=1 V

1 q 
IN THIS UNIT ... Basic Insa Reading romanised Hangeul Pronunciation
INSA SAYING THE RIGHT THING
For Koreans, as for all people, having the right phrase for the right occasion i
s the hallmark of politeness. Insa (in Hangeul its written q) literally means peop
le business, and might loosely be  described as the art of greeting and talking ca
sually to people in the proper way. In this rst unit of the course, we learn a fe
w basic Insa.
1 Basic Insa
Hello.
;x?
Im ... When we extend a friendly greeting to people we usually say: P V  W q
 
<x. 39
;x?
3<x.
VPNFW
V An-nyeong-ha-se-yo?
6, q
An-nyeong-ha-se-yo? Ne, an-nyeong-ha-se-yo? Ka-il
-li wo-keo-ye-yo. (How are you?) Kim-sang-u-ye-yo. The standard reply is to give
;x?
a positive
w 9u<x. P
answer,Ne,
ie an-nyeong-ha-se-yo?
ne 3 V RV 6, (yes),
q
and ask the same Jon me-i-seun-i-e-yo.
question: Ne, an-nyeong-ha-se-yo? (Good, how are you?) Note that an-nyeong-hameans
;x? <x.
to
P be
V at
peace.
V q Thus, the literal An-nyeong-ha-se-yo? translation of the exchang
e I-seon-yeong-i-e-yo. would be: Are you at peace? and Yes, and are you at peace
? To introduce ourselves, we say our name and then either -ye-yo or -i-e-yo (Im .
.., its ... etc). We use -ye-yo if our name ends in a vowel sound, and -i-e-yo if
it ends in a consonant sound. Note that we are talking about sounds not spellin
g. See how people in the picture identify themselves. As you would expect, your
name may have to be modi ed, slightly or dramatically, according to the Korean sou
nd system. This modi cation may have an impact on the choice between -ye-yo and
2
c G Shin 2006

  q -i-e-yo. Here are some notes. First, with names that end in an r sound, eg Barbe
r, Miller, Taylor, etc, Koreans dont pronounce the nal r. These names are then see
n to end in a vowel sound within the Korean sound system. This is why Kylie Walk
er in the picture chooses -ye-yo and says: Ka-il-li wo-keo-ye-yo (not Ka-il-li w
o-keor-i-e-yo). What happens if your name ends in an l sound? You will use -i-eyo since your name ends in a consonant, but the nal l sound in your name will be
changed to r. Suppose your name is Debbie Bell. You will then introduce yourself
in Korean: De-bi ber-i-e-yo (not De-bi bel-i-e-yo). When reading foreign names
that end in a consonant sound such as p, b, t, d, k and g (linguists call them n
on-nasal stops), Koreans generally add a schwa-like vowel sound, represented her
e as eu, to the nal consonant. Names such as Hart and Hind will be pronounced as
Ha-teu and Ha-in-deu in Korean, which of course means that they are to be treate
d as names ending in a vowel. Thus, we say: Ha-teu-ye-yo and Ha-in-deu-ye-yo (no
t Hat-i-e-yo for instance). The same goes for names ending in s, f, th and their
voiced counterparts (linguists call all these fricative sounds). If your name i
s Harris, you will say: Hae-ri-seu-ye-yo. With names such as Bush, Dash and Geor
ge (the nal consonant of each is called a palato-alveolar sound), Koreans add the
vowel i at the end. Thus if your name is George, you will say: Jo-ji-ye-yo. Ask
your instructor, if your name is outside these notes. Pleased to meet you. When
we meet people for the rst time, we can also say: Ban-gap-sseum-ni-da (Pleased t
o meet you). The literal meaning is Im pleased. Here the reason why you are pleas
ed (ie to meet you) is implied. The usual reply would be to say ne (yes) and ech
o the expression: Ne, ban-gap-sseum-ni-da (Pleased to meet you, too), which mean
s Yes, and Im pleased too. Welcome. Come in. Youre now visiting a Korean family. U
pon arrival, youll be greeted by the family with an expression such as: Eo-seo ose-yo (Welcome). Here the literal meaning is Come (in) quickly. This may sound p
ushy, but it is an indication that your host and hostess are so happy to see you
that they want you to come in without delay. Another common welcome is: Deur-eo
-o-se-yo (Come in).
;x?
TX V
An-nyeong-ha-se-yo?
#" x;x. Eo-seo o-se-yo. TV #x;x. Deur-eo-o-se-yo. P V q
T  oB. Ban-gap-sseum-ni-da.
3  6, oB.
c G Shin 2006
3

Ne, ban-gap-sseum-ni-da.

=1 V Good-bye. See you again. When someone is leaving, we say: An-nyeong-hi ga-seyo (Good-bye: literally, Please go in peace). But if it is we who are leaving, w
e say: An-nyeong-hi gye-se-yo (Good-bye: literally, Please stay in peace) to who
ever is staying behind. We can of course add: Tto man-na-yo (See you again: lite
rally, We meet again).
P5;x.
 An-nyeong-hi
V q
gye-se-yo.
3;
x. P
V 6,q

nx. P Ne, an-nyeong-hi ga-se-yo. Tto man-na-yo.

Sorry Im late. For minor indiscretions, we usually say: Mi-an-ham-ni-da (Im sorry:
;x?
P =#"
Vq".TX P
 qAn-nyeong-ha-se-yo? literally, Im upsetting things). Neuj-eo-seo mi-anham-ni-da. To respond, we say: Gwaen-chan-a-yo (Its OK). s  F V "x. :x;x. ` S F  3".
reciation, Gwaen-chan-a-yo. Gam-sa-ham-ni-da. Anj-eu-se-yo. we say: Gam-sa-ham-n
i-da or Go-map-sseum-ni-da (Thank you: literally, Im grateful). The two expressio
ns are interchangeable. It might be useful at this stage to know how to apologis
e to your teacher for being moderately late to Korean language class. This is no
t to encourage you to be late! But if you happen to be late, say: Neuj-eo-seo mi
-an-ham-ni-da (Sorry Im late). Here, Neuj- means being late, and -eo-seo because.
In the picture, upon the students apology, the friendly Korean teacher says Its O
K, and offers a seat by saying: Anj-eu-se-yo (Take a seat). The student then say
s Thank you. It is part of Western etiquette to acknowledge even minor services,
such as the dispensing of tickets or even the giving back of change, with a bri
ef Thank you or equivalent. By contrast in Korea, expressions of this type are n
ot used as often. They are usually reserved for acts of individual thoughtfulnes
s, rather than actions performed as part of ones job. c G Shin 2006
4

  q
2 Romanisation
As you probably already know, Korean is written in its own very simple, and inge
nious, phonetic script called Hangeul. However, as a transitory means, Korean ex
pressions in the rst lesson have been written in the English alphabet. The proces
s of writing Hangeul in the Roman alphabet is known as romanisation. There are a
few romanisation systems available, but the one that we follow here is The Revis
ed Romanization of Korean, or RRK, developed in 2000 by the National Academy of t
he Korean Language in the Republic of Korea. Currently, many street signs in Kor
ea are given not just in Hangeul but also in the Roman Alphabet, and it is the R
RK that is predominantly adopted here. However, you should not take romanisation
to be the same as spelling in English. This is because the way words are spelt
in English does not re ect the way they are actually pronounced. For example, the
a in arm, dare, dame and dam is pronounced differently in each case. Romanisatio
n is a convention whereby we standardise pronunciation by assigning constant val
ues to each letter. Within RRK, as we explain below in more detail, the letter a
is consistently used to represent the English a sound as in arm; it is not used
for any other sounds which the letter a may represent in English. Another warni
ng is that, while Hangeul renders the sounds of Korean in a remarkably accurate
way, no script can ever fully describe the actual sounds of any given language.
For instance, the Hangeul letter  is pronounced as d when it occurs between two v
oiced sounds, and as t elsewhere. RRK romanises the  letter as d when it is follo
wed by a vowel, and t when it is followed by another consonant or when it forms
the nal sound of a word. This works well, except when the  letter occurs sentenceinitially and is followed by a vowel. This is a situation where the  letter is ro
manised as d but is pronounced as t. Thus, when you say: Ban-gap-sseum-ni-da, yo
u should pronounce the underlined d as d, but when you say: Deur-eo-o-se-yo, you
should pronounce the underlined d as t.
3
RRK and pronunciation
Generally speaking, the sounds of Korean will be familiar to the English speaker
, and thus pronunciation should not be a serious problem. We shall look at pronu
nciation more closely in subsequent lessons, however please note the following p
oints. Notes for Consonants In the list below all the Korean consonants are give
n in Korean alphabetical order. All the consonants appearing in RRK are basicall
y the same as in English. A doubled consonant, that is, pp, tt, ss, jj or kk, in
dicates tensed pronunciation. In English tensed consonants do not constitute sep
arate sound categories for distinguishing between words, but tensed consonants d
o exist. For example, the p, t and k sounds in s clusters are tensed consonants
such as spot, stop and sky. Ask your instructor, if you are not clear what tense
d pronunciation entails. By convention, s and ss in RRK shall be pronounced resp
ectively as sh and tensed sh (ie sh with a stronger hiss) if they are followed by
i or y. Thus, when you read si, for instance, you should not read it in the same
way of naming the English letter c but as she. As brie y mentioned above, b, d, g
and j are pronounced the same as in English, except when they occur sentence-in
itially. In this case they are pronounced as p, t, k and ch, respectively. Also,
note that Korean r is a ap r. Although replacing r with English r does not bring a
bout a meaning change, you should know r is produced by a single, quick ap of the
tongue against the alveolar ridge the inward projection of the gums between the
upper teeth and the hard palate. Ask your instructor for a demonstration.
c G Shin 2006
5

=1 V Consonants g kk n d tt r/l m b pp s ss ng j jj ch k t p h a ae ya yae eo e ye

o ye o wa wae oe yo u wo we wi yu eu ui i Vowels
as in part as in cable as in yard as in yabby as in pot as in pet as in yonder a
s in yet as in port as in wonder as in wag as in wet as in your as in do as in w
obble as in wet as in weeds as in few as in urn Say Ernie without the n (and wit
hout moving the lips) as in feet
as in sky
as in stop
as in spot
as in sing
Notes for Vowels In the list above all the Korean vowels are given with approxim
ate Australian English equivalents. We suggest you treat the equivalents as a pr
eliminary guide only. In order to develop accurate pronunciation, pay close atte
ntion to your instructor and to the language tapes or CDs that accompany this co
urse. The list is in Korean alphabetical order. There are a total of twenty-one
different vowel symbols in Hangeul. But note that, in the spoken language, only
eight vowel sounds occur. Some of these eight vowel sounds combine with either w
or y (the semi-vowels) to form composite sounds. Note also that the distinction
between oe and we is not obvious in standard spoken Korean. Some people nd it ea
sier to relate to vowels if they know the approximate point of articulation in t
he mouth. Next is a common gure used by linguists and language teachers to demons
trate this. It is a cutaway side view of the mouth. The marked zones indicate th
e relative positions of the highest point of the tongue when a speaker is proper
ly pronouncing the single Korean vowels indicated. For example, when you pronoun
ce i, it is a high, front vowel the point at which articulation occurs is high u
p and in the front of the mouth. On the other hand, u is a high, back vowel. 6 c
G Shin 2006

  q More Notes The dash symbol, -, in the romanisation stands for what we loosely call
syllable boundary within an independent expression. (Strictly speaking, this is
not part of RRK conventions. In RRK the usage of the dash symbol is somewhat ar
bitrary. It can be inserted, for example, where there is the possibility of conf
usion in pronunciation.) Broadly stated, the rhythmic structure of a Korean sent
ence is such that you can take one syllable to have one beat. Thus, when you pra
ctise reading, eg An-nyeong-ha-se-yo?, it might be an idea to clap ve times while
saying the whole sentence. Koreans use punctuation marks, such as ,, ., and ?, in ver
y much the same way as you do in English. They also use a space as you do in Eng
lish after an independent expression, eg a word. All these are re ected in the Rom
anisation system. (Note that suf xes or particles such as case markers are all att
ached to the stem or the noun concerned in Korean, that is, no space is given be
tween the stem and suf xes and between the noun and particles. We will study this
part of grammar in more detail later in the course.)
4 More expressions
Here are some more Insa expressions and some classroom instructions you may hear
your instructor using. Theyre not intended for you to learn by heart in this uni
t (some of them we study more closely in Unit 7), but their use can help to give
a more Korean feel to classroom procedure.

;x.
#x.
...%NTT#
V

,Bx;x.
.
:#!Tx.
PVV
;x.
n<x.3W
6./<.
T s #x?
x.
%T N#x?
M4 ...
3 %T
... (Your
6, #x.
Name)
R+ R R %T
x;, ut
x
Hope to see you again. Youre welcome. Yes. No. Teacher, ... Mr/Ms ... Listen clos
ely. Repeat. Read. Write (it). Any questions? Do you get it? Yes, I get it. No,
I dont get it. Try (it). All together ... Once again .., Once more ... Well done!
(Please speak) slowly. Ive forgotten.
Tto bwoep-gess-sseum-ni-da. Cheon-man-e-yo. Ne./Ye. A-ni-yo. Seon-saeng-nim ...
... + ssi Jal deur-eu-se-yo. Tta-ra ha-se-yo. Ilg-eu-se-yo. Sseu-se-yo. Jil-mun
iss-eo-yo? A-si-gess-eo-yo? Ne, al-gess-eo-yo. A-ni-yo, jal mo-reu-gess-eo-yo. H
ae bo-se-yo. Da gach-i ... Da-si han beon ... Jal ha-syeoss-eo-yo. Cheon-cheon-h
i ... Ij-eo-beo-ryeoss-eo-yo. 7
c G Shin 2006

=2 V
2 w (1) W
IN THIS UNIT ... Reading and writing Hangeul More about pronunciation
HANGEUL THE KOREAN ALPHABET
When you nish studying the next two units you should know how to read and write w
ords using Hangeul slowly at rst, but getting faster and more accurate all the ti
me. Meanwhile, as you go through this unit, always remember that Hangeul is a hi
ghly consistent, phonetic script, and that most people nd it easy to learn and in
teresting to use.
1 Hangeul: Introduction
One of the most exciting and important events in modern Korean history was the 1
988 Seoul Olympics. When the 150 countries in the 1988 Seoul Olympics marched in
to the Olympic Stadium for the opening ceremony, they did so in alphabetical ord
er Korean alphabetical order. Look at the examples of countries names written in
Hangeul and see if you can read them using the guide below.
 u   s f b  g, k n i b, p r, l eu s e ae h a  

n i 

 a [ ], ng m j u o t k d, t

 GHANA 
(Ga-na)
 GUYANA 
(Ga-i-a-na)
S F 3 THE GAMBIA
(Gam-bi-a)
 NIGERIA

(Na-i-ji-ri-a)
  ROMANIA
(Ru-ma-ni-a)
 v BRAZIL
(Beu-ra-jil)
Note that when written at the beginning of a syllable,  is a dummy it has no phonet
ic value at all. When written at the end of a syllable, however, it is pronounce
d ng.
R xw|8 AUSTRALIA
(O-seu-teu-re-il-li-a)
 ? CANADA
(Kae-na-da)
* ?s THAILAND IF CHINESE HONG KONG
(Hong-kong) 8 c G Shin 2006 (Ta-il-laen-deu)

W w (1) Looking at these examples can tell us a lot about the way Hangeul is writte
n. Firstly, notice how it is written in syllables, not in single, individually-s
paced letters as in English. For example, if we were to write Chinese Hong Kong
according to the individually-spaced letter style of the English alphabet, it wo
uld look like: i i (Hong Kong), whereas in the Hangeul system it is actually writte
n: IF. On the other hand, if we were to write Hong Kong in Hangeul letters but a
ccording to the conventions of written English, it would look like this: H K . oo
ng ng
The shaping of Hangeul was in uenced by culture as well as linguistics. Hangeul wa
s originally devised to complement the use of Chinese characters, and in Chinese
a single character represented a single syllable. So the Hangeul characters wer
e not written in their individual spaces, but were grouped in syllables. If you
want to know more about this, read the Cultural Notes on Page 13. Secondly, each
Hangeul syllable consists of a vowel with optional surrounding consonants. Look
again at the example of Hong Kong. Both syllables have a central vowel, with fr
ont and rear consonants. Front Consonant 1st Syllable 2nd Syllable H K Vowel o o
Rear Consonant ng ng
In this case, both front and rear consonants are present, but this is not always
the case. For example, the Korean word for child is a-i. Although it has only t
wo letters, both are vowels, and so the word is written in two syllables. Front
Consonant 1st Syllable 2nd Syllable Vowel a i Rear Consonant
Thirdly, note from the examples at the beginning of this unit that where there i
s no initial consonant, the letter  indicates this. For example, look at the exam
ples of Guyana and Nigeria.
 
Gaiana
 
Naijiria
The reason for this is again related to the fact that Hangeul is written in syll
ables. If a syllable has no initial consonant then we indicate that by inserting
an initial zero consonant. Thus when we write the Korean word for child (a-i) i
t comes out as: .  If you are not clear at this stage on the terminology consonant,
vowel, and syllable, it might be wise to stop and consult a suitable reference b
ook. Yet another characteristic of Hangeul almost too obvious to be worth pointi
ng out is that it transcribes the Korean language, and so when it transcribes fo
reign sounds it transcribes them as the Korean ear hears them. Thus in the examp
les above, some vowel sounds might appear different from those that the native E
nglish speaker might expect. One particular point of difference is that the Kore
an language doesnt have many clusters of consonants. Thus, in a foreign-language
transcriptions, clusters of consonants are made to look and sound less foreign by
inserting the vowel eu between consonants. In this process st- becomes seu-t-, a
nd str- becomes seu-teu-r- and so on. Note, for example, how Australia is writte
n in Hangeul.
xw
OseuR | 8
teu- reil- lia
c G Shin 2006
9

=2 V
2 Writing Hangeul
The vowels For most people the easiest way to learn Hangeul is through practice
in writing while reading aloud. It might be helpful to use a squared paper such
as graph paper. The table below shows the prescribed stroke order for writing al
l the Hangeul vowels, listed in Korean alphabetical order. Check the romanisatio
n pronunciation given in Unit 1 (see Page 6).
Note the following points on pronunciation. 1. b (ae) and f (e): the distinction
between b and f is being lost in standard spoken Korean. 2. d (yae) and h (ye):
the distinction between d and h is likewise being lost in standard spoken Korea
n. 3. k (wae), l (oe) and p (we): as a result of loss of distinction between b a
nd f, standard spoken Korean does not normally distinguish between k, l and p. W
e have learnt already (see Page 6) that the distinction between l (oe) and p (we
) does not obtain in standard spoken Korean. 4. t (ui) can be pronounced ui, i o
r e, depending on context. Well learn more about this in a later unit.
10
c G Shin 2006

W w (1) The consonants The nineteen consonants are shown below with their stroke or
der.
Note that

,and  can also be written as

,and . In this case their prescribed stroke order will be as follows.

Writing Hangeul in syllables Each Hangeul vowel letter consists of a basic long
vertical or horizontal stroke, from which other shorter strokes are drawn. On th
e basis of their shapes, we can group all the Hangeul vowel letters into three g
roups as follows. The grouping is important because when consonant and vowel let
ters are placed together to form a Hangeul syllable, their vertical uaebfcgdh pr
oportions within the writing square vary according to the horizontal s i n m r s
hape of the vowel. The basic principle is this: a Hangeul mixed tljkqop syllable
always begins with a consonant letter. When the vowel in the given syllable is
vertical, it is written to the right of the syllable-initial consonant, and when
it is horizontal, it is written below the consonant. If the vowel is a mixed on
e, it is written in such a way as to t under and to the right of the consonant. I
t is important to observe this principle, otherwise your writing could appear ve
ry unnatural and dif cult to read. Let us look at some examples. c G Shin 2006 11

=2 V Vertical Vowel Further Examples: Example: a-(i) = child

si

ha
V ;
se
W <
ye
X "
seo
hi
Horizontal Vowel Example: O-(seu-teu-re-il-li-a) = Australia
Further Examples:
x
yo

tto
x
eu

u
t
ryo

hyu
Mixed Vowel Example: Gwa-(il) = fruits
Further Examples:

wo

ui

swae

dwi

mwo


gwe
A Hangeul syllable can have up to two consonants after the vowel. The position f
or the syllable- nal consonant(s) is the lower portion of the writing-square, belo
w the combination of the syllable-initial consonant and the vowel. Here are some
examples. Vertical with a Final Consonant Example: Han-(geul) Further Examples:
q
in
V F 9
sang
o
ban
T
gap
` F :
anj

chanh
Horizontal with a Final Consonant Example: (Han)-geul
Further Examples:

=
B

ol

w
jon
u
seun
deul neuj seup
Mixed with a Final Consonant Example: Gwaen-(cha-na-yo) = Its OK.
Further Examples:
D
gwal
o c
oen

  
F Q
wen
 H
win
doel gwon
12
c G Shin 2006

W w (1)
3 Cultural Notes: Hangeul
The Korean alphabet is known as Hangeul (literally: Korean Writing). The backgro
und to its invention is in itself an interesting story, and is also important fo
r understanding its principles. Understanding why something was designed helps u
s understand how it actually works. Hangeul was rst developed early in the 15th c
entury under the active guidance of King Sejong (reigned 14181450). This was at a
time when the written language of Korea was Chinese. Chinese writing possessed
immense prestige as the instrument of a sophisticated system of government, and
had been adopted and adapted from China over hundreds of years: to abandon it wo
uld have been unthinkable. Hangeul was designed, as far as modern scholars can t
ell, not to replace Chinese characters but to complement them. Chinese character
s needed to be complemented because there were areas where they were ineffective
the most important of these being the simple and accurate representation of the
sounds of the Korean language: native Korean place names, personal names, onoma
topoeia, and song transcriptions, etc. For many centuries, these areas had been
represented by an elaborate tradition of using Chinese characters for their phon
etic values. But for reasons that are still not entirely clear, this system had
largely fallen into disuse by Sejongs time. Moreover, the acquisition of Chinese
character literacy was not open to all, or even to many. This resulted in people
without an inability to read Chinese being beyond the effective reach of govern
ment. By now the Korean language contained many Chinese words with Koreanised pr
onunciation. Language used in government, law and administration was full of the
se words. If people could not be taught to read and write Chinese characters, th
ey could at least be helped to understand them when heard, if a simple phonetic
script to represent Chinese characters could be developed. Thus it was an import
ant function of Hangeul to give people who were illiterate in Chinese a simple p
honetic script with which they could pronounce words and, upon pronouncing them,
grasp their meaning. This was why when Hangeul was rst unveiled in 1446 after ma
ny years of study and deliberation it was called not Han-geul (which is a modern n
ame) but Hun-min-jeong-eum Correct Sounds for the Instruction of the People. In su
pport of this purpose, the script was simply written, almost completely phonetic
, and easy to remember. Interestingly, however, what has arrested the attention
of countless scholars since then is the astounding ease with which this simplici
ty is capable of rendering clearly, and unambiguously, something as intricate as
the sound system of the Korean language. However, while the traditional Korean
social order survived (with its systems of education and government so rmly found
ed on Neo-Confucian principles), Hangeul was barely used. But, as the old order
fell into nal decay late last century and a strong push for modernisation began,
Hangeul came into its own as a very effective instrument of modern mass literacy
. The Korean language had, of course, evolved a good deal over a time span of ve
hundred years, but the principles of Hangeul were so clear, simple and well conc
eived that they could be adapted readily to modern needs. In fact the Hangeul sy
mbols in use today, both in the Republic of Korea and in the Democratic Peoples R
epublic of Korea, are surprisingly identical to those rst developed under Sejong.
For students of Korean, the existence of Hangeul, a simple and effective means
of writing Korean, makes transcription of Korean into European alphabet letters
super uous. Thus, although a number of systems of Hangeul romanisation exist, for
language students they are only really useful as transitory aids. There is reall
y no substitution for being able to read the Hangeul script itself, and students
are strongly encouraged to devote attention to this from the outset. Hangeul is
essentially phonetic, very consistent, simple to master and innately appealing
in its ingenious simplicity.
c G Shin 2006
13

=3 V
3 w (2) W
IN THIS UNIT ... More about Hangeul More about pronunciation
HANGEUL THE KOREAN ALPHABET
Let us continue studying Hangeul. In this unit we learn the alphabetical order o
f Hangeul letters and their individual names, and some of the very basic pronunc
iation rules.

1 Korean alphabetical order and names of Hangeul letters

Alphabetical order for consonants and vowels, as currently standardised in the R
epublic of Korea, is as shown in the following boxes. Vowels Names    <    < T # V < U
# W < x    x   
x   a ae ya yae eo e yeo ye o wa wae oe yo u w
Consonants 
Names gi-yeok ssang-gi-yeok ni-eun di-geut ssang-di-geut ri-eul mi-eum bi-eup ss
ang-bi-eup si-ot ssang-si-ot i-eung ji-eut ssang-ji-eut chi-eut ki-euk ti-eut pi
-eup hi-eut c G Shin 2006
      


   
14
V F D  v
C  


S < V VV FS D<  

 C

 C

V F DC  v V F Dv  C

C

F DC 

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u

W w (2) To refer to the consonants themselves, use the names provided in the box be
low. For tensed consonants, the pre x D- (ssang-: double) is added to the respecti
ve normal consonant. The vowels V F are referred to as the individual sound they
represent. Alphabetical order is followed letter by letter in units of one syll
able. Thus the rst entry in a Korean dictionary is , followed by all the compounds
whose rst syllable is . These compounds are of course themselves presented in alp
habetical order, and so the nal entry under  in a standard concise dictionary woul
)
d(fully,
be
is alphabetically
suf ciently),the
forlast
 ( consonant and u   () is alphabetically the last vowel. T
he next entry would be 3, followed by all the 3- compounds,  O F O F then j- and
so on. P The tensed consonants, i.e., , ,,
,and
are placed at the conclusion of the respective normal consonant entries, i.e.,
, , , and

. That is, - entries follow the entire - entries and precede - entries. In diction
aries, words which begin with vowels are ordered under zero-initial consonant  (C), 
nd thus before

C() and after

(Dv).  V F Some examples Consider the following list of Korean family names as an exa
mple of Korean alphabetical order in action. If you picked up a Korean telephone
book, the names would be in this order.
V F 3  

q > O F 8 < O [

 5

B E  N :

K V F 8  p 

[ O <    :

 N 9

A :

L P q x

S F 4

r   

w V G :

< [ Q s n   u
c G Shin 2006
15

B U #  V F ;  O F > I

o X "

q N 3

 r  } C 4

v 
C V =  >

C   V = R 

# T

} @

q y % ) d

=3 V
2 Reading Hangeul
In the rst two units we made a few important points about Korean pronunciation, m
ostly as to how we pronounce vowels and syllable-initial consonants. Let us revi
ew them, and study more points on reading syllable- nal consonants. For our readin
g practice, we draw examples from, wherever possible, country/city names around
the world and common English loan words, which should not be regarded as foreign
words but rather as Korean words of foreign origin. The letters
and
Despite the romanisation convention,
(v, romanised as s) and
(Dv, romanised as ss)  V F are pronounced respectively as sh and tensed sh when they
cur in front of the vowel i, or a y-combined vowel (see Page 5). Listen to the lan
guage tapes or CDs and practise reading the following examples.
Si-deu-ni Sydney The letter  (C) 
yeo-seu Mauritius

o-a-si-seu Oasis Si-e-ra-ri-on Sierra Leon Mo-ri-s

R 9u
Me-i-seun-ssi Mr Mason
The  (C) letter doubles as a silent, or dummy, consonant when it is the initial co
nsonant in a  syllable; and ng when it is the nal consonant in a syllable (see Page
8). Now, listen and practise.
 t
U-reu-gwa-i Uruguay The letter  () 
R xA
o-pe-ra Opera
N}t 9
Sing-ga-po-reu Singapore
A
Ga-bong Gabon
 w6
V
Seu-ri-rang-ka Sri Lanka

When  () occurs as the syllable-initial consonant it is pronounced as r, more preci

sely, ap r 
(see Page 5). If it occurs as the syllable- nal consonant, however,  is pro
ounced as l, more precisely, retro ex l. You produce a retro ex l sound in the same ma
nner as you do an l, except that your tongue tip should be placed on the hard pa
late, not at the back of the upper teeth. Now, listen and practise.
8p R
Re-ba-non Lebanon
I-ran Iran
  ss
Ma-deu-ri-deu Madrid
4N 9
Hel-sing-ki Helsinki

3R 6
Ne-pal Nepal
When the syllable- nal  () is followed by another , that is, when you have two s betwee
n 
two vowels, the two s shall be pronounced as retro ex l. Now, listen and practise.
1R 8
tel-le-bi-jeon television 16
?
pil-leum lm
. F
keul-leop club c G Shin 2006
*R 8
Chil-le Chile
R R 8
Mal-le-i-si-a Malaysia

W w (2) Normal, tensed and aspirated consonants Recall that, despite the romanisati
on convention, (),  (<),  S V Normal Tensed Aspirated (C) and

(C) are pronounced 

 respectively as k, t, p and ch when they occur sentence-initial
ly (see Page 5). geun kkeu keun In fact, these four consonants, ie k, t, p root
string big and ch, form series of three in Korean, in which they have normal (mo
re precisely, partially aspirated), tensed and aspirated dal ttal tal (more prec
isely, heavily aspirated) forms, moon daughter mask while s also has both normal
and tensed forms. The normal series are , , ,

bul ppul pul and

(v), while the tensed series are  re horn grass represented
(D
as
C) (D
and),  (D<), V F VV FS V F V F (DC),
(Dv), and the aspirated series as V F ja-yo jja-yo cha-yo (
C),  (),  (

C) and  


I sleep. Its salty. Its cold. (
). 
The distinction is to
e consonants occur sa-yo ssa-yo syllable-initially. Listen and practise I buy. Its c
heap. reading the Korean words in the table on the right. Now, listen and practic
e reading the country/city names below. The focus here is on the distinction bet
ween normal and aspirated forms. Notice in particular that normal forms, ie , ,  a
nd

, are pronounced as romanised g, d, b and j, respectively when occurring after a

voiced sound, eg a vowel. By contrast, pronunciation of aspirated forms, ie , , 
and
and, is constant. (Incidentally, tensed forms, ie , ,,
, are not used in representing foreign loan words in Hangeul.)
U o R

U } R

y R 
x  x
 x  x
x

 
Ga-na Ghana

t
Ka-ta-reu Qatar
Fq
Kong-go Congo
 u{
Mo-na-ko Monaco
H m
Deo-beul-lin Dublin
N

Teo-ki Turkey
 ?
Kae-na-da Canada
 
Mol-ta Malta
 v
Beu-ra-jil Brazil
6 }Fw V
Peu-rang-seu France
 v
Mol-di-beu Maldives
}t
Ki-peu-ro-seu Kypros
R9
Ja-me-i-ka Jamaica

s
Cha-deu Chad c G Shin 2006

Pi-ji Fiji
S F = 
Kam-pu-chi-a Kampuchea 17

=3 V Unexploded consonants When occurring in the syllable- nal position, (),  (D) and (
C) are all V F  pronounced as unexploded k. Likewise,  (<) and  (), and  (C) and  (

C), are to S V 

 be pronounced respectively as unexploded t and unexploded p in the
llable- nal position. (Note that  (D<) and (DC) do not occur as a syllable- nal consona
nt in modern Korean.) VV FS V F If you are not sure of unexploded sounds, say act, o
pt, and the cat pulled .... You will nd that the underlined k (represented as c), p
and t sounds are not exploded as in, for example, back, top and cat. Now, liste
n to the tapes or CDs and practise reading the following words.
gi-yeok Name of
]
bak outside
C
ki-euk Name of
di-geut Name of 
ti-eut Name of 
bi-eup Name of 

 C
pi-eup Name of 
Also, the letters
(Dv),

(v),

)
(C),are
 (all
) and
pronounced
 (
as  V F 

 unexploded t when they occur in the syllableote
(DC)that
does not occur as a V F syllable- nal consonant in modern Korean.) Now, listen a
nd practise.
si-ot Name of
 2
eot Past-tense marker
C
ji-eut Name of


chi-eut Name of 

hi-eut Name of 
Lets continue. In the examples below the underlined ,  and
are pronounced
as unexploded k, p and t, respectively. It would be useful to know that when wri
ting a foreign loan word in Hangeul,
(v) not  (<), nor  () appears to be the most
preferred letter for a syllable- nal t  S V  sound (for an unclear reason).
 NN H 6?
nek-ta-i necktie ol-lim-pik olympics
  Nw
aek-syeon-seu-ta action star
>|m
dok-teu-rin doctrine
N p?
non-pik-syeon non- ction

tip tip
 
jip-si gypsy
R 9 2
me-i-keu-eop make-up
T B
pap-song pop(ular) song
ri-deo-sip leadership
 
Ti-bet Tibet
tt
ro-bot robot
 
keu-ri-ket cricket
 
ra-ket racket
 s
do-neot doughnut
The vowels f and b The distinction between these vowels is being lost in standar
d spoken Korean (see Page 10). 18
N
aek-syeon action

B d w
ek-seu-maen X-man
 
Den-ma-keu Denmark
B b
daen-di dandy
c G Shin 2006

W w (2) The vowels l, p, and k The distinction between l (romanised as oe) and p (r
omanised as we) is not made in standard spoken Korean (see Pages 6 and 10). Desp
ite the romanisation convention, both of them are pronounced we as in wet in Eng
lish. Listen and practise reading the following examples. In addition, as a resu
lt of loss of distinction between f and b, the distinction between p and k is li
kewise being lost in standard spoken Korean.
 |
Ku-we-i-teu Kuwait
N  ;v
Jim-ba-beu-we Zimbabwe
} <
cham-oe yellow melon
F 9x S
oe-sam-chon maternal uncle
x ?
wae-yo Why?
3 Some FAQs
Are there several different Hangeul scripts? No, there is only one. There are no
separate sets of cursive, lower and upper case letters, as in English. So why d
ont Hangeul characters appear to be written the same way. Not only are there vari
ations in individual handwriting, but there are also print stylisations and diff
erent fonts. As an example of the latter, here are eight different fonts which g
ive the characters different looks.
Even so, these variations are relatively slight. Once your eye adjusts to them,
they are never a source of confusion. Also note there is another source of varia
tion that caused by the different inner proportions of the writing square. Look
at the different proportions of the (
C) letter in the following two words. 
This is because in  the is followed by a hor
izontal vowel, and in ? it is followed by a   vertical vowel:
  (Cuba)
 ? (Canada).
Is Hangeul written down or across the page? Predominantly, across the page. Howe
ver, depending on the conventions of the particular eld of writing, Hangeul can b
e written down. For example, some of the major South Korean magazines are writte
n down the page, while others write across the page. Is Hangeul written in conju
nction with Chinese characters? Yes and no. Again, it depends on the prevailing
conventions. Some South Koreans newspapers use upwards of 3,000 Chinese characte
rs. Others dont use any. In North Korea Chinese characters are not used at all.
c G Shin 2006
19

=4 V
4 # x? T
IN THIS UNIT ... Telling people where you are going Some basic verbs Using the P
olite Informal verb endings More about pronunciation

WHERE ARE YOU GOING?

When you
;x?.
Often,
run you
intowill
friends
P orVfellow
then notice
students,
you you
are say
asked
hello,
wherethat
you is,
are q
heading. Dont be surpr
ised. The question is rarely meant to be inquisitive, but is simply part of a ro
utine Insa in Korea. It is simply asked after the initial greeting to indicate p
olite interest in someones doings. In this unit we learn how to respond to such q
uestions, and study a bit about using Korean verbs to describe a range of activi
ties.
1 Conversation
Kylie, a foreign student in Korea, has just met up with a Korean acquaintance, (S
eon-Yeong),  in the street.

;x?
: q
;x,
V P q P V  T :
. # x? : @q< x.
 } V
  } V  : 8x? s @q< x.  x.
Z
Translation
Kylie: Seon-Yeong: Kylie: Seon-Yeong: Hi. Hi, Kylie. Where are you going? Im goin
g to school. Really? So am I. Lets go together. usually indicates that no particu
lar personal relationship exists with the person being addressed. We suggest tha
t in addressing your fellow students by name, you likewise add .  # ? (eo-di): Where
...? T x (ga-yo): go; for further information, see below. @q (hak-gyo): school
}
(e): to V 8x? (Geu-rae-yo?): Is that so?   (na): I  s (do): too, also  (ga
; note that the  Z  () in  is not pronounced as t but ch.  Z 
Notes for Conversation
 (ssi): In Korean, we almost never  address someone
tc) unless they are very close friends. Rather, it is part
o add some sort of title, or status referent, to someones
o Kylies  name.  is a somewhat matter-of-fact title
20
c G Shin 2006

by just their name (David, Anni

of Korean etiquette t
name, and so here  adds  t
that 

T # x?
2 Where are you going? I am going to ...
T # x? @q 7}

} @q q

V F 3 "\ sXd B 

ZQ

>< T

where do you go?/are you going? university school classroom lecture room (in uni
versity) library coffee shop post of ce
vT X "

V }

NF @M 95 }

@M V NF 95 1 6 -< V x.

bank bookshop student dining hall student dining hall, restaurant house, home do
wntown to ... I go/Im going
If we want to ask people where they are going we can say:
T # x?
and to answer we can say:
PLACE NAME - < x. V
EXAMPLES
T # x?
} V @q< x. Xd< s"\V x. B 1V 6< x.
Language & Culture Notes
Where are you going? Im going to school. Im going to the library. Im going to the c
ity.
A Korean sentence is complete without the overt grammatical subject. The word-on
-word translation of the question # x? is in fact Where go?, and, out of context, it
can mean T Where do you/does she/do they go? etc. We deduce the subject from the c
ontext of the sentence. It may take a while for you to get familiar with this wa
y of saying things, but for the moment you can safely assume that, whenever you
see a subjectless sentence, the English counterpart of the missing subject will al
ways be a pronoun, ie either of I, you, he, she, it and they, and exactly what t
he pronoun is will be worked out from the context. Although @q means school, it
also identi es any educational establishment from a primary
} school to a graduate
school. Similarly, q means classroom, referring to a classroom in any educational
institution.
c G Shin 2006
21

=4 V Pronunciation Notes: Liaison (1) When a Hangeul character has the syllable- nal
consonant and there is no syllable-initial consonant in the following character
, that is, when the second character begins with  (C), the syllable- nal  consonant of
the rst character is pronounced as if it occurs in the syllable-initial position
of the second character. This is the prototypical example of the process which
we call liaison. Liaison is important because it can bring about sound changes;
it is indeed the source of many discrepancies between spelling and pronunciation
. For instance, (house) is pronounced as jip, according to the rule we learnt in
the previous unit:  (C) is pronounced as unexploded p in the 
syllable- nal position
(see Page 18). However, when is followed by a character which begins with  (C) as
in < (to a house), the  is not pronounced as unexploded p but as b. It is pronounc
ed  V as if it occurs in the syllable-initial position of the next character. We th
us say ji-be, not jip-e. The same applies to q (classroom). (However, there are f
urther complications involving  (), which we learn later in this Unit.) While q is pr
onounced as gyo-sil (the syllable- nal  
is pronounced as l, as explained in Page 16)
q< (to the classroom) is to be pronounced as V gyo-si-re, not gyo-sil-e. The  is pr
onounced as if it occurs in the syllable-initial position of the next character
(see Page 16, and also Page 3). Listen to the language tapes or CDs and practise
reading the following examples. EXAMPLES


B
jip keo-pi-syop u-che-guk gyo-sil gang-ui-sil
V <  V

B<
=
ji-be keo-pi-syo-be u-che-gu-ge gyo-si-re gang-ui-si-re
to the house to the coffee shop to the post of ce to the classroom to the lecture
room
ZQV ><< T

V q< V FV 3<

3 More places where we go ...

5    x5 N

( N

( E 

N C9 *

L L * r7L < [ OE

corner shop video shop supermarket corner shop hospital restaurant (bae-kwa-jeom
) department store Lotte Department Store park
TV SF <; ; V S V F 47s; T N !w  R VS FFN 34  R X "

O} <@ [ O} q<@

cinema, theatre market Namdaemun Market bus terminal Gangnam Express Bus Termina
l railway station (Seo-ul-yeok) Seoul Station airport Incheon International Airp
ort
22
c G Shin 2006

T # x? Language & Culture Notes ( generally refers to a large Western-style supermarke
t, while ( is the name many N N small local shop keepers choose a derived name from (
ith perhaps the connotation N  of Mini-Mart).  indicates a hospital or clinic. In Kore
there is no widespread system of neighbourhood, or E family doctors, and people te
nd to go to the hospital outpatients division to obtain prescription. 47s; (Namda
emun Market), and >7s; (Dongdaemun Market), are the places to go S V F
V  for bargains i
Seoul: cheap clothing, jewellery, silk, ginseng, tents, and so on and wonderful
local food from street stalls. 47 and >7s (Dong-dae-mun) refer to the Great South
Ss F
 Gate and the Great East Gate in Seoul, respectively. Here, 4- literally means
, >- east, S F
 7- great (see also Page 20, the same 7- appears in 7@q), and s ga
te.  }
34  (Gangnam Bus Terminal) is Seouls only express bus terminal for buses to
parts VS FFN R of Korea. It can be reached easily by subway. Here 3 literally mea
ns river, and refers to w3 V F V F (han-gang: the Hangang River) which runs across
Seoul. Can you guess where Gangnam Bus Terminal might be located? " (Seoul Statio
n) is in the centre of Seoul. It is both a subway station and the rail-transport
X  hub for long-distance trains to most of Korea. Luggage can be stored in lockers
for 24 hours. q<@ (Incheon International Airport) is the major gateway to Korea,
located 35 km [ O} southwest of Seoul. Pronunciation Notes 7 The letter
in
L is to be pronounced as unexploded t, as explained in Page 18. N Liaison (2): When
a Hangeul character ending in a partially aspirated consonant, ie (g),  (d),  (b)
or

(j), is followed by  (h), the  is not pronounced as a separate sound, but is blend
ed with the preceding partially aspirated consonant, resulting in a heavily aspir
ated sound, ie (k),  (t),  (p) or  (ch). (The same is true when  (h) occurs as a sy
llable- nal consonant and is followed by a partially aspirated consonant.) This he
avily aspirated consonant is then pronounced as if it occurs in the syllable-ini
tial position of the second character, ie where  occurs. To re ect this weve romanis
ed L as bae-kwa-jeom. * Liaison (3): Note that the  in " (Seoul Station) is to be
nced as l, not r. The X liaison rule (1) we introduced in Page 22 is not applied, p
articularly when the syllable- nal  (l) is followed by a vowel combined with the se
mi-vowel y, ie  (ya), # (yeo), x (yo) or
 U (yu). Weve thus romanised " as seo-ul-ye
k, not as seo-u-ryeok. X
4
Using Korean Verbs (1): the Polite Informal Style
Korean verbs come at the end of clauses and sentences. They have two components:
a stem and an ending. The stem gives the meaning, and the ending shows what fun
ction the verb performs. The verbs in the list below, marked with a dash, ie -, ar
e in their stem forms. To use these stems we need to learn a number of endings,
and in this Unit we learn to attach the endings in order to ask simple questions
and make simple statements. It is worth observing at the outset that Korean ver
bs are extremely regular, and so once you know one class of ending you can autom
atically use it with all the verb stems. There are about twenty verb endings we
use to show whether were making a statement or asking a question (or expressing c
ommands or suggestions). Twenty may sound a lot, but we use these endings to exp
ress another kind of meaning as well: the speech style (or level), ie whether we a
re speaking to the hearer in a polite, formal, informal, or intimate way. We nee
d to recognise at least four grammatically distinctive speech styles in Korean,
which we call Polite Informal, Polite Formal, Intimate, and Written, respectivel
y. Thus, each of the twenty verb endings can be identi ed as Polite Informal State
ment, Polite Informal Question, Polite Formal Statement, Polite Formal Question,
and so on. c G Shin 2006 23

=4 V The Polite Informal style features the verb endings -x, -#x and, in the case o
-f verbs,
 T  Bx, with varying intonation patterns attached. See the following page f
or details. The Polite Informal  style is appropriate when we talk to people we fe
el close to, even when they are older or of higher social status, and to strange
rs perhaps after an initial phase of formality or to just manifest our inclinati
on to be polite but informal to them. We assess that the Polite Informal is like
ly to be of much greater use to most students than the other three, we concentra
te on using it in this book. The Polite Formal style is widely used in formal si
tuations. When you use it, it is as if you pay the hearer the compliment of rega
rding him/her as being of a social status superior to yours. The Polite Formal a
lso carries somewhat masculine connotations. So while it can be used by women, t
his often occurs only when the women concerned are performing roles commonly ass
ociated with men exercising authority in an of ce situation. We will study the Pol
ite Formal in Unit 7. As the label suggests, the Intimate style is used between
very close friends, amongst the family members, or by an adult speaking to a chi
ld. Thus, using the Intimate style towards someone that you dont know very well c
an make the situation very awkward. The Written style is used in literary works;
using it in your talk will give an impression that you are reading aloud some w
ritten piece. We will study these two styles in the next volume. Some basic verb
s & expressions
O=
x
BV

< [*
N 9
go come do study have a chat eat drink have a meal do homework telephone, ring (
ik-) read
P
Bx?
n 3vZ6.
v
 xS. F ; 

 v>

write meet see take an exam sleep play exercise, work out what do you do ...?/ar
e you doing ...? Yes. No.

Traditionally Korean verbs are listed in what is called their dictionary form, con
sisting of the verb stem plus the suf x - (-da). However, this form is non-function
al in spoken Korean, and so in the  vocabulary lists in this book you see just th
e verb stems. We mention this because your instructor, especially if he or she i
s a native speaker, may refer to the dictionary form, and when you start to use
Korean-English dictionaries you will see all the verbs are listed in this form.
A small number of Korean syllables end with two consonants, as in - (to read). Wh
en the consonant cluster is followed by a vowel, ie when followed by a syllable
that begins with the letter  (C), both of the consonants are pronounced (see Page
25). Otherwise, there are rules that apply to 
determine which of the two are pron
ounced. In the case of -, the  () falls silent, and thus we 
read ik-. We judge that
hese double consonant syllables are suf ciently rare for us to note the pronunciat
ion when individual cases come up, rather than to offer a list of rules at this
stage.
24
c G Shin 2006

T # x? Do you ...? Yes, I do ... To ask and respond to this question in the Polite
Informal style we attach the -x/-#x ending to  T the verb stem with an appropriate i
ntonation pattern. Firstly, we attach the ending as follows. 1. If the last vowe
l in the verb stem is = or E, we add -x.  Note, however, (1) the - is omitted from -x
if the preceding verb stem actually ends in a, and   (2) in case of stems ending i
n i, the i is written in combination with the ensuing a, thus jx. Note also that
-this
-.
(to
Seedo)
rule
3 below.
and
is stems
not
  EXAMPLES
applicable
ending into the verb stem
 S F ;P  n+ + + +
 x x x x
= = = =
 x x S F ;x P  nx
x- + v- + Z v- +
ax = ax = ax =
 x  x Z x
2. For all other nal vowels in the verb stem the ending is -#x. T Note however (1)
in case of stems ending in u, the u is written in combination with the ensuing
e, thus gx, and (2) in case of stems ending in s, we drop s and add ex. EXAMPLES
- + - +
T #x = T #x =
Tx # Tx #
 - +
+

- =

ex = ex =
Ox " hx -
3.(toVerb
do)stems
becomes
ending
-Bx.in -EXAMPLES
[ <B=
O-V
=
 Bx

Vx =B B   Bx [ Ox < B

- *
N
 9v>
=
N 9Bx * Bx 

 v>Bx

Secondly, as in English, we say the verb with a rising intonation when we ask a
yesno question, and say with a falling intonation when we ask a wh- question, mak
e a statement, or answer to a question. As mentioned above, a Korean sentence is
complete without the overt subject and the English counterpart of this missing su
bject is a pronoun. In the examples below we are only assuming the pronoun to be

he. EXAMPLES
Q: x? Q: ?

x Q: #? Tx Q: "? Ox Q: Bx? 

Is he going? (No-ra-yo) Is he playing? (Il-geo-yo) Is he reading? Is he drinking

? Whats he doing?
A: 6, x. 3 A: 6, x. 3 
c G Shin 2006

A: x, -x.  h A: x, #x.  T A: < Bx. [ O

Yes, hes going. (Ne, no-ra-yo) Yes, hes playing. (A-ni-yo, sseo-yo) No, hes writing
. (A-ni-yo, meo-geo-yo) No, hes eating. Hes studying.
25

=5 V
5 =
;x.
 V
IN THIS UNIT ... Could I have a ... please? Please have a ... Counting in Korean
(1)
GREEN TEA, PLEASE
In this Unit we learn ways of asking for goods and services speci cally food and d
rink. We also learn how to offer people refreshments. In addition we take our rst
look at the Korean counting system.
1 Conversation
Annie, another foreign student in Korea, has just walked into a coffee shop. Shes
talking with the waitress.
E TX V 2: #" x;x. D  T <: }s w #x? E " T  T 2: q , }s
Translation
Waitress: Annie: Waitress: Annie: Waitress: Annie: Welcome. Do you have grape ju
ice? Im sorry, we dont have grape juice. We have orange juice. Do you have green t
ea? Yes, we do. Well, then, could I have green tea, please?

wp

Notes for Conversation

D2 (jong-eo-bwon): waiter, waitress, and E other similar employees in the service ind
ustry }s (po-do): grape w (ju-seu): fruit juice ... #x? (i-sseo-yo; see Page 27
pronunciation note): Is there (any) ...?, Have you got (any) ...? ... #x. (eop-ss
eo-yo: See Page 27 for T 2 pronunciation note): There isnt (any) ..., I havent got (
any) ... -p/-v (neun/eun): This is the topic particle.
It indicates that the previ
ous word is being speci cally drawn to the other persons attention. The effect is s
imilar to stressing, or italicising, words in English: We dont have any grape juic
e, (implying, but we do have other fruit juice.)
 = (nok-cha): green tea , ...
(Geu-reom): Well, then, ... ... ;x (ju-se-yo): Please give me ..., Can V I have ..
.?
26
c G Shin 2006

 V =

;x.

2 Drinks & other expressions

 C

"  R3

8u6s   w

 I

 =

S F q9

water drink, beverage cola lemonade lemonade juice tea (in general) black tea gr
een tea ginseng tea coffee

Nc 9B

 / -

}s

 2

U #

milk (traditional) rice nectar (traditional) fruit punch liquor beer wine distil
led hard liquor there is/are ..., to have there isnt/arent ..., to not have to give he
e
Language & Culture Notes  doesnt mean cider, as one might expect, but lemonade, as i
t does in Japanese. This is  probably due to some quirk in the circumstances in whi
ch lemonade was rst introduced to Japan before being introduced in Korea. Current
ly, however, 8u6s is seemingly more used. R3 I
literally means red tea in refe
rence to the colour of what is called black tea in the English  speaking world. 9B
is a traditional drink made from fermented rice and powdered malt. It is genera
lly served as Nc a dessert. is another traditional Korean drink. It is made from d
ried persimmons (<3: got-gam), \S OF ginger (M3: saeng-gang), cinnamon (5

: gye-pi), and honey (: kkul), and tastes a F V  W  little bitter yet sweet. The hyphe
n in - (liquor) indicates that it is a bound form, ie a form that can only be use
d when it is part of a compound, as is the case with the following K . w is a vodka
like spirit made from grain or potatoes, and is very popular in Korea. Pronunciat
ion Notes Notice the pronunciation of Ct (drink, beverage): the  () in t is to be pr
onounced as 
n, not r. 9B (rice nectar): This is another example of the liaison
ained on Page 23, whereby a Nc partially aspirated consonant becomes heavily asp
).
irated
 when
Thefollowed
verb stems
by  (- and 2- are pronounced as it- (see Page 18) and eop- (see Page 2
4)  respectively. (However, when followed by a vowel as in #x and 2#x, the syllabl
e- nal T T consonants
(Dv) and (v) are pronounced as theyre spelt: i-sseo-yo and V F   C eop-seo-yo.) c G
27

=5 V When we buy things ... To ask about availability in a shop, restaurant, etc,
we can say:
NOUN #x? T
The af rmative response will be:
EXAMPLES
A:  #x?

" T B: 6, #x. 3 T A: K

#x?

T B: x, 2#x.  T

Do you have any cola? Yes, we do. Do you have any beer? No, we dont.
3 T 6, #x.
The negative response will be:
 T x, 2#x.
To ask for things, we can say:
EXAMPLES
NOUN ;x. V
When actually handing things over, the shopkeeper may say:
A: w

;x. V B: 6, U #x. 3 # T A: I

;x.  V B: # #x. U T

Soju, please. Yes, here it is. Ill have a tea, please. Here it is.
(6,) U #x. 3 # T
which means (Yes,) here it is or here you are.

Language Notes: the verb #x and its negative counterpart #x T T 2 The Korean expressio
ns #x and 2Tx have two uses. One is where the appropriate English T # expressions wou
ld be: There is/isnt ... (for singular) or There are/arent ... (for plural). For examp
le:

 T =

#x? 3 T 6, #x.

Is there any green tea? Yes, there is.

Here the question is concerned with the existence (or non-existence) of the thin
g concerned in some particular circumstances. A second use of the Korean #x and 2
#x is where English expressions similar to those in the T T following question/answe
r sequences are used:

 T =

#x? 3 T 6, #x.

Do you have green tea? Yes, we do.

Although the English version of this question/answer sequence does not use is (o
r are), the sequence is nonetheless similar (even sometimes identical) in meanin
g to: Is there any green tea in your possession, in your shop, at home, etc? and
Yes, there is. That is, #x and 2#x are also used for T T talking about possession by
whoever you is, rather than about the general existence of green tea in a given
context.
28
c G Shin 2006

 V =

;x.

3 Fruits, refreshments and other expressions

   : s }  x W  8

F O 

 AB R  S F 3

fruit apple pear grape orange mandarin watermelon plum peach strawberry persimmo
n
} < 
 

q< 

9 ( w)  F > V 

N w6

U > n U > n 2` F :-

yellow melon kiwi pineapple plum juice biscuits sweets ice cream to take, take h
old of (ma sit-) to be tasty (mad eop-) to be unpalatable (an-) to sit

Language, Culture & Pronunciation Notes 9 is a kind of plum, green in colour and
smaller and harder than a usual plum. 9 w,   often known simply as 9, is a rela
nt but very popular soft drink in Korea.  n (mat) is taste. Thus, the literal mean
ing of n #x is (It) has a taste, and n 2#x (It) U > U > T U > T U > T doesnt hav
also that, while liaison happens in n #x (ma si-sseo-yo), it U T n doesnt in > 2#x (
mat eop-seo-yo). When you say > 2#x, give a brief pause between U T n U > n and 2#x
. T :-: The syllable- nal consonant cluster (vC) is pronounced as n. The

(C) falls ` F 

silent here. When offering food and drink ... When we offer refreshme
s to people we can say:
NOUN s;x. V
To accept food and/or drink offered to us, we can say: To decline, we can say:
3 F" 6, 3. S
EXAMPLES
 s" x, x.
which means No, Im OK (not to have any).
 V

s;x. 3 F" 6, 3. S

Have some tea. Yes, thank you.

sV ;x.  s" x, x.
c G Shin 2006
Have some fruit. No, Im OK.
29

=5 V Pronunciation Notes In Unit 1, we learnt Mi-an-ham-ni-da (Im sorry), Ban-gap-s

um-ni-da (Nice to meet you), and Gam-sa-ham-ni-da (Thank you). When written in H
angeul, these expressions are as follows.

T  oB.
S F" 3.

Notice the discrepancy between spelling and pronunciation involving the syllable
- nal  (C)  in and B. As we studied in Unit 3 (see Page 18), the syllable- nal  is to be
pronounced as
"
an unexploded p, but here it is pronounced as m. This is in fact
part of the general assimilation rule within the Korean sound system whereby a
non-nasal stop sound (eg p, t and k) becomes nasalised (thus become m, n and ng
respectively) when it occurs in front of a nasal sound. The changes from p to m,
t to n, and k to ng may seem strange at rst sight, but, if you say them slowly,
you will see that these pairs of consonants have the same articulation points. I
n Korean, h tends to be silent (more precisely, weakly aspirated) when it occurs
between two voiced sounds. This is particularly noticeable when the speaker spe
aks at a normal speed. Thus, you should pronounce x (Im OK) as gwaen-cha-na-yo, not as
" s gwaen-chan-ha-yo.
4
Using Korean Verbs (2): Asking people to do in Polite Informal style
When we ask people to do things in Korean we can say
Notes: VST = verb stem; add x if the verb stem
ends in a consonant; pronounce th
e verb with a falling intonation.
VST - (x);x.
EXAMPLES

 `
[ O
F :<
+ + + + +
V ;x Vx ; V ;x

V x;x

V x;x

= = = = =
;x.
V ;x.
VVx;x.
;x. [`O
FVV<:x;x.
Please give me ... Drink. Study. (Il-geu-se-yo) Read. (An-jeu-se-yo) Take a seat
.
Note that, while some of the English translations may sound impolite, all the Ko
rean sentences in the example are essentially polite the Polite Informal ending
has been employed. Also, verb stems that end in  (), such as - (to take, take hold o
f ), drop the  before we add 
-(x);x. This is why we say s;x.
V V

 -

= =
s

+ +
V ;x = V ;x =

V s;x.

V r;x.

(Deu-se-yo) Have some! (No-se-yo) Have fun!

5 Pure Korean Numbers (exist only for 199)
There are two sets of numbers in Korean: Pure Korean and Sino-Korean. Pure Korea
n numbers exist only for the numbers 1 99 in modern Korean, and are mainly used
for the counting of relatively small numbers of objects or people. By contrast,
Sino-Korean numbers are used for all larger numbers and, in general, for essenti
ally abstract counting such as mathematics, decimals, fractions, distances and m
oney. Lets study Pure Korean numbers rst.
30
c G Shin 2006

 V =
;x. Pronunciation and Language Notes
one two (set) three (net) four (da-seot) ve (yeo-seot) six seven (yeo-deol) eight
nine ten
From one to ten


   a   U # Y O < U #  I
2
From ten to nineteen

2
 2
 2
 2
 2a
 2
U 2# Y
O 2<
U2#
 2I
ten (yeo-ra-na) eleven twelve thirteen (yeol-let) fourteen
sixteen seventeen eighteen (yeo-ra-hop) nineteen

fteen (yeol-yeo-seot)

The other tens

 w

X "r  | .  W <u

| U #q

 |

twenty thirty forty fty sixty (i-reun) seventy eighty ninety

The syllable- nal

(v) in (three), a    (four),  ( ve), and # (six) is to be 
ced as unexploded t (see Page 18). Note also that the syllable- nal consonant cluste
r (C) in #- (eight) is 
U pronounced as l. The  (C) falls silent 
here (see als
a note on the syllable- nal consonant cluster). For numbers from eleven to ninetee
n, you simply say ten-one, ten-two, ten-three, etc, as you see in the table. The
same applies to numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine; replace 2 (ten) with ot
her tens, ie, twenty,
thirty, etc in the table. As mentioned above, h tends to be silent in between t
wo
voiced sounds. In 2
 (eleven), 2I (nineteen), and |
)
asis
yeo-ra-na,
regarded
(seventy),
not
to not
thebe ( there and subsequently liaison happens. We thus romanise 2
 yeol-ha-na; and | as i-reun, not il-heun. By the same token, while we have romanise
 I (nine), | (forty), and | (ninety)   as a-hop, ma-heun, and a-heun respectively,
an disregard the h in each case. 2a (fourteen) is pronounced as yeol-let,
 not yeol-net. It is dif cult to pronounce n immediately after l within the Korean
sound system, and thus the n assimilates into the preceding l. Notice also the p
ronunciations of 2#
U (sixteen) and 2#- (eighteen). As we
U explained on Page 23, liaison does not happen  when the syllable- nal  () is followed
by a vowel combined with the semi-vowel y, ie  (ya), # (yeo), x (yo) or
(yu).  U T
hus, the 2 in 2# and 2#- does not
U
U change to yeo-r but remains as yeol-. Finally, some Koreans around you may prono
unce 2< (seventeen) as Y
O yeol-lil-gop, not as yeo-ril-gop. Dont get embarrassed; variation is a part of l
anguage. You may nd it interesting that in pre-modern Korean seven was < Y O (nil-gop)
. While the spelling has changed, the pronunciation assumes the same rule applie

d in pronouncing 2a (fourteen).
 c G Shin 2006 31

=6 V
6  2<x?  W
IN THIS UNIT ... This, that (near you) and that (far from both of us) Using coun
ters (or unit noun) Counting in Korean (2) Asking/telling prices of things
HOW MUCH ARE THESE?
Having learnt the names of a few goods, Pure Korean numbers, and ways of asking
availability in a shop, we might venture into buying things using Korean at a lo
cal shop. (If youre outside Korea, you may try a Korean grocery shop.) For this t
ask, lets study how to ask for prices, including how to use demonstratives, SinoKorean numbers and counters.
1 Conversation
Kylie Walker has just walked into a small corner shop in Seoul. Shes talking with
the shop owner.
 
:
:
:
:
:

W
 <x? 5 q: 9B<x.  NcW  Nc W
9Bx? w<x? 5 q: x, 9Bp ... w< G Ct <x.   Nc Q W
, 6. ...  xp 2<x?   W 5 q: w 5<  <x.  V EV  > T
n #x? U 5 q: x.  n #x.   > T U    V
 5n ;x. P 5 q: 6. ... x <x.  3 EV

32
c G Shin 2006

  3

Kylie: Shop owner: Kylie: Shop owner: Kylie: Shop owner: Kylie: Shop owner: Kyli
e: Shop owner: Whats this? Its Si-kye. Si-kye? Is it a fruit juice? No, its ... a K
orean traditional drink. Oh, I see. ... How much are these oranges? One thousand
won each. Do they taste nice? Of course. They taste very nice. Can I have ve of
them please? Sure. ... Thats ve thousand won, please.

Notes for Conversation

q (ju-in): owner  (i-geo): this (thing)  9B (Si-kye): Note the pronunciation. The
()
)are
in 9not
and the
following
N  pronounced
 (
as separate sounds but are pronounced as a single consona
heavily aspirated k. See Page 23 for more explanations. 9Bx? (Si-kye-yo): Did y
ou say Si-kye? Nc When you want to make sure that what you

think you heard, eg a word, is right, repeat the word and add -x (or -x if the wo
rd ends in a  consonant) with a rising intonation. G (jeon-tong): tradition, tradit
ional  Ct (eum-nyo-su): As explained on Page 27, the  () in t is pronounced as n,
6. (a, ne): This expression indicates that you now understand what has been sai
d. Similar to Oh, I see. W 2<x? (eol-ma-ye-yo): How much is it/are they?
V w 5< (han
e-e): per item. -5 is a counter  for things (in general), similar in function to
item in, eg an item of furniture. Thus, w 5 means an
 item. The Pure Korean number
,s , , and     becomes w, , ;, and 6 when used before a V 3 counters (see below).
-ni-e-yo): Its/theyre  EV one thousand won.  is the Korean currency. E x. (geucourse!    5n (da-seot gae-man): only ve (of P them)
2 Whats this/that?
Korean has two ways of saying that: one for things far from the speaker but near
the hearer, geu-, and one for things far from both the speaker and the hearer,
jeo-.

this ... thing, object that ... (near you) that ... (over there)

this thing/object that thing/object (near you) that thing/object (over there) Wh
at is it?
Q: <x? W A: K <x. W Q:  <x?  W A: () <x.

:W Q:  <x?

W A: () <x. 

What is it? Its beer. What is this? (That)/It is a pear. (ie near you) What is th
at? (ie near you) (This)/It is Sujeonggwa. What is that? (ie over there) (That)/
It is Milk. (ie over there)

When answering to the question Whats this?, you can say Thats ... or Its ... in Kore
s you do in English. If you choose to say Thats ..., then give an appropriate demon
strative; if you want to say Its ..., then dont give any demonstrative. As explained
on Page 21, Korean sentences are complete without the subject and the English c
ounterpart of the missing subject is a pronoun, eg it. 33
c G Shin 2006

=6 V
3 How many ... are there?
Some useful words
P

   F P9 V

} <s

book ball-point pen pencil chair desk door, gate window

 r  5

G q: V *   7{ 1R 8

photo dog cat telephone mobile phone television money

Language & Culture Notes For mobile/cell phones, an interesting term, s{ (haen-de
u-pon: literally hand phone), is \ m widely used in Korea in addition to 7{ (hyu-dae
-pon).  Some counters and unit nouns

/  5 r

How many ...? counter for things in general bottle; also counter for bottles cup
, glass; also counter for cups/glasses counter for long/thin things
 7   V F ; G  
counter for machines counter for animals counter for paper box, container; also
counter for boxes/containers counter for books

Pronunciation & Language Notes / is always used in conjunction with a counter or

a unit noun, and functions as a question word:
how many (items)of ...? Note also that the syllable- nal  ( ) in / is to be pronounce
d as 
unexploded t, unless liaison happens. In Korean, it is not obligatory for a nou
n to carry information as to whether it is singular or plural. For instance, a s
entence such as P #x. can mean There is a book. or There are books. T When it i
to show how many books there are, you use a Pure Korean number with an appropri
ate counter, eg P   #x (There are ve books). Notice the word order here:   T NO
- Counter. You mention the thing in your mind rst, and then specify it. We insert
a space between / and the following counter. That is, we write / 5, not
5.

  / Likewise, we insert a space between a PK number and the following counter, eg  .   

34
c G Shin 2006


 T / 5 #x?
To name the things were interested in we say:
NOUN / 5 #x?
 T
To answer, substitute a Pure Korean number for /.
PK 5 #x.  T
NOTE: When adding a counter to Pure Korean numbers, we shorten the numbers 1, 2,
3 and 4 as follows.


   a
becomes
w

V ; 3 6

thus
  w 5, w , w r, w ...

 

5,

r,

...

EXAMPLES
Q: : /  #x? 
5 T A: ; 5 #x. V  T Q: r / ; #x? 
F T V A: 6 F #x. 3 V T ; Q: w / r #x?
T A:
#x. T r Q: q: /  #x? G
 T V A: w  #x.
 T
More counters and unit nouns
How many pears are there? There are three. How many photos are there? There are
four. How many glasses of juice are there? There are two. How many cats are ther
e? There is one.
t N 

 N

kilogram litre metre

E  R  N /  |
won (Korean currency) dollar cent
NOTE: Counters of foreign origin are not used with Pure Korean numbers, but with
Sino-Korean numbers, which we learn below. Note also that we use Sino-Korean nu
mbers in counting money. See Page 37 for examples.
4 Sino-Korean Numbers
As mentioned earlier, Sino-Korean numbers are used for all larger numbers (recal
l that Pure Korean numbers exist only for 1 99), for reading off numerals, and f
or abstract counting such as mathematics, decimals, fractions, distances and mon
ey. c G Shin 2006 35

V  V

=6 V From zero to ten Pronunciation and Language Notes

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
[ O <   S F 9   x
From ten to nineteen

C * R

  S F 9   x C * R

10 (si-bil) 11 (si-bi) 12 13 14 (si-bo) 15 (sim-nyuk) 16 17 18 19

The other tens

For numbers from 11 to 19, you simply say ten-one, ten-two, ten-three, etc. The
same applies to numbers from 21 to 99. For numbers in tens, ie, 20, 30, etc, you
simply say two-ten, three-ten, etc. Counting larger numbers has the same story.
For 200, 300, 2,000, 3,000, etc, you say two-hundred, three-hundred, two-thousa
nd, three-thousand, etc. Note that 10,000 is expressed in separate term in Korea
n: n P (man). Thus, unlike in English, 20,000, 30,000, etc will be  n (two-man), 9n
(three-man), etc, and 200,000, P SP F 300,000, etc n (twenty-man), 9n (thirty-man),
etc.  P SP F n can be pre xed with up to  (cheon: 1,000). Thus, P 2,000,000, 3
tc are Ln (two-hundred-man),  P SP F 9Ln (three-hundred-man), etc, and 20,000,000, 30,0
0,000 n (two-thousand-man), 9n  P SP F (three-thousand-man), etc. For 100,000,000, yo
a different term, (eok), and pre x , L and  for even larger numbers. The
and n are by themselves ten, one P hundred, one thousand, and one ten thousand. T
for 10, 100, 1,000 and 10,000, we dont need to pre x these numbers with (il: 1). A
few examples for liaison (see Page 22) are in the list: (si-bil),  (si-bi) and x (sibo).  But the  (C) in is pronounced as unexploded p (see 
Page 18) in
), S F  * (sip-chil), (sip-pal) and (sip-gu). R Notice how C (1
is is another example for an unchanged pronunciation from pre-modern Korean (see a
lso Page 31), where the Sino-Korean six was pronounced as ryuk. With the assumed
presence of an r, the sound rule applied here is: when the syllable- nal p, t, or
k is followed by an r, the syllable- nal consonant becomes nasalised, ie it becom
es m, n, or ng, and at the same time the r is pronounced as n. Finally, note the
sound changes occurring in n (100,000), P P Ln (1,000,000), etc. See Page 30 for ex
lanations. Larger numbers
36
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
L  P n P n P
c G Shin 2006

Ln P n

100 1,000 10,000 (sim-man) 100,000 (baeng-man) 1,000,000 10,000,000 100,000,000

5 How much is it/are they?

To ask the price of goods, we can say:
Wx 2<?
To name the goods were talking about we say:
NOUN 2<x? W
To answer we say:
SK <x. EV
EXAMPLES

NOTE:  is Korean unit of currency. If the price is in dollars, we use E

 (or ) and i
f necessary | as well, and thus: SK (or SK R N
 R N ) SK |<x (Its/theyre SK d
cents.) W
Q: 2<x? W A: n E<x. P V Q:  2<x?  W A: nx E<x. P  V Q: =

2<x?

 W

How much is it/are they? Its/theyre 10,000 won. How much is this/are these? Its/the
yre 15,000 won. How much is the green tea? Its 50,000 won. How much is that chair
(ie over there)? Its 150,000 won.
NOTE: We insert a space between the demonstrative  (this), (that (near you)), or
$ (that (over there)), and  \ the following noun. Thus we write $ (that chair over
there), not $. However, we omit the space when \  \ writing  (this thing/object),  (that
thing/object (near you)), and $ (that thing/object (over there)).  \
Sometimes we hear people say when giving the price of things:
PK 5< SK E<x. V V 
Theyre SK won for PK (items). EXAMPLES
NOTE: PK 5< = for PK number of items. Note, V however, you use SK numbers with co
unters of foreign origin, eg t (kilogram),  (litre), and  (metre). N N
V EV
5< n <x. P
V * EV 2 <  <x. V P EV w < x <x. n  V F EV  < 9n <x. SP
Theyre 1,000 won for two. (eg ornaments) Theyre 7,000 won for ten. (eg pens) Theyre
50,000 won a bottle. (eg wine) Theyre 230,000 won for ve. (eg a series of books)
Theyre 10,000,000 won each. (eg cars) Theyre 1,000 won a litre. (eg petrol) Theyre
three dollars and fty cents a kilo. (eg vegetables)
c G Shin 2006
37

V

=7 V
7 w<# q T QT
IN THIS UNIT ... Classroom management language Using the Polite Formal verb endi
ngs
KOREAN CLASS
The classroom you are in is not a place where Korean is spoken naturally. The ma
jority of the people there are not (at least for the moment) uent speakers of Kor
ean and, above all, Korean is the object of study. However, we can make our clas
sroom close to a real-life situation if, wherever possible, we take Korean to be
the means to achieve our goal. In this unit we study expressions that are frequ
ently used in teaching and learning a foreign language. We also study more about
Korean politeness.
1 Conversation
V 9 , Kylie, John, and F Annie are playing a guessing game. 9 is V F holding a picture
table, which has not been shown to the other three. (However, the table is given
below for your reference.) The three are given instead, a list of the Korean wo
rds for all the pictures in the table. Their task is to nd out, by asking yes-no qu
estions only, which picture is in which row and in which column. 9 V F can say onl
y 6 or x. 3 
V F " 9: , ;x? ...
! O   3
: 6. ...  ... G cN< ...  J  oV

G T q: #x? V V F
5 #x? w V F 3 9 : 6.
J  LV  T w: G v7<

 9: x.

J  oV  T

#x? V F  9: x.  J  LV  T
: G v 7< #x?
V F 3 9: 6.  J  V T <: G xrN< P #x?
38
c G Shin 2006

T QT w<# q Translation
Sang-U: Kylie: Sang-U: John: Sang-U: John: Sang-U: John: Sang-U: Kylie: Sang-U:
Annie: Sang-U: OK, shall we start? ... Kylie! Oh, yes. ... Umm ... On the left o
f the rst row ... is there a cat? No. On the left of the rst row is there a dog? S
orry? On the left of the rst row ... is there a dog? Yes. In the middle of the se
cond row ... is there a coffee? No. In the middle of the second row ... is there
a pen? Yes. On the right of the third row ... is there a book? No.

Notes for Conversation
... (ja): an interjection used to indicate that  I, the speaker, now invites you
, the hearer, to do something (that is good to you). ;"x? (si-ja-kal-kka-yo): Shal
-l (to
we start,
O start?;
begin),
here
 O the
and stem
the ending
is ; -(x)x (shall we do ...). We
 will study this e
nding in detail later in the

course. Note also the pronunciation: the (unexploded k) in ...; becomes a heavil
y O F aspirated k in combination with the following

(seeinPage 23).    ... (a): an interjection similar to Umm in English. It indicates

(h)
that the speaker is taking time to gure out what, and how, to say. J
G  (cheot-jja
e jul): the rst row; here G means the rst, and  line, row. J oV cN< (oen-jjo-ge)
the left; here cN o means the left side, and -< is the particle we V learnt in Uni
t 4 (see Page 21) in conjunction with the verb - (go). Note however, while -< V t
here was used to indicate the place to which we are going, -< here is used to in
dicate the place V at, on or in which something is. Note also the pronunciation:
Liaison happens here (see Page 22). 3 6? (ne): Sorry?, I beg your pardon?
J  G (dul
-jjae jul): the second row; J G means the second v7< (ga-un-de-e): in the middle
LV
(set-jjae jul): the third row; G J means the third V xrN< (o-reun-jjo-ge): on the ri
ght; xrN means the right side
2 Classroom management language
Some useful expressions
T QT w<#

W w  ? UN #t

...  N M4  Z  

the Korean language Hangeul name Ladies and Gentlemen! Mr/Ms ... Teacher! All to
gether!
 R   
w  5 H3 6?
    
Once again! Sorry? Slowly! Fast! Loudly! more all
Language, Culture & Pronunciation Notes The literal meaning of #t (yeo-reo-bun) i
s many respected people, where # means UN
UN many and t respected people. The func
tion of #t is self explanatory: attention getter. So, if UN
you hear your teacher
saying #t, you are kindly requested to look at your teacher. UN
As mentioned earli
er (see Page 20), your instructor will be very likely to use - (ssi) after your  n
ame when addressing you or when referring to you for the bene t of your fellow stu
dents. Bear in mind that, since - is an honori c title term, you do not use it when
you talk about yourself or  c G Shin 2006 39

=7 V when you mention your name. When you address your teacher, you dont use - howev
er. The most appropriate expression to  use is M4 (seon-saeng-nim). M is a noun that
refers to the profession of teacher, and N N 4 an honori c suf x. Despite the
u pronounce   (All together!) as da ga-chi, not da ga-ti. Here,   Z   means all, and  toge
ther. Z   w  (da-si han beon) means Once again!, where  means again, and w  (once). 
 (one),
the previous
(two),
unit
(three),
that
and a (four) become w, , 
   V ;, and 6 respectively
ccur in front of a counter (a grammatical marker for 3 indicating number propert
ies). The counter for times is  (beon), thus: w  (once),
 (twice), ;  (three
c. V We learnt 6 is yes. However, if you say 6 while raising the intonation, you
are asking the hearer 3 3 to repeat what he or she has just said. It is a short
but very useful expression to know at this stage.  (deo) means more. You can use
it with expressions such as  (ppal-li: fast) and 5 H R   (keu-ge: loudly), as in   (fast
)  5 (more loudly). H  R H  Some expressions for Classroom Activities
J G
the

J G

 o cN rN x

rst the second line, row the left side the right side

v7
L -< V -<" VX 7  O
the second last line
the middle in, on, at the bottom from the last, the end

J  oV G cN< VX J  <" G

on the left side of the

rst line

Language, Culture & Pronunciation Notes Ordinal numbers in Korean are G (cheot-jj
ae: the rst), G (dul-jjae: the second), J
J J G (set-jjae: the third), aG (net-jjae
the fourth), G (cheot-jjae: the fth), J J  and so on. Note the pronunciation of the sy
llable- nal
(v). As explained on Pages 18 and  23, the syllable- nal
(v) is p
ronounced as unexploded t unless it is followed by a vowel.  Note also that ordina
l numbers in everyday Korean are used only within the context of nger counting th
ey are not used, for example, in naming dates of a month as we do in English. If
you want to say that something is on the left, on the right, and in the middle,
attach the particle -< to cN (oen-jjok), xrN (o-reun-jjok) and v7 (ga-un-de) res
pectively. V o
L Assuming that we are looking at a table with three columns and
rows where a cat is on the left column of the rst row, we say G cN< q: #x (Cheot-jja
e jul J  oV G T V oen-jjo-ge go-yang-i i-sseo-yo: literally, The rst line on it
heres a cat.). <" (mi-te-seo) consists of (mit: bottom) and -<" (e-seo: from). Thi
s expression VX VX will be very useful if you want to say, eg the second last lin
e: <" G (mi-te-seo VX J 
dul-jjae jul: literally, the second line from the bottom).
e very last line/row can be referred to as7 (ma-ji-mak jul).   O 40 c G Shin 2006

T QT

w<# q Some more useful expressions

;Vx.
;x.
Tx.
;OR  VT V # v;x.  V B v;x.

T s #x. ...v/p #t <x?

T W ...

Start (it)! Repeat after me! Listen carefully! Try it yourself! I have a questio
n. What is ... in English? How do you say ... in English? Is it correct? I dont k
now. Ive forgotten. Very good! Well done! (You did well!)

;x
Language
Vx (Repeat
(StartNotes
(it)!),
after me!),
The

rst
#four
; sentences,
O  V R ie
T V
; v;x (Listen carefully!), and B v;x (Try it (
!), are all commands (see Page 30).  V You will perhaps hear your instructor saying
;xthem
willmany
be times;
V O said
forwhen
instance,
you are
; about to do some exercises or group activities, a
nd the expression B v;x is  V typically to invite you to have a go. The expression
(jal) in # v;x (Listen carefully!) means well, and thus the whole R R T V sentence
ans, literally, Listen well! When you want to know the meaning of a particular w
ord, eg  (ppal-li), you can say R  p #t <x? (What is  in English?). Two things we sho
e here: -p R  T W R  (neun) and -t (ro). Firstly, -p, or v (eun), is the topic
The particle indicates that
the previous word or words are being speci cally drawn
to the listeners attention (because the speaker is going to talk about it). You
use -p if the previous word ends in a vowel, and -v if it
ends in a consonant. S
econdly, -t, or -xt (euro), is the instrument particle. Its English equivalent wo
uld be by means of, by, in, etc. You use -t after a noun ending in a vowel or th
e consonant  (), and -xt elsewhere. 
When you are looking for a translation of a s
nce, eg Repeat after me, you can say Repeat after mep w<#t #:5 x? (How do you say Rep
eat after me in Korean?). Here,
T QT T B R T: #5 means how, and Bx do you say?.
making good progress in learning Korean, you will very likely hear the last two
#x
sentences,
(Jal ha-syeo-sseo-yo),
ie  x (A-ju jo-a-yo)
many  andR
T times.  means very, and  (It)s good. We sa
#x
ve in
(A-ju
(literally,
#jal
 ha-syeo-sseo-yo),
xYou
R did
R well!).
T Vdont
Rv;x
R(literally:
be puzzled.
T Incidentally,
Listen
It  well!).
T
ifR
you
The
means
hear
same
You
 did
is used
extremely
in well!
G Shin 2006 41

=7 V

3 Using Korean Verbs (3): the Polite Formal Style

The Polite Formal style uses the endings -/-B (-m-ni-da/-seum-ni-da) to make  
statements
(and to respond to questions), -?/-B? (-m-ni-kka/-seum-ni-kka) to ask   questions, and -x
(-sip-si-o/-eu-sip-si-o) to issue commands. We use -,    -?, and -x when the verb s
vowel, and -B, -B?, and -xx  
 
 when the stem ends in a consonant. Polite Fo
en there is a feeling of distance between people. They are used, for example, wh
en a student speaking to a teacher; when a younger person speaking to someone wh
o is substantially older; when a person of more junior rank or status is speakin
g to someone more senior; or when two people who do not know each other very wel
l are conversing. Polite Formal endings are also used between friends in a forma
l situations. For instance, two close adult friends might use Polite Formal endi
ngs in a business meeting (and of course switch to Polite Informal or even to In
timate outside the meeting room). As mentioned above (see Pages 23 and 24), the
Polite Formal also carries somewhat masculine connotations. So while it can be u
sed by women, this often occurs only when the women concerned are performing rol
es commonly associated with men exercising authority in an of ce situation. In sum
mary: Polite Formal Polite Informal
Making a Statement
VST-.  VST-B.

 VST-?  VST-B?

 VST-x.  VST-xx.

VST-x/#x.  T Bx.  VST-x/#x?  T Bx?  VST-;x. V VST-x;x

Asking a Question
Issuing a Command

Politeness cannot be reduced to mechanical rules. You will nd different people ha

ve different ideas about what is appropriate indeed this difference highlights,
at least in part, our individuality. As far as your classroom is concerned, you
will have to determine in consultation with your instructor what level of speech
is appropriate. If the instructor is middle-aged or beyond, then a more formal
style would be appropriate. If the instructor is young, then informality would b
e appropriate. The age of the instructor is not the only variant, of course. The
age of the students should also be taken into account: the older the students,
the greater the possibility that formal speech forms would come into play. We su
ggest that you avoid being inhibited by the fear of being too informal or formal
. As a beginner, you will make many mistakes. But Koreans will not be seriously
offended. They are more likely to be delighted that you are trying to use Korean
and, as people who are extremely tolerant, friendly and supportive towards fore
igners, they will not be hyper-critical of your performance. On the next page is
a table showing both formal and informal Insa, some of which we have studied al
ready. As you can see, these Insa expressions exhibit highly consistent patterns
(VST plus an appropriate ending), except for the pair ,B and
nx (See you again) and
where %   P marked with a long dash, , which indicates that no appropriate exp
ilable. 42 c G Shin 2006

T QT

w<# q

Meaning Hello. Pleased to meet you. Im ... Good-bye. (to person leaving) Good-bye
. (to person staying) Im sorry. Thank you. Thank you. Not at all. Its O.K. Yes. No
. Welcome. Come in. Sit down. See you again. Sorry Im late.
Polite Formal
Polite Informal
P
?5
x.x.TP

"
q
 oB
q ..Pq
S 
F". 3
. P qB
 . Tq

s"  B. W <.  . TX  #" xx.

;x?
P
;5;x.
x. P
V q
qo
Bx.
 Vx.Pq
<x/<x.
 qx.VP
W
V
P n<x.
 Vqs" x. 3 6.  x. TX V #" x;x.
c G Shin 2006
43

T

TV #x;x.

=8 V
8
<  T x V j #x? P
IN THIS UNIT ... Fixing times to meet people Telling and asking the time Days of
the Week Shall we ...? and Lets ... How about ...? Using Negatives
ARE YOU FREE THIS AFTERNOON?
In this Unit we continue to look at ways of asking for basic information in Kore
an, especially xing times to meet people, and talking about the things we do on a
daily basis. Note also that from this Unit on we do not provide romanisations f
or Hangeul. We assess that they should not be necessary by now.
1 Conversation
, a Korean student, is trying to
. 

nd a time to exchange language lessons with David

: L 7s:  : L 7s:  : L 7s:  : L 7s:  :

Translation
Ji-su: David: Ji-su: David: Ji-su: David: Ji-su: David: Ji-su:
;x?
P .LsVP
. 7
3\ 
 $,
qV...
 6,
xqx < j #x? V  T P " V  T 2 q. x x <p j 2#x.
V  s  ;  "x. V V P , ; < x? nR 3  6, x.
Hi, David, hows things? Hi, Ji-su. Yeah, ne, thanks. Er, are you free this afterno
on? Not this afternoon, sorry Ive got classes. What about tomorrow? The mornings n
o good Ive got an appointment. What about two in the afternoon? Mmm. ... What abo
ut three? Threes OK. Well then, shall we meet at three? Sure.
44
c G Shin 2006

V  T x < j #x? P Notes for Conversation

$, ...: This is a polite form of hesitation, similar \ to Er ... or Um ... in En
glish. x: today
x : p.m. x x : this afternoon. Notice the ordering
hour  P 2: class  6: tomorrow 1 x: a.m. , ...: This expression indicat
 is deciding what to say. Its similar to Um .... q x: is no good. This is the stan
dard P phrase to indicate that some course of action or arrangement wont work. :B:
appointment, date O G Fx: This expression indicates that the W m speaker is hesitant
to accept it is similar to we-ell. #Dx?: How (is it)? TJ , ...: well, then n
we meet?; here the stem is PR  P  n- (to meet), and the ending -(x)x
 (shall we do ..
ee below. x: Good. This indicates that the speaker is
 happy to accept whats been said
similar to Sure. v/p: Topic Marker. During this course, well
gradually become fam
liar with the particle
v/p. Instead of just explaining its grammatical function we
prefer to show you how it works in context, so that you can develop a feel for
it. In asking when David was free in the conversation,  s question speci ed this aftern
oon. What David wants to convey by saying x V x <p is that although this afternoon i
possible, other times are. So he gives special emphasis to the ensuing phrase 6v
..., 1 where the particle v invites to focus away
 from this afternoon to other ti
Likewise, when David would prefer three oclock to two oclock, he reacts non-commi
ttally to , and  then invites to focus on three oclock  hence he says ; p .... V 
2
Fixing Times to Meet People
Some Useful Words
x

1 6  x

x S< X - 

today tomorrow a.m. p.m. now oclock What time ...?

-t

-

o  j P 

T QT  w<#

2 O

:B

minute before half hour, time class Korean class appointment, date
Asking and Telling the Time: Hours and Minutes To ask the time in Korean we can
say:
NOTES:< = now; / = how many;  = oclock S X

W< / <x? X
To answer:
PK <x. or W PK  SK t<x. 

V

NOTES: PK stands for Pure Korean Number, and SK Sino-Korean Number.

c G Shin 2006
45

=8 V Examples We use Pure Korean numbers for the hours and Sino-Korean
the minutes. (See the Cultural Note below on Page 49.) Notice that - in
counter. While in English  S
W X we say: What time is it?, the Korean equivalent is literally: How
in
(one),
time (of
(two),
the clock)
(three)
is it?
andWea (four)
thus shorten
to w, the
, ;numbers
and 6     V
these Pure Korean numbers (see Page 35). 

numbers for
< / <x? is a
many points
3 respectively when

 V w  t<x.
not
 < x.   V t
 V
 <x. t
not  <x.
  V t
V W ; <x.
not <x.  W
3  V 6  <x. t
not a  <x.   V t
  V   t<x.
U  Vx #  t<.
If the time is half past three, you can say either Its thirty (minutes) past thre
e or Its half past three by adding o (half )
to the hour. That is:
V  9 <x. ;  F V S t or ;  o<x. V  V
V  V ;  o<x.
No equivalent expression for quarter is used in telling the time in Korean. If t
he time is a quarter past three, you simply say:
V  V ;  x <x. t V  x <x. ;  V t
Also, if the time is 12:45, you say:

 x V 2   t<x.
Alternatively, you can say:

 V w  x t<x.
which means literally Its fteen minutes to one. Here  means before. The same goes for
any minutes between 31 and 59. 46 c G Shin 2006

  V 2

 x t<x.

or w  x t<x.

 V

V  T x < j #x? P Days of the Week

m x  V mx< * x x

@x

Monday on Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

X S <x |x x
Friday Saturday Sunday on Sunday one p.m.
x V x

1< V

< R

on the weekend

Pronunciation Notes: The liaison rule applies when you say x and x; they are pronoun
ced m  respectively as wo-ryo-il and i-ryo-il. Note also that @x and <x are prono
mo-gyo-il X S and geu-myo-il respectively.
Shall we ...? When we want to propose doing something we can say:
VST - (x)x?

 m x V  x

w < nx?

PR  ", ;x? O

 

w r x?
U F # :x? `
If we want to respond positively, we can say:
NOTE: If the VST ends in a consonant, add x.
Shall we meet at one oclock Monday afternoon? OK. Shall we start? Shall we have a
cup of coffee? Shall we sit here?
NOTE: Unlike in English, to say one p.m., you put x
way around. 
3 6, VST - (x).

rst and then w , not the other

Yes, lets ...

NOTE: If the VST ends in a consonant, add x.
The -(x) ending carries masculine connotations, and thus female speakers tend to us
e: 

3 6, VST - x/#x/ Bx.  T  A: 6 nx? 1  PR B1: 6, 1 n. 3 6  PT B2: 6, 1 n

or
Yes, we ...
Shall we meet tomorrow? Yes, lets meet tomorrow. Yes, lets meet tomorrow. (Literal
ly: Yes, we meet tomorrow.)
We can also give a short answer as follows.
A: 6 < <;< x? 1 xV SFV  TV R B: 6,

.. or 6, 8x. 3  3 

Shall we go to a movie tomorrow afternoon? Yes, lets do that.

And to say No, it is polite to use a non-committal expression such as below to s
how hesitation, rather than giving a direct refusal.
W m Fx ...
We-ell ...
c G Shin 2006
47

=8 V How about ...? When we want other people to consider what we have in mind, we
can say:
NOTE: The question literally means How is/are NOUN?
How about Monday afternoon? How about eleven tomorrow morning? How about now? Ho
w about a beer?
NOUN #D? TJx
EXAMPLES
How about NOUN?
m x TJ x #Dx? 1 x
 TJ 6  2w  #Dx? S #J< TDx? X w
To respond positively, we can say:
NOUN x / x.

#J K r TDx?

s" 

NOUN is OK / good.
And to respond negatively, we can say:
NOUN q x. P
EXAMPLES
NOUN is no good.
A: x x

;  #Dx? m V  TJ B1: x x

;  "x. m V  s

B2: x x

;  x. m

How about Monday three p.m.?

or
Monday three p.m. is OK. Monday three p.m. is good. How about Wednesday? Wednesd
ays no good. Ive got classes.
There are three points we should bear in mind. First, as weve learnt, the negativ
e counterpart of the verb - (there is/are; to have) is 2- (there isnt/arent; to not
have).  EXAMPLES

Do you have time? No, I dont have time. Is it tasty? Well, its not tasty.

Second, the negative counterpart of NOUN-<x/<x (am/are/is a NOUN or NOUNs) is W V NOUN(/) <x (am/are/is not a NOUN or NOUNs). Unlike its positive counterpart,  V <x takes a gram
matical complement that is optionally marked with the particle - or -. (As V  we will
study in Unit 10, - and - are two variant forms of the Subject marker.) You use th
e particle  - with a noun that ends in consonants, and - with one that ends in a vo
wel.  Note that the verbs - (to be) and - (to not be) dont follow the rules we studied
on Page 25.   We suggest you treat them as exceptions. Note also that <x/<x and <x cha
nge to  W V V  and  in Polite Formal statements respectively. 
48
c G Shin 2006

V  T x < j #x? P EXAMPLES

<x?

 V x,  =

<x.

 V x,  =

 <x.

V P<x?   V x, P <x.

Is this green tea? No, thats not green tea. No, thats not green tea. Is it a book?
No, its not a book. Is it a book? No, its not a book.
Third, to say I/you/they etc dont do such-and-such, you add the negative adverb q
-with
-.
(to
 P do),
a space
EXAMPLES
thePqisbefore
placedthedirectly
verb. Note
in front
that of
withtheverbs ending in
V < x?  V x, < q x. P V

< >Bx? R v

 V  x,

< v> q Bx. R

Are you going home? No, Im not going home. Do you exercise on the weekend No, I d
ont exercise on the weekend Are you studying Korean now? No, Im not studying Korea
n now.
The co-existence of two sets of numbers in Korean re ects the co-existence of thes
e two major spheres in Korean culture the native Korean and the Sino-Korean. The
in uence of Chinese culture on Korea over the centuries has been profound and per
haps nowhere is this more apparent than in the spoken and written language, wher
e almost 50% of the total Korean lexicon is derived from Chinese, more precisely
, Classical Chinese. We know very little about the shape of Korean civilisation
prior to the penetration of Chinese culture into the peninsula, a process that b
egan in earnest about 2,000 years ago. However, it is clear from the depth of th
e Chinese borrowings that there were many areas, such as art, science, technolog
y, statecraft, and religion, in which the Koreans recognised technological, meta
physical and aesthetic accomplishment and strove to apply Chinese norms to their
own environment. The norms of Chinese civilisation did not enter Korea through
invasion. Although the Chinese had a colony in the northwestern part of the peni
nsula between the rst century BC and the fourth century AD, they were not spread
among the people of the peninsula by force. Rather, they seeped in over the cent
uries and were adopted by a people who were strongly attracted to the grandeur a
nd sophistication of many aspects of Chinese civilisation. Of course, they were
nonetheless Korean for avidly responding in this way, just as Australians are no
netheless Australian for responding to the attractions of much of European civil
isation. In practice, although Korean has two sets of numbers, rarely, if ever,
is there any doubt about which set to use. If we were to describe the difference
in a nutshell, it would be that in referring to the hours of the day a unit of
measurement that can more or less be reckoned with a tilt of the head up to the
sun in the sky we use Pure Korean numbers, whereas in referring to the minutes o
f the hour a unit of measurement that can only be reckoned with reference to a r
elatively sophisticated measuring device we use Sino-Korean numbers. As we saw a
bove (see Page 35), this theme of technology extends to all foreign units of mea
surement. The Sino-Korean system is used in referring to units of distance, weig
ht and quantity in the Western metric system. c G Shin 2006 49

=9 V
9 #r <" .#x? T VX oT P
In this Unit ... Countries and People Where do you come from? Using Description
Verbs Where is it located?
WHICH COUNTRY ARE YOU FROM?
In this Unit we learn to exchange personal information about ourselves, in parti
cular, asking and telling people where we come from.
1 Conversation
Annie Brown, an Australian exchange student to Korea, is buying pens in a small
stationery shop near her Korean university. She is talking with the owner of the
shop, a middle-aged man.
Annie: Shop Owner: Annie: Shop Owner: Annie: Shop Owner: Annie: Shop Owner: Anni
e: Shop Owner: Annie: Shop Owner: Annie: Shop Owner: Annie: Shop Owner: Annie: S
hop Owner: Annie: Shop Owner:
50

;x?
P ...
V q
 2<x?   W
V EV w < xL <x.  V
;x. 3 6. ... @M<x? } V
n,w<#= #x.
#x? XTPQT
TTOVX3oT
S QTO
VX oT
  T
#r 6,
<" y<
.#x?
#x.
<<" .#x? P T P  VX PT x, ~ <" o#x. .
qPV
oT
3,#x.
"..#x?
q
5;x.
 RR
BTVP
X oT
3 xV
.T
j!6,
<Z" .#x.
x;x.
 R...
`j!
W;v
x?w:q
Po%<BT
x? U
V 3
6?BT...
x, x.
!p ...
j! ...
x.~...s<x.
s
.
c G. Shin 2006

T VX PT #r <" .#x? o Translation

Annie: Shop Owner: Annie: Shop Owner: Annie: Shop Owner: Annie: Shop Owner: Anni
e: Shop Owner: Annie: Shop Owner: Annie: Shop Owner: Annie: Shop Owner: Annie: S
hop Owner: Annie: Shop Owner: Hello. ... How much are these pens? Theyre ve hundre
d won each. Can I have two, please? Sure. ... Are you a student? Pardon? ... Oh!
Yes! Yes, Im a student. What do you study? I study Korean. I see. Is Korean dif cu
lt? Yes, a little bit. But, its interesting. Which country are you from? Are you
from the US? No, Im from Australia. Australia? Are you Australian? ... Where abou
ts in Australia are you from? Are you from Sydney? No, Im from Canberra. ... Do y
ou know Canberra? Of course, I do. ... I once went there with my friends. Isnt it
near Brisbane? Pardon? ... No, Canberra is ... umm ... Australias capital. Umm .
.. its ... its near Sydney. Did you say that Canberra is the capital city of Austr
alia? Isnt the capital Sydney? No, the capital is Canberra. I see ... Well, here
are your pens. Thatll be one thousand won, thanks. Thanks. Bye. Bye.

Language Notes 6?: I beg your pardon? 3 , 6: Similar to Oh, I see. See Page 45 for
more information. 3 w<# #x?: Is Korean dif cult? Note that - (or -) is the Subject marke
r. Use - T QT TO  after a noun ending in a vowel, and - elsewhere. The verb stem of #x is
#-. It is a  TO T  description verb, which means that ... is/are dif cult. See Page 54
below.
n:
But ...
y<:
 Pa little
= #x:bit
Its
S interesting.
X
 T #r : Which country ... T  -<": from VX
Did you come ...? See Unit 10 for Past Tense. P oT <: the US Q T ~ : Australia ~ x
d you say ho-ju? See Page 45 for more explanations. ~ 6: an Australian F S #" = #
m where TX TVX j! ;x?: Do you know Canberra? The stem of ;x is - (to know, to know abo
qut).
: together
BT V Vwith
R...
x:
  ZOfcourse!
,#x: I Note
visited
that...
The
isstem
a full
is v-sentence
(literally,
on its
go and
own.see).
See
Unit 10 for Past Tense. T vw:q o%: Literally, in the vicinity of Brisbane  R ` U
t ...? W ~ s<x.: Its Australias capital. s is the capital city. W ...< #x
... V T !: an interjection used to signal that the speaker is about to offer somet
hing good to the hearer,  or about to invite the hearer to do something that the
speaker thinks is good to the hearer.
x;x: Literally, Please come again!. This is
a standard Insa from shop keepers to V customers who are taking their leave. c G.
Shin 2006 51

=9 V
2 Some Countries and Continents /-<  Q T w<

T Q

 Aw/A y t D<

T Q 7n

wu
 m
 
country, nation Korea (ROK) North Korea Korea (DPRK) Japan China Taiwan Mongolia
Vietnam Thailand Malaysia Indonesia India Pakistan Iran Iraq
R ~ /xw|8 > N 
  }
Q < T T #r -<" VX

F X }6w/m" V

  /@ R

R wAq T Q < Q < T   V x;

Australia
Germany Russia France Italy Spain England, UK USA Asia Oceania Europe America Af
rica overseas which from

Korean names for countries Korean names for countries usually re ect the historica
l period in which Korea rst encountered those countries. Major Western Powers, fo
r example, were rst encountered in the mid to late 19th century, during the perio
d of encroachment into China. So Korean terms for England and the US, for exampl
e, re ect Chinese practice at the time. Countries encountered later during the Jap
anese Colonial Period (1910-1945), such as Australia, are named according to Jap
anese practice. In the post-war era there has been an increasing tendency to sim
ply name countries phonetically the countries listed in Units 2 and 3 are exampl
es of this. The names for Korea The term w< (Han-guk) refers to the Republic of
Korea, South Korea (1947-), by South Koreans. T Q The full of cial title of the Repu
blic of Korea is 7wn< (Dae-han-min-guk), or Great Han Q T Republic. Han is an age-old
term denoting the inhabitants of the central and southern part of the Korean Pe
ninsula, and was originally revived in the late 19th century. The South Koreans
usually refers to North Korea as either Aw (Puk-han), literally Northern Han or A (
I-buk), literally the North.
 y (Jo-seon) was the rst kingdom of Koreans which wa
ved to exist until 108 BC in the South of the Liao He river and the northwestern
part of the Korean peninsula, and the name was also used by Yi Dynasty which rul
ed the entire Korean peninsula from 1392 to 1910. These days y is still in general
use in North Korea, and appropriate changes would need to be made in a North Ko
rean context: y 6 (Jo-seon sa-ram) when referring to Korean people; y (Jo-seon-mal) F S
R when referring to the Korean language and so on. North Korea usually refers to S
outh Korea as 4y S F (nam-jo-seon). 52 c G. Shin 2006

VX PT #r <" .#x? o

3 More Geography and Culture Words XS >, ", F, A 4 >: V G ": XG V D>
>A
S s 6/-q F S R T /-#
East, West, South, North the East the West Middle East Northeast Asia Southeast
Asia South America capital city person language, words
T #

T #

T >#

RT wAq# T # T R T At#

T t#

T QT D<# W 

 >4

 w

English French German Spanish Arabic Persian Japanese Chinese letter, alphabet C
hinese characters

Korea/Korean There is no special adjectival form for Korean nouns they combine f
reely with each other. Thus w< (pronounced as Han-gung-mal) the Korean language i
s literally Korea language; w< TR Q T Q F 6 (Han-guk-sa-ram) a Korean person is lite
ly Korea person and so on. S T QT w<# and w< TR Q TR Q w< (Han-gung-mal) refers to
ken language. w<# (Han-guk-eo) tends to refer to T QT the language in both its spo
ken and written forms. -# is usually employed when referring to languages T such
as English which are widely known in both their spoken and written forms. The E
xpression w- in w
 The w- in w(han-ja) doesnt have the same meaning as the w- in w<.
In fact it is the same

 T Q Han as in the Chinese Han Dynasty, and by associati

ith a major Chinese dynasty this term often means Chinese in Korea. Chinese herb
al medicine, for example, is w: (Han-yak). The O G pronunciation and Hangeul are t
he same, but each is written with a different Chinese character.
4
qSome
 
More
UN
o%<
Useful
 #U `V
vWords
a-(x)t

R p T #
know and, (together) with in the vicinity of be famous for many countries visit
(Literally: go and see) be numerous be small (in number) be easy be dif cult
-
=
E =
~ 2 S y< X SK Number - E E
V / E< ...? *F ; V
c G. Shin 2006
be hot be cold be (nice and) warm be interesting be boring a little (bit) n-th oo
r Ground Floor On which oor ...? toilette
53

=9 V
5 Using Description Verbs
Korean lacks the class of description words we call adjectives in English. The c
ounterparts in Korean of English adjectives are actually verbs: we will call the
m Description Verbs. To describe something we simply add the appropriate verb en
ding to the relevant description verb stem, just as we do with the verbs we stud
ied in previous units. That is, the same rules apply. (See Page 23 for Polite In
formal endings, and Page 42 for Polite Formal ones.) With Polite Informal, if th
e nal vowel in the verb stem is a or i we add -x; for all other nal  vowels the endin
-g transform
is -#x. Oftocourse,
Bx. Look
verbatstems
the Tending
  following
in
list to see these rules in action.
a  =   = 2
add -x 
=
a  x T #x  T = #x  T = 2#x
Theyre numerous. Theyre few. Its interesting. Its boring.
add -#x T
=
-Weve
(to
verb
(do)
(be
is Vused.
study),
already
famous),
warm),
telephone),
do
is
can
  can
homework),
intransform
form
fact
etc.
seen
[~ O
the
an

B=
how
*
etc.
action
nouns
 But
nal
Whether
into
syllable
orthis
aAction
description
is
the
ofnot
Verb
description
thestems,
verb
only is
way
eg
verb
usually
< stems,
clear,
eg, and
can be j
udged from  the context, and from the grammar of the sentence. Consider the follo
wing description verbs.
-
changes

to x B  ~
=


Bx  ~Bx

Theyre famous. Its (nice and) warm.

Bear in mind that, with verb stems ending in , the  changes to n, to which we then
add -#x. T We have met two such verb stems already: - (be pleased eg, to see you)
and q- (be grateful). oT T Consider the following list of verbs.
T o qT T #-  changes to n, p  then add -#x T E
=
 ox  qx TO #x x  Hx  x

Im pleased. Im thankful. Its dif cult. Its easy. Its hot. Its cold.

-With
(bethe
warm),
verbsnote
-- that
(be hot),
KoreanE-doesnt
(be cold)
describe
and ~  a personal reaction with temperatu
by saying Im hot/cold, but rather makes an object statement Its hot/cold. As for the
Polite Formal style, adding the appropriate ending is indeed straightforward. We
use - (for statements) and -/- (for questions) when the verb stem ends in a vowel.    Wh
stem ends in consonants, we use -B (for statements) and -B/x (for

  questions). S
more explanations.
54
c G. Shin 2006

VX PT #r <" .#x? o

6 Where Do You Come from?

NOTES: When followed by x- (or indeed any other verb that indicates motion) <" i
s equivalent to the VX TX oT #" .#x? P preposition from (a place) in English. In norm
al conversation, the < is dropped when preceded by V To answer we can say T # (whe
re), # (here),  (there, ie, near you) U and $ (over there), and thus #" (from where),
\ TX PLACE - <" .#x. VX oT P UX #" (from here), " (from there, ie, near you), X and
$" (from there, ie, far from us). When <" is followed by an action verb that does
not indicate motion it \X VX indicates the locality of the action indicated in
the verb. This aspect of <" doesnt concern us at the moment, VX and will be cover
ed in Unit 10.
We can ask this question by saying
EXAMPLES
 TX oT
{ #" .#x? p P

VX PT t<" o#x. .

Where does Yukiko come from? She comes from Japan.

And we can ask, for example, And where in Japan ...? by saying:
#X oT t T" .#x? P 7 Which/What Country Are You from?
Where in Japan does she come from?
If we want to ask speci cally which country someone or something comes from, we ca
n use:
T  #r  ...?
EXAMPLES
T <X oT #r V" .#x? P T QVX PT D<<" o#x. . T  FV #r  6<x? S
To ask this question we can say:

S FV t 6<x. T

 RV

What country are you from? Im from China. What country is (the) person (from)? Hes
/Shes Japanese. What country is (the) language (from)? Its Persian.
...v/p T< #x?
#V T
To answer we can say:
-v/-p = Topic Marker ; Use -v after a noun
un ending
in a vowel.

ending in consonants, and -p after a no

...< #x. V T
EXAMPLES
 " TV T  v #< #x?

V T qs< #x.   TV T x 5p #< #x?

U `V T o

Wheres Taj Mahal? Its in India. Wheres the video shop? Its near the station.
c G. Shin 2006
55

= 10 V
10

V TT / < ##x? ^
IN THIS UNIT ... Things we do on a daily basis More time expressions Talking abo
ut the past Dates: year, month and day Subject, object and topic markers
WHAT TIME DID YOU GET UP?
In this unit we look at ways of talking about the things we do on a daily basis
with reference to time, and also about things we did in the past.
1 Conversation
@ and Kylie are talking at the university canteen. 
 @ : 
:  @ : 
:  @ :  
:
TV T #= #x?  TV #=x? ... #  #x. UN  T   T  #x? ^ W m Fx. ...  x?  " R
o< #" s Z
V P ^T   T n#x. 

 #x. ... 2 < "dV T XdVX  sX\< #x. s"\<"

j >q B^ B P P [ O T 
q 
Nv>
#x.
 < #x.
Z q 2  V V  oTTO
QTV   2T
o< <w<#
.#x.2<
#x.
< ...P
99Y
p \N
T
$ 9
NN
#x.
<...
T#V <
B
!VTFT
 F #x. Rq2w  o< ;#x. ;
S^   6 @ : , 3. ... #q, 
56
c G. Shin 2006

V TT / < ##x? ^
x?: Shall I talk? R"  : I; this is the rst person singular pronoun in  Korean #
. ^ TT < 9 #x: I had breakfast.  N T  q: And  -< #x: I went to ...; I
place UX s : friend n#x: I met. P^ T : together Z  #x: I drank. T s
q: for two hours  P P < #x: I studied. [ OT
 : from twelve oclock N 2 : until two oclock  #x: I had ... or There was/we
:q I:exercised.
together with T
a friend
s   Z -< .#x: I came back ... (so that I was V oT P phys
) $ 9: dinner \ N B= ; #x: I began my homework.
O V T ;#x: I slept. S^ F
Translation
Tae-U: Kylie: Tae-U: Kylie: Tae-U: Kylie: What did you do yesterday? Yesterday?
... I did various things. Were you very busy? Well, ... shall I tell you everyth
ing? Pardon? Yesterday I got up at seven. Had breakfast at half past seven. And
went to university at nine. ... Met a friend at half past nine here. Had coffee
together. Went to the library at ten. Studied for two hours in the library. Then
I had Korean class from twelve to two. ... I had lunch at two. ... From four I
exercised for one hour. I did with my friend. At half past ve came back home. Had
dinner at seven. ... Started homework at eight. And went to bed at half past el
even. Oh, gosh! ... Well done, any way!
Tae-U:

Notes for Conversation

#?: What did you do? Tx  #=x?: Did you say yesterday? Weve met a TV similar ex
ady, see 9Bx? on Page Nc 33. #: various/many (kinds of) things UN  #?: Were you busy
^ : all 
2
<Time
P
V expressions
<() (1)

TVN
#=9 \
< $ N W F <49S()
F 8
 / j ...?
yesterday morning, breakfast
V = ...? k (+ time word) P  k mx P 

k PR   (+ time word)  X  Sx <

When ...?
last ...
last Monday last weekend
to have breakfast
to have breakfast lunchtime, lunch evening, dinner day, daytime night one day in
one day/per day
this ... (coming)
this Friday (coming) this (coming) weekend ago one hour ago last year this year
For how long (Lit. how many hours) ...?

