Purposes

-도록

It is used when the preceding phrase acts as the purpose of the following phrase. It can be translated into
Spanish as “so that…”, “so that…”, “so that…”, “so that…”
Examples

 그 얘기는 귀가 아프도록 많이 들었어요. I've heard that story so many times, almost to the point of
hurting my ears.
 ·늦지 않도록 빨리 서두르세요. Hurry up so you don't get late.
 넘어지지 않도록 조심하세요. Be careful not to drop it.
 제가 이해하기 쉽도록 설명했어요. I explained it to him in a way that would be easy to understand.
 사람들이 지나가도록 비켜 주세요. Move aside so people can pass.
 다 들리도록 이야기해 주세요. Please speak in a way that everyone can hear you.
 목이 아프도록 노래를 불렀어요. I sang a lot, so my throat hurt.

-게

This expression is used to indicate an expected result, objective, criterion or a standard action. That is, the
following action is necessary for the action that precedes it to be carried out. It can be translated into Spanish
as “so that…”, “so that…”, “so that…”, “so that…” and is interchangeable with –도록.

It is only used with verbs.

만들다 만들게
보이다 보이게

Example

 내일 입을 수 있게 오낼 세탁소에서 양복을 찿아다 주세요. Please pick up my suit from the laundry so
I can wear it tomorrow.
 멀이서도 보이게 크게 싸 주세요. Please write large so I can see it from afar.

-기 위해(서)

It literally means “to make efforts for something/someone”, “to do something in favor of someone to achieve
the best benefit”. But, in our case we can translate it into Spanish as “in order to…”, “for…”. Let us always
remember that the action of doing something is implied after the expression 위해서.

Examples

 건강을 위해서 매일 운동하고 있어요. …to be healthy / In order to be healthy I exercise daily.
 회사를 위해서…for the good of the company
 저는 한국에 가기 위해서 열심히 공부했어요 …in order to go to Korea / In order to go to Korea I have
studied hard.

Order Expressions
자마자
This expression means to do such a thing as soon as. It is formed by adding the expression 자마자
to the verb.
Examples

 보다 [bo-da] = see
 보 + -자마자 = 보자마자 [bo-ja-ma-ja] = as soon as we (lo, las, los) saw them,
 끝나다 [kkeut-na-da] = finish
 끝나 + -자마자 = 끝나자마자 [kkeut-na-ja-ma-ja] = as soon as it's over
 집에 오자마자 잠들었어요 I fell asleep as soon as I got home
 졸업하자마자 일을 시작할 거예요. I'm going to start working as soon as I graduate.
 도착하자마자 전화할게요. I'll call you as soon as I arrive
 보자마자 마음에 들었어요. As soon as I saw it, I liked it.
 들어가자마자 다시 나왔어요. As soon as I left I came back in

In Spanish you can say something is to your liking by saying…”I like it.” In Korean, however, you
cannot say 줗아해요 if it is the first time you have had the experience, in which case the correct
expression is 마음에들었어요, which means that something has entered your heart, you liked it and
that is why it entered in your heart. If you say 줗아해요 it means that you already knew about it, you
knew it, you have experience and that's why you like it.

- 고 나서

It is used to indicate that a certain action happens after another has been completed. It does not
mean that the action is executed immediately the first one is finished but shortly after it is carried
out. in this expression formed by 고, which indicates the succession of events but not necessarily
related. For example:

오늘 친구가 만나고 영화 봤어요. Today I met my friend and went to the cinema.

Both actions are in the past and are not related. That is, in the previous sentence, first I met my
friend, then, perhaps we talked, we went to a cafe and said goodbye.

오늘 친구가 만나서 영화 봤어요. Today I met my friend and we went to the movies.

Somewhat similar, however the actions are related and in sequential order. The grammatical
expression "~ 고 나서" is similar, but has a vital difference. In this case, the first event (A) is
already finished before the second event (B) takes place.

Examples

A: 언제 숙제 했어요 did you do your homework?

