Korean Grammar Terms

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Categories: Korean

Tags: korean grammar

This note organizes basic grammar terms that are easy to confuse while studying Korean grammar. They often do not map one-to-one to English grammar terms, so it is better to first understand what role each term plays inside Korean grammar.

Big picture

sentence
└── eojeol, spacing unit
    └── word
        └── morpheme

Example sentence:

철수가 밥을 먹었다.
UnitAnalysis
Sentence철수가 밥을 먹었다.
Eojeol, spacing unit철수가 / 밥을 / 먹었다
Word철수, 가, 밥, 을, 먹었다
Morpheme철수 / 가 / 밥 / 을 / 먹- / -었- / -다

Basic units

Korean termEnglish feelMeaningExample
음절syllableA sound unit pronounced at once철 / 수 / 가
형태소morphemeThe smallest unit of language with meaning먹-, -었-, -다
단어wordA unit that can stand alone or take a particle철수, 밥, 먹었다
어절spacing unitA unit separated by spaces in writing철수가, 밥을, 먹었다
구phraseTwo or more words acting like one sentence component아주 예쁜 꽃
절clauseA chunk with a subject-predicate structure비가 오면
문장sentenceA complete expression of thought비가 온다.

In Korean, 어절 is important. It is visible because it corresponds to spacing, and one eojeol is usually made of:

substantive morpheme + formal morpheme
철수가 = 철수 + 가
밥을 = 밥 + 을
먹었다 = 먹- + -었- + -다

Parts of speech

Korean school grammar usually uses nine parts of speech.

Broad classPart of speechEnglish feelExample
체언명사noun사람, 학교, 사랑
체언대명사pronoun나, 너, 이것
체언수사numeral하나, 둘, 첫째
용언동사verb / action verb먹다, 가다, 웃다
용언형용사adjective / descriptive verb예쁘다, 크다, 좋다
수식언관형사determiner새, 헌, 이, 그
수식언부사adverb빨리, 매우, 잘
관계언조사particle이/가, 은/는, 을/를
독립언감탄사interjection아!, 어머!, 와!

Nominal words, 체언

체언 can be used as the subject, object, complement, and similar sentence components. Particles attach to them.

철수가 왔다.
나는 학생이다.
둘이 먼저 갔다.
  • 철수: noun
  • 나: pronoun
  • 둘: numeral

Predicative words, 용언

용언 can become the predicate of a sentence and conjugate. In Korean, both verbs and adjectives change form when endings attach.

먹다 -> 먹었다 -> 먹는다 -> 먹고
예쁘다 -> 예뻤다 -> 예쁘다 -> 예쁘고

From an English grammar mindset, Korean adjectives are closer to descriptive verbs / state verbs than to English adjectives. 예쁘다, 크다, and 춥다 are 용언 in Korean, and they conjugate.

Modifiers, 수식언

수식언 modify other words.

새 책을 샀다.
아주 빨리 달렸다.
  • 새: determiner. It modifies the following noun 책.
  • 아주, 빨리: adverbs. They modify a following adverb or predicative word.

Relational words, 관계언

Particles attach to the preceding word and mark relationships inside the sentence.

철수가 밥을 먹었다.
나는 학교에 간다.
  • 가: subject case particle
  • 을: object case particle
  • 에: adverbial case particle

Independent words, 독립언

Interjections are used independently, without a direct grammatical relationship to other sentence components.

와, 정말 예쁘다!
아, 이제 알겠다.

Sentence components

Sentence components are not word classes. They are roles inside a sentence.

ComponentMeaningExample
주어Subject of an action/state철수가 밥을 먹었다
서술어Describes the subject's action/state철수가 밥을 먹었다
목적어Object of an action철수가 밥을 먹었다
보어Required before 되다, 아니다철수가 의사가 되었다
관형어Modifies a nominal word예쁜 꽃이 피었다
부사어Modifies a predicative word, determiner phrase, adverbial, or whole sentence철수가 빨리 달렸다
독립어Used independently from the sentence와, 정말 좋다

The same word can play different roles depending on its sentence position.

철수가 학생이다.       -> 철수가: subject
나는 철수를 만났다.   -> 철수를: object

Root, affix, stem, and ending

This is the part that is easiest to confuse.

Korean termMeaningExample
어근The part carrying the core meaning of a word먹-, 예쁘-, 믿-
접사An element that attaches to a root to make a new word맨-, 풋-, -이, -히
어간The central part that does not change during conjugation먹-, 가-, 예쁘-
어미The part attached after a predicative stem to create conjugation-다, -고, -면, -었-

어근 vs 어간

어근 is a word-formation concept. 어간 is a predicative conjugation concept.

먹다 = 먹- + -다
  • 먹-: both root and stem
  • -다: ending
풋사과 = 풋- + 사과
  • 사과: root
  • 풋-: prefix
  • This word is not a predicative conjugation, so stem/ending analysis is not the key point.

