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Vocabulary
Click on the English word to see information and examples of that word in use. Use these sentences to give yourself a feel for how each word can be used, and maybe even to expose yourself to the grammar that you will be learning shortly.
A PDF file neatly presenting these words and extra information can be found here.
Nouns:
붓 = paint brush
Examples:
저는 붓을 사러 서울에 갔어요
= I went to Seoul to buy paint brushes
그 화가는 붓으로 그림을 그렸다
= The painter painted with a paintbrush
여유 = sufficiency in time/space
Examples:
옛날에 돈이 없어서 아주 알뜰했었지만 지금 여유가 생겨서 풍족하게 사고 싶은 것을 사요
= A long time ago we didn’t have any money so we were very thrifty, but now we’ve got some to spare, so we are living well and can buy what we want
하지만 내가 하고 싶은 일을 시작해서 하루하루 잘 버티고 있다. 오늘은 오랜만에 여유가 있게 쉴 수 있는 날이다. 어제부터 오랜만에 쉴 생각을 하니 설레었다.
= But, because I’m starting work that I want to do, every day (day by day) I am enduring it well. Today is a day that I can rest leisurely/comfortably for the first time in a long time. From yesterday, because of the thought of resting for the first time in a while, I am excited.
시장 = mayor
Common Usages:
시장 선거 = election for mayor
Examples:
사람들이 그 시장이 나쁘다고 했었어요
= People used to say that mayor was bad
시장은 시민들의 안전을 위해 노력하고 있어요
= The mayor is working for the safety of the citizens
흉터 = scar
Common Usages:
흉터 치료 = scar treatment
흉터 연고 = scar ointment
흉터 제거 = removal of a scar
Example:
제가 어렸을 때 얼굴에 흉터가 있었었어요
= When I was younger I used to have a scar on my face
연꽃 = lily pad, lotus flower
Examples:
연꽃이 아름다운 연못을 장식하고 있었다
= The lily pads adorned the beautiful pond
거기 가기 전에는 연꽃이 얼마나 예쁜지 몰랐었어요
= Before I went there I had no idea how beautiful the lotus flowers were
풍경 = landscape
Examples:
아빠가 풍경을 보러 제주에 갔어요
= Dad went to Jeju to see the landscape
저의 미술 선생님이 우리가 지금 보는 풍경을 예쁘게 묘사했어요
= Our art teacher beautifully depicted the landscape we are looking at
애교 = charm
Common Usages:
애교가 많다 = to have a lot of charm
애교를 부리다 = to give off charm
애교쟁이 = one with a lot of charm
Examples:
보통 막내들이 집에서 제일 애교를 잘 부리고 사랑을 많이 받아요
= Usually, youngest children of families are good at using cuteness to receive lots of attention/love
그녀가 애교가 많아서 그녀를 잠깐 좋아했었어요
= She has a lot of charm, so I used to like her for a little bit
연금 = pension
Common Usages:
연금 보험 = pension insurance
연금 수령= receiving pension
Examples:
퇴직하자마자 연금을 받을 수 있습니다
= As soon as you retire, you can receive your pension
그 회사원들이 파업 중인 이유는 월급 문제가 아니라 연금에 대한 문제 때문이다
= The reason why those workers are on strike is not because of wages, but because of a problem with the pension
저는 연금을 받으러 캐나다에 갔어요
= I went to Canada to receive my pension
멸치 = anchovy
Notes: It is common to call a person who is really skinny a “멸치.”
Examples:
어렸을 때 멸치를 아예 안 먹었어요
= When I was young I didn’t eat anchovies at all
멸치는 한국 음식에서 중요한 재료 중 하나입니다
= Anchovies are an important ingredient in Korean cuisine
지름 = diameter
Common Usages;
반지름 = radius
Examples:
원을 그릴 때, 지름을 구해야 해요
= When drawing a circle, you need to measure the diameter
원주를 알면 그 동그라미의 지름을 계산할 수 있어요
= If we knew the circumference, we could calculate the diameter of that circle
지름길 = shortcut
Examples:
이길로 가면 지름길이야
= If we go this way, it will be a shortcut
어렸을 때 등교할 때마다 이 지름길로 다녔었어요
= When I was young I used to take this shortcut everytime I went to school
초보 = beginning, beginner
Notes: It is very common in Korea to see a sticker on the back of cars saying “초보” or “운전초보” to warn other drivers that one is learning how to drive.
