Useful Korean phrases: (으)나 마나

In Korea people are very considerate so when you're meeting Korean friends it can take a long time to decide where to go and what to do, because they don't want to offend you. Of course you don't want to offend them but you don't know about Korea as much as they do so a very useful phrase to say is "it doesn't matter" or "it makes no difference" "it's the same" and even "I don't mind" if they suggest something.

In Korean it's the form -(으)나 마나-eu-na mana And it attaches to the stem of the verb like this 먹다meog-da -> 먹으나 마나meog-eu-na mana or 보다bo-da -> 보나 마나bo-na ma-na. You can either finish the sentence with this form by adding -요-yoor say make a little comment after it (look at the examples below):

• 먼저 은행 가나 마나요meon-jeo eun-heng ga-na ma-na-yo -> It doesn't matter if you we go to the bank first
• 일어나나 마나요i-reo-na ma-na-yo -> It makes no difference if I wake up or don't wake up
• 내일 오나 마나 또같아요ne-il ona mana ddo-gat-a-yo -> It's the same if you come tomorrow or not.
• 어머니 말 들으나 마나 애들은 숙제 안해요eo-meo-ni mal teu-reu-na ma-na e-deul-eun suk-jae an-he-yo -> If doesn't make any difference if they listen to their mum, the children don't do their homework
• 약 먹으나 마나 계속 앞아요yak meog-eu-na mana a-pa-yo -> It makes no difference if I take medicine or not, I'm still sick

When you want to use this, just practise answering a suggestion like "let's go to the bank first?" or "is it ok if we go to the bank first?". Then when you're comfortable with the meaning, you can try making longer sentences

As a final note the ending -나-na actually means "or". The verb 말다malda means "to not do", so a more literal translation could be "either if we do something or don't it it's the same".

-뜨리다 make something fall / go down / break

As with 맞다 no one ever taught me that -뜨리다ddeu-ri-da can be put on the end of lots of words and generally has an overal meaning which is: to make something fall, go down, even explode or break. It doesn't appear in the dictionary on its's own.

Just note, that the word that precedes -뜨리다ddeu-ri-da must be put in it's 아/어/여 form (look at the examples below).

• 터지다teo-ji-da / explode->터뜨리다teo-ddeu-rida/make something explode, let off
• 떨어지다ddeo-reo-jida / fall down->떨어뜨리다ddeo-reo-ddeu-rida / make fall down/drop
• 무너지다mun-eo-jida / collapse->무너뜨리다mu-neo-ddeu-rida / make collapse
• 넘어지다neom-eo-jida / fall over->넘어뜨리다neom-eo-ddeu-rida / make fall over
• 늘어지다neu-reo-jida / hang down->늘어뜨리다neu-reo-ddeu-rida / make hang down

Here are some examples which I have got from 100% non-textbook authentic Koreans sources

• 젓가락 떨어뜨렸어요jeot-ka-rak ddeo-reo-ddeu-ryeoss-eo-yo->I dropped my chopsticks!
• 폭죽 터뜨리다pok-juk teo-ddeu-ri-da->Let off fireworks (bangers)
• 다리를 무너뜨린 범인...da-ri-reul mu-neo-ddeu-rin beom-in->The criminals who made the bridge collapse...

There are many other words with the ending -뜨리다ddeu-ri-da, but now you know the pattern, when you come across new words it'll be much easier!

I've been in Korea for... / 한국에 온 지 ... 됐어요

It took me a long time to figure out how to answer the question "how long have you been in Korea?" properly. When I asked koreans how to say "i've been in Korea for 6 months" being the adorable little Koreans they are and rather than translating the meaning of the sentence, they translated the words themselve, and gave me: "한국에 6개월 동안 살았어요"han-guk-e 6gae weol dong-an sa-rass-eo-yo translating the "for" as "동안"dong-an / a word that kind of means while and for and during which is of course, fine, but not standard Korean, and not really what you say in this context.

Often the question "how long have you been in Korea?" Is rendered: 한국에 온 지 얼마 됐어요?han-guk-ae on-ji eol-ma dwaess-eo-yo This literally means "the coming to Korea time has been how much?" or perhaps the better way of putting this would "how much time is it since you came to Korea?".

