Essential grammar for korean as a second language

Essential Grammar
For Korean as a Second Language

© 2004 All rights reserved by

Chul Young Lee

Version 2.3


Preface
Demand for the Korean langauge education as a second language is significantly increasing these days. The
Korean language is an agglutinative language and is sometimes recognized tricky to learn by the people who
speak a European language as their primary language. But depending on how systematical the education
method is, it can be efficiently learned with the aid of its scientific letter system Hangeul.
This book aims to provide the comprehensive rules and factors of the Korean language in a systematic way.
The grammar chapters contain most of the important basic rules so that you can build the essence to learn
Korean. This book can be used for self-learners who are learning Korean with other books and environment
and want a good grammar textbook. This book can be also used as a textbook in a Korean class, in which
case I recommend the instructors to provide replicating examples to the students and try to relate the
multiple chapters on the inflectional words with each other to maximize the efficiency of the education.
I hope this can contribute to the Korean language education to all the people who teach or learn Korean.
Chul Young Lee
이철영

2


CONTENTS
Part I. Alphabet & Basic Phonetics
Chapter 0: About the Korean Alphabet System …………………..…………………….…………. 5

Chapter 1: How to Compose a Syllable ……………………………………..……………………….. 6
Chapter 2: Korean Alphabet ………………………………………………………………………………. 7
Chapter 3: Important Rules for Pronunciation ………………………………………………..... 11

Part II. Basic Grammar
Chapter 4: Parts of Speech …..………………………………………………………………………….. 18
Chapter 5: Sentence Structure …………………………………………………………………………. 20
Chapter 6: Inflectional Words …………………………………………………………………………... 23
Chapter 7: Supplementary Inflectional Words …………………………..…………..……........ 28
Chapter 8: Irregular Inflectional Words ………………………………………………..……........ 32
Chapter 9: Attitudes …………………………………………………………………………………........ 38
Chapter 10: Postpositions ………………………………………………………………………..……… 41
Chapter 11: Designation ……………………………………………………………………………………. 44

Part III. Useful Expressions & Vocabularies
Chapter 12: 5W1H ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 47
Chapter 13: Frequently Used Basic Sentences …………………..…..……………………………. 48
Chapter 14: Numeral & Units .………………………………………………………………….………… 51
Chapter 15: Time .……………………………………………………………………………………………. 55
Chapter 16: Family …………………………………………………………………………………………… 57

3


Part I. Alphabet & Basic Phonetics

4


Chapter 0. About the Korean Alphabet System

The World's Most Scientific Writing System
The Korean Alphabet is known to be the most scientific writing system in the world. This letter system is
called Hangeul. Each character in Hangeul represents a unique sound in a systematic way, which makes it
very easy and clear to learn this letter system. This is why Korea’s literacy rate is extremely high.
Hangeul was developed in 1443 by King Sejong (1397-1450) who clearly stated the purpose of developing
this letter system. It was basically to let everyone in the nation to be able to read and wirte easily. He
developed the new letter system in an amazingly scientific and systematic way. He created the shapes of the
characters in a way that they resemble the shapes of the human organs when they are pronounced.
Hangeul is a state-of-the-art phoneme character system which consists of 10 basic vowels, 14 basic
consonants and some compound vowels and consonants, and you can write down whatever you hear in a
unique way. You typically do not have to ask how to spell something. This is possible because one character
in Hangeul is mapped to only one sound.
While you learn this letter system, you will be amazed to see how easy it is to learn and how powerful it is.
You could even apply Hangeul to another language without a big problem.

5


Chapter 1. How To Compose A Syllable
1. Why is Syllable Important in Korean?

Syllable is the unit of composing actual letters using the letter elements (consonants and vowels).
Once you become able to build a syllable by applying the consonants and vowels, you can write anything
you hear.

2. What does a Korean Syllable look like?
It is composed of three elements: Initial Sound (초성), Medial Sound (중성) and Final Sound (종성), as
you can see in the figure below.

