Clases de coreano: Leccin 1

Las caractersticas fundamentales de la lengua coreana

El idioma coreano es hablado por ms de 60 millones de personas. Pertenece al grupo de lenguas
altaicas, junto con el japons, el ainu, y Mongolia, que dividido entre ellos varios miles de
aos. Sintcticamente, las acciones de Corea algunas caractersticas comunes con las lenguas
altaicas, mientras que ms del 70% de su vocabulario contemporneo vino de China.
1) SOV idioma
Corea se clasifica como una lengua SOV, que significa orden de las palabras <Subject-ObjectVerb>. Ingls por el contrario es una lengua SVO. Un sujeto es el que acta. Un objeto es el que
recibe la accin de los sujetos. Por ejemplo:
<Ingls> Bob ama Jenny.
Que ama a Jenny? Bob lo hace. Que es amado por Bob? Jenny es. En Corea esta sentencia va a
ser en el orden de la palabra:
<Korean> Bob Jenny ama.
2) Tema destacado-idioma
A pesar de que lo llamamos un tema, su posicin no es para los sujetos, el actor, solamente. Un
tema tambin puede estar en la posicin. Un tema no puede ser un actor, sino el que trata la
oracin. Tomemos un ejemplo: Usted encontr con un amigo despus del almuerzo. Su amigo le
pregunta: "Oye, qu tal un almuerzo?" Es posible que desee decir, "El almuerzo? Yo ya lo tena.
Qu tal una taza de caf?" La primera parte de este discurso se puede entender, "En cuanto a (o,
hablando de) el almuerzo, yo ya com. En Corea, este se puede afirmar simplemente:
Almuerzo <Korean>, com.
3) aglutinantes idioma
Ahora, es posible que se han confundido, diciendo: "Yo no lo entiendo. Cmo es que nadie lo
interpreta" Un almuerzo me com. '? " Aqu es donde la funcin de gran alcance de las partculas,
las terminaciones, y la conjugacin entra Con la colocacin de estos dispositivos gramaticales poco,
la etiqueta de cada palabra, por lo que sus palabras entran en lugares sin causar malentendidos.
4) La formacin bsica de la oracin:
{Asunto / Tema de partculas +} + {objeto de partculas +} + {verbo / adjetivo + conjugacin}
Hangul
1. Consonants ()

Consonant chart
Plain

Aspirated

tensed

[k]

[k']

[kk]

[t']

[tt]

[p']

[pp]

[n]
[t]
[ r / l ]
[m]
[p]
[s]

[ss]

[zero / ng ]
[ch]

[ch']

[cc]

[h]

dictionary order:
(), , (), , , (), (), , (), , , , ,
Aspirated ones are with more puff of air than the plain ones. As for tensed ones, you add more
stricture, but without puff of air, when letting out the sound. Tensed ones are difficult for beginners,
and many students take long time to acquire the correct pronunciation.
is similar to g as in god.
is similar to k as in sky.
is similar to k as in kill.
is similar to d as in do.
is similar to t as in stop.
is similar to t as in two.
is similar to tt as in butter (not [t] but a flap like a Spanish [r]), in a syllable initial position.
is similar to l as in filling, in a syllable final () position.
is similar to b as in bad.
is similar to p as in spy.

 is similar to p as in pool.
is similar to s as in astronaut.
is similar to s as in suit.
is similar to j as in jail.
is similar to tz as in pretzel.
is similar to ch as in charge.
is similar to h as in hat.

-- Click on the chart and listen to how they sound.

2. Vowels ()

Vowel Chart
Simple

Palatalized

[a]

[ya]

[ae]

[yae]

[o^]

[yo^]

[e]

[ye]

[o]

[yo]

[wa]
[wae]

[oe]

[u]

[yu]

[wo^]
[we]

[ui]

[u^]

labiovelarized

[u^i]

[i]
dictionary order:
(, ), , (, ), , (, , ), , (, , ), , (),
is similar to "Ah".
is similar to "yard".
is similar to "cut".
is similar to "just" or "Eliot".
is similar to "order".

 is similar to " Yoda".

is similar to " Ungaro".
is similar to "you".
is similar to "good" or "le chatau".
is similar to "easy".
is similar to "add".
is similar to "yam".
is similar to " editor".
is similar to " yes".
is similar to " Wow!" or "what".
is similar to "wagon".
is similar to "Koeln".
is similar to " one".
is similar to " weather".
is similar to "we" or "Oui!".

