다 is similar to verbs and

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

So, 이다 is not used in these types of sentences:

However, 이다 is used in these types of sentences:

[noun 은/는] [another noun][이다]

The Korean sentence would look like this:

Below we can see other examples of how 이다 can be used:

“That” can be placed before a noun to describe it. As we saw earlier:

However, it can also be a noun itself. For example:

Therefore, the sentence could just as easily be said as:

I like that thing

Using This/That with 이다

That person is a doctor

We can start by putting those words into the Korean structure:

이것은 탁자이다 = This (thing) is a table

저것은 침대이다 = That (thing) is a bed

그 사람은 여자이다 = That person is a woman

그것은 차이다 = That (thing) is a car

이것은 나무이다 = This (thing) is a tree

“I” is the subject of the sentence

책 ends in a consonant (ㄱ), so “~이” is added: "책이."

However, the sentence above is incorrect. 있다 is an adjective and cannot act on an

나는 잡지가 있다 = I have a magazine

나는 가방이 있다 = I have a backpack

A Particle to Indicate a Place or Time: ~에

I ate breakfast at 10:00

나는 잡지가 있다 = I have a magazine

학교 앞에 = in front of the school

These constructions can now act as the location in a sentence:

나는 학교 앞에 있다 = I am in-front of the school

Let’s make some more sentences:

나는 학교 옆에 있다 = I am beside the school

나는 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

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

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

~이/가 as a Subject Marker

고양이는 집 뒤에 있다 = The cat is behind the house

However the sentence above could also be written like this: