67% found this document useful (3 votes)

2K views84 pages

Korean Future Tense Basics

This document introduces how to talk about the future tense in Korean. It discusses using the ending ᄅ/을 거예요 to express "will" or "going to" do something. It provides examples of changing different verb stems ending in vowels and consonants into future tense forms. Examples are given for common verbs like 가다 (to go), 하다 (to do), 입다 (to wear), and 만나다 (to meet). The document emphasizes that while the future tense form is common, Koreans also frequently use the present tense to imply future events based on context.

Uploaded by

Lizeht Ortiz

We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.

Available Formats

Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

67% found this document useful (3 votes)

2K views84 pages

Korean Future Tense Basics

Uploaded by

Lizeht Ortiz

We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.

Available Formats

Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

You are on page 1/ 84

TalkToMeInKorean.

com - Free Korean Lesson Notes

LEVEL 2 LESSON 1

Welcome to Level 2!!!!!! And congratulations on making your way through Level 1. In Level 2,

we are going to be looking at grammar points and expressions that you can build upon what

you have learned through Level 1.

In this lesson, we are going to learn how to talk about the future in Korean.

Future Tense
The most common way of making future tense sentences in Korean is adding ㄹ/을 거예요

[l/eul geo-ye-yo].

Verb + ㄹ/을 거예요 = future tense!

How to determine whether to use ㄹ 거예요 or 을 거예요:

1. Verb stems ending with a vowel (보다, 가다, 자다) are followed by ㄹ 거예요.

2. Verb stems ending with a consonant (먹다, 찾다, 붙다) are followed by 을 거예요.

(**There is no complex reason for this. It’s just for the ease of pronunciation.)

3. Exception: Verb stems already ending with ㄹ at the end (놀다, 멀다, 살다) are

followed just by 거예요.

When a verb is changed into this form, it takes the meaning of “to be going to” do something

or “will” do something. But as you will find out when you hear more Korean spoken between

native speakers, the present tense can also serve to express the future, when the context is very

clear.

For example, “I’m going to go tomorrow.” is 내일 갈 거예요. in the future tense. But even if you

say 내일 가요. which is in the present tense, it still makes perfect sense, depending on the situ-

ation.

Examples
가다 [ga-da] = to go

가 + ㄹ 거예요. [ga + l geo-ye-yo]

--> 갈 거예요. [gal geo-ye-yo] = I’m going to go. I will go.

지금 갈 거예요. = I’m going to go (there) now.

혼자 갈 거예요. = I’m going to go alone.

내일 갈 거예요. = I’m going to go tomorrow.

하다 [ha-da] = to do

하 + ㄹ 거예요. [ha + l geo-ye-yo]

--> 할 거에요. [hal geo-ye-yo]

뭐 할 거예요? = What are you going to do?

언제 할 거예요? = When are you going to do (it)?

이거 정말 할 거예요? = Are you really going to do it?

입다 [ip-da] = to wear

입 + 을 거예요. [ip + eul geo-ye-yo]

--> 입을 거예요. [i-beul geo-ye-yo]

청바지 입을 거예요. = I’m going to wear blue jeans.

티셔츠 입을 거예요. = I’m going to wear a t-shirt.

뭐 입을 거예요? = What are you going to wear?

만나다 [man-na-da] = to meet

만나 + ㄹ 거예요. [man-na l geo-ye-yo]

--> 만날 거예요. [man-nal geo-ye-yo]

누구 만날 거예요? = Who are you going to meet?

어디에서 만날 거예요? = Where are you going to meet?

언제 만날 거예요? = When are you going to meet?

팔다 [pal-da] = to sell

팔 + 거예요. [pal geo-ye-yo]

--> 팔 거예요. [pal geo-ye-yo]

뭐 팔 거예요? = What are you going to sell?

어디에서 팔 거예요? = Where are you going to sell?

얼마에 팔 거예요? = At what price are you going to sell it?

In this lesson, we are looking at the object marking particles. As we mentioned a few

times through our previous lessons, there are different types of particles in Korean, and these

particles (subject marking particles, topic marking particles, location marking particles, and so

on) are what make it easy to understand Korean sentences, even when the word order changes.

But more often than not, when the meaning of a certain sentence can be still very clear WITH-

OUT using a certain particle, Korean speakers like to drop the particle and just not say it. Like

many other rules in speaking Korean, this is also for the ease of pronunciation and for the

shortening of the phrase.

So far, we have looked at many verbs. Verbs can be divided into transitive verbs (verbs that

need objects) and intransitive verbs (verbs that do not need objects), and in English this is

much more clear because even when a noun is repeatedly referred to (i. e. “Did you find your

wallet? / Yes, I found it.), you do not get rid of the part that refers to “the wallet” - you still

have it there by saying “it” instead of “the wallet”.

But in Korean, since the same mini dialog as above will often go like this: “지갑 찾았어요? (lit-

eral translation: “wallet found?” / 네. 찾았어요. (literal translation: “yes. found.”), the distinction

between transitive verbs and intransitive verbs is not as strong as in English and many other

languages.

And that’s where object marking particles come in to play.

Object marking particles:

을 [eul] - used after a noun ending in a consonant

를 [reul] - used after a noun ending in a vowel

What does an object marking partcle do?

In English, if you write “an apple” and do not write the verb that goes with it, there is no way

for you to tell what kind of role it is going to take in a sentence.

But in Korean, even if you do not write or say the verb, just by adding the right particle after

the noun, you can express the role of the noun or pronoun even before you say the verb.

“An apple” - in English, it’s completely neutral as is.

“사과” - in Korean, as is, it’s neutral too.

“사과를” - even if you don’t say the verb, you know that 사과 is going to be the OBJECT of
the verb.

So you can predict the verbs to an extent - “eat an apple, buy an apple, sell an apple, find an

apple, throw an apple, draw an apple, etc.”

“ 사과가” - you know that 사과 is going to be the SUBJECT of the verb.

You can predict the verbs here as well - “the apple is good, is bad, is expensive, will be big, was

small, can be good for health, etc.”

“ 사과는” - you know that the speaker is going to say something about 사과 in comparison to
other things or bring up the topic of 사과 for the first time.

How object marking particles are dropped

If you want to translate “What did you do yesterday?” literally using all the elements, it’s very

unnatural in Korean.

= “어제 <the name of the other person> 씨는 뭐를 했어요?”

So, unless you are talking about a THIRD person, you don’t need to say the name of the other

person here, so it becomes

= “어제 뭐를 했어요?”

And since it’s also clear that “뭐” (= what) is NOT the subject of the sentence, (it’s the PERSON

that did WHAT, not the other way around) you can drop 를 there.

= “어제 뭐 했어요?”

When do you need to use object marking particles?

You need to use them when you want to clarify the relation between the object word and the

verb. When the object and the verb are close, it’s very easy. You can either add the particle or

not. It doesn’t make too much difference. But when the object word is far away from the verb,

the relation or the connection between the words are weakened, so you need the particle to be

used to make the meaning clear.

텔레비전 봐요. = I watch TV.

↓

텔레비전 봐요? = Do you watch TV?

↓

텔레비전 자주 봐요? = Do you watch TV often?

↓

텔레비전(을) 일주일에 몇 번 봐요? = How many times a week do you watch TV?

As the object of the setnences (텔레비전) gets further and further away from the verb (봐요),

you need to make the relation of the words clearer by using the object marking particle.

After two previous lessons that introduced rather heavy topics (future tense and object marking

particles), we would like to introduce something very easy to learn yet very useful to know. Like

many languages in the world, there are many conjuctions in the Korean language. In this lesson

we are introducing two of them: 그리고 and 그래서.

1. 그리고 [geu-ri-go]

그리고 [geu-ri-go] has the meaning of “and” and “and then”, depending on the context.
그리고 is used both for linking nouns and phrases, but in colloquial situations, 그리고 is more

commonly used for linking phrases.

Example (linking nouns)

- 커피, 빵, 그리고 물 [keo-pi, ppang, geu-ri-go mul] = coffee, bread and water

Example (linking phrases)

(1) 친구를 만났어요. [chin-gu-reul man-na-sseo-yo]

- 친구 = friend

- 를 = object marking particle

- 만나다 = to meet

- 만났어요 = past tense of 만나다

(2) 밥을 먹었어요. [ba-beul meo-geo-sseo-yo]

- 밥 = rice, meal

- 을 = object marking particle

- 먹다 = to eat

- 먹었어요 = past tense of 먹다

(1) and (2) = 친구를 만났어요 and 밥을 먹었어요.

= 친구를 만났어요. 그리고 밥을 먹었어요.

2. 그래서 [geu-rae-seo]

그래서 [geu-rae-seo] has the meaning of “therefore” and “so”, and just like in English, you
can use this word between two sentences to show a logical relation between the two or more

sentences.

Example

(1) 오늘 비가 왔어요. [o-neul bi-ga wa-sseo-yo]

- 오늘 = today

- 비가 오다 = to rain

- 비가 왔어요 = past tense of 비가 오다

(2) 집에 있었어요. [ ji-be i-sseo-sseo-yo]

- 집 = house, home

- 있다 = to be

- 있었어요 = past tense of 있다

(1) + (2) = 오늘 비가 왔어요. therefore 집에 있었어요.

= 오늘은 비가 왔어요. 그래서 집에 있었어요.

More sample sentences:

1. 김치는 맛있어요. 그리고 한국 음식이에요.

[gim-chi-neun ma-si-sseo-yo. geu-ri-go han-guk eum-si-gi-e-yo]

= Kimchi is delicious. And it is Korean food.

- 김치 = Kimchi

- 맛있다 = to be delicious

- 한국 음식 = Korean food

2. 저는 학생이에요. 그리고 프랑스어를 공부해요.

[ jeo-neun hak-saeng-i-e-yo. geu-ri-go peu-rang-seu-eo-reul gong-bu-hae-yo]

= I am a student. And I am studying French.

- 저 = I (humble)

- 학생 = student

- 프랑스어 = French (language)

- 공부하다 = to study

3. 저는 학생이에요. 그래서 돈이 없어요.

[ jeo-neun hak-saeng-i-e-yo. geu-rae-seo do-ni eop-seo-yo]

= I am a student. So I don’t have money.

- 돈 = money

- 없다 = to not be, to not exist

4. 김치는 맛있어요. 그래서 김치를 많이 먹어요.

[gim-chi-neun ma-si-sseo-yo. geu-rae-seo gim-chi-reul ma-ni meo-geo-yo]

= Kimchi is delicious. So I eat a lot of Kimchi.

- 많이 = a lot in quantity or frequency

- 먹다 = to eat

In the previous lesson, one of the words that we introduced was 그리고 [geu-ri-go], which

means “and” and is used to link both nouns and phrases. But 그리고 is not the only word in

Korean that means “and”. In fact there are many different ways to say “and” in Korean. We are

going to introduce two more in this lesson.

하고 [ha-go] = and
** 하고 is used like a particle and attached right after a noun without space.

Example

이거 [i-geo] = this, this thing

이거하고 이거 [i-geo-ha-go i-geo] = this and this

이거하고 이거 주세요. [i-geo-ha-go i-geo ju-se-yo] = Give me this and this.

(이)랑 [(i)rang] = and

** If a noun ends in a vowel, you use 랑 after it and if it ends with a final consonant, you use

이랑, to make it easier to pronounce.

** (이)랑 and 하고 are almost always interchangeable, but (이)랑 is more colloquial and

casual, so (이)랑 is not very commonly used in very formal settings.

Example

우유 [u-yu] = milk

빵 [ppang] = bread

우유랑 빵 [u-yu-rang ppang] = milk and bread

우유랑 빵 샀어요. [u-yu-rang ppang sa-sseo-yo] = I bought milk and bread.

Another meaning of 하고 and (이)랑

Both 하고 and (이)랑 are used to mean “and” and connect nouns, but depending on the con-

text, it can also mean “with”. And it is usually very easy to tell which meaning it takes.

친구하고 영화 봤어요.
[chin-gu-ha-go yeong-hwa bwa-sseo-yo]

= I saw a movie with a friend.

** Note that it’s unlikely that this sentence means “I watched [a friend and a movie].”

누구랑 갔어요?
[nu-gu-rang ga-sseo-yo?]

= Who did you go with?

If you want to make your meaning much more clear, you can add the word 같이 [ga-chi] after

하고 or (이)랑. 같이 means “together” so 하고 같이 or (이)랑 같이 means “together with”.

So while 친구하고 영화 봤어요. makes perfect sense, if you say 친구하고 같이 영화 봤어

요, it’s even better. The same goes for 누구랑 갔어요? and 누구랑 같이 갔어요?

