Talk to me In korean (TTMIK) Lessons Flashcards
Level 1 - Part 1
-Lesson 1: Hello, Thank you
-Lesson 2: Yes, No, What?
-Lesson 3: Good-bye. See you
-Lesson 4: I’m Sorry, Excuse Me
-Lesson 5: It’s Me. What is it?
-Lesson 6: What is this? This is…
-Lesson 7: This, That, It
-Lesson 8: It’s Not me
-Lesson 9: Topic/Subject Particles
-Lesson 10: Have, Don’t have
Lesson 1. Hello. Thank you. / 안녕하세요. 감사합니다
At first, it might be difficult to pronounce this greeting naturally, but after some practice, it will get easier.
안녕 [an-nyeong] + 하세요 [ha-se-yo] = 안녕하세요. [an-nyeong-ha-se-yo.]
안녕 = well-being, peace, health
하세요 = you do, do you?, please do
안녕하세요 is the most common way of greeting someone in Korean. This greeting is in
존댓말 [jon-daen-mal], or polite/formal language. When someone greets you with 안녕하세요, you can simply greet the person back with 안녕하세요.
When you write this greeting, you can write it as “안녕하세요.” (statement) or “안녕하세요?” (question form). Either way is perfectly acceptable. 안녕하세요 was originally a question asking “Are you doing well?”, “Are you at peace?”, or “Are you living well?”, but since it is a very common expression, people began to not expect any special answers in reply. For example, when you ask a friend of yours “What’s up?”, do you really expect an honest answer about what is going on? In this case, you might hear “What’s up?” in reply. 안녕하세요 is exactly like that.
Sample Conversation
A: 안녕하세요. = Hello.
B: 안녕하세요. = Hi.
In Korean, there are a few levels of politeness which are commonly called “honorifics” in English. If you are a beginner learner, it might seem intimidating at first to learn of the honorifics, but it is important to know and utilize them. It gets much easier as you learn and practice more, so do not worry!
You can divide Korean honorifics into two categories that are quite easy to distinguish from each other and learn to use. One category is called 존댓말 [jon-daen-mal], which means polite or formal language, and the other is 반말 [ban-mal], which means casual, intimate, or informal language. In Korean, if you hear sentences that end in “-요” [-yo] or “-니다” [-ni-da], they are most likely in 존댓말 (polite/formal language). It is better to learn 존댓말 first because if you speak 존댓말 in a situation when you can use 반말 (intimate/informal language), you are not going to be in too much trouble. However, if you use 반말 when you are supposed to use 존댓말, you might get into trouble.
감사합니다.
Thank you.
감사 [gam-sa] + 합니다 [ham-ni-da] = 감사합니다. [gam-sa-ham-ni-da]
감사 = appreciation, thankfulness, gratitude
합니다 = I do, I am doing
감사합니다 is the most common way to politely say “Thank you.” 감사 means “gratitude”, and 합니다 means “I do” or “I am doing” in 존댓말 (polite/formal language). Together, the two mean “Thank you.” You can use 감사합니다 whenever you find yourself in a situation where you want to say “Thank you.”
In English, when you say “Thank you”, the expression has the word “you” in it. In Korean, however, people just say 감사합니다, but the word does not have an object (“you”) in it. You do not have to say “you” in Korean because it is easy to guess to whom you are offering thanks. As you learn more Korean expressions, you will see that there are many that need not include the object within the sentence.
If you have a Korean friend or live in Korea but have not tried using these expressions, try to use them as often as possible until they become very easy and comfortable to say!
Lesson 2. Yes. No. What? / 네. 아니요. 네?
After studying with this lesson, you will be able to answer with either YES or NO in response to basic questions in Korean.
네 / 아니요
In Korean, “Yes” is 네 [ne] and “No” is 아니요 [a-ni-yo] in 존댓말 [jon-daen-mal], or polite/formal language.
네. [ne] = Yes.
아니요. [a-ni-yo] = No.
However, in Korean, when people say “네”, it does not have the same meaning as saying “Yes” in English. The same goes for “아니요”, too. This is because the Korean word “네” expresses your “agreement” to what the other person is saying. In contrast, “아니요” expresses your “disagreement” or “denial” to what the other person is saying.
For example, if someone asks you “You don’t like coffee?” (커피 안 좋아해요?) in Korean and your answer is “No, I don’t like coffee”, you have to say “네”. The literal translation of “네” is “Yes”, but what you actually mean in English would be “No, I don’t like coffee.”
Strange? Maybe a little, so it is more accurate to put it this way:
네. = That is right. / I agree. / Sounds good. / What you said is correct.
아니요. = That is not right. / I do not agree. / What you said is not correct.
When you ask “You don’t like coffee?” in Korean, if the person answering does not like coffee, he/she will say “No.” in English but “네” in Korean. However if the person DOES like coffee, he/she will say “Yes” in English but “아니요” in Korean.
Sample Conversations
A: 커피 좋아해요? [keo-pi jo-a-hae-yo?] = Do you like coffee?
B: 네. 좋아해요. [ne. jo-a-hae-yo] = Yes, I like coffee.
A: 커피 좋아해요? [keo-pi jo-a-hae-yo?] = Do you like coffee?
B: 아니요. 안 좋아해요. [a-ni-yo. an jo-a-hae-yo] = No, I don’t like coffee.
A: 커피 안 좋아해요? [keo-pi an jo-a-hae-yo?] = You don’t like coffee?
B: 아니요. 좋아해요. [a-ni-yo. jo-a-hae-yo] = Yes (아니요 in Korean), I like coffee.
A: 커피 안 좋아해요? [keo-pi an jo-a-hae-yo?] = You don’t like coffee?
B: 네. 안 좋아해요. [ne. an jo-a-hae-yo] = No (네 in Korean), I don’t like coffee.
You do not have to worry about the other parts of the sample sentences mentioned previously. Just remember that the Korean system for saying YES and NO is different from the English system.
More usages of 네
네 [ne] is more than just YES or THAT IS RIGHT.
While 네 is used to express “Yes” or “That is right”, it is also used as a conversation filler. If you listen to two Korean people talking with each other, you will hear them saying 네 quite often, even when it is not intended to mean “Yes.”
Therefore, it is normal for two Korean people to have a conversation as the one below. Imagine that the entire conversation is in Korean.
Sample Conversation
A: You know what, I bought this book yesterday.
B: 네. [ne] (Oh, you did?)
A: and I really like it.
B: 네… (I see…)
A: But it is a bit too expensive.
B: 네. (I see!)
A: Do you know how much it was?
B: How much was it?
A: It was 100 dollars!
B: 네? [ne?] (What?)
A: So I paid the money with my credit card.
B: 네… (I got it.)
A: But I still like it a lot because it’s a book by Kyeong-eun Choi, one of the teachers at TalkToMeInKorean.com
B: 네… (I see…)
So, as you can see from the dialog above, 네 [ne] is a multi-player. Not only can it mean “yes” or “that’s right”, but it can also mean “I see”, “I got it”, “I’m here! (when someone calls you)”, “I understand”, “ah-ha”, or any other affirmative statement.
Using 네 with 맞아요
Because 네 [ne] and 아니요 [a-ni-yo] are focused more on your agreement and disagreement rather than whether something is true or not, and ALSO because 네 can mean “I see” or “ah-ha” as well, Korean people often add this expression, 맞아요 [ma-ja-yo] after 네 [ne].
네, 맞아요. [ne, ma-ja-yo] = Yes, that is right.
This is used in order to express more strongly and clearly that you are saying “You are right” rather than sounding like you are just passively listening while nodding.
네 is amazing. It can be many things, but it can also be “What did you say?”
Suppose someone said something to you, but you could not hear the person well or you were not paying much attention. Then you can say “네?” [ne?] to mean “Pardon me?”, “I am sorry?”, “What did you say?”, or “I did not hear you well.” You can also use “네?” to show your surprise.
Sample Conversation
A: I bought a present for you.
B: 네? [ne?] (What? You did?)
A: I said I bought a present for you?
B: 네? (What?)
A: Forget it.
B: 네? (Pardon?)
Lesson 3. Good-bye. See you. / 안녕히 가세요. 안녕히 계세요. 안녕.
After studying with this lesson, you will be able to say goodbye in Korean.
Do you remember how to say “Hello” in Korean? It is 안녕하세요. [an-nyeong-ha-se-yo]
If you remember 안녕하세요, that is fantastic! If you even remember that “안녕” in 안녕하세
요 means “peace” and “well-being”, that is even more fantastic!
안녕 [an-nyeong] = well-being, peace, health
In Korean, when you say “goodbye” in formal/polite Korean, 존댓말 [jon-daen-mal], there
are two types of expressions, and both of these expressions have the word 안녕 [an-nyeong] in
them.
One is when you are the one who is leaving. The other is when you are the one who is staying and you are seeing the people or the person leaving.
If you are leaving and the other person is (or the other people are) staying, you can say:
안녕히 계세요.
If you are staying, and the other person is (or the other people are) leaving, you can say:
안녕히 가세요.
* If two or more people meet and all of them are leaving and going in separate directions, they can all say 안녕히 가세요 to each other since no one is staying.
For now, do not worry about the literal meaning of the expressions and just learn them as they
are. However if you are really curious and if you were to translate these greetings literally, they would be translated like this:
안녕히 계세요. [an-nyeong-hi gye-se-yo.] = Stay in peace.
안녕히 가세요. [an-nyeong-hi ga-se-yo.] = Go in peace.
Again, do not worry about the literal meaning of these greetings JUST YET!
* When Korean people say 안녕하세요 [an-nyeong-ha-se-yo], 안녕히 계세요 [an-nyeong-hi gye-se-yo], or 안녕히 가세요 [an-nyeong-hi ga-se-yo], they do not always pronounce EVERY single letter clearly. So often at times, what you would hear clearly is just the ending part, “세요 [se-yo]”.
Lesson 4. I’m sorry. Excuse me. / 죄송합니다. 저기요.
After studying with this lesson, you will be able to say “I am sorry” or “I apologize” in Korean. You will also be able to get someone’s attention when you want to say something to them or order something in a restaurant.
죄송합니다.
Do you remember how to say “Thank you” in Korean? It is 감사합니다. [gam-sa-ham-ni-da] If you also remember that 감사합니다 is basically 감사 (“appreciation” or “thankfulness”) plus 합
니다 (“I do”), you can assume that 죄송합니다 [joe-song-ham-ni-da] is also 죄송 plus 합니다.
죄송 [joe-song] means “apology”, “being sorry”, or “feeling ashamed”, and 합니다 [ham-ni-da] means “I do”. Therefore, 죄송합니다 [joe-song-ham-ni-da] means “I am sorry” or “I apologize.”
Q: Why is “합니다” not pronounced as [hap-ni-da] but instead as [ham-ni-da]?
A: In Korean, when you say something like “합”, you do not pronounce the final letter independently, but rather as a part of the entire syllable. Therefore, instead of pronouncing 합 as “ha” plus “p”, you press your lips together after 합 without aspirating the “p” sound, which is also known as a “bilabial stop” (try saying the English word “stop” with a puff of air at the end [aspirated], then say “stop” again with your lips pressed together and no puff of air). Since the syllable which follows 합 is 니, there is no vowel in between ㅂ and ㄴ in order to create the aspirated “p” sound. This creates an easier transition between 합 and 니, and when spoken quickly, ㅂ softens to an ㅁ [m] sound.
“I am sorry.” is NOT always 죄송합니다.
Even though 죄송합니다 [joe-song-ham-ni-da] is BASICALLY “I am sorry”, you cannot use 죄송합니다 when you want to say “I am sorry to hear that.” Often at times, native Korean speakers are confused when delivering bad news to English-speaking friends and hear the phrase “I am sorry” as a response. If you say “I am sorry” after you hear some bad news from our Korean friend, he or she might say “Why are YOU apologizing for that?” to you. This is because 죄송합니다 ONLY means “I apologize”, “It was my bad”, “Excuse me” or “I should not have done that.” It can never mean “I am sorry to hear that.”
