forms, which you can find on page 44. Action verbs such as the ones above are conjugated with 나 and descriptive verbs take (으)ㄴ가. So you would say 하나? but 예쁜가?, and 먹나? but 작은가?
B 남자다 and 남자이다 are both acceptable.
C This example was changed from 먹다 to 잡다 because it’s impolite to say 먹으세요 and 먹으십시오: you have to change them to 드세요 and 드십시오.
D 거니 is a contraction of 것이니 and is much more commonly used.
E These are conjugated with 어/아/여라, so they actually depend on the vowel in the first syllable rather than whether it ends in a vowel or a consonant.
How to Add Expressions to Verbs
This looks confusing at first, but with some practice it will become second nature to you. The best way to learn it is to learn how different expressions can connect to different verbs, and the good news here is that there are actually only a few ways to do this. First, find the stem of the verb you want to conjugate. That part is easy: just drop the 다, and there’s your verb stem. Thus, the stem of 하다 is 하, the stem of 먹다 is 먹, the stem of 모으다 moeuda is 모으, and so on. You will never add a Korean grammar expression to a verb including the 다 ending—always use the stem.
Irregular verbs can be tricky, even for advanced students. However, even they are not totally lawless and will always interact with the same kinds of expressions in the same way. Go to the end of the irregular verbs section to find out how to combine them with each type of ending.
Expressions that Don’t Change Verbs
Many expressions, particularly those beginning with ㅈ or ㄱ, can simply be added to verbs on their own without any special adaptation. In these cases you won’t see anything in parentheses before the expression. Let’s take a look at three: 거든, 잖아요, and 지만.
| 거든 geodeun | 지만 jiman | 잖아요 janhayo | ||
| Action verbs ending in a vowel | 하다 hada | 하거든 hageodeun | 하지만 hajiman | 하잖아요 hajanhayo |
| Action verbs ending in a consonant | 먹다 meokda | 먹거든 meokgeodeun | 먹지만 meokjiman | 먹잖아요 meokjanhayo |
| Descriptive verbs (adjectives) ending in a vowel | 예쁘다 yeppeuda | 예쁘거든 yeppeugeodeun | 예쁘지만 yeppeujiman | 예쁘잖아요 yeppeujanhayo |
| Descriptive verbs (adjectives) ending in a consonant | 작다 jakda | 작거든 jakgeodeun | 작지만 jakjiman | 작잖아요 jakjanhayo |
Expressions with 으 or 이 Prefixes
You’ll see many expressions in this book that have either 으 or 이 before them in parentheses. In these cases, if your verb stem or noun ends in a consonant, add that 으 or 이 first. Some examples are (으)니까, (으)나 and (이)라서. Normally 으 is used with expressions that are added to verbs and 이 with expressions that are added to nouns.
| (으)니까 (eu)nikka | (으)나 (eu)na | (이)라서 (i)laseo | ||
| Action verbs ending in a vowel | 하다 hada | 하니까 hanikka | 하나 hana | |
| Action verbs ending in a consonant | 먹다 meokda | 먹으니까 meogeunikka | 먹으나 meogeuna | |
| Descriptive verbs (adjectives) ending in a vowel | 예쁘다 yeppeuda | 예쁘니까 yeppeunikka | 예쁘나 yeppeuna | |
| Descriptive verbs (adjectives) ending in a consonant | 작다 jakda | 작으니까 jageunikka | 작으나 jageuna | |
| Nouns ending in a vowel | 남자 namja | 남자이니까 namja-i-nikka | 남자이나 namja-i-na | 남자라서 namjalaseo |
| Nouns ending in a consonant | 물 mul | 물이니까 mulinikka | 물이나 mulina | 물이라서 mulilaseo |
Expressions with 아/어/여
In these cases, you have to check the last syllable of your verb stem to know how to conjugate the verb.
If that last syllable contains an 아 or an 오, you should add 아. (That includes syllables with 애, 얘, 야 or 요, though I’ve never seen any verb stems ending in the latter three.)
If it contains any other vowel (어, 우, 으 or 이) then add 어. Again, that includes 여, 유, 에 and 예.
If the verb is 하다, add 여. This makes it 해 plus the rest of the expression; the only time you’ll see 하여 is in formal situations, usually in writing. Even in this case, it’s not all that commonly used except in the past tense: 하였다.
Let’s take a look at 아/어/여서 and 았/었/였이다.
Verb stems ending in vowels can be a somewhat special; see page 26 on how to add 아/어/여 to vowels.
| 아/어/여서 a/eo/yeoseo | 았/었/였이다 at/eot/yeosida | ||
| Verbs with 아 or 오 | 작다 jakda | 작아서 jagaseo | 작았다 jagatda |
| Regular verbs with 어, 우, 으 or 이 (see below for exceptions) | 먹다 meogda | 먹어서 meogeoseo | 먹었다 meogeotda |
| 하다 | 하다 hada | 해서 haeseo | 했다 haetda |
