Lesson 29: Changing Verbs to Nouns with ~기 and 음/ㅁ

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Changing Verbs to Nouns ~기
~기 시작하다
~기 싫다
Actual Words
Making Lists
Buttons

Vocabulary

Click on the English word to see information and examples of that word in use. You will probably be able to understand most of the grammar in these example sentences, but some of the sentences might use grammar from later lessons. Use these sentences to give yourself a feel for how each word can be used.

A PDF file neatly presenting these words and extra information can be found here.

Nouns:
싸움 = a fight

기쁨 = happiness, gladness

도움 = help

걸음 = step

죽음 = death

느낌 = a feeling

행정 = administration

구역 = zone, area

보행자 = pedestrian

좌석 = seat

사전 = dictionary

언어 = language

국어 = the Korean language

노동자 = laborer

음악가 = musician

능력 = capabilities

자료 = data

제품 = products

사업 = business

감정 = emotion

쌀 = uncooked rice

방송 = broadcast

접시 = plate

역할 = role

정보 = information

모양 = shape

마을 = village/town

합법 = legal

불법 = illegal

효과 = effects

순간 = moment, second

Verbs:
확대하다 = to expand, to enlarge

검색하다 = to search for, to surf the internet

훔치다 = to steal

즐기다 = to enjoy oneself

변하다 = to have changed

붙이다 = to stick/stamp/label/attach

쳐다보다 = to stare

모이다 = to gather, to congregate

낳다 = to give birth

넘다 = to cross over, to climb over

주차하다 = to park a car

보호하다 = to protect

표현하다 = to express

Passive Verbs:
붙다 = to be stuck

Adverbs and Other words:
현대 = modern times

직접 = directly

스스로 = for oneself/by oneself

For help memorizing these words, try using our mobile app.

Introduction

In the past few lessons, you have learned a lot about adding ~는 (or ㄴ/은 for past tense and ㄹ/을 for future tense) to verb stems to turn them into descriptive words that can describe nouns. One more time, for example:

밥을 먹다 = to eat rice
밥을 먹는 사람 = the person who eats rice

빨리 가다 = to go fast
내가 빨리 가는 곳 = the place I am going to fast

A lot of times, the noun following the descriptive verb is 것, which allows an entire sentence to be turned into a noun:

나는 사과를 가져온다 = I bring apples – is a sentence
내가 사과를 가져오는 것 – is the same sentence as above, but in noun form. This noun can now be placed in other sentences just like other nouns:

나의 여자 친구는 내가 사과를 가져오는 것을 원했다 = My girlfriend wanted me to bring apples

So that’s what you already know. What you don’t know is that in addition to the ~는 것 principle, there are other ways that you can modify verbs to change them into nouns. We will look at this today.

Changing Verbs to Nouns ~기

Adding ~기 to the stem of a verb changes that verb into a noun. The noun can technically be used like any other noun:

가다 = to go
가기 = the noun form of “to go”

읽다 = to read
읽기 = the noun form of “to read”

먹다 = to eat
먹기 = the noun form of “to eat”

So… the million dollar question is, “what is the difference between ‘~는 것’ and ‘~기’?”

Well, first, notice exactly what ~는 것 is. Adding ~는 to a verb stem allows you to describe nouns (것, 사람, 음식, etc…). Adding ~기 to a verb stem does not allow you to describe anything. It just turns verbs into nouns.

But, turning verbs into nouns is one of the functions of ~는 것. Remember, there are two main functions of ~는 것:

1) To change verbs into things that can describe nouns:
밥을 먹고 있는 사람 = the person who is eating rice

2) To change a clause into a noun
사과를 가져오는 것 = the noun form of “to bring apples” – “bringing apples”

Adding ~기 is essentially the same as the second function described above. That is, you can use ~기 to turn a clause into a noun – but you cannot use ~기 to describe nouns. So this:

내가 사과를 가져오는 것 and 내가 사과를 가져오기 essentially have the same meaning, being “the noun form of “to bring apples.”

Which means you can use ~기 in sentences like:

나의 여자 친구는 내가 사과를 가져오기를 원해 = My girlfriend wants me to bring apples

Technically you can say it that way, but I very rarely hear verbs turned into nouns using ~기 in that way. If you ask a Korean person, they will say that sentence sounds fine, but somebody like me who analyzes grammar will notice that it is not used as much as “나의 여자 친구는 내가 사과를 가져오는 것을 원해.”

However, there are certain cases where using ~기 is more natural than using ~는 것. In later lessons, you will see ~기 used in various grammatical principles. For example:

~기 때문에 (Lesson 38)
~기도 하고 (Lesson 51)
~기 바라다 (Lesson 61)
~기로 하다 (Lesson 87)

Before you see ~기 being applied in those grammatical principles, I would like to introduce some simple, practical uses of ~기 that you can use right away.

