Unit 1 notes

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Lesson4 --> Korean adjectives

Vocabulary

길 - street (gil)

거리 (geo-ri)- street/road

손 (son)- hand

영어 (yeong-eo)- english

택시 (taeg-si)- taxi

열차(yeol-ja)- train

역 (yeog)- train station

버스 정류장 (beo-seu jeong-ryu-jang)- bus stop

비행기 (bi-haeng-gi)- airplane

자전거 )ja-jeon-geo)- bicycle

아내 (a-nae)- wife

아이 (a-i)- child

아들 (a-deul)- son

딸 (ddal)- daughter

남편 (nam-pyeon)- husband

아버지 (a-beo-ji)- father

어머니 (eo-meo-ni)- mother

편지 (pyeon-ji)- letter

맛 (mas)- taste

식사 (sig-sa)- meal

아침 (a-jim)- morning

아침식사 (a-jim-sig-sa)- breakfast

물 (mul)- water

사과 (sa-goa)- apple

돈 (don)- money

Verbs

오다 = to come (o-da)

끝내다 = to finish (ggeut-nae-da)

춤추다 = to dance (jum-ju-da

알다 = to know (ar-da)

걷다 = to walk (geod-da)

배우다 = to learn (bae-u-da)

연습하다 = to practice (yeon-seub-ha-da)

생각하다 = to think (saeng-gag-ha-da)

살다 = to live (sal-da)

Passive verbs

끝나다 = to be finished (geut-na-da)

Adjectives

위험하다 = to be dangerous (ui-heom-ha-da)

잘생기다 = to be handsome (jal-saeng-gi-da)

못생기다 = to be ugly (mos-saeng-gi-da)

피곤하다 = to be tired (pi-gon-ha-da)

다르다 = to be different (da-ru-da)

슬프다 = to be sad (seul-peu-da)

맛있다 = to be delicious (mas-iss-da)

재미있다 = to be fun, to be funny (jae-mi-iss-da)

많다 = to be many of, to be a lot of (manh-da)

행복하다 = to be happy (haeng-bog-ha-da)

Adverbs and other words

거기 = there (geo-gi)

저기 = there (when farther away) (jeo-gi)

지금 = now (ji-geum)

하지만 = but (ha-ji-min)

Common greeting words

It's easier to understand these words if you understand the context in which they are said and in which occasions they are used in. (we will learn that in a few more lesson)

안녕히 가세요 = Goodbye (said to somebody going) (an-nyeong-hi ga-se-yo

안녕히 계세요 = Goodbye (said to somebody staying) (an-nyeong-hi gye-se-yo)

만나서 반갑습니다 = Nice to meet you (min-na-seo ban-gab-seub-ni-da)

실례합니다 = Excuse me (sil-rye-hab-ni-da)

죄송합니다/미안합니다 = Sorry (joi-sng-ni-da / mi-an-hab-ni-da)

이름이 뭐예요? = What is your name? (i-reum-i mueo-ye-yo?)

저의 이름은 ______이에요 = My name is

어디에서 왔어요? = Where are you from? (eo-di-e-seo pass-eo-yo?)

저는 _______에서 왔어요 = I am from

you should put off memorizing these until you can understand the grammar within them.

Using Adjectives ~ㄴ/은

Major step in learning Korean.

All sentences must end with either a verb or adjective ( but verbs and adjectives can ALSO go elsewhere in a sentence)

All verbs/adjectives end with the syllable ‘다’

Example: 저는 배를 원하다 = I want a boat

But if we want to say "i want a big boat" an adjective is added. Where does the adjective go in the sentence, then?

In Korean, this adjective is placed in the same position as in English (나는 big 배를 원하다 = I want a big boat)

But we can't just put the korean word for big (크다) next to the word "boat". That is not correct.

Why?

All verbs/adjectives end in 다, which is the indicator that the word is an adjective or verb. This form of the words can be found in the dictionary. But we don't use this to describe a noun. Every one of this words has a stem, which is preceeded by the indicator 다.

