ko-grammar/docs/howtostudykorean/unit-1/08-adverbs.md

Lesson 8: Adverbs, Negative Sentences

• 저는 병원을 지었어요 = I built a hospital

  • When and Where

• 저는 병원에 갔어요 = I went to the/a hospital

  • When and Where

• 저는 병원을 공원 옆에 지었어요 = I built a hospital beside the park

  • When and Where

• 저는 화요일에 가겠어요 = I will go on Tuesday

  • When and Where

• 저는 저녁에 공부했어요 = I studied in the evening

  • When and Where

• 저는 가을에 공원 옆에 병원을 지었어요 = I built a hospital beside the park in the fall

  • When and Where

• 여름에 저는 공부하겠어요 = I will study in the summer

  • When and Where

• 저는 한국에 오늘 도착했어요 = I arrived in Korea today

  • When and Where

• 저는 도서관에 어제 갔어요 = I went to the library yesterday

  • When and Where

• 저는 내일 한국어를 공부하겠어요 = I will study Korean tomorrow.

  • When and Where

• 저는 저의 친구를 자주 만나요 = I meet my friend often

  • To what degree

• 저는 밥을 많이 먹었어요 = I ate a lot of food (rice)

  • To what degree

• 저는 집에 바로 갔어요 = I went home immediately

  • To what degree

• 저는 숙제를 빨리 했어요 = I did my homework quickly

  • To what degree

• 저는 많은 밥을 먹었어요 = I ate a lot of rice

  • To what degree

• 저는 밥을 많이 먹었어요 = I ate a lot of rice.

  • To what degree

• 저는 조용하게 먹었어요 = I ate quietly

  • To what degree

• 저는 거리를 안전하게 건넜어요 = I crossed the street safely

  • To what degree

• 저는 행복하게 살았어요 = I lived happily

  • To what degree

• 저는 매우 빨리 달렸어요 = I ran really quickly

  • To what degree

• 저는 빨리 먹었어요 = I ate fast

  • To what degree

• 저는 바로 떠났어요 = I left immediately

  • To what degree

• 저는 저의 친구를 목요일에 자주 만나요 = I often meet my friend on Thursday

  • To what degree

• 저는 가끔 너무 많이 먹어요 = I eat too much sometimes

  • To what degree

• 그 여자는 안 예뻐요 = That girl isn’t pretty

  • Negative

• 저는 생선을 안 좋아해요 = I don’t like fish

  • Negative

• 저는 내일 학교에 안 가겠어요 = I’m not going to school tomorrow

  • Negative

• 그 여자는 예쁘지 않아요 = That girl isn’t pretty

  • Negative

• 저는 생선을 좋아하지 않아요 = I don’t like fish

  • Negative

• 저는 내일 학교에 가지 않겠어요 = I’m not going to school tomorrow

  • Negative

• 저는 공부를 안 했어요 = I didn’t study

  • Negative

• 저는 실수를 안 했어요 = I didn’t make (do) a mistake

  • Negative

• 저는 여행을 안 했어요 = I didn’t travel

  • Negative

• 저는 공부하지 않았어요 = I didn’t study

  • Negative

• 저는 공부를 하지 않았어요 = I didn’t study

  • Negative

• 저는 실수하지 않았어요 = I didn’t make a mistake

  • Negative

• 저는 실수를 하지 않았어요 = I didn’t make a mistake

  • Negative

• 저는 여행하지 않았어요 = I didn’t travel

  • Negative

• 저는 여행을 하지 않았어요 = I didn’t travel

  • Negative

• 저는 안 행복해요 = I am not happy

  • Negative

• 저는 행복하지 않아요 = I am not happy

  • Negative

• 저는 밥을 천천히 먹었어요 = I ate rice slowly

  • Negative

• I am not a teacher = 저는 선생님이 아니에요

  • To not be

• I am not your friend = 나는 너의 친구가 아니야

  • To not be

• I am not a university Student = 저는 대학생이 아니에요

  • To not be

• 저는 돈이 없어요 = I don’t have money

  • To not have

• 저는 시간이 없어요 = I don’t have time

  • To not have

• 우리는 차가 없어요 = We don’t have a car

  • To not have

• 저의 친구는 지금 한국에 없어요 = My friend is not in Korea now

  • To not have

• 사람이 없었어요 = There was no people

  • To not have

• 저는 과일을 싫어해요 = I dislike fruit

  • To not like

• 저는 과일을 좋아해요 = I like fruit

  • To not like

• 그 선생님은 좋다 = That teacher is good

  • To not like

• 이 학교는 좋다 = This school is good

  • To not like

• 저는 과일이 싫어요 = I dislike fruit

  • To not like

Vocabulary

Nouns

기계 = machine

Examples:

• 그 기계는 너무 무거워요 = That machine is very heavy
• 회사는 기계를 대체했어 = The company replaced the machine

대학교 = college, university

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “대학꾜”

Common Usages:

• 대학생 = university student
• 대학교를 다니다 = to attend a university
• 서울대학교 = Seoul National University

Examples:

