Chapter 11, 많이 드세요.

The post for Chapter 11 is not finished but the flashcards with all the vocabulary are!

Flashcards for Chapter 11, part 1

Flashcards for Chapter 11, part 2

What time did you get up?

The post relevant to Chapter 10 is not finished, but here are the flashcard sets...

Flashcards for Chapter 10, part 1

FLashcards for Chapter 10, part 2

Grammar Summary I

Given my highly unorganised notes and brain I need a post that compiles all the little grammar points that I have covered so far. To be continuously updated...

Interrogative pronouns

어디...? - Where?
    e.g.: 어디 가요? - Where are you going?
    Answer: 집에 가요. -  I am going home.


뭐...? - What?
    e.g.: 뭐예요? - Where is it?
    Answer: 사과예요. - It is an apple.


몇...? - How many...?
    e.g.: 몇 개 있어요?  - How many (items) are there?
            사과 몇 있어요? - How many apples are there?
    Answer: PK (counter) 있어요.
                    SK (counter) 있어요. (SK numbers used for some unit nouns)

    몇 시예요? - What time is it? (lit. How many hours...?)
    Answer: PK 시예요.
                    PK 시 SK 분이에요
Note: 몇 is always used in conjunction with a counter or unit noun. For more information on counters check here.

    몇 시간...? - For how long...? (lit. How many hours...?)
     e.g.: 하루에 몇 시간/번...? - How many hours/times a day do you...?
    Answer: 일곱 번 식사해요. - I have meals/eat seven times a day.
Note: here the difference between "몇 시...?" and "몇 시간...?" seems to be that the first seems (word repetition because I am really not sure) to be asking that time it is on the clock, exactly! "What hour is it (on the clock)?" or "How many hours/ what hour does (now) equate to?" rather than "How often (using hours or other unit of time) does something happen/ take place?" For the first the "copula" is used, for the second we use any other verb.

    오늘은 몇월며칠이에요? - What date is it today? (lit. How many months and days is it today?)
    Answer: 오늘은 (SK)팔월 (SK)십육일이에요. - Today is 17th of August.


언제...? - When...?
    e.g.: 한국어 수업이 언제 있어요? - When do you have Korean classes?    Answer:월요일하고 수요일에 있어요. - We have on Mondays and Wednesdays.


어느....? - Which/ what...?
    e.g.: 어느 나라에서 왔어요? - Which country are you from?
            어느 나라 사람이에요? - Which country is (the) person (from)?
    Answer: 호주에서 왔어요. - I am from Australia.
                   호주 사람이에요. - The person is Australian.
Note: this one is a tricky for me to make sense of because the second questions asks "which country is the person (equivalent to)?". I guess that the logic may be in the reply since the more literal translation "the person is (equivalent to that) country" also means "the person is country's (nationality)." Seems as if in Korean being an actual country and being a citizen of the said country does not carry the same distinction as in English and other European languages (at least the ones I am familiar with). The example also works with "어느 나라 말이에요? - Which country is the language (equivalent to)?" which generates the same answer as above.


어디....? - Where....?
    e.g.: 어디서 왔어요? - Where are you from?
            호주 어디서 왔어요? - Where from in Australia are you from?
    Answer: 시드니에서 왔어요. - I am from Sydney.

    e.g.: ....은/는 어디에 있어요? - Where is... located?
    Answer: 호주에 있어요. - It is (located) in Australia.
Note: could the country or place of origin (nationality) be asked this way? Instead of "어느 나라에서 왔어요?" could we have "어디에서 왔어요?" The main difference is that the nationality is not specifically mentioned, the person could be coming from the toilet, be from Australia or dreamland.




어때요? - How (is it)?


누구...? - Who...?


얼마예요? - How much is it/are they?
    e.g.: 사과 얼마예요? - How much are they apples?
            이거 얼마예요? - How much is this/are these?
    Answer: SK 원이에요.
                   PK/SK (counter)-에 SK 원어에요. - Per/each (counter) item it is (amount) won.

Adverbs

여기 - here

Demonstratives

이- - this
그- - that (near you)
저- - that (over there)
    -것/거 - thing (usually following the demonstrative)
    e.g.:이것 (or 이거) 뭐예요? - What is this (thing)?
           저거 우유예요. - That is milk.
  

Past tense

Note: This post is based on Chapter 10 of Shin's textbook (see resources section).

Let's talk about the past!

 The basic form of the past is:

VST-았/었/했어요

The rules of conjugation follow those used for the polite informal (-아요, -어요, -해요) in which the last vowel of the verb stem determines the ending to be used.

Examples:

 

with 았어요

어느 나라에서 왔어요? - Which country did you come from?

우리는 호주에 언제 갔어요? - When did we go to Australia?

    (I came up with this sentence but am clueless as to whether it is correct... most likely not.)

공원에서 놀았어요. - I played in the park.

with 었어요

이 책 읽었어요. - I read this book.

우유 다 마셨어요? - Did you drink all the milk?

지노씨는 우리 친구였어요? -  Jino was our friend.

with 했어요

한 시간 전에 식사했어요. - I ate (had a meal) one hour ago.

공부했어요? - Did you study?

Coffee culture in Korea. Fancy a cup?

Knowing that South Korea has in the last couple of decades developed a strong coffee and café culture scored highly on my appreciation for the country. I like coffee, coffee is the beverage of my people (wine too), coffee is my fuel, and it turns out coffee is a pretty big deal in Korea. Match made in heaven.

