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First steps
It starts with the script: Hangul can be learnt in a weekend, and with it the sound rules by which two syllables side by side sound different from the way they are written.
The first particles follow, the two sets of numbers and the polite form ending in -yo. Anyone at this level can introduce themselves, shop, ask the way and talk about their day in simple sentences.
Hangul, sounds and the basic sentence11
Hangul and the sound rules
41The letters and the syllable blockFourteen consonants and ten vowels, stacked into one square block per syllable.1Plain, aspirated, tense: 가, 카, 까Korean sorts its consonants by breath and tension, not by voice — and builds new vowels by joining two.1Final consonants: seven sounds at the end of a blockMany letters can close a syllable, but only seven sounds are said there.1Linking: 먹어요 sounds like 머거요A final consonant before a vowel is said at the start of the next syllable — and ㅎ there falls silent.
The basic sentence
71The verb comes lastKorean puts the verb at the end and everything else in front of it, with particles saying who does what.1A is B: 이에요/예요A noun plus 이에요 after a consonant or 예요 after a vowel says what something is.1A is not B: 아니에요“Is not” has a word of its own, 아니에요, with 이 or 가 on the noun before it.1There is, I have: 있어요/없어요One verb says “there is”, “is somewhere” and “I have”; its opposite is 없어요.1Yes–no questions and answering 네/아니요A polite question is the statement with a rising voice, and 네 means “that’s right” — even after a negative question.1Question words: 뭐, 누구, 어디 …A question word stands where the answer will stand, and takes particles like any noun.1This, that, that over there: 이/그/저Three words where English has two: near me, near you or already known, and over there.
Particles, numbers and counters13
Particles
81The topic particle 은/는은/는 marks what the sentence is about — "as for …" — and often sets it against something else.1The subject particle 이/가이/가 marks the subject — who or what does something, or is somewhere — and puts the weight on it.1The object particle 을/를을/를 marks the thing an action is done to — what you eat, read, buy or watch.1에: to a place, at a place, at a time에 marks where something goes or is, and when something happens.1에서: where something happens, and "from"에서 marks the place where an action happens and the place a movement starts from.1Also and too: the particle 도도 means "also" or "too", and it takes the place of 은/는, 이/가 and 을/를.1And between nouns: 와/과, 하고, (이)랑Three ways to say "and" or "with" between nouns — one meaning, three registers.1From and until: 부터 and 까지부터 marks when something starts and 까지 where or when it ends; a starting place takes 에서.
Numbers, counters and time
51Sino-Korean numbers: 일, 이, 삼The regular set of numbers, used for dates, money, minutes, floors, phone numbers and anything above about a hundred.1Native Korean numbers: 하나, 둘, 셋The older Korean set, used for counting things and people, for hours and for age — and four of them change shape before a counter.1Counters: 개, 명, 마리 and the restKorean rarely puts a number straight before a noun: it counts with a counter word, and the counter decides which set of numbers to use.1Telling the time: 세 시 이십 분Hours are counted with native numbers, minutes with Sino-Korean ones — in the same breath.1Dates: months, days and weekdaysYear, month, day, from large to small, all with Sino-Korean numbers — and two months that change their spelling.
The verb and its endings10
Verb endings and speech levels
31The stem and 다: how a verb is cutEvery verb is listed with 다 at the end; take it off, and what is left is the stem that all endings attach to.1The polite present -아요/어요One ending for statements, questions and suggestions — and the last vowel of the stem decides whether it is 아요 or 어요.1Requests: -(으)세요 and -아/어 주세요-(으)세요 invites someone to do something, -아/어 주세요 asks them to do it for you, and -(으)십시오 is the formal version of signs and announcements.
Tense and aspect
2Negation
31Not: 안 before the verb안 goes directly before the verb or adjective: 안 가요, "I don't go" or "I'm not going".1Cannot: 못 before the verb못 before a verb says that something cannot be done, however much you want: 못 가요, "I can't go".1Verbs that are negative already: 없다, 모르다, 아니다Three common verbs have their own negative partner, and Korean uses it instead of 안: 없어요, not 안 있어요.