NOTES: x (a.m.) and x (p.m.) refer to the time before and after the midday respect
ively. By comparison,  < (morning), 9 (lunchtime) and $ (evening) are times when o
rmally eats breakfast, lunch and N \ dinner respectively, whilst 4 (day) and 8 (nig
ht) take brightness, or darkness, as the point of difference. W F S F
c G. Shin 2006
57

= 10 V How many hours/times a day do you ?

V
< / j/ ? P
EXAMPLES
How many hours a day do you sleep? I sleep seven hours a day. How many times do
you eat (Lit. have meals) a day? I eat three times a day.
Q:
< / j ;x? V
< /F 9
Bx?PSV A: < j ;x. Y P S O  F  Q:
N A: ;  9Bx. V N
The question word = (when?) V EXAMPLES
Q:
q x<
w<# #x.
2 =
#x?
mT QT
VT
 V
T3
Talking
A: xabout the past
When do you have Korean classes? We have on Mondays and Wednesdays.
When we want to talk about things that have happened in the past we can say

VST /2#x. ^ T #x.  T

NOTES: We choose from -#x, -2#x and #x according to ^ T T  T the nal vowel in the v
m just as we did to get the present tense -x, -#x and Bx (see Unit 4, Page 25). T
his rule is applicable to  T  both Action and Description Verbs.
-When
we choose
the verb#x.
ends
  T
in EXAMPLES
V  T B=  #x?

\ N P T $ 9

#x. q 

P  TV

V Tk < v> q #x. P R

Have you done your homework? I havent had dinner. I didnt exercise last weekend. I
t was warm yesterday
-Ifasthe
shown
nalabove)
vowel in
or the
i, weVSTaddis-#x.
either ^aT
(except
When for
the VST actually ends in a we simply a
dd
#x; when the stem actually ends in i we T add a to i and then
#x. T EXAMPLES
[ OEVX ^T <<" #x.

V F  T ;< 6  #x. V S a^  V T @ p = #x? ^

I played in the park. There were many people in the market. When did Tae-U go? W
e had an exam an hour ago.
For all other nal vowels in the VST the ending is -2#x. When the VST ends in u, t
he u is T written in combination with the ensuing e, thus g, and
#x is attached; when the VST ends T in , the  changes to n, to which we add e and
#x. T EXAMPLES
58
Did you read this book? Have you drunk all the milk? Tae-U was our friend. It wa
s very cold last year.

P  V

c G. Shin 2006


V TT / < ##x? ^
4 Dates
To say the date in Korean we combine the relevant Sino-Korean number with year,
month and day, respectively.
 m
EXAMPLES Year 1985 2002 January July June Day the 1st the 28th
Month
R  Lx   m  *m  m

 (not C)

m   R

1998 2016 February December October the 10th the 31st

R

 L  C    (not ) m S F 9

For months we use SK numbers, but note:

MORE EXAMPLES 1/1/1995 or 1 January 1995 25/6/1950 or 25 June 1950 15/8/1945 or
15 August 1945 30/10/2003 or 30 October 2003 What date is it today? To ask what
date it is today, we can say:

m *V xv / U<x?

m  L x 

m   Lx

 x R

 <x V m 5 Some useful expressions

 M

 s
N u4 - U #  a  y< S X R
birthday birthday party friend guest, customer
U = /; literally, how many days *

To answer, take out / and put in the month and the day.

TvG#
S F =;  ...?
  x :
c G. Shin 2006

 B

get up sleep late/sleep in go back come back learn practise usually frequently w
ho ...?
people (another counter for people) six people a lot a little live, reside
59

= 10 V The adverbs (frequently), and vG (usually)  In talking about the frequency

particular activities, events, etc, you can use these adverbs. EXAMPLES
Q: s"\< x? XdV  B Do you go to the library often? A: x,  q x. < w  x.  V
ce a week. Q: @q< V x?
} V =  A: vG < 10< x.  V
When do you go to university? Usually 10 oclock in the morning.
Together with ... To indicate that you perform an action with somebody else, you
can say:
q () 
NOUN
EXAMPLES

 Z

NOTES: In this expression  is often omitted. Also, despite Z  the spelling,  is pronou
nced as ga-chi, not as ga-ti. Z 
I learn Korean together with my friends. I studied in the library with Seon-Yeon
g.
q "\<"
w<#

 Z <QT
:x.
#x.Bs [T 

sXdVX OT 

The particle <X (at, in, etc) V" If we want to indicate the location wherein an
action, such as eating, meeting, studying, etc, takes place, we use the particle
-<". VX EXAMPLES
Q: #" NBx? TX  9 A: @M 95<" 9Bx.

V } NFVX N Q: #" #x? TX PT n^ A:

B<" n#x.  VX T

P^ [

O VX } VX  < p <", Bv @q<" Bx

Where do you eat? I eat in the student canteen. Where did you meet? We met in th
e coffee shop. We study at home, and practise in the class.
Theres no special preposition in English to indicate the location of an activity,
so youll have to pay careful attention to the verb to determine whether or not y
ou should use <". VX
6 Time expressions (2) P >q w j >q
EXAMPLES
for ... (duration) for one hour early

P  E N

 =5 h 0N ; + NEG
late already not yet
1 N xV 6 E ;x. V
60

 oT

2< 30t =5 .#x.

P h m< 0- 6Vx.

V N T B=

Come early tomorrow. I came to class thirty minutes late. Its already June. I hav
ent done my homework yet. I slept for ten hours yesterday.
c G. Shin 2006


V TT / < ##x? ^

7 Subject, object and topic markers

Let us learn about the particles / and /. The former is what we call the subject mar
ker, and  the latter the object marker. We use  and after a noun that ends in a cons
onant, and  and after  a noun that ends in a vowel. The simplest de nition of the s
bject is that it is the answer to the question Who ...?/What ...? etc asked befo
re the verb; the simplest de nition of a direct object is likewise that it is the
answer to the question Who ...?/What ...? after the verb. Suppose our answer to
the question Who likes Korea? is I like Korea, then the subject here is I and th
e object Korea, for example. Like v/p, ie,
the topic marker, / and / have no clear eq
ivalents in English. 
 VW M =<x?

T W @q #t <x? F T

8 2#x. O  T

 #x.
Whens your birthday? What is hak-kyo in English? I ate watermelon. I drank coffee
.

The Korean subject and the object markers are often left out, as you have notice
d, in the course of uent, informal speech. Thus, when these markers are present,
they are probably best thought of as a form of mild emphasis or as an indication
that the speaker tries not to confuse the hearer. Usually the rst question asked
by students is: Whats the difference between v/p and /? In
 fact, whether you underst
and the distinction at this stage is not, in our view, a matter of great importa
nce when we think of all the other fundamental aspects of Korean you need to com
e to grips with. Most students acquire a sense of the difference with time and e
xposure. But if you are concerned about gaining an understanding of this distinc
tion now, then the following note may help you. If you recall what weve already s
aid about v/p youll recall that v/p gives emphasis to the

word/words in front. W
e are actually doing is announcing that what follows in the sentence relates to
the word(s) indicated by the topic of conversation. Were picking out one of a num
ber of possible items for your attention and then making some statement relating
to it. If you look back to the Language Notes to the Unit 5 (Page 26) and Unit
8 (Page 45) Conversation Pieces youll see a detailed explanation of this point.  W
ith /, however, were also involved in emphasis, but in a different manner were indic
ating that the word(s) in front of / add to what you know already, not that some f
urther comment is  following on the word(s). Thus, it is very likely that what fo
llows / is what you know already. The  same thing can be said about /. Lets contrast
se points.
3 3v = M<x.

m V

V 3 3 = M<x. m  V

V P T

wp #x.

The 3rd of March is my birthday. or The 3rd of March, its my birthday. My birthda
y is the 3rd of March. or Its the 3rd of March that is my birthday. I didnt drink
the juice. or The juice, I didnt drink. I didnt drink (any) juice. or Its juice tha
t I didnt drink.
A nal note about / is that it gives rise to the following two variant forms. Before
/,
 
(who?) becomes , and  (I) becomes 1.
 6


Bx?

 x?    Bx?

 1  x, 6 Bx.

Whom do you like? Whos coming? Is Jihui fond of me? No, I like Jihui.
c G. Shin 2006
61

= 11 V
11  s;x. a V
IN THIS UNIT ... Table Insa A Korean meal Common ingredients used in Korean meal
s Buying food and meals Some common Korean dishes Shall we ...?
BON APPETIT.
Food, clothing and shelter are the three basic material necessities of life and
food is surely the most talked about. In this Unit, we learn about Korean food a
nd eating habits so as to extend our ability to interact with Koreans socially.
V
1 Table
N
Insa
;x?,3s;x.
" NV
. 9m 2ns:!/>
....   Rs%
 B
P a
. V
 U
s;x.> T
H ns;x.
#x.
 V  
Here, help yourself./Take some. is an interjection commonly used  to encourage an a
ction from the hearer which the speaker believes would give pleasure. See also P
age 39. Lit. Weve prepared nothing, but ...; an expression used by the host/hoste
ss when inviting you to help your self Bon appetit. Lit. Take a lot.; a standard
invitation from the host for a guest not to hold back Have some more.; an exhor
tation in the middle of the meal for the guest to re ll the plate Do you like Gimc
hi? Lets eat! This is the standard way for a host to invite a guest to begin a me
al, or for one member of a party to suggest to the others that they begin. Note
that this expression has masculine connotations. Heres cheers. Lit. Lets take, eg,
a drink. There are a few more toasts in Korean, but these are the standard sugg
estions to raise a glass of alcohol. Looks good! Lit. Ill eat well.; an expressio
n used when you start to eat Its tasty! Lit. There is avour (in this food). This i
s the standard compliment about the quality of the meal. We strongly advise you
commit it to memory and use it often for the pleasure that it will give your hos
ts. No more, thanks. If you are being entertained in a very traditional Korea wa
y, your hosts may continue to press food upon you. Your only defense then might
be to say this expression politely literally, it means No, Ive eaten a lot. Ive ea
ten well.; an expression used when you nish eating
x,  2#x.   T a
R   2B.
62
c G. Shin 2006

a 

V  s;x.

2 A Korean Meal & Some Related Expressions N C9 T Q < T  5 os

O F B6 O #F 6
food cooked rice soup hot-pot style of soup side-dishes spoon chopsticks use can
not dessert
-T
}n# N
} P C9
} T 
  x T #v  
fork knife be hot (in taste) be salty eat (respect form) taste, try to like to d
islike to prepare a meal to cook

: cooked rice. In English, we have one word for rice whether its in the eld, in the
shop or on the plate. T In Korean, if its in the eld its !, when its harvested its ,
and when its cooked its . U R T -: - can mean use as well as write (see Page 25);
we saw on Page 25, when the verb stem ends in
the vowel s, the s drops out when a
qttaching
6 T Polite
O F Informal
# F O ending
h -x -#x.
(We use
Thus,
spoons
B6 and chopsticks). s: When we want to say that
out of our control, eg, allergy, is preventing us from doing something we can p
lace the negative adverb s before the verb. For example, BF s #x (I cant V
F
uts). The difference between s (cannot) and q (do not) is the difference between
being prevented from doing something and deciding not to do something. In Engli
sh we often say I couldnt do it when we really mean I didnt want to do it, and its
the same in Korean. Since its always more polite to be a victim of circumstances,
than a deliberate non-performer, its best to under-use q and over-use (or so it
P may seem to you) s. }- is an irregular verb to the extent that  changes to n wh
en followed by the -#x ending. Thus, The T gimchi is a bit hot will be 3  D 9x. (Se
e also Page 54.) N
 - vs -: When referring to a small number of basic human activ
such as eating, speaking, T  giving, or sleeping, Korean speakers use special verb
forms to indicate that they regard the person they are referring to as being of
a higher social status (see Unit 14). Therefore, of course, we can never use the
se verb forms in referring to ourselves. For the Korean language learner the cha
llenge is simple: when someone uses ... ;x? in addressing you, you need to have th
e mental agility to reply with 6, ... T V 3 T #x and avoid saying 6, ... ;x. 3 T
3
Common Ingredients of Korean Meals (1)
meat beef (cow, bull) pork (pig)
M  B

RR

q wq (w)

q ()  q () b b G

:q (:) V

sh seafood egg beans tofu

chicken - meat (chicken - bird)
lamb, mutton (sheep)
The pronunciation of : The  in remains silent in Modern Korean, whether or not the
re is a b b following vowel.
c G. Shin 2006
63

= 11 V
4 Common Ingredients of Korean Meals (2) >  :  V F 9 <
S X  x n V
vegetables Chinese cabbage white radish lettuce spinach/greens cucumber sesame l
eaves peanuts
q

F BF

 

-; V F PV F j;

F q ; V V oF ^;

} <?

chili peppers shallots garlic sauce soy sauce chilli sauce soybean paste sesame
oil
5 Buying Food and Meals  x Q D<x T T QN D<C9 N 9 N w9 };
cuisine, cooking Chinese cuisine a Chinese restaurant a Japanese restaurant
V F CV1F
qC
6  -  

F V

bread bread shop, bakery to buy

to buy meals (Lit. buy and eat)
order (eg food) pay be cheap be expensive
a traditional Korean restaurant
a Western-style restaurant a street food stall food court
C: if F sounds a little familiar its because it has reached the Korean language f
rom Portuguese via Japan VC FV and is, therefore, similar to pain, the French wo
rd for bread. It would take a little while to explain how two or three Portugues
e words got into Korean, but any book on Japans history will tell you the tale of
the Portuguese in Japan.
6
Some Common Korean Dishes
 q R   N 3
P n
Korean barbecue. The meat usually beef but in more informal settings pork is als
o used is marinated in various condiments including soy sauce, sugar, spring oni
on, garlic, sesame seed and sesame oil. It is then cooked over a charcoal or gas
re, on a perforated metal dish with a raised centre or on a gridiron. Spare ribs
cooked in a similar manner to q. Pork Galbi () is also served in more informal
   R
gs. When we say just 3 we mean cabbage Gimchi, in much the same way as ice cre
am is presumed to N refer to vanilla ice cream unless we specify otherwise. If we
want to specify a non-cabbage 3
, we N name the vegetable. Thus, cucumber
Gimchi, for instance, would be x 3
.  N Small dumplings with meat lling, usuall
y eaten with a soy and vinegar sauce.
Continued on next page
64
c G. Shin 2006

a 

V  s;x.

T  > N 8 T T N 3  5 N 3 - -</-> TV QF
Sweet potato noodles and nely-chopped beef and vegetables stir-fried together. St
eamed rice served in a bowl with a number of side helpings of nely-chopped Bulgog
i, mushrooms, carrots, spinach and bean sprouts, topped with a fried egg, sunny
side up. The ingredients are then combined together by vigorous spoon action, an
d eaten with chili sauce and a side soup. N 3 is dried green seaweed (laver). To
make 3, you wrap around, with a thin layer of 3, cooked rice T N N and nely chopped
/sliced carrot, pickled radish, meat, sh, etc, and then sliced it into bite-size
pieces. The suf x 5 on the names of dishes indicates that the food is cooked hot-pot
fashion in a soup over  high heat. Thus 3
5 is a hot soup where the most prominent
ingredient is Chinese cabbage Gimchi. N  More examples include: B 5 (seafood Jjigae)
, ^; 5 (soybean paste Jjigae), etc.   V oF  The suf x 3 on the names of dishes indicates
at the food is being deep-fried in light batter in a N similar fashion to Japanes
e tempura. Thus > 3 is mixed vegetables deep-fried in batter.  N This suf x indicates a
noodle dish, such as J the cold noodle dish of North Korean origin which is a H su
mmertime staple, or  the ever-ready instant noodles.  This indicates a soup, the mos
t common of which are Manduguk (n <: dumpling soup) and Galbitang PT Q (>: beefy, spar
e-rib broth). RV

7 Some language notes

About the question 5 <x?: Whats this?  W By now, you might wonder what the difference w
ould be between  <x?, which we learnt  W in Unit 6 (see Page 33), and 5 <x?. The main
ence is this. Grammatically, 5 is the  W  combination of  (this thing) and  (Subject marke
r), and meaning-wise, the difference between   the two questions is in fact very s
light. At best, you can take 5 as carrying a mild emphasis in line  with what we ex
plained in Unit 10 (see Page 61). It has the Subject marker after all, which   does
nt! Dont get alarmed if you see $5 <x, 5 <x, etc. $5 and 5 are $ and  plus \ W  W
marker respectively. The expression - v/px?: What (or How) about ?
The exp
v/px? can be very handy, when were asking a kind of contrastive
questions that invo
ve more than one persons or things. It allows us not to repeat the whole questio
n as in the examples. EXAMPLES
Q:

"x?  O Do you drink coffee? A: 6, "x. 3 O Yes, I do. Q: =

.<=/ j wQ#
p ("<)x?
Bx?  O
A:Vq "x. P O I dont. Q: p
 TT O P < [

px?

 What about Green T

Seon-Yeong, how many hours per day do you study Korean?

A:
< / j w<#
< Bx.<B)x?
V O
 Vw P[ I do one hour per day. Q: @ px? 
< F
QTt <O Bx.
 V S
P T O
[ A:
9
[ I do thirty minutes a day.
c G. Shin 2006
65

How about you, Tae-U? cf.

= 11 V

8 Cultural Notes: Korean Food

Korean food perhaps lacks the variety to become known as one of the worlds great
cuisines, but nevertheless it contains a lot of pleasant surprises. From its tem
perate climate and surrounding seas, Korea draws a wide variety of vegetables, f
ruits and seafood; and from its long winters when fresh food is hard to come by,
it draws the inspiration for a rich tradition of pickling or drying fresh foods
for later use. It is protein-rich and relatively fat-free. The most common meat
s in Korea are beef, pork, chicken and, of course, sh. The most common methods of
cooking are slow simmering, for soups, or else broiling over a hot charcoal re f
or beef or pork. Characteristic seasoning tends to be sesame oil and seed, soy s
auce, fermented bean paste (Doen-jang), salt, white pepper, chili, spring onion,
and garlic. By way of quick comparison with its neighbours, Korean food shares
a number of dishes with Japanese cuisine; but is generally more robust and punge
ntly avoured. Korean restaurants offering bland versions of Korean dishes are wid
espread in Japan. Korean food is also broadly similar to Northern Chinese cookin
g though, as a small geographical area with little internal climatic variation,
Korea lacks important sources of the culinary variety enjoyed by China. To start
off, perhaps wed better list some of the main styles of Korean cooking. In some
cases they overlap; but for the most part its dif cult to nd a restaurant in Korea o
ffering food from more than one style. Overseas Korean restaurants usually offer
a kaleidoscope of Korean dishes drawn from a variety of these different cooking
styles. 7D C9: Literally the food of the masses meaning ordinary, everyday food
. This is what you get at  N
small restaurants typically around universities, which
tend to feature soups based on beef and chicken stocks with accompanying rice an
d side dishes, and even simple instant noodles. At its worst it is like canteen
food; but, at its best, it is a simple and wholesome way of grabbing an inexpens
ive quick bite. [ Q N <D C9: Literally palace food, this is the tradition of royal c
ooking Koreas haute cuisine. Youd be most unlikely to nd any strong avours like chil
i or garlic here only the very subtle use of condiments to enhance the natural av
our of a predominantly vegetarian cuisine. Palace food consists of an amazing va
riety of avoursome wild plants, mushrooms, nuts and berries, with an occasional m
eat or sh dish. Pine nut broth, bell ower roots, gingko nuts, abalone mushroom are
typical ingredients in a cuisine which offers one of the most striking examples
of the deeply rustic, ethereal strain in Korean aesthetics. Palace food has a v
ery complex, precise tradition of food preparation, requiring years of training
and a good deal of labour in its preparation. Its not surprising, then, that ther
e are few palace food restaurants. These are mostly to be found in major hotels
in Seoul, and are extremely expensive. For most people, however, the experience
of eating in one will be unforgettable. N w9: The title simply means Korean food,
but Hansik restaurants in Korea are more up-market than ordinary restaurants, an
d offer a richer, more diverse array of Korean dishes. People normally order a s
et menu based on price, and get a number of courses, often representing regional
traditions of cooking. For most visitors to Korea this will be the best way of
getting an idea of what Korean cuisine is really capable of.
*  D x: A sign written i
n Chinese characters on a protruding signboard decked out with scarlet strips of
plastic and cloth usually announces the humble and ubiquitous Chinese restauran
t in Korea. The food served within will resemble Chinese food more or less depen
ding on what tradition of Chinese cooking youre used to. For Australians who are
usually familiar with Cantonese or Szechuan cooking the resemblance will be rath
er less than more. Basically, the food served in D< C9 is descended from regional
cooking brought to Korea T Q N nearly a hundred years ago from the Shandong region a
jacent to Korea, and greatly modi ed since then to satisfy with the demands of the
Korean palate. People use Chinese restaurants like 66 c G. Shin 2006

a  V  s;x. fast food outlets, catching a cheap unpretentious bowl of noodles or dumpli
ng in the Northern Chinese style. There are also more elaborate Chinese meals at
up-market establishments usually found in the major hotels and in expensive nei
ghbourhoods. Other restaurants: There are various other types of restaurants in
Korea specialising in particular dishes. These might include ginseng chicken (95
>), Buddhist vegetarian dishes (p>), green pea SV FF P  our pancakes (o7) or pigfoot
(D). Interest in foreign foods is growing slowly, but is still @ R not very high in
rea. In cities, almost all non-Korean restaurants outside the major internationa
l hotels are either Japanese, highly indigenised Chinese or else Western-style f
ast food outlets. Meals of the day Koreans eat three meals a day, and to the onl
ooker there may seem little distinction between the meals in terms of the food e
aten. As be ts a people with strong agricultural roots, breakfast tends to be a he
arty meal, with strongly avoured soups, rice and Gimchi, although this is changin
g particularly in cities like Seoul. Lunch is usually little more than a snack,
and the evening meal is moderate in quantity and generally eaten early. Attitude
to meat The Korean attitude to meat is different to the Australian attitude in
a number of ways. To begin with, it is extremely rare to nd a Korean who does not
express a strong distaste for lamb. Most cite the smell as the main reason and,
seeing that no distinction seems to be made between mutton and lamb in Korea, t
his is perhaps not surprising. Also behind the attitude seems to be a deep-seate
d cultural re ex, shared with the Japanese and most Chinese, in which people tradi
tionally contrasted their settled, agricultural, beef-eating ways with the nomad
ic, pastoral, mutton-eating and milk-drinking ways of the Mongols and other nort
hern barbarians. Its not as if the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans continue to look
down on their northern neighbours, of course. But since the constant threat of
northern invasion was a major theme of their respective histories in pre-modern
times, the dietary re ex seems to persist. Beef is the prestige meat in Korea, and
it is considerably more expensive than pork. In fact, just as N 3
tends t
o mean just one kind of Gimchi, so q tends to mean beef, unless otherwise speci ed.
It is therefore expensive, relative to pork and chicken (the other two major me
ats), and in the course of a normal household meal it is rarely eaten in the amo
unts that Australians are familiar with. However, for guests beef is often laid
on in abundance, and, in a very traditional mode of hospitality, a host might sa
y to a guest q  ;x (Eat plenty of meat!) to counteract any tentativeness the guest mi
ght  V aT feel. Attitude to alcohol Koreans have acquired something of a reputation a
s drinkers over the years, and this reputation can obscure the very careful, mod
erate attitude taken by most people in Korea. Wed advise you to observe Korean at
titudes to drink carefully rather than just accept this reputation at face value
. Above all, the use of alcohol is socially and ceremony-bound. The idea of a qu
iet, relaxing drink or two after work is not common, though sitting down and hav
ing round after round with work colleagues is more common, as is consuming consi
derable amounts of alcohol on weekend group picnics. In formally entertaining fo
reigners Koreans will rarely hit the bottle, since getting drunk together is an
expression of close friendship, and business colleagues are unlikely to risk los
ing their inhibitions until they are very familiar with the company they are in.
Foreign visitors will lose no respect by displaying a similar degree of self-di
scipline, even when pressed by their hosts.
c G. Shin 2006
67

= 12 V

12
t x, !wt x?  T
IN THIS UNIT ... Transportation and Travelling What number bus do you take? How
far is it? How long does it take? Locations The Emphatic Particle -s
DO WE GO BY TRAIN, OR BY BUS?
In Unit 4 we started learning how to identify places, in Unit 9 we learnt a bit
about the countries of the world, about asking people where they come from, and
where places were located. Now we bring these two themes together again to learn
how to nd out basic travel information, and describe our own travel experiences.
1 Conversation
 @ and Kylie are talking about going somewhere this coming weekend.
 @ : Kylie:  @ : Kylie:  @ : Kylie:  @ :
Kylie:  @ : Kylie:  @ : Kylie:  @ : Kylie:  @ : Kylie:  @ :
68

;x?
54tx?x. Rqt<xR", L
3 6,
V
 Bx.
EVX
T: EpNV


 T
,
T9<p
!wt
E
x?CV
.TtxR.T nBx
3p6?!wtSx.FV <p
=5<x.
nBx...p !
c G. Shin 2007

t x, !wt x?  T Translation

 @ : Kylie:  @ : Kylie:  @ : Kylie:  @ : Kylie: @ :  Kylie: @ :  Kylie: @ :  Kylie: @
ng this weekend? Shall we go to the Min-sok-chon? Min-sok-chon? You mean the Fol
k Village? Yes. Oh, thatd be nice. ... But, how shall we go by train or bus? We g
o by plane. Pardon? Just kidding. We go by subway to Suwon, and then by bus to t
he Folk Village. Lots of buses go there from in front of Suwon Station. I see. A
bout how long do you think itll take to get to Suwon? About an hour and half. And
to the Folk Village from Suwon? Well, about 30 minutes perhaps? I see. Lets set
off from Seoul Station at 8.00. Then well have two to three hours at the Village,
and in the afternoon lets have a look at Suwon. Mm, thatll be really nice. Suwon
is also famous for Galbi. Do you like Galbi? I sure do. Then, lets have some kalb
i for lunch.