After noticing that Koreans seem to use the original names in (more often than not) Italian for all the coffee varieties out there I decided to explore in more detail the coffee/café culture of the country and to see if I'd successfully understand café menus without a great need to memorise local vocabulary. 98% of the items in the menu I got hold of resemble a hangeulisation of a Starbucks menu, the only native Korean (via Chinese or not is not relevant) words were only found in the tea and juice sections.

Seems like going to a café could be a good way of dealing with homesickness; that is, if I ever make it to K-shores. This particular chain also uses Brazilian coffee beans (yay!!) let's hope they roast them and make heavenly coffee just like the Portuguese do.


So here is a print screen from café bene, a coffee chain from South Korea (not sure if, as of now, they have extended their stores to the Northern People's Republic).

커피모카 - café mocha
카라멜마끼아 - caramel macchiato
카푸치노 - cappuccino
에스프레소 - espresso
화이트모카 - white mocha
아메리카노 - americano
아포가또 - affogato
카페라떼 - café latte
에스프레소콘파냐 - espresso con panna

에스프레소마끼아또 - espresso macchiato
바닐라라떼 - vanilla latte
크림카라멜라떼 - caramel latte
크림망뜨라떼 - cream ? latte
아이리쉬블루라떼 - Irish blue latte
아이스아메리카노 - Iced americano

카라멜프라페노 - caramel frappe
모카프라페노 - mocha frappe
화이트모카프라페노 - white mocha frappe no
모숫가루프라페노 - ?
그린티퍼라페노 (휘피) - green tea frappe no
초코칩프라페노 - choc chip frappeno
망뜨초코칩프라페노 - ? choc chip frappeno
플레인요거트스무디 - plain yogurt smoothie
블루베리요거트스무디 - blueberry yogurt smoothie

녹차 - green tea
잉글리쉬블랙퍼스트 - English breakfast
얼그레이 - Earl Grey
민트 - mint
캐모마일 - camomile

Strange not to see more traditional Korean teas, surely there must be a considerable number of them.

그린라떼 - green latte
아이스그린라떼 - iced green latte
밀크티라떼 - milk latte
아이스밀크티라떼 - iced milk latte
블루베리라떼 - blueberry latte
고구마라떼 - sweet potato latte (that is something I still haven't seen in Australia)
아이스고구마라떼 - iced sweet potato latte
아이스리얼초콜랏라떼 - iced real(?) chocolate latte
우유 - milk (perhaps one of my favourite words in Korean)

딸기주스 - strawberry juice
토마토주스 - tomato juice
키위생과일주스 - kiwi fruit juice
자몽주서 - grapefruit juice
오랜지생과일주스 - orange juice
홍시주스 - persimmon juice

Notice

The reason for my lack of posts and posts directly related to the textbook I have been using as the main guide for this blog relates to the fact that I have been focusing on other sources and aiming to solidify my grammar knowledge. I already found quite a lot of information that in due time I will add to existing posts.

끝

Descriptive verbs

Description verbs

Desription verbs exist because the Korean language does not have adjectives. Could this be a blessing? Let's see...

Some grammars categorise Korean verbs as either 'processive' or as 'descriptive'. Processive verbs relate to common verbs (my terms) or verbs as we know them in English, and, I suspect, most languages. These convey the idea of some sort of action, be it 'to walk', 'to talk', 'to think', etc. Descriptive verbs, also known as 'adjectival verbs' on the other hand refer to a specific conjugation or ending that aims to describe (dahhh) or explain. While in English the words 'cold' or 'interesting' exist, when used in a sentence it demands the use of a verb, usually 'to be' (however not necessarily), hence the translation "to be cold" or "to be interesting" for 추워요 and 재미 있어요 respectively. In Korean this becomes one word, or, more specifically, a descriptive verb.

First and foremost descritption verbs follow the rules of conjugation (not really conjugation but ending attachment) seen in previous verbs.

The only variable from the way the stem changes when the Polite Informal is added is when the verb stem ends in ㅂ, in this cases it changes to ㅜ followed by -어요. These verbs have been identified with (*).

	Polite Formal	Polite Informal
Statement	-ㅂ니다. -습니다.	-아요. / -어요. / 해요.
Question	-ㅂ니까? -습니까?	-아요. / -어요. / 해요.
Command	-십시오. -으십시오.	-세요. -으세요.

Some cases may however be a bit trickier, for example 줗- which becomes 줗아요 and describes something as good. Similarly, 줗아하- becomes 줗아해요 means 'to like' or the process of the subject finding or thinking that something is good.

Examples

많 plus 아요 becomes 많아요

많아요 - (to be) numerous

저워요 - (to be) few

재미 있어요 - (to be) interesting/ fun

재미 없어요 - (to be) boring

반가워요 (반갑-)* - (to be) pleased


고마워요* - (to be) thankful

어려워요* - (to be) difficult

쉬워요* - (to be) easy

더워요* - (to be) hot

추워요* - (to be) cold

Which country are you from? 어느 나라에서 왔어요?

Note: This post is based on Chapter 9 of Shin's textbook (see resources section).

Curious note, the word for foreigner in Korean 외국인 also means alien.

This Chapter feels like a blessing after a sequence of chapters dedicated to numbers, dates and despicable grammar rules. Yay!! Hello, brave new world! Well, at least those parts of the world that were dimmed significant enough not to be ignored... like my own country. AIGO!

NOTE: This chapter will be divided in two posts, this one dedicated to vocabulary and the second to grammar.

