Main rules:

1. Every Korean sentence must end in either a verb or an adjective (this includes 이다 and 있다). Every
sentence absolutely must have a verb or adjective at the end of the sentence.
2. Every Korean verb and adjective ends with the syllable "다".
3. In addition to ending in "다" many verbs and adjectives end with two syllables "하다". "하다" means
"to do". Simply eliminate "하다" to make the noun form of that verb/adjective.

Sentence Word Order

Subject - Object - Verb

Subject - Adjective

For examples:
I an apple eat
I beautiful

The subject refers to a person/thing/noun/whatever that is acting. The subject does the action of
the verb.

The object refers to whatever the verb is acting on.

Sometimes there is no object because it has simply been omitted from the sentence. For
example, “I ate” or “I ate rice” are both correct sentences. Other verbs, by their nature, cannot
act on an object. For example, you cannot place an object after the verbs “sleep” or “die”

Subjects are also present in sentences with adjectives. However, there is no object in a
sentence with an adjective.

It is incredibly important that you understand this from the very beginning. Every Korean
sentence MUST end in either a verb (like eat, sleep or walk) or an adjective (like beautiful,
pretty, and delicious). This rule is so important.

What are Honorifics in Korean?

It is also important to point out here that there are two ways to say “I” or “me” in Korean.
Depending on how polite you need to be speaking, many things within a sentence (mostly the
conjugation) can change:

저, used in formal sentences, and

나, used in informal sentences (low respect).
If you don't know a person or just meet a person first time you have to use 저 instead of 나.

In Korean, depending on who you are speaking to, you must use different conjugations of the
same word. The different conjugations imply respect and politeness to the person you are
speaking to. Depending on that person’s age and/or seniority in relation to yours, you must
speak differently to that person.

Keep in mind that all these conjugations with different honorific endings have exactly the same
meaning. You will learn how to conjugate using honorifics in the following ways:

1. Informal low respect

Used when talking to your friends, people you are close with, people younger than you and your
family.

2. Informal high respect

This can be used in most situations, even in formal situations despite the name being “informal.”
This is usually the way most people speak when they are trying to show respect to the person
they are talking to.

3. Formal high respect

This is a very high respect form that is used when addressing people who deserve a lot of
respect from you. It is hard to describe perfectly, but honestly, the difference between ‘Informal
high respect’ and ‘Formal high respect’ is not very big. As long as you speak in either of these
two ways, you will not offend anyone.

Greeting Words
안녕하세요 = hello
고맙습니다/감사합니다 = thank you
정말 고맙습니다 = thank you very much
다시 한번 감사드립니다 = thank you again
항상 감사드립니다 = always thank you
잘 지내세요? = How are you?
제발 = Please

Korean Particles (~는/은 and ~를/을)

Subject particles are ~는/은

This is placed after a word to indicate that it is the subject of a sentence. Use 는 when the last letter of the
last syllable of the subject is a vowel. For example:
저는
나는

Use 은 when the last letter of the last syllable of the subject is a consonant. For example:
집 = 집은
(house)
책 = 책은 (book)

Object particles are ~를/을

This is placed after a word to indicate that is the object of a sentence.
Use 를 when the last letter of the last syllable is a vowel. For example:
나 = 나를
저 = 저를

Use 을 when the last letter of the last syllable is a consonant. For example:
집 = 집을
책 = 책을

We can now make sentences using the Korean sentence structure and the Korean particles.

1) I speak Korean = I 는 Korean 을 speak

는 is attached to “I” (the subject)
을 is attached to “Korean” (the object)

2) I like you = I 는 you 를 like

는 is attached to “I” (the subject)
를 is attached to “you” (the object)

The same could be done for sentences with adjectives. However, remember that sentences with
adjectives will not have an object:

1) My girlfriend is pretty: My girlfriend 은 is pretty

:”은” is attached to “my girlfriend” (the subject)

2) The movie was scary = The movie 는 was scary

:”는” is attached to “the movie” (the subject)

Particle ~에 (Place or time) is used to indicate location, direction or time.

Sentences with a place/time can also have an object in them. For example:

1) I ate hamburgers at 3pm

If I were to write sentences using Korean structure and particles, they would look like this:

1) I 는 3pm 에 went
2) I 는 park 에 went
3) I 는 hamburgers 을 3pm 에 ate
In these cases, “at 3pm” or “to the park” act as adverbs (a word that tells you when, where, how,
how much). There is no set place for an adverb within a sentence, and it can generally be
placed anywhere (except the end).

1. Location (at/in)

책은 서랍안에 있습니다.
= the book is in the drawer.
지금 어디에 있어요?
= where are you now ?

2.Direction (to)

지금 한교에 겁니다.
= now i go to school.
어디에 가고 싶어요 ?
= where do you want to go?

3.Time (translation varies)

아침에 교회에 갑니다.

= In the morning, i go to church.
밤에 숙제를 합니다.
= At night i do homework.

-에 is also used to mean 'a,per,or by'

하루에 두 번 밥은 먹습니다.
= i eat twice a day.
일 주일에 다섯 번 한교에 갑니다
= i go to school five times a week.

To be - not to be: 이다 - 아니다

The basic structure for a sentence predicated by “ 이다” is:

[noun 은/는] [another noun] [이다]

The basic structure for a sentence predicated by "아니다" is:

[noun 은/는] [another noun 가/이] [아니다]

For example:
I 는 man 이다 = I am a man
I 는 man 가 아니다 = I am not a man

Now substitute the words for “man = 남자” and “I = 나.” Remember, 이다 gets attached directly to the
noun, but 아니다 is not.
나는 남자이다
나는 남자가 아니다

It is very important that you remember that ~를/을 is not attached to words in sentences with “이다.”
The following would be very incorrect:
나는 남자를 이다.

이다 is the only word that acts like this, and is one of the reasons why you should treat it differently than
other verbs or adjectives.
Other examples of 이다 in use:
나는 여자이다 = I am a woman
나는 여자가 아니다 = I am not a woman
나는 선생님이다 = I am a teacher
나는 선생님이 아니다 = I am not a teacher
나는 사람이다 = I am a person
나는 사람이 아니다 = I am not a person

Conjugating 이다 / 아니다
PRESENT TENSE:
1) Informal Low Respect
Add ~이야 to a word ending in a consonant, or ~(이)야 to a word ending in a vowel:
나는 좋은 학생이야 = I am a good student
그것은 사과야 = That thing is an apple

When conjugating “아니다” in this respect, you simply add “~야” to “아니다:”
나는 학생이 아니야 = I am not a student
그것은 책이 아니야 = That thing is not a book

2) Informal High Respect

Add ~이에요 to a word ending in a consonant, or ~예요 to a word ending in a vowel:
저는 선생님이에요 = I am a teacher
저는 의사예요 = I am a doctor

When conjugating “아니다” in this respect, you simply add ~에요 to 아니다:
저는 학생이 아니에요 = I am not a student

3) Formal High Respect

Add ~입니다 (~이 + ~ㅂ니다) to words ending in a vowel or consonant:
저는 의사입니다 = I am a doctor
저는 학생입니다 = I am a student

With words ending in vowels, you can eliminate ~이 and attach ~ㅂ니다 directly to the word. This is
more commonly done in conversation, and not usually written.
When conjugating “아니다” in this respect, you must add “~ㅂ니다” directly to “아니다.” For
example:
저는 의사가 아닙니다 = I am not a doctor
저는 학생이 아닙니다 = I am not a student

PAST TENSE:
1) Informal Low Respect
Add ~이었어 to all words. If the word ends in a vowel, ~이었어 can contract to ~였어.
나는 바쁜 선생님이었어 = I was a busy teacher
나는 나쁜 의사였어 = I was a bad doctor

2) Informal High Respect

This conjugation is the same as above (Informal Low Respect), except for that “~ 요” is added to the
end of ~이었 or ~였. That is, you should add ~이었어요 to all words. If the word ends in a vowel, ~
이었어요 can contract to ~였어요.
저는 선생님이었어요 = I was a teacher
저는 의사였어요 = I was a doctor

3) Formal High Respect

Add ~이었습니다 to all words. If the word ends in a vowel, ~이었습니다 can contract to ~였습니다.
저는 선생님이었습니다 = I was a teacher
저는 의사였습니다 = I was a doctor

In all situations in the past tense, 아니다 is conjugated just like any other word. An example of each
respect:
나는 학생이 아니었어
나는 학생이 아니었다
저는 학생이 아니었어요
저는 학생이 아니었습니다

FUTURE TENSE:
Add ~ㄹ 것이다 to [noun]이다, but remember that 것이다 is 것 +이다. The 이다 can then be
conjugated based on the level of politeness or formality. But keep in mind that even though this sentence
is conjugated into the future, the 이다 should stay in the present tense. Because the ~ㄹ creates a future
sentence, 이다 does not need to be in the future.