Using 죄송합니다 as “excuse me” in Korean is typically heard when passing through a crowd of people or when bumping into someone. It is NOT used the same way as the English phrase “excuse me”, especially when it comes to trying to get the attention of a waiter or a stranger. When you want to get someone’s attention in Korean, you absolutely need to use 저기요 [jeo-gi-yo].
저기요.
저기 [jeo-gi] literally means “over there”, so “저기요” means “Hey, you! Over there! Look at me!” but in a more polite way. You can say “저기요” when someone is not looking at you but you need their attention. It is exactly the same as “Excuse me” except “저기요” does not mean “I am sorry.”
In English, you can use the expression “Excuse me” in all of the following situations:
1) when passing through a crowd of people;
2) when leaving the room for a second;
3) when you want to get someone’s attention and talk to them or let them know something;
4) when you want to call the waiter in a restaurant or a cafe to order something.
저기요 [jeo-gi-yo] is an expression which CAN be translated as “excuse me”, but only in numbers 3 and 4 listed above.
Including 죄송합니다, there are a few more expressions you can use when passing through a crowd of people:
1. 잠시만요. [jam-si-man-nyo] (literal meaning: “Just a second”)
2. 죄송합니다. [joe-song-ham-ni-da] (literal meaning: “I am sorry”)
3. 잠깐만요. [jam-kkan-man-nyo] (literal meaning: “Just a second”)
(Yes, “잠시만요” and “잠깐만요” are the same thing.)
These are the most commonly used expressions. You do not have to memorize them right now,
but they are good to know!
Lesson 5. It’s me. What is it? / 저예요. 뭐예요?
After studying with this lesson, you will be able to say things like “A is B (noun)” or “I am
ABC (noun)” in polite/formal Korean.
-이에요/예요
-이에요 [-i-e-yo] and -예요 [-ye-yo] have a similar role to that of the English verb “to be”. The fundamental difference, however, is the sentence structure and order that they are used in.
English sentence structure: [be] + ABC. *ABC is a noun here.
Ex) It is ABC. / I am ABC.
Korean sentence structure: ABC + [be]. *ABC is a noun here.
Ex) ABC예요. [ABC-ye-yo.] = It is ABC. / I am ABC.
In English, the verb “to be” is changed to “am”, “are”, or “is” depending on the subject of the
sentence, but in Korean, you decide whether to use -이에요 [-i-e-yo] or -예요 [-ye-yo] depending
on whether the last letter of the previous word ends in a consonant or a vowel. -이에요 and -예
요 are very similar and also sound similar, so it is not a big problem if you mix up these
two, but it is still better to know the correct forms.
When you want to say that “It is ABC” in Korean, and if the word for “ABC” has a final consonant in the last letter, you add -이에요 [-i-e-yo]. However if it does not have a final consonant and ends in a vowel, you add -예요 [-ye-yo]. This is just to make the pronunciation easier, so it will come naturally if you practice with some sample sentences.
Conjugation:
Final consonant + -이에요 [-i-e-yo]
No final consonant (Only vowel) + -예요 [-ye-yo]
Sample Sentences
물이에요. = 물 + -이에요 [mul + -i-e-yo]
(It is) water.
가방이에요. = 가방 + -이에요 [ga-bang + -i-e-yo]
(It is) a bag.
사무실이에요. = 사무실 + -이에요 [sa-mu-sil + -i-e-yo]
(It is) an office.
학교예요. = 학교 + -예요 [hak-kkyo + -ye-yo]
(It is) a school.
저예요. = 저 + -예요 [jeo + -ye-yo]
(It is) me.
As you can see from the examples above, in Korean, you do not have to use articles like “a/an”
or “the” as in English. When you look up a noun in your Korean dictionary, you can add -이에
요 or -예요 so that it will mean “It is ABC”, “That is DEF”, “I am XYZ.”
You can also make this a question simply by raising the tone at the end of the sentence.
Sample Sentences
물이에요. [mu-ri-e-yo.] = It is water.
물이에요? [mu-ri-e-yo?] = Is that water? / Is this water?
학생이에요. [hak-ssaeng-i-e-yo] = I am a student.
학생이에요? [hak-ssaeng-i-e-yo?] = Are you a student?
학교예요. [hak-kkyo-ye-yo] = It is a school.
학교예요? [hak-kkyo-ye-yo?] = Is it a school? / Are you at school now?
뭐 [mwo] = what
뭐예요? [mwo-ye-yo?] = What is it? / What is that?
Lesson 6. What is this? This is … / 이거 뭐예요? 이거…
After studying with this lesson, you will be able to say “This is ABC” and also ask “Is this ABC?” and “What is this?” in polite/formal Korean.
In the previous lesson, you learned how -이에요 [-i-e-yo] and -예요 [-ye-yo] can be placed after a noun to express the meaning of “It is ABC” or “I am DEF.”
Conjugation:
Final consonant + -이에요 [-i-e-yo]
No final consonant (Only vowel) + -예요 [-ye-yo]
Sample Sentences
책 [chaek] + -이에요 [-i-e-yo] = 책이에요. [chae-gi-e-yo] = It is a book.
저 [jeo] + -예요 [-ye-yo] = 저예요. [jeo-ye-yo] = It is me.
* -이에요 and -예요 have a similar role to that of the English verb “to be”.
How to say “THIS”
이거 = this, this one
이 [i] (“this”) + 것 [geot] (“thing”) = 이것 [i-geot] → 이거 [i-geo]
이거 [i-geo] can be found in the dictionary as 이것 [i-geot], which is originally how it was spelled and pronounced, but over time, people began using 이거 [i-geo] for ease of pronunciation.
Sample Sentences
책이에요. [chae-gi-e-yo.] = It is a book.
이거 책이에요. [i-geo chae-gi-e-yo.] = This is a book.
카메라예요. [ka-me-ra-ye-yo.] = It is a camera.
이거 카메라예요. [i-geo ka-me-ra-ye-yo.] = This is a camera.
커피예요. [keo-pi-ye-yo.] = It is coffee.
이거 커피예요. [i-geo keo-pi-ye-yo.] = This is coffee.
사전이에요. [sa-jeo-ni-e-yo.] = It is a dictionary.
이거 사전이에요. [i-geo sa-jeo-ni-e-yo.] = This is a dictionary.
이거 뭐예요? = What is this?
In Lesson 5, we introduced the question “뭐예요? [mwo-ye-yo?]” which means “What is it?” in Korean. You can add “이거 [i-geo]” in front of “뭐예요?” to ask “What is this?”
Sample Conversations
A: 이거 뭐예요? [i-geo mwo-ye-yo?] = What is this?
B: 이거 마이크예요. [i-geo ma-i-keu-ye-yo.] = This is a microphone.
A: 이거 뭐예요? [i-geo mwo-ye-yo?] = What is this?
B: 이거 핸드폰이에요. [i-geo haen-deu-po-ni-e-yo.] = This is a cellphone.
A: 이거 뭐예요? [i-geo mwo-ye-yo?] = What is this?
B: 이거 물이에요. [i-geo mu-ri-e-yo.] = This is water.
A: 이거 뭐예요? [i-geo mwo-ye-yo?] = What is this?
B: 이거 커피예요. [i-geo keo-pi-ye-yo.] = This is coffee.
Do you remember how to say “No”?
Sample Conversation
A: 이거 커피예요? [i-geo keo-pi-ye-yo?] = Is this coffee?
B: 아니요. 이거 물이에요. [a-ni-yo. i-geo mu-ri-e-yo] = No. This is water.
Do you remember how to say “Yes, that’s right”?
Sample Conversation
A: 이거 커피예요? [i-geo keo-pi-ye-yo?] = Is this coffee?
B: 네. 맞아요. 이거 커피예요. [ne. ma-ja-yo. i-geo keo-pi-ye-yo.] = Yes, that’s right. This is coffee.
Lesson 7. This, That, It / 이, 그, 저
In this lesson, you will learn how to say “this”, “that”, and “it” in Korean. In English, the words “this” and “that” can be used on their own (as pronouns) and to modify other words (as adjectives), but in Korean, the words for “this”, “that”, and “it” change their forms depending on whether they are pronouns or adjectives.
For example, you can say “this is my car” and “this car is mine” in English. The word “this” plays two different roles here: as a pronoun and as a word which modifies “car”. In Korean, however, words for “this” as a modifier and “this” as “this item here” or “this thing here” are strictly distinguished, and the same is true for “that”.
이 = this (near you)
이 커피 [i keo-pi] = this coffee
이 컴퓨터 [i keom-pyu-teo] = this computer
이 아이스크림 [i a-i-seu-keu-rim] = this ice-cream
이 호텔 [i ho-tel] = this hotel
이 택시 [i taek-si] = this taxi
이 버스 [i beo-sseu] = this bus
이 카메라 [i ka-me-ra] = this camera
이 피자 [i pi-ja] = this pizza
저 = that (over there)
* If you know how to say “I” in polite/formal Korean, it is the same thing. It sounds the same. However you do not have to worry about being confused, because “저” is a modifier which modifies a different word, so it is always followed by a noun. The word for “I”, “저”, is followed by particles, verbs, etc. They are used in completely different contexts.
저 마이크 [jeo ma-i-keu] = that microphone over there
저 테이블 [jeo te-i-beul] = that table over there
저 레스토랑 [jeo re-seu-to-rang] = that restaurant over there
그 = the / that (near the other person)
* “그 [geu]” and “저 [jeo]” are both used for referring to something that is far away from the speaker. However “그” is used when you are talking to the other person and the object is near that other person and far away from you. “저” is used for referring to something that is far away from both you and the other person.
Since 이, 그, and 저 can only work as modifiers in Korean, when you want to use “this”, “that”, or
“it” as pronouns, either 거 [geo] or 것 [geot] need to follow 이, 그, or 저.
거 = 것 = thing, item, stuff, fact
Therefore:
이 [i] = this
이 + 것 = 이것 [i-geot] or 이거 [i-geo] = this thing, this item, this one
그 [geu] = the, that
그 + 것 = 그것 [geu-geot] or 그거 [geu-geo] = the thing, the item, that one, it
저 [jeo] = that (over there)
저 + 것 = 저것 [jeo-geot] or 저거 [jeo-geo] = that thing over there
* You must not use either 거 or 것 when you point at a person.
Q: What if you do not see that thing, that object or that person in your sight? What if it is not there? How do you refer to it?
A: It is very simple. Just use the word “그” or “그것”.
You can form various expressions using 이, 그, or 저 along with other words.
사람 [sa-ram] = a person.
이 사람 [i sa-ram] = this person, this man here, this lady here, he, she
그 사람 [geu sa-ram] = the person, that person, he, she
저 사람 [jeo sa-ram] = that person over there, he, she
Lesson 8. It’s NOT me. / 아니에요.
In this lesson, you can learn how to say “not” or “something is NOT something”.
아니에요 = to be not, it is not, you are not
아니에요 [a-ni-e-yo] is the present tense form in the polite/formal language of the verb 아니다 (to be not). So 아니에요 [a-ni-e-yo] means “it is not”, “I am not”, “you are not”, “he/she is not”, etc.
* As you will notice later on, all Korean verbs end in “-다” in the dictionary. When you look up a word and it ends in “-다”, that is most likely a verb.
Whenever you want to say that something is NOT something, you can say the subject and then add 아니에요 [a-ni-e-yo].
Conjugation:
Noun + 아니에요 = To be not + Noun
Sample Sentences
저 아니에요. [jeo a-ni-e-yo.] = It is not me.
우유 아니에요. [u-yu a-ni-e-yo.] = It is not milk.
물 아니에요. [mul a-ni-e-yo.] = It is not water.
If you want to say “This is not milk”, “I am not a student”, “That is not a park”, and so on, you can
add the noun at the beginning of the sentence.
Sample Sentences
milk = 우유 [u-yu]
not milk = 우유 아니에요. [u-yu a-ni-e-yo.]
