Putting It Together

Korean Grammar 3

Course 3 · Chapter 12 · Putting It Together

🧱 Putting It Together — 종합

The first eleven chapters of Korean Grammar 3 gave you one area at a time: voice, auxiliary verbs, reasons, concession, recall, comparison and noun clauses. Real sentences use several at once. This last chapter builds one long sentence step by step, gives you a decision procedure for choosing patterns, runs an error-spotting clinic on the mistakes learners make most, and closes the course with a recap.

The rule in one box A long Korean sentence is built from the end backwards: choose the main verb and its ending first, then add each clause in front of it. Every clause keeps its own connective, and every connective has its own rules about tense, subject and the ending that may follow. If you check those three things for each clause, the sentence will hold together.

Building a long sentence, clause by clause

Start with a short sentence and add one idea at a time. Each step uses a pattern from this course.

Step	Add	Sentence
1	the core	책을 읽었어요. I read the book.
2	a modifier with an auxiliary (Chapter 5)	친구가 빌려 준 책을 읽었어요. I read the book my friend lent me.
3	a reason, -느라고 (Chapter 7)	친구가 빌려 준 책을 읽느라고 잠을 못 잤어요. I couldn't sleep, busy reading the book my friend lent me.
4	a concession, -기는 하지만 (Chapter 8)	친구가 빌려 준 책을 읽느라고 잠을 못 자서 피곤하기는 하지만, 재미있었어요. I'm tired from not sleeping because I was reading, but it was fun.
5	"the more … the more", -(으)ㄹ수록 (Chapter 10)	… 읽을수록 재미있어서 …
6	completion, -아/어 버리다 (Chapter 6)	친구가 빌려 준 책을 읽느라고 잠을 못 자서 피곤하기는 하지만, 읽을수록 재미있어서 끝까지 다 읽어 버렸어요.

The full sentence means: "I'm tired from losing sleep over reading the book my friend lent me, but the more I read the more fun it was, so I read it right to the end." A recall ending then adds the speaker's own observation: 정말 재미있더라고요. "It really was fun (I found)." (Chapter 9)

Watch out: do not build sentences that are too long Korean allows long chains, but spoken Korean usually stops after two or three clauses. In writing, break a chain at a natural joint into two sentences linked with 그래서, 하지만 or 그런데. A sentence that is grammatically correct but cannot be read aloud in one breath is a sign to split it.

A decision procedure for the course

You want to say…	Ask yourself	Use (chapter)
who did what to whom	Is the subject doing it, receiving it or causing it?	active, passive or causative (1)
"was caught", "was opened"	Does the verb take -이/히/리/기-?	suffix passive (2)
"was solved", "was praised"	Is it a 하다 verb? Is it welcome or unwelcome?	-되다, -받다, -당하다, -아/어지다 (3)
"made / let someone do"	Direct action, or instruction?	suffix causative or -게 하다 (4)
"try", "for someone", "in advance", "in progress", "state"	Which shade of meaning?	보다, 주다, 놓다, -고 있다, -아/어 있다 (5)
"all done", "ended up", "so far", "achieved", "kept on"	Which way does the action point?	버리다, 말다, 가다 / 오다, 내다, 대다 (6)
"because"	Neutral, busy, unexpected, blame or thanks?	-아/어서, -느라고, -는 바람에, 탓에, 덕분에 (7)
"even if", "although", "not only"	Hypothetical or fact?	-아/어도, -더라도, -는데도, -ㄹ 뿐만 아니라 (8)
"I saw that…", "the house I used to…"	Did I observe it myself?	-더라고요, -던, -더니, -았/었더니 (9)
"more than", "the most", "the more"	Comparing, ranking or growing?	보다, 가장, -(으)ㄹ수록 (10)
"that…", "whether…", "have done"	Which noun clause?	-는 것, -기, -(으)ㅁ, -(으)ㄴ/는지 (11)

🔎 Error-spotting clinic — 오류 찾기

Each sentence contains one common mistake. Find it, then click to check.

1. 쥐가 고양이가 잡혔어요.

