The Voice Map

Korean Grammar 3

Course 3 · Chapter 1 · Voice, Auxiliaries, Causes and Contrast

🗺️ The Voice Map — 태(態)의 지도

Korean Grammar 1 and 2 gave you the building blocks: particles, speech levels, honorifics, tenses, clauses, modifiers, quotation and sentence endings. Korean Grammar 3 closes the gaps that remain: who does what to whom (voice), the auxiliary verbs that add shades of meaning, reasons and results, contrast and concession, recall, comparison and noun clauses. You met first looks at many of these patterns in Korean Basic Conversation 3 and Korean Basic Conversation 4; here each one gets a full rule, tables and the contrasts that stop learners confusing it with its neighbours. This first chapter draws the map of the first group, voice, before Chapters 2 to 4 fill it in.

The rule in one box Voice shows how the subject relates to the action. In the active the subject does the action; in the passive the subject undergoes it; in the causative the subject makes or lets someone else do it. Korean builds the passive and causative in three ways: a suffix on the verb (-이-, -히-, -리-, -기-, and for the causative also -우-, -구-, -추-), a helper verb (-되다, -받다, -아/어지다 for the passive; -게 하다, -게 만들다 for the causative), or a separate verb that simply has to be learnt.

One verb, three voices

The same root can often be turned in both directions. Take 먹다 ("to eat") and 잡다 ("to catch"):

Voice	Verb	Example	Meaning
Active	먹다	아기가 밥을 먹어요.	The baby eats rice.
Causative	먹이다	엄마가 아기에게 밥을 먹여요.	The mother feeds the baby (makes the baby eat).
Passive	먹히다	쥐가 고양이에게 먹혔어요.	The mouse was eaten by the cat.
Active	잡다	고양이가 쥐를 잡았어요.	The cat caught the mouse.
Passive	잡히다	쥐가 고양이에게 잡혔어요.	The mouse was caught by the cat.

What changes in the sentence

Active → passive

The object of the active sentence becomes the subject, and the old subject (the agent) moves to the side with 에게 or 한테 (people and animals), or 에 / 에 의해 (things and, in writing, people).

	Subject	Agent	Object	Verb
Active	고양이가	—	쥐를	잡았다
Passive	쥐가	고양이에게	—	잡혔다

Active → causative

A new subject (the causer) is added at the front. The original subject becomes the person made to act, marked with 에게 (or 을/를 when the verb has no object of its own).

	Causer	Person made to act	Object	Verb
Active	—	아기가	밥을	먹었다
Causative	엄마가	아기에게	밥을	먹였다

Watch out: the same suffix can be passive or causative The suffixes overlap, and a few verbs use the same form for both jobs. 보이다 is the classic case: 산이 보여요 "the mountain is visible" (passive), but 사진을 보여 주세요 "please show me the photo" (causative). Only the particles and the meaning tell them apart. Chapters 2 and 4 teach the two systems separately for this reason.

Three ways to build a voice

Method	Passive	Causative	Example
Suffix on the verb	-이-, -히-, -리-, -기-	-이-, -히-, -리-, -기-, -우-, -구-, -추-	잡다 → 잡히다; 먹다 → 먹이다
Helper verb	-되다, -받다, -당하다, -아/어지다	-게 하다, -게 만들다	사용하다 → 사용되다; 읽다 → 읽게 하다
Separate verb	an intransitive partner	a transitive partner	열다 / 열리다; 깨다 / 깨우다

Which suffix a verb takes cannot be predicted from the sound of the root alone; some verbs take none, and some have several. That is why Chapters 2 to 4 list the common verbs by suffix and ask you to learn them as vocabulary.

Where English and Korean choose differently

English leans on the passive much more than Korean does. When you translate, expect to switch voice:

English	Natural Korean	Why it differs
I was born in Seoul.	저는 서울에서 태어났어요.	Korean uses an active verb (태어나다 "to be born" is its own verb).
I was scolded by the teacher.	선생님께 혼났어요.	혼나다 is a verb that already means "to get scolded"; no passive suffix is added.
I had my hair cut.	머리를 잘랐어요.	No "have something done" construction; the plain active is used, with the place if needed.
The door was opened.	문이 열렸어요.	A different verb (열리다) stands for the result; the agent is simply not mentioned.

