Korean Grammar Lesson: have you ever~

Not a dumb question at all! The sentence it’s referring to is “애완동물 키워본 적이 있나요?”

This is a grammar principle meaning “have you ever.” The general concept is ~아/어본 적(이) 있다/없다.

• The아/어본istried to do something. Like 먹어봐 try to eat this. The past tense noun modifier conjugation is ㄴ/은, so with 보다, we use 본
• 적 here means something like a time/experience. The 이 is an optional subject marker. It’s usually pretty obvious what’s coming next so you could leave it out, but out of pure habit, I say 적이
• 있다 would mean you have had something,없다 would mean you have not. Of course you would conjugate it to fit the formality (있어/있어요/있습니다/etc)

So the sentence I used was “Have you ever had a pet?” But directly translated it would be something like “Have you ever tried to have the experience of raising a pet?”

Should we look at some more examples?

• 김치를 먹어본 적이 있어요? Have you ever tried kimchi?
• 한국에가본 적이 없어요. I’ve never been to Korea.
• 어벤져스본 적이 있어요?* Have you ever seen The Avengers?

*since the verb “to see” (보다) is the same as “to try to do” (보다), so it’s easier to just say 본 for the whole phrase as it’s completely understood.

Hope this helps! DMs and asks are always open if you have anymore questions ❤

Hi, sorry for the month-long hiatus! This is a really busy time.

Here’s a small grammar post about the advanced grammar point ~건마는 in the hopes you forgive me:

~건마는 (= 건만)

아/어(서)

As you may have already learned, 아/어(서) is used to connect two clauses in order to indicate that one thing happened after another. When using 나/어(서) in this way, 서 is optional. 

I’m going to sit down and relax.
나는 앉아서 쉴 거야.

I’m going to go to school and study.
저는 학교에 가서 공부할 거예요.

아/어서

Another usage of 아/어서 is to indicate how or by what means the second action happens. In this usage, 서 cannot be omitted.

I solved the problem using the new computer.
새로운 컴퓨터를 써서 문제를 풀었어요.

I explained it by using many types of examples.
몇 가지 예를 사용해서설명했어요.

They used the globe to draw a map.
지구본을 사용해서 지도를 그렸어요.

As you may already know, when 하다 and 어 are combined, they create 해. Therefore, 해서 is used when 아/어서 is added to a verb ending in 하다. As mentioned in the 아/어(서) section however, the 서 can be omitted sometimes, so you may simply see 해 as the connective. A variation of 해 is 하여, which is seen most commonly in written Korean. This is simply the original version of 해 without the two particles joining together. 

This is what we see in the above example. The full sentence said by the Front Man is ‘456명 중의 255명이 탈락하여, 첫 번째 게임을 끝마친 참가자는 201명입니다’. Here, the connector 아/어(서) is being used to indicate that out of 456 players, 255 players have passed, and the number of players who finished playing in the first game is 201. The 서 has simply been omitted and the variation 하여 has been utilised instead. 

The grammar point -다 보니 is a shortened version of -다 보니까, which is used when the speaker is talking about something they have done or experienced directly. Using it one can express the results of doing something repeatedly/continuously from some point in the past up through the present.

There are two ways this grammar point can be used for our purposes here.

-[verb stem]+다 보니 -[verb]+게 됐다
or
-[verb stem]+다 보니 -[adjective]+아/어졌다

Let’s look at a few examples.

A: 매운 음식을 좋아하시나 봐요.
B: 처음 한국에 왔을 때는 전혀 못 먹었어요. 한국에서 살면서 자꾸 먹다 보니 이제는 잘 먹게 됐어요.
A: It seems as if you like spicy food.
B: When I first came to Korea I didn’t eat [any spicy food] at all. While I’ve lived in Korea I’ve eaten [spicy food] over and over, now I can eat it very well.

So in this example Person B at some point in the past began repeatedly eating spicy food and as a result in the present day, they can eat spicy food/tolerate spicy food very well.

A: 와! 수영 선수 같아요!
B: 별말씀을요. 꾸준히 연습하다 보니 이제는 좀 수영하게 됐어요.
A: Wow! You’re just like a professional swimmer!
B: Not at all. I’ve practiced continuously, so now I am able to swim like this.

Same with this example here. Person B practiced tirelessly to get from where they started to where they are now, to the point where Person A’s observation is that Person B is akin to a professional.

Now let’s look at a couple examples using adjectives.

A: 요즘 안과 다닌다면서요?
B: 네. 스마트폰을 많이 사용하다 보니눈이나빠졌어요.
A: Is it true you’ve been going to the eye doctor lately?
B: Yes. Since I’ve been using my smartphone [continuously] my eyes have gotten bad.

In this example the result of person B’s action (continuous cellphone usage) is that their eyesight has become poor, leading them to need to go to the eye doctor.

A: 지난번 만났을 때보다 얼굴이 좋아졌어요.
B: 매일 공원에서 운동하다 보니건강해졌어요.
A: Compared to last time we met, you look good.
B: Since I’ve been working out at the park everyday my health has gotten better.

Here Person A observes that Person B is looking much better than the last time they met, and this is because Person B has been going to the park everyday to exercise. In this way, their health has gotten better.

One important thing to keep in mind when using -다 보니 is that it is used to indicate repeated and continuing behaviors. You cannot use it/it would not make sense to use it with such verbs that don’t “progress” or are one off actions such as 결혼하다 (to get married), 졸업하다 (to graduate), 가입하다 (to join), etc.

And also a quick note on -다 보니(까) vs -아/어 보니(까):

-다 보니(까) is used with the result of doing something repeatedly/continuously.

-아/어 보니(까) is used with the result of doing something specific only once.

레오 씨가 처음에는 마음에 들지 않았는데 자꾸 만나다 보니(까) 좋아하게 됐어요.
In this sentence, the speaker only begins to like Leo after repeatedly meeting him over and over for a length of time.

레오 씨를 만나 보니(까) 생각보다 친절한 사람이었어요.
In this sentence, the speaker decides that Leo is a kind person after only meeting him one time.

That’s all for this lesson! :) If there are any questions please send me an ask!

By adding this grammar point to the end of a sentence (or clause) you can express that by doing what is said that the action adequately fulfills a condition.

This grammar point is similar to -아/어야 하다 in that you are stating that something “should” be done or “ought” to be done, but by using -으면 되다 instead the implication is much softer. Using this grammar point implies that if the action is taken, things will be alright/will work out for the positive, so it’s used most often when giving/offering advice. Let’s look at an example.

레오: 노래를 잘하고 싶어요.
켄: 간단해요. 좋아하는 노래 CD를 자주 듣고 따라하면 돼요.
Leo: I want to sing well.
Ken: It’s simple. Listen to a CD you like often and imitate it.

In this example, Ken tells his friend that if he wants to be good at singing, all he has to do is listen to and imitate the music. This is because 되다 in this grammar point means “to be enough” in order to complete the task.

-으면 되다 is used with verbs, adjectives, 있다/없다, and 이다/아니다.
-으면 되다 is added to word stems ending in consonants.
-면 되다 is added to word stems ending in vowels.

Using this grammar point with words like 그냥 and [noun]-만 make it sound the most natural.

가다: 가 + 면 되다 →  가면 돼요
먹다: 먹 + 으면 되다 →  먹으면 돼요

레오: 시험을 잘 보고 싶으세요? 시험을 보기 전에 이 책만 읽으면 됩니다.
켄: 정말 이 책만 읽으면 돼요??
Leo: Do you want to do well on your exam? Then before taking your exam you should read this book [and you will do well].
Ken: Really, just read this book [and I’ll do well]??

켄: 키가 크고 예쁜 여자가 좋아요?
레오: 아니요. 다 필요 없어요. 그냥 성격만 좋으면 돼요.
Ken: Do you like tall, pretty women?
Leo: No, I don’t need that. All that’s needed is a good personality.

비비안: 한국어를 잘하려면 어떻게 해야 해요?
수키: 그냥 텔레비전 드라마를 많이 보면 돼요.
Vivian: If I want to get better at Korean, what do I have to do?
Suki: Just watch a lot of TV dramas.

