Posts under "Grammar"

Vowel Contracting Verbs

Posted by Ginny No Comments
May 8 2010

There are some verbs that have vowel contracts when they are conjugated in the standard polite form.

For example, 오다 (to come)is conjugated as 와요 in the standard polite form.

There are lots of verbs that contain 오다 :

따라오다 – to follow along

들어오다 – to come in

데려오다 – to bring someone along

And these are just a few of the many more that contain 오다.

언제 집에 들어왔어요? = When did you come home?

(언제 = when. 집 = home. 에 = location marker. 들어왔어요 = past tense of “come”)

Like 오다, 보다 will have a change in the vowel :

영화를 봤어요 = I watched a movie

(영화 = movie. 를 = object marker. 봤어요 = watched)

Like 오다, the vowel in 보다 changed to 봐.

There’s another type of verb that changes when conjugated in the standard polite form :

Depending on the context, 치다 can mean “to play”, “to take a test”, or “to strike”, in addition to other meanings.

린다는 피아노를 쳐요 = Linda plays the piano

(린다 = Linda. 는 = topic marker. 피아노 = piano. 를 = object marker. 쳐요 = play)

The vowel in 치다 changes to 쳐.

Other verbs contain 치다 like :

가르치다 = to teach

그치다 = to stop, cease

넘치다 = to overflow

The Progressive

Posted by Ginny No Comments
Apr 29 2010

In English, the present progressive is expressed by adding -ing. In Korean, the gerund is expressed by the construction ~고 있다.

변호사들이 서류를 준비하고 있어요 = The lawyers are preparing the documents

(변호사 = lawyer. 들 = plural marker. 이 = subject marker. 서류 = document. 를 = object marker. 준비하고 있어요 = preparing)

The verb used in the above sentence was 준비하다 = to prepare. To form the present progressive, drop the 다 of 준비하다 and add it to 고 있다. 있다 was conjugated in the standard polite in the example above, but it can also be conjugated in the deferential polite as well.

With the sentence below, can you tell how this construction is different from 고 있다?

유리는 책을 읽고 있었어요 = Yuri was reading a book.

(유리 = Yuri. 는 = topic marker. 책 = book. 을 = object marker. 읽고 있었어요 = was reading)

The construction ~고 있었다 was used instead of ~고 있다. With the ~고 있었다  construction, the -ing remains intact, but unlike ~고 있다, the action is happening in the past. As a result, if the above construction was replaced by ~고 있다, it would mean that Yuri “is” reading a book, instead of “was” reading a book. Also, as a sidenote, 있었다 was conjugated as 있었어요 in the standard polite, but the deferential polite can also be used.

There’s another construction that is similar in meaning to 고 있다, but with a specific nuance that is completely different from 고 있다.

그 행사가 범죄를 조사하는 중이에요 = That detective is in the middle of investigating the crime

(그 = that. 행사 = detective. 가 = subject marker. 범죄 = crime. 를 = object marker. 조사하는 중이에요 = in the middle of investigating)

The construction used was 은/는 중이다, which means, “in the middle of” or “in the process of”

If you take the same sentence above and replace it with 고 있다, it would mean “That detective is investigating the crime”.

Giving/Denying/Asking Permission

Posted by Ginny No Comments
Apr 23 2010

To ask for permission use a verb + 도 + 되다 with a rising intonation :

여기 앉아도 돼요? = Can I sit here? or Am I allowed to sit here?

(여기 = here. 앉아 = sit. 도 돼요 = can I/am I allowed.)

The verb used here was 앉다 or “to sit”. Since 앉다 uses an 아 vowel, the construction will use 앉아 instead of 앉어. Also, 되다 will become 돼요 when conjugated.

The phrase above was a polite way to ask for permission. You can also ask for permission in an informal way, though I’d be careful to use this with certain people :

이거 먹어도 돼? = Can I eat this?

(이거 = this. 먹어 = eat. 도 돼 = can I)

The verb used here was 먹다, which has a 어 vowel. Therefore 먹다 will be conjugated as 먹어 rather than 먹아. By now, you probably have some intuitive sense that it’s 먹어 and not 먹아, just by the way it sounds. To ask in an informal way, just drop the 다.

