Learn

Korean
Language
Lesson 1: Hangul Alphabet System

The Korean Alphabet () is consist of 19 consonants and 21 vowels

is use to form the Korean words.

Vowels ()

"a" " ae " " eo " " o"

"u" "e" " eu " "i"

Y Vowels

" ya " " yu " " ye "

" yo " " yeo " " yae "

W Vowels

" wa " " wi " " we "

" wo " " wae " " weo "

There is still one vowel left, and this is a unique one "" which is "ui".
They pronounce it as "ae".
Consonants ()

" g /k " "n" "d/t" "r/l" "m" "b/p" "s"

" null/ng " " j/ch " "h" " p " " k " " t " " ch "

Note: That " ' " means the letter is aspirated, i.e a sharp sound

Note: For "" is pronounce as "r" when place as first consonant and as
"l" as final consonant. For "" is "no sound" when place as first
consonant and as "ng" as final consonant.

Double Consonants

" gg / kk " " jj "

" dd / tt " " ss "

Example:
 + + = han
h a n

+ + = guk
pronounced HanGuk meaning
g u k
Korea

Lesson 2: Use of Consonants () and Vowels ()

Vowels in the Korean Languages may be attached to the left, right or

beneath each other in order to form a word, the following are
examples of their use.

When constructing a word, you must add a mixture of consonants and

vowels, beginning with the consonant at the beginning of the word. In
some cases, there is no need to use a consonant at the beginning in
which case (null character) is used.

+ = a

+ + = rum

+ + = kam

+ + = kkoong

+ + = ot

+ + = eop

+ + = kkot
+ + = han

+ + = guk

More on Constructing Words

A syllable that consists of a consonant and a "vertical vowel" is

written with the consonant on the left and the vowel on the right
+ = n + a = na

A syllable that consists of a consonant and a "horizontal vowel" is

written with the consonant on top and the vowel underneath:
+= m + o = mo

If a syllable has a consonant, vowel, and consonant, the final

consonant, called patch'im (meaning "supporting floor" in Korean) goes
to the bottom -- or floor -- of that syllable.
++= m + a + n = man

= ka = keo = kyeo
= kya = ki = ko

= pa = peo = pu
= pyo = chi = cheo
= chu = cho = ma
= meo = mo = na
= neo =i = ya
= ti = ko = tya
= yo =o = to
= tu = too = ku
Lesson 3: Grammar

Korean Names

In general, Korean names consist of 3 syllables.

The first part is the Surname (such as Kim, Lee and Park), it is the
followed by a two-syllable first name. In Korean, the surname always
comes first which is opposite of Western Names such as Doojin Park
instead of the Korean method of Park Doojin.
When you are referring to someone who you know well, then you may
be able to refer to them directly, such as using their first name.
However when you are introduced to someone to whom you are not
familiar with, or am meeting for the first time, then you would add -ssi
to the end of the name. An example of this would be Doojin-ssi

Making Polite Sentences

With verb stems which end in vowels such as ka-, ha- and sa-, it is
possible to make these into polite sentences by adding -yo to the end
of the words, such as kayo (which means "to go", or "I go" or "he
goes"). Verbs in the polite style can be used as statements, questions,
suggestions or commands, and may be further emphasised by the tone
of your voice. For example, Chal Chinaessoyo may be both expressed as
a question by asking how someone is, or can be a question stating that
you are fine. Another example is the more common Annyeong Haseyo.

Lesson 4: Sentence Structure and Order

Korean Sentence Structure and Word order

In Korean the structure of sentence differ to English sentences, for

example the phrase Chal Chinaessooyo literally means "Well have you
(In English) I go to the shops in-order -to buy bread

(in Korean) I (optional) bread buy - in-order to shop to go

been getting on?" which is the opposite from English.

