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Korean Grammar #1 - Subjects, Objects, and Sentence Structur
  • QueenRinQueenRin
    April 2008
    OK, guys, here is our first Korean grammar lesson, I know you're all dying of excitement right? :P

    Today I'm going to show you guys how to construct a sentence in Korean. It's fairly simple, but the basic sentence structure is a bit different from English.

    English, as you probably already know, is a SVO language (Subject Verb Object.) This means that the verb follows the subject, and the object always comes after the verb. For example:

    Kelly (S) gave (v) me the book (O). (yes my examples are ghey)

    Korean is a SOV (Subject Object Verb) language, meaning everything in the sentence comes before the verb. The verb is always always always last.

    Unlike English, which has an extremely rigid word order for sentences (using the example above, try walking up to people and saying "Kelly me the book gave" and see how many strange looks you get), Korean is a lot more flexible, because they use short particles that attach to the noun that let you know whether the word is being used as a subject or object. Usually, the subject is first in a Korean sentence, but as long as the verb is at the end, and you use the correct particles for clarity, then your sentence is gramatically correct.

    So what are these particles? Let's take a look at them now.

    Subject Particles

    To denote a subject in Korean, there are two particles used, (ka) and t (i - pronounced ee). These particles attach directly to the noun. is used if the noun ends in a vowel, and t is used if the noun ends in a consonant.

    Exceptions:

    When
  • JunkoJunko
    April 2008
    YAY, SOV~! Korean just got a lot easier. <3
  • QueenRinQueenRin
    April 2008
    [quote="
  • JunkoJunko
    April 2008
    [quote="BakaRangerSteph"]
    <!--quoteo(post=78120:date=Apr 7 2008, 04:45 PM:name=
  • QueenRinQueenRin
    April 2008
    [quote="
  • JunkoJunko
    April 2008

    BakaRangerSteph:


    Well yeah it sounds silly in english xD but in other languages having the verb at the end is nice. hehe.

    i still want to learn japanese too, so hard to find time to learn all these languages lol.


    Awww, at least Korean is helping you with Japanese ^^ (and Japanese is helping me with Korean xD yay~)

    I could post lessons but idk if anyone would really care xD;
  • QueenRinQueenRin
    April 2008
    [quote="
  • JunkoJunko
    April 2008
    [quote="BakaRangerSteph"]
    <!--quoteo(post=78131:date=Apr 7 2008, 05:05 PM:name=
  • QueenRinQueenRin
    April 2008
    [quote="
  • IshabooIshaboo
    May 2008
    Well okay. Basically, I'm confused. I pretty much don't pay attention in English class so.. I don't have any idea what consonants and subject particles and everything is..pretty much. :/

    Like..how exactly do they teach little kids this? That'd make it a lot easier. =X
  • QueenRinQueenRin
    May 2008

    Ishaboo:


    Well okay. Basically, I'm confused. I pretty much don't pay attention in English class so.. I don't have any idea what consonants and subject particles and everything is..pretty much. :/

    Like..how exactly do they teach little kids this? That'd make it a lot easier. =X


    Don't know, I'm just going to school to be an english major, not specializing in teaching xD but okay, basic lesson.

    And, uh, it's complicated to explain consonants and vowels, especially in a non-complicated way xD The best way I can try to explain is that the general basis for deciding whether a sound is a consonant or vowel is if it undergoes any sort of obstruction (blockage) while traveling from the larynx out through the lips. Vowels will not undergo any sort of obstruction (in most cases) while consonants will. Of course, there are exceptions, and it's a very messy and complicated process.

    So my best advice to you is to go over the alphabet chart i've provided in my other post on learning Korean. And as you learn the Korean alphabet, also memorize whether it is a consonant or a vowel. Then you'll never be confused.

    As far as the subject particles go, since the sentence structure of Korean is very different from English (the verb goes at the end and other words in the sentence can be in any order), the subject particles are crucial to understanding the sentence. For example, as I said, in Korean, although the word order usually goes Subject Object Verb, it doesn't have to. So take these examples in English:

    Mary John book to gave
    John Mary book to gave

    Well, how do I know if John gave the book to Mary or Mary gave the book to John?
    It's easy to tell in Korean, because I just add one of the subject particles, or t ( if the noun ends in a vowel, t if the nou ends in a consonant.) Then I can tell who is the subject of the sentence, and therefore, who did the giving.

    Hope that helped a bit...and start paying attention in English class :P You can't learn a foreign language very well if you don't understand your own xD
  • IshabooIshaboo
    May 2008
    Bah I believe I'm hopeless. Dx But, I'll try..
  • QueenRinQueenRin
    May 2008

    Ishaboo:


    Bah I believe I'm hopeless. Dx But, I'll try..


