Lesson 8: Korean Adverbs, Negative Sentences in Korean

Examples:
그 기계는 너무 무거워요 = That machine is very heavy
회사는 기계를 대체했어 = The company replaced the machine

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “대학꾜”

Common Usages:
대학생 = university student
대학교를 다니다 = to attend a university
서울대학교 = Seoul National University

Examples:
저는 서울대학교를 다녀요 = I go to (attend) Seoul University
한국에서 대학교는 고등학교보다 덜 어려워요 = In Korea, University is not as hard as high school
어느 대학교를 다녀요? = Which university do you go to?
어느 대학교를 졸업했어요? = Which university did you graduate from?
저는 10년 전에 서울대학교를 졸업했어요 = I graduated from Seoul University 10 years ago
대학교에 가고 싶다면 열심히 공부해야 해요 = If you want to go to university, you have to study hard
아들이 대학교를 졸업해서 우리는 축하를 해야 돼요 = Now that our son has graduated from University, we need to congratulate him
원래 대학교에 갈 계획이 있었지만 수능을 잘 못 봐서 대학교에 갈 수 없었어요 = I had plans to go to university, but I couldn’t get in because I did poorly on the SAT test

Notes:
Korean pronunciation of the English word “truck”

Example:
그 고속도로에서 트럭을 운전해서는 안 돼요 = You must not drive a truck on that highway

Notes: This is a combination of the adjective “검다” (black) and “색” (color). Put together, the word is a noun that means “the color black,” but is often placed before nouns to describe them (like an adjective) anyways. Therefore, you can often see this (and other words of color) used before a noun to describe it and also at the end of a sentence (attached to 이다).

When Korean people describe something by color in English, they will often say something like “I like the black-colored shirt.” This is the result of them directly translating “검은색 셔츠,” whereas in English we would just say “black shirt.”

Examples:
At the end of a sentence: 저의 차는 검은색이에요 = My car is black
(Notice 이다 is used because 검은색 is a noun)

Before a noun: 저는 검은색 차를 좋아해요 = I like black cars

Notes:
See “black” above. 흰색 is a combination of “희다” and “색”

Example:
흰색 셔츠를 입은 여자가 예뻐요 = The girl wearing the white shirt is pretty
흰색 구두를 신고 있다 = I am wearing white shoes/boots

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “음뇨수”

Notes:
This is commonly used to refer to drinks like Coke, cider (which is similar to Sprite) and other carbonated beverages.

Example:
음료수를 주문할래요? = Shall we order some drinks?
이 뷔페가격은 음료수를 포함해요 = This buffet price includes dinks

Common Usages:
외국인 = foreigner
외국 사람 = foreigner
외국어 = foreign language

Examples:
저는 1년 동안 영어를 외국에서 공부했어요 = I studied English in a foreign country for 1 year
저는 2년 동안 외국에서 살았어요 = I lived in a foreign country for 2 years

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “외구긴”

Example:
의정부에서 외국인이 많아요 = There are a lot of foreigners in Uijeongbu

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “고등학꾜”

Common Usages:
고등학생 = high school student
고등학교를 다니다 = to attend a high school

Example:
저는 고등학교를 다니고 있어요 = I am attending a high school
우리 딸은 그 고등학교를 다녀요 = Our daughter attends that high school
한국에서 대학교는 고등학교보다 덜 어려워요 = In Korea, University is not as hard as high school
중학교 또는 고등학교를 다녀요? = Do you go to middle school or high school?
고등학교는 한국에서 어려워요 = High school is difficult in Korea
그 선생님은 국립고등학교에서 일하셔요 = That teacher works at a public (high) school

Examples:
저는 도서관에 어제 갔어요 = I went to the library yesterday
도서관이 조용해서 거기서 공부하고 싶어요 = I want to study at the library because it is quiet
내일 도서관에 갈까? = Shall we go to the library tomorrow?

