3
Intermediate
The sentence grows forwards here: whole clauses stand before a noun (the book that I read yesterday), and a growing number of endings say how one clause relates to the next.
The polite and honorific forms arrive in full, and so does reported speech. Conversations about experiences, plans and opinions carry themselves, and everyday texts can be read given a little time.
Hangul, sounds and the basic sentence2
Hangul and the sound rules
2Particles, numbers and counters3
Particles
33Like and as … as: 처럼, 같이, 만큼처럼 and 같이 say what something is like; 만큼 says it reaches the same degree.3Nothing but: 밖에 with a negative밖에 means "only", but the verb after it must be negative — literally "outside this, nothing".3Or, as many as, or something: (이)나(이)나 offers a choice between nouns, stresses a surprisingly large number, and softens a suggestion — "coffee or something".
The verb and its endings16
Verb endings and speech levels
2Tense and aspect
33The resulting state -아/어 있다After a change of state — sitting down, opening, arriving — -아/어 있다 says that the result is still there: 앉아 있어요, "she is sitting".3The double past -았/었었-A second -었- says that a past state or event no longer holds: 갔었어요, "I went (and came back)".3In the middle of: -는 중이다A verb before the noun 중 (middle) says that something has started and is not yet finished: 회의하는 중이에요.
Negation
1Irregular verbs
33Stems in 시옷 (s): 낫다 → 나아요, 짓다 → 지어요In a few verbs a final s disappears before a vowel, and the vowels that meet stay apart: 짓다, 지어요.3Adjectives in 히읗 (h): 그렇다 → 그래요, 빨갛다 → 빨개요Colour words and the words for “like this, like that, how” drop their h and merge their vowels: 그래요, 빨개요, 어때요.3All the irregular stems side by sideSeven kinds of stem change, which endings set them off, and how to tell an irregular verb from a regular one that looks the same.
Helping verbs and modal patterns
53Know how to: -(으)ㄹ 줄 알다/모르다For skills you have learned or never learned: -(으)ㄹ 줄 알아요 and -(으)ㄹ 줄 몰라요.3Done and gone: -아/어 버리다버리다, "to throw away", after -아/어: it is done completely — to the speaker's regret or relief.3Ready in advance: -아/어 놓다 and -아/어 두다Do something now so that its result is there later — or leave something in the state you put it in.3Coming to do: -게 되다Stem plus -게 되다: things turned out so that you do it — through circumstance rather than a decision.3Getting and becoming: -아/어지다After an adjective -아/어지다 means "become"; after a verb it makes a passive. Always written as one word.
Passive and causative
2Clauses and how they join17
Before a noun, and verbs as nouns
33Verbs before a noun, past: 어제 본 영화An action verb takes -은 after a consonant, or adds n after a vowel, to describe a noun by something that has already happened.3Verbs before a noun, not yet: 내일 할 일, 먹을 것With -을 after a consonant, or an l added after a vowel, a verb describes a noun by something that has not happened yet.3The nominaliser -기: 읽기 쉬워요, 자기 전에-기 turns a verb into a noun inside fixed patterns: easy to read, before going to bed, in order to save.
Linking clauses, first steps
1Linking clauses, further
83Even if, even though: -아도/어도-아도/어도 says that the second clause holds whatever the first one says — “even if” or “even though”.3Doing one thing, then another: -다가-다가 says that one action was under way when another took its place; -았/었다가 that something was done and then undone.3As soon as: -자마자-자마자 joins two events with no gap between them: the moment one happens, the other follows.3Too busy doing: -느라고-느라고 gives as a reason the activity that took up your time — usually to explain what you could not do.3Thanks to: 덕분에After a noun or a past modifier, 덕분에 credits someone or something with a good result.3Instead of, in return: 대신에대신에 says that one thing takes the place of another — or that one thing is balanced by another.3If you want to: -(으)려면-(으)려면 says what is needed if somebody intends to do something.3Whether … or, any at all: -든지-든지 offers alternatives and says the choice does not matter — or, after a question word, that anything at all will do.
Reported speech
53Reporting a statement: -다고 하다The quoted statement goes into the plain style, takes -고, and is followed by 하다 or another verb of saying.3Reporting a question: -냐고 하다A reported question ends in -냐고, followed by 하다 or 묻다.3Reporting an order or request: -(으)라고 하다An order or a request is reported with -(으)라고; "give me" becomes 달라고, "give him" 주라고.3Reporting a suggestion: -자고 하다A "let's" suggestion is reported with -자고, which goes straight onto the stem.3The short forms: -대요, -래요, -냬요, -재요In conversation -다고 해요 shrinks to -대요, and the other quoting endings shrink the same way.
Stance, set patterns and the written style11
Sentence endings that add a stance
73I see: realising with -군요 and -구나-군요 says that something has just become clear to you, often from what somebody has told you: “so that is how it is”.3You see: giving the reason with -거든요-거든요 adds a reason or background the listener did not know: “you see, …”.3You know: -잖아요 for what the listener already knows-잖아요 points to something both speakers know: “you know …”, “after all …”, “I told you …”.3It looks like: -나 보다 and -(으)ㄴ가 보다A guess built on something you can see or have heard, usually about somebody else: “they must be …”.3Might: -(으)ㄹ지도 모르다“Might”: a weak possibility, often something worth preparing for.3Almost: -(으)ㄹ 뻔하다Something nearly happened and then did not — usually something bad you narrowly escaped.3On the whole: -는 편이다-는 편이다 places something on a scale — “tends to”, “rather”, “on the … side” — instead of stating it flat.
Further patterns
43About: 에 대해(서) and 에 대한에 대해(서) says what you talk, think or know about; before a noun it becomes 에 대한.3About to: -(으)려고 하다With a subject that cannot intend anything, -(으)려고 하다 means that something is about to happen.3Worth doing: -(으)ㄹ 만하다-(으)ㄹ 만하다 says that something is worth doing, good enough to do, or understandable.3Yes, but: -기는 하지만-기는 하지만 grants that something is true and then limits it: it is …, but.