Modifiers

Korean Grammar 2

Course 2 · Chapter 7 · Modifiers and Relative Clauses

🧩 Modifiers and Relative Clauses — 관형사형과 명사형

English builds long noun phrases after the noun: "the book that I read yesterday". Korean puts the whole clause before the noun, with no "that / who / which" at all: 어제 읽은 책. A verb or adjective that ends in a modifier ending (관형사형) works like a long adjective. This chapter gives the forms for every word class, how to read and write relative clauses, and the three ways of turning a whole clause into a noun: -는 것, -기 and -(으)ㅁ.

1. The forms

The three things that decide the form:

• Verbs have all three plain tenses. Present -는: 영어를 공부하는 학생 "the student who studies English". Past -(으)ㄴ: 한국어를 가르친 선생님 "the teacher who taught Korean". Future -(으)ㄹ: 한국어를 가르칠 선생님 "the teacher who will teach Korean". For -던 see Chapter 4.
• Adjectives use -(으)ㄴ for the present, not for the past: 예쁜 여자 "a pretty girl", 똑똑한 학생 "a smart student", 가까운 좌석 "a closer seat". For an adjective in the past use -았/었던: 예뻤던 여자, 시끄러웠던 교실 "the classroom that was noisy".
• 있다 / 없다 behave like verbs in the present (-는): 돈이 있는 사람 "a person who has money", 재미있는 영화, 맛없는 음식. This is general knowledge; the sources checked for this chapter were not conclusive on this point.

The same applies to compounds of 있다/없다 (맛있다, 재미있다, 관심 없다). The helper 싶다 takes -은, as an adjective: 이 수업을 등록하고 싶은 사람이 적어요 "Few people want to register for this class".

2. Spelling rules

Remember that ㅂ-, ㄷ- and ㅅ-stems change only before a vowel, and -(으)ㄴ / -(으)ㄹ count here as vowel-initial endings, while -는 starts with a consonant, so the stem is unchanged (듣는, 짓는, 돕는). The ㄹ-stem rule is the mirror of Chapter 3: the ㄹ drops before -는 and -ㄴ, but stays before -ㄹ (사는 집, 산 집, 살 집).

3. Building relative clauses

A relative clause is just an ordinary sentence with the described noun left out and the verb or adjective turned into a modifier. The noun can be any part of the original sentence:

More: 옆에 사는 이웃은 너무 시끄러워요 "The neighbour who lives next door is too noisy"; 이 동네에서 축구를 잘 하는 청소년들이 많아요 "There are many young people in this area who are good at football"; 제가 받을 점수는 중요해요 "The score I will receive is important".

Particles inside the clause. The clause's own subject is usually marked with 이/가 (제가 읽은 책); the topic marker 은/는 is normally avoided inside a modifier clause, though it can appear for contrast. This tip is from general knowledge. A relative clause can be long, and can itself sit inside a longer sentence: 친구가 선물한 책을 읽고 있어요 "I'm reading the book that my friend gave me".

4. When the head noun is a placeholder

Where English says "the thing that", "the place where", "the person who" or "the time when", Korean uses a general noun after the modifier:

• 것 "thing": 먹을 것 "something to eat", 마실 것 "something to drink", 읽을 것 "something to read"
• 곳 / 데 "place": 살 곳 "a place to live", 갈 데가 없어요 "There's nowhere to go"
• 사람 "person": 저를 도와 주는 사람 "the person who helps me"
• 때 "time": 어렸을 때 "when I was little" (Chapter 5)
• 일 "thing to do / matter": 할 일 "things to do", 오늘 할 일이 많아요 "I have a lot to do today"

5. Clauses turned into nouns: -는 것

To say "doing X" or "that X happens" as the subject or object of a sentence, put -는 것 (present), -(으)ㄴ 것 (past) or -(으)ㄹ 것 (future) after the clause, then add the particle:

• 담배를 피우는 것은 건강에 나빠요. "Smoking is bad for your health."
• 이 문제를 극복하는 것이 힘들 거예요. "It will be difficult to overcome this problem."
• 저는 친구가 사과를 가져오는 것을 원해요. "I want my friend to bring apples."
• 제 취미는 요리하는 것이에요. "My hobby is cooking." (이다 follows -는 것: -는 것이다)

In speech 것 + 이/을/은 usually contracts: 것이 → 게, 것은 → 건, 것을 → 걸, 것이에요 → 거예요. So 요리하는 게 재미있어요 "Cooking is fun". Notice that the (으)ㄹ 거예요 of Chapter 4 is this same 것이에요.

6. Clauses turned into nouns: -기

Verb stem + -기 turns a verb into a noun without any tense, and is common with a fixed set of predicates:

• -기 시작하다 "begin to": 밥을 먹기 시작했어요
• -기 싫다 "not want to": 쌀을 씻기 싫어요
• -기 좋다 / 쉽다 / 어렵다 "easy to … / hard to …": 이 책은 읽기 쉬워요
• -기 전에 "before" (Chapter 6) and -기 위해 "in order to" (Chapter 6)

The -기 forms of irregulars never change (they start with a consonant): 듣기, 춥기, 살기 (a noun use: 듣기 and 읽기 are also the names of the listening and reading tests). Fixed nouns made with -기: 달리기 (running), 줄넘기 (skipping rope). For most other sentences, -는 것 is the more natural choice: "I want my friend to bring apples" is -는 것 (가져오는 것), not 가져오기.

7. Clauses turned into nouns: -(으)ㅁ

Vowel stem + -ㅁ, consonant stem + -음 makes a noun, but it mostly gives set nouns that you learn as vocabulary, and a clause nominalised with -(으)ㅁ is a written or formal style:

Examples: 나는 아빠의 죽음을 잊지 않았어 "I didn't forget my father's death"; 나는 형이랑 싸움에서 이겼어 "I won the fight with my brother". The irregulars show up here as nouns (돕다 → 도움, 걷다 → 걸음). The clause use (나는 네가 먹고 있음을 알았어 "I knew you were eating") is rare in speech and found in books and notices.

🗣️ In Use — 실제 예문

📋 Quick Reference — 요약표

✏️ Try It Yourself — 연습

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