B: 점심 먹고 나서 했어요. I did homework after lunch.
A: 샤워 하고 나서 여친한테 전화 할. After taking a shower I called my girlfriend.

친구들랑 식사하고 나서 노래방에 갔어요. After eating with my friends I went to karaoke.

-다가
This is a very common expression in Korea when you are talking about an action that happens
gradually from one to the next. When you want to express actions like

 "I was on my bike and I fell."

 "I was cleaning my room when I found this."
  "She was watching a movie when she fell asleep."

Conjugation
Verb + string 다가

 가다 (= see) → 가다가
 먹다 (= eat) → 먹다가
 놀다 (= play) → 놀다가
 자다 (= sleep) → 자다가

Examples

 집에 오다가 친구를 만났어요. I was on my way home and I ran into a friend.
 텔레비전을 보다가 잠이 들었어요. I was watching television and I fell asleep
 여행을 하다가 감기에 걸렸어요. I was traveling and caught the flu.
 뭐 하다가 왔어요? What were you doing before coming here?
 밥 먹다가 전화를 받았어요. I was eating when I received a call

Miscellaneous expressions
(ㅇ) ㄹ 뻔 하다

It is used to express that something was about to happen. It translates into Spanish as “almost…”,
“I was about to…”

Example

 살 뻔 했어요. I was about to buy it

 무서워서 울 뻔 했어요. I was so scared I almost cried.
 길에서 넘어질 뻔 했어요. I almost fell in the street.
 갈 뻔 했는데 안 갔어요. I was about to go but I didn't go.
 죽을 뻔 했어요. Almost dead

Standard expressions
에 달려 있다

It is used to show that something is the most important thing in deciding something. It corresponds
to Spanish to “it depends on…”

Example

 아이의 미래는 교욕에 달려 있다 The future of children depends on education.

 인생의 행복은 마음에달려 있다 The happiness of life depends on our mind (spirit).
 Success Depends on How Hard You Work

에 따라 다르다
When you want to say something like, "it's different according to," you need to use the structure 에
따라 다르다.

Example

 물건의 품짐은 가격에 따라 달라요. The quality of a product is different according to the
price.
 그 사람 기분은 날씨에 따라 달라요. Your feeling is different according to the weather.

Expressions of Reminiscence
았/었던

In Korean, --았/었/였 (at/eot/eot) is the base suffix for past tense verb conjugation. Followed by --던
(deon),) becomes a verbal ending that transforms the verb into an adjective that can modify the noun
that follows it. This has the meaning of "something/someone that + passed." The noun that comes
after this verbal ending can be the subject of the verb or the object of the verb, but it is often very
clear within the context.

Let's look at this in the context of an example:

Let's take the verb 보다 (see), now we place it in the past tense 봤어요 (I saw), then add the verbal
ending 던 for which we remove the 어요 and we are left with 봤던 (what I saw) and we add a noun,
for example 영화 (movie) and we are left with 봤던 형화 (the movie I saw). To make it clearer, we
add a time expression that reflects the moment of the experience, for example 어제, but before the
verb and we are left with 어제 봤던 형화 (the movie I saw yesterday). This means that of all the
movies I have seen I am only remembering the one I saw yesterday, this is my object of
conversation. When the event happened (yesterday), what type of action did I perform (watch) on
what object (movie). Indicates the memory of something that has only been done once.

Examples

 어렸을 때 살았던 집 The house I lived in when I was little

 작년에 입었던 옷 The clothes they wore last year
 아침에 먹었던 음식 the food I ate this morning
 밤에 내렸던 비 The rain that fell all night

-던

It corresponds to the Spanish to used to do such a thing. When connected to a verb in the present
tense it refers to facts, events or experiences that periodically occurred in the past (a situation that
happened repeatedly over a period of time, and changed).

Please do not confuse with its past tense form.

