Adjectives and Questions

Korean Grammar 1

Course 1 Β· Chapter 8 Β· Adjectives and Questions

🎨 Adjectives and Questions β€” ν˜•μš©μ‚¬μ™€ 의문문

The good news about Korean "adjectives" is that you already know how to use them. A word like 크닀 ("to be big") is a describing verb: it ends in λ‹€, has a stem, and takes the same endings as the verbs in Korean Grammar 1, chapters 6 and 7. In English you say "The house is big", with the extra verb "is". In Korean the describing word itself does that job: 집이 μ»€μš” is "the house is big", with no 이닀. This chapter shows the common describing words, how they sit in front of a noun, and how to ask questions.

The rule in one box Describing at the end of the sentence: noun + 이/κ°€ or 은/λŠ” + adjective in the μ•„μš”/μ–΄μš” form. There is no separate "to be": 날씨가 μ’‹μ•„μš” (the weather is good).
Describing in front of a noun: adjective stem + -γ„΄ (after a vowel) or -은 (after a consonant) + noun: 큰 집 (a big house), 쒋은 친ꡬ (a good friend).

Describing words in the polite present and past

Dictionary formMeaningPolite presentPast
크닀 keudato be bigμ»€μš” keoyoμ»Έμ–΄μš” keosseoyo
μž‘λ‹€ jakdato be smallμž‘μ•„μš” jagayoμž‘μ•˜μ–΄μš” jagasseoyo
μ’‹λ‹€ jotato be goodμ’‹μ•„μš” joayoμ’‹μ•˜μ–΄μš” joasseoyo
λ‚˜μ˜λ‹€ nappeudato be badλ‚˜λΉ μš” nappayoλ‚˜λΉ΄μ–΄μš” nappasseoyo
λ§Žλ‹€ mantato be many, muchλ§Žμ•„μš” manayoλ§Žμ•˜μ–΄μš” manasseoyo
μ‹Έλ‹€ ssadato be cheapμ‹Έμš” ssayoμŒŒμ–΄μš” ssasseoyo
λΉ„μ‹Έλ‹€ bissadato be expensiveλΉ„μ‹Έμš” bissayoλΉ„μŒŒμ–΄μš” bissasseoyo
μ˜ˆμ˜λ‹€ yeppeudato be prettyμ˜ˆλ»μš” yeppeoyoμ˜ˆλ»€μ–΄μš” yeppeosseoyo
λ°”μ˜λ‹€ bappeudato be busyλ°”λΉ μš” bappayoλ°”λΉ΄μ–΄μš” bappasseoyo
μ•„ν”„λ‹€ apeudato hurt, to be illμ•„νŒŒμš” apayoμ•„νŒ μ–΄μš” apasseoyo
λ§›μžˆλ‹€ masitdato be deliciousλ§›μžˆμ–΄μš” masisseoyoλ§›μžˆμ—ˆμ–΄μš” masisseosseoyo
ν”Όκ³€ν•˜λ‹€ pigonhadato be tiredν”Όκ³€ν•΄μš” pigonhaeyoν”Όκ³€ν–ˆμ–΄μš” pigonhaesseoyo

Look at the pattern: 크닀 β†’ μ»€μš” and μ˜ˆμ˜λ‹€ β†’ μ˜ˆλ»μš” follow the γ…‘-drop of Korean Grammar 1, chapter 6; μ’‹μ•„μš” and λ§Žμ•„μš” are the ordinary consonant-stem cases; and every -ν•˜λ‹€ word ends in -ν•΄μš”. Nothing here is a new rule.

Watch out: the γ…‘-drop picks μ•„ or μ–΄ from the syllable before The γ…‘ drops, and the ending is chosen by the vowel of the syllable before it: λ°”μ˜λ‹€ (λ°” has ㅏ) β†’ λ°”λΉ μš”, μ•„ν”„λ‹€ (μ•„ has ㅏ) β†’ μ•„νŒŒμš”, μ˜ˆμ˜λ‹€ (예 has γ…–) β†’ μ˜ˆλ»μš”. A one-syllable stem like 크 has nothing before it, so it takes μ–΄: μ»€μš”.
Watch out: some describing words are irregular Several very common ones change their stem before a vowel ending: μΆ₯λ‹€ chupda (to be cold, of weather) β†’ μΆ”μ›Œμš” chuwoyo, λ₯λ‹€ deopda (to be hot) β†’ λ”μ›Œμš” deowoyo, μ–΄λ ΅λ‹€ (to be difficult) β†’ μ–΄λ €μ›Œμš”, 쉽닀 (to be easy) β†’ μ‰¬μ›Œμš”. Learn them as vocabulary; a later course explains the pattern.