This is not milk. = 이거 우유 아니에요. [i-geo u-yu a-ni-e-yo.]
student = 학생 [hak-ssaeng]
not a student = 학생 아니에요 [hak-ssaeng a-ni-e-yo.]
I am not a student. = 저 학생 아니에요. [jeo hak-ssaeng a-ni-e-yo.]
liquor = 술 [sul]
not liquor = 술 아니에요 [sul a-ni-e-yo.]
That is not liquor. = 저거 술 아니에요. [jeo-geo sul a-ni-e-yo.]
cat = 고양이 [go-yang-i]
not a cat = 고양이 아니에요 [go-yang-i a-ni-e-yo.]
It is not a cat. = 그거 고양이 아니에요. [geu-geo go-yang-i a-ni-e-yo.]
tiger = 호랑이 [ho-rang-i]
not a tiger = 호랑이 아니에요 [ho-rang-i a-ni-e-yo.]
It is not a tiger. = 그거 호랑이 아니에요. [geu-geo ho-rang-i a-ni-e-yo.]
Lesson 9. Particles for Topic and Subject / 은, 는, 이, 가
You will learn about topic marking particles and subject marking particles in Korean with this lesson. Most languages do not have subject marking particles or topic marking
particles in their sentences, so the concept might be very new to you. However, once you get used to them, knowing how to use these particles will come in handy.
If a noun which you want to talk about is the topic of the sentence, you use topic marking particles. If a word that you want to talk about is the subject of the verb of the sentence, you use subject marking particles. It sounds very simple, but when it comes to really using particles, it is a bit more complicated.
Topic marking particles: -은/는
The main role of topic marking particles is letting the listener know what you are talking about or going to talk about. Topic marking particles are placed after a noun to indicate THAT noun is the topic.
Conjugation:
Words ending with a final consonant + -은 [-eun]
Words ending with a vowel + -는 [-neun]
Ex)
이 책 [i chaek] = this book
이 책 [i chaek] + 은 [eun] = 이 책은 [i chae-geun]
이 차 [i cha] = this car
이 차 [i cha] + 는 [neun] = 이 차는 [i cha-neun]
가방 [ga-bang] = bag
가방 [ga-bang] + 은 [eun] = 가방은 [ga-bang-eun]
저 [jeo] = I
저 [jeo] + 는 [neun] = 저는 [jeo-neun]
If you just say “이 책”, people will not know what it is about the book you are going to speak
of; whether it is the subject of the sentence or the object of the sentence, no one will know. Topic marking particles and subject marking particles will help make your sentence clearer so that even if you do not finish your sentence, the listener will know what role the noun plays if you use the right particle.
The topic of the sentence, marked by -은 [-eun] or -는 [-neun], is usually (but not always) the same as the subject of the sentence.
저 [jeo] = I
저 + 는 [neun] = 저는 [jeo-neun] = as for me / I (who is talking)
저는 학생이에요. [jeo-neun hak-ssaeng-i-e-yo] = As for me, I am a student. / I am a student.
Here, the word 저 (I) is both the topic of the sentence (talking about “I” here) and the subject of
the sentence (“I” is the subject, and “am” is the verb”).
In the following sentence, the topic marking particle is used twice, but only one word is the
topic of the sentence while the other is the subject.
내일은 저는 일해요. [nae-i-reun jeo-neun il-hae-yo]
= “As for tomorrow, I work.”
내일 [nae-il], “tomorrow”, is followed by -은 [-eun] and is the topic, not the subject, of the verb 일하다 [il-ha-da], “to work”, because it is not “tomorrow” that works but “I” that work.
Subject marking particles: -이/가
The role of subject marking particles is relatively simple compared to the role of topic marking particles.
Conjugation:
Words ending with a final consonant + -이 [-i]
Words ending with a vowel + -가 [-ga]
Ex)
이 책 [i chaek] = this book
이 책 [i chaek] + 이 [i] = 이 책이 [i chae-gi]
가방 [ga-bang] = bag
가방 [ga-bang] + 이 [i] = 가방이 [ga-bang-i]
학교 [hak-kkyo] = school
학교 [hak-kkyo] + 가 [ga] = 학교가 [hak-kkyo-ga]
Fundamentally, topic marking particles (-은/는) express the topic of the sentence, and subject marking particles (-이/가) express the subject of the sentence. However that is not everything!
What more is there about the particles -은/는/이/가?
(1)
In addition to marking topics, -은/는 has the nuance of “about” something, “as
for” something, or even “unlike other things” or “different from other things”.
Ex)
이거 [i-geo] = this / 사과 [sa-gwa] = apple / -예요 [-ye-yo] = to be / is
이거 사과예요. [i-geo sa-gwa-ye-yo.] = This is an apple.
You can add -은/는 to this sentence. The subject is 이거, which ends in a vowel, so you would add -는.
이거는 사과예요. [i-geo-neun sa-gwa-ye-yo.] = (The other things are not apples, but) THIS is an apple.
Imagine someone talking like this:
이거 커피예요. [i-geo keo-pi-ye-yo.] = This is coffee.
이거는 물이에요. [i-geo-NEUN mu-ri-e-yo] = That was coffee, but THIS ONE, it is water.
이거는 오렌지주스예요. [i-geo-NEUN o-ren-ji ju-sseu-ye-yo.] = And THIS ONE, it is different again, it is orange juice.
이거는 뭐예요? [i-geo-NEUN mwo-ye-yo?] = And as for this one, what is it?
As you can see from this example, -은/는 has the role of emphasizing the topic of the sentence
by giving it the nuance of “that one is…, and/but THIS ONE is…”.
It is unnecessary to use -은/는 in every sentence because of this nuance, so try not to use it
all the time unless you REALLY want to place an emphasis on the topic.
For example, if you want to say “The weather is nice today” in Korean, you can say it many
ways:
1. 오늘 날씨 좋네요. [o-neul nal-ssi jon-ne-yo.]
The weather is good today.
2. 오늘은 날씨 좋네요. [o-neu-reun nal-ssi jon-ne-yo.]
The weather (has not been so good lately, but) today (it) is good.
3. 오늘 날씨는 좋네요. [o-neul nal-ssi-neun jon-ne-yo.]
Today (everything else is not good, but at least) the weather is good.
The examples above show how powerful and useful the topic marking particles (-은/는) can be in how your Korean sentence is understood!
(2)
In addition to marking subjects, -이/가 [-i/ga] has the nuance of “none other than”, “nothing but”, as well as marking the subject without emphasizing it too much when used in a complex sentence.
Let us say you are talking to someone, and he/she asks you “WHAT is good?” (emphasizing “what”) by saying:
“뭐가 좋아요?” [mwo-ga jo-a-yo?]
뭐 [mwo] = what
가 [ga] = subject marking particle (because 뭐 ends in a vowel)
좋아요 = good (from the verb 좋다, meaning “to be good”)
You can reply to this question in several different ways:
책 [chaek] = book
이 책 좋아요. [i chaek jo-a-yo.]
This book is good.
(The simplest way to say something is good.)
이 책은 좋아요. [i chae-geun jo-a-yo.]
(The other books are not good, and I do not care about the other books, but at least) This book is good.
이 책이 좋아요. [i chae-gi jo-a-yo.]
There are no other books as good as this one.
In the last response, the sentence structure is:
이 [i] (This) + 책 [chaek] (book) + 이 [i] (subject marking particle) + 좋아요 [jo-a-yo] (good)
The subject marking particle 이 (or 가) emphasizes the subject (책) of the verb (좋아요). This type of sentence structure can also be used when you are speaking with someone who says “ABC 좋아요 [ABC jo-a-yo]” (ABC is the subject here), but you want to express your opinion that XYZ (subject) is good, not ABC.
“ABC 좋아요? XYZ가 좋아요!” [ABC jo-a-yo? XYZ-ga jo-a-yo!]
With -이/가, you can add more flavor and a more concrete meaning to your Korean sentence with an added emphasis on the subject without saying extra words to express what you mean as you would in English.
As you can see from the previous pages of this lesson, -은/는 and -이/가 have different roles. The role of -은/는 as a compare/contrast factor is much stronger than -이/가 because of how easily you can change the topic of a sentence with -은/는. However, when forming more complex sentences, such as “I think the book that you bought is more interesting than the book I bought”, -은/는 is not commonly used. Often at times, -은/는/이/가 can be dropped unless particles are absolutely needed to clarify the meaning, in which -이/가 is used more often.
Lesson 10. have, don’t have, there is, there isn’t / 있어요, 없어요
You will learn when and how to use the endings 있어요 and 없어요. You can use these endings when you talk about what people HAVE/DON’T HAVE, in addition to things that EXIST/DON’T EXIST.
있어요 [i-sseo-yo] comes from the verb 있다 [it-tta], which expresses that something “exists”.
If you are talking about someone or something existing in a specific place, 있다 means “to be”:
Ex) I am here. / It is over there. / I am at home now.
If you are talking about something (or someone in some cases) in your possession, it means “to have”:
Ex) I have a sister. / I have eleven dogs. / Do you have a private airplane?
Sometimes, however, it can mean both. For example, the sentence “I have a sister” can be replaced by the sentence “There is a sister (in my family)” in Korean.
없어요 [eop-sseo-yo] is the opposite, and it comes from the verb 없다 [eop-tta]. Even
though there IS a way to say the same thing by using 있어요 in a negative sentence, there is this independent verb in Korean (없어요) for expressing non-existence. It is more convenient to use 없어요 rather than saying 있지 않아요 [it-jji a-na-yo] or 안 있어요 [an i-sseo-yo] (which will be covered in a future lesson).
So, in conclusion:
있어요 ←→ 없어요
[i-sseo-yo] [eop-sseo-yo]
When you use 있어요/없어요 with other nouns, you have to put what you have or what you do not have IN FRONT OF “있어요” [i-sseo-yo] or ”없어요” [eop-sseo-yo].
Sample Sentences
물 있어요. [mul i-sseo-yo.] = There is water. / Water exists. / I have water. / They have water.
물 있어요? [mul i-sseo-yo?] = Is there water? / Do you have water? / Do they have water?
친구 있어요. [chin-gu i-sseo-yo.] = I have friends. / I have a friend. / There are friends.
친구 있어요? [chin-gu i-sseo-yo?] = Do you have friends? / Do they have friends?
시간 있어요. [si-gan i-sseo-yo.] = There is time. / I have time. / They have time.
시간 있어요? [si-gan i-sseo-yo?] = Is there time? / Do you have time? / Do they have time?
Just by replacing 있어요 [i-sseo-yo] with 없어요 [eop-sseo-yo] you get sentences in the
opposite meanings.
물 없어요. [mul eop-sseo-yo.]= There is no water. / I do not have water. / They do not have water.
친구 없어요. [chin-gu eop-sseo-yo.] = I do not have friends.
시간 없어요. [si-gan eop-sseo-yo.] = There is no time. / I do not have time. / We do not have time.
Do you remember the usages of -은/는 [-eun/neun], the topic marking particles, and -이/가 [-i/ga], the subject marking particles?
-은 and -는 mark the topic of a sentence, and at the same time emphasize the contrast between
the topic of the sentence and the other things.
If you say “시간은 있어요 [si-ga-neun i-sseo-yo]”, people may think you have nothing but time, meaning that you have no other resources, or that you have time but you do not want to spend any of that time with them.
If you say “시간 없어요 [si-gan eop-sseo-yo]”, it means “I do not have time” in the most neutral sense. However, if you want to say “I have other things, but TIME is not what I have”, you can simply add -은 [-eun] to the end of 시간 [si-gan], and the phrase becomes “시간은 없어요.”
If someone asks you “What is it that you don’t have?” or “What are you saying that you don’t
have?”, you can answer by saying “시간이 없어요”, which means “TIME is what I don’t have.”
있어요 and 없어요 can be used to form many interesting and frequently used expressions in Korean. For example:
재미 [jae-mi] = fun
재미 + 있어요 = 재미있어요
This literally means “fun exists”, but it means “it is interesting”.
* Notice how the two words are even written without any space in between. That is because it
has already become an expression used daily.
Ex) TalkToMeInKorean 재미있어요! [jae-mi-i-sseo-yo!]
= TalkToMeInKorean is fun! / TalkToMeInKorean is interesting!
Level 1 - Part 2
-Lesson 11: Please
give me
-Lesson 12: It’s Delicious. Thank you for the food.
-Lesson 13: I Want to.
-Lesson 14: What Do you Want to do?
-Lesson 15: Sino-Korean Numbers
-Lesson 16: Basic Present Tense
-Lesson 17: Past Tense
-Lesson 18: Location Particles
-Lesson 19: When?
-Lesson 20: Native Korean Numbers
-Lesson 21: Negative Sentences
-Lesson 22: 하다 Verbs
-Lesson 23: Who?
-Lesson 24: Why? How?
-Lesson 25: From A to B. From C Until D
-Review Level 1
Lesson 11. Please give me. / 주세요.
In this lesson, let us look at how to ask “Do you have…?” or “Is there…?” and also how to say “Give me… please” or “I would like to have… please”.
Do you remember how to say “I have…”, “You have…”, or “There is…”?
있어요 [i-sseo-yo] = I have… / You have… / There is…
없어요 [eop-sseo-yo] = I do not have… / You do not have… / There is not…
Sample Sentences
사과 [sa-gwa] = apple
사과 있어요 [sa-gwa i-sseo-yo.] = I have an apple. / There are apples. / They have some apples.
사과 없어요 [sa-gwa eop-sseo-yo.] = I do not have an apple. / There is no apple.
오렌지 [o-ren-ji] = orange
오렌지 있어요. [o-ren-ji i-sseo-yo.] = I have an orange. / There are oranges. / They have some oranges.
오렌지 없어요. [o-ren-ji eop-sseo-yo.] = I do not have an orange. / There is no orange.
Now, if you want to ask whether someone has something or not, or whether something exists,
simply raise the tone at the end of the sentence and you can make it a question.
있어요? [i-sseo-yo?] = Do you have…? / Is there…?
없어요? [eop-sseo-yo?] = Don’t you have…? / There is not…?
Sample Sentences
사과 [sa-gwa] = apple
사과 있어요. [sa-gwa i-sseo-yo.] = I have an apple. / There are some apples.
사과 있어요? [sa-gwa i-sseo-yo?] = Do you have an apple? / Do you have apples?
사과 없어요? [sa-gwa eop-sseo-yo?] = You do not have an apple? / There are no apples?
시간 [si-gan] = time
시간 있어요? [si-gan i-sseo-yo?] = Do you have some time?
시간 없어요? [si-gan eop-sseo-yo?] = You do not have time?
커피 [keo-pi] = coffee
커피 있어요? [keo-pi i-sseo-yo?] = Do you have coffee?
커피 없어요? [keo-pi eop-sseo-yo?] = Don’t you have coffee? / You do not have coffee?
돈 [don] = money
돈 있어요? [don i-sseo-yo?] = Do you have money?
돈 없어요? [don eop-sseo-yo?] = You do not have money?
Now, after figuring out whether someone has something or not, you might as well want to ask for some of it, by saying “Please give me…” or “I would like to have… please”.
주세요 = Please give me
주세요 [ju-se-yo] comes from the verb 주다 [ju-da] which means “to give”. 주세요 ONLY means “please give” in polite/formal language regardless of who said it or to whom it is said. Just say the name of the item you want + 주세요.
Sample Sentences
돈 주세요. [don ju-se-yo.] = Please give me some money.
맥주 주세요. [maek-jju ju-se-yo.] = Please give me a beer.
장갑 주세요. [jang-gap ju-se-yo.] = Please give me (a pair of) gloves.
Sample Conversations
A: 사과 있어요? [sa-gwa i-sseo-yo?] = Do you have apples?
B: 네. 사과 있어요. [ne. sa-gwa i-sseo-yo.] = Yes, we have apples.
A: 사과 주세요. [sa-gwa ju-se-yo.] = Give me (an/some) apple(s).
* Please note that there is no strict distinction between plural and singular in Korean nouns.
A: 커피 있어요? [keo-pi i-sseo-yo?] = Do you have coffee?
B: 아니요. 커피 없어요. [an-i-yo. keo-pi eop-sseo-yo.] = No, we don’t have coffee.
A: 우유 있어요? [u-yu i-sseo-yo?] = Do you have milk?
B: 네. 우유 있어요. [ne. u-yu i-sseo-yo.] = Yes, we have milk.
A: 우유 주세요. [u-yu ju-se-yo.] = Give me some milk, please.
주세요 [ju-se-yo] can be used in many different situations: when asking someone to hand
something over to you, when ordering something in a restaurant, when asking for an item in a shop, or when attached to a verb (which you will learn how to do in a later lesson) to ask someone to do something for you.
Sample Sentences
아이스크림 주세요. [a-i-seu-keu-rim ju-se-yo.] = Please give me some ice cream.
햄버거 주세요. [haem-beo-geo ju-se-yo.] = Please give me a hamburger.
김치 주세요. [gim-chi ju-se-yo.] = Please give me some kimchi.
불고기 주세요. [bul-go-gi ju-se-yo.] = Please give me some bulgogi.
밥 주세요. [bap ju-se-yo.] = Please give me rice. / Please give me food.
Lesson 12. It’s delicious. Thank you for the food. / 맛있어요. 잘 먹겠습니다. 잘 먹었습니다.
In the previous lesson, we learned how to say “Please give me…” or “I would like to have … please”
in Korean. Do you remember the expression?
주세요 [ju-se-yo] = Please give me… / I would like to have…
You can also use this expression (주세요) to order something in a restaurant or to ask for more
side dishes while you are eating.
김밥 주세요. [gim-ppap ju-se-yo] = Kimbap, please. (when ordering in a restaurant)
불고기 주세요. [bul-go-gi ju-se-yo] = Bulgogi, please. (when ordering in a restaurant)
김치 주세요. [gim-chi ju-se-yo] = Please give us some kimchi.
In this lesson, you will learn how to say “It tastes good” and “It is delicious” as well as how to thank someone for a meal or food before and after eating.
맛 = taste
맛 [mat] means “taste” in Korean. Now, do you remember how to say “there is” or “I have”? 있어요 [i-sseo-yo] is the expression. So by putting 맛 and 있어요 together, you get the expression 맛있어요 [ma-si-sseo-yo], which means “It is delicious.”
맛있어요. = It is tasty. / It is delicious.
Sample Sentences
이거 맛있어요. [i-geo ma-si-sseo-yo.] = This is delicious.
저 케이크 맛있어요. [jeo ke-i-keu ma-si-sseo-yo.] = That cake is delicious.
삼겹살 맛있어요. [sam-gyeop-ssal ma-si-sseo-yo.] = Samgyupsal is delicious. *삼겹살 = pork belly
치킨 맛있어요. [chi-kin ma-si-sseo-yo.] = Chicken is delicious.
뭐가 맛있어요? [mwo-ga ma-si-sseo-yo?] = What is delicious?
Now, do you also remember how to say “there is not” or “I do not have” in Korean? Yes, 없어요 [eop-sseo-yo] is the expression. So by putting 맛 and 없어요 together, you get the expression 맛없어요 [ma-deop-sseo-yo], which means “It does not taste good.”
맛없어요 = It is not tasty. / It is not delicious. / It tastes awful.
Note that the pronunciation of the last letter in 맛, which is ㅅ, changes according to the word that follows it. When it is NOT followed by any word, it is pronounced as [t], ending the word there. When it is followed by 있어요, it becomes an [s] sound, making 맛있어요 pronounced as [ma-si-sseo-yo]. When it is followed by 없어요, it becomes a [d] sound, making 맛없어요 pronounced as [ma-deop-sseo-yo].
Sample Sentences
이거 맛없어요? [i-geo ma-deop-sseo-yo?] = Does this taste awful?
이 차 맛없어요. [i cha ma-deop-sseo-yo] = This tea tastes awful.
굴 맛없어요. [gul ma-deop-sseo-yo] = Oysters taste awful.
Now, you know how to say “It is delicious” and “It is not delicious.” It is time to learn phrases that you can say to give thanks for a meal before and after you eat it. This is very important, especially if someone is treating you or if you are invited to someone’s house.
잘 먹겠습니다.
잘 먹겠습니다 [jal meok-kket-sseum-ni-da] literally means “I am going to eat well” or “I will eat well.” (Do not worry about the grammar that is used here yet. Just learn this as a set phrase for the time being.) This expression is used frequently among Koreans when they are about to start eating a meal regardless of who is paying for the meal. However in the case someone in particular is paying for the meal, the other(s) will say “잘 먹겠습니다” to the person who is paying. When you eat with your friends with whom you do not use polite/formal language, and when you want to joke that your friend should buy you food, you can say 잘 먹을게! [jal meo-geul-kke!] which implies that you are thanking them because they are going to treat you.
잘 먹었습니다.
Once you have finished the meal and you want to thank someone for the meal, or just give thanks for the meal in general, you can use 잘 먹었습니다 [jal meo-geot-sseum-ni-da]. This phrase literally means “I have eaten well.” (Again, do not worry about the grammar here.) Nevertheless, what it really means is “Thank you for the food.”
Lesson 13. I want to … / -고 싶어요
Now, let us practice. Here are some frequently used Korean verbs:
가다 [ga-da] = to go
보다 [bo-da] = to see
먹다 [meok-tta] = to eat
Conjugation:
Verb stem + -고 싶어요
Ex)
to go = 가다 [ga-da] → 가 + -고 싶어요 → 가고 싶어요.
가고 싶어요. [ga-go si-peo-yo.] = I want to go.
to see = 보다 [bo-da] → 보 + -고 싶어요 → 보고 싶어요.
보고 싶어요. [bo-go si-peo-yo.] = I want to see/look/watch.
to eat = 먹다 [meok-tta] → 먹 + -고 싶어요 → 먹고 싶어요.
먹고 싶어요. [meok-kko si-peo-yo.] = I want to eat.
Sample Conversations
A: 뭐 먹고 싶어요? [mwo meok-kko si-peo-yo?] = What do you want to eat?
B: 햄버거 먹고 싶어요. [haem-beo-geo meok-kko si-peo-yo.] = I want to eat a hamburger.
A: 뭐 먹고 싶어요? [mwo meok-kko si-peo-yo?] = What do you want to eat?
B: 회 먹고 싶어요. [hoe meok-kko si-peo-yo.] = I want to eat raw fish.
Here is another useful word to know:
더 = more
Now that you know how to say “I want to eat (it)” you can say “I want to eat more” using this
word 더 [deo].
Sample Sentences
먹고 싶어요. [meok-kko si-peo-yo.] = I want to eat it.
더 먹고 싶어요. [deo meok-kko si-peo-yo.] = I want to eat more.
주세요. [ju-se-yo.] = Please give me.
더 주세요. [deo ju-se-yo.] = Please give me more.
Lesson 14. What do you want to do? / 뭐 하고 싶어요?
In our previous lesson, we learned how to say “I want to” in Korean. In this lesson, we will practice using the structure “I want to” in context through more sample conversations.
First, let us look at five verbs which are very commonly used in Korean. Do not worry if they are new to you. At this point, knowing how to use them is more important than memorizing each and every one of them.
하다 [ha-da] = to do
보다 [bo-da] = to see
먹다 [meok-tta] = to eat
사다 [sa-da] = to buy
마시다 [ma-si-da] = to drink
* If you look up a verb in a Korean dictionary, you will see every verb ending in the form “-다”. “-다” is the basic form of all Korean verbs, so all the Korean verbs that you find in a dictionary will be “-다”.
Do you remember how to change a verb into the “I want to + verb” form?
하 + (-다) + -고 싶어요
Yes. -다 [-da] disappears and you add -고 싶어요 [-go si-peo-yo] after the verb.
하다 → 하고 싶어요 [ha-go si-peo-yo] = I want to do…
보다 → 보고 싶어요 [bo-go si-peo-yo] = I want to see…
먹다 → 먹고 싶어요 [meok-kko si-peo-yo] = I want to eat…
사다 → 사고 싶어요 [sa-go si-peo-yo] = I want to buy…
마시다 → 마시고 싶어요 [ma-si-go si-peo-yo] = I want to drink…
Do you remember how to say “WHAT” in Korean?
뭐 = what
Sample Conversations
*Remember: In Korean, objects come before verbs.
A: 뭐 하고 싶어요? [mwo ha-go si-peo-yo?] = What do you want to do?
B: 텔레비전 보고 싶어요. [tel-le-bi-jeon bo-go si-peo-yo.] = I want to watch TV.
A: 텔레비전 보고 싶어요? [tel-le-bi-jeon bo-go si-peo-yo?] = You want to watch TV?
B: 네. [ne] = Yeah.
A: 뭐 보고 싶어요? [mwo bo-go si-peo-yo?] = What do you want to watch?
B: 뉴스 보고 싶어요. [nyu-sseu bo-go si-peo-yo.] = I want to watch the news.
A: 이거 사고 싶어요. [i-geo sa-go si-peo-yo.] = I want to buy this.
B: 이거요? [i-geo-yo?] = This one?
A: 네. 이거 먹고 싶어요. [ne. i-geo meok-kko si-peo-yo.] = Yeah. I want to eat this.
B: 이거 뭐예요? [i-geo mwo-ye-yo?] = What is this?
A: 이거 김밥이에요. [i-geo gim-ppa-bi-e-yo] = This is kimbap.
Sample Sentences
읽다 [ik-tta] = to read
읽고 싶어요 [il-kko si-peo-yo] = I want to read.
자다 [ja-da] = to sleep
자고 싶어요. [ja-go si-peo-yo.] = I want to sleep.
놀다 [nol-da] = to hang out, to play
놀고 싶어요. [nol-go si-peo-yo.] = I want to play.
쉬다 [swi-da] = to rest
쉬고 싶어요 [swi-go si-peo-yo.] = I want to rest.
일하다 [il-ha-da] = to work
일하고 싶어요. [il-ha-go si-peo-yo.] = I want to work.
영화 보다 [yeong-hwa bo-da] = to watch a movie
영화 보고 싶어요. [yeong-hwa bo-go si-peo-yo.] = I want to watch a movie.
김밥 먹다 [gim-ppap meok-tta] = to eat kiimbap
김밥 먹고 싶어요. [gim-ppap meok-kko si-peo-yo.] = I want to eat kiimbap.
Lesson 15. Sino-Korean Numbers / 일, 이, 삼, 사
In this lesson, you will learn about 숫자 [sut-jja] (numbers)! We wish we could say that there is a very easy way to learn Korean numbers once and never forget them, but the truth is, there is not. As far as numbers are concerned, you will have to keep practicing using them until they stick. There are two systems of numbers in Korean: native Korean numbers and sino-Korean numbers. In this lesson, we will introduce sino-Korean numbers up to 1,000. We will get into native Korean numbers in another lesson.
Sino-Korean numbers
We will use the term “sino-Korean” when a Korean word is based on the Chinese language. Since Korea has received a lot of influence from China, many words in the Korean language have their roots in the Chinese language. So over the course of time, Korean people started using both the sino-Korean number system and the native Korean number system. The situations and contexts in which each system is used are different, but do not worry. You will get used to the two systems and how to differentiate between these two by practicing with us!
1 일 [il]
2 이 [i]
3 삼 [sam]
4 사 [sa]
You may have heard of the Korean superstition about the number four being unlucky. The word for “four” in Korean, 사, has the same sound as the sino-Korean word for “death”. This is the reason why there is an “F” button in an elevator in Korea instead of a “4” button!
5 오 [o]
6 륙 [ryuk] or 육 [yuk]
The Korean word for the number six can change spelling depending on whether it is at the
beginning or in the middle of a word. When saying 육 on its own, it is just 육. If you say “five
six”, or 오륙, the ㄹ is added. Somewhere throughout the course of history, Korean people
decided that 오륙 was more natural to say than 오육.
7 칠 [chil]
8 팔 [pal]
9 구 [gu]
10 십 [sip]
From numbers 11 and through to 99, the rest is easy! Just think of it as a simple math equation using the numbers 일 through 십 (If you do not like math or are not good at math, do not freak out! It truly is very simple!)
For example:
11 = 십 [sip] (10) + 일 [il] (one)
25 = 이 [i] (two) + 십 [sip] (10) + 오 [o] (five)
33 = 삼 [sam] (three) + 십 [sip] (10) + 삼 [sam] (three)
99 = 구 [gu] (nine) + 십 [sip] (10) + 구 [gu] (nine)
100 백 [baek]
1,000 천 [cheon]
Can you guess how to say 312 in Korean?
Yes, you are right.
THREE + HUNDRED + TEN + TWO
삼 + 백 + 십 + 이
[sam-baek-si-bi]
Ex)
1,234 = 1,000 (천) + 2 (이) + 100 (백) + 3 (삼) + 10 (십) + 4 (사)
512 = 5 (오) + 100 (백) + 10 (십) + 2 (이)
* Note that for 1,000, 100, and 10, you do not have to say one (일) + thousand (천), 일백, or 일십.
How to say ZERO
Zero is either 영 or 공. When counting to 10 in Korean, you can say 영일이삼사오륙칠팔구십 or 공일이삼사오륙칠팔구십 for 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
Lesson 16. Basic Present Tense / -아요, -어요, -여요
In this lesson, you will learn how to conjugate Korean verbs into present tense form. When you look up Korean verbs in a dictionary, they are in the infinitive form:
가다 [ga-da] = to go
먹다 [meok-tta] = to eat
자다 [ja-da] = to sleep
때리다 [ttae-ri-da] = to hit
웃다 [ut-tta] = to laugh
* Note that all verbs end with -다 [-da] at the end.
You need to change these verbs into more realistic, more natural and more flexible forms.
When you are conjugating verbs into any tense (past, present, future, etc.), the first thing you
need to do is drop the -다 since you almost never need it. With the -다 dropped, you are
left with the “verb stem”.
So, the verb stems of the previous verbs introduced are as follows:
가 [ga]
먹 [meok]
자 [ja]
때리 [ttae-ri]
웃 [ut]
To these, you add the appropriate verb endings to make them complete. In this lesson we are going to learn how to change these dictionary forms of the verbs into the present tense.
In order to conjugate a verb into the present tense, you take the verb stem, and add one of
these endings:
-아요
-어요
-여요
* Note that we are introducing the endings in the polite language. Do not worry about learning to use different politeness levels yet. Once you have learned how to say everything in polite language, changing it to other politeness levels is very easy to do.
Conjugation:
(1) If the verb stem’s last vowel is ㅏ[a] or ㅗ [o], it is followed by 아요 [a-yo].
(2) If the last vowel is NOT ㅏ[a] or ㅗ [o], it is followed by 어요 [eo-yo].
(3) Only one verb stem, which is 하 [ha], is followed by 여요 [yeo-yo].
Sample Sentences
1. 가다 [ga-da] = to go
The verb stem is 가 [ga], and the last vowel is ㅏ [a], so you add 아요 [a-yo]. It first becomes 가 + 아요, and then more naturally, it becomes 가요 [ga-yo] for ease of pronunciation.
가다 [ga-da] = to go (dictionary form)
→ 가요 [ga-yo] = I go. / You go. / He goes. / She goes. / They go.
2. 먹다 [meok-tta] = to eat
The verb stem is 먹 [meok] and the last vowel is ㅓ [eo], NOT ㅏ or ㅗ, so you add 어
요 [eo-yo]. This becomes 먹 + 어요.
먹다 [meok-tta] = to eat (dictionary form)
→ 먹어요 [meo-geo-yo] = I eat. / You eat. / He eats. / etc.
* Note that there is consonant assimilation here: 먹 + 어 [meok + eo] sounds like 머거 [meo-geo].
3. 보다 [bo-da] = to see, to watch, to look
Verb stem? 보 [bo]
What is it followed by? 아요 [a-yo]
보 + 아요 Over time, it started being pronounced and written as 봐요 [bwa-yo].
(Say 보 + 아 + 요 three times as fast.)
보다 [bo-da] = to see, to watch, to look
→ 봐요 [bwa-yo] = I see. / I look. / I watch. / You look. / etc.
4. 보이다 [bo-i-da] = to be seen, to be visible
Verb stem? 보이 [bo-i]
What is it followed by? 어요 [eo-yo]
보이 + 어요 → 보여요 [bo-yeo-yo]
보이다 [bo-i-da] = to be seen, to be visible
→ 보여요 [bo-yeo-yo] = I see it. / It is visible.
5. 하다 [ha-da] = to do
Verb stem? 하 [ha]
What is it followed by? 여요 [yeo-yo]
하 + 여요 → 하여요 [ha-yeo-yo]
Over time, 하여요 became → 해요 [hae-yo].
* Here, please just remember that this verb 하다 is very versatile. You can add a noun in front
of it and you can form new verbs with it.
studying = 공부 [gong-bu] to study = 공부하다 [gong-bu-ha-da]
cleaning (the room) = 청소 [cheong-so] to clean = 청소하다 [cheong-so-ha-da]
cooking = 요리 [yo-ri] to cook = 요리하다 [yo-ri-ha-da]
We will introduce how to do this in lesson number 22. For now, just remember that 하다 becomes 해요 in the present tense, and it means “I do”, “You do”, “He does”, or “They do”.
Q: Are there any irregularities or exceptions?
A: Sadly, yes, there are, but do not worry. Even those exceptions are NOT too far away from the regular rules!! Of course, we will introduce them in the nicest and easiest way possible through our future lessons. Thank you once again for studying with us through this lesson!
Lesson 17. Past Tense / -았/었/였어요 (했어요)
In the previous lesson, we looked at the basic way of conjugating the verbs in the infinitive form into the present tense form. Do you remember how?
Conjugation:
Verb stems ending with vowels ㅗ [o] or ㅏ [a] are followed by -아요 [-a-yo].
Verb stems ending with vowels OTHER THAN ㅗ or ㅏ are followed by -어요 [-eo-yo].
Verb stem 하 is followed by -여요 [-yeo-yo].
Great! Now let us learn how to conjugate verbs into the past tense.
If you understand how to change verbs into the present tense, understanding how to change them into the past tense is just as easy. A similar rule is applied to making past tense sentences, and the endings are as follows:
-았어요
-었어요
-였어요
You can add those to the verb stems, or you can think of it as just replacing the “요” at the end
of present tense sentences with -ㅆ어요.
Conjugation:
Verb stems ending with vowels ㅗ [o] or ㅏ [a] are followed by -았어요 [-a-sseo-yo].
Verb stems ending with vowels other than ㅗ or ㅏ are followed by -었어요 [-eo-sseo-yo].
Verb stem 하 is followed by -였어요 [-yeo-sse-yo].
(1) 사다 [sa-da] = to buy
Verb stem = 사 [sa]
* Drop the final -다 [da] from the verb to get the verb stem.
Past tense = 사 + 았어요 [sa + a-sseo-yo]
= 샀어요 [sa-sseo-yo]
= I bought / you bought / s/he bought / they bought / etc.
(2) 오다 [o-da] = to come
Verb stem = 오 [o]
Past tense = 오 + 았어요 [o + a-sseo-yo]
= 왔어요 [wa-sseo-yo]
= I came / you came / s/he came / they came / we came / etc.
(3) 적다 [jeok-tta] = to write down
Verb stem = 적 [jeok]
Past tense = 적 + 었어요 [jeok + eo-sseo-yo]
= 적었어요 [jeo-geo-sseo-yo]
= I wrote / you wrote / s/he wrote / they wrote / we wrote / etc.
(4) 하다 [ha-da] = to do
Verb stem = 하 [ha]
Past tense = 하 + 였어요 [ha + yeo-sseo-yo]
= 했어요 [hae-sseo-yo]
= I did / you did / he did / they did / etc.
Sample Sentences
먹다 [meok-tta] (Verb stem = 먹 [meok]) = to eat
Present Tense: 먹어요 [meo-geo-yo]
Past Tense: 먹었어요 [meo-geo-sseo-yo]
잡다 [jap-tta] (Verb stem = 잡 [jap]) = to catch
Present Tense: 잡아요 [ja-ba-yo]
Past Tense: 잡았어요 [ja-ba-sseo-yo]
팔다 [pal-da] (Verb stem = 팔 [pal]) = to sell
Present Tense: 팔아요 [pa-ra-yo]
Past Tense: 팔았어요 [pa-ra-sseo-yo]
놀다 [nol-da] (Verb stem = 놀 [nol]) = to play, to hang out
Present Tense: 놀아요 [no-ra-yo]
Past Tense: 놀았어요 [no-ra-sseo-yo]
쓰다 [sseu-da] (Verb stem = 쓰 [sseu]) = to write, to use
Present Tense: 써요 [sseo-yo] (NOT 쓰어요)
Past Tense: 썼어요 [sseo-sseo-yo]
기다리다 [gi-da-ri-da] (Verb stem = 기다리 [gi-da-ri]) = to wait
Present Tense: 기다려요 [gi-da-ryeo-yo] (NOT 기다리어요)
Past Tense: 기다렸어요 [gi-da-ryeo-sseo-yo]
이상하다 [i-sang-ha-da] (Verb stem = 이상하 [i-sang-ha]) = to be strange
Present Tense: 이상해요 [i-sang-hae-yo] (NOT 이상하여요)
Past Tense: 이상했어요 [i-sang-hae-sseo-yo]
멋있다 [meo-sit-tta] (Verb stem = 멋있 [meo-sit]) = to be cool, to be awesome
Present Tense: 멋있어요 [meo-si-sseo-yo]
Past Tense: 멋있었어요 [meo-si-sseo-sseo-yo]
* There are some other things that are more important to learn before the future tense in Level 1. So we are going to introduce those things in the rest of the lessons for Level 1, and we will introduce the future tense in Level 2. Please be patient!
Lesson 18. Particles for Location / 에, 에서
In Korean, as you already know, there are particles which are used to mark the roles of some nouns. So far, you have learned about subject marking particles (-이 [-i] and -가 [-ga]) and topic marking particles (-은 [-eun] and -는 [-neun]). In this lesson, you will learn about the location marking particles, -에 [-e] and -에서 [-e-seo], and also how to say WHERE in Korean.
First let us learn the word for “WHERE” or “WHICH PLACE”.
어디 = where, which place
Here, although the word “어디” is romanized as “eo-di”, please make sure that your pronunciation of the second letter “디” is not actually “di”, but rather like a voiced “th” sound (ex. “Th” as in “there”). You can accomplish this by placing your tongue between your upper and lower teeth, but do not force a constant stream of air over your tongue and through your teeth. The standard romanization system that the Korean government uses for “디” is not “thi”, but the actual pronunciation is closer to “thi”. We are using “di” here, so please make sure that you are not pronouncing the word “어디” as “eo-di”, but rather as “eo-thi”.
Now, let us look at how to ask someone “Where do you want to go?” in Korean.
to go = 가다 [ga-da]
to want to = -고 싶어요 [-go si-peo-yo]
Do you remember how to form a sentence using -고 싶어요? Yes, you drop the letter “-다” at the end of a verb and attach -고 싶어요 [-go si-peo-yo] after that.
가다 + -고 싶어요 → 가고 싶어요 [ga-go si-peo-yo] = I want to go.
가고 싶어요 = I want to go.
가고 싶어요? = Do you want to go?
Now, you just add the word 어디 [eo-di] in front of the verb.
어디 가고 싶어요? [eo-di ga-go si-peo-yo?] = Where do you want to go?
Q: Why use location marking particles?
A: Whereas it is POSSIBLE to make sentences without location marking particles (as in the example above: 어디 가고 싶어요?), by using the right location marking particles, you can make your message very clear. There are many location marking particles in Korean, but let us look at the two most basic particles, -에 [-e] and -에서 [-e-seo].
-에 = at, to, in
Conjugation:
Noun + -에 [-e]
-에 [-e] is a location marking particle, but it is not only used to mark locations. It means “at”, “to”
and so on, and it can be used to mark a location, a time, a situation, and many other things. However here, let us just focus on its role of marking locations. Let us look at how it is used inside a Korean sentence, by looking at some sample sentences.
Sample Sentences
1. Let us say “I went to school.” in Korean.
to go = 가다 [ga-da]
I went = 가 + 았어요 = 갔어요 [ga-sseo-yo]
school = 학교 [hak-kkyo]
to = -에 [-e]
I went to school. = 학교에 갔어요. [hak-kkyo-e ga-sseo-yo.]
2. Let us say “I came to Korea.” in Korean.
to come = 오다 [o-da]
I came = 오 + 았어요 = 왔어요 [wa-sseo-yo]
Korea = 한국 [han-guk]
to = -에 [-e]
I came to Korea. = 한국에 왔어요. [han-gu-ge wa-sseo-yo.]
3. Let us say “Where do you want to go?” in Korean.
to go = 가다 [ga-da]
do you want to go = 가 + 고 싶어요 = 가고 싶어요 [ga-go si-peo-yo]
where = 어디 [eo-di]
to = -에 [-e]
Where do you want to go? = 어디에 가고 싶어요? [eo-di-e ga-go si-peo-yo?]
4. Let us say “Where are you?” in Korean.
to be = 있다 [it-tta]
are you = 있 + 어요 = 있어요 [i-sseo-yo]
where = 어디 [eo-di]
at = -에 [-e]
Where are you? = 어디에 있어요? [eo-di-e i-sseo-yo?]
Where are you now? = 지금 어디에 있어요? [ji-geum eo-di-e i-sseo-yo?]
어디에 있어요 지금? [eo-di-e i-sseo-yo ji-geum?]
-에서 = at, in, from
Conjugation:
Noun + -에서 [-e-seo]
-에서 can express many things, but here let us look at two of its main roles.
-에서 expresses:
(1) a location where an action is taking place
(ex. I studied in the library. / I met my friends in Seoul.)
(2) the meaning of “from” a place
(ex. I came from Seoul. / This package came from Spain.)
Ex)
사무실 = work room, office
사무실에 = to the office, to an office, to my office
사무실에서 = from the office, from an office, from my office
The difference between -에 and -에서
-에 and -에서 can both be translated to “at” in English. How are they different then?
-에 expresses a location where something “is” or “exists”, or a direction that you are going toward.
Ex)
집에 있어요. [ji-be i-sseo-yo.] = I am at home.
집에 가요. [ji-be ga-yo.] = I am going home.
사무실에 있어요. [sa-mu-si-re i-sseo-yo.] = I am at the office.
-에서 expresses a location where an action is taking place.
Ex)
집에서 일해요. [ji-be-seo il-hae-yo.] = I work at home.
집에서 뭐 해요? [ji-be-seo mwo hae-yo?] = What are you doing at home?
사무실에서 일해요. [sa-mu-si-re-seo il-hae-yo.] = I work at the office.
Here are some incredibly useful verbs and conjugations:
가다 [ga-da] = to go
가요 [ga-yo] = I go / you go / s/he goes / they go / let us go
갔어요 [ga-sseo-yo] = went / to have gone
오다 [o-da] = to come
와요 [wa-yo] = I come / you come / s/he comes / they come / let us come
왔어요 [wa-sseo-yo] = came / to have come
있다 [it-tta] = to be / to exist
있어요 [i-sseo-yo] = there is / there are / I have / you have / they have
있었어요 [i-sseo-sseo-yo] = was / to have been
보다 [bo-da] = to see
봐요 [bwa-yo] = I see / they see / you see / we see / let us see
봤어요 [bwa-sseo-yo] = saw / to have seen
하다 [ha-da] = to do
해요 [hae-yo] = I do / they do / you do / we do / let us do
했어요 [hae-sseo-yo] = did / to have done
Lesson 19. When / 언제
In this lesson, you will learn how to say WHEN in Korean. You will also get some practice with answering questions such as “when did you do it?”, “when did you arrive?”, “when did you come?”, etc.
언제 = when
Unlike 어디 [eo-di], to which you have to add location marking particles to specify, 언제 [eon-je] can always be used on its own. Let us try using the word 언제 in context.
(1) “When did you do (it)?”
when = 언제 [eon-je]
you did (it) = 하다 + 였어요 = 했어요 [hae-sseo-yo]
did you do (it)? = 했어요? [hae-sseo-yo?]
When did you do it? = 언제 했어요? [eon-je hae-sseo-yo?]
(2) “When did you arrive?”
to arrive = 도착하다 [do-cha-ka-da]
you arrived = 도착했어요 [do-cha-kae-sseo-yo]
did you arrive? = 도착했어요? [do-cha-kae-sseo-yo?]
When did you arrive? = 언제 도착했어요? [eon-je do-cha-kae-sseo-yo?]
(3) “When did you come?”
to come = 오다 [o-da]
you came = 왔어요 [wa-sseo-yo]
did you come? = 왔어요? [wa-sseo-yo?]
When did you come? = 언제 왔어요? [eon-je wa-sseo-yo?]
(4) “When do you get up?”
to get up = 일어나다 [i-reo-na-da]
you get up = 일어나요 [i-reo-na-yo]
do you get up? = 일어나요? [i-reo-na-yo?]
When do you get up? = 언제 일어나요? [eon-je i-reo-na-yo?]
(5) “When/what time do you get up in the morning?”
morning = 아침 [a-chim]
in the morning = 아침에 [a-chi-me]
In the morning, when do you get up? = 아침에 언제 일어나요? [a-chi-me eon-je
i-reo-na-yo?]
at what time = 몇 시에 [myeot si-e]
What time do you get up in the morning? = 아침에 몇 시에 일어나요? [a-chi-me myeot si-e
i-reo-na-yo?]
Here are some additional words to use when someone asks the question “언제?”
오늘 [o-neul] = today
어제 [eo-je] = yesterday
내일 [nae-il] = tomorrow
지금 [ ji-geum] = now
아까 [a-kka] = earlier (today), a while ago (today)
나중에 [na-jung-e] = later
Lesson 20. Native Korean numbers / 하나, 둘, 셋, 넷
In Lesson 15, we introduced some sino-Korean numbers:
일 [il] = one
이 [i] = two
삼 [sam] = three
사 [sa] = four
오 [o] = five
육 [yuk] = six
칠 [chil] = seven
팔 [pal] = eight
구 [gu] = nine
십 [sip] = ten
백 [baek] = hundred
천 [cheon] = thousand
만 [man] = ten thousand, and so on.
Now let us have a look at some native Korean numbers. There are cases where sino-Korean
numbers are used, cases where native Korean numbers are used, and there are also some cases where both sino-Korean numbers and native Korean numbers are used together.
1) When you tell the time, you have to use native Korean numbers to say the hours and sino-Korean numbers to say the minutes.
2. When you say your age in everyday conversations, you use native Korean numbers. However in some very formal settings like in the court of law or in a formal report, sino-Korean numbers are used to express your age.
3. When you are counting years, you can use either sino-Korean numbers or native Korean
numbers. However the words that you use for counting the years change depending on whether you use sino-Korean numbers or native Korean numbers.
Q: So how do you determine which number system to use in which situation?
A: You do not have to try to, and you cannot really generalize the usages of the two different number systems. It is best to just learn to use the different number systems along with the fitting context.
Now, let us go over the native Korean numbers and practice saying how old we are.
Native Korean numbers
1 하나 [ha-na]
2 둘 [dul]
(You need to pronounce this word 둘 by placing your tongue between your upper and lower teeth, not behind your upper teeth.)
3 셋 [set] (It is not as strong as the English word “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]
From 11 to 19 is simple. You just put the number 10 and add another number after it.