Traditional vowel classification:

Traditionally, vowels are classified into three categories, that is yang (bright), yin (dark),
and neutral. This classification is very important, for it will be used when we learn conjugation of
predicates and some phonological aspects of Korean. The classification also principles the vowelhamp3ony phenomena that Korean has as a member of Altaic language family. The cassification is
as follows:
yang (bright)

--

and series

(, , , , )

yin (dark)

--

and series

(, , , , )

neutral

--

and

3. How to make a character out of alphabet

Each character is designed to represent one syllable, the structure of which may be described as
(C)V(C), where C stands for a consonant, and V does a vowel--(C) means that the consonant in the
position is optional.
(C)
initial consonant

V
vowel

(CC)
final consonant (coda)

Some vowels are placed on the right side of the initial consonant; some are placed underneath the
initial consonant: Vowels ,, (and their derivatives, i.e. , , ,) are placed on the right;
and vowels , , are placed undersneath the initial consonant. Final consonants are always
placed at the bottom.
E.g)

[kam]

[kuk]

[na]

[hwa]

[ae]

[ot]

[kot]

[kkot]

[pat]

[hu^(r)k]

[o^p]

[tto^(r)p]

NB) Final consonant clusters: , , , , , , , , , ,

Except for , , , , , , (ones with placed befre another consonant), when followed by
another consonant or nothing, the second consonant of the cluster becomes silent. This second
consonant will come alive when there is a vowel after it.
= kap "price"
+ = kap kwa "price and"

 + = kapsi "price (with a subject particle)"

Final clusters with '+consonant' fomp3ation are pronounced with slight irregularity. As for , ,
, , , the foregoing liquid sound [] of the cluster is ignored when followed by another
consonant or nothing. This comes alive when the cluster is followed by another vowel. However,
Seoul speakers (and many other regions too) tend to throw in a touch of liquid sound for the
even when the cluster is followed by a consonant or nothing.

= sa(l)m "a living"

+ = sal mi

"a living (with a subject particle)"

In clusters and , however, [] is alive even when followed by another consosnant.

+ = kku^l k'o "boil and.."
Phonological notes
1. Syllable-final Consonants ():
1) Theoretically, any consonant can be in the (syllable final) position. In reality, , ,
and are not used as .
2) Some of the consonants merge into one sound when they are in the syllable-final
position. Orthographically, however, they remain different. Summarized as follows:
consonant endings

sound

examples

[k]

[n]

, , , , ,

[t]

, , , , , all pronounced as [ ]

[l]

[m]

[p]

, both pronounced as []

[ng]

3) These merged sounds regain their original values when they are followed by a zero-initial
syllable (i.e. vowel).

(topic/subject marker)

[ kagi]

(place marker)

[ puo^k`e]

(temporal marker)

[ naje]

(place marker)

[ nach`e]

(top./sub. marker)

[ ibi]

(top./sub. maeker)

[ ip`i]

2. Rules of Pronunciation

2.1. Liason ( carry-over)

1) A is carried over by the following syllable when the following syllable starts with a zero-initial.
ex)

[]

[]

[]

[ ]

[]

[]

2) The second part of a double is carried over by the folowing syllable when the following
syllable starts with a zero-syllable.
ex)

[]

[]

[]

[]

[]

[]

2.2. Nasalization
When a final (non-nasal) consonant is followed by a nasal initial (,), the non-nasal consonant
absorbs the nasality, keeping its place of articulation. Remember, '' in the initial position is not a
nasal consonant but a zero.
,

, , , , ,

/ before or

ex)
[]
2.3. Aspiration

[]

[]

When [h] is adjacent, a consonant is influenced and aspirated.

/ before or after

ex)
[]

[]

[]

[]

2.4. Palatalization
When or is followed by [i], a paplatalization occurs.
[t]

[ch]

[t`]

[ch`]

/ before

ex)
[]

[]

[]

2.5. Liquidation

/before another

ex)

[]

[]

Base forms and Stems

In a language, we find three basic ways of describing facts: description of action, state,
and identity. To describe an action, we use verbs. For example, in English, we say "I
eat lunch," which describes the action ('eating') of the subject ('I'). To describe a state,
we use adjectives. When we say, "I am tall," it describes the state ('being tall') of the
subject ('I'). Describing an identity is relating one thing to another, characterizing the
property of the subject. To say "I am a student" is characterizing a property of the
subject ('I'), by identifying the subect as a student. When we talk about facts that
happened in the past, or a something that will happen in the future, the story is not
simple. In English, if the your action of eating had happened in the past, you need to

use a different form of the verb, i.e., "I ate lunch." If you used to be quite tall for your
age in the past, but it is not the case now, you have to say, "I was tall."
For similar reasons, we say, "I was a student."
In order to differentiate the mode
of facts, such as tense, we make variation on the predicates--in other words, verbs,
adjectives, and noun phrases, etc. This variation is called "conjugation." Like English,
Korean also uses this conjugation of predicates. Therefore, in a verb predicate, for
example, we see a part that is constant in all kinds of sentences, and the other part
that changes according to the modes of facts. (Think of "push, pushes, pushed,
pushing..." in English. "Push" is the constant, where "-es", "-ed", and "-ing" are
alternating.) The constant part is called the 'stems'. The conjugation in Korean is made
by attaching different suffixes to the stems.

stem
"to go/leave"

mid-polite suffix
(present tense)

