Thank you thank you!
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Special credits to Bae Kihyeon and Yeo Gyeongjin for their observations and contribution to Lesson Six 
Love you guys!
Lesson Six: We Are Family!
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'Language is fossil poetry' - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Firstly I’d like to apologise for not uploading a lesson for a while! I’m now at university studying Korean so I have quite a workload! Anyway here goes! Special credit goes to 여경진 whose grammatical examples and explanations I could not survive without 
In this lesson you will learn more about familial vocabulary and I will also begin to explain some basic grammar structures and will apply some basic verbs to our lesson topic of ‘family’. Before we begin, it’s important to know that Koreans have for centuries valued the family above all, and the Confucian cultural influence on the Korean language can be seen in its complexity of nouns used for family relatives. Unlike in many western countries, Koreans are very specific when it comes to allocating who is who in the family, and below you can see just a snippet of the family tree.
어머니 mother
아버지 father
할머니 grandmother
할어버지 grandfather
이모 aunt [one's mother's sister]; 고모 [father's sister]
이모부 uncle [husband of one's mother's side; husband of one's aunt; uncle-in-law]; 고모부 [husband of one's aunt; husband of father's sister;]; 삼촌 [brother of one's father]; 외삼촌 [brother of one's mother]
sister 누나 [spoken only by males to older females]; 언니 [spoken only by females to older females]; 여동생 [spoken both by males and females to younger females]
brother 형 [spoken only by males to older males]; 오빠 [spoken only by females to older males]; 남동생 [spoken both by males and females to younger males]
niece 조카딸
nephew 조카
cousin 이종사촌 [child of one's mother's sister]; 고종사촌 [child of one's father's sister]
Confused yet? Don’t worry, with practice it’s much easier to comprehend. Try these sentences to get used to them.
My older sister is in France. 우리 누나는 프랑스에 있어요
I have a younger brother. 저는 남동생 있어요
My cousin on my mother’s side is a doctor. 우리 이종사촌은 의사예요
My older brother has done miltary service. 우리 형은 군대 복무를 마쳤어요
군대 복무=military service
마쳤어 from 마치다, meaning ‘to finish’
Take care that you don’t use 형 if you’re a female or 오빠 if you’re male, an understanding of the differences will prevent any awkwardness when communicating in Korean.
Now let’s learn some simple sentences to talk about our family. Remember that 우리 literally as ‘our’ but is often translated as ‘my’. So in English we’d say ‘my country’, ‘my school’ or ‘my home’ more often, whereas the Koreans tend to say ‘our country’, ‘our school’ and ‘our home’.
우리 가족은 다섯 가족이다 or 우리 가족은 다섯명이다 = There are five of us in our family
저는 우리 어머니랑 저녁식사를 준비해요 = I make/prepare dinner with my mother
저는 우리 여동생이랑 학교에 가요 = I go to school with my [younger] sister
저는 우리 아버지랑 텔레비전을 봐요 = I watch TV with my father
-랑 = coordinating conjunction meaning ‘with’
저녁 [dinner] 식사 = meal
준비해요 from 준비하다, meaning ‘to prepare’
You will notice that I have started to use 은/는 more. This is a topical particle usually used for introducing a new topic, but also can be used for adding progressive information to that topic if 이/가 is used initially. 은/는 can also be used to contrast and stress emphasis on a particular object or subject. Let me try and demonstrate this to you.
우리 어머니가 음악을 듣고 있어요 = My mother’s listening to music
음악=music
듣고 from 듣다, meaning ‘to listen’
Your mother is the subject and the music is the object of the sentence. 이/가 should follow 어머니 [이 if the previous syllable ends in a consonant and 가 if it ends in a vowel], so 을/를 should follow 음악 [을 if the previous syllable ends in a consonant and 를 if it ends in a vowel] so to show the main and subordinate elements of the sentence.
But let’s imagine someone said to you that their mother is listening to music. Imagine you want to say that YOUR mother is doing something else. Therefore you want to use a different particle to emphasise that you’re talking about your own mother and not the previously mentioned one. So, the exchange might look something like this.
효리/Hyori: 우리 어머니가 음악을 듣고 있어요. [My mother's listening to music]
도인/Doin: 우리 어머니는 빵을 먹고 있어요. [MY mother's eating bread]
Do you see how Doin wanted to contrast that HIS mother’s doing something different to Hyori’s? Now let’s use another function of 은/는. When talking mainly about one particular topic, the 이/가 should be used to intially introduce it. But then, after introduction, if the topic is repeated, the particle 은/는 should follow. See the example below.
효리: 이 사과가 빨간색이에요. [This apple's red]
도인: 네, 그 사과는 맛있겠네요! [Yeah, that apple looks delicious!]
You should also know that 이/가 must be used when talking about negatives. For example, if you want to say something ISN’T something, then you need to attach 이/가 to the subject/object. See the sentences below to try and understand this.
