Korean Grammar Beginner PDF
Korean Grammar Beginner PDF
com/2018/12/09/grammar-lesson-1-answers/
이 다 is the common ‘be’ verb like we use in English and describes the essence of
something. For example: This is an apple. I am a doctor.
Topic Markers
When using 이다 with a noun, we generally follow this pattern:
To illustrate:
나는 의사이다. (When making sentences with root forms of verbs, we use 나 instead of
저.)
The first noun is the ‘topic’ of the sentence, which is usually the same as the subject.
Topics are marked with a particle 은 or 는 at the end, whereas subjects are marked with
이 or 가. Many students of Korean always want a detailed explanation of the difference
between the two, but although there are certain cases where you would use one or the
other, don’t worry about trying to find a difference until you have anvanced more in the
language. It’s a very nuanced distinction and Koreans also have a hard time explaining
what is different betwen the two. Just follow the patterns your textbook (or my lessons)
use(s) and stick with 은/는 in your writing in general.
Nouns that end in consonants, as a topic, are followed by the particle 은 and nouns that
end in vowels are followed by the particle 는. If you have a hard time remembering the
spelling rule, always use the particle which makes the word easier to pronounce! It will
be the right answer.
We can also use demonstrative pronouns in sentences as the topic. For example: This is
a book. That is a book.
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이 this 그 that 저 that (over there)
것 thing
**이것은, 이거는, 이게 are all acceptable forms of ‘this’, and for all 3 examples 이 can be
replaced with 그 or 저 . Different textbooks will use different forms, so for consistency
stick with the one your book chooses. In general, 이것은 and 이거는 are used more in
writing and 이게 is used more in speaking.
Here are a few examples to illustrate. You can also copy the examples in your notebook,
leaving blank spaces in the particle spots to test yourself. (Examples are taken from
major Korean textbooks or other online sources.)
저는 샤오밍입니다. I am Shaoming.
선생님은 여자입니다 . The teacher is a woman. (“The” is not commonly used in Korean,
but 그 can be used as ‘the’ to emphasize a certain noun.)
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Using 이다
In the above sentences, you could see that every sentence ended with some form of
이다. Let’s talk about 이다 in all its different forms.
In the foundations lessons (or based on your general knowledge) you learned that there
are three ways of speaking in Korean: high formal, general formal (used in everyday
life), and informal (used with friends). We are going to learn how to conjugate 이다 into
each form. Also, take note that there is no space between the noun and 이다 when used
in sentences.
ㅂ/습니다
Whenever we talk about conjugating a verb or putting it in a certain form, we look at the
root form ( 이 다 ) and take off 다 before doing anything. For 이 다 that means we are
dealing with the verb 이 . Since 이 ends in a vowel (there is no batchim, or bottom
letter), we can add ㅂ to the bottom and then 니다. So our final form is 입니다. You can
see that most of the sentences above used 입니다, but let’s repeat them just for good
measure. (Sentences using other forms of 이다 have been changed to 입니다 for your
convenience.)
저는 샤오밍입니다. I am Shaoming.
선생님은 여자입니다 . The teacher is a woman. (“The” is not commonly used in Korean,
but 그 can be used as ‘the’ to emphasize a certain noun.)
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이에요/예요
For our ‘daily life formal’ conjugation, we need to do a little extra work: we need to think
about the spelling of the preceding noun. For nouns that end in a consonant, we use
이에요 and for nouns that end in a vowel we use 예요. Again, if you can’t remember the
spelling rule, use the one that feels more comfortable (사과이에요 is more difficult to say
than 사과예요, for example). 예요 also tends to sound like 에요 when used in speaking
since letters tend to blend together; however, when you write, don’t forget that the
proper spelling is 예요 and not 에요. When you say 이에요, make sure you pronounce all
the letters clearly.
Let’s change the conjugation of all the sentences above to this form! Pay attention to
the spelling of the noun connected to the be verb; it will help you notice the spelling
patterns.
저는 샤오밍이에요. I am Shaoming.
선생님은 여자예요 . The teacher is a woman. (“The” is not commonly used in Korean, but
그 can be used as ‘the’ to emphasize a certain noun.)
(이)야
This is the form used in 반말 when speaking with friends. It may feel aggressive at first,
since 야 is also used to call people over (especially when you’re angry!). But don’t be
fooled! It’s just another form of 이다. Also don’t forget, when we use 반말 we not only
need to change the verb at the end of the sentence, but also change 저 to 나 if “I” is the
topic of the sentence. 제, my, is also changed to 내 (저의 –>나의). Nouns which end
with a consonant are followed by 이야 and nouns ending in a vowel are followed by 야.
