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.