저는 곧 선생님일 거예요 = I will be a teacher soon

저는 곧 선생님이 이닐 거예요 = I won't be a teacher soon
이 장소는 공원일 것이에요 = This place will be a park
이 장소는 공원이 아닐 거야 = This place won’t be a park

But it's nutural not to use 아니다 in this context. It would probably be more natural to say something like
“I don’t want to become a teacher in the future.”
One other quick thing; By using the future ~ㄹ/을 것이다 conjugation on 이다, you can also create a
sentence where the speaker is guessing about a certain situation in the present tense. Look at some
examples first:
그 사람이 의사일 거예요 = That person is probably/most likely a doctor
그것은 여권일 거예요 = That thing is probably/most likely a passport
문제는 돈일 거예요 = The problem is probably/most likely money

These sentences as well can be said using 아니다 instead of 이다:

그 사람이 의사가 아닐 거야 = That person is probably/most likely not a doctor
그것은 여권이 아닐 거야 = That thing is probably/most likely not a passport
문제는 돈이 아닐 거야 = The problem is probably/most likely not money

Notice that in these cases the speaker is not talking about him/herself. Also, even though the
sentence is conjugated into the future tense, the speaker is guessing that something is the case
in the present tense. Thus, it is weird to include time indicators in these sentences (for example
“next year” or “in a few months from now”) because the speaker is not trying to create this
meaning.

This and That (이/그/저)

We use 이 in Korean when we are talking about something that is within touching distance (For
example: this pen – i.e. the one I am holding). Just like in English “ 이” (this) is placed before the noun
it is describing. For example:

이 사람 = This person
이 남자 = This man

Unfortunately, there are two words for “that”: 그 and 저. Early learners of Korean are always confused
with the difference between “그” and “저.”

We use 그 when we are talking about something from a previous sentence or from previous context,
regardless of if you could see it or not. Providing examples would be too difficult right now because you
do not know any Korean sentences. However, if I were to say: “I don’t like that man [when your friend
mentioned him in a previous sentence].” The word “that” in that sentence would be how “ 그” is used.

We use 저 when we are talking about something that we can see, but cannot touch because it is too far
away.

We can place “그” or “저” before a noun to describe “this” or “that” thing just like we did with “이.”
이 사람 = This person
그 사람 = That person
저 사람 = That person

One of the most common words in Korean is “것” meaning “thing.” When 이, 그 or 저 are placed
before “것,” the result is a compound word. Therefore, when placing “것” after 이, 그 or 저, there
should not be a space between the two. In other words, the following are words in and within themselves,
and not two separate words:

이것 = this thing
그것 = that thing
저것 = that thing

Using This/That with 이다

Remember, 이다 translates to “to be” and is conjugated as “am/is/are” in English. Now that we know
how to use 이, 그 and 저 (and 이것, 그것 and 저것), we can now make sentences like this:

That person is a doctor - 그 사람은 의사야

That person is a teacher - 그 사람은 선생님이에요
That (thing) is a car - 그것은 차예요
This (thing) is a tree - 이것은 나무예요

~이/가 있다/없다 (to have / not have smth)

Pattern is [noun 이/가] 있다 / 없다

이 is attached to nouns in which the last letter is a consonant and ~ 가 is attached to nouns in which the
last letter is a vowel.

For example:
저는 펜이 있어요 = I have a pen
저는 펜이 없어요 = I don't have a pen
나는 차가 있었어요 = I had a car
나는 차가 없었어요 = I didn't have a car

~에 있다/없다 (to be /not to be somewhere)

Pattern is [place 에] 있다 / 없다

For example:
나는 학교에 있어요 = I am at school
나는 학교에 없어요 = I am not at school
나는 캐나다에 있었어요 = I have been in Canada
나는 케나다에 없었어요 = I havent been in Canada

We can also use position words to indicate specifically where someone/something is with
respect to another noun. The most common position words are:

안 = inside
위 = on top
밑 = below
옆 = beside
뒤 = behind
앞 = in front

These words are placed after a noun to indicate where an object is with respect to that noun. The particle
“~에” is then attached directly to the position words. For example:

학교 앞에 = in front of the school

사람 뒤에 = behind the person
집 옆에 = beside the house
저 건물 뒤에 = behind that building

These constructions can now act as the location in a sentence:

나는 학교 앞에 있어요 = I am in-front of the school
나는 학교 뒤에 있어요 = I am behind the school

~이/가 as a Subject Marker

~이/가 can also be used to indicate the subject of a sentence, similar to ~는/은. What is the difference?

~는/은:

1) To denote a subject of a sentence. For example:

나는 밥을 먹었다 = I ate rice
내 친구는 밥을 먹었다 = My friend ate rice
나는 그녀를 좋아해 = I like her
This may or may not have an overlapped meaning with the following purposes:
2) To compare something. For example:
이 산은 높다 = This mountain is high (but maybe another mountain is low)
사과는 빨갛다. 바나나는 노랗다 = Apples are red. Bananas are yellow.
3) To state a general fact. For example:
로키산은 높다 = The Rocky Mountains are high
여름 날씨는 좋다 = Summer weather is good (nice)
다이아몬드는 딱딱하다 = Diamonds are hard
사과는 빨갛다 = Apples are red
~이/가:

1) To denote a subject of a sentence. For example:

고양이가 집 뒤에 있다 = The cat is behind the house
This may or may not have an overlapped meaning with the following purposes:
2) To indicate something based on a recent experience/observation. For example:
날씨가 좋다 = The weather is nice!
비가 와요 = It’s raining!
사과가 파랗다 = The apple is blue
3) To stress that the subject does the action (or is the adjective). For example:
누가 그녀를 좋아해? = Who likes her?
– 내가 그녀를 좋아해 = I like her
내가 반장이야! = I am the class president!
4) Placed on objects in sentences that are predicated by adjectives. For example:
나는 학교가 싫다 = I don’t like school
나는 그것이 좋다 = I like that
나는 펜이 있다 = I have a pen
5) Placed on the object before 아니다 to indicate what something is not. For example:
나는 학생이 아니다 = I am not a student
나는 의사가 아니다 = I am not a doctor
6) Placed on the object predicated by “되다” to indicate what something becomes. For example:
나는 의사가 되고 싶다 = I want to become a doctor
나는 선생님이 되고 싶다 = I want to become a teacher

Have you ever introduced yourself in Korean?

How do you start?

안녕하세요
Right?

Okay, good.

And how do you finish it?

How do you make them know you finished?
If you cannot do this, people will keep watching you, and you should keep struggling to figure
out what to say more.

When you finish it, just say "잘 부탁드립니다. " This is not only a very polite expression, but also a
magical word that make people applaud you and make you relaxed.

Please, submit that you cannot speak perfect honorifics.

And then, before you talk, you say like this. Let them understand you.

죄송합니다, 제가 아직 존대말을 잘 못합니다. 이해해 주세요.

Excuse me, I cannot speak Korean honorifics perfectly. Please, understand.

This is really polite.

I really hate learning language like math, but in order to understand Korean honorifics, we need
some mathematics.

Respecting and looking down is all relative. Age, class and position are all relevant. Therefore,
when we say Korean, first we should compare people and us, ans then we decide to use
honorifics or to talk casually. Korean people always do this. (cultural differences)

For example, I am 40. (For example! For example!) When I talk to 20-year-old friend who is
familiar with me, I can talk casually. By the way, I am 10. (For example!) When I talk to 20-year-
old friend, I use honorifics.

10<20<40

I use honorifics to my parents, and they talk down to me. And my Father say honorifics to my
grandfather.

me<my Father<my grandfather

Honorifics is an expression of hierarchy. This expression has two ways.

1. self declining
ex) 저, 제가, 저를, 저의
2. even more common way, phrasing
ex) -시-, -께서, 진지, 연세, etc
-습니다. -습니까?

The basic principle of Korean honorifics is self-declining and phrasing the others. Therefore,
Korean people say like this.