Example: 크다 = 크 (stem) + 다

작다 = 작 (stem) + 다

좋다 = 좋 (stem) + 다

길다 = 길 (stem) + 다

배우다 = 배우 (stem) + 다

When you want to describe something, you have to eliminate the syllable 다 and add something else.

you must eliminate ‘~다’ and add ~ㄴ or ~은 to the stem of the adjective.

Words in which the last syllable of the stem ends in a vowel (크다/비싸다/싸다) you add ~ㄴ to the last syllable:

Word --> 크다 (keu-da)

Stem --> 크 (keu). It ends on a vowel (eu)

Adjective that can describe a noun --> 큰 (keun). We add "n" because this adjective ends on a vowel.

Example: 큰 배 (keun-bae) = big boat

Words in which the last syllable of the stem ends in a consonant (작다/좋다/많다) you add ~은 to the stem

Word: 작다 (jag-da)

Stem: 작 (jag). It ends in a consonant (g)

adjective that can describe a noun: 작은 (jag-eun).We add "eun" because this adjective ends on a consonant.

Example: 작은 남자 (small man)

So, for that boat example:

Incorrect: 저는 크다 배를 원하다 (I want a big boat)- adjective in its dictionary form and not transformed

Correct:저는 큰 배를 원하다 (I want a big boat) adjective in its transformed form so it can describe a noun

Key to understanding:

understanding the difference between these two:

음식은 비싸다 = The food is expensive / 비싼 음식 = expensive food

The first one is a sentence. The second one needs more words to make it a sentence. You need to add either a verb or adjective that predicates the noun of “expensive food.”

For example: 나는 비싼 음식을 먹다 = I eat expensive food (the verb "to eat" iniciates this sentence.)

저는 비싼 음식을 좋아하다 = I like expensive food (the verb "to like" iniciates this sentence)

비싼 음식은 맛있다 = Expensive food is delicious (the adjective "expensive" iniciates this sentence. No object)

Note: We have not yet learned how to conjugate verbs and adjectives at the end of a sentence yet. This will be introduced in the next lesson. Because you do not know how to conjugate verbs/adjectives at the ends of sentences, examples with un-conjugated forms are presented in this lesson. Remember that these sentences are technically incorrect, but understanding them is crucial to your understanding of the Korean sentence structure.

Examples of using adjectives to describe nouns:

나는 작은 집에 가다 = I go to the small house (small= 작 (jag), adjective that ends on a consonant, so we add 은 )

나는 큰 차를 원하다 = I want a big car (big= 크 (keu), adjective that ends on a vowel, so we add ㄴ)

나는 잘생긴 남자를 만나다 = I meet a handsome man (handsome= 기 (gi)djective that ends on a vowel, so we addㄴ)

나는 많은 돈이 있다 = I have a lot of money (a lot= 많 (manh), ends on a consonant, so we add 은)

나는 뚱뚱한 학생을 만나다 = I meet a fat student (fat =하 (ha), ends on a vowel, so we add ㄴ)

In all of the examples above, notice the difference in function between when an adjective is used to describe a noun compared to when it is used to predicate a sentence. For example:

나는 작은 집에 가다 = I go to the small house (The verb “to go” predicates this sentence.)

그 집은 작다 = That house is small The adjective “to be small” predicates this sentence. Notice that there is no object in this sentence.)

저는 큰 차를 원하다 = I want a big car (The verb “to want” predicates this sentence.)

이 차는 크다 = This car is big (The adjective “to be big” predicates this sentence. Notice that there is no object in this sentence.)

