Let's Learn Korean for beginners

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    Beginners Lesson One

    Learn Hangul

    The first step in learning Korean is to learn Hangul. Hangul is the name of

    the Korean alphabet. Before we begin to learn Hangul, let me remind you to set

    your browser to properly view Korean. Otherwise, all you will see is jibberish. If you

    scroll down and you see jibberish instead of Korean, please right-click now and go to

    encoding - Korean. Or, if you need to, refer to the Set-Up Hangul Page.

    Learning the Korean Alphabet, Hangul , is a lot easier than trying to learn Romanization ofKorean. Throughout your studies, you will run into many resources that will only publish

    Romanization though. I highly recommend you learn to read Hangul first, as it will be most

    useful to you. Then later, you should learn Romanization so that you can read the Romanization

    in those resources and know how to spell it properly in Hangul . Also, many Korean speakerswill use Romanization on programs like AOL Instant Messenger, that do not support the Korean

    alphabet (If you are looking for programs that DO let you use the alphabet, I highly recommend

    MSN Messenger).

    If you still have trouble after this lesson and truly wish to learn Hangul correctly, try

    out a membership at Learn Korean Now - it's incredibly affordable and will have you

    reading and writing like a native in no time. The site uses nearly 500 audio files to

    teach the alphabet - plenty to help you get that pronunciation you deserve!

    There are also quizzes to help along the way.

    Better yet, membership gives you access to all of the premium lessons, not just lessons on

    Hangul. So just try it, what will it hurt?

    NEW: Are you busy working on learning Hangul? If so, practice with this simple and playful

    tool for learning Korean Hangul letters.

    First, a few basics on Hangul (Don't worry! You will be reading in Hangul perfectly extremelysoon!). Hangul is an alphabet, just like the Roman alphabet English speakers use. The only two

    differences are Hangul blocks syllables, and there are no lowercase or capitalize letters inHangul. The letter is always written the same, no matter when it is used.

    Characters will be stacked into squares to form each syllable. For example , , and are

    three separate characters. But, as they would form one syllable, they would be written instead

    of.

    http://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/view-hangul.htmlhttp://www.learn-korean-now.com/membership.phphttp://www.learn-korean-now.com/membership.phphttp://www.aeriagloris.com/LearnKorean/http://www.aeriagloris.com/LearnKorean/http://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/view-hangul.htmlhttp://www.learn-korean-now.com/membership.phphttp://www.learn-korean-now.com/membership.phphttp://www.aeriagloris.com/LearnKorean/http://www.aeriagloris.com/LearnKorean/
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    + + =

    want another example?

    + + =

    We then combine syllables to form words, just as we do in English.

    + =

    Recognize that word? That's right! It's Hangul . It consists ofhan () and gul (). Twosyllables. Six characters. As you begin to learn all the different characters, you will see how toconstruct the syllables properly depending on which character you are using. Just keep this one

    thing in mind. Every Korean word, syllable, anything...begins with a consonant. A vowel willalways follow it, either positioned to the right of it, or below it. With each vowel, I will tell you

    where it should be positioned. Also, there will be 2,3, or rarely 4 characters in a syllable. isone way of stacking, having the vowel to the right of the first consonant, with the third character

    under those two. is the other main way of stacking, where the vowel falls below the firstconsonant, with the third character below the second. A third character will always fall on the

    bottom. You will never have three characters in a row on the top. I cannot even type an examplefor you to see, it just can't be done. Below is a table of the characters you will see.

    Learn Hangul -

    For now, I think it's time to begin! Why not start with the characters that make up

    Hangul .

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    The first character is

    It has a couple variations. Generally, it is like an "h" sound. If it is at the beginning of a word, it

    will sound like an "h". There will be more on this one in Lesson 2. Next comes...

    This is a vowel, and it is an "a" sound, as in father. It pretty much never varies and always hasthe same sound. Quite a simple character. This vowel will always be placed to the right of the

    first consonant. It does not fall below the consonant.

    is a character that usually sounds like an "n". It only has one irregular form, which is in Lesson 2.

    So far, we have a "h" sound, an "a" sound, and a "n" sound. Or, we have , , and .

    Together, these form the first half of Hangul, .

    Now let's break down the second syllable.

    This is a light "g" or "k" sound. Don't push the air too hard or try and make this sound too heavy,

    it is a light sound. Don't emphasize the character. Especially at the end of a word, this character

    is very light. At the end of a word, it is almost as if you don't say the character.

    This a little harder to explain. I think the best way to say it is, it sounds like the "oo" part in

    "good".

    Let me phrase this another way...

    It is like a short 'u', said in the back of the mouth. It is almost like a grunt! Be sure you don't

    actually grunt though when you say it :)

    This vowel will always be placed below the first consonant. It does not fall to the right of the

    consonant.

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    This character might be the most complicated character you run into! But I'll be honest, you will

    have it down along with all the other characters before the week is over! Think of it as either a

    light "l" sound, or a rolling "r" sound, depending on where it is. If it falls between two vowels, itwill most likely be a rolling "r" sound. If it is at the end of a syllable, it will usually be a light "l"

    sound. It does not come at the beginning of a syllable of any Korean word, but will be used at the

    beginning for borrowed words, like loanwords. If that is the case, treat it as it needs to be in orderto say the loanword properly. This character is covered very wellin Elementary Korean.

    That's it! You now have learned 6 characters. You can now write

    and you can! You can write both in Hangul, and the word Hangul.

    Now, do you remember what each of those characters is like? Let's provide a little practice. Read

    these words to yourself, and try to not refer to the section above. You may if you need to, but tryfirst!

    See Answers.

    Learn Hangul - Common Characters

    So, you feel like you are beginning to see how Korean and Hangul are? Are you

    ready for more?

    This is a common character. It will have a light "b" or "p" sound. pa bap. ban. At theend of a word, it will have a very light, almost unheard sound.

    http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-1786884-10391416?&URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.buy.com%2Fprod%2FElementary_Korean%2Fq%2Floc%2F106%2F36402077.htmlhttp://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/beginners-answers.htmlhttp://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/beginners-answers.htmlhttp://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-1786884-10391416?&URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.buy.com%2Fprod%2FElementary_Korean%2Fq%2Floc%2F106%2F36402077.htmlhttp://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/beginners-answers.html
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    This is a very easy character. It sounds just like an "m" sound. As simple as that. What do you

    think would sound like? If you said ma, that's right!

    I think you are ready for a very commonly used character. It has two sounds. One sound, is nosound! It makes no sound at all when it is the first consonant in the syllable. It is as simple as

    that. It is more like a place holder since all Korean syllables must start with a consonant. When it

    falls at the end of a syllable, it sounds like a light "ng" sound in "running". It is that ng sound in

    the back of your throat, but do not emphasis the "g" part of it. So the two sounds? No sound atthe beginning of a syllable, "ng" sound at the end. Simple.

    Let's learn two more, and then have a little practice.

    This is an "o" sound. It is hard to explain, but try this. Say the letter O. Make it really really longand say it slow. Notice where your mouth starts to close in? This sound is the sound before that.

    The beginning of the O sound.

    Let's look at this in a different way...

    Shape your mouth as if you were to say the 'o' in 'go'. Now make a sound like aw, as in awe,

    pawl, bawl, and law.

    This vowel will always be placed to the right of the first consonant, never underneath.

    This is another "o" sound. They sound very similar. The best I can do is say this may be more

    like the other side of saying O, as with the experiment before. The part toward the end in O is

    more like this.

    Or, think of it this way. is like the 'o' in go, row, bow, and low.

    They are very similar. Some people will be able to hear the difference if they have a good ear.Many non native speakers have the problem hearing the difference though at first.

    So, for those who cannot hear the difference, When spelling and learning Korean, try to think of

    these are learning to spell. In English you can't always know how to spell a word, you must learnit properly. It is the same way in Korean. When words with an O sound comes up, just learn how

    it is spelled and leave it at that because they sound so similar.

    This vowel will always appear underneath the first consonant, never to the right of it.

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    Let's try a few more practice words to read. So far we have covered (in order): , , , , ,

    , , , , ,

    See Answers.

    Go back and review the characters you have learned now. Here is a list of them. If you know

    what has been said about each so far, move on! , , , , , , , , , , .

    This one is easy. it is the "ou" part in you. Simple as that. "oo" in boot. This vowel always fallsbelow the first consonant, never to the right. *Notice a pattern with placement of vowels? One

    vowel consisting of a horizontal line will be placed underneath the consonant, while vowels

    consisting of a vertical line will be placed to the right. Don't believe me? Go back and check!*

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    This character is easy as well. It is the "ee" sound in meet. An example using it would be .That sounds just like saying "me" in English. You can guess where it is placed...Go ahead and

    try! This vowel is placed to the right of the first consonant, never underneath.

    This vowel sounds like ea in bear. The vowels are all easy if you just memorize them, and do not

    ever sound irregular (When could they?!?). This vowel always appears to the right of the first

    consonant, never underneath .

    This one is pretty similar to the one above. It sounds like the e in yes. The e in met. This vowelalways appears to the right of the first consonant, never underneath.

    Learn Hangul - More On Vowels

    You have now covered all the basic vowels. There are two more things you can learn aboutvowels, and then you know all vowels and everything about them. And these next two things are

    simple.

    You will see vowels like , ,,, , etc. Notice how instead of one short line, there aretwo? This means that before the vowel sound, there is a y like sound. I will give two examples.

    This sounds like saying "you" in English.

    This sounds like saying Ya in English. All the teenagers should know it from the song Hey Ya!

    by Outkast. It played all the time.

    All other vowels follow the same pattern.

    Next, you will see vowels combined to form a new vowel sound, such as , , , . You just

    run the vowels together into one sound. The vowel on the left (long horizontal line) comes first.Here are a couple examples.

    This sounds like wa in water.

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    Speaking of light d sounds, here it is. This is a light d or t sound. sounds like mat, with a very

    light t sound at the end. So does however. See what I mean by sounding like a light d

    sound at the end? is not mas. It is mat.

    This is a light j sound in between vowels. At the beginning of the word, it is often heard as a "ch"

    sound instead. At the end of a word, it sounds just like an and a .

    Are you excited? There are only four more consonants left, and you know Hangul! But first, let's

    make sure we know what we have covered so far. We have covered A LOT! Better put, we have

    covered ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. That is actually inorder of the keyboard. ^-^

    ?

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    !

    Also, let's try one of these on for size. Most likely you won't understand it, but you can try and

    pronounce it!

    ? !

    See Answers.

    Learn Hangul - Aspirated Consonants

    Here are the final four! These four are aspirated sounds. If you don't know what that means, they

    basically are said with more of a puff of air. Also, try to see if you can catch something incommon with all of these in relationship to their similar consonant sounds.

    this is like kha. It is similar to the sound, except is said with more air. More towards a Ksound.

    This is a t sound, much like , except said with more air to it!

    This is a cha sound. Always. It is similar to the sound, except said with more air to it. Always

    a cha sound, never a j sound ( sounds like a j between vowels, sounds like a cha betweenvowels.)

    This is the last consonant, and last character you will learn in Hangul! It has an airy P sound to it.

    Similar to but with more air.

    Did you catch what is in common in them all? They all look very similar to the other consonantsthat sound similar! The only thing is, each contains an extra little line somewhere. The only one

    that doesn't fit perfectly with this is and . Look at them and compare them.

    -

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    -

    -

    -

    If you are lucky enough to own Rosetta Stone Korean Level 1 then you will easily be able to

    hear the differences between the similar characters. It is often difficult at first but eventually you

    will be able to hear the subtle differences.

    Learn Hangul - List Of Characters

    Here is a list of all the characters. Vowels are written first, followed by consonants.

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    One more note, you will see some consonants doubled up. You can consider these seperate

    characters if you wish, or just think of them as being stronger with more voice to them. These are

    ,,,,.

    Let's practice one more time.

    ?

    !

    ?

    .

    ?

    ! !

    :(

    .

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    Beginners Lesson Two

    Hangul Irregularities

    So, you feel you've got a good grasp on the basics of the characters.

    Then you're ready for Lesson 2! This lesson will cover all the Hangul irregularities. Once you

    know the characters and the times they are irregular, you can read any Hangul and read itperfectly. Korean is more simple when it comes to reading than English is. Sometimes in English

    you can read it 5 times and still not know how to say the word correctly. This is not the case with

    Korean. So, enough talk. Let's get started.

    The first irregular pattern has already been mentioned in Lesson One.

    , ,

    These three characters are your three main basic consonants. At the end of a word or before a

    consonant, many other characters will be simplified to sound just like these. Here is what I mean:

    ,

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    both of these characters will sound like before another consonant or at the end of a word. Butfor this example, that isn't so much of a difference. How about this one though?

    , , ,,

    Now, all of these will sound likebefore another consonant or at the end of a word. That makes more of

    a difference. Even thoughgives an s sound normally, it will sound like a d or t if itoccurs before another consonant or at the end of a word. If it occurs before a vowel,it will sound like an s.

    These will sound like . See a pattern? , , and are all made by closing your lips. Noticethe pattern in the two sets above? One includes characters that are made in the back of the throat,while the other includes characters that are made with the tongue behind the teeth on the roof of

    the mouth. If you remember this pattern, you should not forget which characters end with a ,

    , or sound. Now, how about some real examples.

    mat

    mas-un

    ap

    ap-e (with more air on the p)

    Goht

    Gohch-ee

    Keep in mind, if a syllable begins with the Hangul character following these rules, we treat itas if the syllable begins with a vowel (since it is unheard). So, a better way to put it would be ifthe character comes before another consonantsoundor at the end of a word, then it will be

    reduced to one of the three basic consonants. This is the first irregular to keep in mind. After the

    second irregularity, there will be some time to practice a little bit before continuing.

    The second Irregularity

    The second irregularity involves changingthe sound of a few characters if it comes beforecertain other characters. The main thing to watch for is thesecondcharacter. There are two of

    them and they are both consonants. They are

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    ,

    These two characters are known as nasal sounds. Basically, the reason for this irregularity is itmakes the words flow better. If,, any of the "throat" sounds occur before one of thesetwo consonants, it will change to an "ng" sound, as if it was the consonant. Notice why itchanges to that? That is a throat sound as well, and let's the word flow better. Inwriting it will keep the original spelling, but when spoken it will reflect the change.

    , , any of the sounds made by closing your lips will change to the sound before either

    of these two consonants. Notice how saying flows a lot better than saying ? It just

    flows better, as with the above case. is also made by closing the lips.

    The last cases are all the sounds made by placing the tip of the tongue on the roof of the mouth.

    , , , , , , get the picture? These will change to the sound before an or an .

    is also made with the tongue in a similar position. here are some examples.

    - This is pronounced hamnida, as opposed to hapnida.

    - this is pronounced hang-nyon, as opposed to hak-nyon

    - This is pronounced mong-ne, as opposed to mok-ne

    - This is pronounced ee-nun, as opposed to eet-nun (notice the t at the end? That wouldbe

    the case following irregularity rule number one, but because it comes before , it sounds like an

    ).

    These two rules are the main two irregularities you will run into. Most other irregularities are

    much smaller, and not as common. They tend to be specific to a single character, and not a groupof characters.

    The next irregularity deals with the character

    This character has a few irregular forms that you will see. I personally believe if you knowirregular forms above this, you will be able to pronounce most anything reasonably well.

    Ifis between vowel sounds, it will sound like a rolling "r" like in spanish or japanese. If thismakes it difficult for you like that, just think of it sounding like a quick d or t sound. It is not the

    long rolling "r" sound you hear in spanish, just a short one click of the tongue.

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    At the end of a syllable before a consonant ( excluding then it will usually sound like a light"l" sound. Both of these were mentioned in the previous lesson.

    Irregularities deal with when is falls next to certain characters. It will only begin a word if it is a

    loanword, in which case it will sound like the loanword. But it sometimes (rarely) will be the

    first consonant afteranother syllable ending in a consonant, such as . When this is the case,

    it will sound like . is pronounced chongno.

