Essential Korean Grammar. Laura Kingdon
A: 한국은 10월이면 더워요? Hangukeun shiworinyeon deowoyo? Is Korea hot in October?
B: 덥기는요. 10월에 시원해요. Deopgineunnyo. Shiwore siwonhaeyo. Hot? Not at all. It’s cool in October.
__________
A: 한국어를 아주 잘 하시네요! Hangukeoreul aju jal hasineyo! You speak Korean very well!
B: 잘 하기는요. Jal hagineunnyo. I really don’t.
A: 오늘 늦었어요? Oneul neujeosseoyo? Were you late today?
B: 늦기는커녕 8시에 왔어요. Neutgineunkeonyeong yeodeolsie waseoyo. Not only was I not late, but I was here at eight.
A isn’t actually the case. This is usually followed by B, an explanation of what exactly the case is. The expressions above are used in a sentence about something negative, and B is often something easier to accomplish than A but still impossible to achieve.
HOW IT’S CONJUGATED
| All tenses | ||
| Action verbs ending in a vowel | 하다 | 하기는커녕 hagineunkeonyeong |
| Action verbs ending in a consonant | 먹다 | 먹기는커녕 meokgineunkeonyeong |
| Descriptive verbs (adjectives) ending in a vowel | 예쁘다 | 예쁘기는 커녕 yeppeugineun keonyeong |
| Descriptive verbs (adjectives) ending in a consonant | 작다 | 작기는커녕 jakgineunkeonyeong |
| Nouns ending in a vowel | 남자 | 남자는커녕 namjaneunkeonyeong |
| Nouns ending in a consonant | 물 | 물은커녕 mureunkeonyeong |
TAKE NOTE
It’s interchangeable with 은/는 말할 것 없다 eun/neun malhal geot eopda.
When speaking, 커녕 is usually dropped. For example, if you want to say 잘 하기는커녕, jal hagineun keonyeong the sentence simply becomes 잘 하기는.
EXAMPLE SENTENCES
A: 한국은 10월이면 더워요? Hangukeun shiworimyeon deowoyo? Is Korea hot in October?
B: 덥기는커녕 시원해요. Deopgineunkeonyeong siwonhaeyo. Not at all. In fact, it’s cool.
__________
A: 한국어를 아주 잘 하시네요! Hangukeoreul aju jal hasineyo! You speak Korean very well!
B: 잘 하기는커녕 기본적인 표현 밖에 몰라요. Jal hagineunkeonyeong gibonjeogin pyohyeon bakke mollayo. Not only do I not speak it well, but I don’t know anything except basic expressions.
왜 과속해요? 일찍 가면 뭘 해요? 안전이 제일 중요하지요.
Wae gwasokaeyo? Iljjik gamyeon mwol haeyo? Anjeoni jeil jungyohajiyo.
Why are you speeding? What’s the point of getting there early? Safety is more important.
Ever had someone be amazed by something that really wasn’t a big deal? Ever want to bring them down a notch or two? Here’s how you can do that. This expression means “What’s the point of ~?” or “So what if ~?” and is usually followed by an explanation of what you think is more important. For instance, in the example sentence above, you use the expression 면 뭔 해요 to ask “What’s the point of speeding?” and then follow it with an explanation of what you think is more important—safety.
HOW IT’S FORMED
면 means “if” (see page 283); 뭘 is 무엇 mueot contracted with the object marker 를.
HOW IT’S CONJUGATED
This expression is attached to verbs just like the (으)면 with which it starts.
| Past | Present | Future | ||
| Action verbs ending in a vowel | 하다 | 했으면 뭘 해요? haesseumyeon mwol haeyo? | 하면 뭘 해요? hamyeon mwol haeyo? | 하면 뭘 해요? |
| Action verbs ending in a consonant | 먹다 | 먹었으면 뭘 해요? meogeoseumyeon mwol haeyo? | 먹으면 뭘 해요? meogeumyeon mwol haeyo? | 먹으면 뭘 해요? |
| Descriptive verbs (adjectives) ending in a vowel | 예쁘다 | 예뻤으면 뭘 해요? yeppeoseumyeon mwol haeyo? | 예쁘면 뭘 해요? yeppeumyeon mwol haeyo? | 예쁘면 뭘 해요? |
| Descriptive verbs (adjectives) ending in a consonant | 작다 | 작았으면 뭘 해요? jagaseumyeon mwol haeyo? | 작으면 뭘 해요? jageumyeon mwol haeyo? | 작으면 뭘 해요? |
| Nouns ending in a vowel | 남자 | 남자였으면 뭘 해요? namjayeosseumyeon mwol haeyo? | 남자이면 뭘 해요? namja-i-myeon mwol haeyo? | 남자이면 뭘 해요? |
| Nouns ending in a consonant | 물 | 물이었으면 뭘 해요? murieoseumyeon mwol haeyo? | 물이면 뭘 해요? murimyeon mwol haeyo? | 물이면 뭘 해요? |
TAKE NOTE
The explanation for why ~ doesn’t matter often follows ~(으)면 뭘 해요? (eu)myeon mwol hae-yo? in a second sentence. It often ends with either 아/어/여야지요 (“you must~”; see page 202) or ㄴ/는데요; see page 69).
EXAMPLE SENTENCES
돈이 많이 모으면 뭘 해요? 건강이 제일 중요한데요.
Doni mani moeumyeon mwol haeyo? Geongangi jeil jungyohandeyo.
What’s the point of saving a lot of money? Health is the most important thing.
건강에 대해서 계속 걱정하면 뭘 해요? 한번 검진 받았으니까 걱정할 필요가 없어요.
Geongange daehaeseo gyesok geokjeonghamyeon mwol haeyo? Hanbeon geomjin badasseunikka geokjeonghal pillyoga eobseoyo.
What’s the point of constantly worrying about your health? If you’d just get a checkup, you won’t need to worry.
Asking Questions
어제 늦었나요? Eoje neujeonnayo? Were you late yesterday?
Let’s face it: life in Korea can be pretty confusing sometimes, and you’ll probably have a few questions about things. You can (and Koreans, more often that not, do) ask questions using standard verb forms like 해요? or 가세요?, but what fun is that? Here’s how to sound better when you’re actually clueless.
HOW IT’S CONJUGATED
If your question ends in an action verb like 가다 or 먹다 or with a past tense form, you can end it with 나요. If it ends in a descriptive verb like 예쁘다 or 똑똑하다 ttokttokhada, end with (으)ㄴ가요.
| Past | Present | Future | ||
| Action verbs ending in a vowel | 하다 | 했나요? haennayo? | 하나요? hanayo? | 할 건가요? hal geongayo? |
| Action verbs ending in a consonant | 먹다 | 먹었나요? meogeonnayo? | 먹나요? meoknayo? | 먹을 건가요? meogeul geongayo? |
| Descriptive |