It’s also important to note that often in 반말 topic particles may be squeezed together
with the topic; for example 이것은 may become 이건 and 나는 might become 난. This is
also true in texting. In many cases, the subject or topic particles may be left out
completely. Don’t make the bad habit of mixing these casual rules with formal Korean
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when you speak or write in higher forms. In the examples I left topic particles as-is,
since we are focusing on changing the verbs in the end of the sentences.
저는 샤오밍이야. I am Shaoming.
선생님은 여자야. The teacher is a woman. (“The” is not commonly used in Korean, but 그
can be used as ‘the’ to emphasize a certain noun.)
Root Form
In the root form of sentences 나 is always used and 이다 will be the verb at the end of
the sentence. Root forms are often used in simple translations and writing (such as in
essay composition or books). Nouns ending in consonants are followed by 이 다 and
nouns ending in vowels are simply followed by 다. Here are the above sentences in root
form, just so you can understand how root form works.
나는 샤오밍이다. I am Shaoming.
선생님은 여자다. The teacher is a woman. (“The” is not commonly used in Korean, but 그
can be used as ‘the’ to emphasize a certain noun.)
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A Note on Question Forms
In general, the way to turn a statement into a question in Korean is simply to change the
period to a question mark and change the intonation at the end of a sentence to that of
a question. In formal speaking, 입니다 becomes 입니까? when asking a question.
Summary
Root form: 이다
Daily formal: 이에요 (for nouns ending in consonants) / 예요 (for nouns ending in vowels)
Here are several more examples and practice excerises taken from popular Korean
textbooks and online sources. You can also practice translating all the sentences
between English and Korean to improve your memoriziation, writing, grammar
comprehension and use and vocabulary development. You can also spend time
conjugating the sentences into different levels of speech.
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여기___ 마이클 씨예요. This is Michael.
저는 학생 ____. I am a student.
저는 쿠마르____. I am Kumar.
저는 수미___. I am Sumi.
저는 인도 사람___. I am Indian.
남 자 ___. It’s a boy. / I’m a boy. / He’s a boy. (The same rule applies to the following
exercises – it/I/He/She is determined based on context.)
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선생님___. This is a teacher.
(A) Introduce each person’s name and job. (e.g. 저는 애니예요. 학생이에요.)
(B) Introduce another person’s name and job. (여기는 애니 씨예요. 애니 씨는 학생이에요.)
(C) Ask about each person’s job or nationality and give a positive answer. (애니 씨는 미국
사람이에요? 네, 미국 사람이에요.)
일본 사람입니다. He is Japanese.
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한국 사람입니다. He is Korean.
독일 사람입니다. He is German.
선생님입니다. He is a teacher.
친구입니다. He is my friend.
서울입니다. It is Seoul.
한국입니다. It is Korea.
가수입니다. He is a singer.
김재민 씨 여기는 예요
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BEGINNER (LEVEL 1-2) , GRAMMAR 1-2
선생님 이름(은/는) 존슨입니다. The teacher’s name is Johnson. 선생님 이름은 조슨입니다.
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옷____. It’s clothes. 옷이에요.
남 자 ___. It’s a boy. / I’m a boy. / He’s a boy. (The same rule applies to the following
exercises – it/I/He/She is determined based on context.) 남자입니다.
(A) Introduce each person’s name and job. (e.g. 저는 애니예요. 학생이에요.)
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(B) Introduce another person’s name and job. (여기는 애니 씨예요. 애니 씨는 학생이에요.)
(C) Ask about each person’s job or nationality and give a positive answer. (애니 씨는 미국
사람이에요? 네, 미국 사람이에요.)
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모자입니다. It’s a hat. 모자입니까? 네, 모자입니다.
Subject Markers
In the previous lesson we learned that you can add the particle 은 or 는 to the end of a
noun to show that it is the topic of the sentence. We can use another marker, 이 or 가,
to indicate the subject of a sentence. The problem is, in most languages we don’t have a
“topic”, simply a subject. So as a Korean learner, how do you know what is the subject
and what is the topic? How do you know whether to use 은/는 or 이/가?
The easy answer is, for now, don’t worry about it. Since we’re still working on learning
very basic sentences with only one noun, you don’t need to worry about seeing both
particles show up in the same sentence yet. That means the topic and the subject are
usually the same. The particles 은/는 and 이/가 are also almost always interchangeable,
but they will give different feelings to your sentence. For now, just follow the patterns
your textbook uses. Lessons on the difference in use will come later when you’ve
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advanced a little bit. Until then, I will just point out cases where you generally would use
one or the other.
