it odd that I am going to show you how to conjugate the dictionary form of the word to the informal polite form, especially when I am going to present the two forms anyway. But I am going to do this because learning how to conjugate the informal polite form from the dictionary form will makes it easier to understand and memorize many of the irregular verbs.
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Chapter 2: The Nitty-Gritty: Basic Korean Grammar and Numbers
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1. First, take the dictionary form Stem and check whether or not the last vowel is an a, or o .
2. Next, if it is one of these two vowels, add a ayo ( a-yo; no English translation) to the verb stem. If it isn’t, add eoyo ( uh-yo; no English translation).
For example, from the dictionary forms alda ( al-da; to know) , batda ( bat-da; to receive), eopda ( uhp-da; to not have) and itda ( it-da; to have) their stems are al, bat, eop and it . The last vowel of the stems are a, a, eo and i respectively.
Hence, the informal polite forms are alayo ( al-a-yo; to know), batayo ( bat-a-yo; to receive), eopseoyo ( eop-ssuh-yo; to not have) and itseoyo ( ee-ssuh-yo; to have). Table 2-2 gives you some examples.
Table 2-2
Conjugating Dictionary Forms of Verbs
Korean
Pronunciation
English
boda (dictionary)
bo-da
to see
bo (verb stem)
bo
to see
bwayo (informal polite)
bwa-yo
to see
doeda (dictionary)
dwae-da
to become
doe (verb stem)
dwae
to become
doeyo (informal polite)
dwae-yo
to become
hada (dictionary form)
ha-da
to do
ha (verb stem)
ha
to do
haeyo (informal polite)
hae-yo
to do
itda (dictionary)
it-da
have or to
it (verb stem)
it
be at some
iseoyo (Informal polite)
ee-ssuh-yo
location
juda (dictionary)
joo-da
to give
ju (verb stem)
joo
to give
jwoyo (informal polite)
jwo-yo
to give
Getting tense (past, present, and future)
Using verbs to modify nouns in English is a complicated ordeal. You need to pay attention to tense and agreement. In Korean, the only thing that you have to worry about is tense.
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Part 1: Getting Started
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In Korean, when it comes to tenses, all you really need is to know how to say things in the past and the present tense. Hence, you can say oneul seoure dochakhaeyo ( o-neul suh-oo-rae do-chak-hae-yo; I’m arriving at Seoul today), and naeil seoure dochakhaeyo ( nae-il suh-oo-rae do-chak-hae-yo; I’ll be arriving at Seoul tomorrow) without having to worry about conjugating the verb.
Future tense is usually used when you are unsure of what will happen, or want to explicitly show intention.
Future: jeoneun naeil mannal salami iseoyo ( juh-neun nae-il man-nal ra-ram-ee ee-ssuh-yo; There is someone I will meet tomorrow).
Present: jeoneun jigeum mannaneun salami iseoyo ( juh-neun jee-geum man-na-neun sa-ram-ee ee-ssuh-yo; There is someone I am meeting now).
Past: jeoneun eoje mannan salami iseoyo ( juh-neun uh-jae man-nan saram-ee ee-ssuh-yo; There is someone I met yesterday).
Changing a verb to a noun modifier is easy. You take the stem of the
dictionary form, check for whether the final syllable ends in a consonant or a vowel, then add the following markers or particles. Even when the verb modifying the noun is a part of a more complicated phrase, place it immediately to the left of the noun it modifies. For verbs whose action will and is going to happen: add a l for dictionary stems that end in vowels and eul for dictionary stems that end in consonants.
chareul tal saram iseoyo? ( chareul tal-sa-ram ee-ssuh-yo?; Is someone going to ride the car?) For example: gachi georeul saram iseoyo? ( ga-chee guh-reul sa-ram ee-ssuh-yo?; Is anyone going to walk with you?) For verbs whose actions are happening and are ongoing: Add neun to the dictionary stem regardless of what it ends in.
For example: ganeun saram iseoyo? ( ga-neun sa-ram ee-ssuh-yo?; Is anybody leaving?) For example: gachi geonneun saram iseoyo? ( ga-chee geun-neun sa-ra ee-ssuh-yo?; Is
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