한설: 도서관에 거려면 어떻게 해야 해요?
신행: 학생증만 있으면 돼요.
Hansol: How do I get to the library?
Shinhaeng: All you need is a student ID.

찬미: 마실 것 좀 드릴까요?
벤: 그냥 물이면 돼요.
Chanmi: Would you like something to drink?
Ben: Just water [should be fine].

This grammar point is fairly straight forward. Most of the time when it’s used, the speaker, especially when giving advice, implies that the action in question is often something they consider easy to complete. Just keep in mind that the overall meaning of using the grammar point indicates that everything is/will be okay if the action is completed, you should have no problem using this grammar point in Korean! :)

And don’t forget that there are irregular verb/adjective rules that apply to this grammar point.

See you next time!

The present progressive tense is used when you are explaining currently on going actions or events. In other, simpler terms: -고 있다 is the Korean version of attaching the English ‘-ing’ ending onto verbs.

-고 있다 is used with verbs.
It is attached directly to the verb stem. It is also often used in conjunction with the word 지금 (right now, just now) though it’s not absolutely required.

가다: 가 + 고 있다 →  가고 있어요
먹다: 먹 + 고 있다 →  먹고 있어요
보다: 보 + 고 있다 →  보고 있어요

레오: 영화를 같이 볼까요?
켄: 미안해요, 지금 공부하고 있어요.
Leo: Shall we watch a movie together?
Ken: Sorry, I’m studying right now.

켄: 아 배고파요…
레오: 저는 슈퍼마켓에 가고 있어요.
Ken: Ah I’m hungry….
Leo: I’m going to the super market [right now].

As you can see, this grammar point is very easy to use and important to know! Howeverthere are some things you should keep in mind when using this grammar point.

It can be used in the past tense and future tense, but it comes off as sounding awkward. It would be more natural to use the regular form past/future tense instead. That said, if you really really want to emphasize the fact you were/are going to do something you can use this grammar point in past/future tense.

So while “저는 밥을 먹고 있었어요” is grammatically correct, “저는 밥을 먹었어요.” flows a lot better.

Regarding verbs like 앉다 (to sit) and 서다 (to stand) (or other verbs regarding the “position” of where something is, like “to lie down”, etc): You cannot use -고 있다 with verbs like this to say that you are currently doing the action. For example:

지금 앉고 있어요. I am sitting.
This sentence is correct but it means that that my knees are bent and I am in the process of moving myself onto the spot where I’m going to be sitting.

If I want to say I am currently settled in my seat and no longer moving I need to use -아/어 있다 instead.

지금 앉아 있어요. I am sitting.
편의점 옆에 서 있어요. I am standing next to the convenience store.
소파에 누워 있어요. I am laying on the sofa.

This is because these “positioning” verbs sometimes tend to act a little differently than other verbs in some situations. This is a good example of one of them. :)

So to sum: when using verbs that describe position, just remember to use -아/어 있다 instead of -고 있다.

In all the examples above, we discussed actions that were currently in progress, but you can also use this grammar point to express repeated on-going actions in Korean by adding the word 요즘 (lately, these days) to your sentence.

For example, if you regularly attend cooking classes or take taekwondo you could say:

제가 요즘 요리 학원에 다니고 있어요.
These days I am attending a cooking academy.

레오 씨가 요즘 태권도를 배우고 있어요.
Lately Leo is learning taekwondo.

Easy, right? :)

That’s all for this lesson!

In this lesson, we’ll have a look at how to explain to someone else that one idea or statement is more appropriate than the previously proposed one. And while the concept of this grammar point is easy to grasp and understand, using it effectively requires already knowing a good chunk of Korean grammar, which is why this grammar point (and similar ones) are often found in “advanced” books and classes.

Using -는다기보다는 you can easily express that the content of the clause following -는다기보다는 is a more accurate or appropriate description than the previous clause, the one attached to -는다기보다는.

-는다기보다는 is used with verbs, adjectives, and nouns in both the past and present tense. The construction for each of these is different in spelling (via standard conjugation ruling).

[과거, 동사/현용사; past tense, verbs/adjectives]: -았/었다기보다는

촌스럽다: 촌스러워 + 었다기보다는 →  촌스러웠다기보다는

촌스러웠다기보다는 그 옷에는 안 어울리는 것 같았어요.
Rather than tacky, those clothes didn’t seem to suit you.

[과거, 명사; past tense, nouns]: -였/이었다기보다는 (-였다기보다는 follows a noun ending in a vowel, -이었다기보다는 follows those ending in consonants)

남자친구: 남자친구 + 였다기보다는 → 남자친구였다기보다는

그 삼람은 남자친구였다기보다는 그냥 친구였어요.
Rather than say that person was my boyfriend, he was just a friend.

[현재, 현용사; present tense, adjectives]: -다기보다는

좋다: 좋 + 다기보다는 →  좋다기보다는

그냥 기분이 좋다기보다는 마음이 편안해지는 느낌이에요.
Rather than say I feel good, I feel comfortable.

[현재, 동사; present tense, verbs] -ㄴ/는다기보다는 (-ㄴ다기보다는 is used for verb stems ending in vowels, -는다기보다는 is used for those ending in consonants)

좋아하다: 좋아하 + ㄴ다기보다는 →  좋아한다기보다는

그를 좋아한다기보다는 존경한다는 표현이 맞을 거야.
Rather than say I like him, it’s more accurate to say I respect him.

[현재, 명사; present tense, nouns] -(이)라기보다는 (-이라기보다는 follows nouns ending in a consonant, -라기보다는 follows those ending in a vowel).

음식 + 이라기보다는 →  음식이라기보다는

맛있는 음식이라기보다는 괜찮은 음식이에요.
Rather than say it was tasty food, it was alright.

Let’s have a look at some more examples.

A: 어제 소개받은 남자는 잘생겼어요?
B: 그 남자가 잘생겼다기보다는 호감이 가는 얼굴이라고 할 수 있어요….
A: Was the man you were introduced to yesterday handsome?
B: Rather than say he was handsome you could say he was pleasant featured….

A: 그 고양이를 많이 사랑하나 봐요.
B: 네. 애완동물이라기보다는 제 친구예요.
A: You seem to really love that cat.
B: Yes. Rather than say he’s a pet, he’s my friend.

That’s all for this lesson. :) See you next time!

In this lesson, we will look at a way of being a little dramatic in Korean. :P Kidding. But this grammar point is used to indicate that not only was the clause it’s attached to is impossible, but that the additional following clause, something easier and simple, is also impossible. Confused yet? Let’s have an example.

오늘 아침에 시간이 없어서 밥은커녕 물도 못 마셨어요.
Because I had no time this morning, I couldn’t even drink water let aloneeat.

Using this grammar point has the same meaning in English as “I was unable to do (super simple action), let alone (action originally question).”  However, the order is reversed in Korean compared to the translation:

[A]은/는커녕 [B]도 못/안 한다.
When using this grammar point, B has to be the task that’s a lot easier than A. B is an action that should normally be easier to do, but because of your situation at hand, A is impossible, and B even more so.

This grammar point is used mainly in speech and is used with nouns.
-은커녕~ is attached to nouns ending in a consonant.
-는커녕~ is attached to nouns ending in a vowel.

그는 춤은커녕 제대로 걷지도 못 해요.
He can’t even walk properly, let alonedance.

소주는커녕 맥주도 못 마셔요.
I can’t even drink beer, let alonesoju.

지난 주말에 몸이 너무 아파서 외출은커녕 침대에서 일어나지도 못 했어요.
Last weekend my body hurt so much I couldn’t even get out of bed, let alone go outside.

You’ll notice that the [B] action in all of the above examples is followed by the subject particle -도. However this can also be swapped with -조차(도) to emphasize how basic the [B] action is.

목이 아파서 밥은커녕물조차 마실 수 없어요.
My throat hurts so much I can’t even drink water, let aloneeat.

