Hangul Basics
Hangul Basics
Hangul Basics
Vowels : -
ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ
"a" "ya" "eo" "yeo" "o"
ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ
"yo" "oo" or "u" "yoo" or "yu" "eu" "i"
Consonants : -
ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㄹ ㅁ
"g" or "k" "n" "d" or "t" " r " or " l " "m"
ㅂ ㅅ ㅇ ㅈ ㅊ
"b" or "p" "s" - " ch " " ch' "
ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ
" g' " or " k' " " d' " " p' " "h"
Note that " ' " means the letter is aspirated, i.e a sharp sound.
ㅎ+ ㅏ+ ㄴ= 한 han
h a n
ㄱ+ ㅜ+ ㄱ= 국 guk
g u k 한국 pronounced HanGuk meaning Korea
Lesson 2 Double Vowels (모음)
ㅟ ㅢ
weou wei
Lesson 3 Use of Consonants (자음) and Vowels (모음)
Vowels in the korean languages may be attached to the left, right or beneath each other in order to
form a word, the following are examples of their use : -
가 = ka 거 = keo 겨 = kyeo
갸 = kya 기 = ki 고 = ko
바 = pa 버 = peo 부 = pu
뵤 = pyo 지 = chi 저 = cheo
즈 = chu 조 = cho 마 = ma
머 = meo 무 = mo 나 = na
너 = neo 이=i 야 = ya
디 = ti 고 = ko 댜 = tya
요 = yo 오=o 도 = to
드 = tu 두 = too 그 = ku
When constructing a word, you must add a mixture of consonants and vowels, beginning with the
consonant at the beginning of the word. In some cases, there is no need to use a consonant at the
beginning in which case ㅇ (null character) is used.
ㅇ + ㅏ = 아 a
ㄹ + ㅡ + ㅁ = 름 rum
ㄱ + ㅏ + ㅁ = 감 kam
ㄲ + ㅜ + ㅇ = 꿍 kkoong
ㅇ + ㅗ + ㅅ = 옷 ot
ㅇ + ㅓ + ㅂㅅ = 없 eop
ㄲ + ㅗ + ㅊ = 꽃 kkot
ㅎ + ㅏ + ㄴ = 한 han
ㄱ + ㅡ + ㄱ = 극 guk
A syllable that consists of a consonant and a "vertical vowel" is written with the consonant on
the left and the vowel on the right
ㄴ+ㅏ=나
n + a = na
A syllable that consists of a consonant and a "horizontal vowel" is written with the consonant
on top and the vowel underneath:
ㅁ+ㅗ=모
m + o = mo
If a syllable has a consonant, vowel, and consonant, the final consonant, called patch'im
(meaning "supporting floor" in Korean) goes to the bottom -- or floor -- of that syllable.
ㅁ+ㅏ+ㄴ=만
m + a + n = man
Lesson 4 - Grammer
Korean Names
In general, Korean names consist of 3 syllables.
The first part is the Surname ( such as Kim, Lee and Pak ), it is the followed by a two-syllable
first name. In Korean, the surname always comes first which is opposite of Western Names
such as Doojin Pak instead of the Korean method of Pak Doojin.
When you are referring to someone who you know well, then you may be able to refer to them
directly, such as using their first name. However when youare introduced to someone to whom
you are not familiar with, or am meeting for the first time, then you would add -ssi to the end
of the name. An example of this would be Doojin-ssi
With verb stems which end in vowels such a ka-, ha- and sa- , it is possible to make these into
polite sentences by adding -yo to the end of the words, such as Kayo ( which means "to go",
or "I go" or "he goes" ). Verbs in the polite style can be used as statements, questions,
suggestions or commands, and may be further emphasised by the tone of your voice. For
example, Chal Chinaessoyo may be both expressed as a question by asking how someone is,
or can be a question stating that you are fine. Another example is the more common
Annyong Haseyo.
The Konglish for this sentence in Korean would be na-do ppang sa-ro kayo (I-do bread
buy-in order-to go).
* The construction can only be used in verbs involving 'going' and 'coming' and cannot be
used with other verbs at the end of sentences.
Lesson 6 - Asking for things
(431 total words in this text)
In context the oppposite of iss- is ops- which literally means "there isnt" or "there arent".
In a shop
When addressing a shop keeper or waiters, Koreans use ajossi literally meaning uncle, but is
used as a general word when addressing someone in a shop.
However if it were to be used in a formal way, it is only for the referral of a man,
For females the word ajumma meaning aunt is used, for people over 35-ish, and for younger
woman agassi is used for young women.
In Korean, we use a particle which comes after a noun that it relates to, such as na-do (me-
too).
In English, it is the opposite, we would say 'with-me', whereas Korean is 'me-with'.
Using 'and'
In Korean, the word for and is -hago, this is a particle so when it is to be used it must be
attached to a noun. For example, when you say 'burger and chips', in Korean it would be
'burger-hago chips. The word hago becomes part of burger.
The particle hago can also mean with such as, Doojin-hago shinae-e kayo meaning 'I am
going to town with Doojin'.