"", a lexical verb stem, is attached with a mid-polite suffix "", making a presenttense predicate. ("-" has more stories. We will learn them later.) Subjects can be
omitted in many simple everyday-conversational sentences, as long as they are
obvious by the context. ""thus can be used in the sense of "I go," "you go," or
sometimes, "He goes," etc. With an intonation rising at the end ( ), it can be a
question, "Do you go (Are you leaving?)" or "Shall we go?", etc. It can even be taken
as an imperative sentence, "Go (Leave)!"
A stem is a part of a verb predicate, not a whole word. When we list it in
dictionaries, or refer to it as a word--just as when we say "to go" or "to eat" as words--,
we add "" at the end of a stem. Thus,
Stem + = Base Form
+ = (Base Form, "to go")
High-polite -
When addressing a senior (in terms of age or social ranking), a high-polite stle of
speech is used. "-" is a typical suffix of this style. A simple "How are you?" is made
as the following.

stem
"to be well"

high-polite suffix
(present tense)

"" is a stem, the base form of which is "". Apart from the politeness of
the style, "-" can be used you use "", as in "You go (Please leave)" or "Do you go
(Are you leaving)?", "He/She goes", or "Does he/she go", etc. However, you may not
want to use it when the subject is you, the subject. For the added politeness by "--"
is for the subject, not the addressee, whereas "-" is for the addressee, as it is used
in the mid-polite style.

Practice
Using the given words, make different sentences as seen in the key.
1. [verbs] --- (to meet), (to sleep), (to buy), (to ride), (to
dig)
<Key>

(to
go):

I/you go. He/she goes.

Do you go? Does he/she go?

Please go!

2. [adjectives] --- (to be expensive), (to be salty), (to be cold)

<Key>
(to be cheap) : .
?
3. '-' verbs and adjectives

It's cheap.
Is it cheap?

(adj.) (to be healthy)

(verb) (to study), (to work)

<Key>

(adj.) (to be well):

(verb) (to do) :

?
?
!

Are you well (How are you)?

Do you do (it)?
Do (it)!

Nominal predicates : "--"

Sample Dialogues
By 'nominal predicate', we mean a predicate of a sentence that describes the subject
by identifying it with another noun: "I am a student." For verbs and adjectives, we
learned that there are base forms and stems. We thus get base forms, "" for "to
go", and "" for "to be cheap", etc. Now, we are facing a new problem. If there is
no such thing as the English verb "to be", how are we going to say such sentences as
"I am a student"? Many languages lack the verb like "to be," which can be used both

in nominal predicates and adjectival predicates. ("I am a student" and "I am tall".) In
order to relate two nouns (i.e., the subject and the nominal complement), such
languages use so-called 'copula'. In Korean, that copula is "-". "-" is of course
the base form, which still has to be conjugated to be used in actual sentences. Hence,
"" ("to be a student"); "" ("to be clouds").
True stories of the present-tense suffix - and -
In Lesson 4, - and - were introduced. It was, however, not exactly everything
that we should know about them.
1) Mid-polite suffix -/
Verbs and adjectives that we practiced with for - suffix in Lesson 4 have something
in common: they all have the stem ending in vowel ? without any patch'im followed
('', '', '', etc.) Those whose stems end otherwise, should take either -
or -. The last vowel of the stem decides which of the two to take. Once again, the
vowel harmony principle ('yang with yang; yin with yin') applies:

If the stem has a yang vowel at the last syllable, use -;

If the stem has a yin or neutral vowel at the last syllable, use -.
(For yang/yin/neutral vowels, see Lesson 2.)

to be small

: + -

"It's small." or "He/She is small."?

to come

: + -

()
"Come!" or "I come" or "He/She comes."

[]
to be alright

: + -

[]
"It's OK."

to give

: + -

()
"Give (me, etc.)!" or "I give."

to eat

: + -

"Eat!" or "I eat." or "He/She eats."

[]
to read

: + -

[]
"Read!" or "I read." or "He/She reads."

In fact, is a contraction [ + - () ], so are the others

in Lesson 4.
(NB) - verbs and adjectives are rather peculiar. For them, - is assumed
instead of -. This may sound quite overwhelming, but - words are in fact
easier. All the - stems with no exception appear as -.

to work

to study

to be nice (person)

2) High-polite suffix -()

Although not so complicated as -/, this suffix also has its own rules:

If the stem ends without a patch'im, use -;

If the stem ends with a patch'im, use -.

to laugh

[]

""
Finally, we arrive the detail structure of ". XXX(name)." Since personal
names are the same as nouns, we use the nominal-predicate copula, -. In order to
make it into a real sentence, we need to add either - or - in place of the baseform making - after --. For is a neutral vowel, - is added. - had gone
through a certain phonological change in modern Seoul speakers' speech, and ended in
-.
+ - "I am Oh Young Kyun."
Similarly,
: "I am / You are a student" or "He/She is a student"
: "It's a train."
There are two forms to spell this -: - and -. As far as we are
concerned, just - suffice.

Practice
1. Using the following words, make sentences with -/ and -()
conjugation. Please give at least one possible translation for each sentence. Also,
mark each word whether it is a verb (V) or an adjective (A).
<Key>
.

"It is good."

 "to be good" (A)

"to work" (V)

"Is it good?"

"He/She is good."

"Is he/she good?"

"I work."

"Do you work?"

"He/she works."

"Is he/she working?"

<Words>
[]
(to be hated)

(to wear, put on)

(to be small)

(to buy)

(to be expensive)

(to read)

(to be OK)

(to be comfortable)

(to be cold)

[]
(to be many/much)

(to laugh)

[]
(to be healthy)

(to study)

(to see)

2. Using the following nouns, make dialogues. (And translate them.)

<Key>
:
a duck

A-?

B- , .

Is that a duck?

Yes, it is a duck.

<Nouns>
(tree);

(baby)

(hat)

(pants)

(butterfly)

(car)

(banana)

(star)

(bear)

Subject marker:

-/

As mentioned in Lesson 1, Korean is an agglutinating language. It means that Korean

uses little grammatical devices attached to words to specify their roles in a
sentence. English is not an agglutinating language, employing rather a fixed word
order and prepositions in order to specify the role of each part.
A subject of a sentence is the agent (doer) of the action described by the

sentence. Assuming that a state of being can also be treated as an action, a subject
can take any kind of predicate, i.e., a verbal, an adjectival, or a nominal
predicate. Think of "S goes," "S is bad," and "S is a man." In each case, S is the
subject. To mark this subject, Korean attaches either or to it. - is used when
the subject word ends without a final consonant (patch'im), whereas - is for those
ending without a final consonant.
Only nouns can be subjects in Korean, such is the case in English. In other words,
when you see a part of a sentence attached with - or -, you will know that it must
be a noun. However, you might hear sometimes people say sentences without using
subject markers -/ for subjects. It is because the sentences were simple and a
conversational reality is presumed. For these sentences, subject markers can be
replaced by a short pause. In sentences the structure of which is complex, or in written
forms, the markers should be specified.

Finally, we get a sentence meaning, "The embassy is far."

Now, let's look at some more examples.

predicate

subject

These pants are comfortable.

The train is coming.

The teacher is laughing.

That (over there) is a school.

This is a bear.

<practice>
Use the following pairs of words to make sentences in mid-poite style. Don't forget to use subject markers,
and to translate each sentence, as given in the above examples.
1.

subject

predicate

(this person)

(friend)

2.

(rose)

(to be expensive)

3.

(water)

(to be cold)

4.

(tree)

(to be good)

5.

(that person)

(to be healthy)

6.

(money)

(to be many/much)

7.

(baby)

8.

(this [thing])

(hat; cap)

9.

(here; this place)

10.

(to be small)

11.

(studying)

(to be dislikable)

12.

(car)

(to come)

13.

(to work)

14.

(home)

(where)

15.

(who)

16.

(book)

(to be cheap)

17.

18.

(this computer)

(to be okay)

19.

(a younger sibling)

(to sleep)

20.

(homework)

(America)

Object marker - / -

[Not many people are fond of talking about grammar. However, this is the least bit of the Korean
grammar that you should know. We will be as plain as possible while discussing it.] An object in a
sentence is the thing or a person that receives the action (described by the verb) from the subject.
As we know, the subject is the doer (agent) of the action that the verb describes.

In this sentence, the doer of eating is "friend ('my' is assumed)," and the recipient of the action
("eating") is "lunch." As you might have noticed already, not every sentence will have both subject
and object. Only those sentences containing verbs that take objects will. Let us think about English
for a moment, in order to understand this grammatical terminology. In English grammar, the verbs

that take objects are called 'transitive verbs.' For example, "to eat" is a transitive verb, since there
must be something that is eaten (that is, receives the action). Similarly, you have a group of verbs
that are transitive and another that are intransitive. Such verbs as "love, buy, drink, see, understand,
choose, find..." are transitive. (What these verbs have in common is that you can say "to [verb]
something / someone.") Such verbs as "go, sit, stay, die, come..." are intransitive. You handle an
object in an English sentence simply by placing it AFTER the verb.
A dog

bites

a person.

subject

verb predicate

object

If you switch the positions of the subject and the object, you get a completely different meaning.
A person

bites

a dog.

subject

verb predicate

object

Now, let's go back to Korean. We know that the predicate must be placed at the of a sentence.
Thus, both subject and object should come before the verb (predicate), and such change of
meaning depending on the word order is less likely to happen. A subject does not necessarily come
before the object in a Korean sentence. What clarifies the meaning, therefore, is the particle, i.e.,
subject/object markers. (Linguists usually call them Case markers.)

subject "a person"

object "a dog"

verb predicate "bite"

"A person bites a dog."

- and - are subject and object markers, respectively. Since the subject and object are labeled
with markers, there is no possibility of confusion, as long as you keep them together.

object "a dog"

subject "a person"

verb predicate "bite"

"A person bites a dog."

The meaning can only change when you switch the markers.

object "a person"

subject "a dog"

verb predicate "bite"

"A dog bites a person."

Oftentimes, a subject is simply not said in Korean when it is understood.

A: ? (Who does the dog bite?)

