Korean · Intermediate (B1) · Chapter 7 of 12
Culture and traditions
명절과 전통Myeongjeolgwa jeontong
Talk about Chuseok and Seollal in Korean, describe things with noun modifiers (-는, -(으)ㄴ, -(으)ㄹ) and say what people say or usually do.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Describe people and things with the modifiers -는, -(으)ㄴ and -(으)ㄹ
- Turn a verb into “the thing that…” with 것 (거)
- Say what people say with -는다고 해요, and what is sometimes done with -기도 하다
- Explain Chuseok and Seollal customs
Listen
In Andong, Park Hayeong's family is making songpyeon for Chuseok, and her new colleague Thomas from France has joined them. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Thomas
하영 씨, 지금 만드는 게 뭐예요?
Hayeong ssi, jigeum mandeuneun ge mwoyeyo?
Hayeong, what's this we're making?
Hayeong
송편이에요. 추석에 먹는 떡이에요.
Songpyeonieyo. Chuseoge meongneun tteogieyo.
It's songpyeon. It's a rice cake we eat at Chuseok.
Thomas
추석은 어떤 명절이에요?
Chuseogeun eotteon myeongjeorieyo?
What kind of holiday is Chuseok?
Hayeong
한국의 추수 감사절이라고 해요. 음력 팔월 십오 일이에요.
Hangugui chusu gamsajeorirago haeyo. Eumnyeok parwol sibo irieyo.
People call it the Korean Thanksgiving. It's on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month.
Thomas
추석에는 보통 뭘 해요?
Chuseogeneun botong mwol haeyo?
What do people usually do at Chuseok?
Hayeong
보통 고향에 가서 가족들하고 같이 지내요. 아침에는 차례를 지내고, 성묘를 하기도 해요.
Botong gohyange gaseo gajokdeulhago gachi jinaeyo. Achimeneun charyereul jinaego, seongmyoreul hagido haeyo.
Usually people go back to their home towns and spend the time with their families. In the morning they hold a memorial rite for the ancestors, and some also visit the family graves.
Thomas
성묘가 뭐예요?
Seongmyoga mwoyeyo?
What's seongmyo?
Hayeong
돌아가신 할아버지, 할머니 산소에 가서 인사하는 거예요.
Doragasin harabeoji, halmeoni sansoe gaseo insahaneun geoyeyo.
It's going to the graves of your grandparents who have passed away and paying your respects.
Thomas
이건 제가 빚은 송편이에요. 괜찮아요?
Igeon jega bijeun songpyeonieyo. Gwaenchanayo?
This is a songpyeon I made. Is it all right?
Hayeong
와, 예쁘게 잘 빚었네요. 송편을 예쁘게 빚으면 예쁜 딸을 낳는다고 해요.
Wa, yeppeuge jal bijeonneyo. Songpyeoneul yeppeuge bijeumyeon yeppeun ttareul nanneundago haeyo.
Oh, you've shaped it beautifully. They say that if you make pretty songpyeon, you'll have a pretty daughter.
Thomas
재미있네요. 설날에도 한복을 입어요?
Jaemiinneyo. Seollaredo hanbogeul ibeoyo?
That's fun. Do people wear hanbok at Lunar New Year too?
Hayeong
요즘은 안 입는 사람도 많아요. 보통 친척들하고 떡국을 먹고, 아이들은 어른들께 세배를 드리고 세뱃돈을 받아요.
Yojeumeun an imneun saramdo manayo. Botong chincheokdeulhago tteokgugeul meokgo, aideureun eoreundeulkke sebaereul deurigo sebaetdoneul badayo.
These days lots of people don't. Usually we eat tteokguk with our relatives, and the children bow to the elders and get New Year money.
Understand
Noun modifiers: 먹는 음식, 먹은 음식, 먹을 음식
In A2 you put adjectives in front of nouns: (keun bang), a big room. Verbs can describe nouns too, and the ending shows the time: -는 for now or in general (, chuseoge meongneun tteok, the rice cake we eat at Chuseok), -(으)ㄴ for the past (, jega bijeun songpyeon, the songpyeon I made), and -(으)ㄹ for the future or something still to do (, naeil meogeul eumsik, the food we'll eat tomorrow).