So your answer needs to use the construction: ㅡㄴ/-은 지-n/-eun ji. This is a little complicated, grammtically, but it impresses people. So if you know how to say month/year/day I would recommend learning the phrase and inserting your own time into it.

Answers to: 한국에 온 지 얼마 됐어요?han-guk-ae on-ji eol-ma dwaess-eo-yo / how long have you been in Korea?

• 한국에 온 지 1년 됐어요han-guk-ae on-ji il-yeon dwess-eo-yo / I've been in Korea for 1 year
• 한국에 온 지 3개월 됐어요han-guk-ae on-ji sam-gae-weol dwess-eo-yo / I've been in Korea for 3 months
• 한국에 온 지 6주일 됐어요han-guk-ae on-ji yuk-ju-il dwess-eo-yo / I've been in Korea for for 6 weeks
• 한국에 온 지 10일 됐어요 han-guk-ae on-ji ship-ildwess-eo-yo / I've been in Korea for 10 days
• 한국에 온 지 1년 3개월 6주일 10일 됐어요 han-guk-ae on-ji il-yeon, sam-gae-weol yuk-ju-il ship-il dwess-eo-yo / I've been in Korea for q year, 3 months, 6 weeks and 10 days

Notice that we use the Chinese number system to count months, days, years and weeks. If you want to include months and days or years and months, just start with the longest one first: years, months, weeks, days.
finally if you want to give the short answer, which is much more conversational, you can drop the 한국에 온 지han-guk-ae on-ji / I've been in Korea....

맞다 - get hit/struck/pricked

One of the biggest failures of the course that I am taking is that they abjectly refuse to teach any patterns. Every single word is seen as different and therefore, even though it's THE SAME word, they make you believe it has only one specific meaning and one specific use.
This is because Koreans hate it when anyone makes a mistake. When you start to learn a pattern, you are bound to make mistakes, so better not teach a pattern. This IMPEDES the language learning process. You learn by MAKING mistakes. You learn by speaking and creating. This method of teaching WITHHOLDS the tools which enable you to create and therefore speak.

rant over

The verb 맞다mat-da does actually have many distinct meanings, but one group is definitely the same. In many cases it means "get hit/struck/pricked". So here are some useful expressions all with 맞다mat-da meaning the SAME thing.

• 주사(를) 맞다ju-sa(reul) mat-da -> get an injection
• 비(를) 맞다bi(reul) mat-da -> get caught in the rain (ie get rained on)
• 총(을) 맞다chong(eul) mat-da -> get shot (by a gun)
• 바람(을) 맞다pa-ram(eul) mat-da -> get blown on by the wind
• 벼락(을) 맞다byeo-rak(eul) mat-da -> get struck by lightning
• 머리(를) 맞다meo-ri(reul) mat-da -> bang your head (against something)

notice how the thing that hits you is the object, so in a way 맞다mat-da can be very generally translated as "get"

rant continues

They only taught me 주사(를) 맞다ju-sa(reul) mat-da so that was the only one I could say. Three months later, I suddenly realise "ohhhh it's not just for injections" if they had taught me this 3 months ago, I could have said all these three months ago. No wonder no one ever learns anything in class.

Korean Basics: I like xxx /-ing / to... 좋아 해요

Expressing you like something in Korean is relatively straight forward. You just say the thing you like and then put the the verb 좋아 해요jo-a-heyo at the end. You can also attach an optional 을/를 the noun.

• I like kimchi -> 김치(를) 좋아해요kimchi(reul) jo-a-heyo
• I like beer -> 맥주(를) 좋아해요mekju(reul) jo-a-heyo
• I like football -> 축구(를) 좋아해요chuk-gu(reul) jo-a-heyo.

But what if you want to say you like "doing" something. Basically when you want to use a verb instead of the noun. That's pretty easy. You take the verb stem and drop the -다-da: 먹다 -> 먹-meogda->meog- and then add 는 것(을)-neun got(seul). So it becomes 먹는 것(을)meog-neun got(seul)

• I like eating kimchi -> 김치 먹는 것(을) 좋아해요kimchi meogneun got(seul) jo-a-heyo
• I like drinking beer -> 맥주 마시는 것(을) 좋아해요mekju mashineun geot (-eul) jo-a-heyo
• I like playing football -> 축구 하는 것(을) 좋아해요chuk-gu ha-neun got(seul) jo-a-heyo.

