Korean Adjectives
I found this is one of the most challenging topics among my students.
Mainly I think it's because Korean vocabulary can be very versitile as different word forms.
By conjugating vocabulary, they can become verbs, adjectives, adverbs, or nouns.
In this course, we will focus on how to turn verbs into adjectives.
Side note is here.
Don't get confused between 'adjective verbs' and 'adjectives'.. I know.. it is confusing @.@..
As there are two types of verbs; To be adjective or regular verbs.
If you don't understand what this means, please check out the course of Sentence Style first.
Due to the two different types of verbs,
there are two ways to write Korean adjectives.
1) adjectives from
adjective verbs
2) adjectives from
regular verbs
How to conjugate from ADJECTIVE verbs to adjectives
'Adjective verbs' contain 'to be' in verbs in English.
You add '
ㄴ' after a vowel and '
은' after a consonant.
For examples, 'to be pretty' is '예쁘다'.
By 'ㄴ' after the verb root, '예쁘다' becomes '예쁜' as an adjective.
| Adjective Verbs |
English |
Adjectives |
English |
| 예쁘다 |
to be + pretty |
예쁜 |
pretty |
| 빠르다 |
to be + fast |
빠른 |
fast |
| 느리다 |
to be + slow |
느린 |
slow |
| 어색하다 |
to be + awkward |
어색한 |
awkward |
As for
irregular conjugation,
if adjective verb root ends 'ㅂ' consonant, such as 'to be difficult' is '어렵다',
you remove 'ㅂ' and add extra syllable '우' then add 'ㄴ'.
| Adjective Verbs |
English |
Adjectives |
English |
| 어렵다 |
to be + difficult |
어려운 |
difficult |
| 쉽다 |
to be + easy |
쉬운 |
easy |
Here are some examples in sentences.
| Sentence examples |
Direct Meaning |
Indirect Meaning |
| 큰 수영장이 있어요. |
big swimming pool+s.p exist. |
There is a big swimming pool. |
| 작은 강아지가 달려요. |
small puppy+s.p run. |
A small dog runs. |
| 아름다운 나무가 있어요. |
beautiful tree+s.p exist. |
There are beautiful trees. |
| 아주 더운 여름이에요. |
very hot summer+be. |
It's very hot summer. |
| 우리는 달콤한 아이스크림을 사요. |
we+s.p sweet ice cream+o.p buy. |
We buy a sweet ice cream. |
| 아저씨는 고장난 기계를 고쳐요. |
mr+s.pbroken machine+o.p fix. |
Mr fixes the broken machine. |
How to conjugate from REGULAR verbs to adjectives
Regular verbs are any verbs that doesn't contain 'to be'.
Did I tell you this is one of the most challenging topics?
This section of the course is harder than the first section of finding adjectives from adjective verbs.
The reason is that when you conjugate regular verbs to adjectives,
you need to think about tenses as well.
Remember, these are tenses for actions (adjectives) that happen or describe to nouns not for the main verbs.
How to conjugate regular verbs to adjectives in PRESENT tense
You simply add '
는' after a verb root.
Here are some examples.
| Regular Verbs |
English |
Adjectives |
English |
| 먹다 |
to eat |
먹는 |
eatting |
| 자다 |
to sleep |
자는 |
sleeping |
| 요리하다 |
to cook |
요리하는 |
cooking |
| 청소하다 |
to clean |
청소하는 |
cleaning |
| 가다 |
to go |
가는 |
going |
Here are some examples in sentences.
| Sentence examples |
Direct Meaning |
Indirect Meaning |
| 저는 청소하는 사람을 도와 줬어요 |
I+s.p cleaning persn+o.p helped |
I helped the person who was cleaning. |
| 걸어가는 여자가 넘어졌어요. |
walking woman+s.p fell down. |
The walking woman fell down. / A women who was walking fell down. |
| 말하는 사람은 시끄러워요. |
talking person+s.p be+noisy. |
The talking person is noisy. / The person who is talking is noisy. |
| 저는 우는 아기를 보살펴 줘요. |
I+s.p crying baby+o.p take care. |
I take care of a crying baby. |
How to conjugate regular verbs to adjectives in PAST tense.
You add '
ㄴ' after the verb root that ends with a vowel or,
add '
은' after a verb root that ends with a consonant.
| Sentence examples |
Direct Meaning |
Indirect Meaning |
| 저는 청소한 사람을 도와 줬어요 |
I+s.p cleaned persn+o.p helped |
I helped the person who cleaned. |
| 걸어간 여자가 넘어졌어요. |
walked woman+s.p fell down. |
The women who walked fell down. |
| 말한 사람은 시끄러워요. |
talked person+s.p be+noisy. |
The person who talked is noisy. |
| 저는 운 아기를 보살펴 줘요. |
I+s.p cried baby+o.p take care. |
I take care of a baby who cried. |
How to conjugate regular verbs to adjectives in FUTURE tense.
You add '
ㄹ' after the verb root that ends with a vowel or,
add '
을' after a verb root that ends with a consonant.
| Sentence examples |
Direct Meaning |
Indirect Meaning |
| 저는 청소할 사람을 도와 줬어요 |
I+s.p clean+will persn+o.p helped |
I helped the person who would clean. |
| 걸어갈 여자가 넘어졌어요. |
walk+will woman+s.p fell down. |
The women who would walk fell down. |
| 말할 사람은 시끄러워요. |
talk+will person+s.p be+noisy. |
The person who will talk is noisy. |
| 저는 울 아기를 보살펴 줘요. |
I+s.p cry+will baby+o.p take care. |
I take care of a baby who will cry. |