1. The form 던 means something that he used to do repeatedly.

2. The form 았/었/였 + 던 means reminiscence and its structure would be like tense + verb +
noun

Example
  내가 근무하던 회사…the company I used to work for
 이 음악은 제가 고등힉교 때 지주 듣던 거예요. This is the action you used to hear when you
are in school.
 오늘도 우리가 자주 가던 커피에서 만납시다. Today let's meet at the cafe where we used to
go.

Adding information – Lists

-을뿐만 아니라

It is used to add information to the sentences that precede it, that is, Not only A but also... such a
thing. It can be translated into Spanish as “not only… but also”, “both to… and to…”, “Not only…
also…”, “but also…”. If there is positive information in the first part of the sentence, the second part
must be positive; If the first sentence has negative information, the second must be negative. You
cannot provide positive information and then negative information. It can be exchanged for 는데다가
without changing its meaning.

It is used with verbs, adjectives and nouns.

 Verb 먹다 = 먹었을 뿐 만 아니라 먹을 뿐 만 아니라

 Adjective 좋다 = 좋았을뿐 만 아니라 좋을뿐 만 아니라
 Noun 학생 = 학생이었을뿐 만 아니라학생이을뿐 만 아니라

Examples

 미나 뿐만아니라 Tom 도 피자를 좋아한다 Both Mina and Tom like pizza.
 그녀 뿐만아니라 나도 영어 공부중이다 She, like me, studies English / Not only me but she
also studies English
 난 소주뿐 아니라 맥주도 못 마셔. I not only drink suju but also beer
 난 개뿐 아니라 고양이도 키워요. Not only do I have a dog, I also have a cat.

-는 데다가

It is used to add information to the preceding sentence. It can be exchanged for - 을 뿐 만 아 니 라

without changing its meaning. The subject in both parts of the sentence must be the same. It can be
translated into Spanish as “not only… but also”, “both to… and to…”, “Not only… also…”, “but
also…”.

It is used with verbs, adjectives and nouns.

 Verb 읽다 = 읽는데다가
 가다 = 간데다가
 Adjective 많다 = 많은데다가
 싸다 = 싼데다가
 Nouns 친구 = 친구인데다가
 학생 = 학생인데다가

Examples
  그 식당은 맛았는 데다가 값도 싸요. This restaurant not only serves good food but is
also cheap.
 책도 많이 읽는 데다가 운동도 열심히 한다. He not only reads a lot of books but also trains
hard.
 재주도 많은 데다가 성격도 좋다. Not only is he talented he also has a good personality.

-기도 하다

It is used to indicate that it has been done a few times. This structure can be used to show the
contrast between two different actions or states. In Spanish it is equivalent to saying "Sometimes +
verb A, B, sometimes verb" or "verb A + B at the same time."

It is used only with verbs.

Examples

 소주를 좋아하기도 하고, 싫어하기도 해요. [좋아하다, 싫어하다]. Sometimes I like soju, and
sometimes I hate it.
 맵기도 하고, 달기도 해요. [맵다, 달다]. It's spicy and sweet at the same time.
 어렵기도 하고, 재미있기도 해요. [어렵다, 재미있다] It's difficult and interesting at the
same time.

Limitations
-기만 하다

It is used to show that only a particular action is carried out. It is used with verbs and adjectives.
The particle 기 normalizes the verb and the string 만 expresses that there is no more option. It
corresponds in Spanish to saying "I have only been...", "alone...", "the only thing that...".

It is not used to refer to actions in the present continuous tense.

Examples

 책을 한 번 읽기만 하면 돼. All you have to do (the only thing you have to do) is read the
book one more time.
 나가기만 하면 돼. All you have to do is get out.
 시험이 끝난 어제는 계속 자기만 했어요. Since the exam ended yesterday I have only been
sleeping.
 아직은 친구가 없어서 심심하기만 해요. Since I have no friends I have been only bored /
Since I have no friends I have been bored

-을 뿐이다

It is used to express that there is nothing more than what is mentioned in the sentence that
precedes it.

 또 하나의 불공정함일 뿐이다. It's probably more than another injustice.