Language Notes : we  The nBx (the Folk Village) is a large tourist park some thirty
kilometres south of Seoul in which many aspects of traditional Korean village life a
re on display. The Folk Village <x?: Do you mean Folk Village? You use the construct
ion R V R V <x? when you need additional explanation of what has been said. More p
ly, you provide the as an additional explanation and ask the hearer to con rm it.
6, x: x can be relative rather than absolute. It often means that, given the 3   alte
ves, something is preferable and acceptable, rather than actually good in its ow
n right. 7: By the way, ... L #:5: how T  : train  
t x, !wt x?: literall
y train, or do we go by bus? This is an  T A-or-B question in Korean, where two ques
ons
4: subway
are juxtaposed.
 <:
T: in
airplane
front of
 =5
<[x:VIm
nBx
justpkidding.
!w: bus Literally,
going to the
Its
nBxajoke.
S F
ut, approximately Note that it is attached, not pre xed, to the number expression
concerned. v/px?: What about ...?; How about ...?
Fx: We-ell W m VST -:
to watch
depart,
VST ...
anset
This
event,
off
is view
R
a future
 scenery,
q:tense
Andtake
...
marker
a look
(see
2, 3IUnit
j (14).
,-s:
; jan
):W
emphatic
two

to three
particle
hoursmeaning
 V al
 P P
so : Well, then ... c G. Shin 2007 69

= 12 V
2 Means of Transportation  :  T 
/
4     2 >4 
Buses in Seoul
boat, ship aircraft train urban electric train the subway tram, street car car
 T

!w

qB !w

bicycle bus express bus for inter-province travels

[ O}T T <@!w /  r!w
limousine bus to and from the Airport
 x| -(x)t

motorbike by (means of), with

6 !w

F T

V ? !w z T

6 !w rF T

V RF T

3 !w V

Blue Bus (urban bus travelling between Seoul CBD and outer Districts) Green Bus (urb
an bus travelling between a subway station and the nearby District) Yellow Bus (ur
ban bus travelling within a District) Red Bus (urban bus travelling between Seoul
CBD and a Satellite City)
Guessing the meaning of words The task of learning enough vocabulary in a foreign
language to enable you to function in most situations is, of course, a lengthy o
ne. However, youll nd as time goes by that this task is made easier by the fact th
at Korean vocabulary items are often composed of common elements, and more and m
ore we come to recognise these. In this unit the literal meaning of some vocabul
ary items is as follows.
>4  


 

self-move-vehicle steam-vehicle ground-under-steel electricity-vehicle


 2

 T  4

self-rotate-cart line-vehicle

y-travel-machine electricity-steel

Of course, this happens in English too, and the counterpart in English for>
is automobile,  where auto- means by itself and mobile means moving. The Instrumen
tal Particle: -(x)t In Korean we can use - (x)t to indicate the instrument by whi
ch we accomplish something. The x is inserted before all consonants except  note t
he
4t case
in the
ofexamples
t and
 below. The instrument may actually be an implement, or a mean
ransport as in the examples below. EXAMPLES
tT.4T O Q N # F T w< C9v 6xt #x. t h  -x.
70

} V T t @q< !w x.  

I eat Korean food with chopsticks. Im writing with a pencil. We go to school by b

us. Lets go by subway.
c G. Shin 2007

t x, !wt x?  T

3 Travelling BH d: \ BH d:J \ G U #T U #T 

p o
 T 
 -; V F  j P     > l U   W
tourism tourist trip, voyage travel agency ticket, token ticket counter plane ti
cket train ticket (counter for tickets) timetable distance fare, charge the seas
ide the countryside
(SKR!w
 )
T 
1 6qG
TX +#" } s<
s ... N ...(<)" V XN ... ...(x)t B"

X

get on, get into, catch a vehicle ride get out of, off a vehicle go on foot, wal
k arrive depart, set off commute (Lit. go to ... regularly) Bus No ... a bus goi
ng to ...
(

) q -/x 

DESTINATION p !w

travel pass (Lit. transport card) from (a time) from (a place) to (a time/place)
via
The difference between @q<  and @q< x
} V 0x
} V From ... to ... In Korean point in time, the beginning point in an order of precedence, and N VX X -shows a
limit. With distances, however, we usually add <" (just " before vowels) before
the 
to indicate that it is a physical location that is the starting point, and
in fact the ensuing
is N N often omitted. Note also that in talking about our tri
ps, we use ...(x)t B" to indicate by a route that
X passes through .... EXAMPLES

sho

6  9 < Bx. N  O [ We study from 6 to 9. m  } V x N |x@q< x. We go to schoo

. ^ We walked from here to the station. X<X    "V" pT q x. Were going from Se
. P VX N X  T C<" xt B" t#x. We went from NY to Rome via London. ^
c G. Shin 2007
71

= 12 V
4n Words
P X 8"
for Expanding Sentences q  
And ... (between sentences) But ... So ...
 

L 7

Or ... By the way ...

5 What Number Bus Do You Take?
To ask this question we say:

T  /  !w x?

NOTES: / = How many ...?;  = number; !w =

T bus; - = object marker; x? = do you take?  NOTES: When the SK number is greater
an one hundred, you can read the number digit by digit.
To answer, substitute a Sino-Korean number for /.
SK !w x.  T 
EXAMPLES

 T  / !w x? SSS F FF  T  9L99 !w x. S 9 S F S F T  9, F, 9  !w

To ask about distances in Korean we say:
What number bus do you take? I take the number 333 bus. I take the number 3, 3,
3 bus. I go (Lit come) to university by bus number 709.
PLACE A - (<)"( ) PLACE B -  2 x? V X N   
NOTES: -(<)"( ) = from (a place); = up to/as far as;  = distance;  = subject particle
; 2 = V X N    about how much?; x? = does it amount to?
To answer, substitute 2 with the relevant distance.  EXAMPLES

U XN    #"  2 x? How far is it from here to the station? 2 t x. N Its

How far is it from the station? Its 4 kilometres. How far is it (from the place w
eve been talking about) to here? Its 10 kilometres.
72
c G. Shin 2007

t x, !wt x?  T

7 How Long Does It Take?
To nd out how long something takes we ask:
P
 O / j +x? PK j +x.  O P
Time/Distance - N

/ = How many ...?; j = hours; x? = does it take?  P +O

To answer, substitute a Pure Korean number for /.
It takes PK hours.
When we are referring to time in the context of casual or social arrangements, N
often follows the
time (or distance) concerned. N corresponds to the English pr
actice of adding about in similar contexts
Come about 7.00; See you about 3.00;
Its about 5 kilometres from here, etc.
  V x 3 N  x;x. Come again around 3 pm. X<X  
P P U X   #" N  5 t N x. N
Its about 5 kilometres from here to the station.
8 Some Locations ] V < [ V <
V 2<
outside in front of next to
P V q< V < W

F V 7v <

inside behind opposite

EXAMPLES
 V T

O "V" p
p 6 jN +x. It takes abo

v < #x. B [ < N [E

V T C9v O 2< #x. Wv F V T 7 < #x. *F V T ; q< #x. Vv P
The coffee shop is in front of the station. The restaurants next to the park. Its
opposite the station. The toilets inside the station.
s is an emphatic particle with the meaning too/also. It replaces /, v/p and /: 
T  

 > x. n s x.

P Japchae is nice. Mandu is nice too.  

    q

Ji-Su likes Bulgogi. Tae-U likes Bulgogi too.

T < QT [ T O w<# O Bx. t#s < Bx. I study Korean. I also study Japanese. [
However, is added to any other particles, eg, -<, -<" and -(x)t: s V VX
T QV V w<< x. t<s x.

Im going to Korea. Im going to Japan too. VX \ T

I eat dinner at home. I eat dinner in restaurants too. Its famous for Galbi. Its a
lso famous for Soju.
c G. Shin 2007
73

= 13 V

13 D
IN THIS UNIT ... Family members Periods of Time Using the Possessive Case Partic
le - Using the Comitative Case Particle -/-  Whats your telephone number/name?
has it been since ...? Making longer sentences using -q (and) and -n (but)  P
FAMILY
The Korean family unit is an extended family unit whose complex inter-relationsh
ips contrast strongly with the Western nuclear family system. In this Unit we st
art to gain a feel for this complexity as we acquire a basic vocabulary for desc
ribing family members. We also learn to make longer sentences, using a couple of c
onjunctive endings.

1q Yun-Mis
q: #x. 5family
5
GT
6 D<x.
 V v?3v ,V3
 q u4
q: "N
F5 q, G
N
V V?vC<x.
, 4>M
 #x.
W x  F  T S
Language Notes
q:-6:
NOUN
sand
(when
NOUN
used
3with aN
personal
  name)
" N: grandmother
D: family u4:
VST-(TENSE)-q:
parents -/-
SENTENCE,
=
and ...
: elder sister 4> :
  S M F younger brother -: s (Possessive Case Marker)
rment form) : mummy    (endearment form) @: (respected persons) name !: gran
pected person to) }
"T   die, pass away VST-(x) TIME PERIOD -: Its been TIME WOR
9 : family members -n:
 2 N  P SENTENCE, but ... 3
; puppy C: Lit. the little
(miaow) V F 


O F 8=
C %
O F FF F F 8@
74
c G. Shin 2003

89 8v 8

OV O

D
2 Family: Parents, Siblings, Grandparents, Spouse & Children T #N   T !  N u4 A
mother, mum mum, mummy father, dad dad, daddy parents (a males) elder brother (a
females) elder brother (a males) elder sister (a females) elder sister younger sibl
ing younger sister younger brother
AV = 9

" N

"T !N y u4  "T ! "  N

S F 4 1 6  

brothers sisters grandmother grandfather grandparents maternal ... (maternal) gr

andfather (maternal) grandmother husband wife son daughter

3 Other People D
N 9  N  9 u V F u ; 6 S  /<   /< T #r U #S F 4 <q
family family members a family of ve all together a total of 3 people baby child
adult woman, female man, male lover, sweetheart boyfriend girlfriend simply, as
it is
Z s
, y
R

T y!

T  y#N O FT ;v!O FT  ;v#N S F 9x F 9x S  Bu

relative T A ! (married)

, niece

T 1 y! 6 T F ! 4>

(married) S M O

 u  u

qu

FT 6 ;v! 1 T AV !

Language Note: To say so and so is just a friend of mine, rather than your boy/g
irlfriend, you can use the expression 4 as in 4 s <x (He/She is just a friend).
G. Shin 2003 75

G V G

= 13 V
4 Some Useful Expressions #@T  ~ q@
P >q 2 >q ...? P  SK q
>P  
be born grow up home town for, period of time for how long ..? for SK years move
house
 =|
D
 +| ?

} @

w * ~ O G :|

die be done, become name

(a respected persons) name
address telephone number be engaged to marry, get married divorce, get divorced r
e-marry
move in (ie to ones current address) move away (ie to a new address) pass away (f
or a respected person to die)
5 Periods of Time: Summary
Here is a summary for how to refer to periods of time in various ways. To ask:

P
/ t >q ...? P P
 / j >q ...? U >q ...?
To answer:

P *

How many minutes? How many hours? How many days?

>P
/ q ...? R P
/ >q ...? P
/ >q ...? SK q

>P PK q R >P SK q >P

q ()

How many weeks? How many months? How many years?

SK t >q
EXAMPLES

P PK j q 

P >P SK >q

for SK minutes for PK hours for SK days

for SK weeks for PK months for SK years
4 t >q ()

P  10 t >q ()

P 2 j >q ( )  P

P 3 j >q (;)  V P

for 4 minutes for 10 minutes for 2 hour for 3 hours for 5 days for 7 days
for 1 week for 6 weeks for 1 month for 8 months for 4 years for 9 years

LANGUAGE
(a period
NOTES
of one
More
day),
traditional
 (two days),
expressions
   for
  (three
days are
days),  (four days), l; ( ve days),
are instead of ,  , 9 ,   U >  F  S , x , etc.) In talking ab
ed, but seemingly only up to, say, nine. Thus, dont be surprised if you hear Kore
ans mentioning w ,
, ; , 6 , etc. V 3 Note also that the
four months) also R V R R 3 R exist. c G. Shin 2003 76

D
6 It belongs to ...: the Possessive Case Particle -
When we want to say that such-and-such belongs to so-and-so, we can link the ite
m concerned and the owner using -. The pronunciation of the syllable can vary acc
ording to context, and when it is the Possessive Case Particle, it is pronounced
as though it were in fact written /</. Note also that in V normal colloquial sp
eech is usually omitted. EXAMPLES
! <x. p

q FV qu p u 4<x.

This book belongs to Mrs Hong. Tae-U is Seon-Yeongs friend.

rother. qu is ones fathers sisters husband.

T y!is ones fathers elder b

7 Doing together with ...: the Comitative Case Particle -/- 

When we want to indicate that were doing something with a person we can use -/-. We
use -   after a vowel, and - after a consonant. Note that this runs counter to the p
ractice with other particles, where the forms of the particle which have initial
q,consonants
which weve
follow
learnt
preceding
already.)
vowels.
  When
(In general
referring
-/-
to marriage,
are interchangeable
note that Korean
with -says A m
arried with B., in contrast to the English A married B. EXAMPLES

y |T rv + #x.
 Susan married George.  |T yp r + #x.
 George ma
Therere many dogs and cats in my (Lit. our) house. V a 8 Whats the Phone Number?
To ask this question we can say
* T ~ #:5 x?
NOTES: #:5 = How ..?; x? = - + #x = ... T T is it done/shaped?

To answer, we usually give the district digits as one number followed by <, mean
ing in (the pre x V area) ..., and then we give the following numbers individually u
sing Sino-Korean numbers. Thus 3456 6789 will be 9LxC< C, , , . S
R F V *
however, we give the numbers individually using SK numbers.
9
Whats Your Name?
To ask this question (not in an abrupt way), we can say:

 ? #:5 x?
or
NOTES: ;x is a more polite form for x. You V use ;x when the person you speak about i
a V respected one.
} T V @ #:5 ;x?
To answer you simply give your name and -<x/-<x or -. W V  c G. Shin 2003
77

= 13 V
10 How long has it been since ...?
To ask this question in Korean we can say:
VST - (x) 2 2#x?   T
LANGUAGE NOTES v/ = noun modi er form; = since; 2 = How much (time);  = about; 2#x? =
... has been    T  done/completed? #x is often shortened to #x. T 2 pT
To answer:
VST - (x)/ TIME PERIOD 2#x.
EXAMPLES

 T

V   T ~ < xp 2 2#x? How long have you been in Australia?     T7 
 w
he last train departed. O R
   T < v w jN 2#x.
P Its been an h
Its been ve months since I started Korean. R 11 Making longer sentences ...
Two sentences, complementary meaning-wise, can be combined into one as follows.
VST1 - (TENSE) - q, VST2 -
EXAMPLES
4t
T q,QT
V" =
 p  w<#p

q T B. nBx
p!wt
x?  R x ?v @ q,  v ?

V FW 9<x.  QVX

Korean is interesting and very easy. My elder brothers name is Tae-U, and my elde
r sisters name Sang-Mi. Tae-U studied in the US, and Ji-Su in the UK.
Shall we go to Su-won by the subway, and then from Su-won to the Min-sok-chon sh
all we go by bus?
However, when we want to combine two seemingly contradictory sentences we can sa
y:
VST1 - (TENSE) -n, VST2 -  P
EXAMPLES
 T O  @ p # < n, p
78

[  P

[  T OT # <

#x.

O N # F

Tae-U studied English, but Ji-Su studied French.

We eat Korean-style food with spoons and chopsticks, but we do Western-style foo
d with forks and knives. Koreans dif cult but interesting. Gimchis a little hot but
tasty.
c G. Shin 2003

D
12
Cultural Notes: the Korean Family
The traditional Korean family typically consisted of three generations living un
der the one roof the grandparents, their eldest son and family, and unmarried yo
unger children. The position of head of the household passed from eldest son (ca
lled F4) to eldest son. Thus eldest sons continued to live in their VF ;S parent
s house after marriage, while the other children left home at, or soon after, mar
riage; the sons left to establish their own households, and the daughters to liv
e in the household of their husbands. The eldest son was the sole inheritor of h
is fathers property, and was the only person who could perform the rites of clan
ancestor veneration. The eldest son provided the link to line of ancestors that
may go back hundreds of years, ancestors whose names were recorded in a clan gen
ealogy register held by individual households known as a Jok-bo (Dv). As a matte
r of course, children growing up in a Korean
household became familiar with their
familys ancestry, and aware that they belonged to such-and-such a branch of a cl
an. Korean society has passed through a rapid period of social change since the
Korean War (195053). As a result it is hard to generalise about the modern Korean
family. However, the vast majority of Korean children today are still raised in
a system that continues to have many elements in common with the traditional sy
stem. In modern Korea the family remains the key unit of society, and the family
is typically an extended family that includes cousins, uncles and aunts from th
e fathers, and to some extent the mothers, side of the family. In contrasts to the
Western pattern of a nuclear family of independently-minded individualism, who
can call upon a wide range of social services and bene ts, this extended Korean fa
mily determines many key aspects of the shape of its members lives, while pooling
its nancial (and other) resources to a far greater degree than its Western count
erpart. Family members become used to thinking and acting as a unit, rather than
as an individual. The Korean family unit is, like the Korean society in general
, male dominated. While families may vary in terms of what they actually arrange
, it is still a principle in Korea that upon marriage the daughters leave the ho
usehold for their husbands household and the children of the marriage belong to t
he husbands clan. (Perhaps clan in modern Korea can be q). When we look at the forma
l roles P played by men and women in Korea it is easy to focus on the subservient
role of women. It may be true that fathers (and, for that matter mothers as well
) are generally more pleased if they have a son than if they have a daughter, an
d that, like their Western counterparts, women who seek to challenge or extend t
he conventional role of women meet with formidable obstacles, but a debate that
concentrates on such negatives nds it easy to overlook the enormous informal powe
r wielded by Korean women. The accepted Korean male role is to deal with the outs
ide world, while women deal with the household. In practice this means that men p
ractically exclude themselves from household matters, including interaction with
their children and responsibility for the household nances. It is customary for
Korean men to hand over their entire pay packet to their wives and then draw an
allowance. The wives are then responsible for handling the rest, not only taking
care of household nances but also investing any surplus in a bewildering range o
f formal and informal nancial institutions. Through their constant interaction wi
th their children and with other female members of the extended family, and thro
ugh their nancial acumen, Korean women exercise a decisive in uence in the rise and
fall of families. In short, it may be true that the oldest male member of the h
ousehold has the nal say over a good many family matters, but often the terms of
those choices have long been set by the women of the household. Discussing the K
orean family system is a vast and fascinating topic. We suggest you take the opp
ortunity of discussing it with any Koreans you may know. Talking about the doing
s of family members is a very natural topic of conversation for most Koreans, an
d provided the questions are not too intrusive, you should gain a much greater i
nsight into how the Korean family functions than is possible from merely reading

about it.
c G. Shin 2003
79

= 14 V
14
IN THIS UNIT ... Education Im going to ... I want to ... Before/After ... The Par
ticle -n (only) P
< <x? [ O W
WHATS YOUR MAJOR?
In this unit we learn to talk about our educational experiences, looking back to
the past, but also looking to further study and graduation. This often involves
talking about our likes and dislikes, and so we learn how to express these as w
ell.
1 A story about @ ... 
q q@q<
RW @
J @}
R#x.
J @ ><x. 19
p6}DVDq>@q
}T
E2
7@q<
V TT
@ #x.
J 22<##x.
D
7 RJ
D } ^ R" W
E7@q
 }2V <x.

80
c G. Shin 2003

 

[ O W < <x?
2 Education: Some Basic Expressions 
kindergarten primary school

E }

z>@q

D@q

} q>@q

VPK} R ...<
...
 .../
#
D VJ T
10x.../
DRJ
 2
.../
   ...< @
... years old the time when ... at the age of ten attend (school, etc) enter sch
ool, matriculate go into graduate come out of complete, nish
junior high school (Years 7 9) senior high school (Years 10 12)
secondary school graduate school school entry graduation graduation ceremony
Vocabulary Expansion: Guessing the meaning of words
  x

T #x

T # }N @9

V F 2; }

z>@M

go out of, leave a place come out of, appear, arrive come in go in, enter an entr
ance ceremony

D@M

} q>@M

}

7@M

}E

7@M

2M }

@M

a middle school student a high school student

a university (undergraduate) student
a postgraduate student a graduate a new student
testamur, a diploma of graduation
a primary school student
3 This weekend Im going to ...
When we want to talk about our plans for the future, we usually say
(x) = inserted if VST ends in a consonant;  =
indicates potential state;  =  = thin
g, situation, W <x = is.
Im going to read books this weekend. When are you going to go to Korea? Im going t
o study Korean next year. Im going to graduate from (my) university at the age of
twenty-two.
VST - (x) <x.
EXAMPLES

c G. Shin 2003
81

= 14 V
4 Education: More Expressions SK @ } (SK) @
Year 1, 2, etc (Lit. class year)
semester/term (1, 2, etc) end of semester
B,

B
B}
 @  (...
 t| @)
u
...?

>

} @

R }

P Z Dj  Z  v

q } P  @ x Q qC F

8 }

@M

marks, results credit points undertake ... fail (a subject) receive an education
overseas student boarding, boarding house university hall, dorm part-time work
Which ...?
mid-term/semester examination
do well in an exam not do well in an exam school holidays a major a minor subjec
t of study

Language Notes (Some Irregular Verbs): The verb >- in @ >- literally means to list
en. To make a Polite

Informal statement, or ask a question, with this verb ste
change the syllable- nal  to  and add #x. T Thus, we say ; #x (I undertake three subje
ts). V T @
Language Notes (School Years): We refer to a persons year of schooling a
ollows.
}

z>@q 5 } (x)

@ }

z>@q 6 } (C)

D@q 1 @ ()

year 1 of primary year 6 of primary year 2 of junior high year 2 of junior high
}

q>@q 1 } ()

F q>@q 3 } (9)

@ S }

7@q 1 } ()

year 2 of senior high year 3 of senior high year 1 of university year 4 of unive
rsity
5 General
\ $
-< Nq
 V
;0PK }E
j <@V P
ISK
< V
enter the workforce, get a job
earn money
V < - < V PK j < 

V P SK < V

V <

 B O F

; [ xt

before that after ... after PK hours after SK days after that this year last yea
r in the future
private academy, coaching college operate, run an organisation
rst of all before ... before PK hours before SK days
82
c G. Shin 2003

@ }

[ O W < <x? Vocabulary Expansion: Guessing the meaning of words

} @Z R }  @Z

Z 2 NZ ; 1 @

entrance exam (school) end of semester exam graduation exam entrance exam (compa
ny) Semester 1
} S}

J 7@q F@ D

9 X S < 1

6 NTT :#!

ut-

at Year 3 of university this year next year forget not know

Language Notes (Some Irregular Verbs): When we make a statement, or ask a questi
on, if the verb stem ends in t and the syllable immediately before t ends in a v
owel, we (1) drop I, (2) add  to the preceding syllable,
and (3) add -x (or -x). To
say I dont know, we say x in Korean. The verb stem is ut-, and  N   this is h
her forms of ut- include #x (I didnt know). 
T ^
6 Subject of Study, Faculties -@ } w<@ T Q} #@ T}
} s@ T} #@ #s@
... Studies Korean Studies Language Studies Literature Linguistics
} @

} qs@ -} @

}@

[ O} <@ }

} @

-7@ }

} s7@

T}

Science humanities social sciences natural sciences Engineering Mathematics Medi

cine Faculty of ... Arts Faculty Business Faculty Faculty of Education teaching
department the Korean department
English Language & Literature
History political Science Economics Business Studies Law Education Philosophy
7 The Particle -n (only ...) P
The particle -n (only) replaces -/- and -/-, but is added to other particles. P 

dV  T s\<p @ n #x. B P^ Only Tae-U went to library. \ T  Q#  $p t# q :x.

learn Korean. P T P  VX O

p;x.
<"n
Ask"x.
questions
P I drink
only in
coffee
Korean
only
in at
thehome.
classroom.
RP
p V
TR POK p <n "x. I drink beer only
c G. Shin 2003 83

= 14 V
8 I want to ...
When we want to express a strong desire we can say:
VST - q #x.
EXAMPLES

q B
a.|


( T
v/p)
q VST
 0q-#x.
q #Bx.
1 V QV

EXAMPLES

T
T6<
w<< vq #x.

T T

Q N T

I want to earn a lot of money. I want to visit Korea next year. I want to try Ko
rean dishes. I want to marry you, Seon-Yeoung.
But when talking about other peoples desires we say:

   T @ p q  0q #Bx.
a Tae-U wants to earn a lot of money. 1 V QV T
xt year.  wQ N T T
qp#Bx.
< C9Ji-Su
#vqwants
#x. Kylie
to marry
wants
Seon-Yeoung.
to try Koreandishes.
9 AFTERT...
   T p  +|
When we want to describe a sequence of events we can link them as follows.
VST - (x) C< ...
EXAMPLES

V

V  T P v C< #x. After reading a book I drank water. TR
I will go to Korea.  VX }   V s<" q>@q s <
C After I nished my high school in
urne. 1T T !rxt #x. ^
 V N" W 2w C< ; <x. After I graduate Ill get
Another way of linking a sequence of events is as follows.
VST -  < ... V
EXAMPLES

  V T  < P 2#x. Before drinking water I read a book. T QV w<<  < w<
to Korea. TR
V Q  W 1T  !rxt  < V Before moving to Melbourne, I att
.
N V TJ 9
84 c G. Shin 2003

[ O W < <x?
11
Cultural Notes: Education

The South Korean education system follows a 6-3-3 pattern, comprising six years
of primary school (z>@q), three years of middle school (D@q), and three years of
high school (q>@q). }
}
}
Kindergartens or pre-schools (
) are not re
formal education system. Primary  E and middle school education is compulsory and
more or less free, and the curriculum includes subjects such as moral education,
Korean language, social studies, mathematics, natural science, physical educati
on, music, art and a foreign language (English). Upon completing primary school
students enter middle school for Years 79 of their secondary education. Middle sc
hool students are usually aged between twelve and fourteen. For the nal three yea
rs of secondary education, students enter high schools. In the mid-1980s, 96% of
middle school graduates were going on to high school, and the rate has been ste
ady ever since. There are two types of high school, academic high school for fur
ther general education and vocational high school, where more specialised vocati
onal training (agriculture, shing, industrial trades etc) is incorporated into th
e curriculum. For several years before high school graduation the life of the Ko
rean student is dominated by the need to prepare for university admission examin
ations ( =). The exams mostly involve multiple 
Z choice-type answers to questions acros
a curriculum so broad as to require many hours of daily study during this perio
d. The effort usually involves the whole household, with parents and other famil
y members taking special care to ensure their children obtain the best possible
result. The pressure for entering a good university is intense, often depriving
the students of any real social life, the system is frequently criticised by Kor
ean educationalists because of this, but the country remains locked into the sys
tem. Alongside the undoubted down-side to the pressure, it should be mentioned t
hat while there are more than a few casualties, successful Korean graduates appr
oach working life with a strongly disciplined and well acculturated background,
and the countrys economic transformation could hardly have been achieved without
the cohesive and talented professional class that this system has produced. Most
leading Korean universities and other institutes of higher education are privat
e institutions, but come under the supervision of the Ministry of Education as,
of course, do the primary and secondary schools. Public universities, or Nationa
l Universities as they are known, operate one to each province of the country, a
nd tend to be the rst choice of intending students over rival private institution
s. Particularly noteworthy in this regard is Seoul National University ("7@q, or
"7 for short), X}
X   whose graduates all but monopolise leading professions such as law
banking, education and the public service. While it is not always helpful to co
mpare institutions, at least in the social sciences and humanities SNU is univer
sally regarded as pre-eminent. Other prominent institutions include Yonsei Unive
rsity (;7@q, or 7 for short), Korea University (q7@q, or q7 for short), and V}
 O}
iversity ("37@q, or "37 for short) in Seoul, and Pusan National University XF} V XF
V ( p7@q, or p7) in Pusan. In science and technology institutions such as the Korea
n } P  P Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and Pohang Institute of S
ience and Technology (Postech) are also highly regarded. There are some signi cant
differences between Korean and Western university life. As huge demand for tert
iary places in a predominantly private system produces huge class sizes, courses
comprise of mass lectures and no tutorials; there is in general little in the w
ay of intellectual contact between staff and students. Also, extra-curricular ac
tivities assume greater signi cance. Students form their own little study groups,
usually revolving around social, political or religious issues. A good deal of e
nergy is also poured into sporting and hobby clubs and societies. The university
thus becomes the centre of student social life even on weekends and in holiday
periods, and the sense of attachment to alma mater is very strong. It is often o
bserved that the achievement of the Korean education system is to be found, not
in the education it imparts, but in the socialisation process that Korean studen

ts go through (which is in part responsible for the intense pressure for enterin
g a good university).
c G. Shin 2003
85

= 15 V
15
 "    x?