B: . ([It] bites a person.)
As you might have noticed, the difference between - and - is purely phonological: when the
previous syllable ends with a consonant (patch'im), use -; with a vowel (no patch'im), use -.

<practice>
answer
You are given two nouns and one transitive verb in each line. Combine them into a sentence,
assuming that the first noun is the subject and the second is the object. Be sure to conjugate the
verb with -, -, -(), when needed.
Key
,

(friend)

(television)

(watch, see)

1. (boy friend), (book), (buy)

2. (father), (newspaper), (read)
3. (student), ,
4. (girl friend), (movie), (like)
5. (grandmother), (money), (give)
6. (child), (lunch), (eat)
7. , , (meet)
8. (uncle), (English), (study)
9. , (Korean),
10. (mother), ,

Who, What, Where?

([My] friend watches TV.)

Q: ?

A: .

Who is it?

It's Sun-i.

Q:

A: .

Whom are you meeting?

I meet sun-i.

Q: ?

A: .

What is it?

It is an apple.

Q: ?

A: .

What do you like?

I like apples.

Q: ?

A: .

Where is it?

It is in Seoul.

Q: ?

A: .

Where are you going?

I go to Seoul.

who

(often > )

what

where

These words are pronouns. They need particles to be specified for their functions, such as subject,
object, adverbial, etc. Although we have not discussed it in detail, let us learn - and -, object
markers. - is used when there is a final consonant (patch'im) preceding; whereas is for
elsewhere. Note that (where) is also a noun (pronoun), while "where" in English is not.
sub.

obj.

what

(= )

(=)

who

(>)

where

E.g.
?

What is difficult?

Who is coming?

lit. Where is hurting? (Which part of your body is

hurting?)

What do you learn?

Whom are you meeting?

Where do I hit?

For similar reasons, - is needed after in the above dialogues. - is a marker that
functions like the preposition ('in' or 'to') in English, though they are placed after the noun they work
with.
<English>
in Seoul

<Korean>
=

(Seoul + in)

We will discuss this in detail later.

This 'n that, here 'n there --, --, --

, , and are demonstrative modifiers for nouns.

+thing

+person

+place

this

that over there

that

Q-word

(what)

(who)

(where)

When the referent (an object or a person) is close to the speaker, it is referred to as
--. When it is closer to the listener than to the speaker, it is referred to as --. If it
is rather distant from both parties, it is referred to --. The only thing that is different
from the case in English would be that what is referred to with -- should be in
the sight of the speaker.
?
?
?

.
.
.

?
?

.
.

?
?
?

.
.
.

Using ('person') is not polite enough to refer to an older person. You replace
with in such cases. Then, the predicate will have to change accordingly into highpolite
(with honorific infix --) style.
?
.
?
.
?
.
Styles of speech--a broad classification
1. or Polite speech
(non-polite style): the style of speech in which you speak to your friends (of your
age) or to people younger than you are.
(polite style): the style in which you speak to your superiors or
seniors. Politeness of style can be demarcated into two criteria:
(1) whom you talk to -- Politeness is achieved by -/- or -
(2) whom you talk about -- Politeness is achieved by infix --.
When you talk to someone, that person you are talking to could be older or younger
than you are; when you talk about a personto someone (of course, they can either be
different or identical), that person you are talking about can also be older or younger
than you are. Chon-dae mal concerns the proper handling of both these criteria in
speech. In addition to age, rank in various social relations also dictates proper use of
these speech styles.
Throughout these categories applies a supervening category of formality. This
category concerns the occasion where the conversation occurs. For example, the
formal style will be adopted more in work place, public speech, army, etc. ; whereas
the informal would better be used among close friends, family members, and people in
private relationship. However, in many cases, the consistency of formal/informal
speech style is not really strict. In other words, you may feel free switch back and
forth between formal and informal style within a conversation, as long as you keep the
consistency of politeness.
We can summarize the above:

TO
TO seniors
(polite)

ABOUT

formal ending

informal ending

ABOUT juniors or self

-/

-/

ABOUT seniors

-()

-()

TO juniors
(plain)

ABOUT juniors or self

-/

ABOUT seniors

-()

-()

This is a simple outline of endings. As we will learn later, there are other grammatical
details that may be needed according to tense, verb/adjective differentiation,
etc. There are also other supplementary devices, such as self-effacing pronoun for the
first person ( instead of plain for 'I'), lexically honorific words ( instead of
for 'speech, words'), etc. , which will also be discussed later.
Now let us see how we can make variation for same sentences. The following is in
informal style.
(Talking to my friend) The teacher is coming to our house.
.
(Talking to my mother) The teacher is coming to our house.
.
(Talking to my younger sister) My friend is coming to our house.
.
(Talking to my mother) My friend is coming to our house.
.