    The second irregularity is if it is at the end/beginning of a syllable, and the other consonant it lies

    next to (end/beginning, whichever the is not) is a or an . If it is an , then it will be an

    "l" sound, like usual. But, if it is next to an , as in , it willstillmake an "l" sound. ispronounced eel-lyon, not eel-nyon. Try saying it both ways, you will see that eel-lyon flows a lot

    better.

    This character has one irregular form. It is simple as well. If comes before , it ispronounced as if it were , meaning with a "ch" sound. is pronounced ga-chee, not gat-ee.

    This is the final irregular form you will learn. Whenever this falls next to (end/beginningsyllable combination) a sound such as , , , or, you will usually not hear the sound

    and the , , , or sound will sound more like ,,,or with more air. Some words in

    this situation are , , .

    Beginners Lesson Three

    Korean Verbs

    Lesson Three introduces Korean Verbs. This page is the best place to start if you

    can

    read Hangul, but are not yet able to understand Korean.

    From this page on, it is assumed you can read Hangul, the Korean alphabet. If not, please look

    through lessons one and two and then return here.

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    Korean verbs are extremely important. Verbs in Korean sentences are the most important part of

    the sentence. In fact, it is the only part you need for the sentence to be complete. Korean, unlike

    English, does not mention the subject of the sentence if it can be assumed from context. Forexample, in English, one might ask "Are you hungry?" In Korean, if someone could just ask

    "Hungry?" and people knew who they were referring to, then it is perfectly fine to leave off the

    "you." You may hear this in English as well, but it is not considered grammatically correct. It isconsidered grammatically correct in Korean!

    So, to sum up that paragraph, the verb is the only needed part in a Korean sentence. Everything

    else is extra.

    Now I know you are eager to start learning verbs and looking them up in the dictionaries, but wemust cover one important piece of grammar first. Korean verbs can take many different forms,

    depending on who you are talking to. Korean still has social status literally integrated into the

    language itself. The verb "to be" when speaking to an older person or teacher will be slightly

    different than "to be" when speaking to your best friend. Most Korean verbs have the same root,

    regardless of who you are talking to, but you will change the ending of the verb depending onwho you are speaking with.

    is the dictionary form of the verb "to eat." The dictionary form consists of the verb root,

    in this example, and the ending. Go ahead, look up a few of your favorite verbs here or evenbetter, grab yourself a copy ofDeclan's Korean Flashcards (contains over 3600 words with

    audio, arranged in vocabulary sets) to start building a strong foundation of Korean verbs. You

    will see all forms they list end in . If you remove the ending, you will be left with the verb

    root. The verb root of is . The verb root by itself has no meaning. You must remove the

    ending and replace it with a different ending depending on what you want to say and who you

    want to say it to.

    In my mind, I see three different, very distinct endings for speaking and writing. Formal , Polite

    , and Casual .

    Formal Ending /

    Polite Ending /

    Casual Ending /

    For now, we will focus on the two most common styles of verbs you will use, polite and casual.As you can see above, there are also two different endings for both polite and casual speech. The

    way you decide which ending to choose is based on the verb root. If the last vowel in the verb

    root is or then you choose the (polite) or (casual) ending. If the last vowel in the

    http://www.zkorean.com/dictionary.shtmlhttp://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/declans-korean-flashcards.htmlhttp://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/declans-korean-flashcards.htmlhttp://www.zkorean.com/dictionary.shtmlhttp://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/declans-korean-flashcards.html
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    verb root is anything other than or, then you choose the (polite) or (casual) ending.Look at the following chart of commonly used verbs and compare the verb root to the ending to

    get a better understanding of this. I will refer to the Formal ending section next.

    English Verb Root Dictionary Form Polite Ending Casual Ending Formal Ending

    To Have

    To Be Good

    To Go

    To Not Have

    To Do

    Let's look at a couple. means "to have." is the verb root. The last vowel in

    is . Since this is not or then we know to choose the / endings depending

    on whether we will need to be polite or if it is casual speech.

    (~) has a verb root of. The final vowel in this root is , so we need to

    choose the / endings.

    If you look at , this has a verb root of with a final vowel of. So, since that is

    or , it must take the / ending. Understand the general pattern?

    Irregular Verb Patterns

    Now, as you can see in the chart, there will be some situations that do not follow this exactly.

    means "to go". If you remove the to get the verb root you are left with . Following this

    pattern, you would add / to the verb root, and get something like . The real way is

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    just . It has been shortened because otherwise we just say two of the same vowel in a row.

    Since that is a waste of time and breath, it is simply or.

    The final verb is the chart above is . This is a very common verb in any language. This one

    verb is irregular all on it's own. It doesn't follow a pattern, and you just need to memorize thecase. It shouldn't be too hard because you will see this all over the place. has a root of.

    The polite form is and the casual form is . Just take a few minutes right now to memorizethis and then you will never have to worry about it again.

    Done? Ok, let's move on. Below is a table of irregular verbs that follow a pattern. Briefly lookover the table and then continue on.

    English Verb Root Dictionary Form Polite Ending Casual Ending

    To Drink

    To Meet

    To Come

    To Be Busy

    To Not Know

    To Be Hot

    The first one is "To Drink" or. If we remove the dictionary ending, we are left with

    . Following normal patterns for the polite form, we would have . To make it easier

    and sound better, the real polite form is . Any verb root that ends in will naturally take

    the / endings, and we shorten + to . Other verb examples that take this pattern are

    - , - , - .

    Next we meet (get it?). This one should be easy. We already went over it with .

    Since the verb root ends in , we shorten to . Also, keep in mind this pattern

    works with verb roots that end in as well.

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    If it ends in it would naturally take the ending. This would be a double vowel sound so

    we just shorten it the same way. Other verb examples that take this pattern are - ,

    - , - .

    Next, we come to (ok, I will really stop now, I promise!). The verb root is . This wouldnaturally take the ending, making . Wouldn't it be much easier to combine the and

    the into ? It sure sounds better and smoother. That is exactly what we do. Whenever a verb

    root ends in , it will naturally take the ending and because all of you will know this

    lesson, you will naturally combine the and the to . Other verb examples that take

    this pattern are - , - .

    Next, we have . The verb root is . Following normal verb patterns we would figure

    the polite form would be . Try and say that. Now, try and say . That is the

    correct way. When a verb root ends in , we drop the , look at the last vowel in the root that is

    left (not including the ) and add the appropriate ending. For this example, the last vowel would

    be . So, when we drop the and add the ending, we get . Other verb examples

    that follow this pattern are - , - , - .

    The next verb is . The verb root is . You might be thinking, that ends in so

    wouldn't it follow the above irregular pattern, and become ? Indeed, it would, except

    Koreans have decided if a verb root ends in (not just ), then we will double up the by

    adding a second to the end of the syllable before the . And then we drop the . . We

    added a to and got . We dropped the and got . Together, we have . Other

    verb examples using this pattern are - , - , - .

    The final verb in the verb chart above is . You should definitely be good with verb roots by

    now and instantly know it is . Now, with this irregular pattern, you must remember two things.

    Often, when a verb root ends in , you should drop the and add . After that, you move to

    the second step. If it ends in , when we pick a style such as polite style, it should naturally take

    the ending. This is another pattern where we combine two characters to make it smoother.

    and combine into . We get in the end. Other verb examples that follow thispattern are - , - .

    Now you should know the verb patterns you will run into. You can take a verb out of a

    dictionary such as Declan's Korean Dictionary, find the root, and put it in either casual language

    or polite language. But you may still be wondering what exactly that means! Is polite languagesimply the same thing as if you were to be polite in English?