More sample sentences by our friends!

경미: 남자친구하고 데이트할 거예요.

[nam-ja-chin-gu-ha-go de-i-teu-hal geo-ye-yo]

= I’m going to go on a date with my boyfriend.

경미: 매운 거랑 단 거 좋아해요.

[mae-un geo-rang dan geo jo-a-hae-yo]

= I like spicy foods and sweet foods.

석진: 대통령하고 춤을 출 거예요.

[dae-tong-ryeong-ha-go chu-meul chul geo-ye-yo]

= I’m going to dance with the President.

석진: 선생님하고 밥을 먹을 거예요.

[seon-saeng-nim-ha-go ba-beul meo-geul geo-ye-yo]

= I’m going to eat with my teacher.

영주: 내일 선생님하고 경복궁에 갈 거예요.

[nae-il seon-saeng-nim-ha-go gyeong-bok-gung-e gal geo-ye-yo]

= I’m going to go to 경복 Palace with my teacher tomorrow.

영주: 어제 홍대하고 신촌에 갔어요.

[eo-je hong-dae-ha-go sin-cho-ne ga-sseo-yo]

= I went to 홍대 and 신촌 yesterday.

** 홍대 and 신촌 are both popular hang out spots for young people.

In this lesson, we are going to introduce the names of the days in a week.

월요일 [wo-ryo-il] = Monday

화요일 [hwa-yo-il] = Tuesday
수요일 [su-yo-il] = Wednesday
목요일 [mo-gyo-il] = Thursday
금요일 [geu-myo-il] = Friday
토요일 [to-yo-il] = Saturady
일요일 [i-ryo-il] = Sunday

The only part that changes in the names for the days of the week is the first letter. The second

and the third letters together, 요일 means “day of the week” and 월, 화, 수, 목, 금, 토, 일 are the

unique names of the days.

월 [wol] = the Moon

화 [hwa] = fire

수 [su] = water

목 [mok] = tree

금 [geum] = gold, iron

토 [to] = earth, soil, ground

일 [il] = the Sun

Many of the names for the days of the week are related to the names of the planets in our So-

lar System.

화요일 = Tuesday / 화성 [hwa-seong] = Mars

수요일 = Wednesday / 수성 [su-seong] = Mercury

목요일 = Thursday / 목성 [mok-seon] = Jupiter

금요일 = Friday / 금성 [geum-seong] = Venus

토요일 = Saturday / 토성 [to-seong] = Saturn

Sample sentences from our friends!

란: 저는 금요일마다 밤새 술을 마셔요.

[ jeo-neun geu-myo-il-ma-da ban-sae su-reul ma-syeo-yo]

= I drink all night long every Friday.

란: 토요일에는 소풍을 갈 거예요.

[to-yo-i-re-neun so-pung-eul gal geo-ye-yo]

= I’m going to go on a picnic on Saturday.

미경: 어제는 진짜 신나는 금요일이었어요.

[eo-je-neun jin-jja sin-na-neun geu-myo-il-i-eo-sseo-yo]

= Yesterday was a really exciting Friday.

미경: 저는 월요일에 영화를 봤어요.

[ jeo-neun wo-ryo-i-re yeong-hwa-reul bwa-sseo-yo]

= I watched a movie on Monday.

혜진: 토요일 저녁에는 새로운 언어 공부를 시작해요.

[to-yo-il jeo-nyeo-ge-neun sae-ro-un eo-neo gong-bu-reul si-ja-jae-yo]

= This Saturday evening, I’m going to start studying a new language.

In this lesson, we are introducing two more conjunctive words that you can use at the begin-

ning of sentences. These two words both means “but” or “however”.

그렇지만 [geu-reo-chi-man] = but, however

그런데 [geu-reon-de] = but, however

Example
1.

피곤해요. 그렇지만 영화 보고 싶어요.

[pi-gon-hae-yo. geu-reo-chi-man yeong-hwa bo-go si-peo-yo.]

= I’m tired. But I want to see a movie.

피곤해요. 그런데 영화 보고 싶어요.

[pi-gon-hae-yo. geu-reon-de yeong-hwa bo-go si-peo-yo]

= I’m tired. But I want to see a movie.

** 그렇지만 [geu-reo-chi-man] and 그런데 [geu-reon-de] both mean “but” or “however” but

there is some difference between the usages of these two words. Look at the following exam-

ples.

어제 이거 샀어요. 그렇지만 정말 커요.

[eo-je i-geo sa-sseo-yo. geu-reo-chi-man jeong-mal keo-yo.]

= I bought this yesterday. “그렇지만” it’s really big.

어제 이거 샀어요. 그런데 정말 커요.

[eo-je i-geo sa-sseo-yo. geu-reon-de jeong-mal keo-yo.]

= I bought this yesterday. “그런데” it’s really big.

In sentence #1, 그렇지만 means “but” or “however” so the speaker is contrasting the two facts

- “having bought this yesterday” and “this being too big” - so it sounds like the speaker is dis-

appointed that it’s very big.

In sentence #2, 그런데 means “but” but at the same time it can mean “and” as well. If what the

speaker is implying is the meaning of “and”, the entire sentence can mean “I bought this yes-

terday, and it’s really big.” or “I bought this yesterday, and as I found out, it’s really big.”

In summary,

그렇지만 = “but”

그런데 = “but” or “and”, depending on the context

If you want to contrast two sentences and say “A + but + B” you can choose to use either 그렇

지만 or 그런데.

If you want to introduce two actions or states that occurred one after another, and if the first

sentence works as background information for the second sentence, only use 그런데.

어제 학교에 갔어요. 그렇지만 일요일이었어요.

[eo-je hak-gyo-e ga-sseo-yo. geu-reo-chi-man i-ryo-il-i-eo-sseo-yo.]

= I went to school yesterday. But it was Sunday.

어제 학교에 갔어요. 그런데 일요일이었어요.

[eo-je hak-gyo-e ga-sseo-yo. geu-reon-de i-ryo-il-i-eo-sseo-yo.]

= I went to school yesterday. But it was Sunday.

= I went to school yesterday. And by the way, it was Sunday.

= I went to school yesterday. And as I found out after I went, it was Sunday.

As you can see, 그런데 can be used for a wider variety of meanings, and in addition to that,

그렇지만 has a very formal nuance to it, so in actual everyday conversations, 그런데 is much

more commonly used than 그렇지만, and 그렇지만 is more commonly used in written lan-

guage.

Sample sentences of our friends

경미: 어제 과음했어요. 그런데 말짱해요.

[eo-je gwa-eum-hae-sseo-yo. geu-reon-de mal-jjang-hae-yo.]

과음하다 [gwa-eum-ha-da] = to drink too much

말짱하다 [mal-jjang-ha-da] = 멀쩡하다 [meol-jjeong-ha-da] = to be perfectly okay

= I drank way too much yesterday. But I’m okay now.

미경: 어제 밤 늦게 잤어요. 그런데 전혀 피곤하지 않아요.

[eo-je bam neut-ge ja-sseo-yo. geu-reon-de jeon-hyeo pi-gon-ha-ji a-na-yo.]

늦게 [neut-ge] = late, at a late hour

전혀 [ jeon-hyeo] = not at all

피곤하다 [pi-gon-ha-da] = to be tired

= I went to bed late last night. But I’m not tired at all.

미경: 저는 매일 운동을 해요. 그런데 살이 빠지지 않아요.

[ jeo-neun mae-il un-dong-eul hae-yo. geu-reon-de sa-ri ppa-ji-ji a-na-yo.]

매일 [mae-il] = everyday

살이 빠지다 [sa-ri ppa-ji-da] = to lose weight

= I work out everyday. But I don’t lose any weight.

효성: 어제까지는 친구였어요. 그런데 오늘부터는 애인이에요.

[eo-je-kka-ji-neun chin-gu-yeo-sseo-yo. geu-reon-de o-neul-bu-teo-neun ae-in-i-e-yo.]

애인 [ae-in] = lover, girlfriend or boyfriend

= Until yesterday, we were friends. But from today, we are dating each other.

효성: 저는 친구가 없어요. 그런데 왕따는 아니에요.

[ jeo-neun chin-gu-ga eop-seo-yo. geu-reon-de wang-tta-neun a-ni-e-yo.]

왕따 [wang-tta] = outcast, loner, someone who is bullied by others

= I don’t have friends, but I’m not a loner.

In this lesson, let us learn how to say ‘to’ someone, and ‘from’ someone. Before you learn these

expressions, please remember that when it comes to particles that link words together, there

aren’t always direct (and correct) translations between English and Korean. So it is important to

understand the characteristics and roles of these particles and words, rather than just memoriz-

ing the similar counterparts in English.

To say “to someone” or “from someone”, you can use the words 한테 [han-te] and 한테서 [han-

te-seo]. There are words that have the same characteristics, which are 에게 [e-ge] and 에게서

[e-ge-seo], but since 에게 and 에게서 are mainly used in written language, let us focus on 한테

and 한테서 in this lesson.

한테 [han-te] = “to” someone, “from” someone

한테서 [han-te-seo] = “from” someone

Notice the difference?

Yes, just like you are thinking now, 한테 and 한테서 have mixed meanings and functions. And

especially 한테 can mean ‘to’ and ‘from’. So the meaning can only be completely understood

through looking at the context.

Although 한테 and 한테서 have the meaning of “to” or “from”, you can only use them about

people. You can not use these words about objects or places.

- “to a friend” = friend + 한테 ( ㅇ )

- “to Seoul” = Seoul + 한테 ( X )

Examples

저한테 [ jeo-han-te] = to me, from me

친 구한테 [chin-gu-han-te] = to a friend, from a friend

누구한테 [nu-gu-han-te] = to whom, from whom

저 한테서 [ jeo-han-te-seo] = from me

친구한테서 [chin-gu-han-te-seo] = from a friend

누구한테서 [nu-gu-han-te-seo] = from whom

** When used with a verb that already expresses a passive voice, 한테 can mean “by” as well.

For example, 맞다 [mat-da] means “to be correct” but in another meaning, it can be “to be

beaten” or “to be hit”. So A에게 맞다 can be translated as “to be beaten by A”.

Sample sentences by our friends

경미: 남자친구한테 차였어요.

[nam-ja-chin-gu-han-te cha-yeo-sseo-yo.]

= I was dumped by my boyfriend.

남자친구 [nam-ja-chin-gu] = boyfriend

차이다 [cha-i-da] = to be dumped

규환: 너한테서 풍기는 암내가 진국이에요.

[neo-han-te-seo pung-gi-neun am-nae-ga jin-gu-gi-e-yo.]

= Your armpit smell is terrible.

풍기다 [pung-gi-da] = give off a smell

암내 [am-nae] = armpit smell

진국이다 [ jin-guk-i-da] = to be very strong, to be very hardcore, to be superb

규환: 저한테 암내 나요?

[ jeo-han-te-seo am-nae-na-yo?]

= Do I have a strong armpit smell?

나다 [na-da] = to give off a smell

란: 그건 전 남자친구한테서 받은 거예요.

[geu-geon jeon nam-ja-chin-gu-han-te-seo ba-deun geo-ye-yo.]

= That one? I received it from my ex-boyfriend.

전 남자친구 [ jeon nam-ja-chin-gu] = ex-boyfriend

받다 [bat-da] = to receive

란: 그 남자한테 얻을 건 별로 없을 거예요.

[geu nam-ja-han-te eo-deul geon byeol-lo eop-seul geo-ye-yo.]

= You won’t be getting much out of him.

얻다 [eot-da] = to obtain, to acquire, to get

별로 [byeol-lo] = not so much, not much

석진: 너한테 할 말이 있어.

[neo-han-te hal ma-ri i-sseo.]

= I have something to say to you.

Now it’s TIME to talk about TIME!

In Korean, we have already introduced two number systems, and most of the time,
these two number systems are used separately or they replace each other in a
sentence. However when it comes to telling time, both the systems are used.

Let’s review the numbers.

Native Korean numbers
1 하나 [ha-na]
2 둘 [dul]
3 셋 [set]
4 넷 [net]
5 다섯 [da-seot]
6 여섯 [yeo-seot]
7 일곱 [il-gop]
8 여덟 [yeo-deol]
9 아홉 [a-hop]
10 열 [yeol]
11 열하나 [yeol-ha-na]
12 열둘 [yeol-dul]

When you say the hour, you use these native Korean numbers. And number 1, 2, 3
and 4 change their forms a little.