Sentences with a describing word

KoreanMeaning
날씨가 μ’‹μ•„μš”.
nalssi-ga joayo.		The weather is good.
집이 μ»€μš”.
jib-i keoyo.		The house is big.
μ‚¬κ³ΌλŠ” μ‹Έμš”.
sagwa-neun ssayo.		Apples are cheap.
μ–΄μ œ 많이 λ°”λΉ΄μ–΄μš”.
eoje mani bappasseoyo.		I was very busy yesterday.
μ•ˆ λΉ„μ‹Έμš”. / 비싸지 μ•Šμ•„μš”.
an bissayo. / bissaji anayo.		It's not expensive. (Chapter 7 negation works the same.)

How much? Intensifying words

WordMeaningExample
μ•„μ£Ό ajuveryμ•„μ£Ό μ»€μš”. It's very big.
정말 jeongmalreally정말 λ§›μžˆμ–΄μš”. It's really delicious.
λ„ˆλ¬΄ neomutoo, very muchλ„ˆλ¬΄ λΉ„μ‹Έμš”. It's too expensive.
쑰금 jogeuma little쑰금 μž‘μ•„μš”. It's a little small.

They go straight in front of the describing word, just as μ•ˆ does.

Describing a noun in front of it

To put the description before the noun (a big house, a good friend), change the stem ending to the "modifier" form:

  • Stem ends in a vowel: add -γ„΄ to the last block. 크닀 β†’ 큰, μ˜ˆμ˜λ‹€ β†’ 예쁜.
  • Stem ends in a consonant: add -은. μž‘λ‹€ β†’ μž‘μ€, μ’‹λ‹€ β†’ 쒋은, λ§Žλ‹€ β†’ λ§Žμ€.
  • Stem is -ν•˜λ‹€: -ν•œ. μ‘°μš©ν•˜λ‹€ β†’ μ‘°μš©ν•œ (quiet).
  • Stem is -μžˆλ‹€ or -μ—†λ‹€ (such as λ§›μžˆλ‹€): -λŠ”. λ§›μžˆλ‹€ β†’ λ§›μžˆλŠ”.
KoreanMeaning
큰 집 keun jipa big house
μž‘μ€ 집 jageun jipa small house
쒋은 친ꡬ joeun chingua good friend
예쁜 꽃 yeppeun kkota pretty flower
μ‘°μš©ν•œ λ„μ„œκ΄€ joyonghan doseogwana quiet library
λ§›μžˆλŠ” 사과 masinneun sagwa [λ§ˆμ‹ λŠ”]a delicious apple
Watch out: the description is attached, the noun stays as it is Nothing changes on the noun itself, and no article is added (Korean Grammar 1, chapter 1). 큰 집 means "big house", "a big house" or "the big house". The same idea works with verbs: a present-tense verb takes -λŠ” in front of a noun, so λ¨ΉλŠ” μ‚¬λžŒ is "a person who eats". Chapter 10 of this course returns to building longer sentences.

Questions

Yes/no questions

As in Chapter 1, a yes/no question is the statement with a rising voice and a question mark. λΉ„μ‹Έμš”? ("Is it expensive?") is answered λ„€, λΉ„μ‹Έμš”. or μ•„λ‹ˆμš”, μ•ˆ λΉ„μ‹Έμš”.

Question words

A question word replaces the part you want to know, in the same place in the sentence where the answer would go. Korean does not move it to the front.

WordMeaningExample
뭐 mwowhat뭐 λ¨Ήμ–΄μš”? mwo meogeoyo? What are you eating?
λˆ„κ΅¬ nugu / λˆ„κ°€ nugawho / who (subject)λˆ„κ°€ μ™€μš”? nuga wayo? Who is coming?
μ–΄λ”” eodiwhere어디에 κ°€μš”? eodi-e gayo? Where are you going?
μ–Έμ œ eonjewhenμ–Έμ œ μ™€μš”? eonje wayo? When are you coming?
μ™œ waewhyμ™œ μ•ˆ κ°€μš”? wae an gayo? Why aren't you going?
μ–΄λ–»κ²Œ eotteokehow (in what way)μ–΄λ–»κ²Œ κ°€μš”? eotteoke gayo? How do you go?
μ–΄λ•Œμš”? eottaeyo?how is it? what is it like?날씨가 μ–΄λ•Œμš”? nalssi-ga eottaeyo? How is the weather?
μ–Όλ§ˆ eolmahow muchμ–Όλ§ˆμ˜ˆμš”? eolma-yeyo? How much is it?
무슨 museun + nounwhat kind of무슨 μ±…μ΄μ—μš”? museun chaeg-ieyo? What (kind of) book is it?
μ–΄λŠ eoneu + nounwhichμ–΄λŠ ν•™κ΅μ˜ˆμš”? eoneu hakgyo-yeyo? Which school is it?
Watch out: 뭐 has a short form before 을/λ₯Ό In speech 뭐λ₯Ό becomes 뭘 mwol: 뭘 λ¨Ήμ–΄μš”? means the same as 뭐λ₯Ό λ¨Ήμ–΄μš”? and, like other object markers, is often dropped altogether: 뭐 λ¨Ήμ–΄μš”?
Watch out: question words have two jobs The same words can mean "somebody", "somewhere" or "something" in a statement, depending on context: μ–΄λ”” κ°€μš” is "where are you going?" with a rising voice but can also be "(I'm) going somewhere" with a falling one. The intonation tells you which.