INITIAL

[ 1 Consonant ]

MEDIAL
[ 1 Vowel ]

FINAL
[ 0, 1, 2 Consonant(s) ]
Figure 1 A Korean Syllable

3. Composing Syllables
See the example below:

Initial
Sound
(1 consonant)

한

Medial Sound
(1 vowel)

Final Sound
(1 consonant)

Figure 2 An example of a syllable
A syllable must have exactly 1 consonant as the initial sound and 1 vowel as the medial sound. A syllable
can be composed with or without the final sound (consonant). Sometimes there can be 2 consonants
located as the final sound.
Examples (보기)
Syllables without the final sound: 가, 나, 너, 뽀, 쭈, 야, 의, 왜

Syllables with 1 consonant as the final sound: 안, 녕, 합, 얌, 굉, 있, 낚, 꺾
Syllables with 2 consonants as the final sound: 않, 없, 앉

6


Chapter 2. Korean Alphabet
There are 14 basic consonants and 10 basic vowels.

1. Consonants (자음)
1) Basic Consonants
Consonant

Name

Value

Stroke Sequence

ㄱ

기역

[g/k]

ㄱ

ㄴ

니은

[n]

ㄴ

ㄷ

디귿

[d/t]

ㅡ

ㄷ

ㄹ

리을

[r/l]

ㄱ

ㄱ

ㄹ

ㅁ

미음

[m]

ㅣ

ㄱ

ㅁ

ㅂ

비읍

[b/p]

ㅣ

ㅣㅣ

ㅣㅣ

ㅅ

시옷

[s]

ㅇ

이응

[ŋ]

ㅈ

지읒

[j/g]

ㅊ

치읓

[t∫/ts]

ㅋ

키읔

[k]

ㄱ

ㅋ

ㅌ

티읕

[t]

ㅡ

ㅡ

ㅍ

피읖

[p]

ㅎ

히읗

[h]

ㅂ

ㅅ
ㅇ
ㅈ
ㅊ
ㅌ
ㅍ
ㅎ

7

2) Compound Consonants
Consonant

ㄲ
ㄸ
ㅃ
ㅆ
ㅉ

Value
‘k’ sound in sky

Name
쌍기역

‘t’ sound in start

쌍디귿

‘p’ sound in spy

쌍비읍

‘s’ sound in say

쌍시옷

strong/voiceless ‘j/g’ sound

쌍지읒

1) Every compound consonant is a fortis. Do not get confused with aspiration (ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ, ㅊ)
2) Do not get confused with double consonants which are combination of two different
consonants (ㄳ, ㄵ, ㄼ, ㄽ, ㄾ, ㄻ, ㅄ, and ㄿ).

2. Vowels (모음)
1) Basic Vowels
Vowel

Name

Value

Stroke Sequence

ㅏ

아

[a]

ㅣ

ㅏ

ㅑ

야

[ya]

ㅣ

ㅏ

ㅓ

어

[ә]

ㅕ

여

[yә]

ㅗ

오

[o]

ㅛ

요

[yo]

ㅜ

우

[u]

ㅜ

ㅠ

유

[yu]

ㅜ

ㅡ

으

[-]

ㅡ

ㅣ

이

[i]

ㅣ

ㅑ

ㅓ
ㅕ
ㅗ
ㅛ
ㅠ

8


2) Compound Vowels
Consonant

ㅐ
ㅔ
ㅒ
ㅖ
ㅚ
ㅟ
ㅢ
ㅘ
ㅝ
ㅙ
ㅞ

Value

Name

‘a’ sound in and

애

‘e’ sound in end

에

‘ya’ sound in yam

얘

‘ye’ sound in yes

예

[o] + [e]

외

‘we’ sound in we

위

ㅡ + ㅣ

의

‘wa’ sound in swallow

와

‘wo’ sound in wonderful

워

‘wa’ sound in wax

왜

‘we’ sound in wet

웨

3. Common Writing Rules
Writing a syllable should be done by the following rules:
1) Write in the following order: Initial Sound ► Medial Sound ► Final Sound
2) For each letter element, write from Top and from Left.