In general the structure of the Korean sentences is broken down
as subject - object verb "Jon the ball kicked"

"To Go" In Order to do Sentences

There are a few words that you may add to the end of verb stems at
the end of sentences, these include yo which makes sentences polite,
and -ro which means "in order to".
In some cases the verb stems may in effect end in consonants in
which case -uro is utilised.
The order of the sentences for an example sentence of "in order to
buy bread I am going to the shop" is restructured as "bread buy-in
order-to the shop go"
In Korean unlike English, the subject of the sentences is optional like
"I", then the "in order section" is next, which is then followed by "the
place you are going".

The Konglish for this sentence in Korean would be na-do ppang sa-ro
kayo (I-do bread buy-in order-to go).

Note: The construction can only be used in verbs involving 'going' and
'coming' and cannot be used with other verbs at the end of sentences.

Lesson 5: Asking for things

There Are / There is

The Korean verb which means either "there are" or "there

is" is issoyo ( )
 They are dependent on the context in which you use them, and on
what you are talking about. The stem of the verb is iss- with the
inclusion of o and the polite particle -yo, thus forming the ending -oyo.
However in the case where the verb stem ends in vowel, we use -a or
-o, such as -ayo.

Vowel stem - yo

Consonant
- ayo if the last vowel ends with -a or -o
stem

Consonant
- oyo
Stem

Note: In context the oppposite of iss- is ops- which literally means

"there isnt" or "there arent".

Uses of the verbs

Chogi Issoyo means "it exist over there", or "its over there"
Issoyo on its own can mean "I have/he has"
Opsoyo means "I dont have" or "I havent got"

In a Shop

When addressing a shop keeper or waiters, Koreans

use ahjussi literally meaning uncle, but is used as a general word when
addressing someone in a shop. However if it were to be used in a formal
way, it is only for the referral of a man,
 For females the word ahjumma meaning aunt is used, for people over
35-ish, and for younger woman agassi is used for young women.
In Korean, they use a particle which comes after a noun that it
relates to, such as na-do (me-too).
In English, it is the opposite, we would say 'with-me', whereas Korean
is 'me-with'.

Using 'and'

In Korean, the word for and is -hago, this is a particle so when it is to

be used it must be attached to a noun. For example, when you say
'burger and chips', in Korean it would be 'burger-hago chips. The
word hago becomes part of burger.
The particle hago can also mean with such as, Doojin-hago shinae-e
kayo meaning 'I am going to town with Doojin'.

Ordering with numbers

When asking for 'one' item we say 'hana' which is said after you have
selected the meal you wish to order. For example we would say, soju
hana chuseyo meaning "soju one give me please".
The word chuseyo utilizes the polite word stem -yo, attached
to chu-, which means "give me please"

Lesson 6: Korean Names and Topics

 In Korean, when you want to address men politely, one would use the
word songsaengnim attached to their surname or full name, this
literally means teacher.
For example, one would say Yoo Songsaengnim or with the full
name Yoo SangHyun Songsaengnim.
It is not possible to a Korean persons first name, such like SangHyun
Songsaengnim. For that same reason, when you use the -ssi, you cannot
say Yoo-ssi, or Yoo SangHyun-ssi, but would rather say SangHyun-ssi.

Addressing Korean women, in Korea, women do not take their

husbands surname when they get married.
For example if Mrs Han is married to Mr Kim, then she may referred
to as Kim songsaengnim-puin (Kim Mr.-Wife), or she maybe reffered to
in a similar English terminology such as Misesu Han (Mrs. Han).

Using Copula to describe "This is That"

In Korean, if you want to describe A is B , you will have to use special

verbs called copula. In Korea, this copula is present at the end of a
sentence, and behaves a little differently to ordinary verbs.

If you want to say A is B (like "This is a Korean book"):-

A B-ieyo (or B-eyo)

this Korean book-ieyo

It is obvious that you would use -eyo when B ends in a vowel, but
-ieyo when B ends on a consonant.
Songsaengnim-ieyo (is teacher)
Soju-eyo (is soju)

Note: That in Korean the copula is only used to describe when this "is
equivalent to". It cant be used to say "is located in"(is underneath", "is
near") nor can it be used to say "is a certain way" (i.e "is red", "is
happy").