The describing part always comes before the noun, so English “the people who don't wear hanbok” is (hanbogeul an imneun saram). Adjectives use -(으)ㄴ for the present: (jungyohan nal), an important day. Words ending in (itda) or (eopda) take -는: (masinneun tteok), tasty rice cake. A ㄹ stem drops the ㄹ before -는 and -ㄴ: (mandeulda) → (mandeuneun), (mandeun), (mandeul).
| Verb | Now, in general | Past | Future, to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| (meokda), to eat | (meongneun) | (meogeun) | (meogeul) |
| (gada), to go | (ganeun) | (gan) | (gal) |
| (mandeulda), to make | (mandeuneun) | (mandeun) | (mandeul) |
| (salda), to live | (saneun) | (san) | (sal) |
| (bitda), to shape | (binneun) | (bijeun) | (bijeul) |
The thing that…: modifier + 것
(geot) means “thing” or “the fact of”. With a modifier it turns a whole idea into a noun: (haneun geot), doing; (jungyohan geot), the important thing; (jega bijeun geot), the one I made. In speech it is usually shortened: (geo); (ge) for (geosi); (geon) for (geoseun); (geol) for (geoseul).
That's how you explain a word: (seongmyoneun sansoe ganeun geoyeyo), seongmyo is going to the family graves. And how you ask about something: (jigeum mandeuneun ge mwoyeyo?), what's the thing you're making now?
- 제일 중요한 건 가족이에요.Jeil jungyohan geon gajogieyo.The most important thing is family.
- 한국 음식을 만드는 게 재미있어요.Hanguk eumsigeul mandeuneun ge jaemiisseoyo.Making Korean food is fun.
- 이건 어머니가 주신 거예요.Igeon eomeoniga jusin geoyeyo.This is something my mother gave me.
People say…, some also…: -는다고 해요 and -기도 하다
To talk about customs and sayings, use reported speech (chapter 3) without a subject: (tteokgugeul meogeumyeon han sal deo meongneundago haeyo), they say you get a year older when you eat tteokguk. With a noun: (chusu gamsajeorirago haeyo), it's called Thanksgiving. Hayeong passes on an old saying: (songpyeoneul yeppeuge bijeumyeon yeppeun ttareul nanneundago haeyo), they say that if you shape songpyeon prettily (, yeppeuda, to be pretty), you'll give birth to (, nata) a pretty daughter (, ttal). (botong), usually, often starts a sentence about customs.
-기도 하다 adds something that also happens, or happens sometimes: (seongmyoreul hagido haeyo), some people also visit the graves; (hanbogeul ipgido haeyo), people sometimes wear hanbok.
More in the grammar: Describing nouns: -는, -(으)ㄴ, -(으)ㄹ, -던 · Reporting speech: -다고, -냐고, -자고, -(으)라고
New words
- 송편songpyeonsongpyeon (half-moon rice cake for Chuseok) · (tteok) is the general word for rice cake.
- 추석chuseokChuseok, the autumn harvest festival
- 명절myeongjeoltraditional holiday, festival · The two biggest are (seollal) and (chuseok).
- 음력eumnyeokthe lunar calendar · (yangnyeok), the solar calendar
- 차례charyememorial rite for the ancestors (on a holiday morning) · (charyereul jinaeda), to hold the rite. (jinaeda) also means to spend time: (gajokago gachi jinaeyo), we spend the time with the family.
- 성묘seongmyovisiting the family graves · (seongmyoreul hada) or (seongmyoreul gada); (insahada), to greet, to pay your respects
- 산소sansograve (respectful word for a family grave) · (doragasin halmeoni sanso), my late grandmother's grave (, doragasida, to pass away, honorific)
- 빚다bitdato shape, to make (dumplings, rice cakes) · (songpyeoneul bijeoyo), we're making songpyeon
- 설날seollalLunar New Year
- 한복hanbokhanbok, traditional Korean clothes
- 친척chincheokrelative, relatives
- 떡국tteokgukrice-cake soup (eaten at New Year)
- 세배sebaeNew Year's bow to elders · (eoreundeulkke sebaereul deuryeoyo), we bow to the elders (, eoreun, adult, elder)
- 세뱃돈sebaetdonNew Year money (given to children after the bow) · (aideuri sebaetdoneul badayo), the children (, ai) receive (, batda) New Year money
Practise
1.Thomas points at the songpyeon he made a moment ago. “This is the songpyeon I made.” ___ (igeon jega ___ songpyeonieyo).
2.How do you say “the food we'll eat tomorrow”?
3.Put the words in order.
Tap the words below in the right order.Songpyeon is a rice cake (that) we eat at Chuseok.
4.Match the Korean with the English.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
5.What does (tteokgugeul meogeumyeon han sal deo meongneundago haeyo) mean?
6.Put the words in order.
Tap the words below in the right order.There are also lots of people who don't wear hanbok.
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
추석에는 보통 뭐 해요?
Chuseogeneun botong mwo haeyo?
What do you usually do at Chuseok?
Listen, then say it out loud, as close to the recording as you can.
Check
Five questions on this chapter. Then mark it as finished to add its words to your review deck.
0 of 5 answered.