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To/From in Korean Posted by Ginny on Jan 28, 2010
Let’s take a look at a sentence like this: 친구한테 전화했어요? (친구 = friend. 한테 = to. 전화했어요 = past tense of 전화하다, or “to make a phone call”). In English, this would mean, “Did you call your friend?” The part that I want to focus on today is 한테. Here, 한테 means “to” but not…
Korean Queens Posted by Ginny on Jan 25, 2010
If you look at the imperial history of Korea, you’ll notice that there are only a couple of queens who achieved the same kind of admiration and perhaps notorioty as the kings of Korean history. Queen Seondeok (선덕여왕) was the first recorded reiging Queen in Korean history. She was the ruler over 신라 of the…
Answers to the Quiz Posted by Ginny on Jan 22, 2010
Ok, now it’s time for the quiz answers. The answers will be provided in parentheses. Conjugate the following into the present honorific polite: 1 – 듣다 (to hear, to listen) (들으세요) 2 – 살다 (to live) (사세요) 3 – 어렵다 (to be difficult) (어려우세요) 4 – 나쁘다 (to be bad) (나쁘세요) Conjugate the following in the past…
Honorific Polite and Deferential Polite Quiz Posted by Ginny on Jan 19, 2010
Try this quiz and see how many you get right! Conjugate the following into the present honorific polite: 1 – 듣다 (to hear, to listen) 2 – 살다 (to live) 3 – 어렵다 (to be difficult) 4 – 나쁘다 (to be bad) Conjugate the following in the past tense of the honorific polite: 5 – 있다 (to have)…
Historic Areas of Gyeongju Posted by Ginny on Jan 16, 2010
There are many historic sites in Gyeongju that are considered important milestones in Korea’s 신라 period. (For some more info on the 신라 period, check out the blog post on 4/20/09.) Here are some of the sites that I recommend: 첨성대 is one of the oldest intact astronomical observatories in East Asia. It was built…
으 ending Words Posted by Ginny on Jan 13, 2010
With a verb like 쓰다 (to write, to use) the standard polite conjugation will be 써요 in the present tense. To form the standard polite ending of 으 ending verbs, drop the 다, like the 다 in 쓰다 and change the 으 vowel in 쓰다 to an 어 vowel. Now try conjugating the adjective 크다…
Special Honorific Words Posted by Ginny on Jan 10, 2010
There are certain verbs that look unrecognizable in the honorific. Take the verb 먹다 (to eat). In the honorific polite it would be 잡수세요 or 드세요. Just be careful about when to use 잡수세요 and 드세요. The two aren’t always interchangeable. When it comes to solid foods like rice both 잡수세요 and 드세요 will work. However…