This grammar point also has an additional use, where rather than the expected or anticipated action [A] occurring, [B] happened instead. In this instance [B] is usually a complete opposite of action [A]. The adverb 오히려 (rather, instead) can be used to emphasize how opposite the actions are. You would add 오히려 following 은/는커녕.

레오 씨가 사과했냐고? 사과는커녕 오히려 화만 내고 가 버렸어!!
Did Leo apologize? Never mind apologizing, he got angry and walked away!!

In this example, the speaker was expecting their friend to apologize for something, but instead of the expected or anticipated action (an apology), the opposite happened where the friend became angry and walked away instead.

There is an additional way this grammar point can be used with verbs. To use this grammar point with a verb, -기는커녕 is added directly to the verb stem.

그는 다른 사람을 돕기는커녕 자신의 일도 제대로 못해요.
He can’t even do his own work properly, let alone help other people.

내일이 시험인데 공부를 하기는커녕 TV만 보고 있어요.
The test is tomorrow but I’m just watching TV, never mindstudying.

When using verbs with -기는커녕 you must be very careful to keep the verb in it’s affirmative form, despite the fact that it’s a negative meaning sentence. Basically: don’t conjugate the verb you attach -기는커녕 to. It is used directly with the verb stem. This is a mistake a lot of Korean learners make.

공부를 열심히 하지 않기는커녕  X
공부를 열심히 하기는커녕  O

그는 공부를 열심히 하기는커녕 학교에도 매일 결석해요.
He doesn’t even come to class everyday, let alone study hard.

Bonus: You can replace -은/는커녕 with the grammar point -은/는 고사하고 with pretty much no change in meaning. (Verbs: -기는커녕 can be used interchangeably with -는 것은 고사하고).

아침은커녕 물도 아직 못 마셨어요.
아침은 고사하고 물도 아직 못 마셨어요.
I haven’t drank water yet, never mind eat breakfast.

That’s all for this time. :D Questions? My ask is over here.

This lesson’s grammar point is used when explaining what brought someone to do a particular action or activity. It can also be used as part of a 자기소개 (self introduction).

At this ability level, everyone should already be familiar with -아/어서 and how to use it (if not, you can check it out here). For the usage with this grammar point -아/어서 is used to connect two main clauses with a “because” “therefore” or “so”, while -게 됐다 is attached to the sentence ending verb.

-게 됐다 is used with verbs and attaches directly to the verb stem.

A: 어떻게 한국에 오게 됐어요?
B: 한국어를 배우고 싶어서 공부하러 오게 됐어요.
A: How did you come to Korea?
B: I wanted to learn Korean so I came to Korea to study.

A: B 씨, 저희 등산 동호회에 처음 오셨지요? 자기소게 좀 해 주세요.
B: 안녕하세요? B입니다. 등산도 하고 친구도 사귀고 싶어서나오게 됐어요. 열심히 하겠습니다.
A: B, it’s your first time at our hiking club, isn’t it? Please introduce yourself.
B: Hello. I’m B. Because I wanted to go hiking and meet new friends, I’ve come out (to join the club). I’ll work hard.

Note: In more formal situations, such as when you’re introducing yourself to a group -게 됐습니다 is more likely to be used. In more casual situations, however, it’s fine to use -게 됐어요 or -게 됐어 which are also common depending on the situation at hand.

You can also add -다가 to the beginning of the sentence pattern to further explain how something happened and how you came to the decision to do something. -다가 attaches directly to the verb stem it is explaining.

A: 어떻게 한국에 오게 됐어요?
B: 한국 친구랑 얘기하다가 한국어를 배우고 싶어서 공부하러 오게 됐어요.
A: How did you come to Korea?
B: After I chatted with my Korean friend I began to want to learn Korean so in order to study I came to Korea.

A: 어떻게 결혼하게 됐어요?
B: 같은 식당에서 알바하다가친해져서결혼하게 됐어요.
A: How did you end up getting married?
B: After we worked part-time at the same restaurant we became close, so we got married.

Note:When using the -게 되다 pattern after 듣다, 보다, and 읽다, you should substitute -고 for -아/어서 in the preceding clause of the sentence.

이 동아리가 좋다는 말을 듣고가입하게 됐어요.
I heard that this club is good so I joined up.

게시판에 있는 광고를 보고 그 동아리에 대해 알게 됐어요.
I learned about that club because I saw an advertisement on the bulletin board.

That’s all for this lesson. :) See you next time!

In this lesson we’ll be taking a more in depth look at using one type of honorific language in Korean. We went over it a bit in Getting Started: Lesson 12.

This honorific form is used to express the speaker’s respect for the subject (person they are referring to) of the sentence. This honorific is used when the person you’re addressing/speaking about is older or higher in social status than you. It’s also commonly used when the speaker doesn’t know or isn’t familiar with the person, even if they happen to be younger or lower in social status than you are.

The honorific is made using -으시-. Adding -으시- to the word stem but before the conjugating tense elevates the politeness level of whatever it is you’re trying to say.

-으시- is used with verbs, adjectives, 있다/없다, and 이다.

 -으시- is used with the stems of verbs and adjectives ending in a consonant, and 있다/없다.

닫다: 닫 + 으시 + 어요 →  닫으세요

아버지가 문을 닫으세요. Father closes the door.

-시- is used with the stems of verbs and adjectives ending in a vowel.

 보다: 보 + 시 + 어요 →  보세요

어머니가 신문을 보세요. Mother looks at the newspaper.

With 이다, -이시- is used with the noun ends in a consonant and -시- is used when it noun ends in a vowel.

선생님 + 이시 + 어요 →   선생님이세요.
의사 + 시 + 어요 →  의사세요. 

이분이 말하기 수업 선생님이세요. This person is my speaking teacher.
저분이 서울 병원 의사세요. That person is a Seoul Hospital doctor.

Using the above stated rules, the honorific form can be made into the past tense as follows:

받다: 받 + 으시 + 었어요 →  받으셨어요
가다: 가 + 시 + 었어요 →  가셨어요

아버지가 전화를 받으셨어요. Father received a phone call.
어머니가 시장에 가셨어요. Mother went to the market.

The above shouldn’t be anything new if you’ve already gone over the previous 존댓말 lesson linked at the top of this post. Next we’re going to look at how to construct the future tense using -으시-, and the above mentioned spelling rules.

받다: 받 + 으시 + ㄹ 거예요 →  받으실 거예요
가다: 가 + 시 + ㄹ 거예요 →  가실 거예요

아버지가 전화를 받으실 거예요. Father will receive a phone call.
어머니가 시장에 가실 거예요. Mother will go to the market.

When using -으시- or other polite forms of speaking, some verbs change from their regular forms to special honorific forms. The following are these verbs in their dictionary -다 form, the informal-polite form, and the special honorific form.

먹다 (to eat): 먹어요 →  드세요, 잠수세요
마시다 (to drink): 마셔요 → 드세요
자다 (to sleep): 자요 → 주무세요
말하다 (to speak): 말해요 → 말씀하세요
*있다 (to be at/in a location): 있어요 → 계세요
*없다 (to be not at/in a location): 없어요 → 안 계세요

어머니가 점심을 드세요/잠수세요. Mother eats lunch.
아버지가 물을 드세요. Father drinks water.
안영히 주무셨어요? Did you sleep well?
선생님이 나중에 말씀하실 거예요. The teacher will tell you later.

*The honorific -계세요 is used only when the subject of the sentence is a person.

eg: 우리 할머니가 부엌에 계세요. (My grandmother is in the kitchen.)
The subject of this sentence is the grandmother, a person, so 계세요 is used.

When the subject of the sentence is an object, or a thing–anything but a person–and the verb 있다 is being used to indicate possession, 있으세요/없으세요 is used to express the respect the speaker has for the owner of the item/concept being possessed.

eg: 내일 오후에 시간이 있으세요? (Do you have time tomorrow afternoon?)
The subject of this sentence is time, not a person, so 있으세요 is used.

A few more examples of this:

아버지가 거실에 계세요. Father is in the living room.
밖에 비가 와요. 우산이 있으세요? It’s raining outside. Do you have an umbrella?
같이 갈 수 있으세요? Are we able to go together?