효리: 이것이 신문이에요? [Is this a newspaper?]
도인: 아니오, 그것은 신문이 아니에요. [No, that's not a newspaper]
효리: 그것이 도인이의* 우산이에요? [Is that [thing] your umbrella?]
도인: 아니오, 제 것이 아니에요. 이것은 우리 할머니의 것이에요. [No, it's not mine. It's my grandmother's [thing].]
Important: names ending in a consonant should be followed by 이 when using -의. When using -의 you should NOT add 가 to names ending in vowels
-의=possessive suffix e.g. my 도인의 우산 [Doin's umbrella]
것=thing, object
신문=newspaper; 이것=this; 그것=that
Let’s now take a look at some basic verbs that you will often need in Korean.
먹다 = to eat
마시다 = to drink
말하다 = to speak/say
자다 = to sleep
If you want to say somebody is doing something [at the present moment], you need to attach the stem of your verb to the beginning of -[하]고 있어요 or -[하]고 있습니다. For example let’s say my older sister is drinking water.
우리 누나가 [I'm male so I would say 누나, remember!] 물을 마시고 있어요
The verb to drink as you saw in the infinitive is 마시다. Simply remove the verb ending -다 and add it to -고 있어요 or -고 있습니다.
Using what you’ve learnt so far in this lesson, translate the following sentences.
우리 형이 김치를 먹고 있습니다.
경진이의 조카딸이 자고 있어요.
우리 오빠가 스페인어를 말하고 있어요.
원준이 맥주를 마시고 있습니다.
OK, so let’s finish off with a big dialogue that should incorperate everything in this lesson!
A simple dialogue between Hyoi and Doin.
효리: 도인씨 안녕하세요?
도인: 네, 안녕하세요! 그거 뭐예요?
효리: 이거요? 우리 할어버지 거에요.
도인: 아, 정말요? 책이에요?
효리: 아니오, 책이 아니에요. 신문이에요.
도인: 우리 고모도 신문은 많이 있어요 효이씨 어머니는 어디에 있어요?
효리: 우리 어머니는 오빠랑 쇼핑 하고 있어요.
도인: 좋겠네요!
책=book
쇼핑=shopping
좋겠네요!=that sounds/seems good!
Remeber: particles are often omitted in speech, but very important in writing! The dialogue does not include some things such as ‘의’ because it’s hardly used in spoken Korean. However, understanding where it SHOULD be is important for when you write Korean.
Quick Thank You!
Posted by allan_simpson_81 | Filed under Uncategorized
I’d just quickly like to thank all of the people who have pointed out mistakes in this blog or given advice regarding colours and language! I’m very grateful to have these people helping to make this blog a better one for Korean learners! Thank you
Lesson Five: Tell Me, Tell Me!
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"Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about" - Benjamin Lee Whorf
In this lesson I’ll be aiming to develop your introductory and interrogative skills to a higher level, so that you’ll be able to give more details about yourself and learn more about someone you’ve just met. Take a look at the dialogue below; you may not understand it all, but by the end of this lesson it should be very simple for you. The dialogue features three men [age]: Minkyu [24], Joonsu[24] and Yeonho[18]. Minkyu is introducing Yeonho to Joonsu for the first time. Notice how the level of politeness changes depending on who’s speaking to who.
민규: 준수 안녕?
준수: 오! 민규! 오랜만이야!
민규: 그래. 너를 내 친구에게 소개 하고 싶어! 이름이 연호야.
준수: 아 정말? 안녕하세요! 만나서 반갑습니다!
연호: 네, 반가워요! 연호라고 합니다. 이름이 어떻게 되세요?
준수: 준수라고 합니다. 어려보이세요!
연호: 예, 저는 18살이에요.
준수: 부러워요! 말 놓아도 되요*? 고등학생이에요?
연호: 네, 수능을 준비 하고 있어요…힘들어요.
준수: 그래. 어느 대학교에서 공부하고 싶어?
연호: 연세대에서 공부하고 싶지만 정말 어려워요…물리 전공 하고 싶어요. 형은 뭐 공부 하세요?
준수: 나 프랑스어 공부해…우리 어머니께서 프랑스에서 오셨어.
연호: 와 멋있어요! 프랑스에 가본신적 있어요?
준수: 어 당연하지! 너 어디 살아?
연호: 요즘 민규형이랑 대구에 살지만 원래는 서울에 살아요. 형은요?
준수: 나도 대구에서. 아..나 지금 가야돼! 반가워! 다음에 봐!
연호: 네, 다음에 뵐게요!
*말놓아도되요=Can I speak comfortably? Meaning, can Joonsu not use the honourifics such as 요 because Yeonho is younger than him.
Firstly, that’s one big dialogue, especially if you’re a beginner in Korean! However, if you read it carefully, you’ll find that you actually understand quite a lot. Joonsu says 오랜만이야!, which is a more informal contraction of 오래간만이에요!, which means ‘long time no see!’ if you forgot that. Minkyu then replies with 그래, which means ‘that’s right’, and it can be easily made more polite by saying 그래요. Sometimes you may also see 맞아요!, but this one is more like ‘that’s correct’, which would be a little too formal for this dialogue. He then goes on to say 너한테 내 친구 소개 소개 하고 싶어!, which is an expression meaning ‘I want to introduce my friend to you’.
Joonsu replies with 정말?, which means ‘Really?’. You can also use 진짜, 너무, 매우, 엄청 and 참 . He then says 어려보이세요!, which means ‘You look young!’. Check out these other complimentary phrases you may want to use:
키가 참 크다 = You’re so tall
똑똑하구만 = You’re so clever
너 너무 멋있어 = You’re so handsome
너 너무 아름다워/너 너무 이뻐 = You’re so beautiful/pretty
Now let’s look at Joonsu’s 부러워!. This means ‘I envy you!’ [because Yeonho's younger than him], and to make it more polite you can simply say 부러워요! He then goes on to say ‘고등학생 이야?’ ‘고등’ comes from ‘고등 학교’, meaning ‘high school’, and 학생 means ‘student’; so, instead of saying 고등학교 학생, the Koreans abreviate this to ‘고등학생‘. You may however want to say something different, like that you’re a teacher or unemployed or a University student. See the below examples, and if you can’t find what you want to say, just send me an e-mail and I’ll add it to the list
It usually follows a simple pattern of I am~ [나는~입니다].
나는 중학생입니다 = I’m a middle school student
나는 대학생입니다 = I’m a university student
나는 선생님입니다 = I’m a teacher
나는 학생입니다 = I’m a student
나는 백수입니다 = I’m unemployed
나는 아르바이트 합니다 = I have a part-time job
나는 사업가입니다 = I’m a businessman/woman
When asking somebody if they are a student etc., remember the interrogative phrase ~입니까? For example, 학생입니까? And of course the suitable reply would be 네, 학생입니다. You should be sure to distinguish between 입니다 and 입니까.
Yeonho mentions 수능, which is an exam taken by most Korean students in their final year of high school. It is similar to the British A-Levels [Advanced Levels], however with 수능 around 7-8 subjects are generally studied, and Koreans tend to prepare for this exam a lot more diligently than the British. The exam is so important as a good 수능 mark means entrance to a good university. Notice that -을 is attached to 수능. This is used to mean ‘for’, as you can see in the sentence 수능을 준비하고 있어요. 준비하고 있어요 means ‘preparing’, so he’s preparing to take this exam. However if the object in question ends in a vowel, -를 is used instead of -을. If you want to say you’re ‘doing something’, the structure ~고 있습니다/~고 었어요 is very useful. Find out the verb, for example 준비하다 [to prepare], and take away the verb ending -다 so that you’re left with the stem [준비하]. Then simply add the stem to 고있습니다/~고 있어요. Take a look at the examples below to clarify these grammatical points.
저는 기현을 기다려요 = I’m waiting for Kihyeon
저는 시험 결과를 기다려요 = I’m waiting for/expecting my exam results
저는 공부하고 있습니다 = I’m studying
저는 김치 먹고 있습니다 = I’m eating kimchi
Our friend Yeonho then says ‘힘들어요’, meaning ‘it’s difficult’ it’s this case. This is also used in many other situations, describing a variety of adjectives such as tough, stressed, tired, burdened etc. An essential part of understanding Korean is understanding the context of the conversation. So in this case, we know that Yeonho is taking an exam, therefore he’s probably saying it’s difficult.
Joonsu replies with 어느 대학교에서 공부하고 싶어?, meaning ‘which university do you want to study at?’. ‘어느’ means which, although you might also sometimes see ‘무슨’, and we’ve already briefly looked at ~하고 싶어 in an earlier lesson, meaning ‘to want to do something’. Remember that 대학교 is ‘university’ and -에서/-에 is a preposition meaning ‘in’ or ‘at’. To practice these points take a look at the following sentences.
저는 대학교에서 물리* 공부하고 십습니다 = I want to study physics at university
한국에 가면 함께 노래방에** 가요! = If you come to Korea let’s go to the noraebang
*physics
**a karaoke room; 노래 meaning ‘song’ and 방 meaning ‘room’
Here’s also a list of subjects you may want to use in your introductory conversations.
English 영어
Maths 수학
Literature 문학
Physics 물리
Chemistry 화학
Biology 생물학
Sociology 사회학
Music 음악
History 역사
Geography 지리
Korean 한국어
French 프랑스어
German 독일어
Spanish 스페인어
Italian 이탈리아어
Russian 러시아어
Japanese 일본어
Chinese 중국어
Economics 경제
Politics 정치
Law 법학
Foreign Language[s] 외국어
Sport 스포츠
For countries see this list.
영국 UK/Britain
잉글랜드 England
스코틀랜드 Scotland
아일랜드 Ireland
웨일즈 Wales
프랑스 France
스페인 Spain
독일 Germany
이탈리아 Italy
러시아 Russia/Russian Federation
한국/대한민국/조선 South Korea
북한/조선 North Korea
중국 China
일본 Japan
태국 Thailand
대만 Taiwan
인도 India
파키스탄 Pakistan
미국 United States of America
캐나다 Canada
칠레 Chile
호주 Australia
[Please note these countries are based on Korean learners I know from these countries; if your country isn't here, just send an e-mail in or check a dictionary. Also note that 조선 is an older way of saying Korea in both North and South Korea, dating back to the Joseon Dynasty.]
Now see the sentence ‘연세대 공부하고 싶어지만 정말 어려워요’. ‘연세’ is short for 연세 대학교 [Yonsei University], a very famous university. In fact, it’s the top three best universities in Korea, coming third. Some Koreans are impressed when a Westerner knows SKY [Seoul University, Korea University and Yonsei University], every Korean student’s dream. 공부하고 싶지만 ['I want to study, but', 지만 coming from '하지만' which means 'but'] is easy enough to understand, and then 정말 means ‘very’ or ‘really’, and 어려워요 is a way of saying ‘difficult’. So, we can work out that Yeonho is saying he wants to study at Yonsei, but it’s very difficult. He continues with 어떤 공부 하세요?. ‘어떤’ means ‘what/which kind?’, ‘공부’ means ‘study/studies’ and ‘하세요’ in this case is a polite way of saying ‘doing’; so it means ‘what are you studying?’.
Joonsu then talks about his studies and his mother. He says 우리 어머니께서 프랑스에서 오셨어, meaning ‘my mother comes from France’. Be careful, because in Korean they tend not to say ‘my’. ‘우리’ actually means ‘our’, and this lingual difference between Korean and English is largely due to Korea’s homogenous society. ‘어머니’ means ‘mother’ and 오셨어 means ‘came from’ [오다=to come; 간다=to go].
Yeonho then proceeds with ‘와 멋있어요!’, meaning ‘wow cool!’, although 멋있어요 can also mean ‘handsome’. He also says ‘프랑스에 가보신적 있어요?’ [Have you ever been to France?]. See the examples below to practice similar phrases.
일본에 가본적 있습니까? = Have you ever been to Japan?
김치를 먹어 봤습니까? = Have you ever eaten kimchi?
소주 마셔본적 있습니까? = Have you ever drunk soju*?
*a Korean distilled alcoholic beverage made from rice or another starch subsitute; similar to vodka but sweeter; very strong and very popular!
Joonsu says ‘당연하지!’, meaning ‘Of course!’ or ‘Sure!’ [remember this is informal], and a similar expression is 물론! With similar informality Joonsu asks ‘어디 살아?’, meaning ‘Where do you live?’ [어디=where, 살아 from 살다 meaning 'to live'], to which Yeonho replies ‘These days I’m living with Minkyu in Daegu/Taegu but my city is Seoul.’ See the breakdown if this sentence below.
요즘/요새 = these days
이랑/랑 = with [use 이랑 if the preceeding noun ends in a consonant]
대구에 살지만 = [I] live in Daegu/Taegu, but~
도시 = city/town
Joonsu’s last utterance is ‘나 지금 가 야돼’ [I have to go now], 지금 meaning ‘now’ and ~야돼 being a structure added to verbs to mean ‘have to~’. For example, 공부해야 돼요 [I have to study] or 먹어야 돼요 [I have to eat]. You may notice that sometimes the subjects 나/저 are omitted; this isn’t a mistake. You’ll often find when talking with Koreans that the subject is dropped, simply because the speaker and listener usually understand the context and therefore don’t need to say the subject. He then says an abrupt 다음에 봐! [see you next time!], and so Yeonho replies with 다음에 뵐게요! meaning the same thing but more polite towards the older listener.
Well, that was quite a long lesson! There are of course many other things you would want to discuss in an introductory conversation, so before we finish I’ve listed some other helpful things below.
형제나 자매가 있으십니까? = Do you have brothers or sisters?
네, 2명 있습니다 = Yes, I have two.
여동생 = younger sister
남동생 = younger brother
오빠 = older brother [spoken only by females]
형 = older brother [spoken only by males]
누나 = older sister [spoken only by males]
언니 = older sister [spoken only by females]
아니에요, 저는 외아들 [male]/외동딸 [female] = No, I’m an only child
어머니 = mother
아버지 = father
우리 쌍둥이 = We’re twins
I hope this lesson helped! If you’d like any other relevant vocabulary added to the lists, just give me an e-mail See you next time! 
Lesson Four: The Countdown
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"Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow." - Oliver Wendell Holmes
An essential part of learning any language is gaining at least a basic knowledge of its numbers. Korean, quite interestingly, has two sets of numbers: Korean and Sino-Korean. It’s vital to learn both sets of numbers. If you’re a learner of or know Chinese, you may be able to learn the Sino-Korean numbers more quickly, as they share some similarities. The numbers we’ll study in this lesson are just basics, and we’ll cover them in more detail in a later lesson.
Korean Numbers
This group of numbers is used for counting quantities of things, especially concrete nouns, for example a table or a tree. It’s important to note that, depending on the type of object being counted, a unit word also has to be used when using these numbers. For example, when talking about ‘bottles’ of something – like beer[맥주] – the unit word 병 has to be used. Therefore, if we were to say ‘two bottles of beer’, the correct way to say this would be ‘맥주 두병’. Note also that 둘[two] changes to 두 when used. 하나 also changes to 한, 셋 to 세 and 넷 to 네. You should also use these numbers for age.
A simple equation that may help you remember how to use these numbers with unit words is: NOUN + NUMBER + UNIT WORD
하나 1 커피 한 잔 [(one) cup of coffee] 잔 is used for ‘cups’ of something
둘 2 사과 두 개 [two apples] 개 is used to count many items, including apples
셋 3 고양이 세 마리 [two cats] 마리 is used to count animals
넷 4 친구 네 명 [four friends] 명 is used to count people/professionals
다섯 5 의사 다섯 명 [five doctors]
여섯 6 신발 여섯 켤레 [six shoes/three pairs of shoes] 켤레 is used to count shoes/pairs of shoes, among other things
일곱 7 안경 일곱 개 [eight pairs of glasses/spectacles]
여덟 8 나무 여덟 그루 [eight trees] 그루 is used for counting trees
아홉 9 담배 아홉 갑 [nine cigarettes] 갑 is used for counting cigarettes
열 10 오리 열 마리 [ten ducks]
열하나 11 비행기 열 하나 대 [eleven planes/airplanes] 대 is used for counting planes/airplanes among other things
열둘 12 바나나 열 두 개 [twelve bananas]
열셋 13 김치 열 세 보기 [thirteen bowls of kimchi*] 보기 is for counting Korean cabbages
열넷 14 티셔츠 열 네 장 [fourteen T-Shirts] 장 is used for counting T-Shirts among other things , such as thin papers
열다섯 15 빵 열 다섯 개 [fifteen pieces of bread]
열여섯 16 선생님 열 여섯 명 [sixteem teachers]
열일곱 17 장미/장미꽃 열 일곱 송이 [seventeen roses] 송이 is used for counting roses and other flowers
열여덟 18 선물 열 여덟 개 [eighteen gifts/presents]
열아홉 19 공 열 아홉 개 [nineteen balls (i.e. football etc.)]
스물 [스물 changes to 스무 when used] 20 와인 스무 병 [twenty bottles of wine] remember that 병 is used for counting bottles of something
*kimchi is the staple national dish of Korea, served with almost every meal; it comes in many varieties but is commonly known as spicy pickled cabbage.
Sino-Korean Numbers
You’ll be pleased to know that this set of numbers does not use unit words. These numbers are used with years, days, dates etc, and also sometimes other things such as when reading out phone numbers, though not always as it can be confusing.
일 1
이 2
삼 3
사 4
오 5
육 6
칠 7
팔 8
구 9
십 10
십일 11
십이 12
십삼 13
십사 14
십오 15
십육 16
십칠 17
십팔 18
십구 19
이십 20
I hope you’ve at least grasped the basics of Korean numbers, especially the unit word system which may seem tricky at first but is actually quite logical. Go over the examples given and create your own examples too! Remember, there are some nouns which have very specific unit words when counted and some which fall into very general ones. It’s always best to check which noun belongs with which unit word to be sure of understanding Korean numbers. See you next time!
Lesson Three: Knowing Me, Knowing You!
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"Those Who Know Nothing Of Foreign Languages Know Nothing Of Their Own" - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
So you’ve learnt how to say hello, goodbye and a couple of other basics. Now for the other questions and answers that will allow you to get to know somebody a little more, as well as introduce yourself to Koreans.
Let’s go over names first. Take a look at 배 기현 [Bae Kihyeon], for example. In Korean, the surname comes first, in this case 배, and Korean surnames are usually one syllable. Then naturally the first name follows the surname, which is usually two syllables, in this case 기현. The most common Korean surnames are probably 김, 백, 장 and 이, although you will come across many others. Now see the phrase below.