• 저는 서울대학교를 다녀요 = I go to (attend) Seoul University
• 한국에서 대학교는 고등학교보다 덜 어려워요 = In Korea, University is not as hard as high school
• 어느 대학교를 다녀요? = Which university do you go to?
• 어느 대학교를 졸업했어요? = Which university did you graduate from?
• 저는 10년 전에 서울대학교를 졸업했어요 = I graduated from Seoul University 10 years ago
• 대학교에 가고 싶다면 열심히 공부해야 해요 = If you want to go to university, you have to study hard
• 아들이 대학교를 졸업해서 우리는 축하를 해야 돼요 = Now that our son has graduated from University, we need to congratulate him
• 원래 대학교에 갈 계획이 있었지만 수능을 잘 못 봐서 대학교에 갈 수 없었어요 = I had plans to go to university, but I couldn’t get in because I did poorly on the SAT test

트럭 = truck

Notes:

• Korean pronunciation of the English word “truck”

Example:

• 그 고속도로에서 트럭을 운전해서는 안 돼요 = You must not drive a truck on that highway

검은색 = (the color) black

Notes: This is a combination of the adjective “검다” (black) and “색” (color). Put together, the word is a noun that means “the color black,” but is often placed before nouns to describe them (like an adjective) anyways. Therefore, you can often see this (and other words of color) used before a noun to describe it and also at the end of a sentence (attached to 이다).

When Korean people describe something by color in English, they will often say something like “I like the black-colored shirt.” This is the result of them directly translating “검은색 셔츠,” whereas in English we would just say “black shirt.”

Examples:

At the end of a sentence:

• 저의 차는 검은색이에요 = My car is black
  • (Notice 이다 is used because 검은색 is a noun)

Before a noun:

• 저는 검은색 차를 좋아해요 = I like black cars

흰색 = (the color) white

Notes:

• See “black” above. 흰색 is a combination of “희다” and “색”

Example:

• 흰색 셔츠를 입은 여자가 예뻐요 = The girl wearing the white shirt is pretty
• 흰색 구두를 신고 있다 = I am wearing white shoes/boots

음료수 = beverage, drink

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “음뇨수”

Notes:

• This is commonly used to refer to drinks like Coke, cider (which is similar to Sprite) and other carbonated beverages.

Example:

• 음료수를 주문할래요? = Shall we order some drinks?
• 이 뷔페가격은 음료수를 포함해요 = This buffet price includes dinks

외국 = foreign country

Common Usages:

• 외국인 = foreigner
• 외국 사람 = foreigner
• 외국어 = foreign language

Examples:

• 저는 1년 동안 영어를 외국에서 공부했어요 = I studied English in a foreign country for 1 year
• 저는 2년 동안 외국에서 살았어요 = I lived in a foreign country for 2 years

외국인 = foreigner

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “외구긴”

Example:

• 의정부에서 외국인이 많아요 = There are a lot of foreigners in Uijeongbu

고등학교 = high school

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “고등학꾜”

Common Usages:

• 고등학생 = high school student
• 고등학교를 다니다 = to attend a high school

Example:

• 저는 고등학교를 다니고 있어요 = I am attending a high school
• 우리 딸은 그 고등학교를 다녀요 = Our daughter attends that high school
• 한국에서 대학교는 고등학교보다 덜 어려워요 = In Korea, University is not as hard as high school
• 중학교 또는 고등학교를 다녀요? = Do you go to middle school or high school?
• 고등학교는 한국에서 어려워요 = High school is difficult in Korea
• 그 선생님은 국립고등학교에서 일하셔요 = That teacher works at a public (high) school

도서관 = library

Examples:

• 저는 도서관에 어제 갔어요 = I went to the library yesterday
• 도서관이 조용해서 거기서 공부하고 싶어요 = I want to study at the library because it is quiet
• 내일 도서관에 갈까? = Shall we go to the library tomorrow?

곳 = place

Common Usages:

• 이곳 = this place (here)
• 그곳 = that place (there)
• 저곳 = that place (there)
• 곳곳 = here and there, everywhere

Example:

• 그곳에 사람이 없어요 = There are no people at that place
• 저는 제가 자주 가는 곳에 가고 있어요 = I am going to the place I often go to
• 여기가 내가 근무하던 곳이야 = This place (here) is the place that I worked
• 우리가 지난 번에 먹었던 곳에서 먹고 싶어요 = I want to eat at the place that we ate at last time
• 이곳에 근무하던 우체국 직원이 삶을 영원히 포기했어요
  • The worker/employee who used to work at this post-office gave up on his life forever
• 하지만 펭귄이 있는 곳은 동물원 입구에서 멀다고 하니 아빠와 나는 우선 다른 동물들을 먼저 봤다
  • But (because) the place the penguins are was said to be far from the zoo entrance, so Dad and I saw other animals first

동시 = same time

Examples:

• 모든 학생들은 동시에 교실에서 나왔어요
  • All the students came out of the classroom at the same time
• 대학교 때 동시에 여자 친구가 두 명 있었어요
  • I had two girlfriends at the same time during university
• 인터넷으로 동시에 수백 개의 물품을 사서는 안 돼요
  • You shouldn’t buy hundreds of items from the internet at the same time
• 이 프로그램이 10개의 나라에서 동시에 방송되고 있다
  • This program is being broadcasted in 10 countries simultaneously
• 사랑, 성공, 명예 모두를 동시에 성취하는 일은 쉽지 않아서 우선순위를 정하는 게 중요해요
  • It is not easy to achieve love, success and honor all at the same time, so it is important to prioritize them

밤 = night

Common Usages:

• 오늘 밤 = tonight
• 어젯밤 = last night
• 내일 밤 = tomorrow night

Examples:

• 오늘 밤에 뭐 할 거예요? = What are you doing tonight?
• 저는 아침부터 밤까지 공부만 했어요 = From morning to night, I only studied
• 저는 밤에만 운동해요 = I exercise only at night
• 오늘 밤에 뭐 하고 싶어요? = What do you want to do tonight?