Bonus: When using the honorific -으시- the subject marker -이/가  can be changed to -께서 and -한테 can be changed to -께. Changing these is not required, but it does make the sentence even more polite.

할아버지께서 영화를 보세요. Grandfather watches the movie.
할아버지께서 아버지께 전화하세요. Grandfather gives father a phone call.

Rules regarding irregular verbs and adjectives:

Irregular ㄷ verbs

Verbs that end in ㄷ and that are considered irregular drop the ㄷ from the stem and is replaced with ㄹ before being conjugated if the conjugation to follow begins with a vowel.

듣다 (to listen): 듣 → 들 + 으시 + 어요 → 들으세요

레오 씨기 음악을 들으세요. Leo is listening to music.

Irregular ㅂ adjectives

With adjectives that end in the consonant ㅂ, the ㅂ is dropped and 우 is added instead. Because 우 is a vowel, -시- is used in this instance.

춥다 (to be cold): 춥 → 추우 + 시 + 어요 → 추우세요

많이 추우세요? Are you cold?

Irregular ㄹ verbs

With verbs that end in the consonant ㄹ,  the ㄹ is dropped entirely if the ㄹ is to be followed by a verb or adjective conjugation that begins with ㄴ, ㅂ, or ㅅ. Otherwise they are treated as if they end in vowels instead.

살다 (to live): 살 → 사 + 시 + 어요 → 사세요

우리 할머니가 독일에 사세요. My grandmother lives in Germany.

That’s it for this form of 존댓말. :)

For a more in depth look at the seven different types of irregular verbs and adjectives in Korean, please check out my special post regarding their individual rules by clicking here.

An irregular verb or adjective is a word that doesn’t follow the language’s standard conjugation rules. And just like with any language, Korean has irregular conjugation rules for certain verbs and adjectives that you absolutely need to know.

When we talk about “irregular” verbs or adjectives in Korean, this refers to verbs or adjectives that require spelling changes to the word stem depending on the grammar point being used to conjugate the sentence. For example, the final consonant of the word stem might be changed to a different one, or dropped entirely in other cases.

There are seven different types of irregular verbs/adjectives and we’ll look at them all in this post. They may be confusing at first, but the more you practice the easier it will become. Soon, it’ll be second nature to you! Actually, the most difficult thing about learning Korean irregular verbs/adjectives is that there is no way to tell which verbs/adjectives are irregular simply by looking at them. You will have to memorize which ones are irregular as you learn new words and review vocab. But it’s important to learn these rules early in your language learning journey. It’ll make things easier as you progress.

In this post we’re going to be looking at conjugating the verbs and adjectives with the informal-polite conjugation (-아/어요 + past and future tenses) though a few exceptions will be noted where it matters. Additional irregular verb conjugation rules for specific grammar pointsand other politeness levels of speaking styles can be found in the individual lesson posts on this blog.

This post is also super crazy long, so the body of it is located below the keep reading link!

- ㄷ irregular

Manyverbs whose final consonant is ㄷ are irregular, though there are a number of them that are not irregular. Care must be taken to memorize the difference between them.

As far as ㄷ irregular verbs go the main conjugation rule is: if the ㄷ is going to be followed by a vowel, the ㄷ is dropped and ㄹ is added to the stem instead. Then it is conjugated accordingly.

Let’s use 듣다 (to listen) to practice conjugating in the standard informal-polite style conjugation -아/어요. Since the final vowel in the word stem is not 아 or 오, that means 어요 would be added when conjugating. But since 어 is a vowel this means the final consonant ㄷ is going to change to ㄹ.

듣다: 듣 →  들 + 어요 →  들어요 / 들었어요 / 들을 거예요 / 들으세요 / 들어 주세요 / etc

However, if the final consonant of the word stem is going to be followed by a consonant when conjugated, then the ㄷ is not changed and is simply conjugated as normal. Let’s look at this using -습니다, formal-polite style in the present tense (more on formal-polite style in it’s own lesson later).

듣다: 듣 + 습니다 →  듣습니다

Since in this instance the ㄷ is followed by the ㅅ of -습니다, ㄷ remains unchanged.

Another irregular ㄷ verb is the verb 걷다 (to walk). Using informal polite style once again, let’s conjugate it.

걷다: 걷 →  걸 + 어요 →  걸어요 / 걸었어요 / 걸을 거예요

Now here is where it’s important to know what verbs are irregular and which are not. “걷다” means “to walk” but it can also mean “to tuck”, in which instance it is not an irregular verb. It would be conjugated normally, so 걷다 (to tuck) would simply become 걷어요, and so on.

Some additional irregular ㄷ verbs:

깨닫다 (to perceive, to realize)
묻다 (to ask)
싣다 (to load)

Some ㄷ verbs that are not irregular: 

믿다 (to trust, believe)
닫다 (to close)
받다 (to receive)
얻다 (to get, to gain)
묻다 (to bury)
쏟다 (to pour)

- ㄹ irregular

All verbs and adjectives that end in ㄹ are irregular. Yay! They are simply conjugated as if they do not end in a consonant, unless the following conjugation is adding an ㄴ, ㅂ, or ㅅ directly after the ㄹ, in which case the ㄹ disappears entirely. Still with me so far?

Let’s take the adjective 길다 (to be long) and use informal-polite style conjugation again.

길다: 길 + 어요 →  길어요 / 길었어요

Nothing out of the ordinary here. Let’s look at 길다 using a different grammar point.

Adding -(으)면 to a verb or adjective gives the meaning of “if”. -으면 is added to consonants and -면 is added to vowels. But since we know all ㄹ irregulars are conjugated as if they end in vowels instead, we know that the correct form of the conjugation for 길다 in this instance is -면, not -으면.

길으면X
길면O

This goes for any conjugation that has a vowel/consonant spelling distinction. ㄹ irregular words will always use the vowel form.

Let’s have a look at a sentence: 머리가 길어요. My hair is long.

Now what if you wanted to use the noun modifier ㄴ/은 to say “long hair” instead? This is where the ㄴㅂㅅ rule comes into play.

When using the noun modifier, ㄴ is added to words whose stem ends in a vowel, and 은 is added to those ending in a consonant. Since we know that all ㄹ verbs and adjectives are treated as if they end in vowels, we know we need to add ㄴ to 길다. And since we also know that words ending in ㄹ followed by ㄴ ㅂ or ㅅ have the ㄹ dropped, conjugation is simple.

길다: 길 →  기 + ㄴ →  긴

넌긴 머리가 잘 어울려. Long hair suits you.

A fun little way of remembering the ㄴ ㅂ ㅅ rule is to think of it like this: 나쁜 (ㄴ + ㅂ) 사람 (ㅅ). 나쁜 사람 means “bad person”, and when the “bad person” (ie: ㄴ ㅂ or ㅅ) comes out, ㄹ has to go home. :P

Here are some additional ㄹ irregular verbs and adjectives:

알다 (to know)
열다 (to open, unlock)
울다 (to cry)
팔다 (to sell)
힘들다 (to be difficult, tiring)
놀다 (to play)
들다 (to carry)
만들다 (to make)
멀다 (to be far)
살다 (to live)

- ㅂ irregular

Many words that end in ㅂ are irregular, but again there is no clear way of knowing which are and which are not. Exceptions must be memorized on an individual basis; I cannot stress how important this is.

This rule is mostly used with irregular adjectives, though there are verbs that fall under the same umbrella (such as 깁다, to sew and 눕다 to lie down). When conjugating a ㅂ irregular adjective or verb, the ㅂ is dropped and 우 is added instead. 

Some examples, again using the informal-polite style:

귀엽다 (to be cute): 귀엽 →  귀여 + 우 →  귀여우 + 어요  → 귀여워요 / 귀여웠어요 / 귀여울 거예요

두렵다 (to be scared): 두렵  →  두려 + 우 → 두려우 + 어요  → 두려워요 / 두려웠어요 / 두려울 거예요

어렵다 (to be difficult): 어렵  →  어려 + 우 → 어려우 + 어요  → 어려워요 / 어려웠어요 / 어려울 거예요

춥다 (to be cold): 춥  →  추 + 우 →  추우 + 어요 → 추워요 / 추웠어요 / 추울 거예요

A variation of the rule: In the words 돕다 (”to help”) and 곱다 (”to be kind hearted/pretty/nice/etc”) ㅂ changes to 오 instead of 우when being followed by the vowel 아 or 어. If followed by any other vowel, 우 is still used. All other irregular ㅂ words have 우 added instead regardless of what vowel follows.