 맨 외국 서적 뿐이다. They are foreign books only
  싫건좋건 오늘 뿐이다. Anyway [Right or wrong ㆍ After all] today is the last day

Reason expressions
-느라고

It is used to express the cause and reason, or to give an excuse or explanation for one's own action.
The object of the two clauses must be the same. The verb in the first clause must be an action verb.

Examples

 텔레비전을 보느라고 초인종을 못 들었어요. Since I was watching television I didn't hear
the doorbell.
 요즘 저는 아침에 라디오를 듣느라고 산책을 하지 않아요. Since lately I've been listening to
the radio in the morning, I don't go out for a walk.
 어젯밤에 숙제 하느라고 파티에 못 갔어요. Since I was doing homework last night I didn't go
to the party.

-는 바람에

It is used to express the reason why the sentence that precedes it is affected in a negative way. It
corresponds in Spanish to “unfortunately…”, “unfortunately…”, “as…”. This structure is usually used
when you want to express a reason or cause for something that happened unexpectedly or contrary
to expectations.

Examples

 돈을 다 쓰는 바람에 밥을 못 먹었어. Unfortunately I spent all the money so I can't eat /

Because I spent all the money I can't eat.
 급하게 오는 바람에 지갑을 잊어버렸어. Since I was in a hurry, I forgot my wallet.
 넘어지는 바람에 무릎을 다쳤어 Since I (unfortunately) fell my knee hurts.

-기 때문에

There are several ways to express reasons in Korean.

 Verbal Chain + (past infinitive if necessary + -아/어/여 + 서

 Verbal String + (past infinitive if necessary) + -(으)니까
 Verbal String + (past infinitive if necessary) + -(으)므로
 Verbal Chain + (past infix if necessary) + -기 때문에

기 때문에 is used to express the reason for the phrase that precedes it. It usually expresses a
strong justification. It is used with verbs, adjectives and nouns, both in the present and past.

Examples

 비싸기 때문에 살 수 없어요. Since it's expensive I can't buy it.

 너무 멀기 때문에 가기 싫어요 Since it is very far I don't want to go.
 야근 때문에 너무 피곤해! Since I work overtime I am very tired.
 너 때문이야! Because of me!
-기에

It is used when the phrase that precedes it is the basis or reason for the phrase that precedes it. It
can be changed to –길래 which is used colloquially. It is used with verbs and adjectives.

 아까 왜 약을 먹었요? Why did you take medicine?

 아침에 일어났더니 열이 나기에 먹었어요. When I got up in the morning I had a fever and I
took it.
 비가 많이 오기에 우산을 가지고 왔어요. Since it is raining a lot, I brought the umbrella.

N 덕분에 / V 는 덕분에

It means thanks to.

 여러분들의 덕분에 저는 잘 있습니다. I'm fine thanks to you

 전쟁 덕분에 일본 경제가 번영했다. The Japanese economy prospered thanks to the war
 친구들이 도와준 덕분에 잘 도착했어요. Thanks to the help of my friends I finished without
problems.

Expressing Conjecture and Supposition

-나 보다

It is used to express assumption. It translates as “I imagine that”, “I suppose that”. It is similar to -

것 같다 [-geot gat-da] to express “I think that.” It is only used with action verbs like eat, do, sleep,
etc. Not with adjectives (none with expressions such as being pretty, being expensive, being
comfortable, etc.)

Example

 모르나 봐요. I think he (she, they) don't know

 몰랐나 봐요. I think he (she, they) didn't know.
 또 비가 오나 봐요. I guess it's raining again
 고장났나 봐요. I think it got damaged.
 아무도 없나 봐요. I think no one has come

-(으)ㄴ가 보다

-나 보다 is used with action verbs, however -(으)ㄴ가 보다 is used with descriptive verbs and is used
to express assumption. It translates as “I imagine that”, “I suppose that”.