Common Usages:
이곳 = this place (here)
그곳 = that place (there)
저곳 = that place (there)
곳곳 = here and there, everywhere

Example: 그곳에 사람이 없어요 = There are no people at that place
저는 제가 자주 가는 곳에 가고 있어요 = I am going to the place I often go to
여기가 내가 근무하던 곳이야 = This place (here) is the place that I worked
우리가 지난 번에 먹었던 곳에서 먹고 싶어요  = I want to eat at the place that we ate at last time

이곳에 근무하던 우체국 직원이 삶을 영원히 포기했어요
= The worker/employee who used to work at this post-office gave up on his life forever

하지만 펭귄이 있는 곳은 동물원 입구에서 멀다고 하니 아빠와 나는 우선 다른 동물들을 먼저 봤다
= But (because) the place the penguins are was said to be far from the zoo entrance, so Dad and I saw other animals first

Examples: 모든 학생들은 동시에 교실에서 나왔어요
= All the students came out of the classroom at the same time

 대학교 때 동시에 여자 친구가 두 명 있었어요
= I had two girlfriends at the same time during university

인터넷으로 동시에 수백 개의 물품을 사서는 안 돼요
= You shouldn’t buy hundreds of items from the internet at the same time

이 프로그램이 10개의 나라에서 동시에 방송되고 있다
= This program is being broadcasted in 10 countries simultaneously

사랑, 성공, 명예 모두를 동시에 성취하는 일은 쉽지 않아서 우선순위를 정하는 게 중요해요
= It is not easy to achieve love, success and honor all at the same time, so it is important to prioritize them

Common Usages:
오늘 밤 = tonight
어젯밤 = last night
내일 밤 = tomorrow night

Examples:
오늘 밤에 뭐 할 거예요? = What are you doing tonight?
저는 아침부터 밤까지 공부만 했어요 = From morning to night, I only studied
저는 밤에만 운동해요 = I exercise only at night
오늘 밤에 뭐 하고 싶어요? = What do you want to do tonight?

This word appears in my Korean Sign Explanation Video 5.

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “어제빰”

Notes: When two nouns are combined together to make one noun, and the first noun does not end in a consonant, the consonant ‘ㅅ’ is added purely for ease of pronunciation.

Examples:
우리는 어젯밤에 밥을 많이 먹었어요 = We ate a lot last night
저는 어젯밤에 잘 잤어요 = I slept well last night
저는 어젯밤에 이상한 꿈을 꿨어요 = I had a strange dream last night

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “낟”

Common Usages:
낮잠을 자다 = to take a nap (day sleep)

Example:
그 사람은 일을 안 하고 낮에 잠을 자기만 해요 = That person doesn’t work and just sleeps during the day
저는 커피를 낮에만 마셔요 = I drink coffee only during the day

This word appears in my Korean Sign Explanation Video 5.

Common Usages:
동양 = the East
동양문명 = Eastern Civilization

Example:
토론토는 동양시장이 많아요 = Toronto has a lot of Eastern (Oriental) markets

Common Usages:
남아메리카 = South America
남극 = South Pole
남극대륙 = Antarctica

Example:
부산은 한국 남쪽에 있어요 = Busan is in the south of Korea

Common Usages:
서양 = the West
서양문명 = Western Civilization

Example:
서양사람들은 동양사람들과 달라요 = Western people are different than Eastern people

Common Usages:
북아메리카 = North America
북극 = North Pole
북극곰 = polar bear
북한 = the name of “North Korea” to South Korean people

Example:
의정부는 서울 북쪽에 있어요 = Uijeongbu is north of Seoul

놀다 follows the ㄹ irregular

Common Usages:
놀이공원 = amusement park
놀이터 = playground
물놀이 = to play in water

Notes:
Although “playing” is usually reserved for kids in English, adults in Korean will also say that they “play” with friends. This typically meets that they met and had a good time.

Example: 저는 어제 친구랑 놀았어요 = I played with a friend yesterday
아이들은 나무 주위에서 놀고 있어요 = The children are playing around the tree
저는 보통 친구들과 시내에서 놀아요 = I usually play with (meet) my friends downtown

쓰다 follows the ㅡ irregular

Common Usages:
아껴 쓰다 = to save (to use and save)

Notes: 사용하다 is another common way to say “use”

Example: 제가 이것을 써도 돼요? = May I use this?
한국 사람들은 밥을 먹을 때 젓가락을 써요 = Korean people use chopsticks when they eat
가뭄 때문에 물을 아껴 써야 돼요 = We need to save/conserve water because of the drought
요즘에는 사람들이 수표를 안 써요 = These days, people don’t use cheques
그 쿠폰을 VIPS에서도 쓸 수 있어요? = Can you use that coupon at VIPS too?