돕다: 돕 →  도 + 오 + 아요 →  도와요 / 도왔어요 / 도울 거예요*.
*the future tense doesn’t use 아 or 어 immediately following the ㅂ so 우 is used.

And remember, because we can use adjectives with the noun modifier ㄴ/은 as well, this rule also applies to that conjugation. Since all the stems will now end in a vowel (우) only ㄴ needs to be added.

귀업다: 귀엽 →  귀여 + 우 →  귀여우 + ㄴ →  귀여운

A 씨가 귀여운 여자를 좋아해요.
A likes cute girls.

춥다: 춥 →  추 + 우 →  추우 + ㄴ →  추운

저는 추운 날씨를 좋아해요.
I like cold weather.

The exception to this drop ㅂ, add 우 rule is when using any conjugation other than 아/어 or it’s derivatives–in this instance the ㅂ is not dropped. For example if we look at the formal-polite form -습니다 in the present tense:

귀엽습니다
춥습니다

We’ll learn about the specific conjugation rules for -습니다 in a future lesson.

Here’s another reason why memorizing the irregulars and regular verbs is so important. While 곱다 (to be kind hearted/pretty/nice/beautiful/etc) is an irregular ㅂ word, the word 곱다 (to be numb from coldness) is not. There are about a zillion homonyms in Korean and you’d do best to memorize them and their irregular/regular status as soon as possible.

Some additional irregular ㅂ words: 

깁다 (to sew)
까다롭다 (to be picky, choosy)
더럽다 (to be dirty)
덥다 (to be hot)
맵다 (to be spicy)

Some regular ㅂ words:

입다 (to wear clothes)
잡다 (to catch)
접다 (to fold)
좁다 (to be narrow)
집다 (to pick up)

- 으 irregular

As far as irregulars go, 으 irregulars are pretty easy. Most words ending in 으 are irregular. If the final vowel of an 으 irregular word is 으, then the 으 is simply dropped and 아요 or 어요 is added based on the next vowel over when conjugating using the informal-polite style.

If the vowel before 으 is 아 or 오 then 아요 is added.

바쁘다 (to be busy) → 바쁘 + 아요 = 바빠요

If the vowel before 으 is a vowel other than 아 or 오 then 어요 is added.

예쁘다 (to be pretty) →  예쁘 + 어요 = 예뻐요

If the only vowel in the stem is 으 then 어요 is added.

크다 (to be big) → ㅋ + 어요 = 커요

The main thing to keep in mind with 으 irregulars is that the spelling of the word stem changes (ie dropping the 으)only when grammar points requiring 아/어요 or any derivative thereof are used.

For example, using the noun modifier ㄴ/은 does not change the 으 irregular adjectives because it is not adding an 아요 or 어요 variation to the word stem.

바쁘다: 바쁜
예쁘다: 예쁜
크다: 큰

Another example: using the -겠다 future tense (more on that later) does not change the spelling either, because it is not using a derivative of 아/어요.

예쁘다: 예쁘겠어요. →  there is no spelling change.

Some additional 으 irregular words:

쓰다 (to write)
끄다 (to turn off)
잠그다  (to lock)
나쁘다 (to be bad)
아프다  (to be painful)
슬프다 (to be sad)
기쁘다 (to be happy)

- 르 irregular

르 irregular verbs and adjectives are a little more tricky. They are separate from 으 irregular words and have their own rules.

For 르 irregular words when using the informal-polite conjugation style, the syllable is notdropped entirely like 으 irregular adjectives/verbs are. Instead, the next to last vowel before the 르 determines whether 아요 or 어요 is used, but an additional ㄹ is added to the end of the syllable block before the original ㄹ and only the ㅡ itself is dropped. All verbs/adjectives ending in 르 follow this rule except one (따르다, to follow or to fill). It sounds confusing, so have a look at these examples.

If the next to last vowel before 르 is 아 or 오, then ㄹ + 아요 is added.

빠르다 (to be fast) →  빠 + ㄹ →  빨  + ㄹ + 아요 → 빨라요

If the next to last vowel before 르 is anything other than 아 or 오, then ㄹ + 어요 is added.

부르다 (to be full) → 부 + ㄹ →  불 + ㄹ + 어요 → 불러요

Again, like 으 irregular words, the spelling of the word stem changes only when grammar points requiring 아/어요 or any derivative thereof are used.

For example, using the noun modifier ㄴ/은 does not change the 으 irregular adjectives because it is not adding an 아요 or 어요 variation to the word stem. 

빠르다: 빠른
부르다: 부른
다르다: 다른

Some examples of 르 irregular words:

다르다 (to be different)
마르다 (to be thirsty or to become thin)
모르다 (to not know)
바르다 (to apply, put on)
이르다 (to arrive at, to get to)
자르다 (to cut)
저지르다 (to commit [a crime], make [a mistake], do [something bad])
찌르다 (to pierce, to stab)

- ㅅ irregular

We’ve talked about all the above irregularities in various lesson posts on this blog already when it was needed, but ㅅ irregular words are not something we’ve covered yet.

In general, there aren’t very many ㅅ irregular verbs, and what few there are happen to be really easy to use. The bad news is there’s a ton of regular verbs that end in ㅅ and are conjugated normally. Again, the only way to know which ones are irregular is to memorize them.

When ㅅ irregular words are followed by a vowel, the ㅅ is dropped. That’s it. That’s the rule.

So if we take the word 낫다 (to be better) or 짓다 (to build) in the informal-polite style:

낫: 나 + 아요 →  나아요

감기는 나았어요.
My cold got better.

짓다: 지 + 어요 → 지어요

집을 지어요.
I build a house.

Remember, this occurs when followed by a vowel. For instance if we used the grammar point -고 있다 (to be in the process of doing something) then the ㅅ would not be dropped.

집을 짓고 있어요.
I am building a house.

Note: The ㅅ irregularity does not apply to words that have ㅅ as the fourth letter in a syllable block. IE: a word like 없다 does not follow any ㅅ irregularity rules.

Some ㅅ irregular words:

잇다 (to continue)
붓다 (to swell, to puff up or to pour into)
젓다 (to beat, whip, stir vigorously)

Some regular ㅅ words:

웃다 (to laugh)
벗다 (to take off clothes)
씻다 (to wash)

- ㅎ irregular

And last but not least, we have ㅎ irregular words. ㅎ irregulars are actually irregular irregulars. How fun, right? Most of the ㅎ irregular words are actually adjective versions of colors. Let’s take a look.

하얗다: to be white
까맣다: to be black
파랗다: to be blue
노랗다: to be yellow
빨갛다: to be red

Since they are adjectives, they can be used to modify nouns just like any other adjective using ㄴ/은. The rule for these ㅎ irregulars when looking to modify a noun is to drop the ㅎ and add ㄴ. Very easy!

하얗다: 하얗 →  하야 + ㄴ →  하얀
노랗다: 노랗 →  노라 + ㄴ →  노란
빨갛다: 빨갛 →  빨가 + ㄴ →  빨간

Now when you want to conjugate these adjectives using 아/어요 informal polite style or any of its derivative conjugations, there is a special rule in place for ㅎ irregular words.

When adding 아/어요 (or derivatives) to these words, the ㅎ is dropped and the final vowel changes to either 애 or 얘. If the final vowel is 아 or 어, it changes to 애, and if the final vowel is 야, it changes to 얘. For example:

노랗다: 노랗  →  노라 + 아/어요  →  노래요
빨갛다: 빨갛 →  빨가 +  아/어요 →  빨개요
하얗다: 하얗  → 하야 + 아/어요  → 하얘요
까맣다: 까맣 → 까마 + 아/어요 →  까매요
파랗다: 파랗 → 파라 + 아/어요 →   파래요

Here’s an example sentence: 그분의 우산은 노래요. That person’s umbrella is yellow.