저는 기현 이라고 합니다. This means ‘My name is Kihyeon’, or literally ‘Call me Kihyeon’. This version is polite, where the name can be inserted into the expression 저는 ~라고 합니다. A similar way of saying this is 저는 ~이예요, literally I am~, although if you wish to be more informal you could use 내 이름 ~이야 [My name's~].
Of course you’ll want to also say ‘What’s your name?’, which is 이름이 뭐에요? or 이름이 어떻게 돼요?, literally ‘How is your name done?’. Note 이름 means ‘name’. The next expressions are ‘How old are you?’ and ‘I am~ years old’.
몇 살이에요? How old are you?
저는 ~ 살이에요. I’m ~ years old.
[Note: see Lesson Four for learning Korean numbers]
Now see the dialogue below which will incorporate what you should have learned so far.
경진: 안녕하세요!
인영: 네, 안녕하세요! 만나서 반갑습니다!
경진: 저도 반가워요. 이름이 뭐에요?
인영: 저는 박인영이라고 합니다. 이름이 어떻게 돼요?
경진: 저는 김경진이에요. 몇 살이에요?
인영: 저는 19살이에요.
경진: 오! 우리 동갑이에요*!
*우리 동갑이예요 = we’re the same age
Now you can talk about your name and age, and in the next few lessons I’ll aim to develop your introductory skills to a more intermediate level. Keep learning and using Korean!
Lesson Two: Say Hello!
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"Language is the dress of thought" Samuel Johnson
So, you’ve learnt the alphabet and now you’re probably itching to be able to use it constructively. In this lesson we’re going to learn the first fundamentals of learning any language: greetings. In Korean it’s also important to recognise that, because of Korea’s Confucian mindset, there are certain forms of Korean used to express respect towards the listener, or otherwise known as honourifics.
Now let’s take a look at the greetings. The first thing to learn would be hello, the word you’re most likely to say and hear when meeting a Korean. Although in English we can say ‘hello’ to anybody regardless of their age, Korean has more than one way of expressing it depending on the age and relationship with the person you’re talking to. Take a look at the 4 ways of saying ‘hello’ and/or ‘goodbye’ below.
1. 안녕하세요 annyeonghaseyo [means 'hello'; formal]
2. 안녕히계세요 annyeonghikyeseyo [used to say goodbye; you are going but the listener is staying]
3. 안녕히가세요 annyeonghikaseyo [used to say goodbye; you are staying but the listener is leaving]
4. 안녕 annyeong [can mean hello or goodbye; informal]
Note the 요 highlighted in green. This is an ending added onto words or sentences to show respect. It is necessary to use this honourific if speaking to people older than yourself or somebody you have just met. Even if somebody you’ve met appears younger than you but you’re meeting for the first time, 안녕하세요 is always a good, respectful start. Also note number 4 [안녕], which has the same meaning as 안녕하세요, but should only really be used with friends. Now let’s move on and take a look at a dialogue.
솔지: 정민씨 안녕하세요?
정만: 네, 안녕하세요.
솔지: 잘 지냈어요?
정만: 네. 솔지는/솔지씨?
솔지: 저도 잘 지냈어요!
Firstly, we can assume that these two speakers are colleagues or students who are not very close, as they both use the 요 honourifc when talking. Note how 솔지[Solji] uses 안녕하세요 in the interrogative form to make it a question, rather than just saying ‘hello’. In Korean 안녕하세요 can also be used as a question which could roughly translate as ‘how are you?’, but there is no absolute translation of this in English, where Solji would literally be saying ‘정만 hello?’ and he would reply ‘yes, hello’. 정만[Jeongman] replies with 안녕하세요 in the declarative, which can roughly be translated to ‘yes, I’m fine’. Note that Jeongman uses 네, which is a formal way of saying ‘yes’. You could also use 응 or 어, though both are informal.
Note that Solji adds the ending 씨 to Jeongman’s name. This is an honourific ending attached to names, showing more respect than just saying the person’s name alone. She then goes on to say 잘 지냈어요?, which in English would mean ‘how are things going?’. It is usually only used when you haven’t seen the person for a while, though is different from ‘long time no see!’ [오래간만이예요!] Jeongman then replies with 네, 솔지는?, ‘는’ being a subject particle added to the end of names and other subjects of a phrase. In this case, it can also mean ‘and’ ['and you, Solji?']. Also note that 은 follows a consonant, whereas 는 follows a vowel.
Finally, Solji ends the dialogue with ‘저도 잘 지냈어요!’. ‘저‘ is a polite way of saying ‘I’ or ‘me’, while ‘-도’ is an ending added onto nouns, pronouns etc. to mean ‘too’ or ‘also’. Other ways to say ‘I’ or ‘me’ would be ‘나’ or ‘나는’, both more informal than 저/저는. Now compare what you’ve learnt to this next dialogue between two close friends.