[This word appears in my Korean Sign Explanation Video 5.]

어젯밤 = last night

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “어제빰”

Notes: When two nouns are combined together to make one noun, and the first noun does not end in a consonant, the consonant ‘ㅅ’ is added purely for ease of pronunciation.

Examples:

• 우리는 어젯밤에 밥을 많이 먹었어요 = We ate a lot last night
• 저는 어젯밤에 잘 잤어요 = I slept well last night
• 저는 어젯밤에 이상한 꿈을 꿨어요 = I had a strange dream last night

낮 = daytime

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “낟”

Common Usages:

• 낮잠을 자다 = to take a nap (day sleep)

Example:

• 그 사람은 일을 안 하고 낮에 잠을 자기만 해요 = That person doesn’t work and just sleeps during the day
• 저는 커피를 낮에만 마셔요 = I drink coffee only during the day

[This word appears in my Korean Sign Explanation Video 5.]

동 = East

Common Usages:

• 동양 = the East
• 동양문명 = Eastern Civilization

Example:

• 토론토는 동양시장이 많아요 = Toronto has a lot of Eastern (Oriental) markets

남 = South

Common Usages:

• 남아메리카 = South America
• 남극 = South Pole
• 남극대륙 = Antarctica

Example:

• 부산은 한국 남쪽에 있어요 = Busan is in the south of Korea

서 = West

Common Usages:

• 서양 = the West
• 서양문명 = Western Civilization

Example:

• 서양사람들은 동양사람들과 달라요 = Western people are different than Eastern people

북 = North

Common Usages:

• 북아메리카 = North America
• 북극 = North Pole
• 북극곰 = polar bear
• 북한 = the name of “North Korea” to South Korean people

Example:

• 의정부는 서울 북쪽에 있어요 = Uijeongbu is north of Seoul

Verbs

놀다 = to play

놀다 follows the ㄹ irregular

Common Usages:

• 놀이공원 = amusement park
• 놀이터 = playground
• 물놀이 = to play in water

Notes:

Although “playing” is usually reserved for kids in English, adults in Korean will also say that they “play” with friends. This typically meets that they met and had a good time.

Example:

• 저는 어제 친구랑 놀았어요 = I played with a friend yesterday
• 아이들은 나무 주위에서 놀고 있어요 = The children are playing around the tree
• 저는 보통 친구들과 시내에서 놀아요 = I usually play with (meet) my friends downtown

쓰다 = to use

쓰다 follows the ㅡ irregular

Common Usages:

• 아껴 쓰다 = to save (to use and save)

Notes: 사용하다 is another common way to say “use”

Example:

• 제가 이것을 써도 돼요? = May I use this?
• 한국 사람들은 밥을 먹을 때 젓가락을 써요 = Korean people use chopsticks when they eat
• 가뭄 때문에 물을 아껴 써야 돼요 = We need to save/conserve water because of the drought
• 요즘에는 사람들이 수표를 안 써요 = These days, people don’t use cheques
• 그 쿠폰을 VIPS에서도 쓸 수 있어요? = Can you use that coupon at VIPS too?
• 저 컴퓨터가 고장이 나서 다른 컴퓨터를 써야 됩니다
  • You have to use another computer because that one is broken
• 중국 사람들은 소금을 뿌리는 것 대신에 음식에 간장을 써요
  • Instead of using salt, Chinese people put/use soy sauce on their food
• 우리가 벌써 6월에 쓸 수 있는 인터넷 용량 제한을 넘었어요
  • We already went over the data/space limit (data cap) that we can use for June
• 친구들끼리는 반말을 쓰고, 어른들과 대화를 할 때는 존댓말을 써요
  • Use informal/casual speech among friends, and when conversing with adults, use formal speech

쓰다 = to write

Common Usages:

• 편지를 쓰다 = to write a letter
• 펜으로 쓰다 = to write with a pen

Example:

• 저는 저의 여자 친구를 위해 편지를 썼어요 = I wrote a letter for my girlfriend
• 저는 부장님을 위해서 이것을 썼어요 = I wrote this for my boss
• 저는 여자친구를 위해 편지를 쓰고 싶어요 = I want to write a letter for my girlfriend
• 저는 펜으로 쓰고 싶어요 = I want to write with a pen
• 그는 손등에 뭔가를 썼어요 = He wrote something on the back of his hand

실수하다 = to make a mistake

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “실쑤하다”

The noun form of this word (“실수 ”) translates to “a mistake”

Notes:

• By adding “~하다” you can say “to make a mistake”

Example:

• 범죄자는 그의 실수를 인정했어요 = The criminal acknowledged his mistakes
• 제 행동은 실수인 것을 깨달았어요 = I realized that my actions (what I did) is/was a mistake

수리하다 = to repair

Examples:

• 그는 고장 난 컴퓨터를 수리했어요 = He repaired the broken computer
• 복사기를 수리해야 되었어요 = We had to repair the photocopier
• 집주인이 물이 흘러나올까 봐 지붕을 수리했어요 = The landlord was worried that water would flow in, so he fixed up (repaired) the roof

잡다 = to catch, to grab, to grasp

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “잡따”

Common Usages:

• 자리를 잡다 = to take a place and sit down
• 손을 잡다 = to hold one’s hand
• 꽉 잡다 = to hold on tight(ly)

Example:

• 저는 공을 잡았어요 = I caught the ball
• 그는 직업을 바꿀 수 있는 기회를 잡았어요 = He seized the opportunity to change jobs

읽다 = to read

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “익따”

Common Usages:

• 책을 읽다 = to read a book

Examples:

• 저는 이제 더 읽기 싫어요 = I don’t want to read anymore
• 저는 그 책을 읽고 싶어요 = I want to read that book
• 저는 1년에 책 열 권을 읽을 수 있어요 = I can read ten books in one year
• 어떤 소설을 읽고 있어요? = Which novel are you reading?