Lesson 7: More On Grammar

-hamnida and -jiman

In Korean, it is possible to add polite endings to verbs, for example,

shillye hamnida (excuse me), which is comprised of the verb stem
shille ha-, and the verb ending hamnida (note this is the formal style).

There is also the verb and stem, shillye-jiman (I'm sorry but...) which
is a abbreviation of the verb and stem shillye ha-jiman, containing the
ending -jiman which means but.

Asking a Person

In Korean, there is a special verb which may be used in the event

where you want to ask someone. For example "Are you Mr. Han?". We
would use -iseyo, and simply add this to the end of a phrase.

Examples:

Han songsaengnim-iseyo? ( Are you Mr. Han?)

Hangungmal songsaengnim-iseyo? (Are you the Korean Teacher?)

Subjects & Topics of Korean Sentences

In Korean, we attach -i to the end of nouns which end with

consonants, or attach -ga to the end of nouns which end in a vowel. By
doing this, it is possible to give emphasis, on subjects in sentences.

For example, songsaenim-i ( teacher ) or maekju-ga (beer) give

emphasis on each of these subjects in a sentence.

For a sentence , "The man kissed the dog", the subject in this case
would be The man.

On the other hand, when a subject is mentioned for the first time,
the subject particle is used, but later on in a conversation, this is
switched back to the topic particle.

The topic particle, is similar to that of the english "As for", and is
best used in order to compare two things. For example, as for me (na-
nun), I love shopping as for mum (ma-nun), she hates it.

Lesson 8: Using Negative Copula's

Negative Copula

In Korean, when you are trying to say something is not something else,
we use the negative copula anieyo. For instance, When saying 'A is not
B', we would say:

Cho-nun songsaengnim-i anieyo ( I am not a teacher ).

Hanguk hakkwa-ga anieyo ( Not the Korean department ).

Answering questions with Yes and No in Korean

This is a tricky aspect of the Korean language, it is quite different to

how we would speak in English.

Example:

Question in English = "Do you like Korea ?"

Answer in English = "Yes I do like it" or "No i dont"

Answer in Korean = "No, I do like it" or "Yes i dont"

As you can see, it can be confusing at first, so you will need to think
carefully.

Where is it?

When asking where something is in Korean, you would say (X-subject)

odieyo?

However, it is also possible to say (X-subject) odi issoyo?

When answering a Where is question, you must always use issoyo as a

verb such that:

Hakkyo-ga kogi issoyo (the school is over there).

Using Korean sentences with but...

We have previously seen that shillye hamnida and the equivalent

shillye-jiman mean "Excuse me,but" or "I'm Sorry, but..." .

There are lots of verbs where you may attach -jiman onto, here are a
few of them:
ka- (go) ka-jiman (goes, but...)

ha- (do) ha-jiman (does,but...)

sa- (buy) sa-jiman (buys,but...)

iss- (is/are, have) it-jiman (has,but...)

mashi- (drink) mashi-jiman (drinks,but...)

mok- (eat) mok-jiman (eats, but...)

anj- (sit) anj-jiman (sits, but...)

Note: That for the word iss-jiman the double ss is re-written to

itjiman

Using Polite Requests

In Korean, the word chom is used to mean "please", however do not

mistake it to mean the same as the English word for please for all
occurances. For instance, When you use chom in a request immediately
before the verb at the end of the sentence, it takes on the effect of
please.

It is most frequently using in relation to chu- when making requests

Example:

Han songsaengnim chom pakkwo-juseyo (Can I speak to Mr Han), or you

might use it in Soju chom chuseyo (Please give me the Soju). As you can
see, chom may be used to soften up requests by making it more polite.