But when the ㅎ irregular word is being used with grammar constructions starting with a vowel that do not begin in 아 or 어, then the ㅎ is simply dropped.

For example if we use the grammar point (으)니까 (another way of saying “because”, with it’s own connotations) then the word 파랗다 would simply become “파라니까”. The ㅎ is dropped and because that leaves the final letter in the word stem a vowel, the vowel spelling of (으)니까 is used.

And when the conjugation uses a consonant, the ㅎ isn’t dropped at all.

So for ㅎ irregular verbs you need to remember three main things:

1) ㅎ irregular word + followed by consonant conjugation →  no change
2) ㅎ irregular word + followed by a vowel conjugation other than 아/어요 (or derivatives) →  drop ㅎ, conjugate as if it were a word stem ending in a vowel
3) ㅎ irregular word + 아/어요 (or derivative) conjugation →  drop ㅎ, and change 아 and 어 to 애 and 야 to 얘.

The words 이렇다, 그렇다 and 저렇다 are not colors, but they also follow the ㅎ irregular. However, the specifics of the uses for these words and their conjugations + rules will be discussed in their own lesson.

There are a ton of words that end in ㅎ that do not follow the irregular rule such as 좋다 (to be good) or 많다 (to be many), and you need to memorize which ones are, and which ones are not.

That’s about it for irregular verbs in the informal-polite style. :) If you have any questions about how a verb is used with a particular grammar point, please make sure to check the lesson post for that grammar point for specific rules pertaining to irregular verbs and adjectives. All future lessons for grammar points and conjugation styles (formal polite, informal, 존댓말, etc) will also contain specific rules for irregular verbs as well, so don’t fret!

If there are any general questions, please feel free to send me an ask!

If you’ve ever even so much as glanced sideways at one Korean sentence I am sure you have noticed the 조사. There are a ton of different 조사 in Korean, and they each have their uses. Some of them are more subtle than others, but it’s important to know how to use 조사 in order for your sentences to sound natural. In this bonus lesson, we’ll be looking at some foundation 조사.

은/는 and 이/가

은/는 is a topic marker, so basically it’s only used when you’re introducing the topic that you’re talking about, and if the topic changes in the middle of the conversation/writing you’ll use it again. The best way to think of it is “As for…” or “In the case of…”. With that in mind, if you can translate what you’re writing into English and add “as for” without it sounding weird, generally you can get away with using 은/는.

은 follows a word ending in a consonant, and 는 follows words ending in a vowel.

저는수예요.
[As for me] I am Soo.

오늘은 비가 올 거라고 들었지만 내일은 비가 안 올 거라고 들었어요.
I heard that today it will rain, but [as for] tomorrow I heard that it won’t rain.

은/는 are also used as comparison particles. Today and tomorrow in the above example are both new topics, but are also being compared to one another for the difference in the weather.

이/가 are subject particles. You would not use 이/가 in these cases above because there is no subject that is doing a verb onto an object. As a general rule, if you see a 을/를 attached to the object being acted on by the verb, the subject of the sentence will use 이/가.

이 follows a word ending in a consonant and 가 follows a word ending in a vowel.

켄이 아주 똑똑해요.
Ken is quite smart.

학교가 어디에 있어요?
Where is the school?

민규 씨가 테니스를 쳤어요.
Mingyu played tennis.

A more polite form of 이/가 is 께서. They hold the same meaning, but using 께서 adds an additional level of politeness to the sentence.

을/를

을/를 are object particles. Object particles are attached to nouns to tell us what noun/object is being acting on by the verb. 을/를 are not used with adjectives. You would use 이/가 instead.

을 follows a word ending in a consonant and 를 follows a word ending in a vowel.

저는 어릴 때 일본어를배웠어요.
I learned Japanese when I was a child.
In this sentence the object being acted on by the verb “to learn” (배우다) is “Japanese” (일본어).

수업 후에 친구를 만나고 찜닭을 먹을 거예요.
After class I will meet my friend and eat jjimdak.
In this sentence the objects “friend” (친구) and jjimdak (찜닭) are being acted on by the verbs “to meet” (만나다) and “to eat” (먹다) respectively.

과/와 and 하고

과/와 is similar to 하고 in that they both mean “and,” but 하고 is used mostly in speaking and 과/와 is mostly used in writing. Of course there are exceptions (mostly in that if you use 함께 instead of 같이 it almost ALWAYS is paired with 와/과).

They are also opposite of 이/가 and 은/는 in that the consonant is paired with the consonant, and the vowel with the vowel, like so: 

재환과O레오와O      
재환와X레오과X

재환이O레오가O
재환가X레오이X

A more casual form of 하고 is (이)랑. For a more in depth look at these, check out Lesson 10.

한테 and 한테서 vs. 에게 and 에게서 vs. 에/에서

These all have the same meaning of “to” and “from,” but 한테/한테서 and 에게/에게서 are only used in the case of people and living things. Further, 한테/한테서 are used mainly in speaking, and 에게/에게서 in writing.

그녀가 친구한테 선물을 줬어요.
She gave a present to her friend.

그녀가 친구한테서 선물을 받았어요.
She received a present from her friend.

우리 엄마에게,
Dear Mom (To Mom)

그 남자에게서 심한 체취가 났어요.
A strong body odor came from the man.

So those are all cases of where a human or living thing was involved. In pretty much every other case where a “to” or “from” is needed, you’ll use 에 and 에서.

슈퍼주니어가 다음 달에 미국에 갈 거예요.
Next month Super Junior will go to the US.

저기요… 통화가 칠레에서왔어요.
Excuse me, you have a phone call from Chile.

Notice that even though the subject of the first sentence is a person or living thing, since the destination of the “to” is NOT a person or living thing, you’ll use 에 in that instance. The second sentence does not have a person or living thing involved at all, just a place where where the call isfrom, so you’ll use 에서.

에 is also used for time as well as locations. Let’s look at a few more examples.

학교가 어디에 있어요?  Where is the school?
In this sentence is used to ask about the general “existence” of the school’s location so 에 is paired with words like 있다/없다/살다 in such sentences.

학교에가요.
I am going to school.
In this sentence the school is the “destination” so 에 is paired with words like 가다/오다/다니다

4시에만나요. 
Let’s meet at 4.
The sentence is referencing the “time” at which the action is occurring so 에 is used. Note: some time nouns such as 지금, 어제, 오늘, 내일, 매일, 언제, etc don’t add 에.

(으)로 vs. 에

Both have the meaning of “to,” but 에 is specific while (으)로 is more general.

(으)로 can best be translated as “towards” or “heading for.” 으로 is used with words ending in a consonant, and 로 is used for words ending in vowels.

매일 아침에 학교에가요.
I go to school every morning.
This sentence is very specific in the location the “to” is describing, being the “school”.

저 쪽으로 가면 우체국이 오른쪽에 있어요.
If you go that way [towards that direction], the post office is on the right.

Be careful, because (으)로 also has the meaning of “by means of.”

홍대에 쉽게 가고 싶으면 지하철로가세요.
If you want to get to Hongdae easily, take the subway [go by means of the subway].

일반석으로 가면 훨씬 싼가요?
Is it a lot cheaper if I fly coach [by way of coach]?

에 vs. 에서

In this case, both of these mean “at” but one is a dynamic location and the other is not. It sounds complicated, but the best way to remember this is if you’re DOING something, if some kind of verb is involved, you’ll use 에서, while “at” in regards to time or general existence uses 에, like we covered above.

1시에 시간이 있나요?
Do you have time at one o'clock?

도서관에서 책을 읽었어요.
I read a book at the library.
Because you are doing something at the library, you have to have the dynamic location particle 에서.

콘서트는 올림픽공원에 있을 거예요.
The concert will be at Olympic Park.

콘서트는 올림픽공원에서 열릴 거예요.
The concert will be held at Olympic Park.