Polarity of Vowels (모음의 음양)
Positive Vowels: ㅏ, ㅑ, ㅗ, ㅛ,

and compound vowels including them

Negative Vowels: ㅓ, ㅕ, ㅜ, ㅠ, ㅡ ,

and compound vowels including them

Neutral Vowel: ㅣ

Vowel Accordance (모음조화): Vowels with the same polarity tend to stick together
in words (but this is not an absolute rule any more in modern Korean). For example, an
inflectional word with the stem with a positive vowel uses suffixes with a positive vowel.
<보기> 놀다 (to play) ▶ 놀 + 아요 = 놀아요

9


Two-Element Syllable Matrix with Basic Consonants and Basic Vowels in Order

가나다라마바사아자차카타파하
갸냐댜랴먀뱌샤야쟈챠캬탸퍄햐
거너더러머버서어저처커터퍼허
겨녀뎌려며벼셔여져쳐켜텨펴혀
고노도로모보소오조초코토포호
교뇨됴료묘뵤쇼요죠쵸쿄툐표효
구누두루무부수우주추쿠투푸후
규뉴듀류뮤뷰슈유쥬츄큐튜퓨휴
그느드르므브스으즈츠크트프흐
기니디리미비시이지치키티피히

10


Chapter 3. Important Rules for Pronunciation
중요한 발음 법칙들

1. Representative Sounds for Consonants (자음의 대표값)
[Rule 1]
If a consonant is a Final Sound in a stand-alone syllable, it can be pronounced as one of only 7

sounds: ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅂ, ㅇ
where the consonants as a Final Sound belong to:

[ㄱ] ◄ ㄱ, ㄲ, ㅋ, ㄳ, ㄺ
[ㄴ] ◄ ㄴ, ㄵ
[ㄷ] ◄ ㄷ, ㅅ, ㅆ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅌ
[ㄹ] ◄ ㄹ, ㄼ, ㄽ, ㄾ
[ㅁ] ◄ ㅁ, ㄻ
[ㅂ] ◄ ㅂ, ㅍ, ㅄ, ㄿ
[ㅇ] ◄ ㅇ
[Rule 2]
A Final Sound pronounces as its representative sound (in Rule 1), if it is followed by a consonant.

<보기>
솟고

낚다

있다

높다

젖다

앉다

넓다

닭고기

[Rule 3]
A Final Sound recovers its original sound if it is followed by a vowel, unless they are at the border of
an independent combination.

<보기>
솟아

낚아

있어

높아

젖은

[Comparison] Dependent combination: 옷을 입어요. (Original sound recovered)
Independent combination:

옷 입어요. (Pronounced as representative sound)

[Rule 3-1]
If there are 2 consonants in the Final Sound position, the second one recovers its value, when it is
followed by a vowel.

<보기>
앉아요

넓어요

11

2. Phoneme Compression (음운 축약)
Phoneme compression is a phenomenon that occurs when two phonemes meet and
change.
[Rule 1] Consonant Compression (자음 축약)
When‘ㄱ·ㄷ·ㅂ·ㅈ’are followed or preceded by ‘ㅎ’, they change to the
aspiration‘ㅋ·ㅌ·ㅍ·ㅊ’.
<보기>

ㄱ + ㅎ = ㅎ + ㄱ = ㅋ

노랗고 ▶ [노라코]

(yellow)

ㄷ + ㅎ = ㅎ + ㄷ = ㅌ

좋다 ▶ [조타]

(good)

ㅂ + ㅎ = ㅎ + ㅂ = ㅍ

밟혀 ▶ [발펴]

(to be stepped on)

ㅈ + ㅎ = ㅎ + ㅈ = ㅊ

닿지 ▶ [다치]

(to touch/reach)

[Rule 2] Vowel Compression (모음 축약)
When two vowels meet, they become a diphthong.
<보기>

ㅗ + ㅏ = ㅘ

보아라 ▶ [봐라]

(to see)