The reasons Why Korean has so many words 4: Social Reasons Again

Last time I discussed how Korean society used to be caste dominated and how each caste had their own "language" which became part of modern Korean with the arrival of democracy. But even with democracy, Korean society and language continued to be layered.

That's right, it's still layered by age. So you still need all the polite and respectful duplicate words to talk to older people. And older people need to use all the duplicate words to talk down to younger people. Not to mention all the words they use to talk amongst themselves!

Old people, who do not have so much contact with popular culture, use old words for things which young people would use English words for nowadays. Young and old people alike will use special words and phrases, on purpose, in order to show their age and status. And this is another reason why Korean has so many words.

If you want to talk to older or more important people than you, here are the most common polite forms (honorific or humilific) of normal words:

• 자다ja-da / sleep - > 주무시다ju-mu-shida / honorific of sleep
• 있다itt-da / there is, stay, be -> 계시다gye-shida / honorific of there is, stay, be
• 아프다a-peu-da / it hurts -> 편찮으시다pyeon-chan-eu-shi-da / honorific of it hurts
• 죽다juk-da / to die -> 돌아가시다do-ra-ga-shi-da / honorific of to die
• 주다juda / give -> 드리다deu-ri-da / humilific of give
• 데리다dae-ri-da / give someone a lift -> 모시다mo-shi-da / humilific of give someone a lift
• 만나다man-na-da / meet -> 뵙다bwep-da / humilific of meet
• 밥bap / rice -> 진지jin-ji / honorific of rice
• 집jip / house -> 댁dek / honorific of house
• 이름i-reum / name -> 성함seong-ham / honorific of name
• 나이na-i / age -> 연세yeon-sae / honorific of age
• 안내an-ne / wife -> 부인bu-in / honorific of wife
• 말mal / word -> 말씀mal-sseum / honorific of word
• 사람/명saram/myeong / person -> 분bun / honorific of person

The reasons Why Korean has so many words 3: Social Reasons

Last time I discussed how many, many Korean words come from other cultures. However, many many Korean words are also a product of Korean culture and social history too.

Much like India, Korea had a caste system. As a cultural-Brit, I always assumed a caste-system was much like a class-system. Basically, top, middle bottom. What a European way of thinking! Caste-systems are far more complicated than this. You have upper and lower and middle castes, but each caste is more of a represtantion of your specific role in society, not a designation of wealth.
Your job or rather your father's job decided your caste. Basically manual labourers were in the bottom layers of society, but each different job was considered higher or lower than the next. People never intermarried even at those levels. It wasn't just princesses and paupers who couldn't see each other. It was carpenters and masons who couldn't get married. These strict, clear distinctions created a very distinctly layered society.

This solid layering created a society where the only caste mixing took place when trading or doing business. Each caste would have spoken their own language to same-caste-members. There wasn't just "one Korean". But, there wasn't simply a "common language" either. When communicating with higher or lower caste members, people used language specifically designed to talk up or down to people. Just look at all the different speech levels in use today.

So historically, the Korean language had many different branches spoken by many different people. When Korea became a democracy in the 1990s, the caste-layers were blended into one new society. As social barriers broke down, suddenly, all the language and words which were only used by one caste became part of a much larger language which is modern Korean today, growing and multiplying the number of words.

Footnote 1: I am talking about official Korean here, the Korean which is taught to foreigners. There are still many different kinds of Korean.

Footnote 2: Just because the caste system was abolished by no means does this mean the wealth was redistrubted. Generally 양반yang-ban / the top or warrior and scholar caste still have all the money, they just don't wear the hats any more!

The reasons Why Korean has so many words 2: English & 한자 (hanja) the hidden terror behind Korean words

Last time we saw that the very nature of Korean is to have many words because Korean doesn't really use patterns to create meaning. As a result of this, Korean is extremely open to new words from other languages.

Anyone who is familiar with Korea has been baffled, amused, concerned and surprised by the huge amount of English words that have come to Korean and are in every day use. With America as the only superpower and political antithesis to China, Koreans have embraced many aspects of their culture and language.