Vocabulary from dialogue

한국어가 어려워요? - Is Korean difficult?

조금 - a little bit
하지만 -  but

재미 있어요 -  it's interesting / fun

어느 나라 - which country
-에서 - from

어디서 = 어디에서 - From where?

... 아세요? (알다) - Do you know...?

그럼요 - of course!

친구 - friend(s)

-하고 같이 - together with...

가보다 - 가 (go), 보 (see), visit

또 어세요 - Please come again.

Countries and Continents

나라 country, nation
-국 country, nation

한국 Korea (ROK)
북한 North Korea
이북 North korea

일본 Japan
중국 China

대만 Taiwan
몽골 Mongolia
베트남 Vietnam
태국 Thailand
말레이시아 Malaysia
인도네시아 Indonesia

인도 India
인디아 India
파키스탄 Pakistan
이란 Iran
이라크 Iraq

미국 USA

호주 Australia
오스트렐리아 Australia

독일 Germany
프랑스 France
불란서 France
이탈리아 Italy
이태리 Italy
스페인 Spain
영국 England, UK

포르투갈 Portugal

아시아 Asia
오세아니아 Oceania
유럽 Europe
아메리카 America
아프리카 Africa

외국 abroad
어느… which
-에서 from

Geography and Culture Notes

동 - East

서 - West

남 - South (GangNam anyone?)

북 - North (북한)

중동 - Middle East (Same word for China plus East?)

동북아시아 - Northeast Asia

동남아시아 - Southeast Asia

남아메리카 -  South America

수도 - capital city

사람 - person

-인 - person

말 - language, words (spoken)

-어 - language, words (spoken and written)

글자 - letter, alphabet

한자 - Chinese characters

영어 - English

불어 - French (language of fire?)

독어 - German

스페인어 - Spanish

포르투갈어 - Portuguese

아랍어 - Arabic

페르시아어 - Persian

일본어 - Japanese

중국어 - Chinese

Test this vocabulary using FLASHCARDS!!!

Useful words and expressions

알다 - to know

-하고 - and, (together) with

...근처에 - in the vicinity of 

-(으)로 유명하다 - to be famous for

여러 나라 - many countries

가보다 - to visit

많- - be numerous

즉- - be small (in number)

쉽- - be easy

어렵- - be difficult

덥- - be hot

춥- - be cold

따듯하- - be (nice and) warm

재미 있- - to be interesting/ fun

재미 없- - to be boring/ uninteresting

조금 - a little (bit)

SK 층 - #th floor

일층 - ground floor

몇 ㄴ층에 ...? -  On which floor...?

화장실 - toilet

Test this vocabulary using Flashcards, chapter 9 Part II!!!

Negating in Korean

In Korean there are a number of ways of using negatives, therefore for the sake of my sanity I will start with the simplest forms and proceed towards the more complex forms as my patience and sources allow.

이에요 / 예요 vs 아니에요

The copula is one possible translation of the verb "to be", however with a more specific meaning since it specifically refers to equivalence. In other words, it acts like "to be" only in the case of "NOUN is NOUN".

The formation of the the negative in the case requires the use of yet another grammar tool, subject particles! (Yay!!!) Explained here.

 So this is how it is formed:

NOUN-(이/가) 아니에요.

Examples
이거 녹차예요? - Is this green tea?
아니요, 그거 녹차가 아니에요. - No, that is not green tea.


이거 책입니까? - Is this a book? (Polite Formal)
아니요, 그거 녹차가 아니에요. - No, that is not a book.

있어요 vs 없오요

This is one another possible translation of the verb "to be", which in Korean gains more specific (and varied) forms. 있어요 and 없어요 if often translated as "there is/ are" and "there isn't/ aren't" respectively, but in practice the meaning is closer to "have/has" and "haven't/hasn't", or "exist/exists" and "doesn't exist".

This verb expresses that something exists or is available, as well as if something exists in a specific location or to demonstrate possession.

Examples

(hope they are correct)

물 있어요. - There is water. / Water exists. / I have water. / They have water.

물 없어요. - There isn't water. / Water does not exist. (let's be hypothetical here) / I don't have water. / They don't have water. 

학교에 있어요. - I am in school.

학교에 없어요. - I am not in school.

친구 있어요. - I have friends.

자전거 있어요. - I have a bicycle.

자전거 없어요. - I do not have a bicycle.

Another use of 있어요 and 없어요 is when referring to time.

시간 있어요? - Is there time? / Do you have time?

시간 없어요. - There isn't time. / I don't have time.

Additionally, 있어요 and 없어요 can also be attached to nouns to form a new word/adjective.

Examples

맛 - taste

맛있어요. - It's tasty. / It's delicious.

맛없어요. - It's not tasty. / It's not delicious. / It tastes bad.

안 + VERB

This is perhaps the easiest way to negate the verb. All that is required is to add 안 before the verb and voilà!

Example

가다

안 + 가 = 안 가요.

집에 가요? - Are you going home?
집에 안 가요. - I am not going going home. / I don't go home.

VST지 않다

Since this ending is attached to the verb stem to make it negative, it is necessary to pay attention to tense when conjugating the verb. Whereas 안 does not change regardless of tense, the same is not true for this negative form.

Example

가다

가 + 지 않다 = 가지 않아요.

집에 가지 않아요. - I am not going going home. / I don't go home.

* This post is largely based on Talk To Me In Korean, Level 1, Lessons 10, 12 and 21.

Are you free this afternoon? Shall we have a drink today at 6 p.m.?

