한국어 Korean

1. Particle? Postposition? Although 조사 is often translated into a particle, I prefer the term postposition. I think the word particle focuses on its meanings while postposition on its functions. Particle means an adverb or preposition that forms a verb phrase together with a verb. However, 조사s are mainly attached after 체언(nouns, pronouns, and numerals), and they are not adverbs. In contrast, pos..

The concept of adverbs is quite similar to that in English, so they are easy to understand. In Korean Language, adverbs modify verbs(동사), adjectives(형용사), determiners(관형사), other adverbs(다른 부사), or a whole sentence(문장 전체). 빨리 가자. Let's go in a hurry. (modifies a verb) 꽃이 정말 예쁘다. This flower is so beautiful. (modifies an adjective) 너무 헌 물건은 좀 버려라. Throw away things that are too old. (modifies a d..

There are 3 subclasses of 관형사, which are demonstrative(지시 관형사), numeral(수 관형사), and adjective(성상 관형사). Is it necessary to know to which category a determiner belongs? Unless you are going to major in the Korean Language, not really. Nevertheless, taking a look at its subclasses will help you understand this part of speech even more. 1. Demonstrative Determiners(지시 관형사) The most basic demonstrati..

관형사 is translated into the determiner, but they are not precisely the same. 관형사 is a unique part of speech in Korean, and its role is to modify the following noun, pronoun, or numeral(the three of them are subclasses of 체언). It unconditionally comes before 체언, and cannot be used without it. 관형사 has three characteristics. 1. It can neither conjugate nor be used as a predicate. This distinguishes ..

Numeral(수사) Numerals represent numbers. There are two flowers in the photo. Each flower has 4 petals. 꽃이 둘 피었다(Two flowers bloomed). 꽃잎이 넷이다(There are four petals). Numerals, like nouns and pronouns, play the main role in sentences. There are two criteria to divide numerals into two groups each. Criterion 1: whether they indicate quantity or order Criterion 2: whether they are from pure Korean w..

Pronoun(대명사) Pronouns indicate nouns and are used instead of them. There are two kinds of pronouns in Korean: personal pronouns and demonstrative pronouns. A man, 수민, is looking at a flower. In Korean, we can say this: 수민이가 꽃을 본다(Sumin looks at a flower). And then, the following sentence could be 그는 그것을 좋아한다(He likes it). 그 is a personal pronoun that refers to 수민(이), while 그것 is a demonstrative ..

Nouns, pronouns, and numerals compose a single group called Substantive(체언). You don't need to memorize this term. I just wanted to tell you that they play the same roles in sentences, which are mainly subject, object, and complement. Let's start with nouns. Noun(명사) Nouns represent names. Look at the photo on the left. In the center, there is 꽃[꼳](flower). We can also call it by its own name, 낮..

Part of Speech is the most important building block for a language. In the Korean language, there are 9 parts of speech. 1. 명사(Noun) 2. 대명사(Pronoun) 3. 수사(Numeral) 4. 관형사(Determiner) 5. 부사(Adverb) 6. 조사(Particle) 7. 감탄사(Exclamation) 8. 형용사(Adjective) 9. 동사(Verb) Here are 3 main differences between English and Korean: 1. There is no preposition. Instead, there are postpositional particles, which ..