#korean tense
Hi! 안녕하세요. This is Admin Na. And today I’m going to talk about the present tense.
What is the present tense?
The present tense is a tense that coincides with the time when the event occurs.
Pre-final ending ‘-ㄴ-/-는-’:
Expresses the current tense in combination with verbs.
Ex)
- I play basketball with my friends.: 나는 친구들과 농구를 한다.
- A sleeping baby: 잠을 자는아기
- He was proud of his father, a doctor.: 그는 의사인 아버지를 자랑스러워했다.
- Sunwoo drinks water.: 선우는 물을 마신다.
- Sung Eun is eating.: 성은이가 밥을 먹는다.
No pre-final ending:
In adjectives or descriptive postposition, the current tense can be expressed without a pre-final ending.
Ex)
- The weather is hot today.: 오늘은 날씨가 덥다.
- My brother is a college student.: 우리 형은 대학생이다.
A modifier form ending ‘-는’:
Expresses the current tense in combination with verbs.
Ex)
- I am looking at my brother who is eating.: 밥을 먹는 동생을 보고 있다.
- The cup rice that Jimin eats is really delicious.: 지민이가 먹는 컵밥은 정말 맛있다.
- I’m studying for the exam.: 시험공부 하는나.
A modifier form ending ‘-(으)ㄴ’:
To express the present tense in combination with adjectives or narrative ending.
Ex)
- I feel good when I see pretty flowers.: 예쁜 꽃을 보면 기분이 좋다.
- Pretty Jimin is coming to the academy.: 예쁜 지민이가 학원에 온다.
- Minji is a pretty child.: 민지는 예쁜아이이다.
Time adverbs representing the present:
‘오늘’, ‘지금’ etc.
Ex)
- I read a book in the library now.: 나는 지금 도서관에서 책을 읽는다.
- Jonghee studies hard today.: 종희는 오늘도 열심히 공부를 한다.
- It’s windy now.: 지금 바람이 분다.
- The train is leaving now.: 기차가 지금출발한다.
REVIEW TEST
1. What is the present tense?
A: The present tense is a tense that coincides with the time when the event occurs.
2. Write an example that includes the pre-final ending ‘-ㄴ-/-는-’
A: I play basketball with my friends. etc(you can make tons of them!)
3. In adjectives or descriptive postposition, can the current tense be expressed without a pre-final ending?
A: 0
Thank you all for reading this post! I really hope this was helpful for you, and also, there is a previous post of ours introducing the pre-final ending(which would help you understand the Korean present tense more easily)! So if you’re interested, I think you should check it out! Always stay safe:D Jojal-jojal Korea is always pulling for you!!
참조 사진 및 출처
- 솔빛 국어연구소
-Written by Admin Na
-Edited by Admin Yu
A tense is a grammatical category that represents the temporal position of a situation based on a point in time. The tense is divided into ‘past-present-future’ depending on the relationship between 발화시(the time of speech) and 사건시(when the action or condition appears).
Past tense is a time expression in which event time precedes speech. The past tense is mainly realized by 선어말 어미 ‘-았-/-었-’.
ex)
-나는 저번 주에 떡볶이를 먹었다.(I had 떡볶이 last week.)
=> ‘What I ate 떡볶이’ happened before ‘talking about what i ate 떡볶이’.
=> 먹다(basic form) + ‘-었-’(선어말 어미) = 먹었다
-철수는 어제 영희와 놀았다.(철수 played with 영희 yesterday.)
=> ‘What Chul-soo played with Young-hee’ happened before ‘talking about what 철수 played with 영희’.
=> 놀다(basic form) + ‘-았-’(선어말 어미) = 놀았다
It is sometimes used in the form of ‘-았었/-었었-’ to express that something happened a long time ago or is not the case now. Use ‘-더-’ to recall past events or experiences.
ex)
-철수는 전에는 당근을 먹었었다.(철수 used to eat carrots.)
=> 철수 used to eat carrots, but he doesn’t eat them now.
=> 먹다(basic form) + ‘-었었-’(선어말 어미) = 먹었었다
-어제 영희가 준 사과가 맛있더라.(The apple that 영희 gave me yesterday was delicious.)
=> The speaker recalls that the apples given by 영희 in the past were delicious.
=> 맛있다(basic form) + ‘-더-’(선어말 어미) = 맛있더라
when using in as 관형사절(adnominal clause), 관형사형 어미(an adnominal form ending)‘-(으)ㄴ’and‘-던’ is used for verbs, and ‘-던’ is used for 형용사(adjective) and ‘이다’. You can also add ’-았/었-’ followed by ’-던/었.’
ex)
-식탁 위에 내가 먹은/먹던/먹었던 빵이 있었다.(There was bread I ate on the table./There was the bread I was eating on the table./There was bread I had eaten on the table.
-철수는푸르던 하늘을 떠올렸다.(철수 recalled the blue sky.)
-그 때는 영희가 학생이던/학생이었던 시절이다.(That was when Young-hee was a student.)
- Written by Admin Do
-Edited by Admin Yu