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    Similar, yes...but not the same. If you want to think of it as the same, then you should just

    remember to be polite to everyone in Korea or when speaking Korean. Here is the thing, since

    Korean is still a language with social status still built into the actual language, you mustbe politewith your speech or you will be considered very rude. You should use the polite style with

    anyone older than you, above you, new to you. A teacher, a parent, a stranger, pretty much

    everyone except your closest friends! You may use casual language when speaking to someoneyounger than yourself, your close friends, and your brothers and sisters. Any other time would

    be considered rude. So, based on this, choose which to use wisely. If you are talking to an adult

    and they are using casual verbs, that is because you are younger. This does not mean you shoulduse the same verbs when speaking to them. You should be polite. This means that each of you

    will add different endings to the verbs.

    Now that you can take a verb from the dictionary, find the root, make it into a casual or polite

    verb, and actually know whether it should be a casual or polite verb, you are ready to actuallyuse some.

    Remember how in Korean verbs can be used all alone and the sentence will be grammaticallycorrect? Let's see some examples. If we were to say , what exactly are we saying? Weknow it is a polite way, and it means "to eat" (don't worry if you haven't memorized the verbsyet. You will be sent to the homework page shortly to do some memorization). But do we know

    what we are saying when we say to someone? Well, it depends :). You could be saying"I'm eating." Or, you could be saying "you're eating". You could be saying "eat." If someone said

    "What do you want to do?" You could reply . In Korean you can use the verbs in a muchmore general manner than in English. Later we will see how to add words such as "I" or "You" if

    necessary to clear up the meaning of a sentence.

    Another example could be . This means To Be Good. If someone asks you how issomething, you can say ! Like, "Are my new shoes ok? Do you like them? How are

    they?" "!". Or, if you are having a casual conversation about something with your friend,and they say something and in English you would just give the reply "Good!" or something, you

    can just say !(remember, it's a conversation with your friend).

    This whole concept about the verbs being so general is hard to learn at first. Just try your best!

    Casual verbs can have even more meanings than other forms! If you say you could be sayingI'm going, you're going, someone's going, let's go, are we going?, etc. A lot of Korean is about

    what can be assumed. If it can be assumed, there is no need to say it in the language. One of the

    most recommended Korean language products, Rosetta Stone Korean Level 1, makes learningthis part a breeze. This wraps up the intro to Korean verbs! It's time for you to memorize a few,

    and to go back and make sure you know the patterns covered on this page. There will definitely

    be more to come on verbs later.

    Irregular Verbs

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    Beginners Lesson Four is all about those verbs in Korean that are just plain weird. Irregular

    verbs in Korean are actually not too bad though! In Beginners Lesson Three, you were

    introduced to Korean verbs and the irregular verbpatterns . The verbs on this page are different.These verbs are commonly used verbs, but either have more than one meaning, are used weird,

    etc. instead of being irregularpatterns . You will see what I mean, right now!

    Verb - Polite Style

    The first irregular verb that I need to cover here is definitely what many books and courses will

    call the copula . Basically, it is the verb of equality. Equality? What is that?!? In English, wemay say "It is a book." "It" is equal to "book". It is pretty much the verb "to be." If you look in a

    dictionary, you will see

    The verb root is . This verb will follow it's own pattern however. It doesn't fit any pattern and

    just needs to be learned. The polite form will be if it comes after a consonant, or if it

    comes after a vowel. You will also see it spelled after a vowel. When spoken, it will sound

    more like after a vowel. Let's practice with a sentence. We will use the same sentence as theexample in English. Book in Korean is

    Since ends in a consonant, we should use the polite ending . With most normal verbs,there is a space between the verb and any other words, but the copula is a special case. There isno space in between the two words. Also, in Korean sentence structure is different. I feel the best

    way for you to understand it and get used to it is just to see it. The verb falls at the end of the

    sentence always . Other words fall before the verb. So, since our verb of "to be" is , that

    will fall at the end. There is no space between and the word it is describing, so, oursentence comes out to be

    As you see, this is like "book-to be". The structure is different, but you will get used to it as yousee more and more of it. means "It is a book." Let's see a couple more examples.Remember, you don't need to remember every noun you see yet. Memorize what you find on thehomework page.

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    means pencil. It ends in which is also a consonant. If we combine this with the polite

    ending and keep the correct word order, we get , meaning "It is a pencil."

    means car. It ends in which is a vowel. Because it ends in a vowel, the correct spelling of

    would be . The sentence would be , meaning "It is a car."

    Do you understand it a little better now? If so, then let's look at this, and then there will be some

    practice problems.

    Verb - Casual Style

    Many resources choose to teach you mostly one style first, usually polite style, andthen much later return to teach you the other commonly used style. I feel it is best

    to teach you them both from the start, because they both are very important if you

    plan on learning Korean well. If we put off one, you will not be as strong with it. If

    we teach both, you will learn at a slower pace at first, but will learn faster later on

    and the whole time you will be learning more efficiently. So, here it is!

    has two polite forms, depending on whether it follows a consonant or vowel,

    and so does the casual form.

    If follows a consonant, it is spelled .

    If follows a vowel, it is spelled .

    Lets use the same three examples as above so that you may compare the two

    forms. The first one used the word , or book, in the example. The polite style was

    . Since ends in , a consonant, the casual style form should be . If we

    put this with , we get . and mean the exact same thing! The

    only difference is who we are speaking with. As previous lessons covered, if we

    speak with someone older or a teacher or anyone who deserves more respect, we

    would use the polite form . If we are speaking with our close friends, we can

    just use . That is the only difference! It is something you will get used to as

    you learn Korean.

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    The second example sentence was , meaning "It is a pencil." This ends in , a

    consonant, so we will add to this one as well. is correct. and

    also mean the same thing, and are only different because of who we may be speaking to.

    was the final example sentence. ends in a vowel, so we only add instead of.When we form the new sentence, we get . As you can guess, this is equal to .

    I think you probably understand this pretty well by now and are ready to take on anything like

    this! Here are a few practice problems. If you can get these, then you know the irregular verb

    and are one step closer to knowing Korean!

    How do you say, "It is a ____"?

    This also works for people and their names, as in "It's Joe" or if you were referring to

    yourself. In the next lesson we will see how to specify who we are referring to.

    See Answers Here

    Verb -

    - Root is , Polite style is , Casual style is . Meaning - To have or To be

    (location).

    is a special verb because it has a couple of different meanings. I feel it is a verb worthmentioning because it is an extremely common verb. Let's look at the two meanings you will see.

    To Have

    This is a very common verb in all languages. "I have chicken." "I have a car." "Do you have a

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    car?" All of these deal with possesion of something. So does . We could say tomean "I have a car" or "she has a car".Remember, in Korean the subject may be left out if it can

    be assumed. If it cannot be, it will be added in, which you will learn soon. This is a fairly simple

    verb when looking at it from this position, and is easy to understand with this meaning alone.

    could mean "I have a pencil." In written Korean, you can turn this statement into aquestion asking "Do you have a pencil?" by simply adding a question mark on the end.

    ? In spoken Korean, it is the tone of your voice that determines this. Nothing else in thesentence changes.

    To Be (Location)

    can also mean To Be, when used for location. For example, using the same sentence,

    ? could also mean "Is there a pencil?" For this sentence as it is, it pretty much means thesame thing. You are wanting a pencil and are asking if there is one or if they have one or

    whichever. Later, you will see the difference easier as we learn how to make our sentenceslonger and more complex. If we said "(In the room) ?" then we can automatically

    assume it is talking about location. If we say "(Anna) ?" Then we can automaticallyassume we are talking about possession.

    Try the following practice problems. They should not be difficult, but should help you to see

    more examples of the use of.

    Anna ?

    At-Home ?

    2 Blocks away .

    See Answers Here

    I think this is the perfect place to stop for now. Also, if you would review and

    memorize this section on the homework page, it will be of great help to you! It will

    contain a few basic nouns that I will use often in examples and problems. Once the

    word has appeared on a homework page, I will not always include the English word

    next to it. You may always go back and look at anything you need to, and may printwhatever you need :) (Homework pages especially!)

    Study/Print the Homework Page

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    Verb -

    - root is , Polite style is , casual style is . Meaning - To Do.

    has an irregular spelling when used as you learned in Lesson Three. Keep in mind it is

    and not . This verb is not as irregular as with and , but I would still like to brieflytalk about it.

    is a verb you will soon know perfectly, as you will see it forms many other verbs. What I

    mean by this is, many Korean verbs are simply formed by taking a word and simply adding on the end of it. The verb "To Make a Phone Call" is made by sticking the word for "phone" and

    the verb (To Do) together. Phone is . The verb "To Make a Phone Call" is .

    Shower is . "To Shower" is simply .

    Homework is . "To Do Homework" is .

    This is why you will see this verb a lot. Many verbs are formed using it. When you conjugate

    them, it is done the same as . , , etc. You will have no problem with .

    Particles

    Particles - Endings attached to words to specify what significance the word has in

    the sentence. The particle is attached to the end of the word, without a space in

    between the word and the particle.

    Subject Particle

    One of the first and most common particles you will run into is the subject particle.

    In English, one of the most basic parts of a sentence is the subject. It is a required

    part in English, but is not required in Korean. The subject tells us who or what is

    doing the action.

    As you learned in Lesson Three, means To Eat. You also learned that you could say to mean "I'm eating." Up until now though, we haven't learned how to specify who or what is thesubject if we need to for clarification.

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    The subject particle has two forms. and . comes after a word ending in a consonant, and

    comes after a word ending in a vowel.

    For example, let's say Eunji is eating. ends in a vowel, so we attach and get .

    means Eunji, as the subject of the sentence. The is what makes Eunji the subject. Then, wecan simply add the verb in the proper present tense form, and we have our sentence.

    in the polite form, or simply . Eunji is eating. As you will notice,when speaking in the casual form, particles are commonly left off.

    In Lesson Four, we learned the irregular verb . can mean To Be, as in location. There is

    a pencil. From Lesson Four, you should have memorized means pencil. means

    pencil, as the subject. means "There is a pencil (there, as in location)."

    means "It is a pencil." Be sure to keep and separate when it comes to the verb To

    Be.

    Say "There is (a) _____" by filling in the blank with the words below, using the correct subject

    particle.

    See Answers Here

    Object Particle

    Another very common particle is the object particle. This states which word in the

    sentence is the object of the sentence, or the word receiving the action. It has two

    forms as well. after a word ending in a consonant, and after a word ending in a

    vowel.

    In Lesson Three you were asked to learn the verb , To Drink. You should be able to say "Idrink" or "I'm drinking" but you haven't been able to specify what it is you are drinking. You

    specify this using an object particle. means milk. If you attach the proper object particle to

    it, you get . You can then say . In Lesson Four you learned means

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    water. Now you should know that means "I'm drinking water." or "I drink water."Now, try these sentences.

    .

    .

    .

    See Answers Here

    Location Particle

    You know the verb from Lesson Three, so you know how to say you're going or

    someone is going, but knowing how to say where it is you are going is very

    important! This is very simple!

    . It takes the same form no matter what word itcomes after. . You should know this! "I'm going home." . If I told

    you was school, you would know this too :) .

    One other location particle that I want to tell you about right now is . When you add the

    on the end, it then turns into a place where the action is happening. doesn't mean "to

    school" anymore. It means the action is happening at school. means

    "Anna is eating at home." means "I am studying at school."

    Topic Particle

    The topic particle may be the most common particle you will run into. It also has

    two forms. after a vowel, and after a consonant. Keep in mind it will replace the

    subject or object particle if it is attached to a word that would otherwise have a

    subject or object particle attached, but it will fall afterany other particle. It is also

    one of the most difficult particles to learn when you begin to study Korean. I will

    keep it simple, and you will do just fine. It does exactly what it is called. It sets theword or words before it as the topic of the sentence...what the sentence is all about.

    You can take any part of a sentence and make it the topic, except for the verb of

    course. Say you have a simple sentence saying "Joe is eating bread at his house."

    You can make Joe the topic, meaning the sentence is about Joe, and we are saying

    what he is doing and where. If we like, we may decide bread should be the topic, in

    which case the rest of the sentence will tell us who and where is eating the bread.

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    Or, if we are talking about "at home", we may want to make "at home" the topic. In

    this case, we are saying what is going on at home. Joe is eating bread.

    Often when you begin to learn Korean, you will be confused about when to use the subject

    particle vs. the object particle. As you learned above, means Eunji is eating. But...

    also would mean Eunji is eating. In one case, Eunji is simply the subject of thesentence. In the second case, Eunji is the topic of the sentence. Very similar. Honestly, it usually

    won't make much of a difference. Both are right :) . Now for a few examples in Korean.

    . still means "I". This sentence simply says "I am going home." But if it helpsyou understand the topic particle better, think of it as "Speaking about me, going home." Another

    example could be . This sentence is a little longer, but if

    you knew all the nouns and verbs, you could understand it just fine :) . is math. is

    school. is to study. This sentence says "Speaking about what is going on at school,

    Anna is studying math."

    This is why my lessons are so grammar heavy at first. If you know the grammar, you can

    understand any sentence with the use of a dictionary. If you do not know the grammar your

    chances of understanding the sentence are much smaller, and a dictionary won't help much. I will

    begin to introduce larger amounts of vocabulary words, but I just ask that you stick through thegrammar until then :) . I promise it will be worth it.

    This is a great place to take a break in this lesson. If you memorize the first section on the

    homework page tonight, then I say you've learned plenty for the day. You can always come back

    and study some more, or go ahead if you like! Keep your own pace, but this is simply where Iwill put a stopping point.

    Study/Print the homework page

    /

    The particle is commonly used to mean "by means of." It will fall after a noun,

    and take the form after vowels and a word that ends in the consonant , but will

    take the form if it falls after any other consonant.

    means To go by car. You are expressing which means of transportation you will be

    using. is a sentence saying Let's Go by train. It is not only used for means of

    transportation though. It can be used for anything to mean "by means of." meansPlease write with a pencil, or please write by means ofa pencil.

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    is a particle you stick onto nominals of place or time. It means "All the way up to." As in,

    I'm going all the way to China, . I'm going (as far as) China. You can use it to say

    a destination you will go to, and meaning thats how far you will go. It is found in the question ? How far should we go?

    Household Terms

    If you have completed lessons 1-5, you are now ready to start learning household

    terms. It is mainly a bunch of vocabulary words...I know, that doesn't sound fun, but

    it's part of the language! One of the hardest things about learning any language isjust building a large enough vocabulary.

    Luckily for you, this lesson will be full of items commonly found around the house. You will see

    them frequently, so whenever you do, think of the Korean word, not the English word. This isthe best way to learn all the household terms. Plus, you will begin to build the foundation of your

    vocabulary with common items and tasks. You will get used to the structure of sentences and the

    language, and can practice while you walk around at home! It'll be a breeze :)

    Household Term Nouns

    Korean English

    House

    Apartment

    Dormitory

    Room

    Bed

    Pillow

    Blanket

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    Alarm Clock

    Mirror

    Bathroom

    Toilet

    Shower

    Towel

    Toothpaste

    Toothbrush

    Soap

    Shampoo

    Kitchen

    Oven

    Refrigerator

    Dinner Table

    Chair

    Plate

    Cup

    Lamp

    Window

    Sofa

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    Television

    Bookcase

    Telephone

    Computer

    Household Term Verbs

    Here is a list of common household verbs to go along with the household terms. To form the

    casual style, drop the at the end.

    Korean Polite Style English

    To Do

    To Get Up

    To Sleep

    To Have (Lesson 4)

    To Not Have (Lesson 4)

    To Read

    To See / Watch

    To Clean

    To Play

    To Exercise

    To Write

    To Eat

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    To Drink

    To Go

    To Put On Clothes

    To Put On Shoes

    To Take Off Clothes / Shoes

    To Do Homework

    To Study

    Total, that will give you 19 household verbs and 31 household nouns, 50 household terms total! I

    recommend memorizing the lists over the next few days. Once you have them memorized,remember to remember the Korean household term for the object or task you are doing whenever

    you do it! This will help you retain the vocabulary much faster than continuously returning to the

    list or a dictionary. This is a good idea to try with any word in the language, not just householdterms. Keep that in mind for future lessons! Household Terms does not have to be the only easy

    lesson!