Common Usages:
초보운전 = beginner driver
Examples:
그 프로그램은 운전 초보를 위한 다양한 정보를 제공해요
= The program provides various lessons for people new to driving
제가 운전을 처음 배웠을 때 초보 운전자 스티커를 붙이고 운전했었어요
= When I first learned how to drive, I drove around with a “beginner driver” sticker (on my car)
초보자 = beginner
Examples:
처음 수영을 배우는 초보자인가 봐요
= It appears that person is a beginner, learning how to swim
그녀는 초보자에게 디지털 녹음을 가르쳤다
= She taught digital recording to beginners
녹음실 = recording studio
Examples:
그들은 녹음실에서 새 앨범을 녹음하고 있어요
= They are recording a new album in the recording studio
제가 옛날에 이 녹음실에서 노래를 많이 녹음했었어요
= I used to record a lot of songs in this recording studio
불꽃 = flame/flare/blaze
Example:
불꽃이 하늘에 솟아 올랐어요 = Flames soared into the sky
불꽃놀이 = fireworks
Common Usages:
불꽃놀이를 하다 = to light off fireworks
Examples:
제가 고등학교 때 불꽃놀이를 아주 좋아했어요
= When I was in high school I really liked fireworks
Verbs:
존재하다 = to exist
The noun form of this verb “존재” translates to “existence”
Common Usages:
존재감 = presence
Examples:
왕비가 존재하는 나라는 현재 별로 많지 않아요
= There aren’t that many nations that currently have a queen
어렸을 때는 정말로 마법사가 존재한다고 생각했어요
= When I was young I thought witches really existed
생태계는 먹이사슬을 바탕으로 존재합니다
= The ecosystem is based on the food chain
오래 전에는 공룡이 실제로 존재했었어요
= A long time ago dinosaurs had once actually existed
녹음하다 = to record audio
The noun form of this verb “녹음” translates to “recording”
Common Usages:
음악을 녹음하다 = to record music
몰래 녹음하다 = to record somebody without them knowing
Examples:
요즘에 거의 모든 핸드폰에 음성 녹음 기능이 있어요
= These days almost all cell phones have a voice recording function
그들은 녹음실에서 새 앨범을 녹음하고 있어요
= They are recording a new album in the recording studio
수비하다 = to defend
The noun form of this verb “수비” translates to “defense”
Common Usages:
수비수 = defender
Examples:
우리가 경기에서 수비를 못해서 진 거예요
= We didn’t have a good defense in the game, so we lost
그 팀은 수비를 잘해서 상대팀을 막았어요
= The team defended against the opponent with excellent defense
Adjectives:
질기다 = to be tough, leathery
Examples:
그 고기는 너무 질기다
= The meat is too tough
그전에는 돈이 없어서 싼 질긴 고기밖에 못 먹었었어요
= Before then, we didn’t have any money so we couldn’t eat anything but cheap, tough meat
알뜰하다 = to be frugal, thrifty
Example:
옛날에 돈이 없어서 아주 알뜰했었지만 지금 여유가 생겨서 풍족하게 사고 싶은 것을 사요
= A long time ago we didn’t have any money so we were very thrifty, but now we’ve got some to spare, so we are living well and can buy what we want
풍족하다 = to be rich, to be well off
Example:
옛날에 돈이 없어서 아주 알뜰했었지만 지금 여유가 생겨서 풍족하게 사고 싶은 것을 사요
= A long time ago we didn’t have any money so we were very thrifty, but now we’ve got some to spare, so we are living well and can buy what we want
Adverbs:
아예 = not at all
Examples:
그 계좌에 돈이 아예 없어서 해지했어도 돼요
= There is no money in that account at all, so you could have closed it
이 사건과 저 사건의 관련성이 아예 없어요
= This incident has absolutely no relevance to that matter
어렸을 때 멸치를 아예 안 먹었어요
= When I was young I didn’t eat anchovies at all
3년 동안 취업하려고 했는데 일자리가 아예 없어서 입대했지 뭐
= I tried for three years to get a job, but there just aren’t any positions so I had to join the army
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Introduction
In this lesson, you will learn the meaning of a grammatical principle that, by this point, you have probably noticed a few times in your Korean studies. Have you ever seen words in the past tense conjugated with an additional ~었~? As in, 했었다 instead of 했다? In this lesson, we will look at the meaning of this additional ~었~. Let’s get started.
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The Past Perfect: ~었~
You learned way back in Lesson 5 how to conjugate verbs adjectives and 이다 to the past tense using ~았/었다. For example:
제가 고등학교 때 불꽃놀이를 아주 좋아했어요
= When I was in high school I really liked fireworks
어렸을 때 멸치를 아예 안 먹었어요
= When I was young I didn’t eat anchovies at all
사람들이 그 시장이 나쁘다고 했어요
= People said that mayor is bad
제가 운전을 처음 배웠을 때 초보 운전자 스티커를 붙이고 운전했어요
= When I first learned how to drive, I drove around with a “beginner driver” sticker (on my car)
You can attach an additional ~었~ to these past tense conjugations is to indicate that that action has since finished and is no longer occurring. Note that in most situations, when something is conjugated into the regular past tense this could be the case. For example, if we look at the first sentence above:
제가 고등학교 때 불꽃놀이를 아주 좋아했어요
In this sentence, the speaker is indicating that he/she liked fireworks. Just by the context of the sentence, it can probably be assumed that the speaker no longer likes fireworks. However, this is not specifically indicated and it is only implied from the situation in the sentence. Therefore, the person could technically still like fireworks, but there is no way of knowing from this one sentence.
