Korean Language Tutorial

Lesson 21

Korean lessons: Lesson 21
Using Adjectives ~ㄴ/은
All sentences must end with either a verb or adjective
- Yes, but verbs and adjectives can ALSO go elsewhere in a sentence. In the previous lesson, you learned this sentence:
저는 배를 원하다 = I want a boat (저는 배를 원해요)
But what if you want to say: “I want a big boat.” In that sentence, there is a verb and an adjective. Where should we put the adjective? In Korean when describing a noun, the adjective is placed in the same position as in English. For example:
저는 배를 원하다 = I want a boat
저는 big 배를 원하다 = I want a big boat
Simple. So we just substitute the Korean word for big (크다) into that sentence?:
저는 크다 배를 원하다 = Not correct. Not by a long shot.
Remember that second rule I taught you?:
All verbs/adjectives end with the syllable ‘다’
- Yes, but the version of the word with ‘다’ as the last syllable is simply the dictionary form of that word and is rarely used. Every verb/adjective in Korean has a ‘stem,’ which is made up of everything preceding 다 in the dictionary form of the word. Let’s look at some examples:
크다 = 크 (stem) + 다
작다 = 작 (stem) + 다
좋다 = 좋 (stem) + 다
배우다 = 배우 (stem) + 다
When you deal with a verb/adjective, you eliminate 다 and add something to the stem. What you add depends on what you are doing. When you want to make an adjective that can describe a noun, i.e.:
small boy
big boat
soft hand
delicious hamburger
you must eliminate ‘다’ and add ~ㄴ or 은 to the stem of the adjective.
Words in which the last syllable of the stem ends in a vowel (크다/비싸다/싸다) you add ㄴ to the last syllable:
Word / Stem / Adjective that / Exam / Translation
can modify a noun
크다 / 크 / 큰 /큰 배 /Big boat
비싸다 / 비싸 / 비싼 /비싼 음식 /Expensive food
싸다 /싸 /싼 /싼 것 /Cheap thing
Words in which the last syllable of the stem ends in a consonant (작다/좋다/많다) you add 은 to the stem:
Word / Stem / Adjective that / Exam / Translation
can modify a noun
작다 /작 /작은 /작은 남자 /Small man
좋다 /좋 /좋은 /좋은 아들 /Good son
많다 /많 /많은 /많은 돈 /A lot of money
Looking back to what we were trying to write before:
I want a big boat = 저는 크다 배를 원하다 = incorrect
I want a big boat = 저는 큰 배를 원하다 = correct
The key to understanding this is being able to realize the difference between these two:
음식은 비싸다 = the food is expensive
비싼 음식 = expensive food
The first example is a sentence. The second example is not a sentence. The second sentence needs more words in order for it to be a sentence. You need to add either a verb or adjective that is acting on the noun (expensive food).
For example:
저는 비싼 음식을 먹다 = I eat expensive food
비싼 음식은 맛있다 = Expensive food is delicious
(Remember, for the last time - you do not know how to conjugate verbs and adjectives at the end of a sentence yet. This will be introduced in the next lesson. Because you do not know how to conjugate verbs/adjectives at the ends of sentences, examples with un-conjugated forms are presented in this lesson. Remember that these sentences are technically incorrect, but understanding them is crucial to your understanding of the Korean sentence structure. As with the previous three lessons, I have provided conjugated examples below each un-conjugated example. You will probably not be able to understand these conjugations.)
More examples of using adjectives to describe words within a sentence:
저는 작은 집에 가다 = I go to the small house
(저는 작은 집에 가요)
저는 잘생긴 남자를 만나다 = I meet a handsome man
(저는 잘생긴 남자를 만나요)
저는 많은 돈이 있다 = I have a lot of money
(저는 많은 돈이 있어요)
If you can translate the following sentence, it is safe to say that you understand the concepts taught in this lesson:
잘생긴 남자는 차 안에 있다 (See the end of the lesson for the answer)
Also, some adjectives play by a different rule. There is a reason for this rule, but you will understand it better when I explain it in another lesson. For now just memorize it. Whenever an adjective ends in “있다” instead of attaching 은 to the stem, you must attach 는 to the stem.
For example:
그 남자는 재미있는 남자이다 = That man is a funny person
(그 남자는 재미있는 남자예요)
저는 맛있는 음식을 먹다 = I eat delicious food
(저는 맛있는 음식을 먹어요)
많다
One adjective that is a little bit different than other s is 많다. When it is used as 많은 __(noun)__ it simply means “a lot of/many ______”
For example:
저는 많은 음식을 먹다 = I eat a lot of food (저는 많은 음식을 먹어요) 저는 많은 돈이 있다 = I have a lot of money (저는 많은 돈이 있어요) 저는 많은 아내가 있다 = I have a lot of wives (ha!) (저는 많은 아내가 있어요)
But when it is placed at the end of the sentence, it has the meaning of “there is a lot of.”
For example:
사람이 많다 = there is a lot of people (사람이 많아요)
음식이 많다 = there is a lot of food (음식이 많아요)
Also notice that the particles 이/가 are attached to the subjects in sentences ending with "많다." This will be discussed in a later lesson.
~ Particle도
도 is another particle that is very useful in Korean. It has the meaning of “too/as well.” It can be used to substitute 는/은 OR 를/을, depending on the situation:
그 것도 크다 = that thing is big as well
(그 것도 커요)
저도 한국어를 말하다 = I speak Korean as well (In addition to other people)
(저도 한국어를 말해요)
which is different from:
저는 한국어도 말해요 = I speak Korean as well (in addition to other languages)
(저는 한국어도 말해요)
Make sure you notice the difference between the previous two examples. In English these two are written the same, but sound different when speaking.
(the English translations are in the past tense – but the Korean ones are not – you do not yet know how to conjugate in the past tense, so I did not conjugate them. See the next lesson!)
저도 사과를 먹다 = I ate apples as well
(저도 사과를 먹었어요)
저는 사과도 먹다 = I ate apples as well
(저는 사과도 먹었어요)
Notice the difference in pronunciation in English. The first one has the meaning of “other people ate some apples, but I too ate some apples.”
The second example has the meaning of “I ate some other food as well, but I also ate apples.” It is important to recognize that whatever noun "~도" is attached to (the subject or object) is the thing that is being expressed as "too.”