내다 = to pay for

Common Usages:

• 청구서를 내다 = to pay a bill

Notes: 내다 can have many other meanings. See Lesson 14 for more information.

Examples:

• 이번에 제가 낼 거예요 = I will pay this time
• 아빠가 돈을 이미 낸 것 같아요 = It seems like dad already paid
• 우리가 청구서를 늦게라도 낼 거예요 = We are going to pay the bill, even if it is a little late

받다 = to get, to receive, to acquire

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “받따”

Common Usages:

• 감동 받다 = to be impressed (literally “to receive an impression”)
• 존경 받다 = to be respected (literally “to receive respect”)

See Lesson 14 for more information

Examples:

• 제가 보낸 돈을 받았어요? = Did you get the money that I sent?
• 저는 돈을 받았어요 = I received money
• 저는 저의 여자친구에게서 편지를 받았어요 = I received a letter from my girlfriend
• 그 문제에 관해 연수를 받았어요 = We/I received training about that problem
• 저는 당신의 말에 감동 받았어요 = I was impressed with what you said
• 저는 그 사람이 저에게 줄 선물을 받고 싶지 않아요 = I don’t want to accept the gift that that person will give me
• 만약 제가 선생님이라면 학생들에게 존경을 받고 싶을 거예요 = If I were a teacher, I would want to be respected by students

도착하다 = to arrive

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “도차카다”

Example:

• 우리가 목적지에 거의 도착했어요 = We have almost arrived at our destination
• 우리가 내일 도착할 예정이에요 = We are scheduled to arrive tomorrow
• 저는 학교에 도착했어요 = I arrived at school
• 저는 8월 15일에 도착할 거예요 = I will arrive on August 15th

여행하다 = to travel

The noun form of this word (“여행 ”) translates to “a trip”

Common Usages:

• 신혼여행 = honeymoon (newlywed travel)
• 배낭여행 = backpacking

Examples:

• 저는 6개월 동안 여행했어요 = I traveled for 6 months
• 저는 하루 동안 여행했어요 = I traveled for 1 day
• 여행했을 때 사진을 많이 찍었어요 = When I traveled, I took a lot of pictures
• 그 여행은 길게 느껴졌어요 = That trip felt like a long time
• 저는 한국 어디나 여행하고 싶어요 = I want to travel everywhere in Korea
• 가장 여행하고 싶은 나라는 뭐에요? = What country do you want to travel to the most?
• 여행할 때 옷을 많이 챙길 필요가 없어요 = I don’t need to pack a lot of clothes when I travel

Adjectives

완벽하다 = to be perfect

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “완벼카다”

The noun form of this word “완벽” translates to “perfection”

Common Usages

• 완벽주의자 = perfectionist

Example:

• 그녀는 완벽한 선생님이에요 = She is a perfect teacher
• 그 단어로 완벽한 문장을 만들어 주세요 = Make a perfect/complete sentence using that word, please
• 그것은 완벽한 식사였습니다 = That was a perfect meal
• 저의 여자 친구가 완벽해서 저는 그녀를 사랑해요 = I love my girlfriend because she is perfect

아프다 = to be sick, to be sore

Common Usages:

• 배가 아프다 = for one’s stomach to be sore
• 아픈 척하다 = to pretend to be sick

Notes:

• This is used to indicate that you are sick (with a cold or something similar), and to indicate that a part of your body is sore.

Examples:

• 어제 운동을 해서 오늘 저의 팔이 아파요 = my arms are sore because I exercised yesterday
• 제가 너무 아파서 많이 먹을 수 없어요 = I can’t eat much because I am very sick
• 목이 아파요 = I have a sore throat
• 저의 몸이 너무 아파서 못 가요 = I can’t go because my body is so sore
• 저는 너무 많이 걸어서 지금 발이 아파요 = My feet are sore because I walked so much
• 할머니는 어제 아파서 입원했어요 = Grandma checked into the hospital yesterday because she was sick

똑똑하다 = to be smart

Common Usages:

• 똑똑한 학생 = smart student

Examples:

• 우리 학교에는 똑똑한 학생들이 많아요 = There are a lot of smart students at our school
• 그 사람은 착하고 똑똑해요 = That person is kind and smart
• 여자들이 예뻐도 똑똑하지 않으면 매력이 없어요 = Regardless of how pretty girls are, if they are not smart, they have no charm
• 선생님들은 학생들보다 더 똑똑해요 = Teachers are smarter than students
• 저는 똑똑한 여자들만 좋아해요 = I only like smart girls
• 공부하지 않는 학생들은 똑똑하지 않아요 = Students who do not study are not smart
• 저는 저의 남동생보다 훨씬 똑똑해요 = I am way/much smarter than my brother