The same could be said for the next sentence as well:
어렸을 때 멸치를 아예 안 먹었어요
In this sentence, the speaker is indicating that he didn’t eat anchovies at a young age. From this sentence alone, it is possible that he eats anchovies now. It could also be possible that he still doesn’t eat anchovies. The only information that is given is that he did not eat them when he was younger. We can’t make any assumptions regarding the present tense without more information.
The purpose of adding the additional ~었~ to a past tense conjugation is to eliminate this ambiguity. For example:
제가 고등학교 때 불꽃놀이를 아주 좋아했었어요
In this sentence, the use of ~었~ indicates that the situation in the past, it is not continuing to the present. In English this is called the “Past Perfect Tense,” which describes that something happened in the past and is no longer happening in the present. Compare this simply to the “Past Tense,” where it is ambiguous as to whether the action has continued to the present or not.
For example:
어렸을 때 멸치를 아예 안 먹었었어요
= When I was young I didn’t eat anchovies at all (but now I do)
사람들이 그 시장이 나쁘다고 했었어요
= People used to say that mayor was bad
제가 운전을 처음 배웠을 때 초보 운전자 스티커를 붙이고 운전했었어요
= When I first learned how to drive, I drove around with a “beginner driver” sticker (on my car) (but now I don’t)
~았~ is often used with 갔다 to indicate that one went somewhere and has since returned. When the speaker is the subject (the person who went) in a sentence like this, the meaning is essentially the same regardless of if you use ~었~ or not. For example:
저는 붓을 사러 서울에 갔어요
= I went to Seoul to buy paint brushes (it would be assumed from the situation that you are no longer in Seoul)
저는 붓을 사러 서울에 갔었어요
= I went to Seoul to buy paint brushes (and it is stated that you are no longer in Seoul)
저는 연금을 받으러 캐나다에 갔어요
= I went to Canada to receive my pension (and it is ambiguous if he is still there or not)
저는 연금을 받으러 캐나다에 갔었어요
= I went to Canada to receive my pension (and I am no longer there)
If the speaker is not the subject of the sentence, the effect of ~었~ is more apparent. For example:
아빠가 풍경을 보러 제주에 갔어요
= Dad went to Jeju to see the landscape (and it is ambiguous if he is still there or not)
아빠가 풍경을 보러 제주에 갔었어요
= Dad went to Jeju to see the landscape (and he has come back)
One way of conjugating this into English is to use the word “had.” For example:
제가 고등학교 때 불꽃놀이를 아주 좋아했었어요
= When I was in high school I had liked fireworks
어렸을 때 멸치를 아예 안 먹었었어요
= When I was young I had never eaten anchovies
제가 운전을 처음 배웠을 때 초보 운전자 스티커를 붙이고 운전했어요
= When I first learned how to drive, I had driven around with a “beginner driver” sticker (on my car)
사람들이 그 시장이 나쁘다고 했었어요
= People had said that major was bad
Below are many more examples:
오래 전에는 공룡이 실제로 존재했었어요
= A long time ago dinosaurs had once actually existed
제가 어렸을 때 얼굴에 흉터가 있었었어요
= When I was younger I used to have a scar on my face
옛날에 그 도시에는 사기꾼이 엄청 많았었어요
= A long time ago in that city, there used to be a lot of scammers
그녀가 애교가 많아서 그녀를 잠깐 좋아했었어요
= She has a lot of charm, so I used to like her for a little bit
어렸을 때 등교할 때마다 이 지름길로 다녔었어요
= When I was young I used to take this shortcut every time I went to school
거기 가기 전에는 연꽃이 얼마나 예쁜지 몰랐었어요
= Before I went there I had no idea how beautiful the lotus flowers were
제가 옛날에 이 녹음실에서 노래를 많이 녹음했었어요
= I used to record a lot of songs in this recording studio
그전에는 돈이 없어서 싼 질긴 고기밖에 못 먹었었어요
= Before then, we didn’t have any money so we couldn’t eat anything but cheap, tough meat
옛날에 돈이 없어서 아주 알뜰했었지만 지금 여유가 생겨서 풍족하게 사고 싶은 것을 사요
= A long time ago we didn’t have any money so we were very thrifty, but now we’ve got some to spare, so we are living well and can buy what we want
That’s it for this lesson!
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