    A Korean Paragraph Using Household Terms

    Now this can be your real first lesson diving into real Korean and real sentences. It will be basedusing the vocabulary above, and we will examine some sentences and then have some practice

    ones. First, read through the following paragraph. Try your best to understand it, even if there are

    a couple of words you do not know yet :) You will be amazed at what you can accomplish by

    now if you have done the previous lessons and learned some household terms. It will all be inpresent tense since that is the only tense that has been discussed so far. Be sure to read it outloud

    to yourself at least once!

    7 . . . 8 . .

    . 3 , . 4 ! 6

    (!). . . 9 .

    ? I bet you did! Now that you have read it, let me cover a couple things that you may havepicked up. First off, this is a general account of what could happen in a day using the household

    terms, but all in the present tense. numbers were used to help you pick up on this. As you may

    have noticed, means hour. 3 means 3:00. means half. It is used when you say 3:30. 3

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    . 3 hours and half! is used like , but means minutes (it is not needed when you use ). 3

    26 means at 3:26. if you see attached to a noun, it will either mean "and" or it will

    mean "with". In these cases, it means "and". would mean bulgogi and rice. Yetwait, you see another thing used for and when I listed the foods. When using to attach nouns, you

    can also use and . comes after a word that ends in a vowel, while after a noun thatends in a consonant. It will have the same meaning as . There were a few in there.That means "and" as well! When connecting sentences that is. One final thing, if you see two orthree things that all seem like verbs but don't seem to have the exact same end on the word as

    you would've thought () You would think it would be . But, this is

    one last way to use "and". When listing verbs, you can add to the stem of the verb. Only thefinal verb in the list will be conjugated otherwise.

    Now read that paragraph again (or maybe twice!) now that you understand those couple things.

    Now continue to read an English translation...

    At 7:00 I get up. I exercise and shower. There is no shampoo and soap :( . At 8:00 I eat. I go to

    school. At school I study. I come home at 3:00, and I do homework. At 4:00 I clean and play! At

    6:30 I eat dinner (rice and kimchi and bulgogi!). After dinner, I watch tv, and read a book. at9:00 I sleep.

    Korean Practice Using Household Terms

    .

    ?

    !

    ?

    .

    .

    .

    ? ( = = )

    . .

    ?

    . .?

    .

    ?

    .

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    ?

    . .

    See Answers

    Where are you going?Where (as in how far) are you going?

    I am going home.I am going as far as school.

    What are you eating?

    What are you drinking?I am eating rice and kimchi.

    I am drinking milk.

    What are you doing?

    I'm sleeping.I'm exercising and playing.

    I'm exercising. And I'm playing.Where is the toothpaste?I don't know. Anna knows.

    Where is my house?

    I don't know.Where is my pillow.

    It's (right) here.

    It's over there.

    Body Parts And Numbers

    Lesson Seven is a vocabulary lesson on body parts. It also includes an intro to basic Korean

    numbers. It will be the second major vocabulary lesson you will learn.

    This will be a shorter lesson, simply containing some common vocabulary words based on the

    body, and the first 10 numbers in Korean. It is provided for you to help you increase yourvocabulary with common words.

    Body Parts

    Korean English

    Body

    Head, Hair

    Face

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    Eye

    Eyebrow

    Nose

    Ear

    Mouth

    Cheek

    Lips

    Chin

    Neck

    Shoulders

    Chest

    Stomach

    Back

    Arm

    Hand

    Fingers

    Waist

    Buttocks

    Legs

    Foot

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    Toes

    That basic list of common body parts should be enough to get you more familiar with thelanguage, building your vocabulary. Now whenever you think of a body part, be sure to think of

    the Korean body part term!

    Pure Korean Numbers

    First, I will tell you right off there are two sets of Korean numbers you will run into. There are

    Pure-Korean numbers, which come straight from the Korean language, and there are Sino-

    Korean numbers, which are taken from Chinese. Both sets of numbers are commonly used, andyou will learn when to use which kind.

    For now, you will be introduced to the Pure-Korean numbers. Pure-Korean numbers are used tocount physical, tangible objects (excluding money) and the hour (but not minutes).

    You will learn time in the future. It is more difficult as it is composed of both number systems.

    Pure-Korean numbers only go through 99. Sino-Korean numbers can go as large as you likethem to.

    Here are the first 10 Pure-Korean numbers.

    Korean Number

    1

    2

    3

    4

    5

    6

    7

    () 8

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    9

    10

    To form the numbers 11-99, you will simply follow a pattern.

    + (10 + 1) = 11

    + (10 + 5) = 15

    But in order to continue this pattern, you need to learn the word for 20, 30, 40, and so on.

    Korean Number

    10

    20

    30

    40

    50

    60

    70

    80

    90

    The pattern is the same as it was for the teens.

    25 - + =

    31 - + =

    46 - + =

    55 - + =

    69 - + =

    78 - + =

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    82 - + =

    99 - + =

    There are two last things to keep in mind with numbers. The first four, ,,, change

    when they come before a noun or something you are changing. They will change to ,, , respectively.

    - 1:00

    - 2 bottles

    - 3 animals

    - 3 pieces of paper

    This occurs in all cases where the number ends in one of these.

    - 91 animals

    - 43 people

    Secondly, when or come before the sounds or, they may be pronounced and

    respectively...instead of and . This may not always happen however.

    Practice

    Use the body part terms above and the Pure-Korean numbers for this practice.

    - How Many

    .

    .

    .

    ?

    .

    ?

    .?

    .

    How many eyebrows do you have?

    How many legs do you have?

    How many fingers do you have?

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    How many hands do you have?

    How many feet do you have?

    Verb Tenses

    As we all know, there are three normal verb tenses; past, present, and future.

    Korean has them as well! So far, you have been working using a normal present

    tense form of verbs. These use the / ending.

    I will briefly review the present tense. Then you will learn about another form for the present

    tense, followed by past and future.

    Present Tense

    The present tense is just as you have learned. You take the dictionary form of a verb, drop the ,add the appropriate ending.

    - + =

    - + - - .

    This tense is used to represent what happens in the present. I eat. I drink. It is a general term for

    the present.

    Currently Happening

    There is a form you have not learned yet that is very common dealing with the present tense.

    Although you can say to mean you are eating, as in ...there is a more specificway to say you are currently eating rice. As you speak, it is happening. The pattern is:

    ~.

    It is quite simple. You take the verb from the dictionary form, drop the and you are left with

    the stem. You add to the verb stem and that is all! This will form a present tense of the

    verb of something that is currently happening. To form the casual style, you would just add

    .

    - I'm eating rice (as we speak)

    - I'm drinking milk (as we speak)

    - I'm wearing shorts (as we speak).

    It is commonly used :) I'm currently eating... I'm currently wearing this...I'm currently reading.

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    There will be practice at the end of all the tenses. Otherwise, you already know what the

    sentences say! :)

    Past Tense

    Past tense is another easy verb tense. Here is the basic pattern.

    1.Take the dictionary form, drop the

    2.Add the ending or, which makes it the casual form (everything but the at the end)

    3. Add under the last syllable

    4. Add on the end.

    + -

    + - + = .

    + -

    + -

    + =

    + - + -

    + =

    - I ate rice.

    - I watched tv.

    - he went to school.

    ? - What did you do?

    If you wish to say something you 'currently' were doing something in the past (say you weresaying something happened while you were doing something..'currently' isn't exactly the word,

    because it's not current..but it was current)...

    Then you can use the form from above and make past tense - .

    I think a couple examples would explain better than words :)

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    - I was eating rice.

    - I was watching tv.

    Does that make a little more sense? Just another form you will see and can use when making

    sentences and reading them.

    Future Tense

    There are a couple different forms of the future tense you will see. None match up exactly to

    what we see the future tense in English as, but they are simple and easy to understand.

    Probable Future

    One common future tense is the probable future tense. It can be used to mean "I probably will

    eat." "I probably will go to school tommorrow." This is probably the most similar (in myopinion) to our English future tense. If you just intend to say Will go, will eat...this future tense

    may be your best bet.

