to ask a question. In Korean you would ask, “This is a cat?” instead of “Is this a cat?” Asking a question is indicated by raising the intonation at the end of the sentence.
Changing the tense of a verb follows a highly consistent pattern.
You don’t have to worry about memorizing the genders of the nouns.
There are no masculine or feminine way of speech in Korean as in other languages such as Spanish, German, or French.
These points should help you on your path to learning Korean. Soon, you’ll amaze your Korean friends with your new Korean language skills.
06_037188-ch02.qxp 6/24/08 11:06 PM Page 28
Part 1: Getting Started
28
Easy grammar, hard language?
You may now ask, “If Korean grammar is so
behind nouns in Korean. In addition, depending
easy, why is it considered such a difficult lan—
on the degree of respect you want to show to
guage?” Well, that’s a good question. The
the subject of the conversation, these particles
reason is most likely due to the many polite
can change. These particles, however, are not
forms of the Korean language and because of
as bad as you may think; I provide concrete
particle words like at, to, and from that are writ—
examples in the “Particles” section, later in this
ten as separate words in English are attached
chapter.
Nouns
Korean, like English, has several types of nouns:
Proper nouns for specific people, places, and things. For example,
hanguk ( han-goog; Korea), hangugeo ( han-goo-guh; Korean language), Socrates ( so-keu-ra-te-seu; Socrates), and Seoul ( Suh-ool; Seoul).
Common nouns for common things. For example, jadongcha ( ja-dong-cha; car), jip ( jeeb; house), saram ( sa-ram; person, people), gil ( geel; road).
Abstract nouns for things like ideology ( Ee-de-ol-lo-jee; ideology), and jeongui ( jung-ee; justice).
Mass nouns for non-discrete thing such as mul ( mool; water), sul ( sool; alcoholic beverages) and bul ( bool; fire).
Some of your Korean friends might tell you that there are politer ways to refer to common nouns. See examples below:
Food: jinji ( jin-ji ) instead of bap ( bap ) Name: seongham ( sung-ham ) or jonham ( jon-ham ) instead of ireum ( ee-reum )
Home: daek ( daek ) instead of jip ( jeeb )
You can use the politer form of common nouns to people that you want to show respect. However, most of the time, you can get by without them. If there is a situation in which you should use the honorific form of the noun, I will make sure to bring it to your attention.
06_037188-ch02.qxp 6/24/08 11:06 PM Page 29
Chapter 2: The Nitty-Gritty: Basic Korean Grammar and Numbers
29
Pronouns
Pronouns take the place of nouns to reduce repetition in a sentence and are indispensable when asking questions. Here are a few examples of interrogative pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, and personal pronouns along with a few pointers.
Interrogative pronouns
Question words such as nugu ( noo-goo; who), mwo ( muh; what), eoneu ( uh-neu; which), eotteon ( uh-ttun; what kind of), eonje ( un-jae; when), and eodi ( uh-dee; where) Demonstrative pronouns
In English, the difference between this and that, and here and there has to do with the relative location of a thing to the speaker. This is closer to the speaker than that , and here is closer than there . In Korean, the word for here is yeogi ( yuh-gee ), but for the word there , there are two options depending on whether or not the place is closer to the listener. If the place is closer to the listener, but far away from the speaker, then it is geogi ( guh-gee; there), if it is far from both the speaker and the listener then it is jeogi ( juh-gee; there).
Personal pronouns
Korean also has several personal pronouns, but they are used less extensively. This is especially true with the case of the pronoun You . It sounds more natural and more polite if you call someone by their name as opposed to addressing them using a personal pronoun. If you don’t know the person’s name, try using
Changing the tense of a verb follows a highly consistent pattern.
You don’t have to worry about memorizing the genders of the nouns.
There are no masculine or feminine way of speech in Korean as in other languages such as Spanish, German, or French.
These points should help you on your path to learning Korean. Soon, you’ll amaze your Korean friends with your new Korean language skills.
06_037188-ch02.qxp 6/24/08 11:06 PM Page 28
Part 1: Getting Started
28
Easy grammar, hard language?
You may now ask, “If Korean grammar is so
behind nouns in Korean. In addition, depending
easy, why is it considered such a difficult lan—
on the degree of respect you want to show to
guage?” Well, that’s a good question. The
the subject of the conversation, these particles
reason is most likely due to the many polite
can change. These particles, however, are not
forms of the Korean language and because of
as bad as you may think; I provide concrete
particle words like at, to, and from that are writ—
examples in the “Particles” section, later in this
ten as separate words in English are attached
chapter.
Nouns
Korean, like English, has several types of nouns:
Proper nouns for specific people, places, and things. For example,
hanguk ( han-goog; Korea), hangugeo ( han-goo-guh; Korean language), Socrates ( so-keu-ra-te-seu; Socrates), and Seoul ( Suh-ool; Seoul).
Common nouns for common things. For example, jadongcha ( ja-dong-cha; car), jip ( jeeb; house), saram ( sa-ram; person, people), gil ( geel; road).
Abstract nouns for things like ideology ( Ee-de-ol-lo-jee; ideology), and jeongui ( jung-ee; justice).
Mass nouns for non-discrete thing such as mul ( mool; water), sul ( sool; alcoholic beverages) and bul ( bool; fire).
Some of your Korean friends might tell you that there are politer ways to refer to common nouns. See examples below:
Food: jinji ( jin-ji ) instead of bap ( bap ) Name: seongham ( sung-ham ) or jonham ( jon-ham ) instead of ireum ( ee-reum )
Home: daek ( daek ) instead of jip ( jeeb )
You can use the politer form of common nouns to people that you want to show respect. However, most of the time, you can get by without them. If there is a situation in which you should use the honorific form of the noun, I will make sure to bring it to your attention.
06_037188-ch02.qxp 6/24/08 11:06 PM Page 29
Chapter 2: The Nitty-Gritty: Basic Korean Grammar and Numbers
29
Pronouns
Pronouns take the place of nouns to reduce repetition in a sentence and are indispensable when asking questions. Here are a few examples of interrogative pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, and personal pronouns along with a few pointers.
Interrogative pronouns
Question words such as nugu ( noo-goo; who), mwo ( muh; what), eoneu ( uh-neu; which), eotteon ( uh-ttun; what kind of), eonje ( un-jae; when), and eodi ( uh-dee; where) Demonstrative pronouns
In English, the difference between this and that, and here and there has to do with the relative location of a thing to the speaker. This is closer to the speaker than that , and here is closer than there . In Korean, the word for here is yeogi ( yuh-gee ), but for the word there , there are two options depending on whether or not the place is closer to the listener. If the place is closer to the listener, but far away from the speaker, then it is geogi ( guh-gee; there), if it is far from both the speaker and the listener then it is jeogi ( juh-gee; there).
Personal pronouns
Korean also has several personal pronouns, but they are used less extensively. This is especially true with the case of the pronoun You . It sounds more natural and more polite if you call someone by their name as opposed to addressing them using a personal pronoun. If you don’t know the person’s name, try using
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