Example

 큰가 보다. Looks big

 작은가 보다. It seems small
 학생이 많았나 봐요. I imagine there were many students.
 바빴나 봐요. I think I'm busy
 이쪽이 더 빠른가 봐요. I think it was faster
There are some exceptions in the language. When the word is formed by patchin, for convenience
people use -(으)ㄴ가 보다

Example

 작은가 보다
 매운가 보다

When certain verbs are formed by 있 / 없 you must use 나 보다.

Example

 재미있다 → 재미있나 봐요 / 재미있었나 봐요

-아/어 보이다

This expression is used to indicate a conjecture or assumption based on the appearance of a

person, thing, or event. It is only used with adjectives. If used with verbs it is grammatically
incorrect. In Spanish it is equivalent to “it seems like…”, “it looks like…”, “it looks like…”. This
presumption comes from observation.

Example

 민수씨, 얼굴이 피곤해 버여요. 무슨 일 있어요? Minsu, you look tired. What happens?
 할아버지는 청바지 입으니까 더 젉어 보여요. Grandpa, as he uses brujean, looks younger.
 영어 어려워 보여요. English seems difficult / English seems difficult
 다워 보여요. It looks hot. / It looks hot
 그 사람이 착해 보여. That person seems like a good person / That person seems like a
good person

-(으)ㄴ /는 모양이다

모양이다 means form, appearance, air, aspect. It is used to express a particular condition or the
state of a thing. This expression is used to express an assumption coming from thought after having
seen or heard something. The origin of the experience must be made clear.

It is used with adjectives, verbs and nouns.

Example

 웨이밍 씨가 오늘 학교에 안 왔네요. Wei Ming didn't come to class yesterday.

 어제 몸이 안 좋다고 했는데 많이 아픈 모양이에요. She says she was not feeling well
yesterday. She seems to be very sick.

주영 씨가 방학에 뭐 하는지 아세요? Do you know what Juyeong is doing during the holidays?

It seems like he booked a plane ticket, I think he's going home.

-을 텐데
The speaker speculates about a future situation and also expresses concern about a future event.

 시험이 어려올 텐데 어떻게 하지요? The exam will be difficult. What I can do?
 기차가 곧 출발할텐데 서두릅시다! Hurry, the train will leave soon!

It can also be used as a sentence ending.

 내일 비가 올 텐데요. It will rain tomorrow.

(으)ㄹ 테니까

It expresses the speaker's intention or assumption, also expressing a reason. The expression
before (으)ㄹ 테니까 expresses the speaker's assumption or intention, which expresses a reason.
In the sentence with this expression, the phrase that follows contains a suggestion or
recommendation from the speaker to the person listening.

Example

 배가 고플 테니까 어서 드세요. Since you must be hungry, please help yourself.

 제가 거실을 정리할 테니까 당신은 방 청소 좀 줄래요? I clean my room so you can clean
your room?
 사무실에 계실 테니까 거기로 가 보세요. He (she) must be in his/her office so try to go
there.

-(으) ㄹ걸요.

It is used when the person speaking is not very sure about a future event or something but has
certain information that makes him or her assume such a thing. It is usually used colloquially
between friends. It is not used in writing. In Spanish it is equivalent to “probably”, “perhaps”.

It is used with adjectives, verbs and nouns.

Example

 혹시 마크 씨 못 보셨어요? Have you seen Mark by any chance?

 아마 커피숍에 있을걸요. 이까 커피숍에 간다고 했거든요. He's probably in the cafeteria. I
heard him say that he would go later.
 배화점에 가려고 하는데 사람이 많을까요? I plan to go to the Mall but do you think there will
be many people?
 추석 전이니까 많을겅요. Before Chuseok there are probably a lot of people

-(으) ㄴ/는/(으) ㄹ 줄 몰랐다 (알았다)

It is used as a sentence-ending clause and indicates that the person speaking was or was not aware
of a certain event or fact. It corresponds to Spanish to say “I didn't know that…”, “I believed that…”

It is used with adjectives, verbs and nouns.