But long ago, when the world was a different place, Koreans were doing the same thingno surprise here with language. Back then China was the political and cultural centre of Asia. So naturally Korean is full of Chinese too (I've heard about 50% of the words). Before Korean had an alphabet and even after Korean had an alphabet, everything was written in Chinese characters. In a similar way like Latin influencing European languages Chinese did the same thing.

Originally these words came to the language through scholars, traders and politicians (the educated and therefore high classes). So more often than not there is a "pure" Korean equivalent to a word of Chinese origin, which the lower classes would have in common use, resulting in two words with the same meaning.

Even nowadays suffering Korean children are made to memorise countless Chinese characters which form the backbone of so many words. But there is a logic to this, much like English becomes Koreanised So have these characters and Koreans use them as building blocks for making new words which have no Chinese equivalent.

Korean needs words to create meaning. So by absorbing and adapting foreign words they can satisfy that need, often resulting often in duplicate and triplicate synonyms.

Tomorrow one more reason why Korean has so many words!

The reasons Why Korean has so many words 1

As a student of Korean you can go pretty crazy with the sheer number of synonyms a word can have, and you should learn them all! I first came across this when I started learning family members. For example there are more than three words for wife: 부인, 아내, 집사람bu-in, an-e, jip-sa-ram or child: 자식, 아이(애), 어린이ja-shik, a-i(e), eo-ri-ni. And these are just ones I've heard in conversation or come across in class!

It doesn't stop with nouns or even people, sometimes it seems like there are at least three words for everything in Korean. And by three words, I mean three words that are used every day. Know any other words for children in English? How about progeny or offspring? These are words used in horror films or dusty tomes. (look! another word for book!).

So why is that there are so many more words in use in Korean?

The underlying reason for this is the nature of Korean. Korean words do not change according to their role in the sentence.
In fact the only words which change at all are verbs, and they only change a little. Compare that to English with over 100 irregular verbs. And then bear in mind there are also irregular nouns in English - what's the plural of man, woman, child, person? Or how about adjectives? big - bigger, good - better. This does not happen at all in Korean.

However the point that I am making is not that there are exceptions in English. The point is that there are patterns in English. Korean has very few patterns. So instead of meaning coming from patterns, meaning comes from words and particles

자식ja-shik means something more like "my child(ren)" so you wouldn't use it for some children you saw on the street. In English we just attach "my" to show this relationship or "some" to show that there is no relatiosnhip. Words like "my" "some" or "any" can be attached to any noun and always mean the same thing. ie They follow a pattern. Korean doesn't have this pattern, so in every case of "my" you need a new word.

On the other hand 어린이eo-ri-ni is more of an official word for child. So you see childcare centres called "어린이 집"eo-ri-ni jip / children's house or "children's" tickets as opposed to "adults". So often 어린이eo-ri-ni has a plural sense to it. In English we would just change child to children.

So where English uses an established pattern to change the meaning of a word, Korean instead uses a specific word for each different situation. And that's one reason why Korean has so many words!

In the next post. More reasons why Korean has so many words.

-와/-과, -이랑/-랑, -하고: and, and, and and! (Meaning)

this is a continuation of this post

-하고-hago is used to join nouns together in a list. There is no relationship between them. So imagine you're looking in the fridge and you see rice and kimchi, you don't want to eat them together, you're just saying they're there. Also -하고-hago is used more in writing than speaking.

-랑/-이랑-rang/-irang is used in speaking, and you will often here it in the restaurant when making an order. It has a more general meaning than -하고-hago in the sense it can be used to denote some kind of relationship between people:

• 수민이랑 시내에 갔어요Su-Min-i-rang shi-ne-ae gass-eo-yo / I went to town with Su-Min - Here it means "with" because it's a person (you could also say me and Sumin went to town)

-와/-과-wa/-gwa, is used in writing instead of -랑/-이랑-rang/-irang, but generally it has an extra meaning, and is therefore a little different. When you use -와/-과-wa/-gwa you are saying that the two things are linked or have a relatiosnhip:

• 밥과 김치bab-gwa kimchi does mean "Rice and kimchi" but it more exactle means "rice with kimchi"

If you look in the fridge and say "there's rice with kimchi" it means that they are mixed together! In English you can say "I like Kimchi and rice" which can mean "rice with kimchi" but in Korean 밥과 김치bab-gwa kimchi only means "rice with kimchi".