저는 학교에 갑니다.
I go to school.
선생님께서는 학교에 가십니다.
My teacher goes to school.

Honorifics are really important in Korean language. Therefore, when you write sentences in
Korean, you need to be take care.
Before we start writing, we should guess who will read our article in order to determine to use
what type of Korean, hypothesis or casual talk. And then, keep going on. Don't change your
mind.

For example,

라면을 먹어요. 맛있다.

not very good.
라면을 먹어요. 맛있어요.
better
라면을 먹었어요. 맛있었어요.
or 라면을 먹고 있어요. 맛있네요.
even better.

새로 산 옷입니다. 예쁘지?
not good.
새로 산 옷이야. 예쁘지?
great.
새로 산 옷이에요. 예쁘죠?
새로 산 옷입니다. 예쁘죠?
also great.

By the way, when we post in hellotalk, what kind of Korean is adequate? Using honorifics, or
talking down? If honorifics are better, then what kind of honorifics?

When you write your diary in hellotalk, any of them can be okay. My suggestion is to use "-다"

나는 라면을 먹었다. 맛있었다. 식사 후에는 새 옷을 샀다.

Great.

When we chat or write something to the public in hellotalk, I think "-요" is a good choice.

제가 쓴 글이에요. 틀린 곳이 있나요?
여러분은 어떻게 생각하세요?

In fact, Korean honorifics are not very easy to learn. Korean people also often commit errors.
And a foreign friend? You don't need to say again.

Please remember,
when you write in Korean
if you once chose a kind honorifics,
don't change your mind.

At the end of a sentence, if there is

-습니다 >> honorifics
-다 >> casually speaking

Then, what about "-요"?

In grammar, "-요" is not honorifics. Korean language has 6 levels : 2 honorifics, 2 equality and 2 talking
down. "-요" is among the same class people using word in origin. However contemporary Korean people
regard "-요" as honorifics. Language is language, it keeps changing as time goes on. So let's think "-요"
also is a kind of honorifics.

-다 < -요 < -습니다.

For example,
I say to my boss "다 했습니다. ",
to senior colleagues "다 했어요. ",
and to junior colleagues "다 했다. " or "다 했어. "

-다, -어,-어? and -아/어 are at the same level.

밥 먹었다.
밥 먹었어.
밥 먹었어?
밥 먹어?

-요, -요? and -아요/어요 occupy another level.

밥 먹었어요.
밥 먹었어요?
밥 먹어요?

-습니다 and -습니까 have one, too.

밥 먹습니다.
밥 먹었습니다.
밥 먹었습니까?

Did you find it? "-요" is the most simple. Therefore, if you want to say honorifics, just add "-요" at the
end of each sentence.

Some of Korean children say like this, "밥 먹었다요. " This sentence is not correct. However, they are
still so young, they don't know how to use honorifics, but they know they should show respect. Therefore
they often just add "-요".

In verbal communication, if you are not sure which honorifics are adequate, just add "-요".
I say again. For foreign foreigners, Korean honorifics are never easy to learn. I suggest that you
accept it is almost impossible to use honorifics without any mistakes.
Read more, listen more, say more and write more. Keep talking with native Korean, and keep
going on!

In Korean honorifics,
some expressions are self-declining.
For example, 저
Many are showing respect.
For example, -시-, -께서, 진지
And some endings of words are expressing respect, too.
For example, -습니다. -습니까?

The basis of honorifics is the relationship between the upper and the lower. Therefore, when we
use honorifics, we decline ourselves while we show our respect. We cannot show respect to
ourselves
Furthermore, talking down expression and honorifics cannot be used at once.

Please, take a look.

1) 너는 귀여워요.
-> 아저씨는 귀여워요.
or 너는 귀여워.
2) 제가 가세요.
-> 제가 가요.
3) 저에게 줘.
-> 나에게 줘.
or 저에게 주세요.
4) 너에게 드릴께요.
-> 너에게 줄게.
or 아저씨에게 드릴게요.

And one more thing, "-시-" expresses respect. Therefore when we describe ourselves, we don't add "-시-".

제가 보세요 -> 제가 봐요.

저는 학생이십니다. -> 저는 학생입니다.

Is this difficult?
Yes, absolutely.
When you guys watch Korean TV series, please listen carefully. Generally speaking, honorifics
on TV is always correct.

"I" is 나 or 저.
"We" is 우리 or 저희. Right?
"my"？나의/내/저의/제
"our"? 우리의/우리/저희의/저희
right?

Then how do we say "my house" in Korean?

Commonly, "우리집".
Only under particular conditions, we use "내 집" or "나의 집".

우리집에 컴퓨터가 있어요.

There is a computer in my house.

my Father? 우리 아빠
우리 아빠는 중국에 있어요.
My Father is in China.

my teacher? 우리 선생님
이것은 우리 선생님께 드릴 선물이에요.
This is a present for my teacher.

my country？우리 나라
my company? 우리 회사

However, "my friend" is 내 친구 or 제 친구。

아저씨는 내 친구야.
Uncle Bear is my friend.
아저씨는 제 친구입니다.
Uncle Bear is my friend.

Then, when do we use "내 집"?

If we should emphasize "possession", we say "내 집".

여기는 내 집이라고!
This is MY house!
This house is MINE!

내 집에서 나가!
Get out of my house!

Who can say "내 나라"?

Only the empire can.

나의/내/저의/제 can be used to anything we can possess

my book
나의 책/내 책/저의 책/제 책
my cellphone
나의 휴대폰/내 휴대폰/저의 휴대폰/제 휴대폰

의 Possessive Particle

“의” is a particle that indicates that one is the owner/possessor of another object. It has the same role as
” ‘s” in English (for most examples). For example:

저 =I
책 = book
저의 책 = my book

저의 차 = My car
그 사람의 차 = That person’s car
의사의 탁자 = The doctor’s table
선생님의 차 = the teacher’s car
저의 손가락 = my finger

For example:
선생님의 차는 크다 = The teacher’s car is big
나는 선생님의 차를 원해요 = I want the teacher’s car
그 여자의 눈은 아름답다 = That woman’s eyes are beautiful

You will find that words like “my/our/their/his/her” are often omitted from sentences. As you will
learn continuously throughout your Korean studies, Korean people love shortening their
sentences wherever possible. Whenever something can be assumed by context, words are
often omitted from sentences to make them more simple. For example:

나는 나의 친구를 만나요 = I meet my friend

Can be written as the following:
나는 친구를 만나요 = I meet (my/a) friend

In this case (and many others like it) you are clearly meeting “your” friend, so the word “my” can
be omitted from the sentence.

We, Us, and Our (우리)

“우리” which you can see from the vocabulary list of this lesson translates to “us” or “we.” In English,
even though they are technically the same word, the usage of “us” or “we” depends on its location within
the sentence it is used in. Just like “I” and “me”, if the word is the subject of a sentence, “we” is used. For
example:
I like you
We like you

However, if the word is the object in a sentence, the word “us” is used. For example:

He likes me
He likes us

In Korean, they do not make this distinction, and “우리” is used in both situations. For example:

우리는 너를 좋아해 = We like you

선생님은 우리를 좋아해요 = The teacher likes us

By placing the possessive particle “의” after “우리” we can create the meaning of “our”. While this
can be done, I feel it is much more common to omit this particle when it is used with “우리.” In fact, the
particle “의” is very commonly omitted from words other than “우리” as well.

A formal version of “우리” is “저희”. However, even in formal situations it is acceptable to use “
우리”.

I want an object... / I want to do something

01) ~을/를 원하다 = I want an object....

Patern is [noun 을/를] 원하다

This pattern is used when someone wants an object. For example:

저는 사과를 원해요 = I want an apple
그 차를 원해요 = I want that car.

02) V+~고 싶다 =
Patern is [a stem of a verb] +고 싶다

This pattern is used when someone wants to do something. For example:

저는 학교에 가고 싶어요 = I want to go to school
저는 숙제를 빨리 하고 싶어요 = I want to do my homework quickly

BUT! When you say that she or he wants to do something you should use V + ~ 고 싶어하다 .
Remember, ~고 싶어하다 is used for 3rd person.

For example:
그는 영화를 보고 싶어해요 = He want to watch a movie

안녕하세요
Hello.

안녕하세요. 만나서 반가워요.

Hello. Nice to meet you.

어떻게 지내세요?
How are you doing?

잘 지내고 있어요. 님은요?