저 컴퓨터가 고장이 나서 다른 컴퓨터를 써야 됩니다
= You have to use another computer because that one is broken

중국 사람들은 소금을 뿌리는 것 대신에 음식에 간장을 써요
= Instead of using salt, Chinese people put/use soy sauce on their food

우리가 벌써 6월에 쓸 수 있는 인터넷 용량 제한을 넘었어요
= We already went over the data/space limit (data cap) that we can use for June

친구들끼리는 반말을 쓰고, 어른들과 대화를 할 때는 존댓말을 써요
= Use informal/casual speech among friends, and when conversing with adults, use formal speech

Common Usages:
편지를 쓰다 = to write a letter
펜으로 쓰다 = to write with a pen

Example: 저는 저의 여자 친구를 위해 편지를 썼어요 = I wrote a letter for my girlfriend
저는 부장님을 위해서 이것을 썼어요 = I wrote this for my boss
저는 여자친구를 위해 편지를 쓰고 싶어요 = I want to write a letter for my girlfriend
저는 펜으로 쓰고 싶어요 = I want to write with a pen
그는 손등에 뭔가를 썼어요 = He wrote something on the back of his hand

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “실쑤하다”

The noun form of this word (“실수”) translates to “a mistake”

Notes:
By adding “~하다” you can say “to make a mistake”

Example:
범죄자는 그의 실수를 인정했어요 = The criminal acknowledged his mistakes
제 행동은 실수인 것을 깨달았어요 = I realized that my actions (what I did) is/was a mistake

Examples:
그는 고장 난 컴퓨터를 수리했어요 = He repaired the broken computer
복사기를 수리해야 되었어요 = We had to repair the photocopier
집주인이 물이 흘러나올까 봐 지붕을 수리했어요 = The landlord was worried that water would flow in, so he fixed up (repaired) the roof

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “잡따”

Common Usages:
자리를 잡다 = to take a place and sit down
손을 잡다 = to hold one’s hand
꽉 잡다 = to hold on tight(ly)

Example:
저는 공을 잡았어요 = I caught the ball
그는 직업을 바꿀 수 있는 기회를 잡았어요 = He seized the opportunity to change jobs

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “익따”

Common Usages:
책을 읽다 = to read a book

Examples:
저는 이제 더 읽기 싫어요 = I don’t want to read anymore
저는 그 책을 읽고 싶어요 = I want to read that book
저는 1년에 책 열 권을 읽을 수 있어요 = I can read ten books in one year
어떤 소설을 읽고 있어요? Which novel are you reading?

Common Usages:

청구서를 내다 = to pay a bill

Notes: 내다 can have many other meanings. See Lesson 14 for more information.

Examples:
이번에 제가 낼 거예요 = I will pay this time
아빠가 돈을 이미 낸 것 같아요 = It seems like dad already paid
우리가 청구서를 늦게라도 낼 거예요  = We are going to pay the bill, even if it is a little late

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “받따”

Common Usages:
감동 받다 = to be impressed (literally “to receive an impression”)
존경 받다 = to be respected (literally “to receive respect”)

See Lesson 14 for more information

Examples:
제가 보낸 돈을 받았어요? = Did you get the money that I sent?
저는 돈을 받았어요 = I received money
저는 저의 여자친구에게서 편지를 받았어요 = I received a letter from my girlfriend
그 문제에 관해 연수를 받았어요 = We/I received training about that problem
저는 당신의 말에 감동 받았어요 = I was impressed with what you said
저는 그 사람이 저에게 줄 선물을 받고 싶지 않아요 = I don’t want to accept the gift that that person will give me
만약 제가 선생님이라면 학생들에게 존경을 받고 싶을 거예요 = If I were a teacher, I would want to be respected by students

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “도차카다”

Example:
우리가 목적지에 거의 도착했어요 = We have almost arrived at our destination
우리가 내일 도착할 예정이에요 = We are scheduled to arrive tomorrow
저는 학교에 도착했어요 = I arrived at school
저는 8월 15일에 도착할 거예요 = I will arrive on August 15th

The noun form of this word (“여행”) translates to “a trip”

Common Usages:
신혼여행 = honeymoon (newlywed travel)
배낭여행 = backpacking

Examples:
저는 6개월 동안 여행했어요 = I traveled for 6 months
저는 하루 동안 여행했어요 = I traveled for 1 day
여행했을 때 사진을 많이 찍었어요 = When I traveled, I took a lot of pictures
그 여행은 길게 느껴졌어요 = That trip felt like a long time
저는 한국 어디나 여행하고 싶어요 = I want to travel everywhere in Korea
가장 여행하고 싶은 나라는 뭐에요? What country do you want to travel to the most?
여행할 때 옷을 많이 챙길 필요가 없어요 = I don’t need to pack a lot of clothes when I travel

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “완벼카다”

The noun form of this word “완벽” translates to “perfection”

Common Usages
완벽주의자 = perfectionist

Example:
그녀는 완벽한 선생님이에요 = She is a perfect teacher
그 단어로 완벽한 문장을 만들어 주세요 = Make a perfect/complete sentence using that word, please
그것은 완벽한 식사였습니다 = That was a perfect meal
저의 여자 친구가 완벽해서 저는 그녀를 사랑해요 = I love my girlfriend because she is perfect

Common Usages:
배가 아프다 = for one’s stomach to be sore
아픈 척하다 = to pretend to be sick

Notes:
This is used to indicate that you are sick (with a cold or something similar), and to indicate that a part of your body is sore.