    It's not so bad actually. Grammar's purpose is to provide our sentences with structure and clarity...i know there's a lot of terms that get tossed around but it really is worth taking the effort to learn it. Especially when you're learning a foreign language that's a lot different from your own, taking the time to get the grammar down is crucial, even though it's a really hard/frustrating process. There's a lot about Korean grammar that I don't understand yet, either, 'cause I'm still learning.
  • IshabooIshaboo
    May 2008
    Mmkay I guess. But I'm sure English won't be going over consonants, and vowels in the 9th grade. :o

    (next year)

    If they do, I'll be sure to listen. Especially since I'm taking English I Honors. :)
  • revivalDJ83revivalDJ83
    July 2008
    Hmm is there a kind of "pinyin" for Korean grammar and sentence structure? So it can be easier to read and pronounce it. Hopefully with the new Voice Chat in Korea Audition, we can see how we sound. Maybe open a room in 2-14 and learn? :lol:
  • QueenRinQueenRin
    July 2008

    revivalDJ83:


    Hmm is there a kind of "pinyin" for Korean grammar and sentence structure? So it can be easier to read and pronounce it. Hopefully with the new Voice Chat in Korea Audition, we can see how we sound. Maybe open a room in 2-14 and learn? :lol:


    there is a romanization system....actually there is more than one which can cause confusion sometimes.

    however, the hangul alphabet is really not difficult to learn....it took me 2 or 3 days to have it fully memorized. there are only about 40 characters, muuuuuuuuch easier than both chinese and japanese. i would highly recommend learning it because if you speak to korean people in romanized korean, they might have a difficult time understanding you.

    plus, why would you want to romanize it? hangul is cute/cool, it stacks up like little legos and stuff xD hahaha.
  • IshabooIshaboo
    July 2008

    BakaRangerSteph:


    <!--quoteo(post=83046:date=Jul 17 2008, 07:17 AM:name=revivalDJ83)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(revivalDJ83 4 Jul 17 2008, 07:17 AM) [snapback]83046[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
    Hmm is there a kind of "pinyin" for Korean grammar and sentence structure? So it can be easier to read and pronounce it. Hopefully with the new Voice Chat in Korea Audition, we can see how we sound. Maybe open a room in 2-14 and learn? :lol:


    there is a romanization system....actually there is more than one which can cause confusion sometimes.

    however, the hangul alphabet is really not difficult to learn....it took me 2 or 3 days to have it fully memorized. there are only about 40 characters, muuuuuuuuch easier than both chinese and japanese. i would highly recommend learning it because if you speak to korean people in romanized korean, they might have a difficult time understanding you.

    plus, why would you want to romanize it? hangul is cute/cool, it stacks up like little legos and stuff xD hahaha.
    <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    There's...40 characters? o_o;;;

    Geez I heard it was either 28 or 26. >_>;;;
    Or..am I think of Vowels and Consonants?


    EDIT: Btw..just a question

    Do you spell Jordan like
  • QueenRinQueenRin
    July 2008
    [quote="Ishaboo"]

    There's...40 characters? o_o;;;

    Geez I heard it was either 28 or 26. >_>;;;
    Or..am I think of Vowels and Consonants?


    EDIT: Btw..just a question

    Do you spell Jordan like
  • IshabooIshaboo
    July 2008
    [quote="BakaRangerSteph"]
    <!--quoteo(post=83151:date=Jul 19 2008, 03:46 AM:name=Ishaboo)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ishaboo 4 Jul 19 2008, 03:46 AM) [snapback]83151[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->

    There's...40 characters? o_o;;;

    Geez I heard it was either 28 or 26. >_>;;;
    Or..am I think of Vowels and Consonants?


    EDIT: Btw..just a question

    Do you spell Jordan like
  • QueenRinQueenRin
    July 2008
    [quote="Ishaboo"]
    Oh ..mmkay.. i wasn't really sure. :X

    Uhm explain syllable block..

    And yeah, I did realize that I couldn't do that after looking closely at
  • IshabooIshaboo
    July 2008
    [quote="BakaRangerSteph"]
    <!--quoteo(post=83189:date=Jul 19 2008, 11:42 PM:name=Ishaboo)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ishaboo 4 Jul 19 2008, 11:42 PM) [snapback]83189[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
    Oh ..mmkay.. i wasn't really sure. :X

    Uhm explain syllable block..

    And yeah, I did realize that I couldn't do that after looking closely at
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