중요하다 = to be important

Common Usages:

• 중요성 = importance

Examples:

• 그 개념은 중요하지 않아요 = That concept is not important
• 가족은 가장 중요해요 = Family is the most important
• 학생들한테 영어회화는 중요하지 않아요 = English conversation isn’t important to Korean students
• 학생들이 영어를 배우는 것은 중요해요 = It is important for students to learn English
• 이 문제는 시민보건에 아주 중요한 것 같아요 = That problem is probably very important to the health of the citizens

젊다 = to be young

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “점따”

Example:

• 그녀는 다른 사람보다 젊어 보여요 = She looks younger than other people

늙다 = to be old

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “늑따”

Notes:

• This is typically only used when somebody is actually old, not when somebody is comparatively older than somebody else.

Example:

• 늙은 아주머니는 넘어졌어요 = The old lady fell over

나쁘다 = to be bad

나쁘다 follows the ㅡ irregular

Common Usages:

• 나쁜 사람 = bad person
• 건강에 나쁘다 = for something to be unhealthy

Example:

• 그것은 건강에 나빠요 = That is bad for your health
• 그 사람의 상황은 나빠요 = That person’s situation is not good
• 그 학생의 태도가 나빠요 = That student’s attitude is bad
• 담배는 건강에 나빠요 = Cigarettes are bad for your health (unhealthy)
• 공기가 나빠서 저는 숨을 못 쉬어요 = I can’t breathe because the air is bad
• 나쁜 소식이 있어요 = There is some bad news
• 그 나쁜 짓을 왜 했어요? = Why did you do that (bad action)?
• 친구는 나쁜 학교에 가고 있어요 = My friend is going to the bad school

Adverbs

바로 = immediately

Notes:

• 바로 can be used to indicate that something happens immediately (in terms of time) or that something is “immediately” close to something (in terms of space).

Examples:

Time:

• 저는 바로 갔어요 = I left immediately
• 우리는 집에 와서 바로 잤어요 = We came home and went to sleep immediately
• 저는 책을 읽고 바로 잤어요 = I read the book and then slept immediately

Space:

• 은행이 학교 바로 옆에 있어요 = The bank is right (immediately) next to the school

즉시 = immediately

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “즉씨”

Notes:

• 즉시 can only be used to indicate that something happens immediately (in terms of time). It is less common than 바로.

Example:

• 저는 그 무서운 것을 보고 즉시 뛰어갔어요 = I ran away immediately after I saw that scary thing

[This word appears in my Korean Sign Explanation Video 4.]

빨리 = quickly/fast

Notes: This is the adverb form of “빠르다”

Examples:

• 빨리 가자! = Let’s go quickly!
• 왜 너무 빨리 먹었어요? = Why did you eat so fast?
• 저는 너무 빨리 먹었어요 = I ate really fast
• 열심히 공부한 후에 실력은 빨리 늘었어요 = After studying hard, my skills have been increasing quickly
• 저는 어젯밤에 잠이 빨리 들었어요 = Last night I fell asleep quickly
• 우리 엄마는 집에 와서 빨리 요리했습니다 = Our/my mom came home and quickly cooked

자주 = often

Examples:

• 저는 서울에 자주 가요 = I go to Seoul often
• 한국어를 얼마나 자주 공부해요? = How often do you study Korean?
• 저의 할머니가 여기에 자주 안 오셔요 = My grandmother doesn’t come here often
• 저는 저의 친구를 자주 만나요 = I meet my friend often
• 여자 친구를 얼마나 자주 만나요? = How often do you meet your girlfriend?
• 저는 자주 옷을 충동적으로 사요 = I often buy clothes impulsively

가끔 = sometimes

Notes:

• In English, we would never say “very sometimes,” but in Korean “아주 가끔” is commonly used to stress that something happens “only sometimes.”

Example:

• 저는 서울에 가끔 가요 = I go to Seoul sometimes
• 저는 가끔 너무 많이 먹어요 = I eat too much sometimes

많이 = many/a lot of

The pronunciation of this word is closer to "마니"

Notes:

• This is the adverb form of “많다”

Examples:

• 저는 저의 여자 친구에게 선물을 많이 줬어요 = I gave my girlfriend a lot of presents
• 저는 밥을 많이 먹었어요 = I ate a lot of rice
• 저는 야채를 많이 먹겠습니다 = I will eat a lot of vegetables
• 우리는 이번 시간에 많이 배웠어 = We learned a lot this time
• 저는 친구들로부터 사랑을 많이 받았어요 = I received a lot of love from friends
• 저의 친구의 한국어 실력이 많이 늘었어요 = My friend’s Korean (skills) really increased/got better
• 돈을 얼마나 많이 가져갈 거예요? = How much money will you bring?