    The basic formation of this future tense is as follows:

    Take the verb base, for our example using .

    Attach () to the verb base. If the base ends in a consonant, you attach . If it

    ends in a vowel, you attach .

    - I will probably eat. - I will probably go.

    - It will probably rain.

    *One thing to keep in mind. Remember back to when you learned some irregular verb cases?

    being one. It appears as in the dictionary form, and when conjugated? Well,

    when using this for these few special verbs, use the ending on the base and not the .

    Will listen.

    Also, remember how some verbs pick up a and sometimes not? Example -...well, in thiscase, it will not take the , but will pick up an . Will probably be cold.*

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    Past Probable

    You can also use this form with a past tense verb, to mean 'must have' or 'probably have'. The

    example with would be . Notice the past tense ending is attached to the verb

    base, not the verb part. would mean 'must have eaten.' 'Probably ate.'

    Intentional Future

    The other form of the future tense you will see often will use . The meaning is similar to theabove future tense, but varies slightly. This form is more of the meaning "I intend to, I'm positive

    it will happen, etc." Here is how it is formed.

    Take your verb base (whatever is before in the dictionary form, no exceptions. does not

    change to as above..)

    Attach to that base. Then simply add your or ending you normally would use. Note

    the ending is always and never, even for verbs such as . means I intend

    to eat. means I'm sure it will rain. See how it is a little different from the previousfuture tense? This form has more certainty.

    Practice

    Now that you know the three tenses, you should practice them. Try not to look above for the

    following!

    .

    .

    .

    .

    .

    .

    .

    ?

    ??

    ?

    ?

    What were you doing?

    Where did you go?

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    Where will you probably go?

    What do you intend to eat?

    I intend (certainty) to eat rice.I will probably eat kimchi.

    I am eating bulgogi (now).

    I was eating bulgogi.Did you drink beer?

    Do you intend to drink beer?

    No. I intend to drink water.

    Clothes

    Lesson Nine is the third lesson on vocabulary. The focus is on clothes for this lesson. After the

    vocabulary lists, there will be a brief reading, followed by practice exercises.

    The following lesson will be a grammar lesson on adjectives and colors. This will be done basedon this set of vocabulary (plus the adjectives and colors). You will then be able to describe your

    clothing in more detail.

    Nouns

    Korean English

    Clothes

    Shirt

    White Dress Shirt

    Pants

    Shorts

    Jeans

    Shoes

    Dress Shoes

    Sneakers

    Socks

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    Skirt

    Coat

    Jacket

    Hat

    Glasses

    Ring

    Earrings

    Necklace

    Gloves

    Dress

    Suit

    Necktie

    Pajamas

    Bra

    Underwear(Male and Female)

    Teeshirt

    Hanbok, Traditional Clothing

    You may have noticed many of these terms are taken from the English language. Just makes it

    easier to remember :)

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    Clothes Verbs

    One thing you will notice is there are several verbs for wear, depending on where the object is.

    General clothing (shirt, pants) will use . Shoes and socks will use . Hat, glasses, stuff on

    the head will use . Stuff on the hands like rings and gloves will use. is used tomean take off, and is used for any of the objects, no matter where it is.

    Korean Polite Style English

    To Wear (Body)

    TO Wear (footwear)

    To Wear (headwear)

    To Wear (Hands)

    To Take Off (anything)

    To say you are currently wearing something, I recommend using the phrase ~. As you

    learned in Lesson Eight, this means 'currently taking place' action. would meancurrently wearing clothes.

    - I am wearing a skirt. - I am wearing a shirt.

    - I am wearing a ring.

    If you use instead of, the sentence usually in the following way.

    - I wear skirts (in general).

    - I wear shirts (in general).

    - I wear rings (in general).

    Clothes Practice

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    .

    .

    .

    . .

    .

    .

    .

    . .

    I am wearing a hat.I am not wearing a hat.

    I was not wearing glasses.

    I intend to wear a skirt tommorrow.I probably will wear my glasses tommorrow.

    I intend to undress.I used to wear three rings.I did not used to wear four rings.

    I'm not wearing jeans. I am wearing shorts.

    I am wearing sneakers.

    Korean Colors

    Hello and welcome to the lesson on Korean colors! Hopefully you now understand everything

    covered in lessons 1-9 because that is the best way to begin this lesson. If you skipped ahead,

    then some parts may be understandable, some may not. Whatever you have decided to do, I hopeyou come out of this lesson with a good grasp on Korean color words.

    Korean Colors

    These are a little more complicated than color words in English, but you should be able to handlethem!

    There are a few ways to deal with color words in Korean, and I will teach you the most basic,

    common way.

    First off, colors can come in a couple forms. There is the word that means just the color. Thereare color verbs.

    For now, you will learn the most basic uses of color words and these should let you use colors

    just fine in an easy to understand way.

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    Let's look at the color blue. . You can think of this as "blue color". is the part that

    lets us know it is blue instead of orange, and tells us it is a color we are talking about (you

    will see when should be included and when it shouldn't be in a minute).

    If you are naming colors, then you should put at the end of the color word. From the tableabove, when naming colors use the actual color name form (the words on the left).

    If you are using them as an adjective, such as "The blue car is big." ( - ToBe Big). Here...we are just saying that the car is blue, but that isn't the topic of our sentence or

    anything like that. It is just an adjective or noun modifier describing the car. If that is the case,then you should use the form that is on the right side of the table. Some of the words will have a

    shortened form, without the. Other colors you can't really shorten like that, however. So you

    would just say.

    If you do wish to make a sentence stating that something is a certain color, you should use theverb - To Be. This way it is very easy. You can just take the word for the color, ,

    ..whatever the word is...and attach the verb, . means thecar is blue. It is very simple this way.

    However, you may see other versions of the word. For example, you may see it written as a verb

    itself, such as, stating something is yellow. would be white.

    What do you think is? If you said...color #2 in the chart above, then that's right! They arefairly easy to recognize when you read them, but it may be harder to use them this way yourself

    because they aren't written exactly the same way when they are combined with or. A

    few other examples are and .

    For now, just be aware that these forms do exist. If you see a version of one of the colors similarto these, chances are the sentence states something is that color.

    Korean Modals

    Modals? What are modals?

    Modals is a grammatical term that is pretty much unknown

    to everyone except grammar teachers.

    You know what they are though.

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    Have you ever wanted to say 'I can go,' 'I should go,' 'I want to go,' 'I need to go,' or 'I may go' ?

    If so, you've wanted to know how to use modals! Modals are simply combining verbs such as

    may, want, need, can and should with another verb.

    That is all there is to it! See, modals are not so bad, but everyone uses them in conversation.

    Now you can go out, speak Korean, use modals, and communicate well!

    Oh, right. You still want to know how to use them in Korean. Well, here we go!

    To Want

    To Need, To Have To

    Can, Be Able To

    May, Have PermissionRandom Practice

    To Want

    There are two things to consider when thinking about the verb 'to want'.

    To want a noun. To want to do something (verb).

    Since we are talking about modals, or conditions of verbs, we are going to cover the second one

    in depth.

    To want a noun

    Alright. I will mention the first as well! The verb is:

    - To want (a noun).

    You use when you say something like 'I want an apple.' . 'I want a car'

    . 'I want a house' .

    To want (to do)

    What if you want to say 'I want to go'? Would you say ? At first, you may think so.

    Unfortunately, we cannot simply take the infinitive for 'to go', , and stick it before 'to want'.

    There is another pattern you must use. The verb 'to want' becomes ~.

    http://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/modals.html#wanthttp://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/modals.html#needhttp://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/modals.html#canhttp://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/modals.html#mayhttp://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/modals.html#practicehttp://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/modals.html#wanthttp://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/modals.html#needhttp://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/modals.html#canhttp://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/modals.html#mayhttp://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/modals.html#practice
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    Now, take that infinitive, , and drop the . This gives you the verb base, or simply in this

    case. Now all you have to do is add the new verb! .

