◼ Review
1. The position of the vowel symbols is either to the right of or below the initial consonant symbol, as in 미 [Mi]
and 노 [No]. If the syllable has a consonant after a vowel symbol, it is always below the vowel, as 민 [Min]
and 녹 [Nok].
1) Korean syllable dose not start with two consonants. E.g. unlike the English word “clip”.
2) Each syllable should look about the same size, no matter how many symbols it nay contains. E.g. 나
[Na] and 흙 [Heuk]
3) Hangul follows the spelling convention, so Korean spellings do not change just because it reads a little
differently from its symbol combination. This is the same for English, where you cannot write just as
you hear or speak.
Exercise 1. Which of the following combination of consonant and vowel symbol is NOT true?
① ② ③ ④ ⑤
2. Korean is a subject-object-verb (SOV) language. Nouns (e.g., subject and/or object), adverbs, and numbers,
appear before verbs and/or adjectives. However, the word order of Korean would be change because of
the particles that always come after the noun. Because of particles, Korean sentences do not always follow
the SOV pattern. Korean nouns (as subjects or objects) can be freely arranged in a sentence.
Exercise 2. Which of the following sentence of word order is NOT true?
① 점심을 앤드류가 집에서 먹어요 [Jeom·si·mul aen·deu·ryu·ga ji·be·seo meo·geo·yo] “Lunch Andrew
home-at eats”
② 점심을 집에서 앤드류가 먹어요 [Jeom·si·mul ji·be·seo aen·deu·ryu·ga meo·geo·yo] “Lunch home-at
Andrew eats”
③ 앤드류가 먹어요 점심을 집에서 [Aen·deu·ryu·ga meo·geo·yo jeom·si·mul ji·be·seo] “Andrew eat lunch at
home”
④ 앤드류가 집에서 점심을 먹어요 [Aen·deu·ryu·ga ji·be·seo jeom·si·mul meo·geo·yo] “Andrew home-at
lunch eats”
⑤ 앤드류가 점심을 집에서 먹어요 [Aen·deu·ryu·ga jeom·si·mul ji·be·seo meo·geo·yo] “Andrew lunch
home-at eats”
Korean language class in MUNI
week
1
3. In Korean the most important elements tend to cluster to the end of the sentence. The further the word is
from the end of the sentence, the less important the element is and more likely it is to be dropped. What
determines the omission is the context. The Korean language is a context-oriented language in that any
contextually understood elements may be omitted unless they are indispensable.
Exercise 3. Circle whether the following statement is True or False.
Korean sentences that have no verb or adjective but just a subject or an object are grammatically correct
and natural in conversation. (T / F)
4. Korean nouns are not specific about the number in that it does not have the grammatical category of number.
Korean has the suffix 들 [Deul] (that can be attached after a countable noun) for indicating the plurality of
the noun. However, its usage is not mandatory for marking plurality, thus its purpose is rather for highlighting
the plurality of the noun.
Exercise 4. Circle whether the following statement is True or False.
The noun 연필 [Yeon·pil] “pencil” can be translated into at least the following: pencil, a pencil, the pencil,
some pencils, the pencils, pencils. (T / F)
5. The stems of verbs and adjectives do not stand alone, and they are always conjugated by various or
inflectional endings. Generally, Korean verbs and adjectives take a special dictionary form ending -다 [Da].
Consequently, finding the stem of a verb and/or an adjective is simple in that anything being left out after
you take 다 out from the verbs and adjectives is the stem.
Verbs and adjectives resemble one another in how they inflect and how they function in the sentence. There
is no obvious structural difference between verbs and adjectives. In addition, there is no obvious structural
difference between verbs and adjectives. In fact, adjectives behave like verbs so much that Korean
grammarians categorize adjectives as “descriptive verbs.”
Exercise 5. Write the stem of each word and circle whether it is a verb or an adjective.