Ex)
열 (10) + 하나 (1) = 열하나 [yeol-ha-na] (11)
열 (10) + 다섯 (5) = 열다섯 [yeol-da-seot] (15)
열 (10) + 아홉 (9) = 열아홉 [yeol-a-hop] (19)
The same rule as previously mentioned for 11 through 19 applies to 21-29, 31-39, 41-49, and so on.
20 스물 [seu-mul]
30 서른 [seo-reun]
40 마흔 [ma-heun]
50 쉰 [swin]
60 예순 [ye-sun]
70 일흔 [il-heun]
80 여든 [yeo-deun]
90 아흔 [a-heun]
Now, here is an interesting piece of information.
From numbers 1 through 99, the usage of native Korean numbers is generally very distinctively
different from the usage of sino-Korean numbers. However for bigger units like 100, 1,000, 10,000 and so on, the words for these bigger units in the native Korean numbers are no longer used, and only sino-Korean numbers are now used.
So, 100 as the sino-Korean number is 백 [baek], and even when you need to use the native
Korean number, you use the same word.
When you want to say 101, 102, and so on, you need to combine the systems together.
101 = 백 [baek / 100] (sino-Korean) + 하나 [ha-na / 1] (native Korean)
205 = 이 [i / 2] (sino-Korean) + 백 [baek / 100] (sino-Korean) + 다섯 [da-seot / 5] (native Korean)
Let us have a look at how to talk about the age.
There are two ways of saying your age, but here, let us look at the more ordinary and everyday
usage.
You say a native Korean number and add 살 [sal] after it.
However the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 20 change forms before a noun:
1 하나 [ha-na] → 한 살 [han sal]
2 둘 [dul] → 두 살 [du sal]
3 셋 [set] → 세 살 [se sal]
4 넷 [net] → 네 살 [ne sal]
…
20 스물 [seu-mul] → 스무 살 [seu-mu sal]
21 스물하나 [seu-mul-ha-na] → 스물한 살 [seu-mul-han sal]
…
The following are examples from age 1 through 100 in native Korean numbers, followed by the age counter 살 [sal]:
한 살 (1), 두 살, 세 살, 네 살, 다섯 살, 여섯 살, 일곱 살, 여덟 살, 아홉 살, 열 살 (10), 열한 살 (11), 열두 살, 열세 살, 열네 살, 열다섯 살, 열여섯 살, 열일곱 살, 열여덟 살, 열아홉 살, 스무 살 (20), 스물한 살 (21), 스물두 살, 스물세 살, 스물네 살, 스물다섯 살, 스물여섯 살, 스물일곱 살, 스물여덟 살, 스물아홉 살, 서른 살 (30), 서른한 살 (31), 서른두 살, 서른세 살, 서른네 살, 서른다섯 살, 서른여섯 살, 서른일곱 살, 서른여덟 살, 서른아홉 살, 마흔 살 (40), 마흔한 살 (41), 마흔두 살, 마흔세 살, 마흔네 살, 마흔다섯 살, 마흔여섯 살, 마흔일곱 살, 마흔여덟 살, 마흔아홉 살, 쉰 살 (50), 쉰한 살(51), 쉰두 살, 쉰세 살, 쉰네 살, 쉰다섯 살, 쉰여섯 살, 쉰일곱 살, 쉽여덟 살, 쉰아홉 살, 예순 살 (60), 예순한 살 (61), 예순두 살, 예순세 살, 예순네 살, 예순다섯 살, 예순여섯 살, 예순일곱 살, 예순여덟 살, 예순아홉 살, 일흔 살 (70), 일흔한 살 (71), 일흔두 살, 일흔세 살, 일흔네 살, 일흔다섯 살, 일흔여섯 살, 일흔일곱 살, 일흔여덟 살, 일흔아홉 살, 여든 살 (80), 여든한 살 (81), 여든두 살, 여든세 살, 여든네 살, 여든다섯 살, 여든여섯 살, 여든일곱 살, 여든여덟 살, 여든아홉 살, 아흔 살 (90), 아흔한 살 (91), 아흔두 살, 아흔세 살, 아흔네 살, 아흔다섯 살, 아흔여섯 살, 아흔일곱 살, 아흔여덟 살, 아흔아홉 살, 백 살 (100)
Did you find your age?
To say “I am ## years old”, say the age + 이에요 [i-e-yo].
Sample Sentences
한 살이에요. [han sa-ri-e-yo.] I am one year old.
열 살이에요. [yeol sa-ri-e-yo.] I am ten years old.
스무 살이에요. [seu-mu sa-ri-e-yo.] I am twenty years old.
서른 살이에요. [seo-reun sa-ri-e-yo.] I am thirty years old.
Lesson 21. Negative Sentences / 안, -지 않다
In this lesson, you will learn how to create negative sentences in Korean. There are two main ways to accomplish this:
(1) Add 안 before a verb
(2) Using the negative verb ending, -지 않다
Method (1) is simpler and more colloquial, and method (2) is relatively formal but not necessarily only for formal situations. If you want to use method (1), and add 안 [an] before a verb, it is easier than method (2) because you do not have to worry about the different tenses of your sentences. The word 안 [an] does not change the tense.
Conjugation:
가다 [ga-da] = to go
집에 가요. [ji-be ga-yo.] I am going home. / I go home.
집에 안 가요. [ji-be an ga-yo.] I am NOT going home. / I DO NOT go home.
집에 안 가요? [ji-be an ga-yo?] You are NOT going home? / You DO NOT go home?
버리다 [beo-ri-da] = to throw away
그거 버렸어요. [geu-geo beo-ryeo-sseo-yo.] I threw it away.
그거 안 버렸어요. [geu-geo an beo-ryeo-sseo-yo.] I DID NOT throw it away.
그거 아직 안 버렸어요. [geu-geo a-jik an beo-ryeo-sseo-yo.] I DID NOT throw it away yet.
-지 않다 [-ji an-ta] is the basic form and you need to conjugate it according to the tense, too.
Present tense: -지 않아요 [-ji a-na-yo]
Past tense: -지 않았어요 [-ji a-na-sseo-yo]
Conjugation:
가다 [ga-da] = to go
가지 않다 [ga-ji an-ta] = to not go
가지 않아요 [ga-ji a-na-yo] = I DO NOT go. / I am NOT going.
가지 않았어요 [ga-ji a-na-sseo-yo] = I DID NOT go.
버리다 [beo-ri-da] = to throw away
버리지 않다 [beo-ri-ji an-ta] = to not throw away
버리지 않아요 [beo-ri-ji a-na-yo] = I DO NOT throw it away.
버리지 않았어요 [beo-ri-ji a-na-sseo-yo] = I DID NOT throw it away.
Sample Conversations
A: 아파요? [a-pa-yo?] = Does it hurt?
B: 안 아파요. [an a-pa-yo.] = It does not hurt.
A: 안 아파요? 진짜 안 아파요? [an a-pa-yo? jin-jja an a-pa-yo?] = It does not hurt? It really does not hurt?
B: 안 아파요. [an a-pa-yo.] = It does not hurt.
A: 안 먹어요? [an meo-geo-yo?] = You are not going to eat?
B: 안 먹어요! [an meo-geo-yo!] = I am not eating!
A: 정말 안 먹어요? 맛있어요! [jeong-mal an meo-geo-yo? ma-si-sseo-yo!] = You are really not going to eat? It is delicious.
B: 안 먹어요. 배 안 고파요. [an meo-geo-yo. bae an go-pa-yo.] = I am not eating. I am not hungry.
A: 이거 매워요? [i-geo mae-wo-yo?] = Is this spicy?
B: 아니요. 안 매워요. [a-ni-yo. an mae-wo-yo] = No. It is not spicy.
A: 진짜 안 매워요? [jin-jja an mae-wo-yo?] = It is really not spicy?
B: 네. 안 매워요. [ne. an mae-wo-yo.] = No, it is not spicy.
There are two words which do not follow these rules that we just introduced. This is because they have antonyms that are very frequently used.
있다 [it-tta] = to be, to exist; to have
없다 [eop-tta] = to not be, not exist; to not have
알다 = [al-da] = to know
모르다 [mo-reu-da] = to not know
Lesson 22. 하다 Verbs
So far, you have learned how to conjugate verbs from their infinitive form into the present tense (현재 시제 [hyeon-je si-je]) and the past tense (과거 시제 [gwa-geo si-je]). You have also learned that 하다 [ha-da] has a unique way of being conjugated, so let us practice conjugating 하다 verbs!
하다 = to do
Do you remember how to conjugate 하다?
Conjugation:
Dictionary form = 하다
Present tense = 하 + 여요 = 해요 [hae-yo]
Past tense = 하 + 였어요 = 했어요 [hae-sseo-yo]
It was previously mentioned that 하다 is a very powerful and useful word because it can be combined with nouns to create verbs.
Many of the Korean nouns that indicate or describe an action or behavior can be combined
with 하다 so they become verbs.
Noun: 공부 = studying
Infinitive Form: 공부하다 = to study
Present Tense: 공부해요
Past Tense: 공부했어요
Noun: 일 = work, job
Infinitive Form: 일하다 = to work
Present Tense: 일해요
Past Tense: 일했어요
Noun: 기억 = memory
Infinitive Form: 기억하다 = to remember
Present Tense: 기억해요
Past Tense: 기억했어요
Noun: 청소 = cleaning
Infinitive Form: 청소하다 = to clean
Present Tense: 청소해요
Past Tense: 청소했어요
Noun: 요리 = cooking, dish
Infinitive Form: 요리하다 = to cook
Present Tense: 요리해요
Past Tense: 요리했어요
Noun: 이사 = moving
Infinitive Form: 이사하다 = to move, to move into a different house
Present Tense: 이사해요
Past Tense: 이사했어요
Noun: 노래 = song
Infinitive Form: 노래하다 = to sing
Present Tense: 노래해요
Past Tense: 노래했어요
Noun: 노력 = effort
Infinitive Form: 노력하다 = to make an effort, to try hard
Present Tense: 노력해요
Past Tense: 노력했어요
Noun: 동의 = agreement, agreeing
Infinitive Form: 동의하다 = to agree
Present Tense: 동의해요
Past Tense: 동의했어요
Noun: 인정 = admitting, acknowledgement
Infinitive Form: 인정하다 = to admit
Present Tense: 인정해요
Past Tense: 인정했어요
Noun: 후회 = regret
Infinitive Form: 후회하다 = to regret
Present Tense: 후회해요
Past Tense: 후회했어요
Noun: 운동 = exercise
Infinitive Form: 운동하다 = to exercise, to work out
Present Tense: 운동해요
Past Tense: 운동했어요
Noun: 사랑 = love
Infinitive Form: 사랑하다 = to love
Present Tense: 사랑해요
Past Tense: 사랑했어요
Noun: 말 = words, language
Infinitive Form: 말하다 = to speak
Present Tense: 말해요
Past Tense: 말했어요
Noun: 생각 = thought, idea
Infinitive Form: 생각하다 = to think
Present Tense: 생각해요
Past Tense: 생각했어요
Making negative sentences with 하다 verbs
In order to make negative sentences using these 하다 verbs (check out Lesson 21 to recap on how to make negative sentences in Korean), you need to separate the noun part and the 하다 part and add 안 in between.
생각하다 → 생각 안 하다
노력하다 → 노력 안 하다
If you remember from Lesson 21, there are two ways to make negative sentences in Korean: adding 안 before the verb and using the verb ending 지 않다. If you want to use 지 않다
with 하다 verbs, you simply conjugate 하다 [ha-da] to 하지 않다 [ha-ji an-ta].
Lesson 23. Who? / 누구?
In this lesson, let us take a look at how to use the word for “who” in context, as well as how the form changes when the word 누구 is used as the subject in the sentence.
누구 = who
Remember the subject markers and the topic markers?
Subject markers: 이 [i] / 가 [ga]
Topic markers: 은 [eun] / 는 [neun]
Subject markers emphasize the subject and shows “who” did something, or “what” is being described, and topic markers emphasize the topic of your sentence and shows “what” or “whom”
you are talking about.
