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Weekly Korean Episode 45 – Past, present and future

8 Oct

Do you know how to pronounce past, present and future tense in Korean? It’s easy, listen to this episode and it will be clear to you. As you know, we covered the past in our last episode (remember?) so this week we add present and future tense.

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PAST TENSE

Discussed last week: Simply leave the stem and add the ㅆ어요.
I ate: (먹다)
먹어 + ㅆ 어요 = 먹었어요.
I drank: (마시다)
마셔 + ㅆ 어요 = 마셨어요
I went: (가다)
가다 + ㅆ 어요 = 갔어요


PRESENT TENSE
Simply add 고 있어요 to the stam and you are set!
I am eating: (먹다)
먹 + 고 있어요 = 먹고 있어요
I am drinking: (마시다)
마시+고 있어요
I am going: (가다)
가 + 고 있어요


FUTURE TENSE
For future, you need to put ~ㄹ 거에요 behind the stam. (make it 을 거에요 in case of batchim)
I am going to eat: (먹다)
먹 + ㄹ거에요 =  먹을 거에요
I am going to drink: (마시다)
마시 + ㄹ 거에요 = 마실 거에요
I am going: (가다)
가 + ㄹ거에요 = 갈 거에요

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Weekly Korean Episode 44 – Past tense

2 Oct

How to say, “I ate”? We learned how to express verbs in last weeks episode, so now we’ll continue with time. In todays episode, Nahyun and Joop will cover the past tense. The present and future tense will follow next weeks.
Examples:

  • I ate: 먹다 
먹 + 어 – 먹어 
먹어 + ㅆ – 먹었 
먹었 + 어요 = 먹었어요.
  • I drank: 마시다 
마시 + 어 – 마셔 
마셔 + ㅆ – 마셨 
마셨 + 어요 = 마셨어요
  • I went: 가다 
가 + 아 – 가 
가 + ㅆ – 갔 
갔 + 어요 = 갔어요

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A few important sentences for survival in Korea

20 Jun


Object Particles – 을/를

1 Jun

을 (eul) and 를 (reul) are the last postposition we’ll cover. As said before, postpositions change the noun into the subject of the verb.

  • When the noun ends in a consonant, you will use “을”.
  • When the noun ends in a vowel, you will use “를”.

    • 신문을 봅니다 – I read a newspaper.
    커피를 마십니다 – I drink a cup of coffee.
    수영을 합니다 – I swim
    지우개를 삽니다 – I buy an eraser.

    The difference between 은 (eun) and 는 (neun)

    26 May

    The 은 (eun) and 는 (neun) are postpositions. Postpositions are used to define the case of a noun, or the grammatical relation between the words. Postpositions do not exist in the English language so this will be an abstract description.

    은 (eun) and 는 (neun):

    There are at least two applications for 은 (eun) and 는 (neun): contrast and topic marker. In short, contrast defines the sentence style (Question or answer) and topic marker defines the subject in a sentence. Just like before; if there is a batchim, use 은, if not, use 는.

    In practice – contrast:

    The question uses 이/가 and the answer 은/는.

    수나가 학교를 갑니까?  (sunaga haggyoleul gabnikka) – Is Suna going to school?

    수나는 학교를 갑니다. (sunaneun haggyoleul gabnida) – Suna is going to School.

    In practice – topic marker:

    Noun’s with a 은 (eun) and 는 (neun) in the end become the topic of the sentence. With every sentence about a persons action, use 은 (eun) and 는 (neun). Otherwise use 이/가 .

    저는 읽고 있습니다. (jeoneun ilg-go issseubnida.) - I am reading

    The difference between 가 (Ka) and 이 (i)

    25 May

    Today we will cover the first postpostions: 가 (Ka) and 이 (i).

    What are postpositions?

    Postpositions are used to define the case of a noun, or the grammatical relation between the words. Postpositions do not exist in the English language so this will be a abstract description.

    가 (Ka) and 이 (i):

    Both these postpositions are used to define the subject in the sentence. Just glue it to the end of a noun and you are all set.  The difference between the two is defined by the ending of noun – note that you would use 가 (Ka) without a batchim, and 이 (i) when there is a batchim :

    For the geeks in the front raising their hands: There is never a space between postpositions and the attached word.

    Examples:

    1. 저기가 우체국입니다. (jeogiga uchegug-ibnida) – There is the post office.
      저기 (There) is marked  with 가 (ka) to make it into a subject. In this case it’s 가 (ka) because the character in front doesn’t contain a batchim.
    2. 이름이 뭐에요? (ileum-i mwo-eyo?) – What’s your name?
      이름 (Name) is marked with (이) i to make it into a subject. In this case it’s 이 (i) because the character in front does contain a batchim.

    (subject in red, predicate in purple, copulate in orange)

    With all the logic in place, I think it just sounds better too. The sentence ‘rolls’ more don’t you think? Without it, it wouldn’t sound smooth: 이름 뭐에요 (ileummwo-eyo?), instead of 이름이 뭐에요 (ileum-i mwo-eyo). Furthermore, saying (ileum-ka mwo-eyo?) would just sound silly so don’t get me started!

    Main take away: Stick a ‘KA’ behind if there isn’t a batchim, use a good old ‘I’ if there is!

    Wat is a Batchim? (받침)

    24 May

    받침 (Batchim) is a reference to a the final consonant in a Korean syllable.

    Simply said, when you look at a korean syllable, the 받침 (Patchim) comes last; usually the case when when the noun ends in a consonant.

    Every final consonant is '받침'

    The word 받침 (Patchim) means tray, just like you would put your lemon juice on a tray, also Korean letters can lay on a tray.

    Sources:
    Koreanwikiproject