Extensive variety in speech style is often the most overwhelming part when a foreigner
begins to learn Korean. It is known to be more complicated than in
Japanese. However, as much as it is hard to foreigners, it is not an easy matter to
native speaker. People in younger generations in Korea also experience difficulty with
proper use of speech style. (In fact, this is somehow related to the shifts that
happened in the Korean social structure. Speech style is a product of layers of
social/kinship relationship. Compared to traditional families where more than three
generations lived in one house or neighbourhood, modern 'nuclear' families offer very
few opportunities for the children to practice different speech styles. )
2. or written style
literally means "written-language style," in which you write formal documents,
articles, papers in classes, and so on. As there are polite and non-polite styles, we
have polite formal style and non-polite formal style. They both have - at the end.
polite formal ending -- -/
non-polite formal ending -- -/ (present-tense verb) or - (elsewhere)
Newspaper articles, academic papers, public announcement, and so forth, are written
in these styles. In fact, the non-polite is preferred in most written documents over the
polite, unless the document is by nature a dialogue (i. e. , announcement) aiming at
actual readers.

The non-polite formal, from a native speaker's intuition, gives the impression of selfaddressing, which may explain why it is also used in diaries--something that can be
most informal. The style is also used frequently by a speaker toward others in the
same or younger age, as we saw in the chart above, and therefore we can call it .
Numbers (I)
Two Sets of numbers
Two sets of numbers are in use in Korean: native Korean and Chinese-based sets. The
Chinese-based set transmitted to Korea long time ago, probably with Chinese writing
system, to settle in the language. It is also the case in Japanese, and we see certain
phonological similarity among Chinese numbers and Chinese-based sets of Japanese
and Korean numbers.
Japanese

Korean

one

yi

ichi

il ()

two

er

ni

i ()

three

san

san

sam ()

four

si

shi

sa ()

five

wu

go

o ()

In fact, the Japanese and Korean sounds of Chinese numbers are quite similar to those
in many modern Chinese dialects, sometimes even more similar than modern Mandarin
to them. The Chinese remnants in Japanese and Korean, along with other Chinese
dialects, reflect old phases of Chinese language.
For the sake of our convenience, let us call these two sets 'Korean numbers' and
'Chinese numbers.' Here are the two sets of 1 to 10.
Korean numbers

Chinese numbers

10

There is no semantic difference between the two sets. Both '' and '' means one.
They differ according to when and how they are used. We will discuss this in the next
lesson.

First, let us learn more about the Chinese numbers. Counting more than ten observes
the arithmetic principles. Take "12" and "20" for example. 12 is made of 10 and 2-there are other ways of making it, but this is what the number stands for--. On the
other hand, 20 stands for two tens. Thus, the Chinese number has them:
12 = 10 + 2

20 = 2 x 10

Chinese numbers under 100

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

Tens, hundreds, thousands . . .

0
1
2
3
4

tens
10
20
30
40

hundreds 100
200
300
400

50

500

60

600

70

700

80

800

90

900

thousands 1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

9,000

10 thou.

100 thou.

millions

10 mil.

10,000

100,000

1 mil.

10 mil.

20,000

200,000

2 mil.

20 mil.

30,000

300,000

3 mil.

30 mil.

40,000

400,000

4 mil.

40 mil.

50,000

500,000

5 mil.

50 mil.

60,000

600,000

6 mil.

60 mil.

70,000

700,000

7 mil.

70 mil.

80,000

800,000

8 mil.

80 mil.

90,000

900,000

9 mil.

90 mil.

100 mil.

100 mil. 200 mil. 300 mil. 400 mil. 500 mil. 600 mil. 700 mil. 800 mil. 900 mil.

Notice that 'one hundred', 'one thousand', etc. are not '', '', etc.
Now, let us see how these work.
168:
250:

7,892:
980,768,543:
Some examples in the usage of Chinese numbers.
Money: (12,000 won), (3,500 dollar)
Phone number: 238-7834 ( )
Room/APT Number: Room 305 ( )
Numbers (II)
Native Korean Numbers
Another set of numbers are of native Korean numbers. They are indigenous in Korean, possibly
stemmed through a different route from that of the Chinese-based set. Although they used to have
a complete system of native numbers that can go up to three digits (or more), they now only use the
numbers up to two digits (99). The formation of numbers is quite similar to that of English numbers
in the sense that you have a set of numbers for single digits (1-10) and another set for tens (1090).

Numbers and formation

Single digits
1
Native

numbers

10

Ten, twenty, thirty....

10 20

30

40

50 60

70

80

90

100

Native numbers
The formation is quite simple:
15 = 10+5
21 = 20+1
87 = 80+7
Using with counters and measure words

Such formation as "five birds," however, is not directly applicable in Korean. When you speak of a
thing with its amount, the proper formation should be the following:
**Noun + number + counter**
noun

number

(bird)

counter

(five)

(counter for animals)

Thus, an expression like " " is not used in Korean. It may remind you of such expressions
as "two bottles of wine" in English. It is necessary in English to specify the measure unit when it
comes to uncountable nouns, such as 'water,' 'coffee,' etc. In Korean, this is applied to all
nouns. Does this mean that they have different counters for all nouns and that you have to
memorize all of them? Probably. Do not panic, though, for there are a certain number of counters
that are more frequent and common than the others, and you could strat by learning them and then
move on to the rest.
There is yet another issue of when to use Chinese numbers and when to use native Korean
numbers. This will be discussed in the next lesson.
Slight changes when used before counters
Also, when before counters, numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 20, change their shape slightly, for the ease of
pronunciation.
numbers

changes

examples

"a bird"
(: counter for animals)

"two students"
(: counter for people)

"three apples"
(: counter for countable objects)

"four volumes of books"

(: counter for books)

"age of twenty"
(: counter for age)

Locative markers - and -

So far, we have used - as a marker indicating a place. We now have a new location marker: . The meaning of - is 'in', used after a noun, like a postposition (the opposite concept to
English 'preposition'). For example:
. I work at a bank.