Addressing Korean women, in Korea women do not take their husbands surname when they
get married.
For example if Mrs Han is married to Mr Kim, then she may referred to as Kim
songsaengnim-puin (Kim mr-wife), or she maybe reffered to in a similar English terminology
such as Misesu Han(Mrs Han).
In Korean, if you want to describe A is B , you will have to use special verbs called copula. In
Korea, this copula is present at the end of a sentence, and behaves a little differently to
ordinary verbs.
It is obvious that you would use -eyo when B ends in a vowel, but -ieyo when B ends on a
consonant.
IMPORTANT to note that in Korean the copula is only used to describe when this "is equivalent
to".
It cant be used to say "is located in"(is underneath", "is near") nor can it be used to say "is a
certain way" (i.e "is red", "is happy").
Kuraeyo literally means "it is like that", and may be used as a statement such as "it's like
that", "thats right", "it is".
On the other hand it may be used as a question Kuraeyo? meaning "is it like that?", "really?"
or "is that so?".
Korean has a special particle, used in attachment to place emphasis on what is being talked
about.
by adding -un or nun, it makes As for Business or As for me.
-nun is attached to a noun, whereas -un is attached to a vowel. EG soju-nun (as for soju),
Songsaengnim-un (as for teacher).
Lesson 8 - More on Grammar
(272 total words in this text)
In Korean, it is possible to add polite endings to verbs, for example, shillye hamnida (excuse
me), which is comprised of the verb stem shille ha-, and the verb ending hamnida (note this
is the formal style).
There is also the verb and stem, shillye-jiman (I'm sorry but....) which is a abbreviation of
the verb and stem shillye ha-jiman , containing the ending -jiman which means but.
Asking a person
In Korean, there is a special verb which may be used in the event where you want to ask
someone if they are someone.....for example "Are you Mr Han".
We would use -iseyo, and simply add this to the end of a phrase.
Han songsaengnim-iseyo? ( Are you Mr Han?)
Hangungmal songsaengnim-iseyo? (Are you the Korean Teacher?)
In Korean, we attach -i to the end of nouns which end with consonants, or attach -ga to the
end of nouns which end in a vowel. By doing this, it is possible to give emphasis, on subjects
in sentences.
For example, songsaenim-i ( teacher ) or maekju-ga (beer) give emphasis on each of these
subjects in a sentence.
For a sentence , "The man kissed the dog", the subject in this case would be The man.
On the other hand, when a subject is mentioned for the first time, the subject particle is used,
but later on in a conversation, this is switched back to the topic particle.
The topic particle, is similar to that of the english "As for", and is best used in order to
compare two things.
For example, as for me ( na-nun ), I love shopping
as for mum (ma-nun), she hates it.
Lesson 9 - Using Negative Copula's
Negative Copula
In Korean, when you are trying to say something is not something else, we use the negative
copula anieyo. For instance, When saying 'A is not B', we would say :-
This is a tricky aspect of the Korean language, it is quite different to how we would speak in
English.
For example: -
Question in English = "Do you like Korea ?"
Answer in English = "Yes I do like it" or "No i dont"
Answer in Korean = "No, I do like it" or "Yes i dont"
As you can see...it can be confusing at first, so you will need to think carefully.
Where is it?
When asking where something is in Korean, you would say (X-subject) odieyo?
However, it is also possible to say (X-subject) odi issoyo?
When answering a Where is question, you must always use issoyo as a verb such that:-
hakkyo-ga kogi issoyo ( the school is over there ).
We have previously seen that shillye hamnida and the equivalent shillye-jiman mean
"Excuse me,but" or "I'm Sorry, but...." .
There are lots of verbs where you may attach -jiman onto, here are a few of them:-
ka- ( go ) ka-jiman ( goes, but .......)
ha- ( do ) ha-jiman ( does,but......)
sa- ( buy ) sa-jiman ( buys,but.....)
iss- ( is/are, have ) it-jiman ( has,but....)
mashi- ( drink ) mashi-jiman ( drinks,but.....)
mok- ( eat ) mok-jiman ( eats, but.......)
anj- (sit ) anj-jiman ( sits, but.....)
Note that for the word iss-jiman the double ss is re-written to itjiman
In Korean, the word chom is used to mean "please", however do not mistake it to mean the
same as the English word for please for all occurances. For instance, when you use chom in a
request immediately before the verb at the end of the sentence, it takes on the effect of
please.
It is most frequently using in relation to chu- when making requests, for example
Han songsaengnim chom pakkwo-juseyo( Can I speak to Mr Han ), or you might use it in
Soju chom chuseyo ( Please give me the Soju ). As you can see, chom may be used to
soften up requests by making it more polite.
Lesson 10 Numbers and Counting
kong 0
il 1 shibil 11 ishibil 21
i 2 shibi 12 ishibi 22
sam 3 shipsam 13 ishipsam 23
sa 4 shipsa 14 ishipsa 24
o 5 shibo 15
yuk 6 shimnyuk 16
ch'il 7 shipch'il 17
p'al 8 shipp'al 18
ku 9 shibku 19 ishipku 29
ship 10 iship 20 samship 30
saship 40
kuship 90
paek 100
ch'on 1000
man 10,000
Lesson 11 Using -seyo
The polite honorific -seyo can be used to make requests more polite, -seyo is used when the
verb stem ends in in a vowel, and -useyo is used when the verb stem ends in a consonant.