ㅜ + ㅓ = ㅝ

주었다 ▶ [줬다]

(to give)

[Note] Do not get confused with the historical transformation: ‘compaction’ (축약)
In history there were special mutual assimilation cases where two consecutive
vowels were compressed or became one sound.
<보기>

가히 ▶ 개

(dog)

사이 ▶ 새

(bird)

입시울 ▶ 입슐 ▶ 입술

(lip)

12


3. Consonant Assimilation (자음접변/자음동화)
The final sound of a syllable, when it meets another vowel which is the initial sound of the
next syllable, one (or both) of these two changes its sound to resemble the other.
[Backward Assimilation (역행동화)]
If a final sound ‘ㄴ’ is followed by ‘ㄹ’, this ‘ㄴ’ is pronounced as [ㄹ].
ㄴ + ㄹ ▶ [ㄹ + ㄹ]
<보기>

신라 ▶ [실라]
난로 ▶ [날로]

(stove)

If a final sound ‘ㅂ/ㅍ’ is followed by ‘ㄴ’ or ‘ㅁ’, this ‘ㅂ/ㅍ’ is pronounced as [ㅁ].
ㅂ/ㅍ + ㄴ/ㅁ ▶ [ㅁ + ㄴ/ㅁ]
<보기>

감사합니다 ▶ [감사함니다]

(Thank you.)

밥물 ▶ [밤물]
옆면 ▶ [염면]

If a final sound whose representative sound is ‘ㄷ’ (i.e., ‘ㄷ/ㅌ/ㅅ/ㅆ/ㅈ/ㅊ’ ) is
followed by ‘ㄴ/ㅁ’, this former consonant is pronounced as [ㄴ].
ㄷ/ㅌ/ㅅ/ㅆ/ㅈ/ㅊ + ㄴ/ㅁ ▶ [ㄴ + ㄴ/ㅁ]
<보기>

가 봤는데요 ▶ [가 봔는데요]

(I’ve been there.)

한 곳만 ▶ [한 곤만]

(only one place)

젖먹이 ▶ [전먹이]

(a nursing baby)

13


[Forward Assimilation (순행동화)]
If a final sound ‘ㅁ’ or ‘ㅇ’ is followed by ‘ㄹ’, this ‘ㄹ’ is pronounced as [ㄴ].
ㅁ/ㅇ + ㄹ ▶ [ㅁ/ㅇ + ㄴ]
<보기>

(invasion)

침략 ▶ [침냑]
종로 ▶ [종노]

[Mutual Assimilation (상호동화)]
ㄱ + ㄹ ▶ [ㅇ + ㄴ]
<보기>

&

ㅂ + ㄹ ▶ [ㅁ + ㄴ]
(bitter discussion)

격론 ▶ [경논]

(providence)

섭리 ▶ [섬니]

4. Palatalization (구개음화)
A non-palatal consonant is pronounced as a palatal if it is followed by ‘ㅣ’ inside a
word group (어절). This applies only if two syllables are combined in a dependent
relation.
ㄷ + l ▶ [ㅈ + l]

&

ㅌ+ l ▶

[ㅊ + l]

[Rule 1] Palatalization rule applies to dependent combination
<보기>
밭 ＋ 이 ▶ [바치]

끝 ＋ 이 ▶ [끄치]

맏 ＋ 이 ▶ [마지]

닫 ＋ 히 ＋ 다 ▶ [다치다]

[Rule 2] Palatalization rule does not apply to the following cases:
1) Compound word (of independent words)

<보기> 홑이불 = 홑 + 이불 ▶ [혼니불]
2) Within the stem of a word

<보기> 더디다,

버티다, 견디다, 잔디, 느티나무
14


5. Rules about ‘ㅎ’
[Rule 1] Consonant Compression (자음 축약)
See page 12.

[Rule 2] ‘ㅎ’ is mute before a vowel
<보기> 좋아요 ▶ [조아요]
않아요 ▶ [아나요]