So let’s talk about the spelling rules. Just like 은/는, whether we use 이 or 가 depends on
whether the noun ends in a vowel or a consonant. And just like 은 / 는 , if you can’t
remember which one to use, use the one which feels more comfortable to pronounce; it
will probably be the right choice. 이 is used with nouns that end in consonants (사람이),
and 가 is used with nouns that end in vowels (사과가).
Using 있다
Don’t worry about plurals, as they are not used widely in Korean and are understood
mostly by context; plural particles will follow later in another lesson.
Using in Speech
반말: 있어
Example Sentences
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Honorifics
When asking if someone is in a place, if the person is in a higher social position than you
(for example your or someone else’s parents, your boss, your teacher etc.) 있다 is used
as 계시다. They have the exact same meaning “to be”, but you need to be careful to use
honorifics when you need to be respectful.
Negatives
If we want to turn a sentence into “there isn’t/aren’t” or “I don’t have,” we use the same
grammar pattern but simply change the verb 있다 to 없다 (없습니다, 없어요, 없어).
To use a negative of 계시다, you can say 안 계시다 . Using 안 is one way to negate verbs
which we will talk about in an upcoming grammar lesson. 계시다 doesn’t have a direct
negative partner.
Practice Problems
(1) Try making questions and answers with the following objects.
봉투 (envelope)
볼펜 (pen)
공책 (notebook)
가위 (scissors)
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There are students. (학생)
가: 공책이 있습니까?
나: 아니요, __________.
가: 창문이 있습니까?
나: 네, ____________.
가: 의사 선생님이 계십니까 ? (doctors are often referred to not just as 의사 but as 의사
선생님).
나: 네, __________.
가: _________________________________?
나: 네, 일본 사람이 있습니다.
가: ______________________________?
나: 아니요, 돈이 없습니다.
가: ________________________________?
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BEGINNER (LEVEL 1-2) , GRAMMAR 1-2
저는 한국 사람이에요.
In order to negate this sentence, we need to add 이 or 가 (subject marker)d to the noun
and then change 이에요 to 아니에요 (root: 아니다).
저는 한국 사람이에요. I am Korean.
Note that the spelling is 에 요 , not 예 요 – although many Koreans also make spelling
mistakes. Note also that while 이에요 or 예요 are connected to the noun with no space,
아니에요 is separated from the noun by a spac.e
Let’s take a look at the spelling patterns for each level of speech, with the same
sentence.
Note above when we use 반 말 (common speech, witih friends) 저 becomes 나 since
formalities are no longer needed. It would also be common to drop particles like 은/는 or
이/가 in common speech; they are generally only used when it’s crucial to the meaning
of the sentence. 나는 may also often be shortened to 난 in conversation or texting.
In upcoming grammar lessons, you will notice that 안 is a very common negative
marker that can negate verbs in many different ways.
Here are a few more example sentences. Note the difference between when 이 and 가
are used – 이 for nouns that end in consonants and 가 for nouns that end in verbs.
I am a singer. I am not a singer.
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I am a nurse. I am not a nurse.
I am a police officer. I am not a police officer.
I am a civil servant. I am not a civil servant.
Try these practice exercises below!
Exercise
(1) [애니 – 미국, 학생]
A: 애니 씨는 미국 사람이에요?
B: 네, _______________________.
A: 선생님이에요?
(2) [웨이 – 중국, 은행원]
A: 웨이 씨는 중국 사람이에요?
B:
A: 은행원이에요?
B:
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(3) [안나 – 프랑스, 요리사]
A: 안나 씨는 영국 사람이에요?
B:
A: 간호사예요?
B:
(4) [김재민 – 한국, 화사원]
A: 김재민 씨는 중국 사람이에요?
B:
A: 학생이에요?
B:
(5) [다나카 – 일본, 은행원]
A: 다나카 씨는 일본 사람이에요?
B:
A: 은행원이에요?
B:
Answers
A: 애니 씨는 미국 사람이에요?
B: 네, 미국 사람이에요.
A: 선생님이에요?
(2) [웨이 – 중국, 은행원]
A: 웨이 씨는 중국 사람이에요?
B: 네, 중국 사람이에요.
A: 은행원이에요?
B: 네, 은행원이에요.
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(3) [안나 – 프랑스, 요리사]
A: 안나 씨는 영국 사람이에요?
A: 간호사예요?
(4) [김재민 – 한국, 화사원]
A: 김재민 씨는 중국 사람이에요?
A: 학생이에요?
(5) [다나카 – 일본, 은행원]
A: 다나카 씨는 일본 사람이에요?
B: 네, 일본 사람이에요.
A: 은행원이에요?
B: 네, 은행원이에요.
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