In each of the examples above, even though the adjective always acts as a descriptive word, in the cases when they are placed before nouns to describe them – those nouns are able to be placed anywhere in the sentence (for example, as the subject, object, location, or other places). This same thing happens in English, where I can have a simple sentence like this:

남자는 음식을 먹다 = The man eats food. you can use adjectives to describe each noun in the sentence. Like:

행복한 여자는 작은 차 안에 있다 = The happy girl is inside the small car

Some adjectives end in 있다 (iss-da). The most common for a beginner are 맛있다 = delicious and 재미있다 = fun, funny

When an adjective ends in “~있다” like this, instead of attaching ~ㄴ/은 to the stem, you must attach ~는 to the stem. For example:

그 남자는 재미있는 남자이다 = that man is a funny man

나는 맛있는 음식을 먹다 = I eat delicious food ( It is sufficient at this point to just memorize it as an exception.)

To be a lot of: 많다

to practice how adjectives can be used, it is good to start with the word 많다, which is an adjective that describes "many" or "a lot". The translation to english depends on how this word is used in a sentence:

나는 많은 음식을 먹다 = I eat a lot of food

나는 많은 돈이 있다 = I have a lot of money

나는 많은 아내가 있다 = I have a lot of wives

if we want to use 많다 to start a sentence, it can be used as 사람이 많다,

In your Korean studies, you need to realize that it is never effective to think of a Korean sentence as an exact translation in English. The fact is, Korean and English grammar are completely different, and trying to force the rules/structure of English into Korean is unnatural. If we stuck with the translation of “a lot of” for the meaning of “많다” and forced the English translation to the sentence “사람이 많다”, we would get: People are a lot of, which is not the correct translation. Instead, this word is describing that there is a lot of something.

Example: 사람이 많다 = there are a lot of people

Therefore, when 많다 predicates a sentence, its translation is usually “There is/are a lot of…”.

Example: 음식이 많다 = there is a lot of food

Also notice that the particles 이/가 are attached to the subjects in sentences ending with “많다.” There are some words where the use of the particles ~이/가 on the subject of the sentence is more natural than the use of ~는/은. 많다 is one of these words. We will continue to tell you in which situations it is more natural to use ~이/가 instead of ~은/는 as we progress through our lessons.

Particle 도

도 means "too, or "as well". It can replace subject particles (는/은) or object particles (를/을) of the sentence, depending on what you are saying "too" or "as well" to.

Example: 저도 한국어를 말하다 = I speak Korean as well (In addition to other people)

저는 한국어도 말하다 = I speak Korean as well (in addition to other languages)

Notice the difference. the first example, means that you speak korean in addition to other people, but the second example means that you speak korean, in addition to other languages. in the first sentence you are refering to the subject, and the second example is refering to the object of the sentence.

Example: 저도 사과를 먹다 = I eat apples as well (n addition to other people, so you put 도 next to the subject of the sentence)

저는 사과도 먹다 = I eat apples as well (in addition to other food, so you put 도 next to the object of the sentence)

나도 그것을 알다 = I know that, too (other people know this too, 도 next to the subject)

나도 피곤하다 = I am tired, too (other people are also tired, 도 refers to the subject)

나의 딸도 행복하다 = My daughter is happy, too (refers to the object.)

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Lesson 5 --> Korean Conjugation: Past, Present, Future

Nouns

동생 = younger sibling (dong-saeng)

남동생 = younger brother (nam-dong-saeng)

여동생 = younger sister (yeo-dong-saeng)

형 = older brother (hyeong) (in case you're a male)

오빠 = older brother (o-bba) (in case you're a female)

누나 = older sister (nu-na) (in case you're a male)

언니 = older sister (eon-ni) (in case you're a female)

삼촌 = uncle (sam-jon)

이모 = aunt (on mother’s side) (i-mo)

고모 = aunt (on father’s side)(go-mo)

아저씨 = older man not related to you (a-jeo-ssi)

아주머니 = older woman not related to you (a-jumeo-ni)

할아버지 = grandfather (hal-a-beo-ji)

할머니 = grandmother (hal-meo-ni)

친구 = friend (jin-gu)

사진 = picture (sa-jin)