If you want to request someone to wait for you, you would say kidariseyo (Please wait !!).
The use of -seyo means that you have a special respect for the person, for example if you say
hansongsaengnim-i hakkyo-e kaseyo ,you are saying Mr Han is going to school. ( But you
are also showing special respect for him ).
What you want to do ?
Koreans use -ko ship'oyo which literally means want to, and this can be added to a verb
stem.
For example you may say, cho-nun mok-ko ship'oyo which means I want to eat, notice that
when it is used, the -ko is utilised by being added to the end of the verb stem.
Making Suggestions
When making suggestions, Koreans use -(u)pshida ( literally means lets do), as you may
have guessed, -pshida is attached onto verb stems ending in a vowel, and -upshida is
attached to verbstems ending in a consonant.
Here are some examples:-
Umryosu mashipshida ( Lets have a drink )
Lesson 12 - Grammar 1 + 2
Grammar 2 을/를
조사. 명사에 붙어서 동사의 '목적어'를 나타낸다.
[Object particle. Comes after a noun and shows the "object" of the verb.]
1. "-을" --> 자음으로 끝나는 명사일 때: When the noun ends in a consonant.. add 을
2. "-를" --> 모음으로 끝나는 명사일 때: When the noun ends in a vowel.. add 를
보기~ 1. 책: 책 + 을 --> 책을
2. 교과서: 교과서 + 를 --> 교과서를
참고~ 구어에서는 생략되거나 모음 뒤에서 '-ㄹ'만으로 줄여 쓰기도 한다.
[ In spoken language, it may be omitted or abbreviated into '-ㄹ' after a vowel.
영화를 보고 커피를 마셨어요. --> "영활 보고 커필 마셨어요."
조사. '또, 또한, 역시'의 의미를 나타내는 보조사, '-에게도, -와/과도' 처럼 다른 조사 뒤에 붙기도 한다.
[Particle with the meaning of 'also, too' May be attached to the end of other particles as in '-
에게도 and -과도.'] [Similar to 'also, too']
보기~
1. 책이 있습니다. + 노트가 있습니다. -----> 책이 있습니다. 노트도 있습니다.
2. 사과를 먹습니다. + 수박을 먹습니다. ------> 사과를 먹습니다. 수박도 먹습니다.
예문~
. 예습을 합니다. 복습도 합니다. [ I prepare the lessons. I go over the lessons, too]
. 책을 읽습니다. 신문도 읽습니다. [ I read a book. I read a newspaper, too]
. 선생님을 만납니다. 친구도 만납니다. [ I meet a teacher. I meet a friend, too]
. 영화가 재미있습니다. 소설책도 재미있습니다. [ The movie is interesting. The novel is interesting,
too]
Grammar 4 은/는
조사. 명사나 부사, 다른 조사나 어미에 붙어서 문장의 주제임을 나타내거나 '대조', '강조'의 뜻으로 쓴다.
[ Topic particle. Attached to nouns, adverbs, other particles or endings, it shows the subject of
the sentence or may be used to show 'contrast' or 'emphasis'. ]
1. "은" ----> 자음으로 끝나는 명사일 때: When the noun ends in a consonant, add "은"
2. "는" ----> 모음으로 끝나는 명사일 때: When the noun ends in vowel, add "는"
보기~
1. 물: 물 + 은 ---> 물은
2. 우유: 우유 + 는 ---> 우유는
예문~
.책이 있습니다. 사전은 없습니다. [ There is a book. There is not a dictionary, though. ]
.넥타이가 쌉니다. 옷은 비쌉니다. [ The tie is cheap. However, the clothes are expensive. ]
.버스가 느립니다. 지하철은 빠릅니다. [ The bus is slow. However, the subway train is fast. ]
.여름이 덥습니다. 겨울은 춥습니다. [ It's hot in summer. However, it's cold in winter. ]
Lesson 14 - Grammar 5 + 6
보기~
1. 냉장고: 냉장고 + 에 ---> 냉장고에 [위치: place]
2. 아침: 아침 + 에 ---> 아침에 [때: time]
3. 도서관: 도서관 + 에 ---> 도서관에 [방향: direction]
예문~
. 가족이 교회에 있어요. My family is at church.
. 우유가 가게에 있어요. Milk is in the shop.
. 밤에 착을 읽어요. I read a book at night.
. 지금 은행에 가요. I go to the bank now.
Grammar 6 에
예문~
. 일 주일에 두 번 갑니다. I go twice a week.
. 한 시간에 20페이지를 읽습니다. I read 20 pages per hour.
. 옷 한 벌에 4만원입니다. It costs 40,000 won by the set.
. 한 반에 10명입니다. There are 10 students in a class.
Mum - 엄마 - umma
Siblings - 손위 형제 자매