Examples:
어제 운동을 해서 오늘 저의 팔이 아파요 = my arms are sore because I exercised yesterday
제가 너무 아파서 많이 먹을 수 없어요 = I can’t eat much because I am very sick
목이 아파요 = I have a sore throat
저의 몸이 너무 아파서 못 가요 = I can’t go because my body is so sore
저는 너무 많이 걸어서 지금 발이 아파요 = My feet are sore because I walked so much
할머니는 어제 아파서 입원했어요 = Grandma checked into the hospital yesterday because she was sick

Common Usages:
똑똑한 학생 = smart student

Examples:
우리 학교에는 똑똑한 학생들이 많아요 = There are a lot of smart students at our school
그 사람은 착하고 똑똑해요 = That person is kind and smart
여자들이 예뻐도 똑똑하지 않으면 매력이 없어요 = Regardless of how pretty girls are, if they are not smart, they have no charm
선생님들은 학생들보다 더 똑똑해요 = Teachers are smarter than students
저는 똑똑한 여자들만 좋아해요 = I only like smart girls
공부하지 않는 학생들은 똑똑하지 않아요 = Students who do not study are not smart
저는 저의 남동생보다 훨씬 똑똑해요 = I am way/much smarter than my brother

Common Usages:
중요성 = importance

Examples:
그 개념은 중요하지 않아요 = That concept is not important
가족은 가장 중요해요 = Family is the most important
학생들한테 영어회화는 중요하지 않아요 = English conversation isn’t important to Korean students
학생들이 영어를 배우는 것은 중요해요 = It is important for students to learn English
이 문제는 시민보건에 아주 중요한 것 같아요 = That problem is probably very important to the health of the citizens

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “점따”

Example:
그녀는 다른 사람보다 젊어 보여요 = She looks younger than other people

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “늑따”

Notes:
This is typically only used when somebody is actually old, not when somebody is comparatively older than somebody else.

Example:
늙은 아주머니는 넘어졌어요 = The old lady fell over

나쁘다 follows the ㅡ irregular

Common Usages:
나쁜 사람 = bad person
건강에 나쁘다 = for something to be unhealthy

Example:
그것은 건강에 나빠요 = That is bad for your health
그 사람의 상황은 나빠요 = That person’s situation is not good
그 학생의 태도가 나빠요 = That student’s attitude is bad
담배는 건강에 나빠요 = Cigarettes are bad for your health (unhealthy)
공기가 나빠서 저는 숨을 못 쉬어요 = I can’t breathe because the air is bad
나쁜 소식이 있어요 = There is some bad news
그 나쁜 짓을 왜 했어요? = Why did you do that (bad action)?
친구는 나쁜 학교에 가고 있어요 = My friend is going to the bad school

Notes:
바로 can be used to indicate that something happens immediately (in terms of time) or that something is “immediately” close to something (in terms of space.

Examples:
Time:
저는 바로 갔어요 = I left immediately
우리는 집에 와서 바로 잤어요 = We came home and went to sleep immediately
저는 책을 읽고 바로 잤어요 = I read the book and then slept immediately

Space:
은행이 학교 바로 옆에 있어요 = The bank is right (immediately) next to the school

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “즉씨”

Notes: 즉시 can only be used to indicate that something happens immediately (in terms of time). It is less common than 바로.

Example:
저는 그 무서운 것을 보고 즉시 뛰어갔어요 = I ran away immediately after I saw that scary thing

This word appears in my Korean Sign Explanation Video 4.