So for these two sentences, the content is exactly the same, but since the second sentence uses the verb “to be held” instead of the general existence “to be” (있다) it becomes a dynamic action and uses 에서.

에서 + 까지 vs 부터 + 까지

The markers 에서 and 까지 are used together to express the idea of -from one place and -to another. These markers are attached directly to locations.

어제 학교에서집까지 걸러서 갔어요
Yesterday I walked from school to my house.

그는 뉴욕에서로마까지 비행기로 갔어요.
He went from New York to Rome by plane.

Comparatively 부터 and 까지 is used with time. It expresses the idea of from one point in time to another.

법정은 금요일부터월요일까지휴정했어요.
Court was adjourned from Friday until Monday.

영화가 처음부터끝까지 아주 재미있었어요.
The movie was quite interesting from start to finish.

까지 can also be used on it’s own, where it holds the meaning of “until”. It is still used with time in this instance.

저는 정오까지기다렸어요.
I waited until noon.

그 전통은 현재까지 계속되고 있어요.
The tradition is being continued up until the present day.

That’s all for this lesson on basic 조사. :) There are many more we will be looking at going forward but I’m sure I’ve overloaded you enough for one lesson!

Questions?Send me an ask!

This lesson we will look at how to compare two items (nouns) in Korean using -보다 (더).

When making a comparison using -보다 (더), the subject markers 이/가 should be used. The noun followed by 이/가 is the main subject of the sentence, and the noun followed by -보다 (더) is what the subject is being compared to. -보다 (더) is added to the second noun and the 더 can be used to make the comparison stronger; it’s not required.

Your sentence should look like this:

[subject]+이/가 [2nd noun]보다 (optional 더) [verb/adjective].

한국말이 영어보다 (더) 어려워요. Korean is more difficult than English.
캐나다가 한국보다 (더) 커요. Canada is bigger than Korea.
제가 남동생보다 (더) 먹었어요. I ate more than my little brother.

The order of the items being compared does not affect the meaning of the sentence so long as -보다 is attached to the appropriate noun.

한국보다 캐나다가 커요 = 캐나다가 한국보다 커요
Canada is bigger than Korea.

You can also use 더 without -보다. “더” itself means “more” in English.

레오: 혁 씨하고 홍빈 씨 중에 누가 더 커요?
켄: 혁 씨가 더 커요.
Leo: Between Hyuk and Hongbin, who is taller?
Ken: Hyuk is taller.

The opposite of 더 (more) is 덜 (less). You can use it in the same way as 더 when making comparisons, but it’s almost more natural to use 더 instead of 덜. For example:

제가 남동생보다 덜 커요. I am less tall (shorter) than my younger brother.

This sentence is grammatically correct but it’d be more natural to say something like “남동생이 저보다 더 커요” (My younger brother is taller than me) instead.

Sometimes you’ll hear 덜 pronounced as 들; there’s no meaning difference here, 들 is just a slangy/cutesy way of saying 덜.

Nowif you wanted to say something was better than something else, there are two ways of doing this in Korean. The first way is to use 좋다 (to be good) and 나쁘다 (to be bad).

치킨이 피자보다 좋아요. Chicken is better than pizza.

However, if you say this the meaning is actually a lot closer to “I like chicken more than pizza”. If you want to say and mean that chicken is better than pizza, you need to use the word 낫다. We would translate 낫다 to “better” in English, but if we took it literally it means “more good” which isn’t something we’d say in English. Using 낫다 means you also do not need to use 더 as the “more” is already in the word itself.

치킨이 피자보다 나아요. Chicken is better than pizza.
*낫다 is a ㅅ irregular verb, we’ll be looking at all irregular verbs in their own lesson soon.

Note:낫다 is also used when describing getting better after being sick. 

병은 나았어요. I’m better. (literally: The sickness is better)
감기는 나았어요. My cold is better.

Above we’ve compared two items. What if you want to say something is “the most” of something else, or out of something else? You need to use a superlative. A superlative compares one part of something in relation to a larger group. The superlative we’ll look at in this lesson is the Korean word 제일 which can be translated as “the first” or “the most”.

제일 is used only with adjectives, and adverbs.

제일 커요. (adjective) O
제일 빨리 (adverb) O
제일 방 (noun)X
제일 먹어요 (verb) X

Unlike -보다 which is always attached to a noun, 제일 is written on its own, ie: not attached to any other word. It is placed in front of the comparing adjective or adverb in the sentence.

이 방이 제일 커요. This room is the biggest.
이 사진이 제일 예뻐요. This picture is the prettiest.
레오 씨가 아침에 제일 일찍 일어나요. Leo gets up earliest in the morning.
켄 씨가 일을 제일 빨리 했어요. Ken did his work the fastest.

Even though 제일 is not used with verbs on the whole, it can be used with a select few, such as 좋아하다, 싫어하다, and 잘하다.

여행을 제일 좋아해요. I like traveling best.
수영을 제일 싫어해요. I hate swimming the most.
유라 씨가 노래를 제일 잘해요. Yura sings best./Yura is the best singer.

The word 가장 is a synonym of 제일, but you will generally hear it used more in speech.

You may have noticed in one of the examples towards the top of the post the term 중에. 중에(서) is sometimes used when expressing superlatives. For example:

우리 반 학생들 중에서 A 씨가 제일 멋있어요. Out of everyone in our class, A is the coolest.
우라 반 학생들 중에서 누가 키가 커요? Out of our classmates, who is the tallest?
Kpop 노래 중에서 무슨 노래를 제일 좋아해요? Of all the kpop songs, which do you like best?
고기하고 야채 중에서 고기를 제일 좋아해요. Between meat and vegetables, I like meat best.

중에서, however, is not used when talking about places or locations. Instead, only the subject marker -에서 is used.

한국에서 63빌딩이 제일 높아요? Is the 63 Building the tallest in Korea?
세계에서 제일 노픈 산이 뭐예요? What is the tallest mountain in the world?

That’s about it for this lesson. :)

Questions?Ask away!

Inlesson 12 we learned how to ask someone to do a task politely using -으세요. And touched briefly on using it with the verb 주다 (to give).

In this lesson we’re going to be revisiting that, and going over the different connotations of using -주세요 vs -아/어 주세요. 

Now like I said before, “주세요” is probably one of the most common words listeners of kpop and watchers of kdramas tend to hear. Let’s take a look at a couple examples using 주세요 again.

책을 주세요. Please give me the book.
밥을 많이 주세요. Please give me a lot of rice.
돈을 주세요. Please give me money.

These sentences are very straight forward and the meanings are clear. But you’ll notice they’re only used with nouns/objects.

Adding -아/어 주세요 to a word stem changes the meaning to so that it is implied the action is somehow beneficial to you (or whoever the request is for) specifically. Think of it as asking for a polite favor rather than a polite command or request. Now not only are you asking someone to do something, it’s to do something specifically for your sake.

-아/어 주세요 is used with verbs.
If the final vowel before the end of the verb stem is 아 or 오 then -아 주세요 is added.
If the final vowel before the end of the verb stem is anything other than 아 or 오 then -어 주세요 is added.
If the verb ends with -하다, the 하다 becomes -해 주세요 instead.

닫다 (to close): 닫 + 아 주세요 →  닫아 주세요
읽다 (to read): 읽 + 어 주세요 →  읽어 주세요
하다: 하 → 해 주세요

문을 닫아 주세요. Please close the door (for me).
이 책을 읽어 주세요. Please read this book for me.
해 주세요. Please do this for me.

Let’s take look at another comparison example.

빨리 오세요.
빨리 와 주세요.

They could both be translated as “please come quickly” but the second sentence implies that the action requested will be beneficial to the speaker. So the main difference here is when you do not use 주다, you are simply asking or telling someone to do something, whereas when you use 주다 you are implying the person is doing something for you.

으 irregular verbs

With verbs that end in the vowel 으, the 으 is dropped and -어 주세요 is added.

쓰다 (to write): 쓰 →  ㅆ + 어 주세요 →  써 주세요

ㄷ irregular verbs

For irregular verbs ending in ㄷ, the ㄷ is changed to ㄹ and -어 주세요 is added.