Number + 시 [si] = hour

하나 + 시 = 한 시 [han si] = 1 o’clock (not 하나 시)
둘 + 시 = 두 시 [du si] = 2 o’clock (not 둘 시)
셋 + 시 = 세 시 [se si] = 3 o’clock (not 셋 시)
넷 + 시 = 네 시 [ne si] = 4 o’clock (not 넷 시)
다섯 시 [da-seot si] = 5 o’clock

여섯 시 [yeo-seot si] = 6 o’clock

일곱 시 [il-gop si] = 7 o’clock
여덟 시 [yeo-deol si] = 8 o’clock
아홉 시 [a-hop si] = 9 o’clock
열 시 [yeol si] = 10 o’clock
열한 시 [yeol-han si] = 11 o’clock
열두 시 [yeol-du si] = 12 o’clock

Now, let us review some sino-Korean numbers

1 일 [il]
2 이 [i]
3 삼 [sam]
4 사 [sa]
5 오 [o]
6 육 [yuk]
7 칠 [chil]
8 팔 [pal]
9 구 [gu]
10 십 [sip]

From 11 and on are just combinations of these ten numbers.

When you say the minute, you use these sino-Korean numbers.
Number + 분 [bun] = minute
일 분 [il bun] = 1 minute
이 분 [i bun] = 2 minutes
오 분 [o bun] = 5 minutes
십 분 [sip bun] = 10 minutes
십오 분 [si-bo bun] = 15 minutes

삼십 분 [sam-sip bun] = 30 minutes

오십오 분 [o-si-bo bun] = 55 minutes

So you use these two parts together to tell the time.

1:05 = 1 + 시 + 5 + 분 = 한 시 오 분 [han si o bun]

1:15 = 1 + 시 + 15 + 분 = 한 시 십오 분 [han si si-bo bun]
3:20 = 3 + 시 + 20 + 분 = 세 시 이십 분 [se si i-sip bun]
10:00 = 10 + 시 = 열 시 [yeol si]
10:30 = 10 + 시 + 30 + 분 = 열 시 삼십 분 [yeol si sam-sip bun]

** N o’clock sharp is expressed with the word 정각 [jeong-gak].

** Instead of 30분 [sam-sip-bun] you can say 반 [ban], meaning “half”.

How to ask the time

지금 몇 시예요?
[ji-geum myeot si-ye-yo?]

= What time is it now?

지금 몇 시 몇 분이에요?
[ji-geum myeot si myeot-bun-i-e-yo?]

= What hour and what minute is it?

Sample sentences by our friends

미경: 저는 매일 아침 9시까지 출근해요. 퇴근은 보통 6시 30분에 해요.

[jeo-neun mae-il a-chim a-hop-si-kka-ji chul-geun-hae-yo. toe-geu-neun bo-tong yeo-seot-si sam-sip-bun-e hae-yo.]

= I get to work by 9 every morning. I usually leave work at 6:30.

매일 [mae-il] = everyday
출근하다 [chul-geun-ha-da] = to go to work
퇴근 [toe-geun] = leaving work, finishing work
보통 [bo-tong] = usually, normally

영주: 내일 수업이 4시 반에 끝나요.

[nae-il su-eo-bi ne-si ba-ne kkeut-na-yo]

= My classes finish at 4:30 tomorrow.

내일 [nae-il] = tomorrow
수업 [su-eop] = class
끝나다 [kkeut-na-da] = to finish

영주: 오늘 몇 시에 친구를 만나요?

[o-neun myeot si-e chin-gu-reul man-na-yo?]

= What time do you meet your friend today?

만나다 [man-na-da] = to meet

혜진: 아침 7시 지하철 2호선은 전쟁터예요.

[a-chim il-gop-si ji-ha-cheol 2-ho-seo-neun jeon-jaeng-teo-ye-yo]

= At 7 o’clock in the morning, subway line number 2 is a battlefield.

지하철 [ji-ha-cheol] = subway
2호선 [i-ho-seon] = line number 2
전쟁터 [jeon-jaeng-teo] = battlefield

In Korean, there are many words that are used as counting units. In English, you can just say

the number and then the word for what you are counting (i.e. a person, two cats, three houses,

etc), but in Korean, you need to use separate counters for different subjects. You can compare

the Korean counters to the English words that are used for counting things that are uncount-

able nouns (i.e. bread, water, butter, etc).

** Since there are too many counters to remember all at once, it is better to learn them one by

one as you practice using certain words.

Example

English: number + noun

- a car, two pencils, three books, four people, etc

Korean: noun + number + counter

- “pencil + one + counter for pencil”

- “student + three + counter for people”

There are literally hundreds of counters in the Korean language, but not all of them are always

used. As long as they understand each other, some Korean people just use the simplest and

easiest counter they remember to count certain words and it does not confuse anyone. For ex-

ample, in Korean, a pencil is 연필 [yeon-pi] and the counter for pencils is 자루 [ ja-ru]. The word

자루 [ ja-ru] is also used for counting pens, bags containing grains, and also knives. So instead

of using the word 자루 all the time for 연필, many Korean people just use the general counter

for things, which is 개 [gae].

연필 한 자루 [yeon-pil han ja-ru] = one pencil

연필 한 개 [yeon-pil han gae] = one pencil

This does NOT always work for all counters. Some counters that are very commonly used are

almost never replaced with 개. For example, the counter for cars is 대 [dae], and it is never

replaced with 개 [gae] just to simplify it. In other words, changing 연필 한 자루 to 연필 한 개 is

okay, but changing 차 한 대 to 차 한 개 is not okay and considered incorrect.

This is only because the counter 대 is much more frequently used than the counter 자루, but

basically, as a learner of the Korean language, it is much better to be able to use an incorrect

counter and be given feedback rather than choose not to say anything.

In this lesson, remember these two most frequently used counters, 개 and 명.

개 [gae] in Korean means “a dog”, but when it’s used as a counter, it is used for counting

things and objects.

명 [myeong] is used for counting people.

And when you use counters, most of the time, they are used along with native Korean num-

bers.

Numbers + 개 [gae] (counter for things)

1 = 하나 --> 한 개

2 = 둘 --> 두 개

3 = 셋 --> 세 개

4 = 넷 --> 네 개

** Remember this irregularity rule for the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 20?

5 = 다섯 --> 다섯 개

6 = 여섯 --> 여섯 개

7 = 일곱 --> 일곱 개

8 = 여덟 --> 여덟 개

9 = 아홉 --> 아홉 개

10 = 열 --> 열 개

From 11 to 20

열한 개, 열두 개, 열세 개, 열네 개, 열다섯 개, 열여섯 개, 열일곱 개, 열여덟 개, 열아홉 개, 스무

From 21 to 30

스무 개, 스물한 개, 스물두 개, 스물세 개, 스물네 개, 스물다섯 개, 스물여섯 개, 스물일곱 개, 스물

여덟 개, 스물아홉 개, 서른 개

Example

one apple = 사과 [sa-gwa] + 1 + 개 [gae] = 사과 한 개 [sa-gwa han gae]

two stones = 돌 [dol] + 2 + 개 [gae] = 돌 두 개 [dol du gae]

five balls = 공 [gong] + 5 + 개 [gae] = 공 다섯 개 [gong da-seot gae]

how many (things) = 몇 [myeot] + 개 [gae] = 몇 개 [myeot gae]

Now, for people, you use the counter 명 [myeong].

This PDF is to be used along with the MP3 audio lesson available at TalkToMeInKorean.com.
Please feel free to share TalkToMeInKorean’s free Korean lessons and PDF files with anybody who
is studying Korean. If you have any questions or feedback, visit TalkToMeInKorean.com.
TalkToMeInKorean.com - Free Korean Lesson Notes
LEVEL 2 LESSON 9
one person = 한 명 [han myeong]

two students = 학생 [hak-saeng] + 2 + 명 [myeong] = 학생 두 명 [hak-saeng du myeong]

three friends = 친구 [chin-gu] + 3 + 명 [myeong] = 친구 세 명 [chin-gu se myeong]

how many (people) = 몇 [myeot] + 명 [myeong] = 몇 명 [myeot myeong]

For people, however, the word for ‘people’ or ‘person’ itself, which is 사람 [sa-ram] is used

as well, when you are just generally referring to a relatively small number of people, without

specifying who they are.

Example

Q: How many people are there?

A: There are 10 people.

= Q: 몇 명 있어요? [myeot myeong i-sseo-yo?]

= A: 10명 있어요. [yeol-myeong i-sseo-yo.]

= Q: 몇 사람 있어요? [myeot sa-ram i-sseo-yo?]

= A: 열 사람 있어요. [eol sa-ram i-sseo-yo.] (This is unnatural.)

--> A: 두 사람 있어요. [du sa-ram i-sseo-yo.] (two people - this is okay.)

In case you want to learn about some more counters in advance, here are a few commonly

used ones.

병 [byeong] = bottles

마리 [ma-ri] = animals

대 [dae] = cars, punches

권 [gwon] = books

장 [ jang] = paper, pages, tickets

Sample sentences by our friends

영주: 아줌마 김치찌개 한 개 주세요.

[a-jum-ma gim-chi-jji-gae han gae ju-se-yo.]

= Ma’am, give me one kimchi stew.

찌개 [ jji-gae] = stew

영주: 소주도 한 병 주세요.

[so-ju-do han byeong ju-se-yo.]

= Give me a bottle of soju, as well.

효성: 다 먹고 세 개 남았어요.

[da meok-go se gae na-ma-sseo-yo.]

= I ate everything and there are three left.

다 [da] = all

남다 [nam-da] = to remain, to be left

효성: 사탕 몇 개 먹을래?

[sa-tang myeot gae meo-geul-lae?]

= How many candies do you want to eat?

사탕 [sa-tang] = candy

먹다 [meok-da] = to eat

Here is another lesson about TENSES! In this lesson, we are introducing how to make
sentences in the present progressive form (현재 진행형) in Korean.

Examples of present progressive sentences in English.

1. I’m reading a book.

2. What are you watching?
3. He’s helping me a lot.

Basic construction:

- to be -ing = Verb stem + -고 있다 [-go it-da]

보다 [bo-da] = to see
보고 있다 [bo-go it-da] = to be seeing

Present progressive:

- am/are/is -ing = Verb stem + -고 있어요 [-go i-sseo-yo]

밖에 비가 오고 있어요. [ba-kke bi-ga o-go i-sseo-yo] = It is raining outside.
밖에 눈이 오고 있어요. [ba-kke nu-ni o-go i-sseo-yo] = It is snowing outside.
밖에 바람이 불고 있어요. [ba-kke ba-ra-mi bul-go i-sseo-yo] = The wind is blowing outside.

Past progressive:

- was/were -ing = Verb stem + -고 있었어요 [-go i-sseo-sseo-yo]

눈이 오고 있었어요. [nu-ni o-go i-sseo-sseo-yo] = It was snowing.
비가 오고 있었어요. [bi-ga o-go i-sseo-sseo-yo] = It was raining.
바람이 불고 있었어요. [ba-ra-mi bul-go i-sseo-sseo-yo] = The wind was blowing.
경은 씨가 자고 있었어요. [kyeong-eun ssi-ga ja-go i-sseo-sseo-yo] = Kyeong-eun was sleeping.

Future progressive:

- will be -ing = Verb stem + -고 있을 거예요 [-go i-sseul geo-ye-yo]

Past and future progressive sentences are commonly used in everyday Korean as
well, if you have a thorough understanding of how to use the present progressive
form, past and future progressive forms are very easy to use too.

When using present progressive tense, there are two important points to remember:

1) Literal translation between Korean present progressive sentences and

English present progressive sentences does not always work, especially if
you use the present progressive form in English to indicate the future.

For example, if you say “I’m not going to work tomorrow” in English, you
are not talking about the present but the future, so in Korean you can not
use the -고 있어요 form.

2) In everyday conversations, sentences that need to be in the present

progressive form do not always take the -고 있어요 form. Korean people
often just use the plain present tense form even for sentences that take
the present progress tense in English.

Example

Instead of saying:

A: 지금 뭐 하고 있어요? [ ji-geum mwo ha-go i-sseo-yo?] = What are you doing now?
B: 공부하고 있어요. [gong-bu-ha-go i-sseo-yo] = I am studying.

many people say:

A: 지금 뭐 해요? [ ji-geum mwo hae-yo?] = What are you doing now?

B: 공부해요. [gong-bu-hae-yo] = I am studying.