I'm fine. How are you?

저도 잘 지내고 있어요.
I'm fine, too.

만나서 반가웠어요. 다음에 또 만나요.

It was nice meeting you. Take care.

네, 님도요.
You too.

어떻게 지냈어요?
How have you been?

취직했어요.
I got a job.

축하해요!
Congratulations!

요즘 뭐하세요?
What are you up to these days?

요즘 건강은 어떠세요?
How is your health?

무슨 좋은 일 있어요?
Any good news?

별일 없으시죠?
How is everything?

요즘 존 스미스 씨는 어떻게 지내요?

How is John Smith doing lately?
저는 건강해요.
I'm in good health.

몸이 안 좋았어요.
I was under the weather.

항상 똑같죠.
Same as always.

그저 그래요.
So so.

'생각해 보겠습니다'.The meaning of 생각해 보겠습니다.

In your country, which ways of refusal is used frequently? Direct? indirect?

Turning down someone's request varies depending on their nationality or personality. Some refuse
directly,but others think is rude. Those people use indirect ways of refusal such as 'Let me think about it.
Some languages use '생각해 보겠습니다.' to say ' No' However Koreans usually do not refuse directly.
Therefore, when Koreans say '생각해 보겠습니다.' it means they are willing to think it over rather than
turning it down.

Oh! I didn’t realize that…: ~구나, ~군 or ~군요

This grammatical form is often said when one realizes a new fact or piece of information. ~구나, ~군 or
~군요 are added to the end of a sentence that the speaker just came to realize. In effect, the speaker is
showing surprise of this newly discovered information. A speaker would use one of these endings at the
end of a sentence that he/she did not know before.

When adding this to an adjective or 이다, ~구나, ~군 or ~군요 are attached directly to the stem of the
adjective (or attached to 이 in the case of 이다). For example:

Person 1: 그 사람은 그냥 영어 회화 선생님이 아니야?

= That person isn’t an English teacher?
Person 2: 응. 원래 영어 회화 선생님인데 지금 과학선생님이야
= No, originally he was an English teacher, but now he is a Science teacher
Person 1: 아 진짜? 과학 선생님이구나
= Ah really? I didn’t know/realize he is a science teacher

Let’s look at another example, this time using an adjective.

Imagine you are going to go fishing for the first time. You go to the store to buy supplies, and
you see the price of fishing line. You are surprised because you didn’t realize that fishing line is
that expensive. In this case, you can say the following:
낚싯줄이 이렇게 비싸구나 = I didn’t know/realize that fishing line is this expensive
As you may have guessed, ~구나 and ~군 are used in informal situations and ~군요 is used in formal
situations. Also, ~구나 is very common in conversation – much more common than ~군. However,
younger people commonly use ~군 when chatting on the internet or on their phones.
해군에 대령이군요 = I didn’t realize that you were a general in the navy
네가 매우 똑똑하구나 = I didn’t realize that you are so smart

When adding ~구나, ~군 or ~군요 to a verb, ~는 should be placed between it and the verb. For
example:

너도 암호를 모르는구나
= Oh, I didn’t realize that you didn’t know the password either

아들이 수영을 잘 하는군요 =

Oh, I didn’t realize that your son is good at swimming
When adding this to a verb, adjective or 이다 in the past tense, you can attach ~구나, ~군 or ~군요 to ~
았/었. For example:

벌써 먹었구나
= Oh, I didn’t realize that you already ate

어제 생일이었구나
= Oh, I didn’t realize that yesterday was your birthday
~구나, ~군 or ~군요 are used when one realizes something. Inherently, one usually realizes something
about a fact that has already happened or is currently happening. However, it is also possible to add ~
구나, ~군 or ~군요 to a sentence conjugated to the future tense. This would most commonly be done if
one realizes that something will be the case. The realization still happens in the present tense, but the
event will happen in the future. These realizations of future events are typically guesses, and therefore
you would most commonly see ~겠다 used instead of ~ㄹ/을 것이다. For example:

돈이 없겠구나 = Oh, we will probably not have money

당황스럽겠구나 = Oh, you will probably be embarrassed

Sentences using ~구나, ~군 or ~군요 have a feeling that the speaker is speaking to himself/herself. This
“self-talking” isn’t really part of the conversation – the speaker is just kind of mumbling to “Ah, I didn’t
realize ___.”

Expressing Surprise or Admiration: ~네(요)

Just like with ~구나/군/군요, a speaker can use “~네(요)” to express surprise to the information he/she
just received. The question all Korean learners have then, is: What is the difference between “~구나/군/
군요” and “~네(요)”?
The difference is so slight and in almost every situation, they do not need to be distinguished.
Nowhere on any test will you ever see a question asking you to differentiate the two – and
nobody would ever ask you to differentiate between the two.

~네(요) is added directly to the stems of verbs, adjectives and 이다 when the speaker expresses surprise
about an event in the present tense. For example:

아들이 귀엽네요 = Oh, I didn’t realize that your son is so cute

욕실이 아주 깨끗하네요 = Wow, the bathroom is so clean
이 음식점은 음식이 정말 맛있네요 = Wow, this restaurant’s food is really delicious

First, in the present tense:

아! 잔돈이 없네 = Oh, I didn’t realize that I don’t have an y change

선배가 춤을 잘 추네요 = Oh, I didn’t realize that our senior dances really well
금액이 많이 나오네요 = Oh, I didn’t realize that the amount of money is a lot (it’s expensive)

In the past tense, ~네(요) can attach directly to ~았/었. For example:

밥을 빨리 먹었네 = Oh, you ate really fast

점검을 벌써 받았네 = Oh, I you already got the inspection

It is common to attach ~네(요) to ~겠다 in these cases to express one’s realization (and/or impression)
of this evidence. For example:

아프겠네 = Oh, that must hurt

힘들겠네! = Oh, that must be so hard!
돈이 부족하겠네 = Oh, we probably won’t have enough money

~네요 is used to express surprise or wonder upon learning something through direct experience or when
agreeing with something said by someon else. It is made by adding ~ 네요 to the stem of adjectives and
verbs. It corresponds to "really", "wow", "certainly", or "My!" in English.

1. Expressing surprise or wonder upon learning something through direct experience:

A: 한국말을 정말 잘하시네요. You really do speak Korean well. (While witnessing a friend speak
Korean)
B: 아니에요. 더 많이 공부해야 돼요. Not really. I have to study a lot more.

2. Agreeing with something said by someone else:

A: 오늘 날씨가 춥지요? Isn't it cold today?
B: 네. 정말 춥네요. Yes, it really is cold

What is the difference between “~구나/군/군요” and “~네(요)”?

~구나/군/군요
1. Used mostly in books and other written books.
2. Used to express surprise or wonder upon learning something new either by direct experience
or by learning about it from someone else.

A: 이 식당에서 갈비 먹어 봤어요? 저 혼자 3 인분을 먹었어요.

Have you ever had the galbi at this restaurant? I have had three servings of galbi.
B: 그래요? 이 집 갈비가 맛있군요 (o)
Really? The galbi at this restaurant must be delicious.
(Can be used because the sentence refers to what is learned from someone else even though
the speaker has yet to actually try the restaurant's galbi)

~네요
1. Used mostly in daily conversation.
2. Cannot be used to express something not learned directly by the speaker's own experience.

A: 갈비 먹어 봤어요? 정말 맜있어요.
Have you ever had galbi? It's really delicious.
B: 그래요? 이 집 갈비가 맛있네요 (x)
(Cannot be used because the speaker did not try galbi personally)

Turn a Statement into a question using ~지/~죠

By adding ~지/~죠 to the end of a sentence (i.e. attached to a verb or adjective) you can turn a statement
into a question.

For example:
날씨가 추워요 = It is cold
날씨가 춥죠? = It is cold, isn’t it?
날씨가 춥지? = It is cold, isn’t it?
Note that ~지 is used in informal situations and ~죠 is used in formal situations.

Notice that ~지 and ~죠 get attached directly to the stem of a verb or adjective in every case.

You can add ~지/~죠 to sentences in the past tense as well. In these cases, ~지/~죠 gets attached
directly to ~았/~었. For example:
어제 학교에 안 갔죠? = You didn’t go to school yesterday, did you?
어제 월급을 받았죠? = You got paid yesterday, didn’t you?
결심을 아직 안 했죠? = You still haven’t decided yet, have you?