    When you say it in a sentence, will change just like any other verbs. It becomes.

    Simple enough? Let's just add one more thing...

    ~ is only used when talking in first person (about yourself). This simply means you use ~

    if you are talking about something you (yourself) want.

    If you are talking about something someone else wants to do, the verb is ~.

    .

    Practice

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    See Answers

    -----Sidebar--------

    http://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/beginners-answers.html#lesson11http://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/beginners-answers.html#lesson11
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    Remember, if you don't already know lots of vocabulary, you can greatly benefit from the

    Vocabulary E-Zine. It will build your vocabulary gradually yet steadily, giving you great

    knowledge on Korean words.

    --------------------

    Have to, Need to

    I have to do homework. Many of you may need to say this statement, even if sometimes youpass up homework for a good time. ;-)

    I have to work. This statement may fit you better.

    Whether we want to do something or not, sometimes we just do not have a choice! If this is the

    case....

    ~ will come in handy.

    Let's stick with the example 'to go' to illustrate this.

    -

    You simply drop the from the polite form of the verb and add the ending. Note how

    becomes. + =. However, you will still see it written both ways.

    A couple more examples should make this pattern clear.

    . - I have to do homework.

    . - I have to work.

    Notice how all we did was take the verb to do, , drop the , and add the ending? .

    You just need to remember which part of the verb to use. In 'to want' we drop the from thedictionary form and use that (the verb stem). In this case, we drop the from polite form andattach the ending to that (the casual form of the verb).

    Practice

    .

    .

    .

    http://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/korean-words.htmlhttp://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/korean-words.htmlhttp://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/korean-words.html
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    .

    .

    .

    See Answers

    Can, Be Able To

    Moving right along.

    If you need to say you can do something, you can go, you can eat, you use the following pattern.

    Take the verb stem (drop the from the dictionary form) and add ~().

    Let me explain that a little better.

    First, get the verb stem. - . - . Now, add the appropriate ending.

    If the verb stem ends in a vowel, like , all you do is add .

    - I can go.

    However, if it ends in a consonant, you cannot add another consonant to the verb stem because

    there is already one there! If this is the case, you add .

    . - I can eat.

    That's really all there is to it! Just remember the ending is ~().

    Note: Oh, and one more thing! If the verb ends in the consonant , you don't have to add either

    or. Simply jump to the . Otherwise, the becomes redundant.

    .

    Conditions:

    Verb ends in vowel - add

    Verb ends in - add

    Verb ends in any other consonant - add

    http://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/beginners-answers.html#lesson11http://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/beginners-answers.html#lesson11
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    Practice

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    See Answers

    May, Have Permission

    If you have permission to do something, you would use the verb 'may'.

    I may go. (I have permission to go).I may play. (I have permission to play).

    This is pretty simple in Korean.

    The ending is ~

    You attach the ending to the casual form of the verb (drop the from the polite form).

    - I may go.

    - I may play.

    Nothing fancy here.

    Use the following practice to get used to this pattern.

    Practice

    .

    .

    .

    http://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/beginners-answers.html#lesson11http://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/beginners-answers.html#lesson11
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    .

    .

    See Answers

    Some Real Practice

    So, you understand them when separated. Do you think you can recognize what they all mean

    when random?

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    .

    Adjectives - How To Modify

    A Noun

    Have you ever noticed a word in a sentence that you almost recognized? Perhaps it looked very

    similar to a verb you had seen before.

    Note: You may need to change the encoding for this page - I do. Right click - encoding - Korean

    Making The Distinction Between Verb And Adjective

    What is an adjective? As of now, I have been calling all 'verb style' words verbs.

    http://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/beginners-answers.html#lesson11http://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/beginners-answers.html#lesson11
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    However, it is now time to make the distinction between true verbs and adjectives.

    Both come at the end of a sentence. Both may take the normal endings you have learned.

    An adjective is a word that describes something. Words such as 'to be cold' 'to be clean', and 'to

    be busy' are all adjectives, because they describe something. Adjectives usually begin with 'to be'in English.

    Other words, such as 'to run', 'to swim', and 'to write', are all true verbs. They are actions.

    Yet, they both take the same / / endings. We use them almost exactly alike.

    There will be many cases when you will need to know whether or not the 'word' you are dealing

    with is an adjective or a verb. I am going to introduce you to one right now, so hold on!

    How To Use An Adjective To Modify A Noun

    What exactly do I mean by that?

    Well, you can say 'The car is blue' and you can also say 'It is a blue car'. These two sentencesmean the exact same thing, except the word 'blue' is used two different ways.

    In the first sentence, the whole sentence is based on describing the car, the color in particular.

    In the second sentence, the writer may not necessarily be putting the emphasis on the color. The

    color could just be there to provide additional information. What if I were to say 'A blue car just

    drove across the street.'

    Am I focusing on the fact that a blue car just drove across the street, or is the color of the car

    simply extra details?

    As of now, you have been using the first form of the sentence. Let's look at the following

    sentence.

    The weather is good.

    You would probably say, correct?

    What if you wanted to say 'Warm weather is good.'

    This gets you into a situation in which you need to use another form of the adjective. You need

    to modify the noun - weather. It is not enough to say . .which means 'The weather is good, and the weather is warm.'

    It doesn't quite mean the same thing.

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    Instead, you would say. This means 'Warm weather is good.'

    How To Move An Adjective Before The Noun

    So now you understand exactly what we want to accomplish. Let's learn how to do it.

    The structure for this is based off adding or to a verb stem.

    To know the verb stem, simply drop the from the dictionary form. is the verb for 'to

    be warm'. After you drop , you are left with . Because it ends in a vowel (), you

    should add the ending.

    Let's look at an example in which we will add the ending.

    Good cars are expensive.

    While this may not necessarily be entirely true in every case, it provides a good example todemonstrate this point ;-)

    We want to modify the noun 'cars' to specify only 'good cars'. We don't care about 'bad cars' or

    'yellow cars', because we are talking about 'good cars'.

    - to be good

    If we drop the , we are left with . Since ends in a consonant (), you should add the

    ending. You get .

    .

    means 'good cars'.

    Be careful, don't confuse adding the topic particle / to the end of a noun with this new

    ending we attach to the word modifying the noun. They are two separate things.

    For a review on topic particles, visit the Korean Particles page

    How To Do This With Irregular Adjectives

    As you have learned by now, there are usually some kind of irregular verb / adjective.

    http://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/Particles.html#topichttp://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/Particles.html#topic
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    Irregular Ending

    For example, the adjective is conjugated as in the present tense. Somewhere, we lost

    the and gained a , right?

    In these adjectives that drop the , you will do the same when moving the adjective before the

    noun. You will also include the .

    Instead of adding the ending to as you would in the present tense ( contracts

    to), you simply add the vowel ending form, . This results in .

    Irregular Endings

    Another irregular ending is when an adjective ends in . Often, the is dropped in some forms.

    An example is. In the present tense, you cannot notice any change. It stays.

    However, before , , and , the is usually omitted.

    It can be a little confusing to think of it like that, because you might think is the base, and so

    we would add , rather than . However, try your best to realize that we are truly adding ,

    and the only reason the part is usually added is simply because we need the extra vowel if itfollows a consonant.

    Or, if this is easier, simply remember that when moving an adjective before the noun, adjectives

    that end in will drop the :-)

    - to be far

    In this case, we have. Let's drop the and get . Now, simply add the proper ending.

    You could say, meaning 'the house that is far away'.

    and

    You will occasionally run into a time where and will be used. One common adjectivewould be

    - to be interesting

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    is an adjective, because it describes something as interesting. However, it ends in

    , which usually comes with special endings.

    With and endings, you will add instead of /.

    The interesting car would be

    Remember, this is pronounced , because when is followed by , it sounds like .For a review on irregular pronunciation,visit the Hangul Irregularities page

    Practice Moving Adjectives

    Now that you know how to move them, try practicing some!

    http://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/hangul-irregularities.htmlhttp://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/hangul-irregularities.htmlhttp://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/hangul-irregularities.html