Sample sentences

일하다 [il-ha-da] = to work

일하고 있어요. [il-ha-go i-sseo-yo] = I am working.
일하고 있었어요. [il-ha-go i-sseo-sseo-yo] = I was working.
일하고 있을 거예요. [il-ha-go i-sseul geo-ye-yo] = I’ll be working.

듣다 [deut-da] = to listen
듣고 있어요. [deut-go i-sseo-yo] = I am listening.
듣고 있었어요. [deut-go i-sseo-sseo-yo] = I was listening.
듣고 있을 거예요. [deut-go i-sseul geo-ye-yo] = I will be listening.

Sample sentences by our friends

규환: 너 여기서 뭐 하고 있어요?

[neo yeo-gi-seo mwo ha-go i-sseo-yo?]

= What are you doing here?

여기서 [yeo-gi-seo] = 여기에서 [yeo-gi-e-seo] = here; in this place; at this place

규환: 노숙하고 있어요.

[no-su-ka-go i-sseo-yo.]

= I’m sleeping on the street.

노숙하다 [no-su-ka-da] = to sleep on the street

미경: 지금 당신을 생각하고 있어요.

[ ji-geum dang-si-neul saeng-ga-ka-go i-sseo-yo.]

= I’m thinking about you now.

당신 [dang-sin] = you (formal, written language)

효성: 강의가 지루해서 꾸벅꾸벅 졸고 있어요.

[gang-ui-ga ji-ru-hae-seo kku-beok-kku-beok jol-go i-sseo-yo.]

= The lecture is boring so I’m dozing off.

강의 [gang-ui] = lecture, class

지루하다 [ ji-ru-ha-da] = to be boring
꾸벅꾸벅 [kku-beok-kku-beok] = an adjective describing the action of dozing off
졸다 [ jol-da] = to doze

효성: 잠도 안 자고 영어 공부 하고 있어요.
[ jam-do an ja-go yeong-eo gong-bu ha-go i-sseo-yo.]

= I have even given up sleep and I'm studying English instead.

석진: 저 사람 봐요. 자면서 이야기하고 있어요.

[ jeo sa-ram bwa-yo. ja-myeon-seo i-ya-gi-ha-go i-sseo-yo.]

= Look at that person. He is talking while sleeping.

Q: Yesterday, at this hour, what were you doing?

(= 어제 이 시간에 뭐 하고 있었어요? or 어제 이 시간에 뭐 했어요?)

Now in this lesson, we are going to look at how to do self-introductions in Korean.

Through our previous lessons, we have looked at various tenses, sentence patterns,
and grammar points. By using what you have already learned, you can already
express a lot about yourself. Here in this lesson, we will introduce more vocabulary
words and phrases that are specific and absolutely necessary for introducing oneself.

자기소개 self-introduction

There are hundreds and thousands of different situations in which one would need
to introduce him/herself, but to generalize the self-introduction process by a great
deal, you normally deliver these pieces of information:

- name
- age
- place of living
- work
- school
- family members
- hobby
- greetings

You don’t have to try to memorize all the expressions necessary for introducing
yourself in Korean as the situation might vary and you might have a lot of
information and stories unique to yourself, no single detailed chapter on self-
introduction can cover everything you need to know.

But basically, the sentences patterns that you get to use a lot are the following:

1. ABC은/는 XYZ이에요. [ABC-eun/neun XYZ-i-e-yo.] = ABC is XYZ.

Ex) 저는 학생이에요. = I’m a student.

[ jeo-neun hak-saeng-i-e-yo.]

저는 선생님이에요. = I’m a teacher.

[ jeo-neun seon-saeng-nim-i-e-yo.]

저는 제임스예요. = I’m James.

[ jeo-neun je-im-seu-ye-yo.]

제 이름은 스티븐이에요. = My name is Stephen.

[ je i-reum-eun seu-ti-beun-i-e-yo.]

제 여동생 이름은 탈리아나예요. = My sister’s name is Taliana.

[ je yeo-dong-saeng i-reum-eun tal-li-a-na-ye-yo.]

저는 30살이에요. = I am 30 years old.

[ jeo-neun seo-reun-sal-i-e-yo.]

2. ABC은/는 XYZ이/가 [ABC-eun/neun XYZ-i/ga] + VERB = As for ABC, XYZ + VERB.

Ex) 저는 여동생이 있어요. = I have a younger sister. (lit. “As for me, a younger sister exists.”)
[ jeo-neun yeo-dong-saeng-i i-sseo-yo.]

저는 남동생이 었어요. = I have a younger brother.

[ jeo-neun nam-dong-saeng-i i-sseo-yo.]

저는 언니가 있어요. = I have an older sister.

[ jeo-neun eon-ni-ga i-sseo-yo.]

저는 취미가 없어요. = I don’t have any hobbies. (lit. “As for me, the hobby doesn’t exist.”)
[ jeo-neun chwi-mi-ga eop-sseo-yo.]

저는 취미가 수영이에요. = My hobby is swimming. (lit. “As for me, the hobby, swimming is.”)
[ jeo-neun chwi-mi-ga su-yeong-i-e-yo.]

3. ABC은/는 XYZ에/에서 [ABC-eun/neun XYZ-e/e-seo] + VERB = ABC + VERB + in XYZ.

Ex) 저는 서울에 살아요. = I live in Seoul.

[ jeo-neun seo-u-re sa-ra-yo.]

저는 은행에서 일해요. = I work in a bank.

[ jeo-neun eun-haeng-e-seo il-hae-yo.]

저는 대학교에서 중국어를 가르쳐요. = I teach Chinese at a college.

[ jeo-neun dae-hak-gyo-e-seo jung-gu-geo-reul ga-reuchyeo-yo.]

저는 미국에서 태어났어요. = I was born in the USA.

[ jeo-neun mi-gu-ge-seo tae-eo-na-sseo-yo.]

Some vocabulary words that you might want to know:

나이 [na-i] = age
취미 [chwi-mi] = hobby
직장 [ jik-jang] = workplace
직업 [ ji-geop] = job = 하는 일 [ha-neun il]
사는 곳 [sa-neun got] = place of living
가족 [ga-jok] = family
친척 [chin-cheok] = relatives, extended family
대학생 [dae-hak-saeng] = university student
고등학생 [go-deung-hak-saeng] = high school student
중학생 [ jung-hak-saeng] = middle school student
초등학생 [cho-deung-hak-saeng] = elementary school student

Some greetings:

처음 뵙겠습니다. [cheo-eum boep-ge-sseum-ni-da] = How do you do?

반갑습니다. [ban-gap-seum-ni-da] = It’s nice to meet you.
제 명함이에요. [ je myeong-ham-i-e-yo] = It’s my business card.
다음에 또 봬요. [da-eu-me tto bwae-yo] = See you again next time.
이야기 많이 들었어요. [i-ya-gi ma-ni deu-reo-sseo-yo] = I’ve heard a lot about you.

We have talked about numbers (both sino and native) and we also talked about how to tell the

time, so why not talk about dates this time?

Names of the months

In Korean, the names for the 12 months in a year are very simple. You just have to add the

word 월 [wol], which means ‘month’ after sino-Korean numbers.

January: 1월 [i-rwol]

February: 2월 [i-wol]

March: 3월 [sa-mwol]

April: 4월 [sa-wol]

May: 5월 [o-wol]

June: 6월 [yu-wol]

July: 7월 [chi-rwol]

August: 8월 [pa-rwol]

September: 9월 [gu-wol]

October: 10월 [si-wol]

November: 11월 [si-bi-rwol]

December: 12월 [si-bi-wol]

Which month: 몇 월 [myeot wol = myeo-dwol]

Days in a month

The days are also quite easy to say in Korean. You just have to say the sino-Korean number and

add the word 일 [il], which means ‘day’ in Korean.

1일, 2일, 3일, 4일, ..., 29일, 30일, 31일

What date: 며칠 [myeo-chil]

** Note that 몇 월 still has the word ‘몇’ independent from 일, and 며칠 has the word 몇 mixed

with 일 and changed to 며칠 altogether.

What month and what date: 몇 월 며칠 [myeo-dwol myeo-chil]

“What date is it?”

몇 월 며칠이에요? [myeo-dwol myeo-chil-i-e-yo?]

오늘 몇 월 며칠이에요? [o-neul myeo-dwol myeo-chil-i-e-yo?]

= What date is it today?

생일이 몇 월 며칠이에요? [saeng-il-i myeo-dwol myeo-chil-i-e-yo?\

= What date is your birthday?

If you are mentioning a specific day, you can also use the word 언제 [eon-je], which means

“when”.

생일이 언제예요? [saeng-il-i eon-je-ye-yo?]

= When is your birthday?

Through our previous lesson, we’ve learned the topic marking particles, -이 and -가,
the subject marking particles, -은 and -는, and the object marking particles, -을 and -
를. In this lesson, we will be covering one more particle: -도 [-do].

-도 [-do] is used to represent the meaning of “also” and “too”.

In English, you generally add the expression “too”, “also”, or “as well” to the end of
the sentence, but sometimes you can add it to the middle. However, in Korean, you
always add the particle -도 [-do] after the noun.

I like it, too. / I think so, too. / I also saw it.

In these sentences, “too” and “also” were used to modify a lot of different things. In
the last sentence, the word “also” is modifying “I”, and if you translate it literally to
Korean, it becomes “저도 봤어요.”. You are adding “-도” right after “저” which means
“I” in Korean, which modifies “I” just as in the English sentence.

When the particle -도 needs to be attached to a noun or a pronoun that already has a
particle behind it, -도 can replace the particle.

Examples

- I am a student. = 저는 학생이에요. [ jeo-neun hak-saeng-i-e-yo.]

- I am a student, too. = 저도 학생이에요. [ jeo-do hak-saeng-i-e-yo.]
* Note that it’s NOT “저는도 학생이에요.”

- Do you work today? = 오늘 일해요? [o-neul i-rae-yo?]

- Do you work today as well? = 오늘도 일해요? [o-neul-do i-rae-yo?]
- Do you work tomorrow, too? = 내일도 일해요? [nae-il-do i-rae-yo?]

어제 일 안 했어요. [eo-je il an hae-sseo-yo.] = Yesterday, I didn’t work.

오늘은 일해요. [o-neu-reun i-rae-yo.] = As for today, I do work.

어제 일 했어요. [eo-je il hae-sseo-yo.] = I worked yesterday.

오늘도 일해요. [o-neul-do i-rae-yo.] = I work today as well.

- I brought this. = 이것 가져왔어요. [i-geot ga-jyeo-wa-sseo-yo.]

- I brought this, too. = 이것도 가져왔어요. [i-geot-do ga-jyeo-wa-sseo-yo.]

Depending on the location of the particle -도, the meaning of the entire sentence can
change.

Examples

“Please give me water.” is 물 주세요. [mul ju-se-yo.] in Korean.

Now let’s say you want to say “Give that water to me, as well, not just to other
people” then you can say, 저도 물 주세요. [ jeo-do mul-ju-se-yo.]

“Please give some water to me, too.” = 저도 물 주세요.

If you want to say “Give me not only other things, but water as well,” then you can
say, 저 물도 주세요. [ jeo mul-do ju-se-yo.]

“Please also give some water to me.” = 저 물도 주세요.

In this lesson, we’ve looked at how to use -도 with nouns and pronouns, but what if
you want to say “also” or “too” about verbs? Stay tuned because we’ll be covering
that in our next lesson!

Using -도 with verbs

Using -도 with nouns and pronouns is relatively simple, since you just have to add -도
after a noun or a pronoun as explained in the previous lesson.

Let us review.

물 주세요. [mul ju-se-yo.] = Give me water, please.

물도 주세요. [mul-do ju-se-yo.] = Give me water, too, please.

내일 갈 거예요. [nae-il gal geo-ye-yo.] = I will go tomorrow.

내일도 갈 거예요. [nae-il-do gal geo-ye-yo.] = I will go (again) tomorrow, too.

Now, in order to use -도 with verbs, we need to learn how to change a verb into a
noun.

Using - 도 with verbs

= Noun form of the verb + -도 하다

You can’t just use -도 with the verb itself, and you have to change the verb into the
noun form. By doing this and adding the verb 하다, you are literally saying “to do +
the verb in the noun form + also”.

It may sound complicated but this is no different from any other verb conjugation.
Just remember -도 하다 [-do hada] as a set.

How do you change a verb into a noun?

There are a few different ways to change a verb into a noun. This is similar to using
verbs in the “to do” and “doing” format and also using the nouns for the verbs (i.e.

act and action, sing and song, etc.) but today we are looking at just one of those
ways.