① 잠자다 [Jam·ja·da] stem: ___________ Verb / Adjective
② 작다 [Jak·tta] stem: ___________ Verb / Adjective
③ 먹다 [Meok·tta] stem: ___________ Verb / Adjective
④ 입다 [Ip·tta] stem: ___________ Verb / Adjective
⑤ 걷다 [Geot·tta] stem: ___________ Verb / Adjective
⑥ 기쁘다 [Gi·ppeu·da] stem: ___________ Verb / Adjective
◼ Conversation 1
서연: 어디 가?
민준: 집에 밥 먹으러 가
서연: 밥 먹으러 집에 가지 말고 나랑 같이 식당 가자
민준: 뭐 먹게?
서연: 파스타. 나 쿠폰 모아서 할인 받을 수 있어.
SeoYeon: Where are you going?
MinJun: I’m going home to have a meal.
SeoYeon: Let’s go to the restaurant with me instead
of going home.
MinJun: What are you going to eat?
SeoYeon: Pasta. We can get a discount because I
collected coupons.
민준: 그래 좋아. MinJun: Okay, great
서연: 어디 가?[1][2]
SeoYeon: Eo·di ga?
민준: 집에 밥[3]
먹으러 가.
MinJun: Ji·be bab meo·geu·reo ga.
서연: 밥 먹으러 집에 가지 말고[4][5]
나랑 같이 식당 가
자.
SeoYeon: Bab meo·geu·reo ji·be ga·ji mal·go
Na·rang ga·chi sik·ttang ga ja.
민준: 뭐 먹게?
MinJun: Mwo meok·kke?
서연: 파스타. 나 쿠폰[6]
모아서 할인 받을 수 있어.
SeoYeon: Pa·seu·ta. Na ku·pon mo·a·seo ha·rin
ba·deul su i·sseo.
민준: 그래 좋아.
MinJun: Geu·rae jo·a.
** Hangul follows the spelling convention, and consequently,
Korean spellings do not change just because it reads a little
differently from its symbol combinations. In other words, some
word sounds can be different from spelling. (this is the same for
English, where you cannot write just as you hear or speak).
[1] It is more natural to omit nouns when the subject
and object are sufficiently known in context.
[2] 가는 중이야 [Ga·neun jung·i·ya] is more accurate
instead of 가 ,however, if it is not for highlighting the
present progressive using the present tense is more
natural.
[3] The dictionary meaning of 밥 is 'rice', but it is
commonly used as 'meal'. Therefore, 밥 can be used
to mean ‘breakfast’, ‘lunch’ and ‘dinner’.
[4] The location particle 에 marks 집 as the location.
Because of particles, the nouns can be freely
arranged in a sentence.
[5] -고 “and then” is one of the clausal conjunctives
to make Non-sentence-final endings.
[6] Korean nouns are not specific about the number so
even a countable number attaching suffix 들 is not
mandatory. Consequently, if it is not for highlighting the
plurality of noun, using the word without 들 is more
natural.
◼ Vocabulary
점심 [Jeom·sim] n. launch
집 [Jip] n. home, house
먹다 [Muk·tta] v. eat
잠자다 [Jam·ja·da] v. sleep
작다 [Jak·tta] adj. small
입다 [Ip·tta] v. wear
걷다 [Geot·tta] v. walk
기쁘다 [Gi·ppeu·da] adj. happy
가다 [Ga·da] v. go
말고 [Mal·go] par. instead of
같이 [Ga·chi] par. together
식당 [Sik·ttang] n. restaurant
어디 [Eo·di] pron. where
뭐 [Mwo] pron. what, something
파스타 [Pa·seu·ta] n. pasta
쿠폰 [Ku·pon] n. coupon
모으다[Mo·eu·da]v. collect, gather
할인 [Ha·rin] n. discount
받다 [Bat·tta] v. get, take, receive
~수 있다 [Su It·tta] can do
◼ Answer
Exercise 1. ④
Exercise 2. ③
Exercise 3. F
Korean sentences that have no subject or object but just a verb or an adjective, such as in 먹어요 “eat,” are
grammatically correct and natural in conversation.
Exercise 4. T
Exercise 5. ① 잠자/ verb ② 작/adjective ③ 먹/verb ④ 입/ verb ⑤ 걷/verb ⑥ 기쁘/ adjevctive