When you want to ask simple questions like “Who did it?”, “Who helped her?”, or “Who made
it?”, you are emphasizing the subject, which is the word “who” here, so you need to use the
subject marker 이 [i] or 가 [ga].
누구 ends in a vowel so it would have to be followed by 가, but “누구” plus “가” changes to “누가” instead of “누구가” for ease of pronunciation.
Conjugation:
누구 [nu-gu] = who
누구 [nu-gu] + 가 [ga] = 누구가 → 누가 [nu-ga]
Remember that this is ONLY when you are emphasizing “who” as the subject of an action or
state.
Ex)
(1) When you want to ask “Who is it?” in Korean, you literally say “it is WHO?” so it becomes:
누구 (who) + 예요 (is) = 누구예요? [nu-gu-ye-yo?]
(2) When you want to ask “(Among these people, none other than) WHO is Jane?” you can say:
누구 (who) + 가 (subject marker) + 제인 (Jane) + 이에요? (is?)
= 누가 제인이에요? [nu-ga je-i-ni-e-yo?]
(3) When you want to ask “Who did it?”:
누구 (who) + 가 (subject marker) + 했어요? (did?)
= 누가 했어요? [nu-ga hae-sseo-yo?]
Sample Sentences
누가 전화했어요? [nu-ga jeon-hwa-hae-sseo-yo?] = Who called?
이거 누구예요? [i-geo nu-gu-ye-yo?] = Who is this? (This is who?)
어제 누가 왔어요? [eo-je nu-ga wa-sseo-yo?] = Who came yesterday?
그거 누가 만들었어요? [geu-geo nu-ga man-deu-reo-sseo-yo?] = Who made that?
누가 샀어요? [nu-ga sa-sseo-yo?] = Who bought it?
Lesson 24. Why? How? / 왜? 어떻게?
Through some of the previous lessons, you learned how to say “what”, “where”, “when”, and
“who” in Korean.
What = 뭐 [mwo]
Where = 어디 [eo-di]
When = 언제 [eon-je]
Who = 누구 [nu-gu]
In this lesson, you will learn two more 의문사 [ui-mun-sa] (interrogatives) to help you ask questions in Korean.
How = 어떻게
Why = 왜
How much (money) = 얼마
How + adjective/adverb = 얼마나
Generally, these interrogatives in Korean are used before the verb of a sentence. However as the word order of the sentences is much more flexible (thanks, in part, to the subject/topic/object markers), they can come in at various parts of sentences, depending on the context or the nuance.
Sample Sentences
1. 어떻게 [eo-tteo-ke] = how
어떻게 찾았어요? [eo-tteo-ke cha-ja-sseo-yo?] = How did you find it? (찾다 = to find, to look for)
어떻게 왔어요? [eo-tteo-ke wa-sseo-yo?] = How did you get here? (오다 = to come)
2. 왜 [wae] = why
왜 전화했어요? [wae jeon-hwa-hae-sseo-yo?] = Why did you call? (전화하다 = to call)
왜 안 왔어요? [wae an wa-sseo-yo?] = Why didn’t you come? (오다 = to come)
3. 얼마 [eol-ma] = how much
얼마예요? [eol-ma-ye-yo?] = How much is it?
이거 얼마예요? [i-geo eol-ma-ye-yo?] = How much is this?
저거 얼마예요? [jeo-geo eol-ma-ye-yo?] = How much is that?
그거 얼마예요? [geu-geo eol-ma-ye-yo?] = How much is the thing that is near you but far from me?
얼마 냈어요? [eol-ma nae-sseo-yo?] = How much did you pay? (내다 = to pay)
4. 얼마나 + adjective/adverb = how + [often/fast/early/soon/etc.]
얼마나 자주 와요? [eol-ma-na ja-ju wa-yo?] = How often do you come? (자주 = often / 오다 = to come)
얼마나 커요? [eol-ma-na keo-yo?] = How big is it? (크다 = to be big)
얼마나 무거워요? [eol-ma-na mu-geo-wo-yo?] = How heavy is it? (무겁다 = to be heavy)
Lesson 25. From A To B, From C Until D / -에서/부터 -까지
In this lesson, you will learn how to say “from A to B” when talking about locations and “from A until B” when talking about time.
When directly translated to English, -에서 [-e-seo] and -부터 [-bu-teo] mean “from”, and -까지 [-kka-ji] means “to” or “until”.
-에서 [-e-seo] and -부터 [-bu-teo] may translate to English as the same word, but -에서 is more associated with locations and -부터 is associated with time. Typically, these words are interchangeable in Korean, but there are certain cases where they are NOT interchangeable because of their associations.
Like all the other particles, -부터, -에서, and -까지 are used AFTER a noun or a pronoun, not BEFORE one.
“From A” in Korean is “A에서” or “A부터”
1. From Seoul
= 서울에서 [seo-u-re-seo] (from Seoul to another place)
= 서울부터 [seo-ul-bu-teo] (“starting from Seoul”)
2. From now
= 지금부터 [ji-geum-bu-teo]
= 지금에서 (x)
3. From (or since) yesterday
= 어제부터 [eo-je-bu-teo]
= 어제에서 (x)
Now, “to B” or “until B” in Korean is “B까지”
1. (From somewhere else) to Seoul = 서울까지 [seo-ul-kka-ji]
2. Until now = 지금까지 [ji-geum-kka-ji]
3. Until tomorrow = 내일까지 [nae-il-kka-ji]
4. Until when = 언제까지 [eon-je-kka-ji]
Sample Sentences
From here to there
= 여기에서 저기까지
= 여기부터 저기까지
From head to toe
= 머리부터 발끝까지
= 머리에서 발끝까지
From Seoul to Busan
= 서울에서 부산까지
= 서울부터 부산까지
From morning until evening
= 아침부터 저녁까지
= 아침에서 저녁까지 (x)
Review What You’ve Learned in Level 1
Essential Review - Dialogue (Test Your Korean)
This dialogue is based on the grammar points introduced in TalkToMeInKorean’s Level 1 lessons. First listen to the dialogue without looking at the Korean transcript, and then check how much you could understand by comparing your understanding with the original text as well as the translation.
Vocabulary
선물 = present, gift
생일 = birthday
잔 = cup
Korean Script
민아: 민수 씨 안녕하세요.
민수: 아, 네, 민아 씨, 안녕하세요! 이거 뭐예요?
민아: 이거요? 이거 선물이에요.
민수: 선물이요? 우와. 감사합니다.
민아: 아니요, 민수 씨 선물 아니에요. 다른 사람 선물이에요.
민수: 다른 사람이요? 누구요?
민아: 오늘 현주 씨 생일이에요.
민수: 정말요? 몰랐어요.
민아: 어, 저기, 현주 씨 왔어요.
현주: 민아 씨, 민수 씨, 안녕하세요!
민아: 생일 축하해요. 선물이에요.
현주: 우와. 감사합니다.
민수: 현주 씨, 생일 축하해요. 저는… 선물이 없어요. 생일을 몰랐어요.
현주: 괜찮아요. 감사합니다.
민아: 민수 씨는 언제까지 시간 있어요?
민수: 저요? 저는 일곱 시까지 시간 있어요.
민아: 좋아요. 현주 씨, 뭐 하고 싶어요?
현주: 저요? 글쎄요…
민아: 민수 씨, 배고파요? 저는 피자 먹고 싶어요.
민수: 네? 네… 저기… 현주 씨는요? 피자 먹고 싶어요?
현주: 네. 저도 피자 좋아요.
민수: 저기요. 김치 불고기 치즈 피자 하나 주세요.
민아: 김치 불고기 치즈 피자요?
민수: 맛있어요! 아, 저기요! 콜라 세 잔 주세요.
민아: 저는 콜라 안 마시고 싶어요. 저는 맥주 주세요.
민수: 여기 맥주 없어요.
민아: 있어요.
현주: 저기요, 여기 맥주 있어요? 네, 맥주 하나 주세요.
민수: 누가 피자집에서 맥주를 마셔요?
민아: 왜요? 이상해요?
민수: 아니에요.
현주: 피자 나왔어요.
민아: 맥주는요?
현주: 여기 있어요.
민아: 잘 먹겠습니다!
민수: 잘 먹겠습니다.
현주: 잘 먹겠습니다.
Korean Script + English Translation
민아: 민수 씨 안녕하세요.
Mina: Minsu, hello.
민수: 아, 네, 민아 씨, 안녕하세요! 이거 뭐예요?
Minsu: Oh, hi, Mina. Hi. What is this?
민아: 이거요? 이거 선물이에요.
Mina: This? This is a present.
민수: 선물이요? 우와. 감사합니다.
Minsu: A present? Wow. Thank you.
민아: 아니요, 민수 씨 선물 아니에요. 다른 사람 선물이에요.
Mina: No, it’s not a present for you, Minsu. It’s a present for someone else.
민수: 다른 사람이요? 누구요?
Minsu: Someone else? Who?
민아: 오늘 현주 씨 생일이에요.
Mina: Today is Hyeonju’s birthday.
민수: 정말요? 몰랐어요.
Minsu: Really? I didn’t know.
민아: 어, 저기, 현주 씨 왔어요.
Mina: Oh, there, Hyeonju came.
현주: 민아 씨, 민수 씨, 안녕하세요!
Hyeonju: Mina, Minsu, hi!
민아: 생일 축하해요. 선물이에요.
Mina: Happy birthday. It’s a present.
현주: 우와. 감사합니다.
Hyeonju: Wow. Thank you.
민수: 현주 씨, 생일 축하해요. 저는… 선물이 없어요. 생일을 몰랐어요.
Minsu: Hyeonju, happy birthday. I… don’t have a present. I didn’t know your birthday.
현주: 괜찮아요. 감사합니다.
Hyeonju: It’s okay. Thank you.
민아: 민수 씨는 언제까지 시간 있어요?
Mina: Minsu, until when do you have time?
민수: 저요? 저는 일곱 시까지 시간 있어요.
Minsu: Me? I have time until 7 o’clock.
민아: 좋아요. 현주 씨, 뭐 하고 싶어요?
Mina: Good. Hyeonju, what do you want to do?
현주: 저요? 글쎄요…
Hyeonju: Me? Well…
민아: 민수 씨, 배고파요? 저는 피자 먹고 싶어요.
Mina: Minsu, are you hungry? I want to have pizza.
민수: 네? 네… 저기… 현주 씨는요? 피자 먹고 싶어요?
Minsu: What? I see… um… Hyeonju, how about you? Do you want to have pizza?
현주: 네. 저도 피자 좋아요.
Hyeonju: Yeah… I like pizza too.
민수: 저기요. 김치 불고기 치즈 피자 하나 주세요.
Minsu: Excuse me. Give us one kimchi bulgogi cheese pizza.
민아: 김치 불고기 치즈 피자요?
Mina: Kimchi bulgogi cheese pizza?
민수: 맛있어요! 아, 저기요! 콜라 세 잔 주세요.
Minsu: It’s delicious! Oh, excuse me! Give us three cups of cola.
민아: 저는 콜라 안 마시고 싶어요. 저는 맥주 주세요.
Mina: I don’t want to drink cola. Give me beer.
민수: 여기 맥주 없어요.
Minsu: There is no beer here.
민아: 있어요.
Mina: There is.
현주: 저기요, 여기 맥주 있어요? 네, 맥주 하나 주세요.
Hyeonju: Excuse me, do you have beer here? Yes, give us one beer.
민수: 누가 피자집에서 맥주를 마셔요?
Minsu: Who drinks beer in a pizza place?
민아: 왜요? 이상해요?
Mina: Why? Is it strange?
민수: 아니에요.
Minsu: No.
현주: 피자 나왔어요.
Hyeonju: The pizza came out.
민아: 맥주는요?
Mina: And beer?
현주: 여기 있어요.
Hyeonju: It’s here.
민아: 잘 먹겠습니다!
Mina: Let’s eat!
민수: 잘 먹겠습니다.
Minsu: Bon appetit!
현주: 잘 먹겠습니다.
Hyeonju: Let’s eat.
