For my last Korean class, Ms. Kim and I worked on practicing daily conversations and learning grammar. I have been learning verb endings for a while. The endings would be differentiated by both the time (past/present/future) and the politeness level (formal, informal, honorific). For example, V + 아요/어요 or ㅂ니다/습니다 are present tense verb ending. Among those, 아요/어요 are for polite formal expression. If the verb stems are ending with vowels ㅗ or ㅏ, than those would be followed by -아요. Some example includes 놀다 (to play), 살다 (to live), 가다(to go), and 하다 (to do). In 놀다 (to play), the 놀 is the verb stem, while 다 is the verb ending. Therefore, when changing this to the present tense, 아요 would replace 다 and the word would become 놀아요. A similar rule of present tense verb ending would apply to the other three words. When verb stems ending with vowels other than ㅗ or ㅏ are followed by -어요, such as in the case of 먹다 (to eat), 웃다 (to laugh), 있다 (to have), the verb ending 다 will also be replaced by 어요. I think there is still a lot for me to learn and remember about the tenses and politeness levels. For convenience, Ms. Kim told me that I should start by learning the polite formal version of every phrase and word. I think I’ll continue to follow this way. Aside from the verb ending, we also covered special verbs. ‘이다’ is usually attached to the end of a noun to make the noun function like a verb. It is used to express the identity or state of a subject, or to designate an object.
So ‘이다( 입니다/이에요/예요)’ has a similar role to that of the English verb “to be”. The difference would be the sentence structure and order that it is used in, for example, 그것은 물입니다 (It is water). I also learned about the negative form of words, for example, the verb 있다 has the basic meaning of “to exist,” while the negative form of this verb is 없다 (not to exist). This could also be attached to a noun to make the noun function like a verb. Through this semester’s learning, I was surprised to find that I can recognize and understand lots of standard Korean phrases from Korean movies and shows. And I’m also glad that I learned Hangul. Without knowing the meaning of every word, I can figure out how to pronounce them with the symbols. After this semester ends, I’ll miss the opportunity to learn from Ms. Kim, who helped me a lot with my understanding of Korean and its culture. But in the future, I think I’ll keep up with learning Korean, and hopefully by the next time I visit Korean I would be able to converse well in Korean.
Replies
Hi Haley!
I really love reading your posts since it seems like we have learned pretty similar topics throughout the semester! I actually did my "You Never Really Know Something Until You Teach It" presentation for the 105 class on conjugating with the 아요/어요 endings so it was great to read about it in your post. I also thought it was really interesting that all Korean verbs end in 다 (da) which makes verbs easier to recognize. This almost reminds me of German where all nouns are capitalized which makes them very easy to identify. Building off of Pri's comment I also learned that ㅗ and ㅏare bright vowels (representing yang). If you say those vowels versus ㅓand ㅜ which are dark vowels (representing yin) you can almost hear the contrast in their sounds. I also think it's interesting these verb conjugation differences are based on the preceding syllable because of something called vocal harmony. Have you and Ms. Kim talked about vocal harmony at all? You sound like you've made some great progress!
Hi Haley,
Thank you for sharing this experience. One of the last things I learned was conjugating verbs, specifically the present tense as well. I learned that the vowels you mention likeㅏ,ㅗ actually are put into a category called bright vowels whereas vowels likeㅓ,ㅜ are the dark vowels. I found it helpful to know this to organize it better in my mind. It's so interesting that in Korean you can conjugate nouns like verbs. I have heard that you can conjugate adjectives like verbs as well. Although I haven't learned how to for either. It is also so awesome that you can read Hangul now! I also am in the same position where I don't know everything I am saying when reading Hangul, but it's just exciting on it's own to have that ability. I hope you can continue to keep learning Korean! :)