Lesson 9: Numbers in Korean

 There are two sets of numbers in Korean: the Native Korean System
and the Sino-Korean System. The Native numbers are used for
numbers of items (1-99) and age, while the Sino-Korean System is
based on Chinese numbers and are used for dates, money, addresses,
phone numbers, and numbers above 100.

Western (Arabic) numerals are used for most situations, but the Hanja
numerals are sometimes used for prices.

Hanj
Numeral Sino-Korean Native Korean
a

(gong)
/ (yeong)
0
(jero)
(nul)

1 (il) (hana)

2 (i) (dul)

3 (sam) (set)

4 (sa) (net)

5 (o) (daseot)

6 (yuk) (yeoseot)

7 (chil) (ilgop)

8 (pal) (yeodeol)

9 (gu) (ahop)
10 (ship) (yeol)

11 (shipil) (yeolhana)

12 (shipi) (yeoldul)

13 (shipsam) (yeolset)

14 (shipsa) (yeolnet)

15 (shipo) (yeoldaseot)

16 (shipnyuk) (yeolyeoseot)

17 (shipchil) (yeolilgop)

18 (ship-pal) (yeolyeodeol)

19 (shipgu) (yeolahop)

20 (eeship) (seumul)

30 (samship) (seoreun)

40 (saship) (maheun)

50 (oship) (swin)

60 (yukship) (yesun)

70 (chilship) (ilheun)

80 (palship) (yeodeun)

90 (guship) (aheun)
 100 (baek) (on)

200 (ibaek)

300 (sambaek)

400 (sabaek)

500 (obaek)

600 (yukbaek)

700 (chilbaek)

800 (palbaek)

900 (gubaek)

1,000 (cheon) (jeumeun)

2,000 (icheon)

3,000 (samcheon)

4,000 (sacheon)

5,000 (ocheon)

6,000 (yukcheon)

7,000 (chilcheon)

8,000 (palcheon)

9,000 (gucheon)

10,000 (man) (deumeon)

 (gol)

20,000 (iman)

30,000 (samman)

40,000 (saman)

50,000 (oman)

60,000 (yukman)

70,000 (chilman)

80,000 (palman)

90,000 (guman)

100,000 (sipman)

1 million (baekman)

10
(cheonman)
million

100
(eok) (jal)
million

1 trillion (jo) (ul)

 Large numbers are divided into units of ten thousand, so 1 million is
one hundred ten-thousands: (baek-man).

Lesson 11: Using seyo

Making requests more polite

The polite honorific -seyo can be used to make requests more polite, -
seyo is used when the verb stem ends in in a vowel, and -useyo is used
when the verb stem ends in a consonant.

Examples of these are:-

mashi- becomes mashiseyo
ha- becomes haseyo
kidari- becomes kidariseyo
iss- becomes issuseyo
anj- becomes anjuseyo

If you want to request someone to wait for you, you would

say kidariseyo (Please wait).
The use of -seyo means that you have a special respect for the
person. For example, if you say hansongsaengnim-i hakkyo-e kaseyo,
you are saying Mr. Han is going to school. (But you are also showing
special respect for him).

What you want to do ?

 Koreans use -ko ship'oyo which literally means want to, and this can
be added to a verb stem. For example you may say, cho-nun mok-ko
ship'oyo which means I want to eat, notice that when it is used, the
-ko is utilised by being added to the end of the verb stem.

Making Suggestions

When making suggestions, Koreans use -(u)pshida (literally means lets

do), as you may have guessed, -pshida is attached onto verb stems
ending in a vowel, and -upshida is attached to verbstems ending in a
consonant. For example, Umryosu mashipshida (Lets have a drink)

Lesson 11: Grammar 1 + 2

Grammar 1 /

. '-
, -()' .
[Subject particle. Particles which come after a noun shows 'subject'
are: -, -(), etc.]

1. "-" -->
When the noun ends in a consonant, add
2. "-" -->
When the noun ends in a vowel, add
~ 1. : + -->
2. : + -->

', , , ' ', , ,

' . When / is attached at the end of ', , , and
,' the words change into ', , , and .'
. ? . ?