듣다 (to listen): 듣 →  들 + 어주세요 →  들어 주세요

르 irregular verbs

Verbs ending in the letter block 르 have the 으 of the 르 dropped and an additional ㄹ is added to the stem before adding -아/어 주세요.

부르다 (to call): 부르 → 부ㄹ → 불ㄹ + 어 주세요 →  불러 주세요

전화번호를 써 주세요. Please write down the phone number.
제 이야기를 좀 들어 주세요. Please listen to me.
수라고 불러 주세요. Please call me Soo.

Bonus: To respond to a -아/어 주세요 request, you can use -아/어 줄게요 or to be extra polite, particularly if you’re interacting with elders, co-workers, etc, you can also use -아/어 드릴게요. 드리다 is the “high” form of 주다.

레오: 이 박스가 아주 무거워요. 도와 주세요.
켄: 네! 도와 줄게요. (도와 드릴게요.)
Leo: This box is very heavy. Help me, please.
Ken: Yes! I’ll help you.

We’ll be looking at -을게요 as it’s own grammar point in a future lesson. :)

That’s all for today! My ask box is always open if you have questions.

InLesson 19 we looked at how to ask someone politely to try or attempt to do something using -아/어 보다(보세요). In this post we’re going to learn how to say you already have tried/attempted/experienced something. There are different ways of saying this in Korean, but we’ll do the easiest one today.

-아/어 봤어요 is used to express a past experience. It is used with verbs.
If the final vowel before the end of the verb stem is 아 or 오 then -아 봤어요 is added.
If the final vowel before the end of the verb stem is anything other than 아 or 오 then -어 봤어요 is added.
If the verb ends with -하다, the 하다 becomes -해 봤어요 instead.

가다 (to go): 가 + 아 봤어요 →  가 봤어요 (have gone [somewhere])
먹다 (to eat): 먹 + 어 봤어요 →  먹어 봤어요 (have eaten [something])
-하다: 하 →  해 봤어요

레오: 제주에 가 봤어요. 아주 아름다웠어요.
켄: 아… 저도 거기에 가고 싶어요.
Leo: I’ve been to Jeju before. It was really beautiful.
Ken: Ah… I want to go there too.

켄: 저는 산낙지를 먹어 봤어요!
레오: 우웩!
Ken: I’ve eaten sannakji* before!
Leo: Yuck!
*octopus eaten raw that is cut up into pieces while still alive. it wiggles on your plate while you eat

켄: 번지점프가 재미있어요.
레오: 네, 한번 해 봤어요.
Ken: Bungee jumping is fun.
Leo: Yes, I’ve done it once.

Note: Just like with -아/어 보세요 you cannot use the verb 보다 (to see, to watch) with this grammar construction. Instead, just 봤어요 alone is used. Do not include an additional 보다.

봐 봤어요. X
봤어요O

그 영화가 슬퍼요. 한번 봤어요. That movie is sad. I saw it once.

That’s all for this lesson. :) 여러분, 주말 잘 보내세요!

In today’s Korean lesson we will be looking at the grammar phrase ‘It is pointless to…

You can say this in either three ways:

1) ~기에는 의미가 없다

2) ~는건 무의미하다.

3) ~도 소용이 없다

Let’s look at some example sentences

이대로 공부하다가는 다음주에 볼 시험을 불합격할텐데 지나치게 하기에는 의미가 없어요.

이대로 공부하다가는 다음주에 볼 시험을 불합격할텐데 지나치게 하는건 무의미해요. 

이대로 공부하다가는 다음주에 볼 시험을 불합격할텐데 지나치게 해도 소용이 없어요.

All saying: If you study like this you will fail anyway so there is no point in studying so effortly?

앞날의 일은 걱정해도 소용없다

앞날의 일은 걱정하는건 무의미해요

앞날의 일은 걱정하기에는 의미가 없어요.

All saying:  It’s pointless to worry about what lies ahead.

So this is a great thing to say when you are giving a speech if you are going to be working in a Korean business. 

Lets take a look at some examples.

저는 조만간 아시아 지역에서 영업을 시작하게 될 것을 알려 드리게 되어 기쁩니다.

I am pleased to announce that we will soon begin operating in Asia

저는 테리 레이가 생산 및 마케팅 전무이사를 맡게 된 것을 알리게 되어 아주 기쁩니다.

I am very pleased to announce that Terry Ray has taken  on the role of Executive Director of Production  and Marketing

존댓말 어휘: Formal Vocab

영업 - Business

조만간: Soon 

생산: Production

마케팅: Marketing

전무이사 : Executive director

을/를 맡다 (1): accept a role of / take on the role of.

맡다 also has other meanings but we will get on to that later

-강태빈

[Credit to Naver Dictonary]

In this lesson we will be looking at the grammar structure “전에 ~하지 않았어요?” This is used to ask a question about what someone has done in the past
A: 엘라, 전에 케이팝을 좋아하지 않았어?
B: 응 근데 이제는 요즘 중국 음악을 자주 들어.

영어 해설:
A: Ella, didn’t you used to like K-pop?
B: I used to but now I listen to Chinese music often these days

And that’s how it goes ^^
- 강태빈

It’s quite difficult to explain but you use V게 내버려 두다 as said on the title: to leave a person do V/ to leave a person and let them do V (btw this is commonly used).

Take a look at the examples below to get a better understanding of the grammar point:

나 좀 그냥 혼자 있게 내버려 둬! (나 좀 그냥 혼자 있게 놔둬 요!)
Just leave me alone!

울게 내버려두다 (울게 놔둬 요 )
To leave a person alone and let them cry

남을 제멋대로 하게 내버려 두다 ( 남을 제멋대로 하게  놔둬 요 ) 
Leave a person to do as they like

일이 되어가는 대로 내버려 두다 (일이 되어가는 대로 놔둬 요 )
Leave the matter as it is

일이 흘러가는 대로 내버려두다 ( 일이 흘러가는 대로 놔둬 요 )
To let things slide

날 좀 살게 내버려 둬줘! ( 날 좀 살게 놔둬줘 요 !)
Just let me live!

제멋대로 살게 내버려 두다 ( 제멋대로 살게 놔둬요)
To let a person live as they like/ To leave a person and let them live as they like

-구아영 & 강태빈

This one is an easy one haha!

로맨스를 참을수(가*) 없어요
I can’t stand romance

엄마랑 싸울때 참을 수가 없어요
I can’t stand it when I fight with my mum.

시끄러운 사람들 참을 수가 없어요
I can’t stand loud people.

* You can take out the subject particle 가

You would use ㄹ/을까 하다가 to express your plan on doing something then something interrupted you from doing said plan.

You need to also understand that ㄹ/을까 하다 is something you contemplate or think about doing. E.g. I’m thinking of moving to Korea (한국에 이사할까 해요) or I’m thinking of learning another language (다른 언어 배울까 해요)

E.g. sentences

기차를 탈까 하다가 표값을 알고나서 버스를 타기로 했어요
I was planning on taking the train but after finding out/ knowing the price, I decided to take the bus

올해 한국에 갈까 하다가 프랑스에 가기로 했어요
I was planning to go to Korea this year but I decided to go to France.

난 친구랑 식당에 갈까 하다가 그친구가 바빠서 집에 있을거야
I was planning on going out with a friend but that friend is busy so I will stay at home.

Time to change the style of the way i try to explain things really. 

Instead of giving you English translation of sentences of what they  mean in Korean, I want to make sure you understand it yourselves.

Instead of translating I will show you when to use it. These can be meaning in the past tense but I think it is much easier to use it in the future tense, There other ways to use If in the past tense

다 보면 = If you keep, continue. V

톰은 이렇게 한국말을열심히공부하다 보면 미래에는 한국인처럼 유창히 얘기할수 있을것 같아요. In speech ‘을’ can be taken out

I thinkif tom continues study Korean hard like this, In the future he will be able to talk Korean fluently like native Korean person.

In this case

Speaker: If tom does continues something, In the future he can do this.

That is as simple as I can get it