정배: 성우야 뭐 하냐?
성우: 그냥 있어…형은?
정배: 축구 하고 싶어. 어때?
성우: 좋아!
Take a look at the -야 ending in Jeongbae’s[정배] ‘성우야’. This is a very informal ending used particularly in speech after somebody’s name, though usually only between friends and close people. This ending can also be seen in his ‘뭐 하냐?’, which comes from ‘뭐를 하고 있습니까?’, meaning ‘what are you doing?’ ‘뭐 하냐?’ is much more informal than 뭐를 하고 있습니까?. ‘뭐’ means ‘what’ and ‘하냐?’ comes form the verb 하다, meaning ‘to do’.
Seongwu/Seongwoo[성우] then uses ‘그냥 있어’, meaning ‘nothing much’. To be more polite you can simply change it to 그냥 있어요 or to be even more so you can say 그냥 있습니다. He then addres Jeongbae not as 정배 but as ‘형’, which literally is ‘older brother’ and is spoken by males only. Although it means ‘older brother’, it is also used between male friends when one is older than the other. You may have also already heard the infamous 오빠 in Korean dramas and the like, which also means ‘older brother’, but is spoken by females addressing an older man. If the man you’re speaking to is more than thirty years old, both males and females can address the man as ‘아저씨’.
Jeongbae then says ‘축구 하고 싶어. 어때?’, ‘축구’ meaning ‘football’ and ‘~하고 싶어’ meaning ‘want to do~’, so we can work out that he’s saying he wants to play football. ‘어때’ means ‘how about it?’ but can also mean ‘how is it?’, and to make it more polite simply add -요. Seongwoo then ends the dialogue with ‘좋아!’, which literally means ‘good!’, but is widely used to imply something similar to ‘good idea!’.
Before we finish this lesson, look over these additional greetings meaning ‘pleased to meet you!’, more literally ‘welcome!’.
만나서 반갑습니다 - mannaseo pangapseumnida very polite way to say ‘nice to meet you’
반가워요 - pangaweoyo polite way to say ‘nice to meet you’ or ‘welcome!’
반가워 – pangaweo informal way to say ‘welcome!’
also note 반가 반가/방가 방가 - panga panga, pangga, pangga also meaning ‘welcome’ but largely Cyber/Internet language
I hope you now feel more comfortable with basic greetings and honourifics! If there are any problems, queries or otherwise, simply e-mail me at tee.namja@hotmail.com and I’ll get back to you
Keep learning Korean!!!
Lesson One: Hangeul/한글
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The Korean alphabet, or Hangeul, was created by King Sejong in the 14th century to make it easier for the common people who could not understand the Chinese characters that were used during that time. Depending on who you talk to, Korean has 14 consonants and 21 vowel sounds, or 14 consonants and 10 basic vowels.
Hangeul is so easy to learn that you can master it in less than a day. It is however important that you take careful note of Romanized versions of Korean. For those who don’t know, Romanization is basically the translation of something from a language that uses one script to the script of another. For example, Korean uses Hangeul script and English uses a Latin script. So, for the conveniance of those who don’t have time to learn the alphabet of a language, that language can be romanized. See the example below.
Hangeul script: 안녕하세요 Romanized: annyeonghaseyo [means 'hello' (polite)]
Please note that there is more than one method of Romanization, and so it’s always best to learn Hangeul anyway so that you don’t make any mistakes when writing or speaking the language. Now we’ll learn the alphabet.
r=ROMANIZATION
VOWELS
ㅏ sounds like the ‘a’ in ‘cat’ r=a
ㅓ sounds like the ‘o’ in ‘wrong’ r=eo
ㅗ sounds like the ‘o’ in ‘ore’ r=o
ㅜ sounds like the ‘ou’ in ‘you’ r=u
ㅡ a short sound; sounds like the second ‘e’ in ‘heaven’ r=eu
ㅣ a short sound; sounds like the ‘i’ in ‘tin’ r=i
ㅐ like the ‘ai’ in ‘hair’, but without pronouncing the ‘r’ r=ae
ㅔ like the first ‘e’ in ‘energy’ r=e
ㅑ like the ‘ya’ in ‘yam’ r=ya
ㅕ like the ‘yo’ in ‘yonder’ r=yeo
ㅛ like the ‘yo’ in ‘yodel’ r=yo
ㅠ like you word ‘you’ r=yu
ㅒ like the word ‘yeah’ without the ‘h’ r=yae
ㅖ like the ‘ya’ in ‘Yale’ or the ‘ye’ in ‘yes’ r=ye
ㅘ sounds like ‘wa’ or the ‘wa’ in ‘wacky’ r=wa
ㅙ like the ‘whe’ in ‘where’ or the ‘wai’ in ‘waiting’ r=wae
ㅚ like the word ‘way’ but sometimes like the ‘whe’ in ‘where’ r=oe
ㅝ like the ‘wa’ in ‘wash’ r=weo
ㅞ like ‘way’ r=we
ㅟ like the ‘wi’ in ‘wind’ r=wi
ㅢ officially sounds like ‘uh-ee’ but often pronounced like the ‘a’ in ‘Yale’ r=ui
CONSONANTS
ㄱ if at the start or end of a word, sounds like ‘k’, but softer if at the end; if inbetween two vowels [e.g. 가구], then sounds like a ‘g’; if ㄴ, ㄹ, ㅁ or ㅇ preceed ㄱ and then a vowel follows, sounds like a ‘g’ [e.g. 설계도] r=k/g
ㄴ sounds like an ‘n’ r=n
ㄷ if at the start or end of a word, sounds like a ‘t’, but softer if at the end; if inbetween two vowels [e.g. 바둑], then sounds like a ‘d’; if ㄴ, ㄹ, ㅁ or ㅇ proceed ㄷ and then a vowel follows, sounds like a ‘d’ [e.g. 날다] r=d/t
ㄹ at the start of a word sounds like ‘l’, if the word’s a loan word [e.g. 라디오] sounds somewhere between and ‘l’ and ‘r’; at the end of a word sounds like an ‘l’; if inbetween two vowels, sounds like ‘r’ [e.g. 사랑해요]; if a consonant follows, sounds like ‘l’ [e.g. 물건] r=l/r
ㅁ sounds like ‘m’ r=m
ㅂ if at the start or end of a word, sounds like ‘p’, but softer if at the end; if inbetween two vowels, sounds like a ’b'; if ㄴ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅂ preceed ㅂ and a vowel follows, sounds like ‘b’ [e.g. 담배] r=b/p
ㅅ sounds like ‘s’; if followed by ㅣ, ㅒ, ㅑ, ㅕ, ㅛ, ㅠ, ㅖ or 위, sounds like ‘sh’; if at the end of a word, sounds like ‘t’ r=s
ㅇ (also known as the null consonant or filler letter) has NO sound at the start of a word [e.g. 아버지]; at the end of a word has an ‘ng’ sound [e.g. 자랑] r=ng
ㅈ at the start of a word sounds like ‘ch’; at the end of a word sounds like ‘t’; if inbetween two vowels sounds like ‘j’; if ㄴ, ㄹ, ㅁ or ㅇ preceed ㅈ and a vowel follows, sounds like ‘j’ [e.g. 반지] r=j/ch
ㅊ sounds like the first ‘ch’ in ‘church’; at the end of a word sounds like ‘t’ [e.g. 닻] r=ch’
ㅋ sounds like the ‘k’ in ‘king’ but more strongly pronounced; at the end of a word sounds like the ‘k’ in ‘cook’ r=k’
ㅌ sounds like the ‘t’ in ‘terrace’, but more strongly pronounced; at the end of a word sounds like the n ‘t’ in ‘flat’ r=t’
ㅍ sounds like the first ‘p’ in ‘popstar’, but more strongly pronounced; at the end of a word sounds like the ‘p’ in ‘hip’ r=p’
ㅎ sounds like the ‘h’ in ‘hello’ r=h
DOUBLE CONSONANTS
Note that learners of Korean are often not used to using these sounds in their mother tongue, so they will require a little practice.
ㄲ like the second ‘k’ in ‘book keeper’ r=kk
ㄸ like the second ‘t’ in ‘hit ten’ r=tt
ㅃ like the second ‘p’ in ‘top people’ r=pp
ㅆ like the second ‘s’ in ‘those songs’ r=ss
ㅉ like the ‘j’ in ‘that judge’ r=jj
Great, now you’ve learnt all of the vowels and consonants of the Korean alphabet. Putting them together to make words is simple. All you need to know is that in each syllable there must be at least two letters [which is why Korean has the letter ㅇ which sometimes acts as a filler] while the maximum number of letters can reach four or five. See the example below.
[1]an [2]nyeong [3]ha [4]se [5]yo —> [1]안 [2]녕 [3]하 [4]세 [5]요 —> 안녕하세요
You can see that there are 5 syllables in the word ‘안녕하세요’ [meaning 'hello' in honourific form].
Now try getting used to the alphabet with the words below.
아버지 abeoji [father] 이마 ima [forehead] 학교 hakkyo [school] 아이 ai [child] 나무 namu [tree]
Looking over small Korean texts or reading Korean lyrics of a song can really help improve pronunciation and get your brain more comfortable with reading Korean. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand what you’re reading means, at the moment mastering the alphabet is your only concern
It is advised that you learn the alphabet before moving on, because there will be little to no romanization of words in the next lessons. If there are any problems or queries, you can send an e-mail to tee.namja@hotmail.com
I hope you enjoyed the lesson! :P