Now it becomes quite puzzling how - and - are different.

(1) Meaning of 'in (or at/on)'
- indicates the place of a state of being (, , , etc.)
- indicates the place of an action (, , , , etc.)
NB) is rather peculiar, being used with both - and - . No apparent semantic difference
is noticed, except that - with induces more vivid image of 'life' than simple 'dwelling'.
(2) With directional predicates (, , , etc.)
- means 'to'.
- means 'from'.
NB) (to put) and (to sit) also use - because these verbs are recognized to be
directional.
. Mr. Kim came from Korea.
We may understand that - still keeps the meaning of 'in' and that it is the directionality implied
by the predicate that produces the sense of 'from'. In the above example, although Mr. Kim may not
be in Korea at the time that the sentence is spoken, his action of 'coming' must have
started in Korea.
The following table summarizes what we have discussed above.

state

in ( at )

( , , )

directional

to

from

( , , )

action

in ( at )
x

( , , , etc.)
x indicates that the respective marker is not used with the predicates.

Sample Practice
Korean for fun: Basics I -- Simple Phrases

Yes.
yeh
No.
ah-ni-o
It's okay. That's alright.
kwen-chah-nah-yo
How are you? How do you do? [also in reply]
ahn-nyong-ha-se-yo
Good bye.
ahn-nyong-i kah-se-yo
Thank you. [formal]
kahm-sa-hahm-ni-da
Thank you. [less formal]
koh-mahp-soom-ni-da
I am sorry. [intense]
che-sohng-hahm-ni-da
I am sorry. [less intense]
mi-ahn-hahm-ni-da

The following phrases are complete sentences by themselves. However, you can also
make multiple sentences with them. All you have to do is put the word you want in
front of the phrase. For example:

k'uh-p'i
coffee

chu-se-yo
give me

k'uh-p'i chu-se-yo
"Give me coffee." " I'd like to have coffee, please."

Is there ...? Is ... there? Do you have ...? Have you got ...?
issuh-yo
There is ... ; I have ... ; ... is here
issuh-yo
Is there not ...? Is ... not there? Do you not have ...?
up-suh-yo
There is not ... ; ... is not here ; I don't have ...
up-suh-yo
Give me ...; I'd like ..., please.
chu-se-yo
Do you do ...? Do you speak ...?
hah-se-yo
I don't know ; I don't know ...
mol-lah-yo
Is it good? Do you like it? ; Is ... good? Do you like ...?
cho-ah-yo
It's good. I like it. Okay ; ... is good. I like ...
cho-ah-yo
Where is ...?
uh-dee-ye-yo
What is ...?
mwuh-ye-yo
1. numbers

il
1

ee
2

sahm
3

sah
4

oh
5

ship
10

eeship
20

sahmship
30

sahship
40

paek
100

ee- sahm- sahpaek paek paek

200
300
400

yook
6

ch'il
7

pahl
8

koo
9

ohship
50

yook- ch'ilship ship

60
70

pahlship
80

kooship
90

ohpaek
500

yook- ch'ilpaek paek

600
700

pahlpaek
800

koopaek
900

ee- sahm- sahoh- yook- ch'il- pahl- kooch'on ch'on ch'on ch'on ch'on ch'on ch'on ch'on ch'on
1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 9,000
ee- sahm- sahoh- yook- ch'il- pahl- koomahn mahn mahn mahn mahn mahn mahn mahn mahn
10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000 90,000

"100,000" is
[ship-mahn
].
As you can see, units change every four digits in Korea (and in many other Asian
counturies), and adding a comma every three digits ('1,000') is very western custom.

"14" is

[ship-sah

]. -- 14 = 10+4.

Similarly, 143 is

[paek-sah-ship-sahm

2. money in different forms

money
tohn
the Korean monetary unit
won
credit card
k'ah-d
traveler's check
yo-haeng-jah soo-p'yoh
dollar
dahl-luh
Food and drinks: (1) Food words

].

meal
shik-sah

breakfast ; morning
ah-ch'im

lunch ; lunch time

chum-shim

dinner ; evening
cho-nyok

restaurant
shik-tahng

menu
me-nyoo

beef
soh-goh-gi

pork
tweh-ji-goh-gi

chicken
tahg-goh-gi

vegetarian diet
ch'e-shik

a vegetarian (person)
ch'e-shik-chu-ui-jah

bread
bahng

(cooked) rice
pahp

salt
so-goom

pepper
hoo-ch'oo

water
mool

check, bill
kyeh-sahn-suh

restroom
hwah-jahng-shil
The following are also smart phrases. you can add in front of them the words in the "food-related
words." Also, refer to "smart phrases" for more phrases.