[Rule 3] ‘ㅎ’ makes a following ‘ㅅ’ a fortis (tensed sound)
<보기> 좋습니다 ▶ [조씀니다]

6. Voiceless Consonants ㄱ/ㄷ/ㅂ/ㅅ/ㅈ Pronounced as Fortis
If voiceless consonants ㄱ/ㄷ/ㅂ/ㅅ/ㅈ/ follow a voiceless consonant (as the final
sound of a preceding syllable), they are pronounced as a fortis [ㄲ/ㄸ/ㅃ/ㅆ/ㅉ].
<보기> 학교 ▶ [학꾜]
꽃밭 ▶ [꼳빧]
숙제 ▶ [숙쩨]
This may or may not happen when they follow a voiced consonants (ㄴ/ㄹ/ㅁ/ㅇ).
<보기> 갈대 ▶ [갈때]
담다 ▶ [담따]
술병 ▶ [술뼝]
언제 ▶ [언제]

(no effect)

긴장 ▶ [긴장]

(no effect)

출범 ▶ [출범]

(no effect)

15


[Note] Head-Sound Rules (두음법칙)

- Historical change (not important)
There are specific rules for the initial sound of the first syllable of a word. Pronunciation conforms to
these rules, so does the spelling. (‘Head-sound’ means the initial sound of the first syllable of a word.)

[Rule 1] ‘ㄴ’ followed by ‘ㅣ’ cannot be a head-sound.
This ‘ㄴ’ becomes mute (‘ㅇ’).
<보기>

녀자 ▶ 여자

(woman)

뉴대 ▶ 유대

(relation)

[Rule 2] ‘ㄹ’ cannot be a head-sound.
If ‘ㅣ’ follows this ‘ㄹ’, it becomes mute (‘ㅇ’), otherwise it becomes ‘ㄴ’.
<보기>

량심 ▶ 양심

(conscience)

류행 ▶ 유행

(vogue)

래일 ▶ 내일

(tomorrow)

[Rule 3] Double consonant cannot be a head-sound.
You separate the consonants using ‘ㅡ’.
<보기>

Chirstmas ▶ ㅋ리ㅅ마ㅅ ▶ 크리스마스
strike ▶ ㅅㅌ라이ㅋ ▶ 스트라이크

[Exceptions to Rule 1 & 2] Rule 1 and 2 do not apply to adopted foreign words.
<보기>

라디오 (radio), 라면, 뉴스 (news)

16


Part II. Basic Grammar

17


Chapter 4. Parts of Speech
품사
Parts of Speech
Parts of speech are the types of words classified according to their commonness from the grammar
perspective. There are 8 parts of speech in English: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition,
conjunction and interjection. In Korean there are 9 parts of speech: noun, pronoun, numeral, verb,
adjective, postposition, pre-noun, adverb, and interjection.

1. Noun (명사)
Type

Description

example

Regular Noun
(보통명사)

Name of an object

하늘, 땅, 냉장고, 꽃,
음악

Proper Noun
(고유명사)

Name of a specific person
or a property

이순신, 삼성, 코카콜라,
한국, 미국, 보스턴

Dependent Noun
(의존명사)

Noun that cannot be used
without a preceding prenoun or noun.

것, 데, 바, 듯, 체, 수,
녘, 지, 때문, 만큼,
all the units (개, 분, 마리,

초, 잔, 대, 채, 켤레, …..)

2. Pronoun (대명사)
Words that indicate and replace nouns.

Type
Personal Pronoun
(인칭대명사)

Description
Indicates a person: the
first person, the second
person, the third person

example
나, 우리, 저희,
너, 당신, 그대, 너희,
이분, 저분, 그분

Demonstrative Pronoun
(지시대명사)

Indicates an object or a
direction

이것, 저것, 그것,

여기, 저기, 거기

Interrogative Pronoun
(의문대명사)

Indicates the subject of
questioning

누구, 언제, 어디, 무엇

18


3. Numeral (수사)
Words for numbers. Refer to the separate Chapter for Numerals.

4. Verb (동사)
Words that indicate movement.

[보기] 하다, 놀다, 가다, 오다, 앉다, 서다, 노래하다, 돕다
5. Adjective (형용사)
Words that indicate state of an object.