방금 = a moment ago

Examples:

• 그는 방금 나갔어요 = He just left
• 저는 방금 뭔가(를) 봤어요 = I just saw something a minute ago
• 방금 들어온 사람은 우리 가게에 자주 오던 손님이야 = The person who just came in is a customer who comes to the store often

갑자기 = suddenly

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “갑짜기”

Examples:

• 그 사람은 갑자기 밖에 나갔어요 = That person suddenly went out
• 맑던 하늘이 갑자기 어두워졌어요 = The sky that I recall being clear until now suddenly became dark
• 날씨가 춥다가 갑자기 더워졌어요 = The weather was cold, and then suddenly became hot
• 침실에서 자다가 갑자기 돌아가셨어요 = While sleeping in the bedroom, he suddenly passed away
• 사람이 갑자기 많이 와서 저는 그냥 비켜섰어요
  • All of a sudden many people came, so I just stepped aside
• 그 사람의 얼굴이 기억 안 났지만 갑자기 제 꿈에 나타났어요
  • I had forgotten that person’s face, but it suddenly appeared to me in my dream

매년 = every year

Examples:

• 저는 매년 한국에 가요 = I go to Korea every year
• 매년 여름, 이 지역에는 홍수가 나요 = A flood occurs every summer in this area
• 그 대학교는 매년 교환학생 100명을 받아요
  • That university receives 100 exchange students every year
• 매년 말에 한 해를 마무리하는 행사가 많아요
  • There are a lot of events that close out the year at the end of every year
• 한국의 교통비는 매년 오르고 있어요
  • Transportation fees (the fare for buses and subways) are going up every year in Korea
• 건강검진을 받든지 안 받든지 매년 정부에 보험료를 내야 돼요
  • It doesn’t matter if you get a health check every year or not, you need to pay insurance fees to the government every year

다시 = again

Common Usages:

• 다시 한 번 = one more time

Example:

• 저는 시험을 다시 봐야 될 것 같아요 = I will probably have to write the exam again
• 제가 어제 만난 사람은 저를 다시 만나고 싶어요 = The person I met yesterday wants to meet me again
• 저는 밥을 벌써 먹어서 다시 안 먹어도 돼요 = I don’t need to eat again because I already did

혼자 = alone

Notes:

• “혼자서” is often used as well

Example:

• 저는 혼자 살아요 = I live alone
• 저는 엄마가 밥을 왜 혼자 먹은지 몰라요 = I don’t know why mom ate by herself (alone)
• 우리 아들은 자기 일을 항상 혼자 하고 싶어요 = Our son always wants to do his work alone
• 저는 운동을 혼자 할 수 있어요 = I can exercise by myself

안 = not

Notes

• 안 is placed before a verb or adjective to turn it into a negative word. The meaning is synonymous to ~지 않다.

Examples

• 그 여자는 안 아름다워요 = That girl is not beautiful
• 저는 마지막 것을 안 봤어요 = I didn’t see the last thing
• 아침식사를 안 먹었어요 = I didn’t eat breakfast
• 저는 술을 안 마시고 싶어요 = I don’t want to drink alcohol
• 방학 동안 집에 안 갔습니까? = You didn’t go home during vacation?
• 소금을 많이 먹는 것은 건강에 안 좋아요 = It is not healthy to eat a lot of salt

You might also want to try listening to all of the words on loop with this [Vocabulary Practice video]

Korean Adverbs

To this point, you have studied Korean verbs and adjectives in great depth, but you have yet to learn much about Korean adverbs. First of all, what is an adverb? Adverbs are words in sentences that tell you when, where, or to what degree something is being done.

• When: I went to work on Tuesday
• Where: I am inside the house
• Degree: I opened the door quickly

In this lesson, you will learn how to use adverbs in Korean sentences. Let’s get started!

When and Where

Anytime you put a word in a sentence that indicates when or where something is taking place, you must add the particle 에 to the end of that word. Keep in mind, however, that 에 is not the only particle that can go at the end of words of position or time. There are other particles that can go at the end of these words to indicate from when/where something occurred, until when/where, etc. For now, though, lets just talk about 에.

This is very important. Even though all places (park, house, hospital, school, office, room, kitchen, etc.) are also nouns, when they are being talked about as a place, the particle 에 must be attached to them. Notice the difference between the following two sentences:

• 저는 병원을 지었어요 = I built a hospital
• 저는 병원에 갔어요 = I went to the/a hospital

In the first sentence, “hospital” is the thing that you are building – so it is an object, which requires you to use the 을/를 particle. In the second sentence, the hospital is the place in which you went to – so it is a place, which requires it to have the 에 particle.

However, if you wanted to say where you built that hospital, you could say this:

• 저는 병원을 공원 옆에 지었어요 = I built a hospital beside the park

In addition to this, any word that indicates when something is taking place, needs to have the Korean particle 에 attached to it. For example:

• 저는 화요일에 가겠어요 = I will go on Tuesday
• 저는 저녁에 공부했어요 = I studied in the evening
• 저는 가을에 공원 옆에 병원을 지었어요 = I built a hospital beside the park in the fall

The best part about Korean adverbs is that they can essentially be placed at any place in the sentence. The only place they cannot be placed is at the end of the sentence – because a sentence must always end in an adjective or verb. They could even be placed at the beginning of a sentence:

• 여름에 저는 공부하겠어요 = I will study in the summer

Korean people don’t add ~에 when using 오늘 (today), 내일 (tomorrow) and 어제 (yesterday):

• 저는 한국에 오늘 도착했어요 = I arrived in Korea today
• 저는 도서관에 어제 갔어요 = I went to the library yesterday
• 저는 내일 한국어를 공부하겠어요 = I will study Korean tomorrow.