It can also be used in the future tense. For example:

선생님도 갈 거죠? = Teacher, you are going too, right?
밥을 안 먹을 거죠? = You aren’t going to eat, right?
In all of the examples provided above, the speaker is asking the listener a question. Notice that
in all cases (just from the style/feel of the sentence) that the speaker sort of knows the answer
to the question, and is almost just re-affirming what he/she thinks of the situation. Again, notice
the difference in feel between these two:

날씨가 추워요? = Is it cold?

날씨가 춥죠? = It is cold, isn’t it?

The speaker in the first example probably does not know the answer to the question (hence, the
reason why he/she is asking the question). However, in the second example, the speaker might
know the answer to the question – but is re-affirming his/her beliefs of the situation.

This same principle can be applied to questions in which the sentence has a question word in it
as well. For example:

카드를 어디에 두었죠? = Where did you place/put the card?

그 사람이 어디서 살고 있죠? = Where does that person live?
청구서를 언제 냈죠? = When did you pay the bill?
점심으로 뭐 먹었죠? = What did you eat for lunch?

This is the same phenomenon we saw when ~지/죠 was added to sentences without a question word, but
in these cases the addition of “eh?” or “isn’t it?” to the English translation is illogical. For example:

점심으로 뭐 먹었죠? = What did you eat for lunch, didn’t you?
This English translation is illogical

Instead, the four sentences above using “~지/죠” have the same translation of those sentences not using
“~지/죠.” Notice the following sentences have the same translation as the four sentences shown above:

카드를 어디에 두었어요? = Where did you place/put the card?

그 사람이 어디서 살고 있어요? = Where does that person live?
청구서를 언제 냈어요? = When did you pay the bill?
점심으로 뭐 먹었어요? = What did you eat for lunch?

While those sentences have the same translation, their meaning is slightly different. As with the sentences
without a question word, adding ~지/죠 gives the sentence the subtle difference that the speaker is
reconfirming his/her beliefs.

Even though the speaker is asking a question (and therefore, inherently doesn’t know the
answer to the question), one would use those examples to ask a question when he/she sort of
knows the answer to the question (and by “sort of” I mean that maybe the speaker forgot the
answer or something similar).
 it is unnatural to use ~지 to ask yourself a question when there is not a question word being used in the
sentence. For example:

밥을 먹지? = I am eating, right? – (This is illogical if directed to yourself)

밥을 먹었지? = I ate, right? – (This is illogical if directed to yourself)
밥을 먹을 거지? = I will eat, right? – (This is illogical if directed to yourself)
All of those sentences are logical if directed at somebody else.

Those sentences are illogical because the speaker is asking himself what he is doing.

This is also illogical if the acting agent (the subject) of the sentence is another person. For
example:

선생님이 밥을 먹었지? = The teacher ate, right?

(This sentence is perfectly logical if you ask it to another person, but not when asked to
yourself)

However, it is very natural to use ~지 to ask yourself a question when there is a question word being
used in the sentence. The acting agent of the sentence can either be you or some other person/thing. For
example:

내가 뭐 먹었지? = What did I eat again?

선생님이 어디 갔지

? = Where did the teacher go?

그 사람이 누구지? = Who is that teacher?
그 사람이 누구였지? = Who was that person?
이 명사를 어떻게 쓰지? = How do I use this noun?
동사와 형용사의 차이가 뭐지? = What is the difference between a verb and adjective?

When asking yourself about what you should do, who you should meet, when you should go,
where you should go, or how you should do something, you will commonly see the following
forms:

뭐 하지? = What should I do?

누구를 만나지? = Who should I meet?
언제 가지? = When should I go?

Of Course!

Though ~지/~죠 usually takes on the meaning described above, it is also commonly used as an ending
that is placed on the end of a verb or adjective as a response to a question. When you respond to a
question with the use of ~지/~죠, it gives the response a feeling that one is also saying “of course” or
something like that. For example:
내일 갈 거야!? = Are you going tomorrow
갈 거지= Yeah, I am going (of course I am going tomorrow)
(also notice in this example how ~지/~죠 is added to 이다, or the future conjugation of ~ㄹ/을 것이다)

Other examples:

Person 1: 배고파? = Are you hungry?

Person 2: 배고프지! = Of course I’m hungry!

Person 1: 소득세를 안 내? = You don’t pay income tax?

Person 2: 내지! = Of course I pay (it/income tax)!

Person 1: 내년에 제가 인터넷고등학교로 갈 거야 = I’m moving/going to (an) Internet High School

next year
Person 2: 거기서 직접 수업을 안 해요? = Do you not do lessons in person there?
Person 1: 하지! = I do (of course I do!)

‘당연하지’ to mean ‘of course!’ Instead of responding with the verb that was in the question (as in
above with “가다” and “배고프다”), you can simply respond with “당연하다” with the addition of
“~지/죠”. For example:

배고파요? = Are you hungry?

당연하지!! = Of course!!

When used like this ~지 is much more commonly used than ~죠. The reason behind this is that it is
generally informal to use this conjugation in this way, and it doesn’t make sense to use a formal
conjugation in an informal way.

In these cases, the only way to distinguish whether the speaker is asking a question or simply using ~지/~
죠 to and a sentence in a normal way is by the context and by the tone of the person’s voice. In most
cases, it is clear that the speaker is asking a question because (as in any language) their tone gets higher as
they end a sentence.

Using ~지/~죠 with ~아/어야하다/되다

you can add ~아/어야 하다/되다 to words to indicate that one “must” do something. For example:

저는 지금 가야 돼요 = I must go now

~지 (and less commonly ~죠) can actually replace 하다/되다 and the respective conjugation that would
be added to that word. For example:
나는 지금 가야 지! = I must go now
열심히 공부를 해야 지! = You need to study hard!
사람들은 크리스마스에 크리스마스트리를 만들어야 지! = People need to put up a Christmas tree
for Christmas!

Replacing 하다/되다 with ~지 or ~죠 is fairly colloquial. Therefore, while ~지 is commonly used in

this form ~죠 is slightly less common, and only really used if you are in a situation where you are very
close to a person, but he/she is older than you so you want to be slightly more formal than just using ~지.
I’m not sure if a textbook would say the same thing, but that is what I have noticed with my
experience with the language.

To make/To let…: ~게 하다

Before we begin, note that the word “to make” has many meanings in English. In this lesson, we
are not talking about the definition of “to make” as it refers to “building” something. Instead, we
are talking about the definition of the word “make” in the following sentence:

I make my mom happy

Note here that this definition of “make” has nothing to do with actually building/making an object.
Rather, it is about influencing/telling somebody what to do. Here are more examples of this
usage in English:

I made him study

I want to make my friend leave
I will make him sleep

Korean people don’t distinguish between “making” a person doing something, and “letting” a
person doing something. It sounds weird to an English speaker, but the Korean translations for
the above sentences would be the same as the Korean translations for the following sentences:

I let him study

I want to let my friend leave
I will let him sleep

To create this meaning of “to make” or “to let,” you can attach ~ 게 하다 to the stem of a word. The
subject of the sentence “makes/lets” the object do that action. For example:

나는 그를 공부하게 했다

Two common English translations for this Korean sentence would be:
I made him study
I let him study
I’d like to discuss why the translations of “to make” and/or “to let” are used in this situation. In
English, the word “to make” is more related to forcing a person to do an action; whereas “to let”
is more related to allowing a person to do an action. In both cases, the subject is doing
something (either forcing or allowing) that, in the end, influences/causes the person to do the
action.

The Korean usage does not distinguish between “forcing” or “allowing.” It simply indicates that
the subject does something (regardless of it was by “forcing” or “allowing”) that
causes/influences the rest of the clause to occur. Therefore, a more accurate translation might
be:
나는 그를 공부하게 했다 = I did something that caused/influenced him to study

Therefore, it’s not that “~게 하다” can have two translations – but rather that the meanings of “make”
and “let” are very specific – and both of these meanings can be encompassed in the idea that “one
causes/influences the action to occur.”

More examples:
저는 그를 자게 할 거예요 = I will let him sleep
학생들은 선생님을 화나게 했어요 = The students made the teacher mad
저는 학생들을 바로 준비하게 했어요 = I made the students get ready right away

제가 축제에 가게 해 주세요 = Please let me go to the festival

저는 학생들을 공부하게 해 주었어요 = I let the students study

In the previous two examples, I attached ~아/어 주다 to ~게 하다. Assuming that the action is
somehow positive or beneficial for the person being influenced, it is acceptable to attach ~아/어 주다 to
the end of ~게 하다.