[보기] 춥다, 덥다, 예쁘다, 나쁘다, 배고프다, 배부르다, 동그랗다
6. Pre-noun (관형사)
Words that are followed by nouns, pronouns and numerals, and modify them. Do not get confused
with pre-nouns and adjectives. Pre-nouns do not inflect (conjugate) and adjectives do not modify
nouns in front of them.

[보기] 새 노래

7. Postposition (조사)
Postpositions are attached to most of any words to compose a component of a sentence. Refer to the
separate Chapter for Postpositions.
[Note] Postposition is the only independent word that is written without a space after a preceding
word.

8. Adverb (부사)
Words that are followed by a verb or an adjective and modify it, or modify the entire sentence.

[보기] 아주 예쁜 꽃,

열심히 뛴다

9. Interjection (감탄사)
Words that usually express emotion and are capable of being used by itself independently.

Substantives (체언) and Inflectional Words (용언)
Substantives are the words that can take a role of a body supported by a postposition in a sentence.
Nouns, Pronouns and Numberals are substantives.

Inflectional words are the words that have independent meanings and can be used as a predicate in
a sentence. Verbs, Adjectives and Predicate Postpositions are inflectional words.

19


Chapter 5. Sentence Structure
문장 구조
1. Basic Format of a Korean Sentence with the Main Components

주어 + 목적어 +
Subject
Object

보어
Complement

+ 서술어
Predicate

* Pre-nounal, adverbial, and independent components are not shown in this diagram.

Part of speech is a class of a word determined by the nature of a word itself before being used, but
when the word is used in a sentence, it is assigned its function as a component of the sentence. For
example nouns need appropriate postpositions to become a component of a sentence, and inflectional
words need appropriate suffixes. The components are subject, object, predicate, complement, prenounal component, adverbial component, and independent component. The subject and the predicate
are essential to form a sentence (even though subject is often omitted).

[Rule 1] The order of the sentence components is as above.
[Rule 2] Subject, object and complement are granted the roles by a postposition.
[Rule 3] There are 3 cases for the predicate (all with appropriate inflection):
(Don’t get confused with English where only verbs can be a predicate.)

i) A verb can be a predicate with a closing suffix
[보기]

저는 사과를 좋아합니다.
Subject

Object

I like an apple.

Predicate

ii) An adjective can be a predicate with a closing suffix
[보기]

날씨가 좋습니다.
Subject

The weather is nice.

Predicate

iii) Substantive + predicate postposition (‘이다’) can be a predicate
[보기]

제 고향은 서울입니다.
Subject

My hometown is Seoul.

Predicate

[Rule 4] Object is used before the predicate (verb). – Compare with English.
[보기]

저는 사과를 좋아합니다.
Subject Object

I like an apple.

Predicate

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[Rule 5] Complement is used only for the incomplete predicates, ‘되다’ and ‘아니다’.
[보기]

그분은 선생님이 아닙니다.
Subject Complement

That person is not a teacher.

Predicate

[Rule 6] Subject is often omitted (in imperative sentences and in the colloquial language).
[보기]

한국에 다녀왔습니다.

(I) have been to Korea.

Predicate

2. Sentence Components (문장 성분)
There are total of 7 components in Korean sentences.

1) Subject (주어)
2) Object (목적어)
3) Predicate (서술어)
4) Complement (보어)
5) Pre-nounal Component (관형어)
A pre-nounal component modifies a substansive (noun/pronoun/numeral).

[보기] 그는 아름다운 경치를 좋아한다.
Subject

P.N.C.

Object

He likes a beautiful scene.

Predicate

6) Adverbial Component (부사어)
An adverbial component modifies the predicate, a pre-nounal component, another adverbial
component or the entire sentence. (Possible combinations: substansive + postposition, inflectional
word with a suffix, and an adverb)

[보기]

어제는 눈이 많이 왔습니다.
Adverb Subject A.C.

