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!

Using the Korean grammar point -은 지 …. 됐다 you will be able to express the amount of time which has passed since an event occurred. It has the same meaning as the English phrase “It has been (length of time) since….”. A term referring to an amount of time is required between the -은 지 and 됐다 portions of this grammar point. For example: 3시간, 하루, 일주일, 2개월 (두 달), 5년, etc.

-은 지 (시간) 됐다 is used with verbs.
-은 지 is added to verb stems ending in consonants.
-ㄴ 지 is added to verb stems ending in vowels. 

먹다: 먹 + 은 지 →  먹은 지 (시간) 됐다
공부하다: 공부하 + ㄴ 지 →  공부한 지 (시간) 됐다

레오: 언제부터 우리 학교에서 공부했어요?
켄: 이 학교에서 공부한 지 1년 됐어요.
Leo: When did you start studying at our school?
Ken: It’s been a year since I started studying at this school.

Additional examples:

A: 한국어를 언제부터 배우셨어요?
B: 한국어를 배운 지 5개월 됐어요.
A: When did you start studying Korean?
B: It’s been 5 months since I started studying Korean.

A: B 씨, 여기에는 웬일이세요?
B: 이 근처 살아요. 여기로 이사 온 지 2주쯤 됐어요.
A: B, what are you doing here?
B: I live in the area. I moved here about two weeks ago.

A: 점심 먹으러 같이 갈까요?
B: 아침 식사한 지 2시간밖에 안 돼서 배가 안 고파요.
A: Shall we go eat lunch together?
B: It has only been two hours since I’ve had breakfast so I’m not hungry.

Now let’s talk a little bit about context usage with sentences using this grammar point. Let’s say your friend walks into the room where you’re watching TV and asks you how long you’ve been watching TV for.

You would respond with: 텔레비전을 본 지 10분 됐어요.

The meaning here is “I’ve been watching TV for 10 minutes.” (or “It’s been 10 minutes since I started watching TV.” either translation is correct in this instance). But imagine you aren’t watching the TV. The TV is off and you’re not watching anything at all. Your friend walks in and asks you how long it’s been since you last watched TV.

You would respond with: 텔레비전을 본 지 10분 됐어요.

The meaning here is “I haven’t watched TV for 10 minutes.” (or “It’s been 10 minutes since I watched TV.”). Yes, they are the exact same responses that have different meanings based on situational use. This is because the word “지” is a pseudo-noun that refers to the period of time of when an action took place, until the present moment in time. This means that the action can still be on-going, or that the action has already stopped. And in the instance where you want to talk about a stopped action and how long it’s been since the action has happened, you can use the same construction as if the action is currently on-going in Korean. So the sentences in Korean would be identical, but the meaning/correct translation needs to be inferred from the situation on the whole.

텔레비전을 본 지 10분 됐어요 means “It’s been 10 minutes since I started watching TV” (in the case of you’re currently watching while saying this) or “it’s been 10 minutes since I last watched TV” (in the case you’re not currently watching). This dual meaning is also because “to watch” is a verb that continues to progress forward. The action doesn’t happen all in once instance. But there are verbs that when used with this grammar point can only mean one thing, and cannot be interpreted differently.

For example the verb 결혼하다 (to get married). This verb refers to the act of getting married, not the state of being married. So if I said:

이제 결혼한 지 3년 됐어요

The only way this can be interpreted is “It has been 3 years since I got married.”. Because “getting married” is not a continuous state (I didn’t “start” getting married or “stopped” getting married at any point, I just got married). In this instance the “지” pseudo-noun refers to the period of time from the marriage ceremony to the present day. Other verbs that have similar usage to this would be 졸업하다 (to graduate) or 오다 (to come), for example.

To figure out which verbs can hold dual meaning when using this grammar point and which do not you should keep in mind what I mentioned above. Does the action continue if started (does it “progress”) and have a definite end point? Or is it a one off action (getting married, graduating, starting to date someone, etc)? It sounds pretty confusing when written out like this but when you use this grammar point in every day conversation 99% of the time you won’t have to worry about this.