Watch out: do not translate every English passive A learner's Korean often sounds foreign because every English "was done" is turned into a Korean passive. Before building one, ask: is there an ordinary active verb? (태어나다, 혼나다), is there an intransitive partner? (열리다, 닫히다, 깨지다), and only then reach for -아/어지다 or -되다. Chapters 2 and 3 show the order of choice.

Watch out: the passive often carries a feeling Many Korean passives, especially those formed with -당하다 and some with -받다, describe things that happen to the subject, often unwelcome ones (사기를 당했어요 "I was swindled"). The neutral passives (열리다, 쓰이다) have no such colouring. Chapter 3 compares them.

The map of this course

Chapters	Area	Key patterns
2 to 4	Voice	passive suffixes, -되다 / -받다 / -아/어지다, causatives and -게 하다
5 to 6	Auxiliary verbs	-아/어 보다, 주다, 놓다, 버리다, 말다, 가다 / 오다
7 to 8	Reasons and contrast	-느라고, -는 바람에, -아/어도, -더라도, -(으)ㄴ/는데도
9 to 11	Recall, comparison and noun clauses	-더-, 보다 / 만큼, -기 / -(으)ㅁ / -는 것
12	Putting it together	a long sentence, an error clinic, Course Complete

🗣️ In Use — 실제 예문

Three short exchanges, one for each voice.

① Active (a kitchen)

A: 누가 케이크를 먹었어요? Who ate the cake?

B: 제 동생이 먹었어요. My younger sibling ate it.

② Passive (a story)

A: 쥐는 어떻게 됐어요? What happened to the mouse?

B: 고양이에게 잡혔어요. It was caught by the cat.

③ Causative (a family)

A: 아기가 우유를 잘 마셔요? Does the baby drink milk well?

B: 네, 제가 매일 아침에 먹여요. Yes, I feed it every morning.

📋 Quick Reference — 요약표

Voice	Subject is…	Marker	Example
Active	the doer	plain verb	고양이가 쥐를 잡았다.
Passive	the one affected	-이/히/리/기-, -되다, -받다, -당하다, -아/어지다; agent with 에게 / 한테	쥐가 고양이에게 잡혔다.
Causative	the one who makes or lets	-이/히/리/기/우/구/추-, -게 하다, -게 만들다; actor with 에게 / 을/를	엄마가 아기에게 밥을 먹였다.

✏️ Try It Yourself — 연습

Work out the answer first, then click to check.

1. Which voice is 아이가 책을 읽었어요?

Show answer

Active: the child (subject) does the reading.

2. Turn the active sentence 고양이가 쥐를 잡았다 into the passive.

Show answer

쥐가 고양이에게 잡혔다. The object becomes the subject; the old subject takes 에게.

3. Turn 아기가 밥을 먹었다 into the causative with 엄마 as the causer.

Show answer

엄마가 아기에게 밥을 먹였다.

4. Which sentence is passive and which causative? 산이 보여요 · 사진을 보여 주세요

Show answer

The first is passive ("is visible"); the second is causative ("show").

5. Say "I was born in Busan" naturally.

Show answer

저는 부산에서 태어났어요. An active verb, not a passive one.

6. Name the three ways Korean builds the passive and causative.

Show answer

A suffix on the verb, a helper verb (-되다, -받다, -아/어지다, -게 하다…), or a separate partner verb.

7. In the passive 쥐가 고양이에게 잡혔다, which particle marks the agent?

Show answer

에게 (or 한테 in speech).

8. Say "I got scolded by my teacher" naturally. Why not use a passive suffix?

Show answer

선생님께 혼났어요. 혼나다 already means "to get scolded", so no suffix is added.

9. Give the intransitive partner of 열다 ("to open (something)") and use it in a sentence about a door.

Show answer

열리다: 문이 열렸어요. "The door opened / was opened."

Coming up in Chapter 2: Passive Verbs: -이/히/리/기-. You will learn the four passive suffixes, which verbs take which suffix (보이다, 읽히다, 열리다, 안기다), how the agent is marked with 에게 / 한테, and which verbs have no passive at all.