Note: This post is based on Chapter 8 of Shin's textbook (see resources section)

Well, wasn't this post locked in the draft pile for weeks and weeks! Back to work... on time!

I found this chapter challenging for unexpected reasons. Seeing that I always struggle with days of the week and anything to do with numbers, I expected telling the time to be one of the most challenging bits of this chapter. However, as announced, I was wrong!! What turned out to be the hardest was to remember all the verb endings (some gender specific) to suggest different courses of action. Grammar biting me in the... poo house* (Korean, for all its subtlety can also be very visual).

This chapter also mentions topic and object markers. These are discussed in a different post entirely dedicated to the matter (currently on the draft pile).

Are you free this afternoon? Shall we have a drink today at 6 p.m.?

오후에 시간 있어요? 오늘 오후 한 시에 마실까요?

(I am actually not too sure if this example is correct.)

Vocabulary
안 돼요 - ...is no good.
어때요? - How (is it)?
그럼... - Well, then
좋아요 - Good, sure.


오늘 - today
내일 - tomorrow
오전 - a.m. (morning)
오늘 오전 - this morning
오후 - p.m. (afternoon)
지금 - now
몇 시…? - What time…?
몇 - how many?
-시 - o'clock (counter)
-분 - minute
-전 - before
반 - half
시간 - time, hour
수업 - class
한국어 수업 - Korean class
약속 - appointment, date

Telling the time

지금 몇 시예요*?
What time is it (now)?
*This makes use of the copula "이에요/예요" as in:

시 (hour counter) + 이에요/예요 = 시예요

PK 시예요.
PK 시 SK 분 이에요.

NOTE: we are not being fancy and using the 24 hour clock but a 12 hour clock with complete and total disregard for a.m. and p.m. specificities.


01:00 - 한 시예요.
Note the contraction of 하나 before the hour counter 시

02:10 - 두 시 십 분이에요.
Note the contraction of 둘 before the hour counter 시 resulting in "두 시", as well as the use of PK numbers for hours (세 시) and of SK numbers (십 분) for minutes.

03:15 - 세 시 십오 분이에요.

03:30 - 세 시 삼십 분이에요. or 세 십 반이에요.

03:45 - 세 시 사십오 분 이에요. or 네 시 십오 분전이에요.

04:55 p.m. - 오후 다섯 시 오 분전이에요. (hope it's correct, couldn't find an example)

Days of the week

월요일 - Monday
월요일에 - on Monday
화요일 - Tuesday
수요일 - Wednesday
목요일 - Thursday
금요일 - Friday
토요일 - Saturday
일요일 - Sunday (mnemonic: the day of the days!!!)
주말에 - on the weekend
일요일 오후 1시에 - on Sunday at one p.m.

Shall we… go nuts and curse all these verb endings?

VST-(으)ㄹ까요?

시작할까요? Shall we start?
커피 잠 잔 마실까요? - Shall we have a cup of coffee?
일요일 오후 한 시에 만날까요? - Shall we meet at one o'clock Monday afternoon? (lit. Sunday afternoon at one o'clock shall we meet?)
여기 앉을까요? - Shall (we) sit here?

Yes, let's... go nuts because this ain't finished.

When replying to any of the above it is necessary to determine of two things; 1) whether or not to accept, and 2) your gender.

If NO, then use a "noncommittal" expression such as 글쎄요... and proceed to say that you are busy, that you cannot comply with part or the suggestion (for example, time, not the idea of meeting up), or whatever... the book does not really provide any examples.

If YES, and if a MALE answer according to the formula
VST-(으)ㅂ시다.
네, 내일 마납시다. - Yes, let's meet tomorrow.

If YES and if lucky to be a FEMALE answer according to the (statement) formula
VST-아요/ 어요/ 해요.
네, 내일 마나요. - Yes, we meet tomorrow.

How about we cheat by just using the following expression?

NOUN 어때요?

(lit.) How is/are NOUN?

일요일 오후 어때요? - How about Sunday afternoon?

내일 오전 열한 시 어때요? - How about eleven tomorrow morning?

지금 어때요? - How about now?

맥주 한 잔 어때요? - How about a beer?

If YES, then NOUN 괜찮아요/ 좋아요.

(NOUN is ok/ good.)

If NO, then NOUN 안 돼요.

(NOUN is no good.)

Test this chapter with these Flashcards!!!

*Learnt in Anthony Bourdain's episode in Korea that this is the Korean word for ass. However, I tried to double check this information using other sources and was unable to find the same translation. The closer I got to this was the translation found on Naver's dictionary that defined "똥집" (literally poo house) as large intestine. Close enough... Additionally, another "house" word is "물집" (literally water house) meaning blister. I wonder how many exist in Korean...

Particles: Subject 가 / 이 and Topic 는 / 은

Here is something very important that makes every sentence sound all the more fluent but that has been in part neglected by main textbook I have been using as the main reference for previous posts.
Some textbooks and grammar books teach topic and subject particles together... and with good reason, since depending on context they can be used interchangeably with nouns in the first sentence marked with the subject particle but subsequently being used with the topic particle. It all makes sense, in a Korean way.
For this post I am mostly referencing (or outrightly copying word by word) the information provided by the Talk To Me In Korean lesson 9 (level 1).

-가 / -이

These are the subject marking particles and used to emphasise the subject of the sentence. In English this is not used due to the way we construct sentences (and I am afraid the word construct is Portinglish, I'm aiming to revise it later). However, in Korean there is sometimes the need to mark the subject to make ensure the correct understanding of what we are trying to say.

