Korean language/Grammar

Contents

The Korean Language Comprehensive Grammar Guide 🇰🇷

Quick Snapshot

• Language Family: Koreanic
• Alphabet: Hangul (한글)
• Word Order: Subject–Object–Verb (SOV)
• Honorific System: Yes — very much so
• Politeness Levels: Multiple (depending on formality)
• Writing System: Phonetic, invented in the 15th century by King Sejong the Great

Korean grammar is logical, elegant, and famously polite. It’s a language that builds entire sentences like Lego blocks — each piece fitting perfectly, provided you put the verb last.

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🧱 Sentence Structure

Word Order

Korean uses Subject–Object–Verb (SOV) order.

The verb always comes last — the sentence’s anchor.

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🔠 Particles (조사)

Particles are small words attached to nouns that define their grammatical role.

Think of particles as post-positions — they do the job that English prepositions do, but after the noun.

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🙋 Pronouns (대명사)

Politeness tip: Avoid 너 with strangers — use names + titles instead.

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🧩 Verb Basics

Verbs always end the sentence and conjugate for:

• Tense
• Politeness level
• Formality

They do not change for subject gender or number.
(A relief after French.)

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Verb Stem

Take the infinitive (dictionary form, ending in 다) and remove 다.

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🕰️ Tenses

Present (현재)

Rule of thumb:

• If stem ends in ㅏ or ㅗ, use -아요
• Otherwise, use -어요
• If verb ends in 하다, use -해요

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Past (과거)

Add -았어요 / -었어요 / -했어요

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Future (미래)

Add -ㄹ 거예요 / -을 거예요

ㄹ 거예요 literally means “will (be going to)” — an intention or prediction.

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🧠 Formality Levels

Korean has several speech levels that reflect politeness and social hierarchy.

Always default to -요 forms with strangers — polite, friendly, and safe.

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🙌 Copula Verbs

“To be” (이다)

Rule:

• Ends with consonant → 이에요
• Ends with vowel → 예요

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“To not be” (아니다)

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💬 Questions

Add ? or rising intonation — or use 나요 / 까요 endings for formality.

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🙅 Negation

Two common ways to negate:

1. 안 + verb

   • 안 가요 — I’m not going
   • 안 먹어요 — I don’t eat

2. verb stem + 지 않아요

   • 가지 않아요 — (more formal) I do not go
   • 먹지 않아요 — I don’t eat

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🧩 Particles Refresher

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📚 Adjectives (형용사)

In Korean, adjectives behave like verbs — they conjugate!

You don’t say “is pretty” — 예뻐요 already means “is pretty.”

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🔗 Connectors & Sentence Linking

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⏰ Time Expressions

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🧮 Counting & Numbers

Native Korean Numbers (for age, items)

한, 두, 세, 네 — used before counters:
한 명 (one person), 세 개 (three things)

Sino-Korean Numbers (dates, money, phone numbers)

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🗣️ Honorifics (존댓말)

Used to show respect — mostly by:

• Using special verb forms
• Adding 시 to verbs
• Choosing polite vocabulary

Also, use respectful nouns:

• 집 (house) → 댁 (honorific)
• 이름 (name) → 성함

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🧭 Sentence Examples

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🧾 TL;DR Grammar Map