Adding -기 [-gi] to the verb stem to change a verb into a noun

보다 [bo-da] = to see
Noun form: 보 + -기 = 보기 [bo-gi]
보다 --> 보기도 하다 [bo-gi-do ha-da] = to also see, to even see

먹다 [meok-da] = to eat
Noun form: 먹 + -기 = 먹기 [meok-gi]
먹기 --> 먹기도 하다 [meok-gi-do ha-da] = to also eat, to even eat

More examples

잡다 [jap-da] = to catch
--> 잡기도 하다 [jap-gi-do ha-da] = to also catch, to even catch

팔다 [pal-da] = to sell
--> 팔기도 하다 [pal-gi-do ha-da] = to also sell, to even sell

사다 [sa-da] = to buy
--> 사기도 하다 [sa-gi-do ha-da] = to also buy, to even buy

** Note that verbs that are in the form of “Noun + 하다” already (i.e. 공부하다, 청소하다, 노래

하다, 준비하다, 요리하다, etc) don’t have to be changed in this manner. You can just separate

the noun part from 하다 and add -도 after the noun part. (i.e. 공부도 하다, 청소도 하다, 노래도

하다, 준비도 하다, 요리도 하다, etc)

Sample sentences

1. 저는 영어도 가르쳐요.
[jeo-neun yeong-eo-do ga-reu-chyeo-yo.]
= I teach English as well.

저는 영어를 가르치기도 해요.

[jeo-neun yeong-eo-reul ga-reu-chi-gi-do hae-yo.]
= I also teach English.
= I even teach English.
= I also work as an English teacher.

2. 컴퓨터도 고쳐요.
[keom-pyu-teo-do go-chyeo-yo.]
= I fix computers as well.

컴퓨터를 고치기도 해요.

[keom-pyu-teo-reul go-chi-gi-do hae-yo.]
= I also fix computers.
= I even fix computers.

In this lesson, we are going to learn how to say "only" in Korean. There are a few
different ways to say "only" in Korean, but the most basic way of saying it is adding -
만 [-man] after a noun, a pronoun or the noun form (-기) of a verb.

1. Adding -만 after nouns and pronouns

이것 + 만 = 이것만 [i-geot-man] = only this

ex) 이것만 살 거예요. [i-geot-man sal geo-ye-yo] = I will only buy this.

저 + 만 = 저만 [jeo-man] = me only, I only

ex) 저만 들었어요. [jeo-man deu-reo-sseo-yo] = Only I heard.

커피 + 만 = 커피만 [keo-pi-man] = only coffee

ex) 아침에는 커피만 마셔요. [a-chi-me-neun keo-pi-man ma-syeo-yo] = I only drink
coffee in the morning.

2. Adding -만 after noun forms of verbs

** In order to add -만 after a verb, you need to change the verb into the noun form
using -기, and add -만 하다. You literally say "I only do + ~ing."

듣다 [deut-da] = to hear, to listen

듣 + 기 = 듣기 [deut-gi] = listening (noun form)
듣 + -기 + -만 하다 = 듣기만 하다 [deut-gi-man ha-da] = to only listen

Ex) 듣기만 했어요. [deut-gi-man hae-sseo-yo] = I only listened (and didn't talk).

보다 [bo-da] = to see, to look

보 + 기 = 보기 [bo-gi] = seeing, looking
보 + -기 + -만 하다 = 보기만 하다 [bo-ga-man ha-da] = to only see, to just look

Ex) 보기만 할 거예요. [bo-gi-man hal geo-ye-yo] = I will only look (and not touch it).

More sample sentences

1. 오늘만 일찍 왔어요. [oneul-man il-jjik wa-sseo-yo]

= I got here early only today.

2. 맥주만 주문했어요. [maek-ju-man ju-mun-hae-sseo-yo]

= I only ordered beer.

3. 왜 이것만 샀어요? [wae i-geot-man sa-sseo-yo?]

= Why did you only buy this?

4. 어제 놀기만 했어요. [eo-je nol-gi-man hae-sseo-yo]

= I did nothing but played.

5. 영화는 집에서만 봐요. [yeong-hwa-neun ji-be-seo-man bwa-yo.]

= I watch movies only at home.

In this lesson, let’s look at some expressions that can make your sentences richer in context and

your emphasis stronger. Sure, you can keep your sentences simple, but when you want to “real-

ly” emphasize some points, you might want to know how to say that something is “really” nice,

“really” bad, or not good “at all”.

Here we will introduce five words - 조금, 아주, 정말, 별로, 전혀 - and how they are used inside

sentences.

조금 = a little, a bit, a little bit

정말 = really, truly
아주 = very, quite
별로 = not really, not particularly
전혀 = not at all

조금, 아주, and 정말 can be used with any sentence, but 별로 and 전혀 can only be used with

negative sentences.

조금 [jo-geum] = a little, a bit, a little bit

Ex)

1. 조금 비싸요. [ jo-geum bi-ssa-yo.]

= It’s a little expensive.

2. 조금만 주세요. [ jo-geum-man ju-se-yo.]

= Give me only a little bit.

** When pronounced quickly, 조금 often becomes 좀 and is often written this way as well.

** Even when you are referring to the meaning of “quite” or “very”, you can also use this word,

조금 [ jo-geum], based on the assumption that the other person understands what you mean.

For example, the first sample sentence, “조금 비싸요.” can mean either “It’s a little bit expen-

sive.” or “It’s quite expensive.”

정말 [jeong-mal] = really, truly

Ex)

1. 정말 빨라요. [ jeong-mal ppal-la-yo.]

= It’s really fast.

2. 정말 이상해요. [ jeong-mal i-sang-hae-yo.]

= It’s really strange.

** A word that has almost the same meaning is 진짜 [ jin-jja], and 정말 is considered to be a

little less casual than 진짜.

** Whereas the other words introduced here are used to describe the extent to which some-

thing is done or to describe the intensity of a certain state (i.e. very ‘good’, a little ‘expensive’ or

quite ‘fast’), 정말 and 진짜 can also be used to just express whether or not what’s being said is

true or not. (i.e. I ‘really’ did it.)

아주 [a-ju] = very, quite

Ex)

1. 아주 맛있어요. [a-ju ma-si-sseo-yo.]

= It’s very delicious.

2. 아주 멀어요. [a-ju meo-reo-yo.]

= It’s very far away.

** 아주 is the most standard way of saying “very” in the written form, but more often than not,

in spoken Korean, 아주 is often replaced with 정말 [ jeong-mal] or 진짜 [ jin-jja].

별로 [byeol-lo] = not really, not particularly

** 별로 is always used in negative sentences, regardless of whether the verb that comes after it

has a negative or a positive meaning.

Ex)

1. 별로 안 비싸요. [byeol-lo an bi-ssa-yo.]

= It’s not so expensive.

2. 별로 재미없어요. [byeol-lo jae-mi-eop-seo-yo.]

= It’s not that interesting.

** Note that 재미없어요 is one word but it has the part ‘없어요’ inside the word, so it’s pos-

sible to say 별로 재미없어요.

3. 별로 안 나빠요. [byeol-lo an na-ppa-yo.]

= It’s not too bad.

** Even if the word 나쁘다 has a negative meaning, the construction ‘별로 나쁘다’ does not

work.

전혀 [jeon-hyeo] = not at all

Ex)

1. 전혀 안 바빠요. [ jeon-hyeo an ba-ppa-yo.]

= I’m not busy at all.

2. 전혀 안 더워요. [ jeon-hyeo an deo-wo-yo.]

= It’s not hot at all.

** In spoken Korean, the expression 하나도 [ha-na-do] is more commonly used than 전혀.

After studying with the previous lessons, you can now form various sentence
structures in Korean. Now it’s time to look at how to say that you “can” or “can’t” do
something.

The sentence structure you can use to say that you “can” do something is:
-(으)ㄹ 수 있다 [-(eu)l su it-da]

Example:

보다 = to see
--> 보 + -ㄹ 수 있다 = 볼 수 있다 [bol su it-da] = can see

먹다 = to eat
--> 먹 + -을 수 있다 = 먹을 수 있다 [meo-geul su it-da] = can eat

** Verb stems ending in a vowel is followed by -ㄹ 수 있다 and verb stems ending with a consonant

is followed by -을 수 있다. The difference is whether you have the extra 으 or not in front of -ㄹ 수 있다,

for the ease of pronunciation.

In -(으)ㄹ 수 있다, the word 수 [su] literally means an ‘idea’ or a ‘way’ for solving a
problem or for getting something done, so -(으)ㄹ 수 있다 literally means “to have a
way or an idea for doing” something.

Therefore, when you do NOT have “a way or an idea” for doing something, it means
you can NOT do it, and in Korean it becomes -(으)ㄹ 수 없다, using 없다, the opposite
word of 있다.

Example:

자다 = to sleep
--> 자 + -ㄹ 수 없다 = 잘 수 없다 [jal su eop-da] = can not sleep
<--> 잘 수 있다 [jal su it-da] = can sleep

잡다 = to catch
--> 잡 + -을 수 없다 = 잡을 수 없다 [ja-beul su eop-da] = can not catch
<--> 잡을 수 있다 [ja-beul su it-da] = can catch

Another way to say -(으)ㄹ 수 없다 is using the word 못 before a verb.

-(으)ㄹ 수 없다 is the basic way to express “can not” but it is not always used in spoken
Korean. A more common way to say “can not” or “to be unable to” in spoken Korean
is adding 못 before a verb.

갈 수 없다 = 못 가다 [verb: 가다] = can not go

볼 수 없다 = 못 보다 [verb: 보다] = can not see
먹을 수 없다 = 못 먹다 [verb: 먹다] = can not eat
할 수 없다 = 못 하다 [verb: 하다] = can not do

Sample sentences

운전 할 수 있어요? [un-jeon hal su i-sseo-yo?]

= Can you drive? (lit. “Can you do driving?”)

일본어 할 수 있어요? [il-bo-neo hal su i-sseo-yo?]

= Can you speak Japanese? (lit. “Can you do Japanese?”)

이거 읽을 수 있어요? [i-geo il-geul su i-sseo-yo?]

= Can you read this?

못 읽어요. [mot il-geo-yo.]

= I can’t read it.

지금 못 만나요. [ji-geum mot man-na-yo.]

= I can’t meet you now.

In the previous lesson we learned how to say that you “can” and “cannot” do something. In this

lesson, let us look at how to say that you are “good at” or “bad at” doing something.

The basic construction for saying “to do something” is [object] + -을/를 (= object marker) +

하다 (= to do), and to this, you add 잘 [ jal] or 못 [mot].

~을/를 잘 하다 = to be good at ~ (lit. to do ~ well)

~을/를 못 하다 = to be poor at ~ (lit. to do ~ poorly)

Examples

노래 [no-rae] = singing, song

노래를 잘 하다 [no-rae-reul jal ha-da] = to be good at singing, to sing well

요리 [yo-ri] = cooking, dish

요리를 못 하다 [yo-ri-reul mot ha-da] = to be poor at cooking, to cook poorly

But since 못 하다 can also mean “to be unable to do” something or “can not do” something,

잘 [ jal] is often added in front of this and makes it 잘 못 하다, to make the meaning clear. By

saying 잘 못 하다, you literally say that you “can not do something well” or “are unable to do

something well”, which is similar to being poor at it.

요 리를 못 하다 = “to be poor at cooking” OR “can not cook”

요리를 잘 못 하다 = “to be poor at cooking”

More examples

수영 [su-yeong] = swimming

수영을 잘 하다 [su-yeong-eul jal ha-da]

= to be good at swimming

수영을 못 하다 [su-yeong-eul mot ha-da]

= to be bad at swimming

= can not swim

수 영을 잘 못 하다 [su-yeong-eul jal mot ha-da]

= to be bad at swimming

Are 잘 and 못 (or 잘 못) only used with -하다 verbs?

No. Other types of verbs can be used with 잘 and 못 as well. Since the first parts of most -하다

verbs are nouns, it is easy to detach the noun part from -하다 and add 잘, 못, or 잘 못 in be-

tween, but for other types of verbs that are not in the “noun + -하다” form, you just add 잘, 못,

or 잘 못 in front of the verb.

잘 달리다 = to run well, to be good at running

잘 쓰다 = to write well, to be good at writing

But when a verb is used only on their own like this, very often, the meaning isn’t very clear, (i.e.

쓰다 can be both ‘to write’ and ‘to use’) and the phrase sounds incomplete, so a noun is added

to the phrase to go in pairs with the verb.