-는 / -은

Here is something very important that makes every sentence sound all the more fluent but that has been in part neglected by the main textbook I have been using as main reference.

Some textbooks and grammar books teach topic and subject particles together... and with good reason, since depending on context they can be used interchangeably with nouns in the first sentence marked with the subject particle but subsequently being used with the topic particle. It all makes sense, in a Korean way. (Post edit: Some grammars refer to this particle as subject particle which makes things very difficult. Let's settle for the existing distinction and only be aware of the confusion.)

For this post I am mostly referencing (or outrightly copying word by word) the information provided by the Talk To Me In Korean lesson 9 (level 1).

Formula:

NOUN + 은 / 는

Attached to a noun or phrase to emphasise what is being talked about or which part of the sentence our attention should really be focused on. The closest to topic marking particles that we can find in English is the addition of "as for..." before a noun.

Example
- 오늘 오후에 시간 있어요? Are you free this afternoon?
- 오늘 오후에는 시간 옶어요. Not this afternoon.
The emphasis in in afternoon giving the impression that meeting up is not a problem at some point in time, just not this particular afternoon. The introductory dialogue in this chapter provides more examples that make use of the topic particle to show the subtlety if its use in Korean.

My own makeshift example using soju, more specifically "The man drinks soju."

남자 소줌셔요. The man drinks soju.

남자가 소주 마셔요. - The man (is the one that) drinks soju.

This is a tricky one since we could have easily used the topic particle instead of the subject particle since in this sentence. In this sentence "the man" is both the subject and the topic. In some cases, after using the subject particle in the first or introductory sentence, the speaker then shifts to using the topic particle. In English we don't use this, however the logic is the same as when we refer to the subject as "John" in a first sentence but from then on use the personal pronoun "he".

남자는 소주 마셔요. - (As for) the man (he) drinks soju.

It is the man, definitely the man, there is no doubt that the man, not the woman next to him, let alone the child, it is he who drinks soju. Instead of emphasising "the man" as the subject of the sentence, "the man" is emphasised as the topic of the sentence.

남자가 소주는 마셔요. - The man drinks soju.

Here the subject particle is in "the man", so he is the one we are talking about as being the subject for the action (the action is determined by the verb). Additionally, the topic particle is in 'soju' perhaps because the speaker wants to emphasise that the man is drinking soju and not some other drink. The man, our subject and hero, could be drinking 먹골리 but NO! he is drinking soju and this is the fact that we want to emphasise since perhaps it is unusual to see someone drinking soju at that place and somehow that seems to be an important thing to emphasise. Soju! Definitely soju!

The use of topic and subject becomes easier to understand in comparative sentences where something is emphasised in comparison to something else.

SHINee is good but BIGBANG은 is simply amazing!

As for me은 I like BigBang. Dzenan은, on the other hand is more of an multi company boy.

Verb Ending Revision and Common Expressions

Little table to reminisce one of the very first posts of this blog... now with the verb ending indicating requests or commands.

	Polite Formal	Polite Informal
Statement	-ㅂ니다. -습니다.	-아요. / -어요. / 해요.
Question	-ㅂ니까? -습니까?	-아요. / -어요. / 해요.
Command	-십시오. -으십시오.	-세요. -으세요.

Examples using common expressions

Hello.
안녕하십니까?

안녕하세요?

Pleased to meet you.

반갑습니다.

반가워요.*

I'm... (copula)
...입니다.
...이에요/ 예요.

Goodbye (to someone leaving).
안녕히 가십시오.
안녕히 가세요.

Goodbye (to someone staying).
안녕히 계십시오.
안녕히 계세요.

I am sorry.
미안합니다.
미안해요.

Thank you.
감사합니다.
(N/A)

Thank you.
고맙섭니다.
고마워요.*

Not at all.
(N/A)
천만에요.*

It's OK.
괜찮습니다.
괜않아요.

Yes.
예.
네.

No.
아닙니다.*
아니요.*

Welcome.

어서 오십시오.

어서 오세요.

Come in.

들어오십시오.
들어오세요.


Sit down.
앉으십시오.
앉으세요.

See you again.
또 봡겠습니다.*
또 만나요.*

Sorry I'm late.
늦어서 미안합니다.
늦어서 미안해요.

*Slightly irregular case to be discussed some other time.

Personal Pronouns in Korean

In most languages pronouns one of the first things to appear on textbooks, however Korean disdain for pronouns deems them only slightly important when compared to other grammar points. Well, this is not necessarily true in spoken Korean but for reasons of formality pronouns are dropped in more formal language... which happens to be the one used in textbooks and grammars.

Of all the pronouns Koreans avoid "you" the most so there is a number of alternatives that use the a person's name or title followed by an honorific.

First person singular

나 - informal or intimate

저 - humble, slightly more formal

First person plural

우리 - informal or intimate

저희 - humble (pronounced as 저이)

Second person

너 - intimate

당신 - less polite (and apparently most often used between spouses)

자네 - semi-formal

Polite forms

First name / full name + 씨

Title + 님

Surname/ full name + 선생님

Third person

그 사람 - literally, that person

그 젓 or 그거 - literally, that thing

From the examples above it is easy to conclude that there is no he, she or it in Korean, just alternative expressions.

어디 가요? 집에 가지마!

Note: this post is based on Chapter 4 of Shin's textbook (see resources section).

