How To Conjugate Korean Adjectives and Verbs With Nouns
Every Korean verb finish with ~다 (da) which shows its identity as a verb when you look for the word from dictionaries. We call it “dictionary form of verb”. However we do not use those dictionary forms in the actual conversation which means that we need to change it into certain forms to make it naturally fit into the conversation.
When you connect adjectives to noun, you should use –ㄴ / –은 (depends on whether the adjective stem has the final consonants or not). Here are some examples,
작다small, 가방 bag 작은 가방 a small bag
예쁘다pretty, 친구 friend 예쁜 친구 a pretty friend
When you connect verbs to noun, –는 is attached to the verb stems no matter what (does not matter whether the verb stem has the final consonants or not). For example,
좋아하다 like, 색 colour 좋아하는 색 the colour that I like
싫어하다 dislike, 음식 food 싫어하는 음식 the food that I dislike
Please remember that if you could be freely use adjectives in the appropriate contexts, your Korean will be dramatically improved in no time! 한국어 공부 파이팅! :=)
Ashley (Korean teacher)
How to talk about symptoms in Korean when you are sick.
Hello.
Imagine you are sick during your precious Christmas holidays or business trips in Korea. You may need to visit emergency rooms in the middle of night. It is important to know some essential Korean expressions in relation to sickness.
The most common expression for this is “아프다 (a peu da)” which means ‘sick’. In the present tense sentences, it changes as “아파요 (a pa yo)” together with subject (i.e. body parts)+이 / 가. For example, “머리가 아파요 (meo ri ga a pa yo)” means ‘I have a headache’. If you want to say ‘I have a stomachache’, it would be “배가 아파요 bae ga apa yo”.
If you want to say more detailed symptoms, follow expressions can be used.
I have a cough. _ “저는 기침을 해요. Jeo neun gichimeul haeyo”
I have a runny nose. _ “**콧물이 나와요.konmuri nawayo”
(**Please note that when the final consonant of a syllable is /ㅅ/ and the following syllable begins with /ㅁ/, /ㅅ/ is pronounced as /ㄴ/, therefore when you pronounce ‘콧물’, the sound is /kon mul/ instead of /kot mul/. This is the majour phonetic assimilation/ nasalization rule is Korean.)
I have a fever. _ “열이 나요.yeori nayo”
I have a period pain. _ “생리통이 있어요.saengritongi isseoyo”
Now you know how to talk about your symptoms in Korean. Don’t be nervous even though they don’t understand your English. You can talk in Korean!!
~noun+부터 (bu teo) ~까지 (ggaji)
If you studied the level up to Korean beginners1_ week6, you may practised with your trainer regarding how to say time expressions by using “~부터 ~ 까지”. Actually, this expression is not complicated but very handy which makes your Korean speaking a lot better. Shall we try this further?
Together with time-related words such as hour, date, day, etc… ‘~부터” shows the beginning point of time, “~까지” indicates the ending point. For example, if you want to say “I worked from 9am to 5pm”, you can say that “저는 오전 아홉시부터 오후 다섯시까지 일 했어요 ( jeo neun ojeon ahopsi buteo ohoo daseot si ggaji il haesseoyo).”. In addition, you can use it for taking about days of the week. “저는 월요일부터 금요일까지 한국어를 공부해요 (jeo neun woryoil buteo geumyoil ggaji hangugeo reul gongbu haeyo) : I study Korean from Monday until Friday.”
Another handy way of saying it is when you talk about location or distance. For example, “센트럴에서 집까지 얼마나 걸려요? (central eseo jip ggaji eolmana geollyeoyo? ): How long does it take from Central to your home?”. It is useful when you try to say some time and distance expressions, but wish to limit the context.
~나 보다 ( ~na boda) _ I guess~
Korean culture is “indirect”. That is, we tend to avoid saying ‘I’m sure….’. Instead, we try to say “I guess / I assume/ I suppose” even it is the obvious context.
Hence we have several expressions regarding “I suppose”. Let’s find out what they are.
Firstly, ~나 보다 (~na boda) is used when you are talking about people other than yourself. For example, ‘I guess you don’t like Shinee : 샤이니를 안 좋아하나 봐요 (Shinee reul an joa hana bwa yo)’ or ‘I assume that you never tried it: 한 번도 안 해봤나 봐요 (han beon do an hae buanna bwa yo).’
Another common expression is ~것 같다 (~ geot gatta) which is similar to the first one but is stronger than ~ 나 보다 because ~것 같다 is based on the face or evidence. For example, “유리는 저 보다 더 키가 큰 것 같아요.” ,means that “I think Yuri is taller than me.” If you try to say “It’s a sunny day, isn’t it?”, you had better to say “오늘은 날씨가 좋은 것 같아요 (oneureun nalssiga jo eun geot gattayo)” rather than “오늘은 날씨가 좋아요 (oneureun nalssiga joayo).”.
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