Here are some more examples of -와/-과-wa/-gwa showing a relationship between two things

• 동생과 싸웠어요dong-seng-gwa ssa-weo-sseo-yo means "I fought with my brother"
• 대구와 써울 달라요degu-wa seoul dal-la-yo means "Daegu and Seoul are different" (compared with)
• 친구와 이야기 했어요chin-gu-wa i-ya-gi hess-eo-yo means "I spoke to (with) my friend" not "I told my friend..."

So -와/-과-wa/-gwa is used when comparing 2 things and to emphasize that there is an exchange or a relationship. In fact -와/-과-wa/-gwa is nearly always used in conjunction with words 함께ham-ggae and 같이ga-chi which roughly mean "together".

-와/-과, -이랑/-랑, -하고: and, and, and and! (Grammar)

Today we are going to see how to put different nouns together, essentially the word "and". There are many ways in Korean to say this word and the difference is quite subtle. Today we will look at the three most common ones: -하고-hago, -와/-과-wa/-gwa, and -랑/-이랑-rang/-irang.

First of all lets look quickly at where to put these particles. You can attach -하고-hago to anything without changing it:

• rice and kimchi = 밥하고 김치bap-hago kimchi
• beer and soju = 맥주하고 소주mekju-hago soju

So -하고-hago is only different from "and" in the sense that instead of it being a separate word like "and" it attaches to the first noun.

-와/-과-wa/-gwa and -랑/-이랑-rang/-irang are slightly different because depending on the preceding word they change a little. If the first word ends in a consonant (바침ba-chim / the bottom character in a syllable, so basically a consonant)) then you use -과-gwa or -이랑-rang/-irang. If it doesn't you use -와-wa or -랑-rang

• rice and kimchi = 밥과 김치bab-gwa kimchi or 밥이랑 김치bab-i-rang kimchi
• beer and soju = 맥주와 소주mek-ju-wa soju or 맥주랑 소주mekju-rang soju

Notice how 밥bap / rice ends in "ㅂthe Korean equivalent of "b"", a consonant, and 맥주mekju / beer ends in "우the Korean equivalent of "oo" / "u"", a vowel.

So all these particles attach to the first noun, rather than being a separate word, but they still go in the same place as "and" in English. But how are they different?

Click here to find out!

Thinking about Thinking day 3

Much like the first post about the verb 생각 하다/나다seng-gak hada/nada / think... etc. where we saw you can put any noun in front of 생각 하다/나다seng-gak hada/nada / think... to mean you are thinking about something. Here we are going to see how to say think about doing something.

It's actually much simpler than saying "I think that..." (thinking about thinking day 2) because the time is always about the future or present. You can't say I'm thinking about went to the shop! Also it can only be used with normal verbs, not descriptive verbs. You can't say I'm thinking about smelly!

As I said it's relatively straightforward. You take a verb, say 공부 하다gong-bu hada / study. You drop the -다-da add -는-neun and then the noun 것geot. 것geot actually means "thing". So what this means, roughly-literally, is "the studying thing" or "the thing which is studying".
Have a look at these examples:

• 중국에 가는 것 생각 해요jung-guk ga-neun geot seng-gak he-yo / Im thinking about going to China
• 점심에 김치찌게 먹는 것 생각 났어요jom-shim-ae Kimchi-jiggae mong-neun geot seng-gak nass-eo-yo / I thought about having Kimchi-jiggae for lunch
• 어머니 전화하는 것 생각 해요eo-meo-ni jeon-hwa-ha-neun geot seng-gak he-yo / I'm thinking about calling my Mum

One thing to think about is, how often do Koreans actually say this? Not very often is the answer. As you may have noticed other verbs also mean think, and there are countless ways of impying opinion through particles and endings. Either way though, these forms will be very helpful to an English native speaker!

Thinking about Thinking day 2

Last time we saw how we can think about “something”. But what if you want to make it more complicated? Well, it’s more complicated. There are least two ways to add a verb before “생각 하다/나다” Today we will look at the most straightforward one. Have a look at these examples:

• 1. 니가 어제 여자친구 만났다고 생각 했어요.ni-ga eo-jae yeoja-ching-gu mann-at-da-go seng-gak hesseo-yo / I thought you met your girlfriend yesterday
• 2. 많은 사람이 한국 음식은 맵다고 생각 해어요.man-eun sa-ram-i han-guk eum-shik-eun mep-da-go he-yo / Many people think that Korean food is spicy
• 3. 영국 여자보다 한국 여자는 많이 먹은다고 생각해요.yeong-guk yeo-ja-poda han-guk yeo-ja man-i meog-eun-da-go seng-gak heyo / I think Korean girls eat more than English girls
• 4. 이사람은 내 친구라고 생각했어요!i-saram-eun ne ching-gu-ra-go seng-gak hess-eo-yo / I thought that person was my friend

All these phrases follow the same pattern in that the verb is followed by –고, and then after that 생각 하다. But depending on the kind of verb you put a different particle before it:

If it’s a normal verb you drop the -다, add an –ㄴ- to, if there’s already a consonant (바침) add –는-, then -다- and then the -고.
하다 -> 하 -> 하+ㄴ->한+다 -> 한다+고 = 한다고
찾다 ->찾+는 ->찾는+다 ->찾는다+고 = 찾는다고(see example for 3 먹다)

If it’s a descriptive verb you just add 고 to the basic form.
예쁘다 + 고 = 예쁘다고 (see example 2 for 맵다)

And if it’s a noun then add –이라- before the -고. If there is a consonant (바침) at the end of the word, simply add –라- then add the –고.
차+라고 = 차라고 꿈+라고 = 꿈이라고 (see example 4)

And if it’s any verb in the past, then just follow the rules for descriptive verbs .
나다->났다 났다+고 = 났다고 (see example 1)

So what does this all mean? Well basically translated, the sentences just mean “I think that…” This form is used to give only your opinion on something. It is not to be confused with “I know that” in English which is created using a totally different construction in Korean.

As a final point this form is used in exactly the same way for reported speech.

Thinking about Thinking day 1

The word 생각seng-gak / thought, idea can be used with a plethora of verbs make it verbal. I should add now, we use the word “think” more than Koreans do. Basically 생각 하다seng-gak hada means I think (about) and 냉각 나다seng-gak nada means I thought of something. These are the two most common verbs it comes with.

• 1. “어머니 생각 해요”eo-meo-ni seng-gak hae-yo / I'm thinking about my mother
• 2. “어머니 생각 났어요” eo-meo-ni sengak na-yo / I just thought of my mother

If we look more closely, a more literal meaning of number one is actually “I have a mother thought” and in sentence 2 more literally it means “A mother thought came up”. When you are reminded of something, or think of something randomly, then 나다 is more appropriate. If it’s in your mind now, then 하다 is more appropriate. Put any noun in front of it, and it means you are thinking about/of it. Simple isn’t it?

Exclamation particles day 3: –잖아-

The final exclamation particle we will look at is –잖아-jan-a (on all verbs). This one means that it is obvious or known to the speaker and to the person being spoken to. ie, it means “duh”. So remember, just like you wouldn’t say “duh” to your grandmother, never say it to an 아줌마/아저씨ajumma/ajo-sshi - middle aged man/woman etc. in Korea!

• A: 스님이 왜 고기 안 먹어요?seu-nim-i wae gogi an meogeo-yo? / why doesnt the monk eat meat?
  B: 불교 믿잖아요!bul-gyo mi-jjan-a-yo / because he's buddhist, duh! (B is telling A: you already know this, it’s obvious)
• A: 민영이 왜 인기가 많아?Why is Min-Young popular??
  B: 에쁘잖아!yae-ppeu-jan-a! / Because she's beautiful (B is telling A: you know what she looks like, duh!)
• A: 왜 돈 많이 들어요?wae don man-i deu-reo-yo? / Why is it expensive
  B: 영국이잖아요!yeong-guk-i-jan-a! / We're in England of course! (B is basically telling A, “look around dumbass”)

Ok, so it doesn't always mean duh, another softer translation would be "can't you see"? or "don't you know?" You probably wouldn't say that to old people either though!

