Basic Korean Grammar and VerbsKorean words

*Welcome to the Basic Korean Grammar and Verbs course!* When speaking in Korean, you must show respect for others when talking! This is often done by attaching "-요" at the end of a sentence. At the end of each Korean sentence, there has to be a verb. You can tell these apart from regular words by the ending "-다" (in their standard form). Let´s go through some examples.

*Conjugating the present tense* This is how Korean verbs appear in lexical form! Now we need to conjugate the verb to make a sentence! How do we do that? First, remove "다"from the end. Then, look at the last vowel of the verb. Is it "ㅏ", or "ㅗ"? Then add "아요"to the end of the verb. Or is it another vowel? Then "어요"put a - at the end of the verb.

*Verbs ending in * "ㅏ" * For verbs like " 가다 " or other verbs ending with "ㅏ", removing " -다 " and adding "아요" will complete the present tense conjugation.

*하다 Verbs* Some verbs end in "하다". This alone means to do something, but the action is derived from what precedes "하다". These verbs are conjugated as "해요".

*Verb categories* Korean verbs are divided into two different categories: Action verbs (activities and actions). Examples are: "먹다", "보다", "가다", "타다", "일하다" ... Descriptive verbs (adjectives and descriptions). Examples are: "있다", "없다", "좋다", "예쁘다", ... This is VERY important for learning grammar, because some particles are used with action verbs [AV], and some particles are used with descriptive verbs [DV]. Remember this for the following lessons!

*The 이,가 particle* Now that we know verb conjugation, let´s learn some grammar next. The "이","가" particle is a basic particle in Korean. It is attached to nouns: You can attach -"이" to nouns ending with a consonant "밥" + "이" = "밥이" or you can attach -"가" to nouns ending with a vowel "개" + "가" = "개가" The first way to use this particle is in sentences with descriptive verbs (these usually fill the role of adjectives in Korean). Let´s look at some examples!

*Using 이,가 in action sentences* We can also assign the "이","가" particle to a subject (conducting an action with an action verb).

*Advanced sentences with 이,가 particle* Watch the "이","가" particle in more advanced cases. Pay attention to how the particle functions in longer sentences!

*The 은,는 particle* The "은", "는" particle is attached to a noun, when we wish to make the noun the main subject of the sentence (or conversation). -"은" Is attached to nouns ending in a vowel: "김밥은", "선생님은", "학생은", ... -"는" Is attached to nouns ending in a consonant: "저는", "엄마는", "우유는", ...

*The contrast of the 은,는 particle* "은", "는" Is often used also to express contrast between things. For example: "사과가 좋아요". I like apples. It is a very general sentence. "사과는 좋아요". As far as apples go, those I like! (I´m implying contrast, that I might not like a different kind of fruit!)

*The single particle rule* But watch out, you can not use the same particle in the same sentence more than once! As a general rule! Look at these example sentences with more words, where "은","는" and "이","가" are used to give the listener more information.

*The 을,를 subject particle* Another particle to learn is the "을","를" particle. You can attach it to a subject when using an action verb [AV], in the sentence. "을" is attached to words ending in a consonant → "밥을" "를" is attached to words ending in a vowel → "바나나를" Then, you can make sentences, where someone is interacting with a subject through the action verb, e.q. I(noun,...) eat (action verb) bananas (subject). Here are some action verbs you can use with the new particle:

*Let us practice what we learned* Now, let´s combine all the grammar we have learned so far, and practise!

*Past tense and practise* Did you know, you can add -"ㅆ어요" to the end of a verb to create past tense? "먹다" - "먹어요" - "먹었어요". "하다" - "해요" - "했어요". "타다" - "타요" - "탔어요". See if you can identify the past tense in following sentences: