Essential Korean Grammar. Laura Kingdon
eoryeoun chaegeul ikji mot taeyo.
I can’t read such a difficult book.
And here’s how to abbreviate 이렇다, 그렇다, 저렇다, and 어떻다 using the tense markers ㄴ and ㄹ. (See page 235 for more information on tense markers).
| Original word | 이렇다 ireota | 그렇다 geureota | 저렇다 jeoreota | 어떻다 eotteota |
| +ㄴ | 이렇 + ㄴ | 그렇 + ㄴ | 저렇 + ㄴ | 어떻 + ㄴ |
| Contraction | 이런 ireon | 그런 geureon | 저런 jeoreon | 어떤 eotteon |
| +ㄹ | 이렇 + ㄹ | 그렇 + ㄹ | 저렇 + ㄹ | |
| Contraction | 이럴 ireol | 그럴 geureol | 저럴 jeoreol |
이런 헤어 스타일은 어떠세요?
Ireon heeo seu-ta-i-reun eotteoseyo?
What do you think about this hairstyle?
어떤 헤어 스타일을 좋아하세요?
Eotteon heeo seu-ta-i-reul joahaseyo?
What kind of style do you like?
저런 헤어 스타일을 좋아해요.
Jeoreon heeo seu-ta-i-reul joahaeyo.
I like that kind of hairstyle.
More ways to use 이렇다, 저렇다 and especially 그렇다 are on page 377. For now, let’s look at 어떻다 and its unique contractions.
When you add 어떻게 plus 하다, you can keep on using 어떻게 하다 or you can contract the whole thing to 어쩌다. This contraction happens in many commonly used expressions.
■ 어쩔 수 없다 Eojjeol su eopda
A: 저기 버스가 가네요! Jeogi beoseuga ganeyo! The bus is leaving!
B: 어쩔 수 없죠, 뭐. 다음 버스 타요. Eojjeol su eopjo, mwo. Daeum beoseu tayo. Oh well, it can’t be helped. Let’s take the next one.
■ 어쩌면 eojjeomyeon Maybe
내일 어쩌면 비가 올 지도 몰라요. Naeil eojjeomyeon biga ol jido mollayo. Maybe it’ll rain tomorrow.
■ 어쩐지 eojjeonji Somehow
A: 저 감기 걸린 것 같아요. Jeo gamgi geollin geot gatayo. I think I caught a cold.
B: 어쩐지, 얼굴이 안좋아보이더라고요. Eojjeonji, eolguri an-jo-a-bo-i-deo-ra-go-yo. Somehow, your face doesn’t look that good.
(Here “somehow” means “in some vague way.” And while it’s strange to tell people in English that their face doesn’t look so good, it’s done in Korean all the time.)
How to Talk to People Without Being Rude
반말 and 존댓말 and All Their Permutations
There are seven levels of speech in Korean. There used to be many more, but thankfully they’ve been greatly simplified. Even more thankfully, most of the seven aren’t that commonly used. 반말 banmal is the lowest form, used toward children or people very close to you, and it actually covers five of the seven levels, including all the ones you don’t need to worry about. The next two levels are both called 존댓말 jondaenmal. One is what I’ll refer to as “informal polite” and is by far the most common and useful level. It’s used toward strangers, people you don’t know well, or people older than you. The other is super-polite and is used when speaking to people higher in rank or status or when addressing crowds. Just as an example, I use 반말 to my students and informal polite to my co-teachers. I just about never use super-polite, but I hear it all the time in subway announcements. Finally, you don’t really use any of the levels in writing, so I’ll show you how to end sentences when you’re writing, too.
As you may also know, Korean grammar much depends on what kind of sentence you’re forming. These can be classified as follows:
1. Statements with action verbs
2. Statements with descriptive verbs
3. Statements with nouns
4. Commands
5. Questions
6. Suggestions
Here’s how to end each kind of sentence in each level of speech. Note as well that there are many ways to end sentences—this whole book’s worth, in fact. The ones listed here are just the basics. Let’s start with the three very common ways of speaking.
| Sentence type | Tense | 반말 (해체 haeche) (casual) | 존댓말 (해요체 haeyoche) (informal polite) | 존댓말 (하십시오체 hasipsi-o-che) (super polite) | 문어체 muneoche (writing) |
| Action verb statements ending in vowels | Past | 했어 haeseo | 했어요 haeseoyo | 했습니다 haetseupnida | 했다 haetda |
| Present | 해 hae | 해요 haeyo | 합니다 hapnida | 한다 handa | |
| Future | 할 거야 hal geoya | 할 거예요 hal geoyeyo | 하겠습니다 hagetseumnida | 할 것이다 hal geosida | |
| Action verb statements ending in consonants | Past | 먹었어 meogeoseo | 먹었어요 meogeoseoyo | 먹었습니다 meogeotseupnida | 먹었다 meogeotda |
| Present | 먹어 meogeo | 먹어요 meogeoyo | 먹습니다 meokseubnida | 먹는다 meokneunda | |
| Future | 먹을 거야 meogeul geoya | 먹을 거예요 meogeul geoyeyo | 먹을 겁니다 meogeul geopnida | 먹을 것이다 meogeul geosida | |
| Descriptive verb statements ending in vowels | Past | 작았어 jagasseo | 작았어요 jagasseoyo | 작았습니다 jagatseumnida | 작았다 jagatda |
| Present | 작아 jaga | 작아요 jagayo | 작습니다 jakseumnida | 작다 jakda | |
| Future | 작을 거야 jageul geoya | 작을 거예요 jageul geoyeyo | 작을 겁니다 jageul geopnida | 작을 것이다 jageul geosida | |
| Descriptive verb statements ending in consonants | Past |
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