~기 시작하다

When one “starts” an action, you can attach ~기 to the verb that starts to occur followed by 시작하다. For example:

가다 = to go
가기 시작하다 = to start to go

먹다 = to eat
먹기 시작하다 = to start to eat

These types of constructions can then be placed in sentences. For example:

나는 밥을 벌써 먹기 시작했어 = I already started to eat
다음 달에 한국어를 배우기 시작할 거야 = I will start learning Korean next month

어제부터 사람들이 거기서 모이기 시작했어요
= People started gathering there from yesterday

쌀을 물에 넣은 후에 쌀의 색깔이 변하기 시작했어요
= After I put the rice in the water, the color of the rice started to change

이상한 행동을 한 다음에 사람들이 저를 쳐다보기 시작했어요
= After acting strangely, people started staring at me

When you want to say that you stop something, it is more common to use the ~는 것 form:

다음 달에 한국어를 배우기 시작할 거야 = I will start learning Korean next month
다음 달에 한국어를 배우는 것을 그만할 거야 = I will stop learning Korean next month

~기 싫다

It is also very common to put verbs before ~기 싫다 to indicate that you don’t want to do something. Literally, this translates to “I don’t like _____”

밥을 먹기 싫어 = I don’t want to eat
가기 싫어 = I don’t want to go
쌀을 씻기 싫어요 = I don’t want to wash the rice

It is possible to use this with the word 좋다 (the opposite of 싫다), however, it is not that common in Korean. Instead, it sounds more natural to use ~고 싶다.

Actual Words

There are also a handful of words where it is common to use the ~기 form as an actual word.

For example, if you are going for a run, I could use the word “달리기”
저는 달리기를 할 거예요 = I will go for a run

The word for skipping (jump-rope skipping) is the word 줄 (rope) combined with the word 넘다 (going over) with ~기:
저는 줄넘기를 못해요 = I’m bad at skipping

When writing a language test, there will often be many sections. For example, there might be a “writing” section, a “reading” section and a “listening” section:

Writing = 쓰기
Reading = 읽기
Listening = 듣기

Here’s an example of these actually being used in a sentence:

Person 1: 시험은 어땠어?
Person 2: 쓰기랑 듣기는 너무 어려웠어. 하지만 읽기는 너무 쉬웠어.

Person 1: How was the exam?
Person 2: The writing and listening (parts) were really hard. But the reading (part) was really easy.

Making Lists
When making a list of things that you are going to do, it is also common to end the phrase by using ~기. This essentially makes the entire phrase a noun, which is similar to what we do in English. For example, if I made a to-do list, I could write:

커피를 만들기 = Make coffee
책상을 정리하기 = Organize my desk
방 청소하기 = Clean my room
쌀을 사기 = Buy rice
인터넷에 자료를 검색하기 = Look for data on the internet

Another example; if I made a list of goals for myself for the year, I could write:

매일매일을 즐기기 = Enjoy every day
집 청소를 매일 하기 = Clean the house every day
숙제를 매일 하기 = Do my homework every day
감정을 표현하기 = Show my emotions
책을 매일 읽기 = Read books every day
운동을 등록하기 = Register at a gym (to exercise)

Here’s a list that appears on a Korean street sign. You can see that ~기 is used. Watch me break this down, along with all of the other grammar and vocabulary in the sign.

Buttons
On a computer, if you wanted to “zoom” in on a picture, you would press the “zoom” button. In Korean, the verb “zoom” is “확대하다.” On Korean computers, they usually don’t put verbs on buttons on the screen – instead they put the noun form of the verb. For ~하다 verbs, the noun form is easy to find. The noun form of 확대하다 is 확대. Simple.

But, what is the noun form of 보다? (to see)

What about 열다? (to open)

If you wanted to see something on a Korean screen, or click on the “view” button at the top of every screen, you would have to press “보기.”

If you wanted to open something, you could press the “열기” button.

Want to close something? Press “닫기.”

Want to search? You might see a “찾기” button or “검색” – which is the noun form of 검색하다 also meaning “search/find.”

Want to send an e-mail? You would have to press “보내기.”

There are a lot of applications for ~기, they just might not seem apparent at the moment. As you learn more and more Korean grammar, you will see that there will be more applications where you can use ~기. In later lessons, you will see ~기 paired up with other grammatical principals.

Up to now, the applications you should be aware of are:

1) Turning any verb into a noun: 사과를 가져오기, 달리기
2) Put before 시작하다: 먹기 시작했다
3) Put before 싫다: 먹기 싫어
4) Making Lists: 쌀을 사기
5) On buttons: 보내기

Before we go any further, let’s look at another way you can turn verbs (or even adjectives) into nouns.