To what degree/How much

In addition to “when” and “where” adverbs, many adverbs can tell us to what degree something is being done. These adverbs usually (but not always) end in ‘ly’ in English:

• I ran really quickly
• I ate fast
• I left immediately
• I often meet my friend on Thursday
• I eat too much sometimes

When adding these types of adverbs to sentences, no particle needs to be attached. While other adverbs are generally free to be placed anywhere in a sentence, adverbs like this that indicate a degree to which something is done are typically placed immediately before the verb. For example:

• 저는 저의 친구를 자주 만나요 = I meet my friend often
• 저는 밥을 많이 먹었어요 = I ate a lot of food (rice)
• 저는 집에 바로 갔어요 = I went home immediately
• 저는 숙제를 빨리 했어요 = I did my homework quickly

Also, many of these words are just transferred from their adjective forms to create an adverb. This is done in English as well, for example:

• Quick -> Quickly
• Easy -> Easily
• Quiet -> Quietly

A lot of adverbs in Korean are simply made by adding ‘게’ to the stem of an adjective:

Adjective	Adverb
쉽다 = easy	쉽게 = easily
비슷하다 = similar	비슷하게 = similarly
다르다 = different	다르게 = differently

Adjectives that end in 하다 are sometimes changed into adverbs by changing 하다 to 히. With most adjectives you can either add 게 to the stem or 히 with no difference in meaning. The only thing I can suggest is try to listen to which one is said in a specific situation, because even Korean people don’t know the answer to the question “what is the difference between 조용하게 and 조용히”:

Adjective	Adverb
조용하다 = quiet	조용하게/조용히 = quietly
안전하다 = safe	안전하게/안전히 = safely

Finally, some adjectives are changed into adverbs in a different way. When this happens, they are usually very similar to their original adjective form:

Adjective	Adverb
많다 = many	많이 = many/a lot
빠르다 = quick/fast	빨리 = quickly

*많다/많이 essentially have the same meaning aside from the fact that one is an adverb and one is an adjective. Most of the time, the difference between the adjective and adverb form is very clear, but with 많이/많다, the meaning is similar.

See the following:

• 저는 많은 밥을 먹었어요 = I ate a lot of rice
• 저는 밥을 많이 먹었어요 = I ate a lot of rice.

Now that you know ALL that, using adverbs in sentences is easy as pie!:

• 저는 조용하게 먹었어요 = I ate quietly
• 저는 거리를 안전하게 건넜어요 = I crossed the street safely
• 저는 행복하게 살았어요 = I lived happily

You can, of course, use more than one adverb in a sentence. To look at the list I showed you earlier:

• 저는 매우 빨리 달렸어요 = I ran really quickly
• 저는 빨리 먹었어요 = I ate fast
• 저는 바로 떠났어요 = I left immediately
• 저는 저의 친구를 목요일에 자주 만나요 = I often meet my friend on Thursday
• 저는 가끔 너무 많이 먹어요 = I eat too much sometimes

Though you can do that, using two adverbs that indicate the ‘degree of something’ is generally not done in Korean. For example, this would sound awkward:

• 저는 거리를 쉽게 빨리 건넜어요 = I easily quickly crossed the street (It’s also awkward in English!)

Negative Sentences

There are two ways you can make a sentence negative:

1. By adding 안, which acts as an adverb in the sentence. 안 is typically placed immediately before the final verb or adjective. For example:

   • 그 여자는 안 예뻐요 = That girl isn’t pretty
   • 저는 생선을 안 좋아해요 = I don’t like fish
   • 저는 내일 학교에 안 가겠어요 = I’m not going to school tomorrow

2. By adding ~지 않다 to the stem of the final verb or adjective. 않다 then becomes the verb or adjective in that sentence and must be conjugated accordingly. For example:

   • 그 여자는 예쁘지 않아요 = That girl isn’t pretty
   • 저는 생선을 좋아하지 않아요 = I don’t like fish
   • 저는 내일 학교에 가지 않겠어요 = I’m not going to school tomorrow

Their respective meanings are identical. It is up to the speaker to decide which one will be used. There are times when it will be more natural to use “안” and there will be times when it will be more natural to use “~지 않다.” At this point, you can consider them the same. Throughout your studies you will constantly be exposed to 안 and ~지 않다, and through this exposure you can gradually develop a preference for which one should be used and in which circumstance.

I like to share my observations that I have made through my experiences with the Korean language. I think this can be helpful to learners as they struggle to understand when to use some grammatical principles over others. There are a few things I would like to talk about regarding these negative sentences.

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As you know, most verbs ending in ~하다 can be turned into a noun-form of that verb by removing ~하다. For example:

• 공부하다 = to study
  • 공부 = the noun form of “study”
• 실수하다 = to make a mistake
  • 실수 = a mistake
• 여행하다 = to travel
  • 여행 = a trip

When indicating that one “does not do” a ~하다 verb, it is common to separate ~하다 from the noun and place “안” in between them. For example:

• 저는 공부를 안 했어요 = I didn’t study
  • Instead of: 저는 안 공부했어요
• 저는 실수를 안 했어요 = I didn’t make (do) a mistake
  • Instead of: 저는 안 실수했어요
• 저는 여행을 안 했어요 = I didn’t travel
  • Instead of: 저는 안 여행했어요

It would also be appropriate to use the ~지 않다 form with these words. However, in these cases, it doesn’t matter if the noun is separated from ~하다 or not. For example:

• 저는 공부하지 않았어요 = I didn’t study
  • 저는 공부를 하지 않았어요 = I didn’t study
• 저는 실수하지 않았어요 = I didn’t make a mistake
  • 저는 실수를 하지 않았어요 = I didn’t make a mistake
• 저는 여행하지 않았어요 = I didn’t travel
  • 저는 여행을 하지 않았어요 = I didn’t travel

Many adjectives end in ~하다. It is unnatural to remove the ~하다 in these words and place “안” between them. You can’t separate an adjective and “act” on it with ~하다 because they are adjectives. For example, the following would be incorrect:

• 저는 행복을 안 해요 (This does not mean “I am not happy”)

However, you could use ~지 않다 on a -하다 adjective or place “안” before the word without separating it. For example:

• 저는 안 행복해요 = I am not happy
  • 저는 행복하지 않아요 = I am not happy

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I have had people ask me about the word order of sentences using an adverb and the negative adverb “안”. One learner asked me if this sentence would be okay:

• 저는 빨리 안 공부했어요

While it might be understood, this sentence sounds very awkward in Korean. The reason is probably due to the fact that there are two adverbs being used. In this sentence, both “빨리” and “안” act as adverbs that indicate the degree to which the studying was done. As I mentioned earlier, this usually isn’t done in Korean. Instead, if you wanted to express that meaning, you can use the ~지않다 negative addition instead. By doing this, you effectively remove one of the adverbs and are left with:

• 저는 빨리 공부하지 않았어요 = I didn’t study quickly

Even still, though. This sentence could still be a little awkward in Korean – because when would you ever say “I didn’t study quickly”? In most cases, it would be more natural to simply use an adverb that has the opposite meaning. For example, this sentence:

• 저는 밥을 빨리 먹지 않았어요 = I didn’t eat (rice) quickly

Would be more naturally said as:

• 저는 밥을 천천히 먹었어요 = I ate rice slowly

To not be: 아니다

아니다 (to not be) is the opposite of the word 이다 (to be), but they are used a little bit differently. Remember that 이다 is always attached directly to a noun. For example:

• 나는 선생님이다 = I am a teacher
• 나는 대학생이다 = I am a university student

However, when using 아니다, the particle ~이/가 is attached to the noun, and 아니다 is used as a separate word:

• 나는 선생님이 아니다 = I am not a teacher
• 나는 대학생이 아니다 = I am not a university student

Below are some examples, with possible conjugations of 아니다. You have learned how to conjugate verbs and adjectives, but you still haven’t learned how to conjugate 이다 and 아니다. You will learn this in the next lesson.

• 나는 선생님이 아니다 = I am not a teacher
  • (저는 선생님이 아니에요 )
• 나는 너의 친구가 아니다 = I am not your friend
  • (나는 너의 친구가 아니야 )
• 나는 대학생이 아니다 = I am not a university Student
  • (저는 대학생이 아니에요 )

To not have: 없다

Just like how 아니다 is the opposite of 이다 – 없다 is the opposite of 있다. In Lesson 5, you learned some ways to use 있다. 없다 can indicate that one “does not have” something or that something “wasn’t at a particular location.” For example:

To not have:

• 저는 돈이 없어요 = I don’t have money
• 저는 시간이 없어요 = I don’t have time
• 우리는 차가 없어요 = We don’t have a car

To not be in a location:

• 저의 친구는 지금 한국에 없어요 = My friend is not in Korea now
• 사람이 없었어요 = There was no people

To not like: 싫어하다 and 싫다

While we are talking about negative words, I want to talk about 싫어하다 quickly. “싫어하다” is a verb that is used to indicate that one dislikes something. 싫어하다 is the opposite of 좋아하다 (to like). For example:

• 저는 과일을 싫어해요 = I dislike fruit
• 저는 과일을 좋아해요 = I like fruit

In Lesson 3, you learned how 좋다 and 좋아하다 are different. I explained that 좋다 is an adjective (meaning “to be good”), and thus cannot act on an object. For example:

• 그 선생님은 좋다 = That teacher is good
• 이 학교는 좋다 = This school is good

The adjective form of 싫어하다 is 싫다. However, contrary to what you probably expect, 싫다 is not used to mean “to not be good.” In order to indicate that something is “not good” (i.e. “bad”), the adjective 나쁘다 is commonly used. Instead, 싫다 is often used to indicate that one dislikes something (just like 싫어하다). For example:

• 저는 과일이 싫어요 = I dislike fruit

Notice that because 싫다 is an adjective, it cannot act on an object, so the particles ~이/가 are attached to the noun. This type of sentence is a little bit too complex right now, so I don’t want to dig too deep into it. I discuss this more deeply in Lesson 15.

Be careful to not make double negative sentences. Although technically grammatically correct, this one reads funny:

• 저는 과일을 싫어하지 않아요 = I don’t dislike fruit

That’s it for this lesson!

There are 1250 example sentences in Unit 1. All entries are linked to an audio file. You can download all of these files in one package here.

How about testing your knowledge on what you learned in the past 8 lessons with our Lessons 1 – 8 Mini-Test.

No test today? Then let me browse through the next set of lessons (Lessons 9 – 16)! Or, take me directly to Lesson 9! Or, Click here for a workbook to go along with this lesson.

Summary

Want to try to create some sentences using the vocabulary and grammar from this lesson? This YouTube video will prompt you to translate English sentences into Korean using the concepts from this lesson.

Want to practice your listening skills? This YouTube video will prompt you with Korean sentences to dictate using the concepts from this lesson.

Lesson Recap.

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