Also remember, it isn't just for answering questions (the questions just give a bit of context) It is for stating the obvious Which is often followed by a dumb or unthoughtout question.

Koreans use exclamation particles a lot when speaking and if you ever want to come close to sounding like a native speaker, you have to too. Also when you learn the endings, remember them with a surprised or shocked or happy etc. intonation. Their meaning will not be difficult to remember and using them won’t be as hard. Like the smile, the sound of exclamation is pretty universal.

Exclamation particles: -네- day 2

Continuing on the theme of "exclamation particles" (I just made that up, sounds good doesn't it?), today's post is about –네--nae- (on all verbs). Although it has a very similar meaning to –는군--neungun-it’s actually less restrictive, because you can say this when you realise or learn something new, even when you can’t see it firsthand.

• 이 차는 빠르네요!i cha-neun bba-reu-nae-yo / that car's fast! (perhaps your looking at a picture, rather than driving)
• 진짜 맛있네요!jin-jja mashi-nne-yo! / that's really delicious (someone has told you that it’s very good, and you agree)
• 비가 오네요!biga d-nae-yo! / it's raining (maybe you’re not looking outside)

But of course, this can be used when you experience something too, and it also has a more formal flavour to it.

Coming up tomorrow, my personal favourite, –잖아-jan-a

Exclamation particles -군-, -네- & -잖아- (Day 1)

One of the biggest differences between Korean and European languages is the use of particles or endings where a European language speaker would use intonation to give an added meaning to the word or phrase.

Just try saying this: “it’s raining”. That’s just a statement of fact. But what if you say “it’s raining” in a surprised tone of voice? Does the meaning change? Perhaps it means you’ve just looked outside and seen the rain. Or you’ve just woken up in your tent and your friend looks very wet. Try saying it in a disappointed tone of voice. What does it mean now? When you say this word using different intonation, you’re definitely not just imparting the fact that it is raining.

When we write, all intonation is lost, so as Europeans, we invented punctuation to help the reader understand. So when you see this: “it’s raining!” you understand surprise or happiness. When you see this “it’s raining?” you understand disappointment or disbelief (obviously not limited to these meanings, context helps you understand exactly what’s going on).

Koreans never needed punctuation because the words themselves change as well as the intonation. To better understand their function, see these endings as a spoken form of punctuation.

First let's look at the most common one:–는군--neungun- (on verbs) and –군--gun- (on descriptive verbs). In the past it’s always –았/-었군--at/-otgun, regardless of the type. You use this ending when you realise something you didn’t know already (surprise). The important thing to remember about this is that you only say it when you see it:

• 비가 오는군요!biga oneun-gun-yo / wow! it's raining! (you are looking out the window)
• 아직도 안왔군!ajikdo anwadgun-yo / damn, she still hasn't arrived(you look around the room, and see that she is not there yet)
• 사람이 많군요!saram-i man-gun-yo / There are lots of people here!(you've just arrived and there are more people than you expected)

Remember these endings are used in speaking or reported speaking, just like question marks and exclamation marks. It has no place in an essay or newspaper article.

Coming up tomorrow, -네--nae-

The difference between 이제 and 지금

Now (지금jigeum) we are going to learn the difference between these two very similar words.

Before I continue, it's important to bear in mind that often these two words can be used interchangeably and only sometimes is just one of them approriate. Also a dictionary will not help you to understand these words, you need to look at them in context.

• 지금 쓰고 있어요jigeum sseugo isseo-yo: I'm writing now (alt. at this point in time)
• 지금 집 있어jigeum jip isseo: I'm at home now (alt. at the moment)
• 지금 목요일이에요jigeum mog-yo-irr-i-ye-yo: It's Thursday today (alt. now)

In these sentences, now means a specific point in time, and 지금jigeum can be translated alternatively as at the moment or at this point or presently or even this year, today, this month in order to show that we are in/at a period or time.

