Korean grammar · Intermediate (B1)
Describing nouns: -는, -(으)ㄴ, -(으)ㄹ, -던
How Korean puts descriptions before nouns: adjectives with -(으)ㄴ, verbs with -는, -(으)ㄴ and -(으)ㄹ, modifier + 것, and -던.
Descriptive verbs before a noun: -(으)ㄴ
Korean adjectives are verbs, so to put one before a noun you give it a modifier ending. Descriptive verbs take -ㄴ after a vowel and -은 after a consonant: (keun bang), a big room; (jageun gabang), a small bag; (joyonghan dongne), a quiet neighbourhood.
ㄹ stems drop the ㄹ: (gilda) → (gin meori), long hair; (meolda) → (meon got), a faraway place. ㅂ verbs change to 운: (gakkaun yeok), a nearby station; (chuun nal), a cold day. Words built with or take -는: (masinneun eumsik), delicious food; (jaemieomneun yeonghwa), a boring film.
- 더 싼 거 있어요?Deo ssan geo isseoyo?Do you have a cheaper one?
- 제 동생은 착한 사람이에요.Je dongsaengeun chakan saramieyo.My younger brother is a kind person.
Verbs before a noun: past, present, future
Action verbs show time in the modifier: -(으)ㄴ for the past ( (meogeun eumsik), the food I ate), -는 for the present ( (meongneun eumsik), the food I eat), and -(으)ㄹ for the future or something not yet done ( (meogeul eumsik), the food we'll eat).
The whole description goes before the noun, and there is no word for “who”, “which” or “that”: (eoje bon yeonghwa), the film I saw yesterday; (jega saneun dongne), the area where I live; (naeil ibeul ot), the clothes I'll wear tomorrow.
| Verb | Past | Present | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
| (gada), to go | (gan) | (ganeun) | (gal) |
| (meokda), to eat | (meogeun) | (meongneun) | (meogeul) |
| (mandeulda), to make | (mandeun) | (mandeuneun) | (mandeul) |
| (deutda), to listen | (deureun) | (deunneun) | (deureul) |
| (dopda), to help | (doun) | (domneun) | (doul) |
- 한국 음식 중에서 제일 좋아하는 게 뭐예요?Hanguk eumsik jungeseo jeil joahaneun ge mwoyeyo?What's your favourite Korean food?
- 이건 할머니가 만드신 떡이에요.Igeon halmeoniga mandeusin tteogieyo.These are rice cakes my grandmother made.
- 송편은 추석에 먹는 떡이에요.Songpyeoneun Chuseoge meongneun tteogieyo.Songpyeon are rice cakes people eat at Chuseok.
- 내일 할 일이 많아요.Naeil hal iri manayo.I have a lot to do tomorrow.
Modifier + 것: the thing that, doing
(geot), thing, after a modifier turns a verb into a noun phrase: (jungyohan geot), the important thing; (yorihaneun geot), cooking. In speech it is usually shortened: (geosi) → (ge), (geoseun) → (geon), (geoseul) → (geol), and itself → (geo).
So (yorihaneun geol joahaeyo) is “I like cooking”, and (jeil jungyohan geon geongangieyo) is “the most important thing is health”.
- 한국어로 말하는 게 아직 어려워요.Hangugeoro malhaneun ge ajik eoryeowoyo.Speaking in Korean is still hard for me.
- 뭐 마실 거 있어요?Mwo masil geo isseoyo?Is there anything to drink?
Patterns built on modifiers
Many useful patterns are simply a modifier + a noun. Once you know the modifiers, you know how to form all of them.
| Pattern | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -(으)ㄹ 때 | when | (eoril ttae), when I was little |
| -(으)ㄴ 후에 | after | (joreophan hue), after graduating |
| -는 동안 | while, during | (gidarineun dongan), while waiting |
| -(으)ㄹ 수 있다 | can | (hal su isseoyo), I can do it |
| -(으)ㄴ 적이 있다 | have ever | (ga bon jeogi isseoyo), I've been there |
| -(으)ㄴ 지 … 되다 | it's been … since | (on ji sam nyeon dwaesseoyo), I came three years ago |
| -는 중이다 | in the middle of | (ganeun jungieyo), I'm on my way |
| -(으)ㄴ/는/(으)ㄹ 것 같다 | it seems | (biga ol geot gatayo), it looks like rain |
-던: looking back
-던 (-deon) describes something from the speaker's memory that was going on, repeated or unfinished in the past: (jega saldeon jip), the house I used to live in; (ikdeon chaek), the book I was reading (and haven't finished). Compare (ilgeun chaek), a book I read (finished).
-았/었던 looks back at something that happened once, or a state that no longer holds: (jinanbeone gatdeon sikdang), the restaurant we went to last time; (eoryeosseul ttae joahaetdeon norae), a song I loved as a child. It is common in stories and film plots.
- 여기가 제가 다니던 학교예요.Yeogiga jega danideon hakgyoyeyo.This is the school I used to go to.
- 먹던 거 치우지 마세요.Meokdeon geo chiuji maseyo.Don't clear that away, I'm still eating it.
- 주인공은 어릴 때 살던 마을로 돌아간다.Juingongeun eoril ttae saldeon maeullo doraganda.The hero goes back to the village where he lived as a child.