~게 하다 can also be added to adjectives. When used like this, the subject causes/influences the object
to “be” the adjective used. For example:

저는 저의 여자 친구를 행복하게 했어요 = I made my girlfriend happy, or

저는 저의 여자 친구를 행복하게 해 주었어요 = I made my girlfriend happy

A common adjective that this is used with is 놀라다, which translates to “to be surprised.” By attaching ~
게 하다 to 놀라다, you can indicate that “one did something to cause/influence somebody to be
surprised.” This can more simply be translated to “one surprised somebody.” For example:

제가 한국말을 할 수 있어서 저는 한국 사람들을 항상 놀라게 해요

= Because I can speak Korean, I always surprise Korean people
엄마가 저에게 선물을 줘서 저를 놀라게 했어요
= Because my mother gave me a present, she surprised me

More examples:
저는 우리 엄마를 슬프게 했어요 = I made our mom sad
애기를 무섭게 하지 마세요! = Don’t make the baby scared (don’t scare the baby)
아빠는 저를 피곤하게 했어요 = Dad made me tired

In the sentences so far, you have seen examples where the subject causes/influences another
person to do an action (or be an adjective). Often times you might want to create a sentence
where the subject “causes/influences” another person to act on another object.

For example, instead of just saying:

I made him study

You might want to say:

I made him study Korean

In these situations, ~이/가 can be attached to the person you are influencing, and ~을/를 can be attached
to the object that the person is acting on. For e

xample:

나는 그를 공부하게 했다 = I made him study

나는 그가 한국어를 공부하게 했다 = I made him study Korean

나는 그를 이해하게 했다 = I made him understand

나는 그가 한국어 문법을 이해하게 했다 = I made him understand Korean grammar

So that, In Order to, To allow for: ~게

~게 하다 is used when the subject does an action (regardless of it was by “forcing” or “allowing”) that
causes/influences the action/adjective to occur.

In the all of the examples you have seen so far, you don’t know specifically what the “action” was that
causes/influences the action/adjective to occur. You have seen that 하다 is used in these sentences – but
this is because it isn’t implied what is done to cause/influence the action/adjective to occur.

It is possible to place another verb – or better yet, an entire clause after ~ 게 to indicate what
causes/influences the action to occur. Let’s look at a simple example:

선생님은 제가 칠판을 보게 했어요

This could be translated to:

The teacher made me look at the board, or

The teacher let me look at the board, or more generally
The teacher did something that caused/influenced me to look at the board
In this example, it isn’t implied what was done to cause/influence/make/let me look at the board. All we
know is the teacher did some action. However, I can specify what the teacher did by replacing 하다 with
another verb/clause that provides more information. For example:

선생님은 제가 칠판을 보게 불을 켰어요

Just like when 하다 is used after ~게, the clause after ~게 (불을 켰어요) causes or influences the
clause before ~게 to occur.

A common translation for “~게” in this type of sentence is “… so that…”. Below are many examples:
제가 잘 들을 수 있게 크게 말해 주세요 = Please speak loudly so that I can hear you well
음식을 좀 만들게 재료를 사 와 = Buy some ingredients so that I can make some food
애기가 깨지 않게 조용히 노크해 주세요 = Knock quietly so that the baby doesn’t wake up
도구를 찾을 수 있게 불을 켰어요 = I turned on the light so that I could find my tools

Simple Usages of 때

The word “때” typically refers to a “time.” In its most simple form, you can see it placed after some
event or period to refer to the time during that event/period. For example:

저녁 때 = During dinner/evening time

방학 때 = During the school vacation
회의 때 = During the meeting
휴가 때 = During a vacation
고등학교 때 = During high school
중학교 때 = During middle school
초등학교 때 = During elementary school
대학교 때 = During University

These constructions can be used in sentences where appropriate. For example:

저는 방학 때 집안에서 공부를 할 거예요
I’m going to study in my house during vacation

휴가 때 어디로 갈 거예요?
Where are you going to go during vacation?

고등학교 때 저는 친구가 별로 없었어요

I didn’t have many friends during high school

대학교 때 동시에 여자 친구가 두 명 있었어요

I had two girlfriends at the same time during university

선생님들은 회의 때 시간표에 대해 얘기했어요

The teachers talked about the schedule during the meeting
N + ~에 대해 + V = ... about something

N + 에 대해 얘기하다 = to talk about something

N + 에 대해 생각하다 = to think about smth/smn
N + 에 대해 말하다 = to speak about something
and etc..

For examples:
선생님들은 회의 때 시간표에 대해 얘기했어요
The teachers talked about the schedule during the meeting.

나는 너에 대해 생각했어 = I thought about you.

나는 나의 아버지에 대해 말했어 = I spoke about my father

When: … A/V + ~ㄹ/을 때

It indicates a specific moment in which something happens. The future tense form of ~ㄹ/을 is usually
used to describe 때 in these cases. For example:

내가 밥을 먹을 때

This construction translates to something like “the time that I eat.” The use of ~ㄹ/을 theoretically
indicates that this is a time in the future. However, this form could be used to describe a general time (that
doesn’t necessarily happen in the past, present or future), or to describe a time in the future. Depending on
the context and the rest of the sentence, the construction above could be completed as:

내가 밥을 먹을 때 음악을 듣는 것을 좋아해 = When I eat I like to listen to music

내가 밥을 먹을 때 너에게 음식을 조금 줄 거야 = When I eat, I will give you some food

Below are many other examples:

저는 돈을 받을 때 행복할 거예요
When I receive (the) money, I will be happy

뼈마디가 아플 때 이 약을 드세요
When your joints hurt, take this medicine

In order to indicate that something happened at some time in the past, you can add ~았/었 to the stem of
a word followed by ~ㄹ/을 때. For example:

먹었을 때 = When I ate

갔을 때 = When I went
공부했을 때 = When I studied
Just like when used in the future/general tense, the remaining part of the clause can indicate the
action that occurred at that time. For example:
내가 밥을 먹었을 때 말하고 싶지 않았어
When I ate, I didn’t want to talk

엄마가 갔을 때 저는 울었어요 = When mom left, I cried

내가 공부했을 때 문법만 공부했어
When I studied, I only studied grammar

Using ~았/었을 때 is the way you can describe what used to happen when you were younger. For
example:
제가 어렸을 때 곤충을 먹었어요
When I was young I used to eat bugs

제가 열 살이었을 때 아주 뚱뚱했어요
I was really fat when I was 10 years old

The particle ~에 can be added to 때 in all of the sentences above. However, when used to refer to a time
(which it was in all of the examples above), the ~ 에 can be omitted. Other particles can be attached to 때
if you want to use “the time in which an action happens” as the subject or object of a sentence. For
example:
우리가 지난 번에 만났을 때가 아주 재미있었어요
The last time we met was really fun
저는 사막에서 살았을 때를 잊어버리고 싶어요
I want to forget the time I lived in the desert

More complicated particles can be attached to 때 as well. For example:

키가 클 때까지 얕은 수영장에서만 수영할 거예요
I’m only going to swim in shallow swimming pools until I am taller
저는 그 팀을 어렸을 때부터 응원했어요
I’ve been cheering for that team since I was young

~나 is also a particle. For example:

아무 때나 좋아요 = Anytime is good

In all of the examples shown so far, the best translation for “ 때” would be “when,” as they indicate the
time “when” an action happens. 때 can also be used to indicate that some sort of “time” or “case” has
occurred. This usage is usually predicated by a word like “ 있다” or “없다” to indicate that there is/is
not times/cases where some event happens. For example:

그 친구를 죽이고 싶을 때가 있어요

There are times when I want to kill that friend
밤 늦게 배고플 때가 많아요
There are many cases/times where I am hungry at night

In this usage, it could be appropriate to attach ~ㄹ/을 때 to 가다 or 오다. For example:

그 학생이 늦게 올 때가 많아요
There are many times where that student comes late

If not: 아니면

You learned about 아니다 and how it can be used to mean “to not be.” By combining 아니다 with ~면,
we get “아니면” which literally means “if not.” We can often see 아니면 used at the beginning of a
sentence referring to the previous sentence. For example:
저는 밥을 먹고 싶어요. 아니면 죽을 것 같아요
I want to eat rice. If not, I will probably die

진정하세요! 아니면 제가 교장선생님을 부를 거예요

Calm down. If not, I will call the principal

It is also possible to see 아니면 used within a clause, often between two nouns. When used like this,
아니면 indicates “if not this (noun), then that (noun).” This is most commonly translated to “or” in
English. For example:
저는 밥 아니면 사과를 먹고 싶어요
I want to eat rice, if not, (I want to eat) apples
(which could be translated as “I want to eat rice or apples.”)
아니면 can be used to have this meaning of “or”

그러면/그렇다면

you learned that the meaning of the word ‘그렇다’ is close to the meaning of ‘like that.’

By adding ~(으)면 to 그렇다 you can create “그러면.”

By adding ~ㄴ/는다면 to 그렇다 you can create “그렇다면”
(Remember that 그렇다 is an adjective and therefore 그렇는다면 would be incorrect)

When some situation is being talked about, you can use “그러면/그렇다면” to say “If (that situation)
…”. The common translation of these two is simply “if so.” For example:

Person 1: 내일 비가 올 것 같아요
It will probably rain tomorrow
Person 2: 그러면/그렇다면 공원에 안 갈 거예요
If so, I’m not going to the park

Person 1: 나는 오늘 집에 안 갈 거야
I’m not going home today
Person 2: 그러면/그렇다면 나도 안 갈 거야
If so, I’m not going either

When/If… ~(으)면

To create the meaning of “when” or “if,” you can add ~(으)면 to the stem of a verb or adjective. If we
look at the meaning of ~(으)면 more deeply, it can be separated into three main usages.

Usage 1
To indicate that one action occurs “when/if” another action (that hasn’t happened yet) occurs

For example:
집에 도착하면 빨래를 할 거예요 = When I arrive at home, I will do laundry

Notice in this usage that the action in the second clause is a supposition/assumption of what
would happen when the first clause occurs. Both actions haven’t happened yet and the speaker
is merely assuming what will take place. Keep this in mind for later because it will come up
again.

Here the event of “arriving at home” hasn’t happened yet. Therefore, the speaker is indicating
that he/she will “do laundry” when this event occurs. In this example, the event of “arriving at
home” seems inevitable and certain. Because it is certain that this action will occur, the
translation of “when” is often used.

If there is uncertainty in whether the first event occurs or not, the translation of “if” is often used
to express this uncertainty. However, if you changed the sentence a little and added a condition
that would make the event uncertain, the translation of “if” would be more appropriate. For
example:

집에 일찍 도착하면 빨래를 할 거예요

If I arrive home early, I will do laundry

신호를 보면 저에게 말을 바로 해 주세요

When/if you see the signal, let me know immediately please

It is also possible to conjugate the clause attached to ~(으)면 to the past tense to assume/suppose what
would have happened if something had occurred. In order to do this, ~았/었 is added to the stem of the
word followed by ~으면. For example:

내가 공부했으면… = If I studied…
내가 먹었으면… = If I ate…
내가 갔으면… = If I went…
Much like the present tense, the action in the second clause is a supposition/assumption of
what would have happened if the first clause had occurred.

Usually when the verb/adjective after “if” is conjugated to the past tense, the later clause ends in
“would have…” For example:

If I studied, I would have passed the test

If I ate, I would have not been hungry
If I met my friend, it would have been fun

Expressing this meaning of “would have” in Korean is done by adding ~았/었/을 것이다 to the final
word of the sentence. For example:

내가 공부했으면 시험을 합격했을 것이다 = If I studied, I would have passed the test
내가 밥을 먹었으면 배고프지 않았을 것이다 = If I ate, I wouldn’t have been hungry
친구를 만났으면 재미있었을 것이다 = If I met my friend, it would have been fun

Notice that the translation of “if” is more appropriate when using ~(으)면 in the past tense. The use of
“when” makes it seem like the action actually did happen – when actually it did not. Using ~(으)면 in the
past tense is a common way that you hope or wish for something.

Using ~(으)면 in the past tense is a common way that you hope or wish for something.

Usage 2
To generally indicate that when one action occurs, another action occurs

In this usage, the first clause indicates the requirement/basis that is needed to make the event
in the second clause occur. This cause-and-effect between the first and second clause is
typically common knowledge that usually a fact anybody would know. For example:

비가 오면 날씨가 추워져요 = When/if it rains, the weather gets colder

Notice in this usage that the events being described are not assumptions but are general facts
As these sentences are describing a general cause-and-effect – and not some event that
happened in the past or will happen in the future, the final clause is typically conjugated in the
present tense.
잠을 못 자면 다음 날에 몸이 피곤해져요
When/if you don’t sleep well, the next day you will be tired

Usage 3
To indicate that an action occurs whenever another action is repeated

In this usage, every time the first clause occurs, the second clause occurs. For this usage to
work, the actions need to be things that are repeated frequently. For example:
피자를 먹으면 저는 콜라를 마셔요 = When/If I eat pizza, I drink cola

Notice in this usage that the events being described are not assumptions but are general facts
Again, as with the previous usage of ~(으)면, these sentences are n

ot describing some event that happened in the past or will happen in the future. Rather, the
actions are events that are repeated frequently. Therefore, the final clause of these sentences is
typically conjugated in the present tense.
The typical translation for this usage is “whenever…”. This usage of ~(으)면 is almost identical to
adding ~마다 to “때,”
In any language, there are often many ways to say the same thing. For example, “whenever”
and “every time” can both be used to have the same meaning. For example:

피자를 먹으면 저는 콜라를 마셔요 = Whenever I eat pizza, I drink cola

피자를 먹으면 저는 콜라를 마셔요 = Every time I eat pizza, I drink cola

~ㄴ/는다면

All of the examples shown to this point could also be expressed using ~ㄴ/는다면. When used like this,
there is a little bit more of an emphasis of the fact that the action is a supposition/assumption than when
~(으)면 is used. Therefore, the translation of “if” is more commonly used with ~ㄴ/는다면.
there is more of an emphasis that the clause before ~ㄴ/는다면 might or might not happen:

집에 도착한다면 빨래를 할 거예요

집에 일찍 도착한다면 빨래를 할 거예요
학교에 간다면 알려 주세요

It is also possible to attach ~았/었더라면 to the tenses above in the past tense, for example:

내가 공부했더라면 시험을 합격했을 것이다

내가 밥을 먹었더라면 배고프지 않았을 것이다
돈을 다 쓰지 않았더라면 그것을 샀을 거예요
내가 사과를 다 안 먹었더라면 너에게 한 개를 줬을 거야

It is common to end these “assumption” sentences with ~ㄹ/을 텐데

만약
There are a handful of Korean adverbs that have no real translation to English because they don’t really
have any meaning. These words are often used in sentences for feeling and to help the listener expect
what the speaker will say. Probably the most common of all of these words is “만약.”

만약 is used in sentences when the result of a sentence can’t be certain. Due to the nature of sentences
where the second clause is a supposition or assumption, it is common to see “ 만약” used in sentences
that follows the first usage of ~(으)면 described in this lesson. For example:
만약 내가 공부했으면 시험을 합격했을 것이다 = If I studied, I would have passed the test
만약 내가 밥을 먹었으면 배고프지 않았을 것이다 = If I ate, I wouldn’t have been hungry

만약 내일 비바람이 오면 경기가 취소될 거예요

= If it storms tomorrow, the match/game will be cancelled

만약 지금 환경을 보존하지 않으면 미래에 더 큰 문제가 생길 것 같아요

= If we don’t preserve the environment now, there will probably be bigger problems in the future

Let’s…: ~자 and ~ㅂ/읍시다

By adding ~자 to the stem of a word at the end of a sentence, you can suggest that that action be done
together. In English, this typically translates to “Let’s…”

it is always added to words in the present tense and no irregulars are affected by its usage. Not only that,
~자 gets added to stems ending in consonants and vowels. For example:

밥을 먹자! = Let’s eat!

내일 공원에 가자! = Tomorrow, let’s go to the park!

If you want to say “Let’s not do something” you should attach ~자 to ~지 말다

내일 공원에 가지 말자 = Let’s not go to the park tomorrow
우리 애기를 위해 그것을 사지 말자
Let’s not buy that for our baby

It is important to note that using ~자 is informal, and adding ~요 to ~자 is not done in Korean.
Therefore, the sentences above could only be said to people who do not deserve high respect, like your
friends or people younger than you.