I am not a fan of the vocabulary in this Chapter since I was wishing for a common word for store, shop, etc after each type of, well, store, shop joint. etc. Plus, it is kinda difficult to come up with mnemonics for this vocabulary. I tried though...


집 -  house, home (집에 가지마 by Big Bang* taught me the word for house, the location particle, the verb to go and the negative, all of it in a song title. 감사합니다)

학교 - school (just watched 학교 2013 and it made it even easier to remember)

대학교 - university (lit. large school. Also the counter for machines and punches)

교실 - classroom

강의실 - lecture room (실 does mean room, but so does 방)

학생 - student (see a pattern?)

 학생 식당 - student dinning hall

식당 - dinning hall, restaurant

음식점 - restaurant (two words, spoilt for choice)

도서관 - library

서잠 - bookshop
서 - book (it turns out 서 is another word meaning book in addition to the most commonly used 책)


카페 - cafe

커피숍 - coffee shop

인터넷 카페 - internet cafe

PC 방 - internet cafe (lit PC room)

노래방 - karaoke (lit song room)

시내 - downtown, city centre (not cinema)

극장 - cinema, theatre

우체국 - post office (ends in 국, every nation has it, it basically defines statehood)

은행 - bank (the place whenever I go to makes me feel like hanging myself... I tried creating a mnemonic and failed)

공원 - park (it has ball and won in it, where all football players start before making lots of money...?)

공항 - airport

역 - railway station

병원 - hospital (counter for bottle followed by won. Well, you drink too much, you end up in hospital and you also end up paying an efty bill... especially in the USA)


마트 - 'mart' (perfect Konglish)

가게 -  corner shop

비디오가게 - video shop (Konglish plus legit Korean)

슈퍼마켓 - supermarket

편의점 - convenience store

백화점 - department store

시장 - market


어디 - where
같이 - together (gachi)


Test chapter's vocabulary using these Flashcards!!!

-에

location marker particle

Introduced in this chapter by its meaning 'to', however restricting the explanation to this is not beneficial in the bit. Better get it right right away than having to add meanings later on. (This is something I really dislike about this textbook, lack of grammar!!)

-에, means 'to' and 'at' and can be used to mark a location, a time, a situation and many other things (my source* decided to adopt an uncessarily limiting or ambiguous approach in its explanation... 그새끼*)

and is used as, NOUN+에 

Examples:

학교에 가요. - I go to school.

어디에 가요? - Where are you going?

어디에 있어요? - Where are you?

* 집에 가지마, album GD&TOP. It's actually pretty cool.
* Source: Talk To Me In Korean, Level 1, Lesson 18.
* GD taught me this.

Classroom manners demand Polite Formal (to be continued)

Note: This post is based on Chapter 7 of Shin's textbook (see resources section)

This chapter feels a bit like a revision of school and classroom related terms first introduced in Chapter 4. The new additions include new expressions regarding 'classroom management' as well as some vocabulary linked to location and directions (not my 차전... I seriously hope this is at least a tiny bit correct). Additionally, this chapter's grammar section focuses on the conjugation of verbs using the Polite Formal Style which is dealt exclusively in a different post (found here).

Vocabulary

한국어 - Korean language

한글 - Hangeul

이름 - name

여러본 - Ladies and gentlemen! (interjection)
Break it down!
여러 - many
본 - respected people

선생님 - teacher
선생 - teacher
님 - honorific suffix

~씨 - Mr/Ms... (honorific)


다 같이 - All together! (da ga-chi)
다 - all
같이 - together

다시 한 번 - Once again!
다시 - again
한 번 - 하나 + 번 (counter for time). (See post on counters for explanation regarding 한 contraction)

네? - yes; Sorry?/ Pardon?

천천히 - Slowly!
(How to say 'Slowly or slower please?')

빨리 - Fast!

크게 - Loudly!

더 - more

더 팔리 - faster*

더 크게 - louder*

다 -  all

시작하다 - to start, to begin

- (으)ㄹ까요 - Shall we... ?, I wonder...

Expresson for Classroom activities

첫째 - the first

둘째 - the second

마지막 - the last, the end

줄 - line, row

오른쯕 - the right side

왼쯕 - the left side

가운데 - the middle

-에 - to (chapter 4); in, on at

-에서 - from

밑 - the bottom; below (preposition)... I think


Examples:

첫째 줄 왼쯕에 - on the left side of the first row
첫째 - the first
줄 - row, line
외쯕 - the left side
-에 - on

밑에서 둘째 줄 - the second last line (lit.) The second line from the bottom.
밑 - the bottom
-에서 - from
둘째 - the second
줄 - row, line

첫째 줄 왼쯕에 고양이 있어요. - (lit.) The first line on its left, there is a cat.

Pet peeve

I have a problem with this chapter and every other preceding it. Why haven't the VERB+하다 verbs been addressed? And, why haven't the subject and topic markers been properly addressed and explained? I deal with them in two different posts currently resting in the draft pile. I find it hard to accept how Korean textbooks aimed at English speakers neglect proper grammar explanations, especially because the Korean grammar really is very different! It it were a Spanish language textbook aimed at Portuguese speakers, ok, chill with that, BUT it ain't and this forces me to constantly look for answers and further information somewhere else. It sucks.

Ordinal numbers

Ordinal numbers in everyday Korean are used only within the context of finger counting. What this means is that, unlike English it is not used in dates. Not sure what the criteria is for kings, queens, popes, cardinals (and the rest of Catholic hierarchy) and for rappers' or Michael Jackson's offsprings.