잘 달리다 --> 달리기를 잘 하다

[lit. “to do running well”]

Here, 달리다 was changed to its noun form, 달리기 and was followed by 잘 하다.

잘 쓰다 --> 글씨를 잘 쓰다

[lit. “to write writing/letters well”]

Here, the word 글씨, meaning “writing” or “letters” was used to make the meaning of “writing”

more clear, and prevent people from thinking that it might mean “to use”.

Sample sentences

저는 노래를 잘 못 해요. [ jeo-neun no-rae-reul jal mot hae-yo.]

= I can’t sing well. / I’m not good at singing.

제 친구는 수영을 잘 해요. [ je chin-gu-neun su-yeong-eul jal hae-yo.]

= My friend is good at swimming.

저는 퍼즐을 잘 풀어요. [ jeo-neun peo-jeu-reul jal pu-reo-yo.]

= I am good at solving puzzles.

저는 글씨를 잘 못 써요. [ jeo-neun geul-ssi-reul jal mot sseo-yo.]

= My handwriting is not good.

저는 글을 잘 못 써요. [ jeo-neun geu-reul jal mot sseo-yo.]

= I’m not good at writing.

매운 거 잘 먹어요? [mae-un geo jal meo-geo-yo?]

= Are you good at eating spicy food?

In Level 2 Lesson number 14, we learned how to change a verb into a noun form, in order to

learn how to add the meaning of “also” to a verb in Korean. To review a little, in order to add -

도 after a verb, you need to add -기 after a verb stem and then add 하다. (i.e. 먹기도 해요.)

In this lesson, we are going to look at a more general way of making nouns out of action

verbs. And understanding how this works will help you a great deal in understanding how to

form various other expressions in Korean.

-는 것 [-neun geot]

This is the most basic and general way of changing an action verb into a noun. 것 [geot] origi-

nally means “a thing” “an object” or “stuff”, but when it is used like this, it can also mean “a

fact” or “an act”.

Construction:

- Verb stem + -는 것

By changing verbs into nouns, [verb stem + -는 것] can take many different meanings.

1. “doing” something

2. the act of “doing” something

3. the thing that you “do”

4. what you “do”

Examples:

보다 [bo-da] = to see

보는 것 [bo-neun geot] = seeing, the act of seeing, the thing that you see, what I watch

가다 [ga-da] = to go

가는 것 [ga-neun geot] = going, the act of going

먹다 [meok-da] = to eat

먹는 것 [meok-neun geot] = eating, the act of eating, the thing that you eat, what you eat

사다 [sa-da] = to buy

사는 것 [sa-neun geot] = buying, the act of buying, the thing that you buy, what you buy

Note that this is only for verbs in the present tense. We will look at how to say things like “the

thing you will buy” or “the thing you bought” in our future lessons, but for your reference, you

use -(으)ㄴ 것 for the past tense and -(으)ㄹ 것 for the future tense.

산 것 = what you bought

사는 것 = what you buy

살 것 = what you will buy

먹은 것 = what you ate

먹는 것 = what you eat

먹을 것 = what you will eat

-는 것 vs -는 거
-는 것 is the standard form but often times, except for very formal situations, the form -는 거 is

more commonly used because of the ease of pronunciation.

지금 듣는 것은 노래예요.

[ ji-geum deut-neun geo-seun no-rae-ye-yo.]

= What I am listening to now is a song.

==> 지금 듣는 거는 노래예요.

오늘 만나는 것 알아요?

[o-neul man-na-neun geot a-ra-yo?]

= Do you know that we are meeting today?

==> 오늘 만나는 거 알아요?

매운 것 잘 먹어요?

[mae-un geot jal meo-geo-yo?]

= Are you good at eating spicy foods?

==> 매운 거 잘 먹어요?

More sample sentences

1. 제 취미는 영화 보는 거예요. [ je chwi-mi-neun yeong-hwa bo-neun geo-ye-yo.]

= My hobby is watching movies.

2. 요즘 공부하는 거는 뭐예요? [yo-jeum gong-bu-ha-neun geo-neun mwo-ye-yo?]

= What is it that you are studying recently?

= 요즘 뭐 공부해요?

3. 저는 친구랑 수다떠는 거를 좋아해요.

[ jeo-neun chin-gu-rang su-da-tteo-neun geo-reul jo-a-hae-yo.]

= I like chitchatting with my friends.

In this lesson, we are going to take a look at how to say that you “have to” or “should”
do something in Korean. The construction itself is quite simple to understand. You take the verb

stem of a verb and add the part (a verb ending) that makes the sentences take the meaning of

“have to” or “should”.

to have to, should, must

= verb stem + -아/어/여 + -야 되다/하다

Examples:

자다 [ ja-da] = to sleep

자 + -아/어/여 + -야 되다/하다

--> 자 + “-아” + -야 되다/하다 (You choose “-아” because 자 ends with the vowel “ㅏ”)

--> 자야 되다/하다 (You then drop the -아 because it’s the same same as “ㅏ”)

--> 자야 되다 and 자야 하다 are the same thing.

쓰다 [sseu-da] = to use, to write

쓰 + -아/어/여 + -야 되다/하다

--> 쓰 + “-어” + -야 되다/하다 (You choose “-어” because 쓰 doesn’t end in “ㅏ” or “ㅗ”)

--> 써야 되다/하다 (쓰 + 어 together change to ‘써’)

--> 써야 되다 and 써야 하다 mean the same thing.

So the construction is basically:

1. verb stems ending in vowels ‘ㅏ’ or ‘ ㅗ’ + -아야 되다/하다

2. verb stems ending in other vowels + -어야 되다/하다

3. 하 + -여야 되다/하다

one of the three above.

But it is more important to understand WHY -아/어/여야 되다/하다 means “to have to” or

“should”.

In order to understand this, we can look at the structure in two separate parts.

1. -아/어/여 + -야
This part means “only when _____ is done” or “only when you do _____”.

2. 되다 or 하다
되다 means “to be done” or “to be possible” and 하다 means “to do” something.

So if you put 1 and 2 together, it takes the meaning of “only when you do _____, it works” or

“only if _____ is done, it’s okay.” Therefore -아/어/여야 되다/하다 takes the meaning of “to have

to” or “should.”

What is the difference between 하다 and 되다 here?

- The only difference is that using 되다 is more common in colloquial situations.

Sample sentences

1. 집에 가야 돼요. [ ji-be ga-ya dwae-yo.]

= I have to go home.

2. 저는 뭐 해야 돼요? [ jeo-neun mwo hae-ya dwae-yo?]

= What should I do?

3. 언제까지 여기에 있어야 돼요? [eon-je-kka-ji yeo-gi-e i-sseo-ya dwae-yo?]

= Until when should I be here?

4. 누구한테 줘야 돼요? [nu-gu-han-te jwo-ya dwae-yo?]

= Who should I give this to?

5. 어디에서 사야 돼요? [eo-di-e-seo sa-ya dwae-yo?]

= Where should I buy it?

After studying with this lesson, you can compare two things or people and say that something

is better something else, or someone is taller than someone else, in Korean.

How to say “more” in Korean:

In Korean, the word for “more” is 더 [deo]. In English relatively short words change their forms

instead of having the word “more” in front of them, like shorter, hotter, faster, but in Korean all

the words just have this word 더 attached before them.

Example:

빠르다 = to be fast

더 빠르다 = to be faster

비싸다 = to be expensive

더 비싸다 = to be more expensive

예뻐요. = It’s pretty. / You’re pretty. / She’s pretty.

더 예뻐요. = It’s prettier. / You’re prettier. / She’s prettier.

How to say “than” in Korean:

The word for “than” or “compared to” is 보다 [bo-da].

The basic construction for this is not very complicated, but the word order in Korean is com-

pletely different from English. Let us compare the two.

English: A watermelon is bigger than an apple.

Korean: 수박은 사과보다 더 커요. [su-ba-geun sa-gwa-bo-da keo-yo.]

** In the English sentence above, the word “than” comes BEFORE “apple” but in Korean, the

word -보다 [bo-da] (which means “than”) comes AFTER 사과 [sa-gwa], which means “apple”.

Construction:

than A = A보다

more (verb/adjective/adverb) than A = A보다 더 (verb/adjective/adverb)

Example

to be big = 크다 [keu-da]

to be bigger = 더 크다 [deo keu-da]

It’s bigger. = 더 커요. [deo keo-yo.]

It’s bigger than this one. 이거보다 더 커요. [i-geo-bo-da deo keo-yo.]

to be nice (to people) = 착하다 [cha-ka-da]

to be nicer = 더 착하다 [deo cha-ka-da]

현우 is nicer. = 현우 씨는 더 착해요.

현우 is nicer than 경은. = 현우 씨는 경은 씨보다 더 착해요.

** 더 [deo] is not always necessary in Korean sentences. In English, it would be weird if you

said “She’s busy than me.” instead of “She’s busier than me.” but in Korean the meaning is per-

fectly clear even without the word 더 [deo].

Sample sentences

1. 오늘은 어제보다 더워요. [o-neu-reun eo-je-bo-da deo-wo-yo.]

= Today is hotter than yesterday.

2. 영어는 한국어보다 어려워요. [yeong-eo-neun han-gu-geo-bo-da eo-ryeo-wo-yo.]

= English is more difficult than Korean.

3. 어제보다 일찍 갈 거예요. [eo-je-bo-da il-jjik gal geo-ye-yo.]

= I’m going to go earlier than yesterday.

4. 현정 씨가 저보다 더 잘 해요. [hyeon-jeong ssi-ga jeo-bo-da deo jal hae-yo.]

= Hyeonjeong is better than me (at doing that).

5. 저는 책을 읽는 것보다 사는 것을 더 좋아해요. [ jeo-neun chae-geul il-neun geot-bo-da sa-

neun geo-seul deo jo-a-hae-yo.]

= I like buying books more than reading books.

After you started learning Korean, one of the expressions that you must have encountered in

various places is the verb 좋다 [ jo-ta]. It means “to be good”. But then again, you might have

also seen this word being used for the meaning “to like”.

Examples:

한국어 좋아요. [han-gu-geo jo-a-yo.]

= I like the Korean language.

이거 좋아요. [i-geo jo-a-yo.]

= I like this.

동방신기 좋아요. [dong-bang-sin-gi jo-a-yo.]

= I like DBSK.

Even though the verb 좋다 in the examples above are used as the meaning “to like” the verb

originally means “to be good” so in principle the nouns (한국어, 이거, 동방신기) are subjects of

the sentences.

So the particles that are hidden after the nouns are NOT objects marking particles, but in fact,

subject marking particles.

한국어 좋아요.

--> 한국어를 좋아요. ( x )

--> 한국어가 좋아요. ( o )

So you are literally saying that Korean is good, likable, enjoyable, and preferable FOR YOU.

The difference between 좋다 and 좋아하다

So if you want to express more precisely that you like something, you can use the verb 좋아하

다, which can be translated as “to like” or “to be fond of”. The meanings might be similar but

since 좋다 means “to be good” the noun that goes with it is the subject of the sentence, and

for 좋아하다, the noun that goes with it is the object.

If you just drop the particles altogether, you don’t have to worry about this difference.

1) 동방신기 좋아요.

2) 동방신기 좋아해요.

Sentence number 1 and 2 mean the same. But if you want to specify what is good and who

likes whom, you might want to add the particles.

3) 동방신기가 좋아요.

4) 동방신기를 좋아요.

Sentence number 3 means that you like DBSK. And sentence number 4 is not correct because

좋다 is not a verb that can have an object.

5) 동방신기를 좋아해요.

6) 동방신기가 좋아해요.

Sentence number 5 means that you (or someone else) like DBSK. And (IMPORTANT!) sentence

number 6 means that DBSK likes something or someone. The subject of the sentence is DBSK,

so you need to add what it is that DBSK likes.

Descriptive verbs + ~하다 combination

Construction:

Verb stem + -아/어/여 + -하다

As in the case of 좋다 and 좋아하다, there can be many pairs of words that seem similar at

first but are actually different in usage.

More examples like this:

1) 싫다 [sil-ta] = to be unlikable, to be undesirable

싫어하다 [si-reo-ha-da] = to hate, to not like

2) 예쁘다 [ye-ppeu-da] = to be pretty, to be cute

예뻐하다 [ye-ppeo-ha-da] = to consider someone pretty and treat them in such a manner

3) 슬프다 [seul-peu-da] = to be sad

슬퍼하다 [seul-peo-ha-da] = to feel sad and therefore express such emotions

Sample sentences

1. 저는 우유를 좋아해요. [ jeo-neun u-yu-reul jo-a-hae-yo.]