~ . . There is a pencil.
. There is not a pair of glasses.
. The watch is expensive.
. The strawberry is delicious.

Grammar 2 /

. '' .
[Object particle. Comes after a noun and shows the "object" of the
verb.]

1. "-" -->
When the noun ends in a consonant, add
2. "-" -->
When the noun ends in a vowel, add
~ 1. : + -->
3. : + -->

~ '-'
.
[In spoken language, it may be omitted or abbreviated into '-' after a
vowel.]
. --> " ."
~ . . I read a newspaper.
. I drink a cup of coffee.
. I swim.
. I buy an eraser.

Rules:

1. If a character has a romanization with letters separated by an "/",

that is what the letter should be romanized as the final letter when
found at the end of a syllable. Example: (rice) would be bap.

2. When is followed directly by , it should be romanized as shi.

Example: (again) would be dashi.

3. To avoid confusion of syllables, a hyphen can be used. Example:

(after) would be hu-e.

4. When , , , are found directly before vowel, they are

romanized as g, d, r, b.

5. When , , , are found directly before a consonant, they

should be romanized as k, t, r, p.

Lesson 12: Grammar 3 + 4

Grammar 3

. ', , ' , '-, -

/' .
[Particle with the meaning of 'also, too' May be attached to the end of
other particles as in - and . Similar to 'also, too]

~
1. . + . -----> .
.
2. . + . ------> .
.

~
. .
[I prepare the lessons. I go over the lessons, too]
. .
[I read a book. I read a newspaper, too]
. .
[I meet a teacher. I meet a friend, too]
. .
[The movie is interesting. The novel is interesting, too]

Grammar 4 /

. ,
 '', '' .
[Topic particle, attached to nouns, adverbs, other particles or endings,
it shows the subject of the sentence or may be used to show
'contrast' or 'emphasis'.]

1. "" ---->
When the noun ends in a consonant, add ""
2. "" ---->
When the noun ends in vowel, add ""

~
1. : + --->
2. : + --->

~
. .
[There is a book. There is not a dictionary, though.]
. .
[The tie is cheap. However, the clothes are expensive.]
. .
[The bus is slow. However, the subway train is fast.]
. .
[It's hot in summer. However, it's cold in winter.]

Lesson 13: Grammar 5 + 6

Grammar 5
 . . '' '',
'' . [Locative particle. Used after place or time noun
and shows 'location, direction or time'. Similar to 'in/at or to']

~
1. : + ---> [: place]
2. : + ---> [: time]
3. : + ---> [: direction]

~
. My family is at church.
. Milk is in the shop.
. I read a book at night.
. I go to the bank now.

Grammar 6

'' .
[Added to the unit noun which counts numbers, it shows the 'standard'
of the counting or unit.] [Similar to 'a, per, or by']

~
1. -- . -----> .
2. -- . -----> .

~
 . I go twice a week.
20 . I read 20 pages per hour.
4 . It costs 40,000 won by the set.
10 . There are 10 students in a class.

Lesson 15: Family & Relatives & Friends

English Hangul/Korean Romanization

Aunt Ahjumni

Auntie Ahjumma

Uncle Ahjussi

GrandMa Halmoni

GrandPa Haraboji

Father Ahboji

Father-In-Law Shi Ahboji

(Husbands)
Father-In-Law Jang in uh reun
(Wife's)

Dad Appa

Mom Omma

Mother Ommoni

Mother-In-Law Shi Ommoni

(Husbands)

Mother-In-Law Jang mo nim (Wife's)

Older Sister Unnie (Speaker is

Female)

Older Brother Oppa (Speaker is

Female)

Older Sister Noona (Speaker is

Male)
Older Brother Hyung (Speaker is
Male)

Younger Sibling Dongsaeng

Junior Hoobae

Senior Sunbae

Friend Chingu

Youngest Maknae