첫째 - first

둘째 - second

셋째 - third

넷째 - fourth

다섯째 - fifth

More Useful Expressions (classroom related)

시작하세요. - Start (it) please! (In my infinite ignorance every time I heard this in Korean variety shows I thought it was a Konglish adaptation of "start". Sorry Korea!)

따라 하세요. - Repeat after me please!

잘 들어 보세요. - Listen carefully!

해 보세요. - Have a go!

질문 있어요. - I have a question.

...은/는 영어로 뭐웨요? - What is... in English?

맞아요? - It is correct?

모르겠어요. - I don't know.

잊어버렸어요. - I've forgotten.

아주 좋아요. - Very good!

잘 하셨어요. - Well done! (You did well!)

아주 잘 하솄어요. - Very well done! (You did extremely well!)


* See Talk To Me In Korean, Level 2, Lesson 29

Counters and Unit Nouns

NOTE: This post is based on Chapter 6 of Shin's textbook (see section on resources).

The novelty that are counters for English speakers deems the creation of a post solely dedicated to them absolutely necessary.

PK Counters

Note that the following set of counters is used with Pure Korean numbers.

개 - counter for things in general. Some of the least common counters can at times be replaced by this one without making the whole sentence incorrect. 개 also means dog and just like dogs are a man's best friend so is 개 a man's best counter.

병 - counter for bottles. Also means bottle, which makes things quite logical.

잔 - counter for glasses or cups. Thankfully, it also means cup or glass.

자루 - counter for long/thin things. Well, this is according to the textbook; however, according to other sources* this counter is also used for pens (makes sense), bags containing grains and knives. According to the same source, for these little peculiar uses 자루 can be replaced by the friendly 개.

대 - counter for machines and punches. This is a common counter, especially when used with cars, therefore it is best to use it instead of replacing it with
개. 대 also means large or big (I think) as in 대학교 meaning university or, literally, "large school".

마리 - counter for animals.

장 - counter for paper, pages and tickets.

통- counter for boxes or containers. Coincidentally it also means box or container.

권 - counter for books.

명 - counter for human beings. (WHY TWO??)

사람  - counter for human beings. Used when referring to a relatively small number of people without specifying who they are.* Question: how small is small? Is it culture specific? While on exchange I realised that an average number of people in a group of Dutch is about 4 to 5 people while in a group of Spanish is about 10-15 people. 사람 also means human being or person.

번 - counter for time (Chapter 7).

PK + counter + verb

So, to the question

몇 개(counter) 있어요?

책(NOUN) 몇 개(counter) 있어요?

The answer is

(책) 다섯(PK) 개 있어요. 

Examples:
개
아줌아 김치찌개 한 개 주세요.

병
소주도 한 병 주세요.
(What does the 도 mean after soju?)

명
몇 명 있어요?
열 명 있어요.

Counters and Numbers, slight adjustments

exceptions in PK 1, 2, 3, 4 and 20.

하나 + counter = 한 counter

둘 + counter = 두 counter

셋 + counter = 세 counter

넷+ counter = 네 counter

스물 + counter = 스무 counter

SK Counters

In the textbook the following set of counters is referred to as 'counters of foreign origin'. Counters related to money are also included.

킬로 - counter for kilograms

리터 - counter for litre

미터 - counter for metre

원 - won (ROK currency)

불 / 돌러 - dollar

센트 - cent

SK + counter + verb

So, to the question

알마예요?

책(NOUN) 알마예요?

The answer is

오만(SK) 원(counter)이에요.

(NOUN) + PK + counter 에 + SK + counter 예요/ 이에요

Example of this lovely interaction:

포도수(NOUN) 한(PK) 병에(COUNTER 에) 오만(SK) 원이에요(counter 예요/ 이에요)

포도수 한 병에 오만 원이에요

(NOUN) + SK + counter 에 + SK + counter 예요/ 이에요

Example of this lovely interaction:

일 리터에 천 원이예요.




* See: Talk To Me In Korean, Level 2, Lesson 9.

Numbers, also a Sino-Korean pain

NOTE: This post is based on Chapter 6 of Shin's textbook (see section on resources).


If only learning a new language were easy, if only that language at least belonged to the same linguistic clan as my own, if only numbers were my forte to start with... if only Korean fulfilled all this criteria I would pretty fluent by now but NO! In addition to having to get acquainted with a new language family, Korean is now forcing me to also memorise two numeric systems. Low blow, real low! Anyway... 화이팅!!

There must be someone capable of appreciating the reference.

When to use

Sino-Korean numbers are used when reading off numerals, for abstract counting such as mathematics, decimals, fractions, distances and money. I should also add measurements since its associated counters are followed by Sino-Korean numbers (litre, metre, kilogram, etc.)

0. 공 (is this not the same word as ball?)

1. 일

2. 이 (same as subject particle)

3. 삼

4. 사

5. 오 (also a verb, 오다)

6. 육

7. 칠

8. 팔

9. 구

10. 십

11. 십일

20. 이십

21. 이십일

30. 삼십

40. 사십

50. 오십

60. 육십

70. 칠십

80. 팔십

90. 구십

Basically only need to memorise 백, 촌, 만 and 억

백 - 100

천 - 1,000

만 - 10,000

십만 - 100,000 (10 x 10,000)

백만 - 1,000,000 (100 x 10,000)

촌만 - 10,000,000 (1,000 x 10,000)

억 - 100,000,000

Pronunciation notes!