Changing Verbs/Adjectives to Nouns ~ㅁ/음

Adding ㅁ/음 to verbs or adjectives to turn them into nouns. ㅁ gets added to stems ending in a vowel, and 음 gets added after stems that end in a consonant.

This form can be used to change entire sentences into noun forms, just like with ~는 것:

나는 네가 먹고 있는 것을 알았어 = I knew you were eating
나는 네가 먹고 있기를 알았어 – sounds wrong to a Korean person, but would look correct to a foreign learner of Korean
나는 네가 먹고 있음을 알았어 = I knew you were eating

Like I said earlier. You can use ㅁ/음 to turn entire sentences into nouns, but this is rarely done in speech. It is done much more commonly in books/poems (for whatever reason).

The main usage of ㅁ/음 is to turn single words (verbs or adjectives) into nouns, and not full sentences. Some of these you may have already come across:

싸우다 = to fight
싸움 = a fight

꾸다 = to dream
꿈 = a dream

아프다 = to be sore/sick
아픔 = pain

기쁘다 = to be happy/glad
기쁨 = happiness/gladness

돕다 = to help
도움 = help

죽다 = to die
죽음 = death

걷다 = to walk
걸음 = a step

느끼다 = to feel
느낌 = a feeling

Adding ㅁ/음 to verbs/adjectives is usually done to words that don’t end in 하다. The reason for this is because there is already a very simple way to make a 하다 verb/adjective a noun – by removing the 하다 from the rest of the word (설명하다 = to explain – 설명 = an explanation).

These noun form words can then be added to sentences as usual:
나는 형이랑 싸움에서 이겼어 = I won in a fight with my brother
나는 아빠의 죽음을 잊지 않았어 = I didn’t forget the death of my father

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In Lesson 7, you learned how irregular words change as a result of adding different additions. This is the first time you have been introduced to adding ~ㅁ/음. Let’s look at how irregulars change as a result of adding this grammatical principle.

The ㅅ irregular, ㄷ irregular and ㅂ irregular all follow the same rules that were introduced in Lesson 7. The addition of the vowel causes a change (or elimination) of the last letter of the stem.

The ㅡ and 르 irregular are not affected by this addition.
Adding ~ㅁ/음 to a word that follows the ㄹ irregular brings about a change you are not familiar with. Normally, you would add ~ㅁto the stem of a word ending in a vowel, and ~음 to the stem of a word ending in a consonant. For example:
- 싸우다 + ~ㅁ/음 = 싸움
- 죽다 + ~ㅁ/음 = 죽음
However, when you add ~ㅁ/음 to a stem of a word that ends in ㄹ, ㅁ is added beside the ㄹ and a double consonant is created. Korean people often don’t even know this rule.In fact, this is how some common nouns are created in Korean. The verb 살다 means “to live.” The addition of ㅁ to the stem of the verb creates the noun “삶,” meaning “life” or “living.”
Adding ~ㅁ/음 causes a change to ㅎ irregular words. The ㅎ is removed, and ~ㅁ is added to the stem. For example:
- 그렇다 + ~ㅁ/음 = 그럼

Below is a table showing the changes that result from adding ~ㅁ/음 to a word.

Irregular	Word	+ ~ㅁ/음
ㅅ Irregular	짓다 (to build)	지음
ㄷ Irregular	걷다 (to walk)	걸음
ㅂ Irregular	쉽다 (to be easy)	쉬움
ㅂ Irregular	돕다 (to help)	도움
ㅡ Irregular	잠그다 (to lock)	잠금
르 Irregular	다르다 (to be different)	다름
ㄹIrregular	살다 (to live)	삶
ㅎ Irregular	그렇다 (to be like that)	그럼

Notice that I also included the word 돕다. As you learned in Lesson 7 – ㅂ changes to 오 when ~아/어 (or any derivative) is added. When any other vowel is added, ㅂ changes to 우 as you can see above.

You will see these same changes to irregulars anytime you add something that begins in ~ㅁ/음. For example:

~ㅁ/음에도 (Lesson 74)

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In Lesson 23, you learned about the word 그렇다. ~ㅁ/음 is commonly added to this word when somebody asks a question and you just say “yeah, of course.” This is basically the same as saying “yes,” but it would be more like “Yes, it is like that.” For example:

운동을 매일 해요? = Do you exercise every day?
그럼요 = Yes (it is like that)

차를 스스로 주차했어요? = Did you park the car by yourself?
그럼요 = Yes (it is like that)

Notice that you can add “요” to make the response formal. In informal situations, this can be removed.

This is one of the usages of 그럼. 그럼 actually has other usages, but these are actually a contraction of a grammatical principal that you haven’t learned yet, so I will not introduce you to these here.

Here’s a Korean sign that uses ~ㅁ/음. Watch me break this down, along with all of the other grammar and vocabulary in the sign.

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