We had a lot of snow yesterday.

Predicate

7) Independent Component (독립어)
An independent component is used independently of other components in the sentence.

[보기] 아, 드디어 여름이구나.
I.C.

A.C.

Oh, finally it’s summer!

Predicate

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3. Suffixes for Predicate
Suffixes for a predicate assigns the attitude class (politeness and formality) and the tense (pastpresent-future), and indicate the type of the sentence (interrogative sentence, imperative sentence,
etc.).

[보기] Fundamental Form: 좋아하다 (to like)
Tense

Attitude

Formal Polite
Informal Polite
Formal Plain
Informal Plain

Past

Present

Future

좋아했습니다
좋아했어요
좋아했다
좋아했어

좋아합니다
좋아해요
좋아한다
좋아해

좋아하겠습니다
좋아할께요
좋아하겠다
좋아할께

Refer to the separate Chapter for Infected Words for more details.

4. Postpositions
Postpositions are attached to compose a component out of a bare word. Refer to the separate
Chapter for Postpositions.

Spacing Rule for Writing (띄어 쓰기 원칙)
You must have a space between any two independent words, except

for postpositions. (모든 단어는 띄어 쓰되 조사는 앞 단어에 붙여 쓴다.)
‘Words’ above mean any of the 9 parts of speech.
Suffixes and prefixes are not ‘words’.

[보기]

나는 사과를 좋아합니다.
pronoun

noun

verb

postposition

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Chapter 6. Inflectional Words
용언
I. Inflectional Words
Verbs, adjectives and predicate postpositions inflect when they are used in a sentence, and are
called the inflectional words. They have the following structure:

HeadSUFFIX

STEM

(Tail-)
SUFFIX

* There can be only 1 stem and 1 tail suffix used, but there can be multiple head-suffixes inserted.

Inflectional words can be a predicate in a sentence:
i) A verb or an adjective can be a predicate if inflected with a closing suffix.

[보기]

(저는) 사과를 좋아합니다.
Subject

Object

I like an apple.

Predicate

ii) A noun plus predicate postposition (‘-이다’) can also be a predicate of a sentence.

[보기]

제 고향은 서울입니다.
Subject

My hometown is Seoul.

Predicate

II. Stem (어간)
The stem of a word (verb or adjective) is the root part of the word that contains the fundamental

meaning of it. The stem does not change its form. What changes is the suffix (and also the stemsupplements, if any) as the words are used in a sentence.

III. Fundamental Form & Fundamental Suffix (기본형과 기본형 어미)
A fundamental form is the original form of a verb or an adjective that is composed of the stem of
the word and the fundamental suffix ‘-다‘. A fundamental form implies no role of the word as a
sentence component such as tense, attitude or the predicate type.

[보기]

하다 = 하(stem) + 다(fundamental suffix)
공부하다 = 공부하(stem) + 다(fundamental suffix)
아름답다 = 아름답(stem) + 다(fundamental suffix)

to do
to study
beautiful

IV. Tail-Suffix (어말어미)
Tail-Suffix is the ending part of a verb or an adjective, and it decides many important roles of the
word in the sentence such as tense, attitude and the predicate type. Inflectional words are verbs,
adjectives and predicate postpositions.
In a sentence, a verb or an adjective must be inflected with a proper suffix to be a component of
the sentence. For that, the fundamental suffix ‘-다’ is replaced by an appropriate tail-suffix, or a
combination of a head-suffix and a tail-suffix.

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1) Closing Suffix (종결어미)
Closing suffixes are used for an inflection to finish the sentence.