= I like milk.

2. 우유가 좋아요? 주스가 좋아요? [u-yu-ga jo-a-yo? ju-seu-ga jo-a-yo?]

= Do you like milk? Or do you like juice?

3. 뭐가 제일 좋아요? [mwo-ga je-il jo-a-yo?]

= What is your favorite?

4. 뭐를 제일 좋아해요? [mwo-reul je-il jo-a-hae-yo?]

= What do you like best?

5. 저 좋아하세요? [ jeo jo-a-ha-se-yo?]

= Do you like me? Are you in love with me?

After studying with this lesson, you will know how to say “if” in Korean, and how to use it in

context in your Korean sentences.

In order to express the meaning “if”, you need to know two expressions. One is a noun and one

is a verb ending.

1. 만약 [man-yak] = in case, if

2. -(으)면 [-(eu)myeon] = verb ending for “if”

In English, you just have to say the word “if” at the beginning of the sentence to make the sen-

tence conditional, but in Korean you need to conjugate the verb as well. But don’t worry, conju-

gation verbs in this manner is very easy to do.

How to conjugate verbs:

In order to add the meaning “if” to a verb, you take the verb stem and add -(으)면 [-(eu)myeon]

to the verb.

1. Verb stems ending with a vowel + -면

Ex) 자다 --> 자면 (if you sleep)

2. Verb stems ending with ㄹ + -면

Ex) 길다 --> 길면 (if it’s long)

3. Verb stems ending with consonants other than ㄹ + -으면

Ex) 작다 --> 작으면 (if it’s small)

And in front of the verb or the phrase, you add the word 만약 [man-yak] to make the meaning

more clear. Since most Korean sentences are heavily affected by the verb endings toward the

end of the sentences, adding 만약 at the beginning makes it easier to see that you are saying

“if”.

Examples:

Verb: 자다 = to sleep

지금 자면 = if I sleep now

만약 지금 자면 = if I sleep now

Verb: 비가 오다 = to rain

내일 밤에 비가 오면 = if it rains tomorrow night

만약 내일 밤에 비가 오면 = if it rains tomorrow night

** In the second sentences for both of the examples, the listener can figure out that the sen-

tence is going to be an “if” sentence when hearing “만약”.

But if what you are saying is simple and the sentence is not very long, you don’t always have

to use the word 만약 in each sentence.

A little more conjugation practice for you:

먹다 [meok-da] = to eat

먹으면 [meo-geu-myeon] = if you eat it, if I eat it

** You can add the -았/었/였 suffix before -으면 to make a past-tense clause.

먹 + 었 + 으면 [meo-geo-sseu-myeon] = if you ate it, if I ate it

사 다 [sa-da] = to buy

사면 [sa-myeon] = if you buy it, if I buy it, if they buy it

샀으면 [sa-sseu-myeon] = if you bought it, if we bought it

** You can even make it into the future tense by using -(으)ㄹ 거면.

보다 [bo-da] = to watch

보면 [bo-myeon] = if you watch it, if I watch it

봤으면 [bwa-sseu-myeon] = if I watched it, if they watched it

볼 거면 [bol geo-myeon] = if you are going to watch it

Sample sentences

1. 내일 비가 오면, 집에 있을 거예요.

[nae-il bi-ga o-myeon, ji-be i-sseul geo-ye-yo.]

= If it rains tomorrow, I’m going to be at home.

2. 이거 다 먹으면, 배가 아플 거예요.

[i-geo da meo-geu-myeon, bae-ga a-peul geo-ye-yo.]

= If you eat all of it, your stomach will hurt.

3. 리모콘을 찾으면, TV를 볼 수 있어요.

[ri-mo-ko-neul cha-jeu-myeon, ti-vi-reul bol su i-sseo-yo.]

= If you find the remote control, you can watch TV.

4. TTMIK에서 공부하면, 재미있어요.

[ttmik-e-seo gong-bu-ha-myeon, jae-mi-i-sseo-yo.]

= If you study at TTMIK, it’s fun.

5. 지금 안 오면, 후회할 거예요.

[ ji-geum an o-myeon hu-hoe-hal geo-ye-yo.]

= If you don’t come now, you will regret it.

This is not everything.

This is the basic way of making “if” sentences in Korean. There are various other expressions

such as “only if you had done it, I would have ...”. But of course those will have to wait until we

learn some other things first, so in the meanwhile, enjoy practicing what we learned today!

In this lesson we are going to learn two new expressions that have the opposite
meanings.

1. 아직 [a-jik] means “still” and “not yet”.

In English, generally, the word ‘still’ is used with positive sentences and the word ‘yet’
is more commonly used with negative sentences, but in Korean, the word 아직 [a-jik]
is used for both positive and negative sentences.

아직 10시예요.
[a-jik yeol-si-ye-yo.]
= It’s still 10 o’clock.

아직 안 했어요.
[a-jik an hae-sseo-yo.]
= I haven’t done it yet.

아직 아침이에요.
[a-jik a-chi-mi-e-yo.]
= It’s still morning.

아직 몰라요.
[a-jik mol-la-yo.]
= I don’t know yet.

To emphasize the meaning of “still happening” or “still not happening”, you can add
the particle -도 [-do] after 아직.

아직 몰라요?
[a-jik mol-la-yo?]
= You don’t know yet?

아직도 몰라요?
[a-jik-do mol-la-yo?]
= You still don’t know? How could you still not know?

아직 안 왔어요?
[a-jik an wa-sseo-yo?]
= He’s not here yet?

네, 아직도 안 왔어요.
[a-jik-do an wa-sseo-yo.]
= No, he’s still not here.

2. 벌써 [beol-sseo] means “already”.

The usage of the word 벌써 [beol-sseo] is very similar to the English word “already”.
It’s generally placed at the beginning of sentences, but it doesn’t always have to be
at the beginning.

It’s already three o’clock.

= 벌써 세 시예요.

It’s three o’clock already!

= 세 시예요, 벌써!

Both of the sentences above work.

More sample sentences

벌써 왔어요?
[beol-sseo wa-sseo-yo?]
= Oh, you are already here!

벌써 끝났어요?
[beol-sseo kkeut-na-sseo-yo?]
= Is it already over? Did it already finish?

이미 vs 벌써

Another word that you will often encounter when reading or listening to Korean that
has the meaning “already” is 이미 [i-mi].

이미 means “already” as well, so basically 이미 and 벌써 seem to have the same

meaning, but in fact, Koreans often distinguish the meanings of these two words.

The difference between 이미 and 벌써 lies in whether you are already aware of the
fact or not. When you and/or the speaker know about something already and talk
about it, you use 이미. When you are just finding out about it as you speak you use 벌
써. People don’t always stick to this rule, but this is the basic idea.

Examples

그 사람은 이미 학교를 졸업했어요.

[geu sa-ram-eun i-mi hak-gyo-reul jo-reo-pae-sseo-yo.]
= He already graduated from school.

- You (and probably also the other person) have known about this fact since long
before you say this sentence.)

그 사람은 벌써 학교를 졸업했어요!

[geu sa-ram-eun beol-sseo hak-gyo-reul jo-reo-pae-sseo-yo.]
= He already graduated from school.

- You might have found out about this fact recently, or you already knew about this
but the other person may have not known about it before you say it.

This PDF is to be used along with the MP3 audio lesson available at
TalkToMeInKorean.com. Please feel free to share TalkToMeInKorean's free
Korean lessons and PDF files with anybody who is studying Korean. If you
have any questions or feedback, visit TalkToMeInKorean.com
TalkToMeInKorean.com - Free Korean Lesson Notes
LEVEL 2 LESSON 25
———————————————-
In English, when you change the word “when” to “someday”, “what” to “something”,
“who” to “someone” or “where” to “somewhere”, the words change a lot in form. But
when you do this in Korean, there isn’t much change to the original word except for an
ending that you add.

In Korean, in order to change “when” to “someday”, you just add -ㄴ가 (-n-ga) at the
end of the word for “when”, which is 언제. So 언제 becomes 언젠가.

The same rule applies to some other words.

언제 (when) - 언젠가 (someday)
뭐 (what) - 뭔가 (something)
누구 (who) - 누군가 (someone)
어디 (where) - 어딘가 (somewhere)

Examples:
언젠가 미국에 가고 싶어요.
[eon-jen-ga mi-gu-ge ga-go si-peo-yo.]
= I want to go to the States someday.

언제 미국에 가고 싶어요?
[eon-je mi-gu-ge ga-go si-peo-yo?]
= When do you want to go to the States?

언젠가 일본에 갈 거예요.

[eon-jen-ga il-bo-ne gal geo-ye-yo.]
= I’m going to go to Japan one day.

This PDF is to be used along with the MP3 audio lesson available at TalkToMeInKorean.com.
Please feel free to share TalkToMeInKorean’s free Korean lessons and PDF files with anybody who is studying Korean.
If you have any questions or feedback, visit TalkToMeInKorean.com.
TalkToMeInKorean.com - Free Korean Lesson Notes
LEVEL 2 LESSON 25
———————————————-
언제 일본에 갈 거예요?
[eon-je il-bo-ne gal geo-ye-yo?]
= When are you going to go to Japan?

뭐 찾았어요?
[mwo cha-ja-sseo-yo?]
= What did you find?

뭔가 찾았어요?
[mwon-ga cha-ja-sseo-yo?]
= Did you find something?

뭔가 이상해요.
[mwon-ga i-sang-hae-yo.]
= Something is strange.

뭐가 이상해요?
[mwo-ga i-sang-hae-yo?]
= What is strange?

누구 만날 거예요?
[nu-gu man-nal geo-ye-yo?]
= Who will you meet?

누군가 왔어요.
[nu-gun-ga wa-sseo-yo.]
= Someone came.

This PDF is to be used along with the MP3 audio lesson available at TalkToMeInKorean.com.
Please feel free to share TalkToMeInKorean’s free Korean lessons and PDF files with anybody who is studying Korean.
If you have any questions or feedback, visit TalkToMeInKorean.com.
TalkToMeInKorean.com - Free Korean Lesson Notes
LEVEL 2 LESSON 25
———————————————-
어디에 있어요?
[eo-di-e i-sseo-yo?]
= Where is it?

여기 어딘가에 있어요.
[eo-din-ga-e i-sseo-yo.]
= It is somewhere here.

BUT!!! (And this is important!) In Korean, like many other expressions, this rule is not
always kept by everyone. What does this mean? It means that EVEN when you mean to
say “someday”, you can use 언제 instead of 언젠가, you can say 뭐 for something, 어디
for somewhere and 누구 for someone.

The distinction between 언제 and 언젠가 is stronger than the distinction between other
words, but you can also replace 언젠가 with 언제 in many situations. When you use the
original interrogative words instead of the -ㄴ가 form, you really need to pay attention
to your intonation. The emphasis should go on the verbs, not the actual interrogative
words themselves.

Examples:
뭐 샀어요? [mwo sa-sseo-yo?] (stress is on 뭐)
= What did you buy?

뭐 샀어요? [mwo sa-sseo-yo?] (stress is on 샀어요)

= Did you buy something?

언제 중국에 갈 거예요? [eon-je jung-gu-ge gal geo-ye-yo?] (stress is on 언제)

This PDF is to be used along with the MP3 audio lesson available at TalkToMeInKorean.com.
Please feel free to share TalkToMeInKorean’s free Korean lessons and PDF files with anybody who is studying Korean.
If you have any questions or feedback, visit TalkToMeInKorean.com.
TalkToMeInKorean.com - Free Korean Lesson Notes
LEVEL 2 LESSON 25
———————————————-
= When are you going to go to China?

언제 중국에 갈 거예요? [eon-je jung-gu-ge gal geo-ye-yo?] (stress is on 갈 거예요?)

= Are you going to go to China someday/one of these days?

