#study korean

That’s right, you can change not only verbs and adjectives into nouns in Korean, but also the copula 이다. Being able to change verbs/adjectives into nouns enables you to make noun phrases, which function as subjects, direct objects and so forth within larger sentences. This grammatical form is used most often in writing.

Adding -(으)ㅁ can be used with verbs, adjectives, and noun+이다.
It can be used in the past, present, or future tense.The tense is reflected in the verb/adjective being changed.
-음 is added following consonants.
-ㅁ is added following vowels.

Past tense verbs and adjectives use -았/었음 (nouns: 였음/이었음)
Present tense verbs and adjectives use -(으)ㅁ (nouns: 임)
Future tense verbs and adjectives use -겠음 (nouns: 이겠음)

인생의 행복은 돈의 많고 적음에 있지 않아요.
The joy of life does not lie in having a lot of or the lack of money.

In this example, the use of 음 with 적다 turns the phrase into a noun that can be acted on by the functioning verb of the sentence, the negative form of 있다.

Let’s go back to our above example.

인생의 행복은 돈의 많고 적음에 있지 않아요. 

As I stated previously, the use of 음 is generally used only in writing (especially popular in poems!). However if you wanted to say the above sentence aloud, you would change the -음 to -는 것. Replacing this grammar form with -는 것 gives almost no change in meaning when used in speech, but its important to note that not every instance of -는 것 can be replaced with -음. To that end:

인생의 행복은 돈의 많고 적음에 있지 않아요.
인생의 행복은 돈의 많고 적은 것에 있지 않아요.

These sentences are identical, only one is better suited for writing, and one is better suited for speech.

This sort of thing is more common than you might think. You have probably already come across several words in Korean that were taught as nouns but are really verb/adjective + ㅁ. For example the word 꿈 (dream) is simply the noun form of 꾸다 (to dream).

Some other incredibly common instances of this are:

기쁘다 →  기쁨
아프다 →  아픔
슬프다 →  슬픔
추다 →  춤
웃다 →  웃음
믿다 →  믿음
얼다 →  얼음
어렵다 → 어려움
외롭다 →  외로움
살다 →  삶
알다 →  앎

한국에 처음 왔을 때는 한국말도 모르고 문화도 달라서 어려움이 많았어요.
When I first arrived in Korea because I didn’t know Korean and the culture was different I had a lot of difficulties.

This sort of thing generally isn’t done to verbs that end in 하다 because if you simply remove the 하다 then what’s left of the stem of the verb is a noun in its own right.

This grammar point is used to indicate that the situation described in the preceding clause depends on the content of the following clause. There are two ways this grammar point can be used and we’ll have a look at both of them in this post. Let’s look at how the build the grammar first.

-느냐에 달려 있다 can be used with verbs, adjectives, and nouns+이다.
-느냐에 is added to verbs in the present tense.
-으냐에 is added to adjectives in the present tense.
Nouns use -(이)냐에 in the present tense.

*Past tense adjectives and verbs use -았/었느냐에 and nouns use 였/이었느냐에. This is because while the present tense construction of the grammar point is connected directly to the verb stem, the tense is reflected in the word the grammar pattern is attached to in this instance. It is not reflected in the 있다 part of the construction.

The first way this grammar pattern can be used is very simple. 

A는 B느냐에 달려 있다.

This can be literally translated as “A hangs upon B” or “A rests upon B” but it’s most often colloquially used as “A depends on B”. When you’re using this grammar point to suggest A’s outcome is dependent on B, you would use it with words such as 얼마나 or 어떻게.

이번 일의 성공 여부는 얼마나 열심히 준비를 하느냐에 달려 있어요.
The success of this task(A) depends on how hard you prepare for it(B).

So the successful completion of the task (which is filling in for A in our example construction) is completely dependent on how hard it’s prepared for (B, our variable).

Let’s look at something a little more specific.

레오: 이번 발표는 정말 잘하고 싶어요.
켄: 그거야 레오 씨가 얼마나 열심히 준비했느냐에 달려 있지요.
Leo: I want to do really well on this presentation.
Ken: Well that depends on how well you’ve prepared for it.

In this instance, the grammar point is used in the past tense because Leo has already done his preparing for the presentation, even though the presentation has yet to occur.

The second way this grammar point can be used is a little more complicated, but still simple.

A느냐 B느냐 하는 것은 C느냐에 달려 있다.

In this example, it can be translated as “Whether A or B happens depends on C”. A and B in this instance are often opposite actions or adjectives.

어떤 분야에서 성공하느냐 실패하느냐 하는 것은 그 사람의 타고난 능력이 아니라 그 일에 얼마나 열정을 가지고 진지하게 노력하느냐에 달려 있어요.
Whether one succeeds or fails in a field depends not upon innate ability but upon how passionately and seriously one tries at it.

This is pretty self-explanatory. Failing and succeeding are opposite actions (A and B) and they depend on hard work and passion (variable C).

Let’s take a look at this grammar point using nouns. While it can be used with noun+이다 most often it’ll be used with just the noun itself and no copula. When this occurs, the construction changes to noun+에 달려 있다.

레오: 이번 일은 할까, 말까?
켄: 그거야 네 마음에 달려 있지. 하고 싶으면, 해!
Leo: Should I do this work or not?
Ken: That depends on how you feel. If you want to, do it!

레오: 내일 친구들하고 야외로 소풍을 가기로 했는데 갈 수 있을까?
켄: 그건 내일 날씨에 달려 있어.
Leo: Tomorrow I’ve planned on going on a picnic with my friends; can you come?
Ken: That depends on tomorrow’s weather.

Important Note: While this grammar point can be used in both writing and speech, when it is used in speaking the 느 (or 으 for adjectives) is usually dropped entirely in the present tense. So you can use 느냐에 or 으냐에 interchangeably with 냐에 for the present tense verbs/adjectives with no issues. In fact, some some textbooks seem to teach only 냐에 for adjectives so really just 마음대로 하세요. ㅋㅋㅋ

I’ll leave this lesson off with something I think people tend to forget sometimes:

여러분, 모든 일은 어떻게 생각하느냐에 달려 있어요!

That’s all for this post, see you next time! :)