Are you hungry?

peh-goh-p'ah-yo

I am hungry.
peh-goh-p'ah-yo

Shall we eat? Shall we eat ...?

muh-gul-gah-yo

Give me ..., please.

chu-se-yo

Do you have ...?

issuh-yo

I eat ...
muh-guh-yo

I don't (or can't) eat ... (as in "I don't eat pork.")
mot-muh-guh-yo

Do you like it? ; Do you like ...?

cho-ah-hey-yo

I like it. ; I like ...

cho-ah-hey-yo

Is it spicy? ; Is ... spicy?

meh-wuh-yo

It is spicy. ; ... is spicy

meh-wuh-yo

What is in it?
mwuh-tool-uh-ssuh-yo

Is it delicious? ; Is ... delicious?

mah-shi-ssuh-yo

It is delicious. ; ... is delicious.

mah-shi-ssuh-yo

It is not delicious. ; ... is not delicious.

mah-duhp-ssuh-yo
add a little touch with...

a lot (-- Add it right in front of the phrases.)

mah-nee
a little (-- Add it right in front of the phrases.)
cho-goom

-- "I am a little bit hungry."

example:

alchol in general
sool
soft drinks in general
oom-nyoh-soo

Now, smart phrases:

glass; cup -- also as a counting unit; a glass of

chahn
bottle
pyung
Now,
coffee shop -- most likely serving soft drinks only, like Starbucks
k'uh-p'i-shohp
tea house -- most likely serving Korean/herb tea
ch'aht-chip
caf -- soft drinks and liquer (by night, maybe), some meal
k'ah-p'eh
bar -- a generic term for bars in different types
sool-jip
coffee
k'uh-p'i
tea
ch'ah
cola
k'o-lah

sprite or 7-up (un-cola)

sai-dah
juice as in orange juice (most likely when you don't specify it)
choo-s
beer
mack-choo
soju -- a typical Korean hard liquer. Transparent
soh-choo
milk-colored liquer made of fermented rice
mahk-gohl-li
wine, alternatively called p'oh-doh-joo (grape-liquer)
wah-inn

Western hard liquer in general, such as whisky, brandy, burbon, etc. (you need to specify
yahng-choo
a glass; a cup
hahn-jahn
a bottle
hahn-byung
Give me ...
chu-se-yo
Shall we drink ... ?
mah-shil-gah-yo
Would you like to do/eat/drink ....?
hah-shih-geh-suh-yo

It's okay. (More likely, 'I am okay. No, thanks.')

kwen-chah-nah-yo
Okay. Good. (
cho-ah-yo

I cannot drink.
mohm-mah-shuh-yo
I don't drink.
ahn-mah-shuh-yo
Cheers!
kun-beh
Korean for fun: Dating a korean: Do you have time?

now
chee-goom
today
oh-nool
tomorrow
neh-il
on the weekend
chu-mah-reh
time
shee-gahn
Is there ...? Is ... there? Do you have ...? Have you got ...?
issuh-yo
There is ... ; I have ... ; ... is here
issuh-yo
Is there not ...? Is ... not there? Do you not have ...?
up-suh-yo
There is not ... ; ... is not here ; I don't have ...
up-suh-yo
phone number
chuhn-hwah-bun-ho

What is ...?
mwuh-ye-yo
example of making a question

ne-il
tomorrow

issuh-yo
do you have?

shee-gahn
time

theatre, movie theatre

kook-chahng

where
uh-dee

(polite or formal)

Shall we go?
Shall we go ...?

(intimate or to a younger
person)

Shall we go?
Shall we go ...?

kahl-gah-yo

kahl-gah?

rice or meal in general

pahp

what
mwuh

(polite or formal)

Shall we eat it?

Shall we eat ...?

(intimate or to a younger
person)

Shall we eat it?

Shall we eat ...?

muh-gul-gah-yo

muh-gul-gah

coffee
k'uh-p'i

cola
k'o-lah

tea
ch'ah

(polite or formal)

Shall we drink it?

Shall we drink ...?

(intimate or to a younger
person)

Shall we drink it?

Shall we drink ...?

mah-shil-gah-yo

mah-shil-gah

movie
yong-hwah

TV
t'ee-bee
(polite or formal)

Shall we watch (or see) it?

Shall we watch (or see) ...?

(intimate or to a younger
person)

Shall we watch (or see) it?

Shall we watch (or see) ...?

pohl-gah-yo

pohl-gah

studying
kohng-boo

(polite or formal)

Shall we do it?
Shall we do ...?

(intimate or to a younger
person)

Shall we do it?
Shall we do ...?

hahl-gah-yo

hahl-gah
example of making a question

k'uh-p'i
coffee

mah-shil-gah-yo
shall we drink?

Shall we drink (or go to have) coffee?