πŸ—£οΈ In Use β€” μ‹€μ œ 예문

Find the describing words and the question words.

β‘  How is the food?

A: ν•œκ΅­ μŒμ‹μ€ μ–΄λ•Œμš”? hanguk eumsig-eun eottaeyo? How is Korean food?
B: μ•„μ£Ό λ§›μžˆμ–΄μš”. 쑰금 μ§œμš”. aju masisseoyo. jogeum jjayo. It's very tasty. It's a little salty.

β‘‘ When and why?

A: μ–Έμ œ μ„œμšΈμ— 갈 κ±°μ˜ˆμš”? eonje seoul-e gal geoyeyo? When will you go to Seoul?
B: 내일 갈 κ±°μ˜ˆμš”. μΉœκ΅¬κ°€ μ„œμšΈμ— μ‚΄μ•„μš”. naeil gal geoyeyo. chingu-ga seoul-e sarayo. Tomorrow. A friend lives in Seoul.

πŸ“‹ Quick Reference β€” μš”μ•½ν‘œ

TopicRemember
Describing wordsbehave like verbs; no 이닀 needed: 집이 μ»€μš”
Tenses and negationsame as verbs: μ»Έμ–΄μš”, μ•ˆ μ»€μš”, 크지 μ•Šμ•„μš”
Before a nounvowel stem + γ„΄, consonant stem + 은, ν•˜λ‹€ β†’ ν•œ, μžˆλ‹€/μ—†λ‹€ β†’ λŠ”
Intensifiersμ•„μ£Ό 정말 λ„ˆλ¬΄ 쑰금 before the describing word
Yes/no questionsame sentence, rising voice
Question wordsstay in the place of the answer: 뭐 λˆ„κ΅¬ μ–΄λ”” μ–Έμ œ μ™œ μ–΄λ–»κ²Œ μ–Όλ§ˆ

✏️ Try It Yourself β€” μ—°μŠ΅

Work out the answer first, then click to check.

1. Give the polite present of μ’‹λ‹€, μ‹Έλ‹€ and ν”Όκ³€ν•˜λ‹€.

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μ’‹μ•„μš”, μ‹Έμš”, ν”Όκ³€ν•΄μš”.

2. Give the polite present of 크닀 and μ˜ˆμ˜λ‹€.

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μ»€μš” and μ˜ˆλ»μš” (γ…‘ drops and μ–΄ is added).

3. Put λ°”λΉ μš” and μ•„νŒŒμš” into the past.

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λ°”λΉ΄μ–΄μš” and μ•„νŒ μ–΄μš”.

4. Say "The apples are expensive" and "The apples are not expensive".

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사과가 λΉ„μ‹Έμš”. and 사과가 μ•ˆ λΉ„μ‹Έμš”. (or 비싸지 μ•Šμ•„μš”).

5. Say "It's a little small" and "It's too expensive".

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쑰금 μž‘μ•„μš”. and λ„ˆλ¬΄ λΉ„μ‹Έμš”.

6. Put the description in front of the noun: "a big book", "a good book", "a quiet library".

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큰 μ±…, 쒋은 μ±…, μ‘°μš©ν•œ λ„μ„œκ΄€.

7. Why is it λ§›μžˆλŠ” 사과 and not λ§›μžˆμ€ 사과?

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Describing words ending in μžˆλ‹€ or μ—†λ‹€ take λŠ”, not 은 or γ„΄.

8. Ask "Where are you going?" and "Why aren't you going?"

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어디에 κ°€μš”? and μ™œ μ•ˆ κ°€μš”?

9. Ask "How much is it?" and "How is the weather?"

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μ–Όλ§ˆμ˜ˆμš”? and 날씨가 μ–΄λ•Œμš”?

10. What does 뭘 stand for in 뭘 λ¨Ήμ–΄μš”?

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뭐λ₯Ό (what + the object particle).

Coming up in Chapter 9: Numbers, Counters and Time. Korean has two number systems, native Korean and Sino-Korean, and words you add to a number to count different kinds of things. You will also tell the time.