There are different types of closing suffixes as in the following table:

Type

Suffixes

Normal
(평서형)
statement

-ㅂ니다/습니다[FP], -지[IC], -지요/죠[IP],

합니다, 했습니다,

-(ㄴ)다[C], -아/어[IC], -아요/어요[IP],

했어요, 했소, 했다,

-(ㄴ)데(요)[IC(IP)], -(ㄴ)대(요)[IC(IP)],

했어, 좋지, 했네요,

-렷다[IC], -오/소[IP], -느니라[IC],
-네요[IP], -네[C], -마[IC]

Interrogative
(의문형)

instruction

Petitionary
(청유형)
suggestion

Exclamatory
(감탄형)
exclamation

하마, 좋은데요,
좋대요
했습니까, 했어요,

-아/어[IC], -아요/어요[IP], -던가[FC],

여기인가요, 했나요,

-지[IC], -지요/죠[IP], -나[C], -나요[IP],

여기인가, 여기죠,

-(으)ㄹ까(요)[C(IP)], -(으)냐/느냐[IC]

Imperative
(명령형)

했네, 했느니라,

-ㅂ니까/습니까[FP], -(으)ㄴ가요[IP],

-(으)ㄴ가/는가[FC], -(으)니[IC], -려나[FC],

question

example

했나, 했을까, 했어,
했니, 그럴까요,
했느냐

-십시오[FP], -아/어[IC], -아요/어요[IP],

하십시오, 들어요,

-지요/죠[IP], -라/아라/어라/여라[IC],

하오, 하게, 하지,

-려무나[IC], -오[IP], -게[FC], -지[IC]

들어, 하여라

-ㅂ시다[FP], -지[IC], -지요/죠[IP],

갑시다, 가죠,

-자[C], -세[FC], -자꾸나[IC]

가세, 가자

-군요[IP], -구려[IP], -구나[IC],

그렇군요,

-구먼[IC], -라/아라/어라/여라[IC]

그렇구나

* Bold face attitude means a frequently used one, and Italic means old fashioned.

[Note] -(으)세요[IP]: A closing suffix transformed from –(으+)시+어요 = -(으)셔요.
This suffix can be used as a normal, an interrogative, or an imperative closing suffix.
[보기] 그 분은 참 친절하세요. (normal)

안녕하세요? (interrogative) 드세요. (imperative)

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2) Connection Suffix (연결어미)
Connection suffixes are used for an inflection to connect the sentence to another sentence or a
word, without finishing the sentence.
There are different types of connection suffixes as in the following table:

Type
Equivalent
(대등적 연결)

Suffixes

example

-고, -며, -나, -지만, -거나,

산은 높고 바다는 넓다.

-든지, -거니, -느니, -면서,

Mountain is high and ocean is
wide.

-ㄴ데, -되
-면, -거든, -니(까), -므로,
Subordinate
(종속적 연결)

-아/어, -아서/어서, -아야/어야,
-는데, -ㄹ망정, -ㄹ수록,

봄이 오니까 날씨가
따뜻하다.
Since spring has come, we
have a warm weather.

-러, -려, -게, -도록,
-아도/어도, -더라도
Supplementary -아/-어, -게, -지, -고
(보조적 연결)

탐이 공부를 하고 있다.
Tom is studying.

* See the Chapter for Supplementary Inflectional words for the details of the supplementary connection suffixes.

3) Transmutation Suffix (전성어미)
Transmutation suffixes are used for an inflection to convert the nature of a phrase/subsentence to another.
There are different types of transmutation suffixes as in the following table:

Type
Noun form
(명사형)
Pre-noun form
(관형사형)

Suffixes
-(으)ㅁ, -기

-(으)ㄴ, -는, -(으)ㄹ

example
탐은 공부하기를 싫어한다.
Tom hates to study.
공부하는 탐의 모습은 보기 좋다.
It is nice to see Tom studying.

V. Head-Suffix (선행어미)
Head-suffixes can be inserted into the front part of the suffix to indicate the attitude (towards the
subject of the sentence) and the tense.

1) Honorific Head-Suffix (존칭 선행어미): -시The head-suffix ‘시’ elevates the attitude towards the person whom you are talking about (typically
the subject of the sentence). This is done independently of the attitude elevation towards the

person whom you are talking to, which is typically done by the tail-suffix.

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