Sejong Korean 1
93% (67)
Sejong Korean 1
194 pages
Korean Handwriting Vol. 1 C (Z-Library)
93% (14)
Korean Handwriting Vol. 1 C (Z-Library)
210 pages
Integrated Korean Beginning 2 Third Edition Klear Annas Archive Zlib 21295735
100% (10)
Integrated Korean Beginning 2 Third Edition Klear Annas Archive Zlib 21295735
395 pages
Korean Conversation 1
96% (25)
Korean Conversation 1
180 pages
Vitamin Korean 1
95% (20)
Vitamin Korean 1
275 pages
30 Day Korean Reading Challenge 7
100% (9)
30 Day Korean Reading Challenge 7
145 pages
Korean Handwriting Vol 2
100% (9)
Korean Handwriting Vol 2
221 pages
Korean Pronunciation Guide
100% (13)
Korean Pronunciation Guide
284 pages
Korean Grammar in Use - Intermediate
94% (17)
Korean Grammar in Use - Intermediate
390 pages
Korean Language: For Beginners
91% (11)
Korean Language: For Beginners
17 pages
HowtoStudyKorean Unit 1 PDF
100% (1)
HowtoStudyKorean Unit 1 PDF
292 pages
Korean Language Module 1
100% (10)
Korean Language Module 1
12 pages
2000 Essential Korean Words For Beginners
98% (56)
2000 Essential Korean Words For Beginners
505 pages
Korean Grammar in Use Advanced Fixed PDF Free
100% (6)
Korean Grammar in Use Advanced Fixed PDF Free
366 pages
Korean Grammar in Use Beginner
90% (67)
Korean Grammar in Use Beginner
344 pages
Learn Korean With BTS Book 3
76% (29)
Learn Korean With BTS Book 3
118 pages
Korean Made Simple
100% (17)
Korean Made Simple
267 pages
Easy Korean For Foreigners 2 (Easy Korean Academy)
100% (7)
Easy Korean For Foreigners 2 (Easy Korean Academy)
158 pages
TOPIK Grammar - Vocabulary Beginner Level PDF
100% (7)
TOPIK Grammar - Vocabulary Beginner Level PDF
62 pages
Korean Learning Book PDF
100% (5)
Korean Learning Book PDF
115 pages
Ttmik 4
100% (3)
Ttmik 4
192 pages
Once Upon A Time in Korea. An Elementary Reader (In Ku Kim-Marshall) (Z-Library)
100% (4)
Once Upon A Time in Korea. An Elementary Reader (In Ku Kim-Marshall) (Z-Library)
200 pages
Talk To Me in Korean - Level 3
80% (5)
Talk To Me in Korean - Level 3
99 pages
Korean Duolingo
No ratings yet
Korean Duolingo
13 pages
HowtoStudyKorean: Unit 1 Lesson 1
No ratings yet
HowtoStudyKorean: Unit 1 Lesson 1
9 pages
Korean Picture Dictionary Learn 1,500 Korean Words and Phrases - The Perfect Resource For Visual Learners of All Ages
100% (14)
Korean Picture Dictionary Learn 1,500 Korean Words and Phrases - The Perfect Resource For Visual Learners of All Ages
99 pages
2000 Essential Korean Words - Intermediate
100% (10)
2000 Essential Korean Words - Intermediate
538 pages
Yoruba Lesson Note Week 3
No ratings yet
Yoruba Lesson Note Week 3
9 pages
Korean Duolingo
100% (1)
Korean Duolingo
45 pages
Korean Verb Conjugation
100% (15)
Korean Verb Conjugation
45 pages
500 Korean Verbs
86% (29)
500 Korean Verbs
25 pages
Lesson 1: Basic Korean Sentences: Sentence Word Order
No ratings yet
Lesson 1: Basic Korean Sentences: Sentence Word Order
23 pages
HowtoStudyKorean Lesson 1 PDF
No ratings yet
HowtoStudyKorean Lesson 1 PDF
9 pages
Complete TOPIK Grammar List - Beginner Level - With Explanations
100% (2)
Complete TOPIK Grammar List - Beginner Level - With Explanations
7 pages
Korean Grammar for Learners
100% (3)
Korean Grammar for Learners
9 pages
Roh Jaemin Essential Korean Reader
100% (14)
Roh Jaemin Essential Korean Reader
334 pages
Easy Peasy Korean
75% (8)
Easy Peasy Korean
24 pages
French 2
No ratings yet
French 2
152 pages
Lesson Plan - Community Helpers
100% (1)
Lesson Plan - Community Helpers
4 pages
Level 1 Lesson 9: Letting The Other People Know What You Are Talking About or Going To Talk About
No ratings yet
Level 1 Lesson 9: Letting The Other People Know What You Are Talking About or Going To Talk About
5 pages
Ttmik-L 2 L 1
No ratings yet
Ttmik-L 2 L 1
3 pages
Sŏgang Han'gugŏ. 1A - Kim, Sŏng-Hŭi Sŏgang Taehakkyo. Han'gugo Kyoyugwŏn - 2009 - Sŏul-Si - Sŏgang Taehakkyo Han'gugŏ Kyoyugwŏn - 9788976995742 - Anna's Archive
No ratings yet
Sŏgang Han'gugŏ. 1A - Kim, Sŏng-Hŭi Sŏgang Taehakkyo. Han'gugo Kyoyugwŏn - 2009 - Sŏul-Si - Sŏgang Taehakkyo Han'gugŏ Kyoyugwŏn - 9788976995742 - Anna's Archive
60 pages
Type of Particle
No ratings yet
Type of Particle
6 pages
Ttmik l1l18nGF
No ratings yet
Ttmik l1l18nGF
5 pages
Korean Grammar Structure PDF
No ratings yet
Korean Grammar Structure PDF
17 pages
Korean Sentence Structure Guide
No ratings yet
Korean Sentence Structure Guide
2 pages
Korean Particle
No ratings yet
Korean Particle
19 pages
Level 1
No ratings yet
Level 1
17 pages
HowtoStudyKorean Unit 1 Lesson 5 PDF
No ratings yet
HowtoStudyKorean Unit 1 Lesson 5 PDF
12 pages
Unit 1 - Lesson 1 Basic Korean Sentences
No ratings yet
Unit 1 - Lesson 1 Basic Korean Sentences
11 pages
Korean Basics for Beginners
No ratings yet
Korean Basics for Beginners
22 pages
Unit 1: Lessons 1 - 25: Last Edited On January 8, 2020
No ratings yet
Unit 1: Lessons 1 - 25: Last Edited On January 8, 2020
292 pages
LearnKorean24 Course Lesson 5
No ratings yet
LearnKorean24 Course Lesson 5
3 pages
Korean Particles Guide
100% (1)
Korean Particles Guide
9 pages
Ttmik Workbook Level 2 Lessons1 10
100% (1)
Ttmik Workbook Level 2 Lessons1 10
8 pages
Beginning Korean: A Grammar Guide: Unit 6: The Weekend
No ratings yet
Beginning Korean: A Grammar Guide: Unit 6: The Weekend
5 pages
Basics 1
No ratings yet
Basics 1
4 pages
How To Use This Book: Present Past Future / Guessing Present Progressive
No ratings yet
How To Use This Book: Present Past Future / Guessing Present Progressive
17 pages
Lesson 2 - Korean Particles 이.가
100% (1)
Lesson 2 - Korean Particles 이.가
5 pages
Korean Particle List
No ratings yet
Korean Particle List
18 pages
TalkToMeInKorean Level7 Lesson24
No ratings yet
TalkToMeInKorean Level7 Lesson24
3 pages
(Ebook) Talk To Me in Korean Level 2 (Korean and English Edition) by Talktomeinkorean Isbn 9781186701080, 1186701080
No ratings yet
(Ebook) Talk To Me in Korean Level 2 (Korean and English Edition) by Talktomeinkorean Isbn 9781186701080, 1186701080
65 pages
Popolo Grammatica
No ratings yet
Popolo Grammatica
7 pages
Week 2 Notes
No ratings yet
Week 2 Notes
50 pages
Korean Grammar Particles Guide
No ratings yet
Korean Grammar Particles Guide
50 pages
Notes: Verb + (으) ㄹ게요: This pattern is used for the future tense. Even by native Korean speakers, the 게요 is often
No ratings yet
Notes: Verb + (으) ㄹ게요: This pattern is used for the future tense. Even by native Korean speakers, the 게요 is often
5 pages
LESSON 1-10 Ok
No ratings yet
LESSON 1-10 Ok
45 pages
HowtoStudyKorean Lesson 5 PDF
No ratings yet
HowtoStudyKorean Lesson 5 PDF
8 pages
Lesson 1 Basic Korean Sentences
No ratings yet
Lesson 1 Basic Korean Sentences
1 page
Additional Grammatical Notes: Unit 2: Hello
No ratings yet
Additional Grammatical Notes: Unit 2: Hello
6 pages
Lesson 1 - Basic Korean Sentences
No ratings yet
Lesson 1 - Basic Korean Sentences
24 pages
Lesson 1 - Basic Korean Sentences
50% (2)
Lesson 1 - Basic Korean Sentences
7 pages
Lesson 5 PDFa
No ratings yet
Lesson 5 PDFa
6 pages
Lesson 1: The Korean Alphabet Is 24 Letters: Posted On July 1, 2010 by John
No ratings yet
Lesson 1: The Korean Alphabet Is 24 Letters: Posted On July 1, 2010 by John
13 pages
TOPIK Beginner Reference
No ratings yet
TOPIK Beginner Reference
15 pages
Kor2 M3 Eng
No ratings yet
Kor2 M3 Eng
76 pages
Korean Particles
No ratings yet
Korean Particles
32 pages
Korean for Beginners
100% (1)
Korean for Beginners
33 pages
Korean Grammar Patterns Guide
No ratings yet
Korean Grammar Patterns Guide
6 pages
Korean Phrase Book
100% (12)
Korean Phrase Book
308 pages
Verbs Conjugation
50% (6)
Verbs Conjugation
11 pages
My Korean 2
100% (6)
My Korean 2
503 pages
Korean
100% (8)
Korean
6 pages
Lec1 Communication 080027
No ratings yet
Lec1 Communication 080027
11 pages
Dialectical Variations of Old English-1
No ratings yet
Dialectical Variations of Old English-1
15 pages
1994 CIA World Factbook Etext
No ratings yet
1994 CIA World Factbook Etext
1,559 pages
SA1 - Class 3 - 2023-24
No ratings yet
SA1 - Class 3 - 2023-24
5 pages
Bodily Map of Emotions
No ratings yet
Bodily Map of Emotions
10 pages
Daily Lesson LOG: Grade 8 Angie R. Martinez English III
No ratings yet
Daily Lesson LOG: Grade 8 Angie R. Martinez English III
2 pages
Mastery Den Writing Tips
No ratings yet
Mastery Den Writing Tips
22 pages
B1 Chinese Grammar - - How to use 被: Howtouse被
No ratings yet
B1 Chinese Grammar - - How to use 被: Howtouse被
3 pages
Svetlana Slapsak How To Read Cabbage Structuralism Semiotics Historical Anthropology English Bozidar Slapsak
No ratings yet
Svetlana Slapsak How To Read Cabbage Structuralism Semiotics Historical Anthropology English Bozidar Slapsak
14 pages
2017 EC Grade 8 English Model Exam
100% (1)
2017 EC Grade 8 English Model Exam
7 pages
Turkish Class Student Survey
No ratings yet
Turkish Class Student Survey
4 pages
Correcting Comma Splices: Five Methods
No ratings yet
Correcting Comma Splices: Five Methods
5 pages
Common Core Deconstructed Standards For Writing
No ratings yet
Common Core Deconstructed Standards For Writing
7 pages
Matura Basic
No ratings yet
Matura Basic
6 pages
Silent Letters: English Learner Pronunciation Difficulties
No ratings yet
Silent Letters: English Learner Pronunciation Difficulties
1 page
Definition
No ratings yet
Definition
23 pages
Giant Skeletons: Myth or Reality?
No ratings yet
Giant Skeletons: Myth or Reality?
12 pages
Jadual E171 5 Jun 17
No ratings yet
Jadual E171 5 Jun 17
51 pages
Dsat Rew
No ratings yet
Dsat Rew
61 pages
Juknis Porseni Pgri 2023
No ratings yet
Juknis Porseni Pgri 2023
21 pages
Phil. Tourism History Geography and Cult
No ratings yet
Phil. Tourism History Geography and Cult
7 pages
Corpus
No ratings yet
Corpus
21 pages
History of The Arabic Script Article Arabic
No ratings yet
History of The Arabic Script Article Arabic
27 pages
IELTS INFORMATION TO CANDIDATES IDP YOGYA at LBUSD
No ratings yet
IELTS INFORMATION TO CANDIDATES IDP YOGYA at LBUSD
2 pages
Grammar Present Simple. Have Got
No ratings yet
Grammar Present Simple. Have Got
5 pages
Temas para Un Ensayo de Comparación y Contraste
100% (1)
Temas para Un Ensayo de Comparación y Contraste
6 pages
NSSC Oshindonga Exam 2012
No ratings yet
NSSC Oshindonga Exam 2012
14 pages