You can also prohibit people from doing something by using a verb + (으)면 안되다

Take a look at these two sentences :

(1) 거기 집을 지으면 안 돼요 = You’re not allowed to build a house there

(거기 = there. 집 = house. 을 = obj. particle. 지 = build. 으면 안 돼요 = not allowed)

(2) 여기 차를 세우면 안돼요 = You(‘re) can’t/not allowed to park your car here

(여기 = here. 차 = car. 를 = obj. particle. 세우 = park. 면 안돼요 = not allowed/can’t)

The verb used in the first sentence was 짓다 (to build) and the verb used in the second sentence was 세우다 (to park). Since the verb in the first sentence ended in a consonant (when the 다 of the infinitive was dropped), 으면 안 돼요 was used. However the verb in the second sentence ended in a vowel, which means that just 면 안 돼요 was needed. When the verb ends in a consonant, add 으. When it ends in a vowel, 으 is not needed.

Should/Have To/Must

Posted by Ginny 1 Comment
Apr 20 2010

~어/아야 되다 can be used to express should/must/have :

도와야 돼요 = I have to/should/must help

(verb is 돕다 = to help. This is a irregular ㅂ ending verb so it’ll change to 도와. 되다 will change to 돼요.)

You can also use ~어/아야 하다 to express should/must/have :

우리 서둘러야 해요 = We must/should/have to hurry

(우리 = we. 서두르다 = to hurry. 하다 will turn to 해요.)

The pattern 어/아야 지요 can also be used to express should/must/have :

문을 열어야 지요 = You should/have to/must open the door

(문 = door. 열다 = to open.)

In English, “should”, “have to”, “must” all have different degrees of meaning. In Korean, ~어/아야 되다 and ~어/아야 하다 and 어/아야 지요 can be used to mean, should/have to/or must. Therefore, when translating into English, whether to use “should”, “have to” or “must” can be determined by context.

As a sidenote, ~어/아야 되다 is more colloquial than ~어/아야 하다. Also, 어/아야 지요 has a meaning that is much softer than what the English word “should” or “must” or “have to” implies.

For example, the sentence, “방을 청소해야 지요” = You/I should/must/have to clean the room. (방 = room. 청소하다 = to clean.) However, the sentence has more of a meaning that is less forceful. It kind of means, “You know you have to clean” or “You know you should clean”. The 어/아야 지요 is sort of an indirect way of saying one should or must do something.

Don’t Want To/Don’t like to/Hate…

Posted by Ginny 1 Comment
Apr 14 2010

In the previous post, we talked about expressing our desires. In this post, we’ll be talking about the opposite.

울고 싶지 않아요 = I don’t want to cry.

As you can see in the example above, the grammatical construction for “don’t want to…” is ~고 싶지 않아요. The verb “to cry” is 울다, so to fit this in the “don’t want” construction, drop the 다 of 울다 and stick it to 고. That’s all you really have to do.

You can also use 원하지 않아요

무니는 아이를 원하지 않아요 = Muni doesn’t want a child

(무니 = Muni. 는 = topic marking particle. 아이 = child. 를 = topic marking particle. 원하지 않아요 = doesn’t want)

Let’s compare this with the construction ~을/를 싫다

한국 음식을 싫어요 = I hate Korean food.

(한국 = Korea. 음식 = food. 을 = object marking particle. 싫어요 = hate)

With 을/를 싫다, a more intensive form of dislike is being expressed. Be careful with ~을/를 싫다, because it is a stronger form of expression than 고 싶지 않아요.

When talking about the third person, the construction will be ~을/를 싫어하다

소라는 강아지를 싫어해요 = Sora hates dogs

(소라 = Sora. 는 = topic marking particle. 강아지 = dog. 를 = object marking particle. 싫어해요 = hate)

To use a less stronger way to express dislike you can replace 싫다/싫어하다 with 좋아하지 않아요

유니 는 그 집을 좋아하지 않아요 = Yuni dislikes that house

(유니 = Yuni. 는 = topic marking particle. 그 = that. 집 = house. 을 = object marking particle. 좋아하지 않아요 = dislike)

Back to the Top