IN THIS UNIT ... Sports, Hobbies, Games and Pastimes Do you know how to ...? The
Auxiliary Verb: VST - /#/ B vT  Have you (ever) ...? Would you like to ... Using
ription Verbs: Modifying Nouns
CAN YOU PLAY BASEBALL?
Talking about the sports, activities, hobbies and pastimes we enjoy is another v
ery basic way of communicating information about ourselves. In this Unit we lear
n to talk about these things.
1 Do you (know how to) ...?
Q: E x?

R "   A: 6, x. 3  R

Q: E

x? R    A: y< x. S  XR

Q: > R

;x?  V

A: Fx, s x. W m R

Q: r8 V R A: x, s Bx.  

;x?
;?
Q: ]  Vx A: 6, 

B. 3  x

Q: s  ?
"  x
R A: x, x.  
Q:

s B ,#x?   T
86
c G. Shin 2003

A: ; s B ,#x. N  T

 "    x?

2 Sports, Hobbies, Games and Pastimes 

: =

E O F

>

s 
 B
volleyball basketball baseball football/soccer ping pong swimming boxing surf ri
ding horse-riding
 

   >

V F ;

X >" ]   P >p I 

hobby game
Baduk (Korean Go game)
Janggi (Korean Chess) stamp collecting reading
ng

shing mountain climbing horse raci

3-/Some
t Verbs
>()
O F V F>()
;()
 play
E()
(Lit. strike,
 r8()
hit) ping pong
dance (a dance)
-E()
()
q()]

v
 r() N

popular take photos play soccer go

shing drive

sing (a song)
play (Lit. place, put) Baduk
play Janggi
Vocabulary Expansion: Guessing the meaning of words
R @w 9 E

N

~ 9 E

   

 w

tennis American football Australian football rugby cricket skiing

W  } N v6
s  

  

r  
golf bowling bicycling card game/cards piano guitar
LANGUAGE NOTES:

r-(do), -not
(hitting
- (play),
the piano)
in talking
  about
Korean
playing
uses various
the verbsports and musical   instrum
ents. However, in the case of sports that require, generally speaking, the hitti
ng of a ball, or in the case of playing musical instruments with the ngers, Korea
n uses the verb
- (strike, hit). Thus,  W  } (golf ), @w (tennis), > (ping pon
g), :sn (badminton),  (guitar),

r (piano), R

O F

   etc are all used with the verb

-, ie .../ %x. 

= 15 V
4 Do you know how to ...
When asking about activities requiring knowledge or training, we can say:
... VST - (x) x?
EXAMPLES
 "  V 

;x?

R  
 *  V

r ;x?

  V w ;x?  ; E  Vx?
Yes, I know how to ... To answer in the positive we can say
Do you know how to play baseball? Do you know how to play the piano? Can you wri
te Chinese? Can you dance?
3 6, ... VST (x) x.
EXAMPLES
3 "   6, x.

R  

R  *  

r x. R
R    w x. 3    6, E x.
I dont know how to ... And in the negative

Yes, I know how to play rugby. I know how to play the piano. I can write Chinese
. Yes, I can dance.
 x, ... VST - (x) x.
EXAMPLES

 "    x.  *  

 

r x.    x, w x.

Other options ...

   E x.

I dont know how to play rugby. I dont know how to play the piano. No, I cant write
Chinese. I cant dance.
...(/)
R
be good at/do something well
do something slightly
...(/)
sRs...(/)
be not really good at ...
be no good at all at ...
...(/)
Sy< X

In responding to ... VST - (x) x? questions, you may be tempted to say: 6, y<
R  
(intending to mean Yes, a little). However, this in fact sounds a bit haughty in
Korean, possibly  because of its af rmative aspect, i.e., 6, ... Bx. A more standard,
modest response would be: 3  R s Bx. (Lit. I cant do it very well). Here, is the ke
without it you simply mean that you cant.  R A de nite declaimer of any ability in th
e eld under discussion is Bx. (Lit. (He/She) does it R  well). Of course, we cant sa
this about ourselves without sounding boastful, but we can use it to describe ot
her peoples abilities. 88 c G. Shin 2003

 "    x?

5 More Expressions [ O <   

@s  P N  l/> " 
7 F v>;
V  I
ball racquet Tae-Kwon-Do competitor team contest, match sports tournament sports
eld contest/race
X |" V =

ps T   

O F C:

>-

by oneself rst, the most ... hard, dif cult newspaper magazine letter write music l
isten to
Language Notes: The vowel I in - (use) drops out when attaching the -#x ending, a
nd thus -x; T  h Also the  in >- (listen to) changes to  when attaching -#x, and
T O
F T
6
The Auxiliary Verb: VST - /#/ B vT 

The verb v- (see) can be attached to another verb, adding some abstract sense of
trial, experience, etc. In effect, the attached v- indicates that we perform an act
ion (as indicated by the preceding verb) while we are non-committal about the ou
tcome. Weve already met such an example; T # v- as in 3 # ,#x? (Have you tried th
e Gimchi?) which literally means Did you N T T eat kimchi and see (what it was li
ook at the contrast between the following pairs.
T P 2#x?

T T P # ,#x?

 T r8 2#x?

 T

s B ,#x?

 T

s #x?  7 The Expression

s 
Did you read that book? Did you have a look at that book? Did you listen to that
CD? Did you have a listen to that CD? Did you have a try for sur ng? Did you surf
?
There are a few ways of changing a verb into a noun, and the suf x -, as in in

s, is one of  them. It has a similar effect of attaching -ing in English.

  
ride riding
 

s()  

s
Do you like sur ng? Whats sur ng like?
surf (Lit. ride waves) sur ng (Lit. wave-riding)
We can then say, for example:
 V

s 
;x?



s #Dx? TJ  

TO

sp =n D #x.

  T

s B vq #x.
Sur ng is fun but is a little bit dif cult. Id like to try sur ng.
c G. Shin 2003
89

= 15 V
8p Some
v> S More Expressions
FUN 
F
 
 l6#P
6 XR @|"w  Iv   I   V IF ; R I F @w(); V
a solo sport a sport for two players a team sport
F ; V A
NN 76? 
"  
" E 
 9  J X S q
P 0t
swimming pool swim wear Olympic Games boxing match soccer match everyday frequen
tly, often occasionally, sometime not especially
baseball team a tennis player
Competitor Hong Myung-Bo baseball tournament/match
a sports arena tennis court
Cultural Note: Hong Myung-Bo was an internationally famous Korean soccer star of
the 1990s and early 2000s.
9 Have you ever ...?
A common ways to ask someone about their past experiences:
VST - /# T B 

 Tx t () #?
NOTE: may be substituted for .
EXAMPLES
T QV T w<<  #x? t T
QN T   w<C9 # t  x? N
Yes, I have / No, I havent To answer, we can simply say
Have you ever been to Korea? Have you ever tried Korea food? Have you ever seen
American football? Have you ever tried to make kimchi?
3 T  T 6, #x. / x, 2#x. 10 Would you like to ...
A common way of suggesting things to other people is to say
VST - (x)x?
EXAMPLES

$ V  x \,

I 

< 8x?
90

 

  t| B v8x? 

V   , C <  x8x?

D "

 

Would you like to go to a party tonight? How would you like a part-time job? Wel
l then would you like to come again next week? May I have a cola? (Lit. Would yo
u like to give me a cola?)
c G. Shin 2003

8x?

 "    x?

11
Using Description Verbs: Modifying Nouns

Weve learnt how to say in Korean, eg Its delicious, Its hot, Its dif cult, Its good, et
c. We choose an appropriate description verb and attach endings, as we do with a
ction verbs. We thus say n #x, U > T x, #x, x, etc. H TO 
Let us learn how to use
bs to modify nouns, as in a hot day, a dif cult matter, and so on. There are three
rules to remember:
1. With description verb stems ending in - and 2-, we add p 
U > n U > n 2+ p =
U > n p U
EXAMPLE U
ries

 =   = 2

>  n 2p  = p

  = 2p

> N n p C9 tasty food U

>  N n 2p C9 unappetising food   = p

2. With description verb stems that end in ,  changes to , to which we then add .
} ET #- drop  + v =
 9v

TO #v

EXAMPLE   9v N
pleasing person

F  T o-

ov

hot Gimchi

3 

v  cold country

TO #v v> a dif cult sport

3. With all other description verb stems (with minor exceptions) we add  after vo
wels, v after consonants.

- +
I" =

-  - + v = a  ~
v I"
 v a v  ~w
c G. Shin 2003
EXAMPLE
I" Z v  an OK exam
n expensive liquor
91

 {

 N v C9 good food a S F v 6 many people

= 16 V
16  <x.  V
IN THIS UNIT ... Describing where we live Housework Adjectival clauses
THIS IS WHERE I LIVE.
In this unit we learn how to talk about where we live our accommodation and our
neighbourhood. We also take an important step forward in increasing our powers o
f expression in Korean by learning how to describe actions, situations and state
s using adjectival clauses.
1 This is my room.

Uq v;,
1 P9,
VV
1 #V
p 6V<<x.
F 6T 

 P; #x.
<
s r F F
Tx
<Vp V<7
Z X  #. << w B"  JB C
 U *FV , #p ;<x.

U V N  #p 2<x. 97, xt,

O NF T JF \ 9> #x. H;qp $ V

T  F V 

8x?
w r `

LANGUAGE NOTE: The pattern ... VST - /#/ B - " conveys the meaning: because .... T  X (
Weve in fact met this pattern already in =T" q (Sorry Im late) in Page 4.) Thus,
#X "
}Bx in the text means Because I did the cleaning this morning, my Z room is very cl
ean. 92 c G. Shin 2003

 V

 <x.

2 Rooms and Places <   C3 (@)C

VF ;> O
bedroom family room sitting room bathroom laundry room
 2 V NF 95 B d \ 

q E 

kitchen dining room entry (of a house) garage garden

3 More Rooms, Places, etc V F 8

V F v8 R  { 

| F 5 V
room
2E (SK) V ; (;) 6 V 1  v

 F v 6

two-storey house house/ at rent pay the rent the house next door next door neighbo
ur
room with under- oor heating
balcony apartment, at (back)yard
4Z Some
H . Description
  .
Verbs J C}
clean dirty noisy
TyC  /quiet nearby far away
LANGUAGE NOTES: Distances from a point When we want to say how far one location
is from another we use -<" as follows. VX
 V" T  <X /#x? ZQ VX T

><v vT<" /#x? T

VX  v <" x? ZQ V

Is the house far from the station? Is the post of ce far from the bank?
We can, of course, just as easily ask how near they are to each other.
Is the house near the station? Is the post of ce near the bank?
c G. Shin 2003
93

= 16 V
5 Furniture and Fittings  7 < V F v;
bed wardrobe cupboard kitchen sink
O NF 9> B

V F s; N  97

wks V F P9 V F P;

dining table (standing) lamp desk bookcase

6 Household Appliances and Equipment ;q JV HF
refrigerator electronic


  w  xt

 3 N VZ 9; VF ;> O   Z w
plates, dishes dishwasher washing machine iron (appliance) vacuum cleaner
microwave oven, electric stove
gas stove oven
7;F6Some
()
 OAction
N Verbs V>()
wash clothes, do the washing
do the ironing

ZE w()
  ()
clean, dust
do the gardening
have a bath

1()
H-wash

dishes, do the washing up @C()

8 How Often ...?

Next are adverbs of frequency, words that tell us how often things are done, some
of which weve studied already. On the left is a scale 100 0 to give you a very ge
neral idea of frequency, where 100 indicates all the time and 0 never. Note that
0t, D% and
` e ) are always used with q, ie P they occur in a negative sentence. For example
say
F Z ` 6v w D% q S
P Bx (He/she rarely cleans  his/her room). 100
V = vG  J X S
0t (+ Negative) ` D% (+ Negative) e ) (+ Negative)
c G. Shin 2003
always
75
usually
50 25 10 5 0
often sometimes not especially rarely never
94

 V  <x. Youll also nd useful to know the following expressions. (For how to refer to
s of time, see Page 76.)
R    9  9 R 

9 V < w 

everyday everyday every month every year once every second day
V < w 

< w 

V w < w 

V < w 

once every third day once a week once a month once a year twice a year
9 Telephone INSA
Using the telephone can often seem like the most daunting of tasks in a new lang
uage. However, the following phrases might at least help you to get to rst base.
The standard phrase in answering the telephone, equivalent to Hello. is:

UV #v;x. UVx N N V #v;, 3 M4 5;x? UVx N NV #v;, 3M4;x? UV #v;x, 1
Or you can ask for the individual concerned:
Hello.
If youre calling a private number, then youll want to ask for the person youre call
ing:
Hello, is Mr Kim Gi-Hyun there?
Or, if you feel fairly sure that youre already speaking to Mr Kim you can con rm th
is by saying:
Hello, is that Mr Kim?
If youre coming through a switchboard you can ask to be connected to an extension
number by saying:
Hello, (connect me to extension) 1234, please.
UVx N N

 V #v;, 3 M4 D 

;x.

Hello, please connect me with Mr Kim Gi-Hyun.

Well deal with other possible situations later on in this course, but its worth me
ntioning that Korean telephone etiquette may seem rather abrupt compared with, s
ay, Western phone etiquette. When the conversation nishes, for example, you may o
bserve people simply hanging up without any Goodbye! You may from time to time hea
r people saying #x, which literally means I disconnect the line. f T
10
Korean Addresses

Following is the address of Yonsei University, written in Korean. Note that in c

ontrast to Western practice it works from the broadest unit to the most particul
ar. That is, where we would use the order house number street suburb city state
country, Korean would use the reverse order. In order, the units in a Korean add
ress are generally -s (province), - (city), - (district), -> (ward), followed 
by a
house or apartment number. Street numbers are rarely referred to. Thus Yonsei U
niversity is located in Seoul ("G
 the of cial administrative title for Seoul), Seodaemun (West Gate) X 0 District, Sin
ew Village) Ward, Number 134.
hog* he cw "][ "7
c G. Shin 2003 95

134] ;7 u  

= 16 V
11 Adjectival Phrases and Clauses
Weve already seen how we can modify nouns using description verbs (see Page 91):
S  F v 6 H  v 
a good person a hot country
  = p 

> N n p C9

an interesting story a delicious food

Now we see how Korean uses action verbs in the same way. Completed Actions When
modifying a noun with a completed, or perfected, action:
AVST - (x) NOUN ...
Sentence building
P j

v Q F 8v

P T j !w

EXAMPLE +  = x Q F8 + v =

N v u4 1 F  6 8v Q

1 6 v P

the bus that has gone the guest who came the letter I received the book that I r
ead
v clothes  P  v The clothes that Mia bought ... p  *VX P  L<" v The clothes
epartment store ... p  *VX  # T  L<" p vv   #x. P
The clothes that Mia bought in the department store are very stylish.
Current Actions When modifying a noun with a current action:
AVST - p NOUN ...
Weve already seen phrases like nBx p !w (see Page 68), where the verb ending -p
sponds to which is (go)ing in the translation a bus which is going to the Folk Vill
age. While English uses a variety of relative pronouns: who, whom, that, which, w
hen, etc, Korean simply applies the relevant verb-endings, depending on whether
we are referring to completed, current or potential actions.
EXAMPLE 
c G. Shin
the train
the book
96

ut+ p =
p
utp
p p X  " p 
1 F 6
2003
that goes to Seoul someone that I dont know the food that Tae-U cant eat
that my elder sister reads

 V

 <x. Sentence building

P book U  #>M p P The book that my younger sisters reading ... U  FVX
y younger sisters reading in her room ... V U  FVX   T #>M 8<" p Pv  =
The book that my younger sisters reading in her room is really interesting.
Potential Actions When modifying a noun with a potential action:
+AVST
 =- (x)
Q NOUN
F 8+ ...
=
"

EXAMPLE
Sentence

building

Q F 8

" 1  Z 6 

 V F  < 8 q C Q

V N x< C9

something to do the exam that Im going to take tomorrow the money that Im going to
receive next week the food that Im going to eat in the afternoon
N C9
Language Notes

N C9 1 \ J

N 6 $ D C9

1 \ J N

W 6 $ D

food ... The food were going to eat ... The food were going to eat tomorrow evenin
g ... The food were going to eat tomorrow evening is Bulgogi.

An action verb whose stem ends in  requires a special attention: the  drops before
-(x), -p or -(x) ending is attached. Consider the table below.

In the table below

, notice also how the verb stem >- changes when -(x) or -(x) ending is

attached. W
e suggest you treat the verb >- as irregular, as indicated by the regular conjuga
tion
pattern of resembling verbs such as 8- and -. Q F
Stem (Meaning) R - (know) P n- (make) R - (live)  0- (earn (money))
>- (list
Q F 8- (receive) - (write, use) Adjectival Phrases/Clauses Completed Current Pote
ntial Polite Informal Present Past R  x P T n#x R  x T 0#x R^ T #x P 2
e [ O ... e [K LO ... e [ N ...  ... lK ...
Q F 8v ...

...
K N ... e [ K LwN ... K N ... QK !N ...
>p ... Q F 8p ... p ...
g ... e [l L ... g ... # ] ... ll ...
Q F 8 ...
...
iV  e [l LV iV  # ]V
 >B Q F  8B
 M
R^

 B P 2

lQ #|
Q F 8x
lQ +#|
Q^ FT 8#x
ll +V
Q^ F  8B
Q -|
Q 5#|
l  5V

 nB R^

 B 2B   0 

c G. Shin 2003
97

= 17 V
17
c

Z     v x.

IN THIS UNIT ... Describing people and things Colours and clothing
SHE LOOKS LIKE HER MOTHER.
In this unit we learn more about how to describe people and things, and also how
to make comparisons.
1 It seems/looks like ...
  x. Z


x. Z

 }s x. Z
]p .Z    x 

r
98

p .    x

p x.     Z
c G. Shin 2005

Z  c    v x.

2 Clothing and Accessories I   Z 

 \  $q  w
| O "z "z O

 H u
pants, slacks jeans skirt jacket skirt business shirt T-shirt (leather) shoes ne
cktie hat, cap
P I q  T

 @+  +

 o  5

Bv VR G : V

G :A

wA

glasses wallet, purse necklace earrings ring watch underwear socks suit Korean c
lothes
LANGUAGE NOTES $zP refers only to the Korean traditional upper outer garment ,is a Sino-Korean k  expression, meaning blue = neck T derives from the verb -, to
ng, and thus means ; 6 B e B e literally a hanger = inside - = set of clothes ; ;
i
3 Clothing and Accessories II

N w  T | x!/{

s8w

E

w 

w  w
}
sweater jacket coat, overcoat dress one-piece dress two-piece dress scarf
VT F ; R p

* v> d

 v 1
 6

qA

gloves shoes sneakers shorts underwear school uniform swimming suit

LANGUAGE NOTES When referring to a coat, you say either ! or (not ! ) in Korean m
straightforward; also frequently used for shorts is U z in z is obviously from z 
c G. Shin 2005
99

= 17 V
4 Action Verbs: Wearing Things, etc.
PUT
- ON ...

p

TAKE OFF ...

clothes hat, glasses footwear necktie, scarf, necklace, earrings
# -

LANGUAGE NOTES: Korean Verbs of wearing It would be useful to know at this stage t
hat for U (ring) and ~ (gloves), you use [- ( t
 m  in/into) in case of putting it o
d D- (take out) in case of taking it off. Note also that with S4 g  (watch) you us
e
- (attach, fasten on) and (- (take off ).  { All the verbs in the list in
dicate the process of putting on or taking off something, and thus you use them with
the perfect tense marker -/-2/ if you want to say that someone is/is ^   not wear
omething (see Examples below). This is to indicate, as it were, that we are desc
ribing the outcome of a process, rather than a state in itself. To say that some
one was wearing something at a point in time in the past, you use the perfect te
nse marker -/-2/ twice (see ^   Examples below). EXAMPLES

n T=p
Zv
T 22#x.
xv  P2#x.
d
But
He
heis
waswearing
wearingblue
shorts
jeans
yesterday.
today.  #V
u
T9
wT <#x. V Sh
at.
p * T v> 2#x. Hes wearing sneakers.
P   T @+p q #x. Shes not
is glasses.  #N  IT o U 5 #x. Shes wearing several rings.   "T { 5 #x.
He
5\Colours
R\
/M r\
R M  \ H 
100
colour, tint black black, blackish white white, whitish red yellow


\ z?M S F
c G. Shin 2005

8M -

blue green brown grey pink pink orange

tIM

N ?M 

xM

 Z  c    v x. LANGUAGE NOTES #r and u both mean Which ..., and are very
#r in the context T T of #r  6<x? (Which country does he come from?), and basically i
asks the T  FV S listener to designate one of a number of alternatives equivalent to
the English Which one?. On the other hand, u, eg up M<x?, seeks a descriptive answer
equivalent to
 V
u What type of ...?. Verb stems ending in

)( are irregular. If you want to say something is black, white, red, 

ate the verb as follows. (1) Drop the stem- nal

etc, you conjug

, (2) change the vowel = to   >, and (3) add x. Thus, The trousers are black will be 9x
Korean. Note also that when used as a modi er, (1) the stem- nal

drop, and (2)  (v) will be added. Thus,  black trousers will be n.   P
How do we
colour terms ending in the expression M (colour)? As modi er, they will simply be
placed in front of the noun they modify. Elsewhere, theyll be used with the verb  (
is, are). Thus, a green hat and The hat is green in Korean will be z?M uand up  
ely.
6
Some Description Verbs  3T # 2 b^ c^ I R M s MR
be young (animate, post adolescent) be young (animate, pre-adolescent)
be old (animate) be old (inanimate)

I  x8


 O F ;
 ;O W <  ?T d big tall small short (in height) pretty beautiful short (in length) long
resemble/take after (in appearance)
be handsome be ugly
old-fashioned, timeworn (inanimate)
LANGUAGE NOTES Note that some of the verbs above, chie y related to processes invo
lving growth and the ageing process, uniformly take the perfect tense marker /2-/ -.
This is to indicate that we are ^   describing the outcome of a process, rather tha
n a state in itself. EXAMPLES
F T 6v 2#x. S

 T

p b#x.

^   #x! R

MIT \ "T T $p !

Hes old. The cars old. What a handsome (lit. well-shaped) child! Ive taken after my
(maternal) grandfather.
c G. Shin 2005
101

= 17 V
7V More
q Useful
Expressions T # v  q *F  ;
try on clothes go around wearing put on make-up design a pattern,

gure

(looking) refreshing (looking) slim (looking) young (looking) comfortable elegan

t
8 Making Comparisons: the Particle v 
When we want to compare things, eg A is better than B, we use v as follows. 
A -  B - v () x.  H
EXAMPLES

RP tI   H  jM Mv  x.   H Whv

x. P 9 More about Negatives

  <,x. OP

F x 1:pv pv ?. P   

Red is better than pink. Skirts are prettier than trousers. Seorak-san is more b
eautiful than Jiri-san. Busan is bigger than Daegu.

Weve already met the negative adverb , which precedes the verb stem. This has anot
her form: P q  x. =  x. R  P     q R Ea <p N q #x. = <p 3 x.  
-- are almost identical in meaning, though the VST-- construction is P  a  a slightly
more emphatic in effect.
10 Its rather ...
Likewise, when we want to be less forthright we can say
... DVST - (x) <x.
EXAMPLES

V

NOTE:  = side, aspect

BT
V j!p D v <x.
 N
 V  3
p D 9v <x.
V p  y <x.    q v <x. P c  V

Canberra is a bit on the cold side. This kimchis rather hot. Yongsus rather tall.
The baby looks more like her father (than her mother).
102
c G. Shin 2005

Z  c    v x.

11
IT SEEMS AS IF ...
With Actions When we are conjecturing about a state of affairs we can say
... AVST EXAMPLES
(x)

p (x)

- x. Z  
NOTE: For completed actions, use AVST - (x) Z   x; for uncompleted actions, AVST - p
r potential actions, AVST (x)
 Z  x.
It seems to have rained. It seems to be raining. It seems as though its going to
rain.
x. Z     xp x.
With Descriptions

Z      x.

When our conjecture involves description verbs, we can say

... DVST EXAMPLES

(x)

(x)

x. Z  
NOTE: to refer to past or on-going experience, use -(x) x; when conjecturing what
  something/someone might be like, use -(x)
 Z  x.
This kimchi seems a little bit hot. This kimchi may be a little bit hot. The tro
users seem a little bit big. The trousers may be a little bit big.
p D 9v x.
Z  N
    3
With the verbs: -/- and -/2  

p D 9 x.

Z 

  D y x

Note that -, -, - and 2- combine with  x as follows.     Z

 
becomes either

Z  

or

q x

k x

  

Z Z   p x  

p x

2 Z

Z 

Z   x.

2EXAMPLES

 x.

  

becomes either

or

Z   x. Z   
G   q:q x. V Z

2 x.

G   q: x. V Z     5 k x. Z     5  x. Z

It looks like a cat. Itll be a cat, I guess. It doesnt look like a dog. It doesnt l
ook as though itll be a dog. He/She seems to have no money. It looks as though Ill
have time today.
c G. Shin 2005
103

F 

= 18 V
18
TX W #" <x? R
IN THIS UNIT ... Goods for Sale, Shops, Businesses, etc Talking about the Act of
Giving/Receiveing Future time words Introductory Statements Ive come to ... If .
..; If you want to ...
WHERE WILL YOU GET IT?
Going shopping is of course a basic human activity, and one that requires intera
ction and possibly negotiation with shop staff and others. Various facets of our
previous study are brought to bear on this topic, eg using Korean numbers (Unit
s 5 & 6), asking questions such as How much is it? (Unit 8), nding out where places
are located (Unit 9), getting around on public transport (Unit 12), basic Insa
(Unit 1), and describing things (Unit 14). In this Unit we also learn how to des
cribe the acts of giving and receiving.
1 Conversation
Annie is talking to a shop keeper.
Shop Keeper: Annie: Shop Keeper: Annie: Shop Keeper: Annie: Shop Keeper: Annie:
Shop Keeper: Annie: Shop Keeper: Annie: Shop Keeper: Annie: Shop Keeper: Annie:
Shop Keeper: Annie:
104

;x.
TX V
\#"
 .p7x.
Nx;x.
NV H
$P6 2
V D<q

x?
N oL
PT 3 I
#rVx6,
? \ 
V N $ sW
 V s w5< 8,000 D<x. ENV
L \ UN  
  V D {7x. $
n 3;x.
V
W
. /q5P;x.
3 U<x?
T V  FW
Y V
; 5XW<x.
6,R#V#x.
 ;q 5x?
 8 C$;x.
..."22,000
w<x. V ;x.
S F" E V /  5V  x
c G. Shin 2003

TX W #" <x? R Language Notes 2D ...?: When we want to N know the price per unit of
we use D, which means per N unit. Thus the question NV 2D<x? (How much each?) is ans
d in the dialogue by 8,000 D<x ENV (8,000 won each). # ...: # means several, UN UN and
indicates a general plural number. Two of the most common usages are #t, ... UN
wh
en address a group of people, and # (several kinds) UN  when indicating that a cert
ain item comes in a variety of forms. Translation
Shop Keeper: Annie: Shop Keeper: Annie: Shop Keeper: Annie: Shop Keeper: Annie:
Shop Keeper: Annie: Shop Keeper: Annie: Shop Keeper: Annie: Shop Keeper: Annie:
Shop Keeper: Annie: Welcome. Hello, Ive come to buy some souvenirs. Sure, look ar
ound. How much are those pictures each? Which ones? Those ones next to ceramics.
Right. 8,000 won apiece. 8,000 won? How much are these ones? Theyre 8,000 won ap
iece too. Thats a bit expensive. If I buy several, will you make them cheaper for
me? How many will you take? Ill take three. Three? Hmm ... 22,000 won. Too expen
sive. 6,000 won apiece. That wont do. Just give me one, then. OK. There you are.
And heres a bag with our compliments. Thank you. Goodbye.
5 B ;x?: Youve probably noticed that Korean has no clear equivalent to the English   V
lease .... In fact, the sense of Please is indicated by adding the verb - to VST
- /#- or to T  B-. Thus 5 B ;x means literally Give me (the favour of) doing it. We c
over this   V grammatical construction in detail later on in the course. "w<x.: Many s
hopping transactions in Korea conclude with the customer being offered X W some litt
le extra item as a gift. "w<x literally means Its (part of our) service, or in Eng
lish X W ... with our compliments.
2
Goods for Sale s i H  s
goods price souvenirs ceramics furniture bag, case
ine
: O F s

r|

ower vase cosmetics soap medic

 D A q s N 9H VPS FF ;k3 N 6

p P

toothpaste toothbrush notebook paper doll map food items toys picture umbrella s
tamps
c G. Shin 2003
105

= 18 V

3 Shops & Businesses, etc V F 9 E ; V  v5 d r\ B V F P8 OV GF :8 F

8 V PC8 V F
Language Notes For some shops there may be a difference between the way we refer
to them in conversation and the way they are referred to in the written languag
e - on actual shop signs, for example. The following written forms are presented
for your information. SPOKEN FORM  ; VE V F C ] % V F P8 OV O< GF GT :8/:Q F
TRANSLATION  C beautician V = cake, confectionery shop *E  orist XN X "6
chemist/pharmacy V G* : shoe shop V
F s8 /s stationery shop
shopping centre beauty shop clothing store photo studio book shop pharmacy shoe
shop PC Cafe
] % V F C V F s8 V G :A VV GF :; N 9H C 

ower shop bread shop stationery shop tailor dressmaker grocery store butcher furn
iture shop

4wN
Some
 Verbs
} < $?Y $xY R go shopping look for wait take (items with oneself) bring (items w
f) sell
-O   G :

 q

   #   x

take medicine cost money good quality stylish, good looking necessary handy
5 Some More Expressions 5  UN  # UN
 #  ... < " V X
106
cheaply several kinds several times according to ...
c...D
G. Shin
N 2003
  V = 
per unit, each present(s) the most/best work

TX W #" <x? R

6 Talking about the Act of Giving/Receiveing
When we have given something to someone we can say:
@
wR
EXAMPLES

...