이제ij-ae on the other hand, shows that something has started (now) and it's effects will continue in to the future. That's a little bit complicated, so have a look below:

• 이제 수업 끝났어요ij-ae su-ob ggeud-nasseo-yo: I've finished my class now (alt. from now on, my class is finished)
• 이제 더 열심히 중국어 공부 해요ij-ae deo yeol-shim-hi jung-guk-eo kong-bu hae-yo: I've been studying Chinese more studiously these days (alt. I've decided to work harder on my Chinese now)
• 이제 술 안 맛일게!i-jae sul an-mashilke!: I won't drink any more alcohol! (alt. From now on I won't drink any more alcohol)

So here 이제ij-ae adds a dimension of something continuing from the present into the future, so a consistently good translation would be: from now

And there you have it. Now (이제ijae) you understand what they mean!

(-은/는) -대로 That's the way I like it!

(-은/는) -대로(-eun/neun) -daero is a really useful little conversation helper which basically means "the way it is/does". Way and road are synonyms by the way... Just to help you remember.
-대로 -daerocan attach to verbs using -은/는 -eun/neun and it can attach to nouns on it's own.
Have a look at the example sentences:

• 요리 책대로 김밥 만드렀어요yori chekde-ro gimbab mandeu-reosseo-yo - I made kimbap the way it is in the cookery book
• 컴퓨터를 설명서대로 맞췄어요komp-yuto-reul seolmyeongseo de-ro ma-cheosseo-yo - I set the computer up according to the instructions (more lit. I set the computer up the way it is in the instructions

It's tempting to translate this ending as "like" - "I cooked it like it is in the cookery book" / I set the computer up like it is in the instructions. But this is a mistake. It means in the same way as it says/does/is.

• 마이클 젝선 춤 추는 대로 췄어요Michael Jackson chum chuneun dae-ro chu-weosseo-yo - I danced the way Michael Jackson dances (NOT I danced like Michael Jackson)
• 선냉님 말하는 대로 한국 말 하고 싶어요seonsengnim malhakneun de-ro hanguk mal hago ship-eo-yo - I want to speak Korean the way the teacher does (NOT I want to speak Korean like the teacher)

Both the above examples show that you do not want to be like the teacher or Michael Jackson, you only want to do what they do in the same way. Just like you don't want to be like the cookery book, you want to cook the way it tells you to cook!

On the Road to -(으)로

-(으)로-(eu)ro is one of the closest things to a preposition that Korean has, but remember it isn't a preposition, it's an ending. It's basic meaning is to imply direction, something like to or towards. What helps me remember it is that it sounds a lot like "road". A road takes you to where you want to go, but it is not your destination.

When used with 하다hada / do, -(으)로-(eu)ro takes on a meaning like "go for" in English. It implies that you have made a thought out choice. For example when you're in a restaurant.

• 김치찌개로 할래요kimchijigg-e-ro halle-yo: Im going to go for the Kimchi-jigg-e
• 뼈없는 찜닭으로 할 거예요bb-yeo oem-neun jjimdalk-euro hal go-ye-yo: I'll go for the boneless jjimdalk

So just like "go for" it shows a decision or intent, while also using some words which imply movement.

But just to make it interesting we can use it with verb forms too. Just drop the -다-da, add -기-gi and -로-ro. And of course Don't forget 하다hada!

• 8시에 집에 가기로 했어요yeo-deol shi-e jip-e gagi-ro hesseo-yo: I'm going go home at 8(more lit. Im going for going home at 8)
• 술을 안마시기로 했어요sul-eul anmashi-gi-ro hesseo-yo: I've decided not to drink. (more lit. I'm going for not drinking)

So when there is a verb it means a plan or intent. It can even mean a promise, as in the second example. And in fact, instead of 하다hada you can use other verbs like 결정하다gyeol-jong hada / decide or 약속하다yaksok hada / promise or 결심하다gyeol-shim hada / to be determined to to give it that extra special meaning:

• 술을 안마시기로 결정했어요sul-eul anmashi-gi-ro gyeoljeong hesseo-yo: I have made a decision not to drink. (more lit. I've decided to go for not drinking)
• 이기기로 결심했어요i-gigi-ro gyeolshim hesseo-yo: I'm determined to win (more lit. I am determined to go for winning)

And who said Korean was difficult????