If you wanted to ask someone questions about how long it’s been since an action was completed you can use words like 얼마나, or 오래. In this case, the word would replace the (시간) in the grammar construction.

한국어를 공부한 지 얼마나 되었어요?
How long has it been since you started studying Korean?

텔레비전 을 본 지 오래 됐어?
Have you been watching TV for a while?

And in reply, besides using the exact amount of time, it’s also very common to say something like 얼마나 안 되다, or 조금밖에 안  /  (시간)밖에 안 되다 as well.

레오: 텔리비전을 본 지 오래 됐어?

켄: 텔레비전을 본 지 얼마나 안 됐어.
      텔레비전을 본 지 조금밖에 안 됐어.
      텔레비전을 본 지 10분밖에 안 됐어.

Leo: Have you been watching TV for a while?

Ken: I haven’t been watching TV for very long.
        It’s been just a little bit since I started watching TV.
        It hasn’t been longer than 10 minutes since I started watching TV.

And as far as irregular verbs go with this grammar point, the standard rules apply.

듣다 →  들은 지
살다 →  산 지
짓다 →  지은 지
낫다 →  나은 지
돕다 →  도운지

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.

That it for this lessons. :) Please send an ask with any questions!

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!

After you had your shower you decided to 머리를 말리다 and 수건으로 몸을 닦아요. You did this quickly so you wouldn’t be late for work.
After you 수건으로 몸을 닦아요. You began to 바디 로션을 발라요 and 옷을 입어요.
Once your hair was dry you 머리를 빗어요. And 욕실에 들어갔어요.

VOCAB:
머리를 말리다 - When you want to dry your hair you do this action

수건으로 몸을 닦다 - You dry your self with a towl

옷을 입다 - It is the opposite of taking your clothes off

머리를 빗다 - you do this with a comb and place it on your head.

Korean Grammar: N삼아(서)

For my 50th post on ParistoKorea, here’s a post about a lesser-known but nonetheless useful grammar point:

N삼아(서)

“엄마가 너랑 놀지 말래.. 차별의 시작”, 휠체어 타는 20대 청년의 시선

Interview with a young man in his twenties in a wheelchair about the discrimination he’s experienced for being disabled.

- 어린이뉴스: 안녕하세요. 본인 소개를 해줄 수 있나요?

휠체어 타는 20대 청년: “소개요? 사람들이 자기를 소개할 때 눈·코·입을 자세히 설명하지 않는 것처럼 저는 단지 휠체어 시점으로 살아가고 있는 20대 청년입니다.”

- 감사합니다. 먼저 오셔서 문 쪽 가까이 앉아 계셨는데요. 장소를 정할 때 아무 곳을 선택할 수 없을 것 같습니다. 고려하는 부분이 있으신가요?

“저는 휠체어를 타고 이동하기 때문에 휠체어를 먼저 생각해야 합니다. 카페나 식당을 갈 때면 휠체어가 출입할 수 있는지, 계단이나 문턱(door sill)으로 인해 출입이 어렵지 않은지 먼저 생각해야 하고, 건물에 장애인용 화장실이 있는지 생각하게 됩니다.

한 번은 소문난 (well-known) 맛집이라고 해서 찾아갔는데, 마땅한(proper, suitable) 이유 없이 입장 거부를 당한 경험도 있습니다. 비장애인의 편의시설(convenient facilities)과 제가 생각하는 편의시설은 아마 조금 다른 의미일 것 같습니다.”

- 그렇다면, 혹시 지내면서 불편했던 경험이 있으셨나요?

“많습니다. 모든 사람이 그런 것은 아니지만, 특정 사람들은 장애인에 관한 단어 선택만 조심하려는 경향이 있습니다. 사실 더 중요한 것은 장애인을 대하는 태도인데 말이죠.

어느 날 카페를 갔는데요. 어떤 분이 말을 겁니다. "몸이 아파서 힘드시겠어요. 근데 카페를 나오셨네요”, “열심히 사시네” 이런 말을 쉽게 합니다. 그 사람은 제가 걸음을 못 걷는 것에 초점을 맞춰서(to take the focus on) 이야기를 한 거죠. 다리가 불편한 것은 태어날 때부터 그랬고 익숙해졌으니 생각보다 불편하지 않지만, 가장 힘든 것은 은연중에(caught unaware, without realizing) 차별하는 겁니다.

또 한 번은, 전철역 개찰구 앞에서 스마트폰을 보고 있었는데, 다른 사람이 갑자기 와서, “안으로 못 들어가는 거야? 카드를 찍고 들어가는 거야"라며, 낮춰 보는 시선으로 (while looking down on~)말 거는 사람도 있습니다. 심하게는 "거기 장애인, 이거 네 물건 아니야?"라는 표현으로 부르거나, 처음 본 사람이 "병원 가는 거야?"라고 추측해서 말하기도 합니다. 대답을 안 하면, 또 대답을 왜 안 하냐고 뭐라 하기도 하고요. 그분은 아마도 장애인한테 관심을 주었는데, 대답을 안 해서 무시당했다고 생각한 것 같습니다.” […]

출처 : 어린이뉴스

Korean Grammar — 차마 Vㄹ 수 없다/차마 못 V

차마 Vㄹ 수 없다

Grammar: ~(ㄴ/는)다고도 할 수 있다 / N(이)라고도 할 수 있다

~(ㄴ/는)다고도 할 수 있다 / N(이)라고도 할 수 있다

I realized that I hadn’t updated my blog in so long that I decided to add another post, this time a short introduction to Han Kang’s The Vegetarian in Korean. Check it out:

한강의 채식주의자

Korean Words #8

All words can be found in Astro’s All Night (전화해)

결국 (gyeolguk) = eventually

한껏 (hankkeot) = as much as possible

살짝 (saljjak) = slightly

의미 (uimi) = sense / meaning

밤새 (bamsae) = all night

모습 (moseup) = appearance

전하다 (jeonhada) = to convey (a message)

졸리다 (jollida) = to feel sleepy

나른하다 (nareunhada) = to feel drowsy / sluggish

포근하다 (pogeunhada) = to be cozy

야릇하다 (yareut-hada) = to be odd

부지런하다 (bujireonhada) = to be hardworking / diligent

고민하다 (gominhada) = to worry

일어나다 (ireonada) = to get up

끊기다 (kkeunkida) = to be cut off / disconnected

Korean vocab #7

all words can be found in IKon’s Goodbye Road (이별길)

- 무덤덤하다 (mudeomdeomhada) = to be calm

- 뜨뜻미지근하다 (tteutteunmijigeunhada) = to be halfhearted / nonchalant

- 험하다 (heomhada) = to be rough

- 잔인하다 (janinhada) = to be cruel

- 내뱉다 (naebaetda) = to spit / to blurt out

- 아프다 (apeuda) = to be hurt

- 버리다 (beorida) = to throw away

- 감정 (gamjeong) = one’s emotions / feelings

- 상처 (sangcheo) = wound

- 집착 (jipchak) = obsession

- 관심 (gwanshim) = interest

- 신뢰 (shinlwe) = faith (in someone), trust (in someone)

- 추억 (chueok) = memory

- 고작 (gojak) = at most…

Nationality

Saying your nationality

어느 나라 사람이에요? = What is your nationality?

저는 ____ 사람입니다 = I am _____

어디에서 왔어요? = Where are you from?

저는 _____에서 왔어요 = I am from _____

*fill in the blanks with country names, even in the nationality category because it literally translates to “I am a (Korea) person*

Country name list

USA = 미국

Canada = 캐나다

Japan = 일본

China = 중국

South Korea = 한국

Germany = 독일

Australia = 호주

India = 인도

France = 프랑스

United Kingdom = 영국

Taiwan = 대만

South Africa = 남아프리카

*i won’t name every country/location, if you need to know your country just dm me and i can translate!*

Korean Vocab #6

all words can be found in RAINZ’s Juliette

To be soaked = 적시다

To control = 걷잡다

To steal = 빼앗다

To roam = 떠돌다

To make a forced landing (from flying) = 불시착하다

To vow = 맹세하다

To change = 변하다

To be worn out = 닳다

To dedicate = 바치다

To pick/pluck = 따다

To aim = 노리다

To turn one’s back on = 등지다