... /

2#x.

T

R  T @ w@  2#x.

T b 
And when we have received something:

<

V5

...C b ... / s#x.

T #NC  s#x.

V T s <5 P 2#x.

I gave a present to Tae-U. I gave a present to Mother. I gave a book to my frien

d. What did you give to your (elder) sister?
...
@X wR" ... / 8#x.

Q^ FT

<"

V5X

NOTE: -w@" is more informal than

RX -<5" but they are generally VX interchangeable
. -w@/-<5 have the R V honori c form C, but -w@"/<5" have b RX VX no honori c forms.
I received a book from my friend on my birthday. I received money from Mother. I
received a present from my (elder) sister. What did you receive from your (youn
ger) brother?
EXAMPLES
RX

V FT s w@" M< P 8#x.

Q^ T RX FT #Nw@" q 8#x.

Q^ VX

7 Future Time-Words
In a week, if today is Tuesday:
Tuesday Wednesday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday
In a year, if this month is October:
September October November December January February
x

1 6  S  <x X   |x   x  m C

NOTES: Saturday and Sunday together = 

c G. Shin 2003
107

this weekend  R

x

 C

= 18 V
8 INTRODUCTORY STATEMENTS
When we walk into a shop, or when someone answers our phone call, we usually fee
l the need to make a preliminary remark explaining our purpose, such as I saw a
nice bag in the window ... or, in the case of the phone, This is so-and-so speak
ing ... We do this in Korean by using 7, which may be L described as a scene-sette
r This is a form that announces, as it were, what follows is related to the preli
minary remark: I saw a nice bag in the window ( how much is it?) or, This is so-a
nd-so speaking, ( is Tae-U there?) When the introductory statement is essentially
a description of states:
PRESENT STATE: PAST STATE:
EXAMPLES
DVST - (x)7,

DVST - /2 ^ 

- p7,

p7, q #x? ^

P^ TV q L x #=p  7, xv ~B.

This ones very pretty shall we buy it? He (respected person) is busy today please
come tomorrow. That hat was good why didnt you buy it? Yesterday was cold and no
w today its nice and warm.
When the introductory statement pertains actions:
PRESENT ACTION: PAST ACTION:
EXAMPLES
AVST - p7,

AVST - /2 ^ 

- p7,

Its raining take your umbrella. The bus isnt coming lets take a taxi.
P 
V L T " B= q p7, #:5 x? I havent done my homework what shall I do?
Ive met him yes, he was a strange person.
We can make a 7 clauses into a complete, Polite Informal sentence by adding x. Th

is gives a L mild exclamatory effect, and, because it is a preliminary remark on

ly, it gives the listener the expectation that something more is to be said perh
aps another remark, an invitation, or simply an implied invitation for the liste
ner to respond. EXAMPLES
} L  < v7x.

R  } L  < v7x.

 oL  .p7x. P

 L  xp7x.

Thats really good. The weathers really nice. Its been raining. Its raining.
108
c G. Shin 2003

TX W #" <x? R

9 Come/Go ... in order to ...
When we want to explain why (ie in order to do what) we have come or gone somewh
ere we can say:
VST - (x) LOCOMOTIVE VERB N
NOTES: Locomotive Verbs = verbs such as x-, - and - that show motion from one place
to another; -  N corresponds to English in order to.
EXAMPLES
 w<<
T .#x.
[ QTTOPNIve
QV oT
comew<#
to Korea
<
to learn Korean. P N  V T s n

B< #x. ^ I went to the coffee shop to meet a friend.

N V  x;x. Drop in on us some time
(Lit. Come and relax (with us). a standard Korean invitation.) } N }EV 0 @ :  @< x.
nds a Hagwon to learn Maths. 10 IF ...
When we want to link two clauses with If ... we can say:
VST - (x),
EXAMPLES
q <x. i R If the beef is too expensive, well buy pork. RP    V j u 2x, rm
t, buy a yellow one. 11 If you want to ... VST - (x),
O
NOTES: -(x) = expression of intention;  = if ... O
When we want to give guidance to people in this way we can start by saying
EXAMPLES
s  O F V V 5  47s ;< ; x. S
V
If you want to shop cheaply, go to Namdaemun Market.
;x.
w< sOV
TB V q
a  C< ;x. If you want to buy meat, go to a butcher.
If you want to do Korean well, practise with your Korean friend a lot.

If you want to buy an airplane ticket, go to a travel agent.

c G. Shin 2003
109

T R QT O

= 19 V
19

IN THIS UNIT ... Describing feelings, emotions and reactions Why ...?
HOW DO YOU FEEL?
Weve learnt a number of basic descriptive verbs that enabled us to describe how w
e felt about food, learning Korean, sports, neighbourhood, and so on. Now we bec
ome more personal, and in this unit we start to learn how to describe our person
al feelings and reactions being happy, sad and so on. We also look at ways of de
scribing other people are they clever? thick? nice? not so nice? We also start t
o learn how to show the causal relationship between sentences, asking and answer
ing Why ...? questions.
1 Some Examples

N

x.

H B x.
 ^T p #x.
P  qBx.
N

x.

 tx.
Xx

".

^ T #x.
TT  Bx.
* ^T  #x.
110
c G. Shin 2006

2 Feelings and Emotions 

}  11
joyous, happy very sad sad mood, emotional state be in a good mood, feel good be
in a bad mood, be dissatis ed, down in the dumps feel envy feel shy, bashful, sha
meful feel lonely
TT


H
 +

* PH
 p q
feel frustrated feel frustrated feel afraid feel angry feel uneasy, nervous worr
ies feel worried feel surprised feel elated, on top of the world miss someone/so
mething
Language Notes: Describing how other people feel When we are describing, and ask
-ing,
(Literally,
how otherappear,
people act,
feel,manifest
we attach
thetosign
the of
descriptive
...), as shown
verb stem
in the
-/-#/
table belo
B
w.  T 
DESCRIPTIVE VERB STEM DESCRIBING THIRD PARTIES MEANING
appear, act shy appear to enjoy appear envy appear, act sad appear, act sad appe
ar, act happy
 .
}

+ .  11

h
NN
N(
 11B

Note,
- is not
however,
used when
thatwe
theask
expression
about the-feelings
/-#/ Band  T  emotions of the second person,
ie you. Thus,

Are you happy? Do you envy Tae-U?

Language Notes: the Verb As is the case with the verb - (Lit. be envied) in the above
, the verb - (Lit. be missed) is a . description verb that is inherently passive
aning; Korean lacks the counterpart of the verb to miss, which is semantically a
n active verb. To express that you miss a person, a place or a time, you simply sa
y that a person, a place or a time is missed in Korean, ie, the person, the place
or the time is marked with the particle -/-, not -/-.  EXAMPLES
   x.

T Q  w< x. } J  7@q D x.

} J 

 z>@q D s  x.

I miss Seon-Yeong. (lit. Seon-Yeong is missed (by me).) I miss Korea. I miss my
university days. I miss my friends in my primary school days.
c G. Shin 2006
111

= 19 V
3 SHOWING SYMPATHY/EMPATHY
Heres a simple but effective way of showing sympathy for someone. The expression
corresponds to You must be ... in English
... VST - (x) - #x.
EXAMPLES

 %T

NOTES: VST = verb stem, (x) =

% =  presumptive suf x,
You must be sad (about that).
happy (about that). You must
must feel lonely.
%T }#x. t x#x.

honori c; when  the verb stem ends in a consonant use x,

#x = polite, informal verb T ending.
You must be happy (Lit. feeling good). You must be
be tired. That must be inconvenient (for you). You

  % T  #. %Tx %#

o Tx. U %#t
%# Tx.
 4 You must have been ...
And when we are commenting on the then feelings of the the person were speaking to,
we can say
... DVST - (x) - #x.
EXAMPLES

%T

NOTES: (x) = (x) + 2 = honori c + PAST;   when the verb stem ends in a consonant use
= presumption, -#x = polite, informal verb-ending. T
I went to Korea last week. Really? That must have been interesting.
k< w<< .#x. P T ^ P   %T 8x? = 2#x. 5 Describing People, Situations N  N 

N  29
N29
 
head be clever be stupid mind, spirit a good-hearted person in a happy frame of
mind be pleasing, be to ones liking be kind, polite do something wholeheartedly e
arnestly be hard-working
P 5xt
 @t v
5x?L

: q}
  @T2
W <x
A   k
be lazy, indolent a lazy-bones be complicated be thirsty be hungry rich person He
/Shes rich. get rich be poor be lucky, have good luck be listless
112
c G. Shin 2006

6 Why?
To express this, we can say

...? 

8 x?  x?

NOTES: ...? = why ...?, 8x? = why is that  

 so?, x? = why? 

7
Since/Because ...
When we want to explain the causal relationship between two sets of information
we can say
...
VST1 - /# T B 

- ", VST2 ... X

EXAMPLES
X EV T 

" < #x. ^ O

G  TX 1 :B #" 6t x. / X T 

" q #x. P^ X T

w " s #

I was sick so I went to the hospital. Im going downtown Ive got an appointment. I
didnt buy it it was too expensive. I couldnt go because I didnt know the address.
Three points to note: (1) The tense marker comes after the VST2 there is no tens
e marker after VST1:
/ X T 

" q #x. P^ / " T 

X q #x. ^ P^

(correct) (incorrect)
(2) We often shorten the second clause (i.e. the VST2 clause) by substituting it
with the phrase ... 8x, or simply attaching x to ". So  X
/ X T 
= 

" q #x. P^ X T w " s #x.

" |#x. / X T  =  "x. / X =

w " |#x. X

T  =

w "x. X

(3) Its a good idea to bear in mind the full range of meaning for this grammatica
l structure. Look at these sentences.
V X T ;< " }s #x. V ^ ` FX V :" ;x.
Sentences like these show that
I went to the market and bought some grapes. Wont you have a seat and wait?

VST - /# T itself doesnt indicate because etc it simply B  indicates that the follo
action took place in the circumstance indicated by VST1. Thus  / X T " q #x. actually
ns It was too expensive, and that being the case, I didnt buy it. P^
c G. Shin 2006
113

= 19 V
8 Some Nouns and Verbs
2Q F 5X "  x
 EXAMPLES
open close stand, come to a halt happen, break out go out come out put, place so
mething somewhere
 qx

q

* v  :

q}

@ 

t-

forget to bring, leave behind forget to take, leave behind blackboard stomach hu
ngry; lit, empty throat thirsty; lit, dry
102 A 22#x. R
T
Q F V s 5x;x. 

 <" 1#x.  VX T

^ T y #x.

^  P

x.

 R @ x. 9 In the process of ...

I opened the book to Page 102. Close the door, please. The train came to a halt
at the station. Something (bad) has happened! Seon-Yeong has left her umbrella (
here). Im hungry Im thirsty.
When we want to stress that an action is in the process of being carried out we
can say
AVST - q #x.
EXAMPLES

X 
T
p S  q #x.
< Kylies writing a letter now. G VX F  T q: s <" ;q #x. T
. V S

 x
Nq:2#x.
q #x.
TTae-U
w Im
Dwas
29learning
doing his
hardhomework
Chineseyesterday
charactersevening.
these days.

#V
10\Compound
V V  verbs:
T @ pVST
T= /$<
#/B
When we want to focus on a state that results from an action we can add -/#/ B - to
certain T  verb-stems. VST
X "` F : xMEANING stand sit come
-/#/ B T  X " ` F :
MEANING be standing be seated be here
114
c G. Shin 2006

 ToT < qt #.#x. P 

TT < qt ##x.

 V F

T @  < :q #x. `  V F

Annie came into the classroom. Annie came into the classroom (and hes still there
). Tae-U is (in the process of) sitting down in the chair. Tae-U is sitting down
in the chair.
% - is usually described as signifying presumption on the part of the speaker. Be
cause presumption usually (though not always, as weve seen above) emerges in disc
ussions of future activities it often appears as similar to the future tense in
English. The following notes are not intended for immediate practical applicatio
n, but rather are intended for you to refer back to as you observe - arise in var
ious % contexts in future Units. The meaning of - can often be rather elusive to
English speakers, and that is why we prefer to % introduce it in this Unit in th
e context of the speci c function of expressing sympathy

o#x and so on, rather than in more general contexts. %T U When referring to actions invo
lving oneself that is, in the rst person, - indicates a determination % or convict
ion that what is planned will occur. It is not emotionally neutral like the verb
ending -(x)
<x, which we use when making matter-of-fact statements about future a
ctions, but rather suggests W an emotional commitment - hence a determination, or
commitment to carry out the planned activity. For this reason its avour cant alwa
ys be captured in single sentences out of context but, for example,
5<  x#x. V  %T
Ill come again at

ve.

implies that one is committed enough to the objective of a visit to come back la
ter at a more convenient time, perhaps. Similarly
V#x.
%T=
Ill do it.
communicates a willingness and sense of motivation not to be found with = <x. V "
W When asking other people that is, in the second person, - carries the same impli
cation, that the % person concerned is committed to a planned activity. Thus
1 %T 6 #x?
Are you going tomorrow?
carries an overtone of Are you set on going tomorrow? Finally, when
d parties, - changes meaning, because logically we cannot impute %
determination to other people; they are, after all, inner states that
erson concerned can know the reality of. Therefore, when referring to
ies - conveys the % presumption of the speaker. Thus

used with thir

conviction or
only the p
third part

N N 1 %T 3M4 6 #x.

Mr Kim will go tomorrow.
conveys an overtone not of Mr Kims set on going tomorrow., but of I guess Mr Kims goi
ng tomorrow.
c G. Shin 2006
115

= 20 V
20
T QVX R w<<"  #Dx? TJ
WHATS IT LIKE LIVING IN KOREA?
In this Unit we learn to say what the weathers like, what its like to study Korean
, on so on. We also look at how to form an adverb out of a verb, how to use pron
ouns, and what to say if we want the person were speaking to to agree with what w
ere saying.
1 Weather & Climate R  A 
  p  53 F 6 S
weather spring autumn rain snow season wind

climate summer winter It rains. cloudy rainy season windy

2 General * @
N  "  /
Z 0tt(+
 neg)  .n P  s3
movie, cinema body head things to do too (much) not especially ... But ... kind
same fast, quick
I
  t-

V  @< N 

 

 r  q T #

scenery good for the body bright, clever very of course ... And then ... dislike
diligent different
3 Learning Korean involves ... R
116
speaking reading dictation
>
 R C
c G. Shin 2005
listening writing pronunciation

T QVX R w<<"  #Dx? TJ Eating, studying, working etc In fact the suf x -, attached to th
verb stem, is a productive device; it makes an -ing noun from a verb. Some example
s:
 v Its easy to ...
 v 
going looking eating
R - [ O <
R  [ O <
living studying drinking
When we want to say that we

nd certain activities easy we can say

... VST-() x. 
EXAMPLES
NOTES: The use of the subject particle is optional.
"TRx<. It
Q
seems
: w<v
studying
  x.
Korean
 Its
by myself
easy toislearn
hard.Korean.
[ Z H V  v <p
I like/dislike doing ... When we want to describe things we like, or dislike, do
ing we can say
VST-() Bx/#Bx.  T
EXAMPLES
NOTES: The use of the object particle is optional.
qV
r88<
  FBVx.<
RsV

I like going to Noraebang (karaoke) with my friends on weekends.

nPp #Bx.
 T@ p P Bx.
We would like you to do ...

Tae-U likes reading books.  V N T T << E # #Bx.

I like speaking in a foreign language but I dont like writing in it.

Another
 . Public
context
announcements
in which youll
in airplanes,
hear the VST-
airport
regularly
terminals
is in
andthe
other
construction
public places,
... for ex
ample,  T usually request people to follow instructions in this way. - means desire, w
ant. 
4 Adverbs
There are various ways to describe HOW an action was/is performed. Note that Kor
ean use of adverbs of manner extends not only to the way in which an action is p
erformed but to its outcome as well.
c G. Shin 2005
117

= 20 V We can add -5 to DVST ending in -:   = U > nbe interesting delicious

deliciously

We can add -5 to DVST ending in  or I:    F W < T o }bad easy pretty glad (chil
y easily prettily gladly with a lot of chili (hotly)
-:
kind
--,
with
With
kindly
we
 
replace
diligent
DVST
diligently
 s3that
the
end
 s3
in
With DVST that end in  or t, we replace the /t with -:
far away

 

t  /fast, quick (is) far R

There are also rules that cover other DVST, but examples of their use are so few
that its usually better to simply commit the adverb form to memory.
=a Z Some exa
ples: late many be same
 =5 a   Z   late a lot/copiously together

U >  V n 5 s;x! Enjoy your food!/Bon appetit. UF}  T #?8@ =5z#x. V

I had a
lidays. }    T @M q  5 #x. R The students spoke poorly of the professor.
heaply in the market. T 
 T #Np N }5 n2#x.
3 P Mother made the Gimchi
ong always wears Hanbok beautifully.
 X " =5 " q. P Im sorry I came late.  T  
h time. Quick lets go. a  V  s;x. Bon appetit! (Lit. Take a lot.) 5 Personal pronouns
As you have noticed already, we usually dont put personal pronouns in a Korean se
ntence if the context is clear, ie, if you, the speaker, think that the hearer k
nows who you are talking about. If you are going to use personal pronouns, then
youll need to take note of the fact that, broadly speaking, Korean makes three ki
nds of distinctions in deciding which pronoun is appropriate.
118
c G. Shin 2005

T QVX R w<<"  #Dx? TJ Personal Pronouns SINGULAR NEUTRAL EXALTED /6 (I) 1 /3 / 6 (you) t
le/kinship term, eg, M4 N  \F //$6 (he/she), S  \ //$t
 \ //$(or ) (it) P
title/kinship term plus / () (you, pl)
UN #t
 \F //$6 (they), S  \ /
I II III
HUMBLE \V $/=
I II III
HUMBLE \ $()
Distinction A: whether the speaker is being self-deprecating and thus humble In
referring to ourselves $ is used, = before the subject particle . Note also that
= is the \ V V possessive form, ie, my, of $. \
\ V $p <x.

V  V = ?v <x.

#.  \  TT $ nq # #x. P 

V Tx =

Im Seon-Yeong. My name is I Seon-Yeong. I did it. He wanted to see me.

We cant refer to others in self-deprecating mode of course; they must be referred
to in terms of neutrality or honour. Distinction B: whether the speaker is stri
king a neutral tone In referring to ourselves and others neutrally, that is, sho
wing neither respect nor disrespect, we use the following pronouns. First person
We use , and 6 before the subject particle  or when used as the possessive pronou
n, ie, my.  1
 V p <x.
1  V 6 ?v <x.
Second person singular

1 T 6

#x.   P

TT  q # #x. n 

Im Seon-Yeong. My name is I Seon-Yeong. I did it. He wanted to see me.

We use , 3 before the subject particle  or when used as the possessive pronoun, ie
, your. /6
/ T  p 2? 3 } V  6 @q< ?
Second person plural: () /
Have you eaten? Are you going to school?
/  v T 2?

Have you eaten?

Note that the ending - is a question form used in the intimate speech style, call
ed panmal (o).  R Panmal, which we meet later on in this course, is used when the sp
eakers have a well established, close personal relationship. We mention this her
e because , 6 or  would always be used with panmal. / 3 /c G. Shin 2005 119

=
S
t
y

20 V Third person We use 6, 6 and $6 for humans, and , and $ for inanimate objects.
S \F S    \  , and $ are often shortened in everyday speech to ,  and $ we met  
6. Note also that when ,  and $ are used together with the subject particle  \ -, the
become further shortened: 5, 5 and $5.    \

F
W 6v
<x? S  W v <x?  W  <x?  H  5  x.
Second person singular
Who is he/she? What is it? Whats this? This is better.
Distinction C: whether the speaker is showing honour to the person being referre
d to

Korean lacks a pronoun for you, respected person. We use a status referent, appr
opriate to the person we are talking about, such as  4, - etc. In most cases, this i
s the same expression that we would M N  use when addressing the person (to catch his
/her attention). Regarding the usage of -, we normally  use the persons full name w
ith - (eg, ), but we can use the persons given name with - if    we feel that the pers
ose and familiar (eg, ). It would be taken as rude to just say .  
N N V T 3M4v = x#x?  V T p = x#x?
Second person plural: #t UN

 V T p =

When did you (Mr Kim) come? When did you (Miss I Seon-Yeong) come? When did you
(Seon-Yeong) come?
;x? X <O
UN
[V #tv S <
Third person: t, t, $t  \
What do you (many respected people) study now?

W tv

<x?

6 ... isnt it?/dont you think? etc

Whos that (respected person)?

In conversation, VST-x, pronounced with a rising intonation, invites the person b
eing spoken to  agree with a comment on a third party. It softens the direct effec
t of a plain statement, and is similar to the English tag questions .., isnt it?, ..
, wont you? etc.
VST-x? 
EXAMPLES
TR Q T w< #x?

Q  w< x?

* x? ,

T QN  w<C9 }x?

Korean is dif cult, dont you think? Koreas nice, dont you think? Youve seen the movie,
havent you? Korean foods hot, dont you think?
But when VST-x is pronounced with falling intonation it doesnt invite agreement, b
ut expresses  con dence that the person being addressed sees things the same way. Pe
ople usually dont disagree 120 c G. Shin 2005

T QVX R w<<"  #Dx? TJ when others make observations such as EXAMPLES

 Ex?   = 2x?

  xD x?
 

 N 9x?    2x?

TX ^ +#" x?

Cold, isnt it? Boring, isnt it? Youre busy these days, arent you? Youve eaten, havent
you? You heard the story, didnt you? You went on foot, didnt you?
Again, this re ects the practice in English, where a falling intonation on tag que
stions presumes agreement.
7
Making exclamations
In listening to people speaking Korean you may often hear them adding extra emph
asis to what theyre saying by using the verb ending -6(x). Look at the following
examples. 3
 o3 @  .6x! P  3 @  x6x!  %3 @  x6x! R 3 x p -6x!

Well, well so Tae-Us come! Well, well here comes Tae-U! Well, well - Tae-U will b
e coming! Its really hot today!
You will also hear from time to time -o(x) in place of -6x. This ending is gener
ally seen as U 3 forceful and masculine in tone.
 o @  .ox! PU  @  xpox!

U  % @  xox! U R x p -ox!

Well, well so Tae-Us come! Well, well here comes Tae-U! Well, well - Tae-U will b
e coming! Its really hot today!
The extent to which you use these verb endings will depend on the extent to whic
h you feel comfortable in using them. For our purpose, were introducing them here
to help your listening skills, rather than suggesting that you use them activel
y yourself.
c G. Shin 2005
121

= 20 V
,8...
Some
 IUseful
...
 v Expressions
...
BsW
...TX
9 Cultural
<
 #" ...
Notes:

 Koreas
 5  ...Climate
3 F 6, 7x. W 3 uVV 6,  G<x. :
In this Unit we learn some ways of talking about weather and climate, so if youre
not very familiar with Koreas climate the following notes may be of interest. Th
ere is relatively little internal variation in Koreas climate, and so while our d
escription applies speci cally to Seoul, it applies to all the signi cant population
centres on the Peninsula as well. Korea has a temperate climate, marked by hot,
humid summers and long, cold winters. It is also a continental climate, with th
e majority of its weather patterns the result of slow, stable development over c
ontinental North Asia. The day-to-day variation in weather patterns that most Au
stralians, especially those who live on the east coast, are subject to is by and
large absent from Koreas weather. Running through the calendar year, the New Yea
r nds Korea in the depth of winter. By and large the winter climate is clear and
sunny with occasional snow, but although much of Korea is on the same latitude a
s the Mediterranean Sea, the winters are, by Australian standards, quite cold. T
his is mainly due to the continental climate pattern which brings in masses of c
old air from west and north of the peninsula. Average temperature ranges for Jan
uary would be about minus ve to one or two degrees, and when the wind is from the
north the chill factor can take the temperature down to minus twenty and furthe
r. There is little real change in this pattern until March, when things begin to
warm up, although cold snaps can still occur in late March. These snaps can oft
en kill spring buds, and so are called the cold that envies the owers - M . In April th
e weather warms up rapidly, and by May the daily ] %  temperature range is about fteen
to twenty- ve degrees. By late May the daily temperature is quite high, and for t
he next two months conditions remain hot and humid - low thirties in the day, mi
d twenties at night, with little in the way of relief, day or night. This is par
t of the build-up to the annual rainy season that usually lasts for three weeks
or so, spread over June and July. After another burst of heat, temperatures begi
n to fall in mid September and the humidity subsides. The height of autumn lasts
from mid September to the beginning of November, and is generally regarded as t
he nest time of the year, with cool, ne, crisp days and mild nights. Winter weathe
r then begins to appear in November, and snow showers can occur from mid Novembe
r onwards. By December winter has set in and sub-zero temperatures are regular.
The reason is that ... In fact, ... For example, ... Thats not it./Thats not the p
oint. Yes, thats right. Yes, it seems to be that way. Not necessarily so. For var
ious reasons ... Which one do you mean? especially By any chance ... Whatever on
e says [about it] ...
122
c G. Shin 2005