A slightly more formal way to create this same meaning is to use ~ㅂ/읍시다 instead of ~자. ~읍시다
gets added to stems ending in a consonant, and ~ㅂ시다 gets added directly to stems ending in a vowel.
For example:

밥을 먹읍시다! = Let’s eat!

내일 공원에 갑시다! = Tomorrow, let’s go to the park!

Other examples:
그 규정을 내일부터 시행합시다 = Let’s enforce that rule starting tomorrow
연수를 받으러 갑시다 = Let’s go to receive the training

This is slightly more formal than ~자, but it isn’t incredibly formal either. If some respect should be given
to the listeners so ~ㅂ/읍시다 can be appropriate. However, I would advise against using ~ㅂ/읍시다
when speaking to somebody who deserve a high amount of respect – like your boss or your father-in-law.
Instead, I recommend simply asking him a question in high formal respect:
같이 먹고 싶습니까? = Do you want to eat together?

~ㄹ/을래(요)

I will separate my explanation of ~ㄹ/을래(요) into four usages. Each usage has a slightly different feel
so I think this separation is helpful. Notice that (unlike ~자 and ~ㅂ/읍시다) ~요 can be added to this
ending to make it more formal. Let’s discuss these four usages.

Usage 1:
To ask if the listener would like to do an action together
In this usage, the speaker is asking if the listener would like to do an action together. The typical
translation for this usage is “Shall we…” For example:

내일 공부하러 독서실에 갈래요?

Shall we go to the library tomorrow to study?
/ Would you like to go the library with me tomorrow to study?

서울에 있는 공연을 보러 갈래요?

Shall we go to see the show in Seoul? / Would you like to go to see the show with me in Seoul?

It is also possible for this usage to be applied to a sentence that has a question word in it. The
translation of “Shall we…” is usually appropriate in these sentences as well. For example:

언제 할래? = When shall/should we do it?

어디 갈래? = Where shall/should we go?
뭐 먹을래? = What shall/should we eat?

Usage 2
To ask if the listener would like if something happened
In this usage, the speaker typically threatens the listener with some sort of pain. The English
equivalent of this would be something like: “Do you want me to smack you?”

The two most common words that are used in this situation are:
맞을래? = Do you want to be hit? (Do you want me to hit you?)
죽을래? = Do you want to die? (Do you want me to kill you?)

Both of these are (usually) not used literally, and are simply empty threats from the speaker.
These are typically used when the speaker becomes annoyed at somebody, and he/she can
express her annoyance by threatening the person.

Usage 3
To ask if the listener can do something for the speaker
In this usage, ~ㄹ/을래(요) is typically attached to 주다 (either as a stand alone verb, or as ~아/어
주다). For example:

김치를 더 줄래요? = Can you give me more kimchi?

문을 닫아 줄래요? = Can you close the door?

It is simply another way you can ask a person to do something for you. Because it is not a direct
command, it sounds a little bit softer than telling a person directly to do something – almost like
a request instead of a command.

In practice, the honorific ~(으)시 is often added to 주다 to make the request softer and more formal. In
English, I would normally translate this to something that conveys this formality – for example, “Could
you please…”. For example:
김치를 더 주실래요? = Could you please give me more kimchi?
문을 닫아 주실래요? = Could you please close the door?

Usage 4
To indicate that the speaker wants to do something
In theory, this usage is very similar to ~고 싶다 or just a simple future tense conjugation. Here, the
speaker is indicating that he/she will do something or wants to do something. For example:

나는 집에 갈래 = I’m going home/I want to go home

나는 집에 갈 거야 = I’m going home
나는 집에 가고 싶어 = I want to go home

A regular future tense conjugation and ~ 고 싶다 can be applied to very complex sentences. Typically, ~
ㄹ/을래(요) is only attached to simple sentences like the one shown above. Other examples:

Also note that ~안 or ~지 않다 can be used to indicate that the speaker doesn’t want to do something.

나는 그거를 먹을래 = I’m going to eat that/I want to eat that

나는 안 할래 = I’m not going to do it/I don’t want to do it
나는 안 먹을래 = I’m not going to eat/I don’t want to eat that
나는 먼저 할래 = I’m going to do it first/I want to do it first

Verbs:
동의하다 = to agree
검토하다 = to review, to examine
뺏다 = to take something away
뽑다 = to pull out
성공하다 = to succeed
연결하다 = to connect
협조하다 = to cooperate
Adjectives:
생생하다 = to be vivid, graphic
성숙하다 = to be mature

Adverbs and Other Words:

실제 = actual
가까이 = closely
운명적으로 = fatefully
반말 = casual speaking
워낙 = so/very, by nature

Nouns:
예외 = exception
복사기 = photocopier
신입생 = freshman
운명 = fate
시력 = vision
조개 = clam
캐릭터 = character
영웅 = hero
신화 = myth
왕비 = queen
화면 = screen
울타리 = fence

To need: 필요하다

You can essentially create the same meaning of “I have to” with “I need to” in Korean by using the word
“필요하다.” 필요하다 is one of those words like 있다 that feels like a verb, but is considered an
adjective in Korean. Like the other adjectives-that-feel-like-verbs, this rarely becomes an issue, except for
when conjugating it using the plain (diary) form. Remember, the plain form conjugation for an adjective
is the same as the dictionary form. Therefore, the following would be an incorrect conjugation: 필요한다

Instead, the following would be correct: 필요하다

필요하다 can be used to sentences to have the meaning of “to need.” Again, because this word acts as an
adjective, the use of the object particle (~을/를) would be incorrect:

나는 밥을 필요하다 (This sentence is incorrect)

Instead, if you want to say that you “need” something, you should add the particle ~이/가 to the noun
that you “need.” For example:
나는 밥이 필요하다 = I need food/rice

More examples:
나는 여자 친구가 필요하다 = I need a girlfriend
우리 회사는 새로운 복사기가 필요해요
Our office needs a new photocopier
그 영화가 영웅 캐릭터가 필요해요
That movie needs a hero character

To need to: ~ㄹ/을 필요가 있다/없다

If you want to say that you “need to” do a verb, as in:

I need to eat
I need to sleep

You can add ~ㄹ/을 필요가 있다 to the stem of a verb/adjective. For example:
나는 밥을 먹을 필요가 있다
나는 잘 필요가 있다

Notice the makeup of this grammatical concept. “ 필요” acts as a noun that is being described by a verb.
For example:
밥을 먹을 필요 = The necessity to eat
잘 필요 = The necessity to sleep

있다 is then used to indicate that the person “has” that necessity. For example:

나는 밥을 먹을 필요가 있다 = I have the necessity to eat

나는 잘 필요가 있다 = I have the necessity to sleep

Those translations are possible, but (especially in speech) I would be much more likely to use “I
need to…”

Below are more examples. Also notice that you have use 없다 instead of 있다 to indicate that one does
not need to do something:

저는 그 여자랑 결혼할 필요가 있어요

I need to marry that girl
시험공부를 곧 할 필요가 있어요 = I need to study soon
강한 캐릭터를 만들 필요가 있어요
We need to make a strong character
예외를 다 설명할 필요가 있어요
You need to explain all of the exceptions
제자리에 놓을 필요가 없어요
You don’t need to put it back in its place
그렇게 가까이 앉을 필요가 없어요
There’s no need to sit that close
그렇게 할 필요가 없어요 = You don’t need to do it like that

Imperative mood: Verb stem + ~아/어라

Another way to give a command in Korean is by adding ~아/어라 to a verb stem.

빨리 가라! = Go fast!
그렇게 해라! = Do it like that
내 말을 들어라 = Listen to what I say
밥을 먼저 먹어라 = Eat (rice) first (you can eat first)

However, the ~아/어라 form is generally used by much older people (parents or grandparents) when they
are giving orders to younger people.

한국 = Korea
도시 = city
이름 = name
저 = I, me (formal)
나 = I, me (informal)
남자 = man
여자 = woman
이 = this
그 = that
저 = that (when something is far away)
것 = thing
이것 = this (thing)
그것 = that (thing)
저것 = that (thing)
의자 = chair
탁자 = table
선생님 = teacher
침대 = bed
집 = house
차 = car
사람 = person
책 = book
컴퓨터 = computer
나무 = tree/wood
소파 = sofa
중국 = China
일본 = Japan
문 = door
의사 = doctor
학생 = student

Adverbs and Other words:

이다 = to be
안 = not
네 = yes
아니 = no