Basics 1

To Be
In this lesson we're going to learn how to make some sentences using the verb ~이다, corresponding to the English
verb to be. Let's get started!

Nouns
Korean nouns do not decline for number, case, or gender. The noun is the noun. Period. Simpler than English.
However, Korean is an agglutinating or agglutinative language. Rather than changing the base noun depending on its
use in a sentence, extra pieces called particles are added to introduce more meaning. In general these pieces are added
to the end of the word.
While that may seem scary, agglutinating languages usually have very clear rules so that people don't get confused when
a basic word becomes buried inside a larger piece. The same is true for Korean. This means that you don't have to worry
about memorizing exceptions to the rules, like we do in English!

The and A(n)

Korean does not have articles, and only context tells you whether you would need a "the" if said in English. The article
"a(n)" is not used.

And
One common piece is and. Unlike in English where there is one word for "and" that can function in all situations, Korean
has several. We introduce three here; all of which are used with nouns.

Korean Example Usage

~하고 남자하고 Common in speaking

~와 남자와 Common in writing, after a vowel

~과 소년과 Common in writing, after a consonant

Topic and Subject
The most common, and trickiest, particles represent the topic and the subject of a sentences. These two particles
represent two different, but overlapping, ideas.

 The subject marker shows who is doing the action.

Korean Example Usage

~이 소년이 After a consonant

~가 남자가 After a vowel

 The topic marker shows what the speaker is talking about.

Korean Example Usage

~은 소년은 After a consonant

~는 남자는 After a vowel

Note: 는 is often contracted to -ㄴ in spoken language. (남자는 → 남잔)

The topic marker adds emphasis, contrast, or limits what is being talked about. 저 (meaning "I") becomes 제 before the
subject particle 가.

Usage Example Explanation

Limited topic 저는 여자입니다. (I Irrelevant of anyone else, I am

am a woman.) a woman. (May imply that
someone else might be as
well.)

Contrasting 저는 여자입니다. (I Unlike the others, I am a

topic am a woman.) woman.

Subject 제가 여자입니다. (I I am a woman. (May imply

am a woman.) that out of the given options, I
am the one who is a woman.)

은/는 can be used with general statements as well because you only want to talk about the notion as a group, and nothing
else.

Usage Example Explanation

General 빵은 음식입니다. Bread, for one, is food.

topic (Bread is food.)

General 빵이 음식입니다. Out of the given choices, it

subject (Bread is food.) is bread that is food.
A sentence may have several topics. Why a topic is not considered as a special case of a subject will be explained later.

Copula
The verb ~이다 is the only verb that is agglutinative.

English Korean

(It) is X. X입니다.*

Y is X. Y가/는 X입니다.

In the speech level (more about that later) we're using at this point in the course, this verb will always be realized as
~입니다 for a statement.

To Not Be
Korean has a separate verb, 아니다, which means "not to be." This verb is not agglutinative, and it comes after the thing
that the subject is not, or a complement. The complement particle is also 이/가. At this point, this will always be realized
as 아닙니다.

English Korean

(It) is not X. X가 아닙니다.*

Y is not X. Y가/는 X가 아닙니다.

PLURAL MARKER 들
There is a plural suffix, 들, but using 들 is often optional. It can be omitted if plurality is implied within the sentence, and is
otherwise necessary for animate nouns/people but uncommon with inanimate nouns.

들 is not used when making a general statement.

Korean English Usage

남자는 사람입니다. Men are people. General statement

남자들은 The men are Referring to actual,

사람입니다. people. specific men

의
As an exception, 의 as a particle (meaning of) can also be pronounced 에.

*Where is the subject?

When the subject (or any other sentence component) is well implied in the context, you may freely drop it in Korean,
though you will mostly see and be asked to submit full sentences here since translation exercises do not come with any
context. If you come across an incomplete sentence in this course, then the dropped component is probably people in
general (often translated to one or you), or something very obvious even without context.