11. 십일 (si-bil)

12. 십이 (si-bi)

15. 십오 (si-bo)

16. 십육 (sim-nyuk)

100,000. 십만 (sim-man)

1,000,000. 백만 (baeng-man)

This and that and a few stuff to pay for after a strenuous effort to understand the amount due

NOTE: This post is based on Chapter 6 of Shin's textbook (see section on resources).


This week I found out that the word effort comes from French. Relevance, none. Back to Korean!

이거 얼마예요?

How much are these?

가게 - shop
가게 주인 - shop owner

책 - book
볼펜 - ball-point pen
연필 - pencil
의자 - chair
책상 - desk
문 - door
창문 - window
사진 - photo
개 - dog
고양기 - cat
전와고 - telephone
휴대폰 - mobile phone
한드폰 - mobile phone
텔레비전 - television
돈 - money
불 - dollar (counter); fire

전통 - tradition, traditional

얼마예요 - how much it it/are they?
그럼요. - of course!

한개에 - per item, each
개 - counter (more in a different post)

이-, 그-, 저-

This and that and that over there

것 or, for simplicity sake, 거 means thing, object or item. Therefore...

이거 - this thing... called love, I just can't handle it, this thing woohooo... (Queen reference)

그거 - that thing near you, it, the. So close you can touch it if only you would make an effort

저거 - that thing over there, there!!! A few steps and you'll grab it, bum.

"이거 뭐예요?"
"이거 not what you are thinking!"

이, 그 and 저 can also be used before other nouns, for example:

"이 사람" or "그 새끼"

그 사람 학생이에요. - He/She/That person is a student.

Dialogue bits aimed at summarising the whole thing

이거 뭐예요? - What is this/ are these?

이 오렌지는 알마예요? - How much are these oranges?

~는 - topic particle

~예요/ ~이에요 - copula, meaning 'equal/ equivalent to'

한 개에 천원이에요. - It is/ They are one thousand won each.

몇 개 있어요? - How many are there?

다섯 개 있어요. - There are five.

TOPIK Exam, past papers

This blog has past exams AND answers ready for download!!!

This is help of biblical proportions for everyone studying for the exam. Thank you, good samaritan!

Numbers, a Pure Korean Pain

Pure Korean Numbers

Why are numbers a pure pain? Because, in addition to the pain that involves memorising numbers, Korean is kind enough to bless us with two, yes, TWO sets of numbers; one, the Pure Korean, and, the second, Sino-Korean. Let's start with the Pure Korean set.

Pure Korean numbers only range from 1-99, this obviously does not mean that for every other number we simply use the Sino-Korean set and that is how we explain the existence of two sets. NO! 아니요! While zero and numbers greater than 99 for lack of alternative fall under the Sino-Korean domain, there are a number of brain-wrecking rules that determine which system should be used in numbers ranging from one to 99.

Having said that, the general rule states that Pure Korean numbers are used to count a limited number (well, at least until 99) of objects or people. On the other hand, the Sino-Korean set is used for larger numbers (shall not they remain unaccounted for) and, in general (key word... GENERAL), for essentially abstract counting such as mathematics, decimals, fractions, distances and money.

In addition to the rules of usage, these numbers present yet another challenge for learners... pronunciation. There are a number of unconventional or new pronunciation rules that I will have to add to the existing list.

First things first, here are the Pure Korean ones:

1. 하나

2. 둘 

3. 셋 (set)

4. 넷 (net)

5. 다섯 (da-sot)

6. 여섯 (yeo-sot)

7. 일곱

8. 여덟 (yeo-deol)

9. 하홉

10. 열

The remaining are quite logical, it follows the rule (10+nr); therefore, once the first ten are mastered, these become easy.

10. 열

11. 열하나 (yeo-ra-na)

12. 열둘

13. 열셋

14. 열넷 (yeol-let)

15. 열다섯

16. 열여섯 (yeol-yeo-seot)

17. 열일곱

18. 열여덟

19. 열아홉 (yeo-ra-hop)

From here one the numbers do not follow such a simple logic (as in the Sino-Korean case)

20. 스물

30. 서른

40. 마흔

50. 쉰

60. 예순

70. 일흔 (i-reun)

80. 여든

90. 아흔

The end! 끝!


NOT SO FAST!
Mnemonic-ing...

First and foremost, I find it much easier to remember them if placed side by side since there is sometimes some phonetic continuity or connection.

하나 열 totally unrelated!
둘 스물 the 울 sound is still there, but there seems to be the need for two syllable from here forth
셋 서른 after the first two all numbers end with the nasal sound ㄴ, first letter still the same ㅅ. Not much logic but try not to feel too sore about it. Wow, fantastic.
넷 마흔 more complicated case in which the first letter changes, albeit it continues with a nasal sound. from net to ma-eun... men in nets, merman, mermale, oops not a mermaid.
다섯 쉰 swing, fifties... ㄴ. You feel sore because you got a merman but decide to dance swing so as not to waste a perfectly good opportunity to have fun.
여섯 예순 여, 예 and ㅅ remaining constant. change in sound from yeo to ye u. Yeah, son!! Or should I say "bloody sun!"
일곱 일흔 일still there but then it gets tricky. Causing me a headache and making me feel ill!
여덟 여든 여ㄷ...well, it has to end in ㄴso improvise whatever comes in between. You then... then what? disappear?
하홉 아흔 the trend to turn ㅂinto 은 remains a constant, strange disappearence of ㅎ for a first syllable!