JR

Unit 1 Lesson 1 Notes

Nouns

  • 한국 = Korea
  • 도시 = city
  • 이름 = name
  • 저 = I, me (formal)
  • 나 = I, me (informal)
  • 남자 = man
  • 여자 = woman
  • 이 = this
  • 그 = that
  • 저 = that (when something is far away)
  • 것 = thing
  • 이것 = this thing
  • 그것 = that thing
  • 저것 = that thing
  • 의자 = chair
  • 탁자 = table
  • 선생님 = teacher
  • 침대 = bed
  • 집 = house
  • 차 = car
  • 사람 = person
  • 책 = book
  • 컴퓨터 = computer
  • 나무 = tree/wood
  • 소파 = sofa
  • 중국 = China
  • 일본 = Japan
  • 문 = door
  • 의사 = doctor
  • 학생 = student

Adverbs and Other Words

  • 이다 = to be
  • 네 = yes
  • 아니 = no

Greeting Words

  • 안녕하세요 = hello
  • 감사하다, 고맙다 = thank you (rarely used in these forms, usually conjugated)
  • 감사합니다, 감사해요, 고마워, 고맙습니다, 고마워요 = common conjugations for "thank you"
  • 잘 지내세요? = How are you (literal translation, not as common as in English)
  • Korean people often ask if someone has eaten as a greeting.
  • 제발 = Please
  • Memorize these expressions but understand there are reasons behind them, which will be explained in later lessons.

Korean Sentence Structure

  • Subject – Object – Verb (e.g., I hamburger eat)
  • Subject – Adjective (e.g., I beautiful)
  • Subject: The person/thing/noun/whatever that is acting. The subject does the action of the verb. Examples:
    • I went to the park (I is the subject)
    • My mom loves me (My mom is the subject)
    • The dog ran fast (The dog is the subject)
  • In English, the subject comes before the verb.
  • Object: Whatever the verb is acting on. Examples:
    • My mom loves me (me is the object)
    • The dog bit the mailman (the mailman is the object)
    • He ate rice (rice is the object)
  • In English, the object comes after the verb.
  • A sentence with a verb does not require an object.
    • I slept
    • I ate
  • Sometimes the object is omitted.
  • Some verbs cannot act on an object (e.g., to sleep, to go).
  • Sentences with adjectives do not have an object.
    • School is boring (School is the subject)
    • I am boring (I is the subject)
    • The movie was funny (The movie is the subject)
  • Verbs and adjectives are placed at the end of a sentence.
  • Every Korean sentence and clause must end in:
    • A verb
    • An adjective
    • 이다
  • Every verb, adjective, and 이다 end in “다,” and these are the only words in Korean that can be conjugated.

Korean Formality System

  • The way one speaks to an older person who deserves high respect differs from how one speaks to a friend.
    1. Two ways to say “I” or “me”:
      • 나 (informal)
      • 저 (formal)
    2. Words can be conjugated in many ways. Know which conjugation to use in which situation (Lesson 6).
      • Until Lesson 6, formality distinction is not emphasized; both 나 and 저 are used arbitrarily.

Korean Particles (~는/은 and ~를/을)

  • Particles indicate the role of each word in a sentence (subject or object).
  • Cannot directly translate these particles to English.
  • 는 or 은 (Subject)
    • Placed after a word to indicate it is the subject of a sentence.
    • Use 는 when the last letter of the last syllable of the subject is a vowel.
      • 나 = 나는
      • 저 = 저는
    • Use 은 when the last letter of the last syllable of the subject is a consonant.
      • 집 = 집은
      • 책 = 책은
  • 를 or 을 (Object)
    • Placed after a word to indicate it is the object of a sentence.
    • Use 를 when the last letter of the last syllable is a vowel.
      • 나 = 나를
      • 저 = 저를
    • Use 을 when the last letter of the last syllable is a consonant.
      • 집 = 집을
      • 책 = 책을
  • Examples:
    1. I speak Korean = I 는 Korean 을 speak
      • 는 is attached to