Show answer

The agent of a passive takes 에게 / 한테, not 이/가: 쥐가 고양이에게 잡혔어요. (Chapter 2)

2. 문이 열어졌어요.

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열다 already has the suffix passive 열리다: 문이 열렸어요. (Chapter 3)

3. 엄마가 아기가 밥을 먹였어요.

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The person who is fed takes 에게: 엄마가 아기에게 밥을 먹였어요. (Chapter 4)

4. 그는 옷을 입어 있어요. (He is wearing clothes.)

Show answer

-아/어 있다 is for intransitive verbs of state. For wearing, use -고 있다: 그는 옷을 입고 있어요. (Chapter 5)

5. 어제 비가 왔어서 집에 있었어요.

Show answer

-아/어서 takes no tense marker: 어제 비가 와서 집에 있었어요. (Chapter 7)

6. 비가 와서 우산을 가져가세요.

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-아/어서 cannot lead into a command: 비가 오니까 우산을 가져가세요. (Chapter 7)

7. 친구가 아프느라고 못 왔어요.

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-느라고 needs a verb of effort and the same subject: 친구가 아파서 못 왔어요. (Chapter 7)

8. 저는 배고프더라.

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-더- reports what you observed, not your own present feeling: 저는 배고파요. (Chapter 9)

9. 노력한만큼 결과가 나와요.

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만큼 after a modifier is written separately: 노력한 만큼 결과가 나와요. (Chapter 10)

10. 저는 운전할 수 알아요. (I know how to drive.)

Show answer

"Know how to" is -(으)ㄹ 줄 알다: 저는 운전할 줄 알아요. (Chapter 11)

🗣️ In Use — 실제 예문

Three exchanges that combine patterns from the course.

① Reason and completion

A: 어제 왜 연락이 없었어요? Why didn't you get in touch yesterday?

B: 보고서를 쓰느라고 밤을 새워 버렸어요. I was busy writing a report and ended up staying up all night.

② Concession and recall

A: 그 식당 어땠어요? How was that restaurant?

B: 비싸기는 하지만 갈수록 더 맛있더라고요. It's pricey, but it tasted better each time I went.

③ Passive and noun clause

A: 도둑이 잡혔다는 것을 알아요? Do you know that the thief was caught?

B: 네, 어제 경찰에게 잡혔다고 들었어요. Yes, I heard he was caught by the police yesterday.

🎓 Course Complete — 수고하셨습니다!

You have finished Korean Grammar 3. In twelve chapters you worked through voice, auxiliary verbs, reasons, concession, recall, comparison and noun clauses, the patterns that turn plain sentences into natural Korean. Here is the whole journey.

Chapter	Topic	You can now…
1	The Voice Map	Tell active, passive and causative apart and see how the particles change.
2	Passive Verbs: -이/히/리/기-	Build and use the suffix passives and mark the agent.
3	Passive with -되다 and -받다	Choose among -되다, -받다, -당하다 and -아/어지다.
4	Causatives	Use causative suffixes and -게 하다 / -게 만들다 and tell letting from making.
5	Auxiliary Verbs I	Use 보다, 주다 / 드리다, 놓다 / 두다, -고 있다 and -아/어 있다.
6	Auxiliary Verbs II	Use 버리다, 말다, 가다 / 오다, 내다 and 대다.
7	Reasons and Results	Choose among -아/어서, -느라고, -는 바람에, 탓에 and 덕분에.
8	Contrast and Concession	Say "even if", "although", "not only" and "only".
9	Recall and Discovery	Use -더라고요, -던, -더니 and -았/었더니.
10	Degree and Comparison	Compare, rank and say "the more … the more".
11	Noun Clauses	Choose among -는 것, -기, -(으)ㅁ and use -(으)ㄴ 적, -는 줄 and -(으)ㄴ/는지.
12	Putting It Together	Build a long sentence and correct the commonest errors.

What Next? You have finished Korean Grammar 3. The next course is Korean Grammar 4, which covers written Korean, register and vocabulary: how the written style differs from speech, how to choose the right word for the setting, and the other building blocks of reading and writing Korean. If you want conversation practice with these patterns, the Korean Basic Conversation courses use them in dialogs.