Affixes

Affixes attach to roots and create new words. They are similar to English prefixes/suffixes, but in Korean grammar they must be distinguished from conjugational endings.

TypePositionExample
PrefixAttaches before맨손, 풋사과, 헛수고
SuffixAttaches after먹이, 높이, 사람답다
먹다 -> 먹이

The -이 in 먹이 is a suffix that creates a new noun.

Endings

Endings attach after the stem of a predicative word and create grammatical meaning such as tense, honorifics, connection, and sentence ending.

먹다 = 먹- + -다
먹었다 = 먹- + -었- + -다
먹고 = 먹- + -고
먹으면 = 먹- + -으면

Pre-final ending, 선어말 어미

A pre-final ending comes before the final ending.

먹었다 = 먹- + -었- + -다
가셨다 = 가- + -시- + -었- + -다
  • -었-: past-tense pre-final ending
  • -시-: subject-honorific pre-final ending

-았-/-었- is not a suffix. It is a pre-final ending. 먹었다 is analyzed as 먹- + -었- + -다.

Final ending, 어말 어미

A final ending comes at the end of the word.

TypeRoleExample
Sentence-final endingEnds a sentence-다, -어요, -습니다
Connective endingConnects clauses/sentences-고, -지만, -면
Transformative endingLets a predicative word act like a noun, determiner, or adverb-기, -ㅁ, -는, -게

Examples:

밥을 먹었다.      -> -다: sentence-final ending
밥을 먹고 잤다.   -> -고: connective ending
밥을 먹기 싫다.   -> -기: nominalizing transformative ending
밥을 먹는 사람    -> -는: adnominal transformative ending
빠르게 달린다.    -> -게: adverbial transformative ending

Particles

Particles attach after nominal words, adverbs, or endings and add grammatical relationships or meaning.

TypeRoleExample
Case particleMarks the case of a sentence component이/가, 을/를, 에, 에서, 로
Auxiliary particleAdds special meaning은/는, 도, 만, 까지, 조차
Conjunctive particleConnects words와/과, 하고, 랑

Case particles

철수가 밥을 학교에서 먹었다.
  • 철수가: 가 marks the subject
  • 밥을: 을 marks the object
  • 학교에서: 에서 marks an adverbial of place

Auxiliary particles

철수는 밥도 먹었다.
  • 는: topic/contrast feel
  • 도: also/even feel

은/는 is often explained as a topic marker, but it is not always exactly the same as English topic. It can carry several nuances: contrast, introducing a topic, or marking information already known in the discourse.

Types of verbs

Korean termEnglish feelMeaningExample
자동사intransitive verbA verb used without an object아이가 웃는다
타동사transitive verbA verb that requires an object밥을 먹는다
보조 동사auxiliary verbAdds meaning after another predicative word먹어 보다, 가고 싶다
사동사causative verbMakes someone perform an action먹이다, 앉히다
피동사passive verbReceives an action먹히다, 잡히다

Intransitive / transitive verbs

아이가 웃는다.      -> 웃다: intransitive verb
아이가 밥을 먹는다. -> 먹다: transitive verb

Auxiliary verbs

한번 먹어 보았다.
집에 가고 싶다.
  • 보다: adds a sense of attempt/experience
  • 싶다: adds a sense of desire

Causative / passive

엄마가 아이에게 밥을 먹였다. -> causative
밥이 아이에게 먹혔다.       -> passive

Causative/passive forms can be made with affixes, or with constructions such as -게 하다 and -어지다.

Adjectives

Korean adjectives are predicative words that express states. They do not work the same way as English adjectives placed directly before nouns.

꽃이 예쁘다.
예쁜 꽃이 피었다.
날씨가 춥다.
추운 날씨가 계속된다.

For 예쁘다 to modify a noun like an adnominal, it must conjugate into a form such as 예쁜.

Commonly confusing terms

QuestionAnswer
Is -았-/-었- a suffix?No. It is a past-tense pre-final ending.
What is -어요?It is a sentence-final ending. It ends a sentence in 해요체 style.
Do both verbs and adjectives conjugate?Yes. Both are 용언.
Are particles words?In school grammar, particles are treated as words, but they are written attached to the preceding word.
Are eojeol and word the same?No. 철수가 is one eojeol, but it can be analyzed as two words: 철수 + 가.
When is a complement used?Mainly before 되다 and 아니다.

One-sentence analysis example

철수가 새 책을 빨리 읽었다.
ExpressionAnalysis
철수noun, 체언
가subject case particle
철수가subject
새determiner, adnominal modifier
책noun, 체언
을object case particle
책을object
빨리adverb, adverbial
읽었다verb, predicate
읽-stem/root
-었-past-tense pre-final ending
-다sentence-final ending

Ref