Example
  앤디 씨가 오늘 학교에 온 줄 알았어요. 하교에 오지 않은 줄 몰랐어요. I thought Andi had
come to school. I didn't know he hadn't come.
 저는 주영 씨가 중국 사람인 줄 몰랐어요. 힌국 사람인 줄 알았어요. I didn't know Juyeaon
was from China. I thought it was from Korea.

-(으) ㄹ 지도 모르다

This expression is used to indicate the point of view of the person speaking about something that
may or may not happen in the present or the future. It is equivalent in Spanish to “it could be
that…”, “it is probable that…”.

It is used with adjectives, verbs and nouns.

Examples

 이쪽이 빠를지도 몰라요. This path seems to be the fastest

 내일 민경이 만날지도 몰라. Maybe we'll meet tomorrow in Mingyeong
 나 일 그만둘지도 몰라. I might quit my job / I might quit my job

Expressions of Consecutive Actions

는 길에

This expression is used when the speaker is performing an action while going somewhere.

 퇴근하는 길에 지히철에서 우연히 친구를 만났어요. I met my friend by chance on the

subway while I was heading home from work.
 집에 돌아오는 길에 식당에서 식사하고 왔어요. On the way home I went to eat at a
restaurant.

-다가

This expression is used to indicate that the action of the person speaking is immediately interrupted
by another action.

It is only used with verbs.

 밥을 먹다가 전화를 받았어요. I was eating and then I answered the phone.
 공부를 하다가 졸았어요. I was studying and I fell asleep.
 스케이트를 타다가 넘어져서 다쳤어요. I was skiing and then I fell and hurt myself.

Degree Expressions

만큼
This particle attaches to the noun to indicate its extension or degree when
comparing two objects or subjects. It is equivalent in Spanish to say "just like", "as
much as", "also as", "so"

-(으)ㄴ/는(으)ㄹ 만큼

Adjectives (으)ㄴ 만큼

 크다 큰만큼
 작다 작은 만큼

Verbs

 Past -(으)ㄴ 만큼 쓰다 쓴 만큼
 Present -(으)ㄴ 만큼 쓰다 쓰는 만큼
 Future -(으)ㄴ 만큼 쓰다 쓸 만큼

Nouns 만큼

 시간 시간이만큼

Examples

 저도 그분만큼 할 수 있어요. I can do it just like him / I can also do it like

him
 이것도 그것만큼 어려워요. This one is also as difficult as that one / This
one is also as difficult as that one / This one is as difficult as that one
 이 책도 그 책만큼 비싸요. This book is also as expensive as that one / This
is also as expensive as that one / This book is as expensive as that one
 이것은 그것만큼 비싸지 않아요. This one is not as expensive as this other
one

만 하다

It is used to compare two things that have similar or similar characteristics. In

Spanish it can be translated as “it is so… like”.

It is used only to compare nouns.

Examples

민수 씨의 키는 나만 해요. Minsu is as tall as me.

교실 크기는 우리 집 거실만 해요. The classroom is as big as the living room in my

house.
-ㄹ/을/를 정도로

-ㄹ/을/를 정도로 ( l/eul/leul jeongdo-ro ) is a grammatical structure that describes

an action or state by expressing the extent or degree of the action or state. 정도 (
jeongdo ) literally means "degree" or "measure." Therefore, the first part -ㄹ/을/를
( l/eul/leul ) modified 정도 ( jeongdo ), and -로 ( ro ) is a particle meaning, “in” or
“a.” So all together, they mean, "therefore __," or "to the extent that __."

It is similar to the expression -ㄹ/을/를 만큼 ( l/eul/leul mankeum ), and both are

interchangeable in the same context.

Examples

 이상할 정도로 싸요. It's so cheap it's strange. / It's strange that it's so
cheap
 그 사람은 무서울 정도로 열심히 공부해요. He studies very hard, to an
extent that is even scary.
 둘이 먹다가 하나가 죽어도 모를 정도로 맛있어요. It's so delicious that you
wouldn't know even if two people were eating together and one passed
away.