Notes: This is the adverb form of “빠르다”

Examples:
빨리 가자! = Let’s go quickly!
왜 너무 빨리 먹었어요? = Why did you eat so fast?
저는 너무 빨리 먹었어요 = I ate really fast
열심히 공부한 후에 실력은 빨리 늘었어요 = After studying hard, my skills have been increasing quickly
저는 어젯밤에 잠이 빨리 들었어요 = Last night I fell asleep quickly
우리 엄마는 집에 와서 빨리 요리했습니다 = Our/my mom came home and quickly cooked

Examples:
저는 서울에 자주 가요 = I go to Seoul often
한국어를 얼마나 자주 공부해요? = How often do you study Korean?
저의 할머니가 여기에 자주 안 오셔요 = My grandmother doesn’t come here often
저는 저의 친구를 자주 만나요 = I meet my friend often
여자 친구를 얼마나 자주 만나요? = How often do you meet your girlfriend?
저는 자주 옷을 충동적으로 사요 = I often buy clothes impulsively

Notes: In English, we would never say “very sometimes,” but in Korean “아주 가끔” is commonly used to stress that something happens “only sometimes.”

Example:
저는 서울에 가끔 가요 = I go to Seoul sometimes
저는 가끔 너무 많이 먹어요 = I eat too much sometimes

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “마니

Notes:
This is the adverb form of “많다”

Examples:
저는 저의 여자 친구에게 선물을 많이 줬어요 = I gave my girlfriend a lot of presents
저는 밥을 많이 먹었어요 = I ate a lot of rice
저는 야채를 많이 먹겠습니다 = I will eat a lot of vegetables
우리는 이번 시간에 많이 배웠어 = We learned a lot this time
저는 친구들로부터 사랑을 많이 받았어요 = I received a lot of love from friends
저의 친구의 한국어 실력이 많이 늘었어요 = My friend’s Korean (skills) really increased/got better
돈을 얼마나 많이 가져갈 거예요? = How much money will you bring?

Examples: 그는 방금 나갔어요 = He just left
저는 방금 뭔가(를) 봤어요 = I just saw something a minute ago
방금 들어온 사람은 우리 가게에 자주 오던 손님이야  = The person who just came in is a customer who comes to the store often

The pronunciation of this word is closer to “갑짜기”

Examples: 그 사람은 갑자기 밖에 나갔어요 = That person suddenly went out
맑던 하늘이 갑자기 어두워졌어요 = The sky that I recall being clear until now suddenly became dark
날씨가 춥다가 갑자기 더워졌어요 = The weather was cold, and then suddenly became hot
침실에서 자다가 갑자기 돌아가셨어요 = While sleeping in the bedroom, he suddenly passed away

사람이 갑자기 많이 와서 저는 그냥 비켜섰어요
= All of a sudden many people came, so I just stepped aside

그 사람의 얼굴이 기억 안 났지만 갑자기 제 꿈에 나타났어요
= I had forgotten that person’s face, but it suddenly appeared to me in my dream

Examples:
저는 매년 한국에 가요 = I go to Korea every year
매년 여름, 이 지역에는 홍수가 나요 = A flood occurs every summer in this area

그 대학교는 매년 교환학생 100명을 받아요
= That university receives 100 exchange students every year

매년 말에 한 해를 마무리하는 행사가 많아요
= There are a lot of events that close out the year at the end of every year

한국의 교통비는 매년 오르고 있어요
= Transportation fees (the fare for buses and subways) are going up every year in Korea

건강검진을 받든지 안 받든지 매년 정부에 보험료를 내야 돼요
= It doesn’t matter if you get a health check every year or not, you need to pay insurance fees to the government every year

Common Usages:
다시 한 번 = one more time

Example:
저는 시험을 다시 봐야 될 것 같아요 = I will probably have to write the exam again
제가 어제 만난 사람은 저를 다시 만나고 싶어요 = The person I met yesterday wants to meet me again
저는 밥을 벌써 먹어서 다시 안 먹어도 돼요 = I don’t need to eat again because I already did

Notes:
“혼자서” is often used as well

Example:
저는 혼자 살아요 = I live alone
저는 엄마가 밥을 왜 혼자 먹은지 몰라요 = I don’t know why mom ate by herself (alone
우리 아들은 자기 일을 항상 혼자 하고 싶어요 = Our son always wants to do his work alone
저는 운동을 혼자 할 수 있어요 = I can exercise by myself

Notes
안 is placed before a verb or adjective to turn it into a negative word. The meaning is synonymous to ~지 않다.

Examples
그 여자는 안 아름다워요 = That girl is not beautiful
저는 마지막 것을 안 봤어요 = I didn’t see the last thing
아침식사를 안 먹었어요 = I didn’t eat breakfast
저는 술을 안 마시고 싶어요 = I don’t want to drink alcohol
방학 동안 집에 안 갔습니까? = You didn’t go home during vacation?
소금을 많이 먹는 것은 건강에 안 좋아요 = It is not healthy to eat a lot of salt