In this lesson you will learn Korean nouns & pronouns.
Let’s do a quick refresher on the definition of nouns and pronouns.
Nouns are words used to name a person, animal, place, thing, or abstract ideas.
A pronoun is used in a sentence to replace and refer to a noun.
Korean Nouns
Korean nouns are called 명사, and usually correspond to English nouns. However, as we have learned in our earlier lesson, there is a difference when it comes to marking plurality. Korean nouns are not specific with respect to number. English, on the other hand, is very specific with respect to number. Also, Korean learners may have noticed that Korean nouns are not marked for gender and there are no definite and indefinite articles. Another characteristic of Korean nouns is a rich system of “classifiers” that are attached to numerals. Each classifier is related to a class of nouns. For example, 사과 세 개 three apples. Here, 개 is a default classifier.
Korean vocabulary, mostly nouns, consists of three main components:
1. Native Korean or 고유어 – 하늘 sky; 바다 ocean; 나라 nation are examples of 고유어 (native Korean words).
2. Sino-Korean vocabulary or 한자어, which refers to Korean words of Chinese origin. Sino-Korean nouns include words borrowed directly from Chinese, as well as new Korean words created from Chinese characters. 부모 meaning father, mother, or parents; 학생 meaning study student, or student; 태양 meaning great light, or sun are examples of 한자어.
3. In recent years, Korean has been borrowing from other languages, mostly English, called 외래어 (loan word). 비타민 vitamin; 주스 juice; 나이트 night club are examples of 외래어.
Korean nouns are used in sentences in one of the following four positions.
1. By itself – Korean nouns are sometimes used by themselves, with nothing but a pause after them, in absolute position, usually at the beginning of a sentence like a topic.
2. Before particles – A particle after a noun shows its grammatical relationship to the rest of the sentence.
3. Before another noun – Nouns are used to modify or describe other nouns. Examples of noun-plus-noun phrases are 김 선생님, 미국 사람, 한국말.
4. Before the copula – typically in the form of the “be” verb. A noun plus the copula means “It is NOUN”.
Consider the following sentence:
할머니, 인삼주는 한국 제품이에요.
Grandmother, ginseng wine is a Korean product.
Notice that 할머니 “grandmother” appears by itself; 인삼주 “ginseng wine” appears with the topic particle 는; 한국 “Korea” appears before another noun 제품 “product”; 제품 appears before the copula 이에요.
There are instances of the phrase 한국말 Korean (Korea-language), in turn being used to modify a third noun.
한국말 책
Korean language book
한국말 선생님
Korean language teacher
한국말 학생
Korean language student
한국말 선생님이에요.
I am a Korean teacher.
Korean has a special group of nouns used only before other nouns called PRE-NOUNS to modify or describe the following nouns, such as:
무슨 (내용) What kind of (content)?
어느 (것) Which (thing)?
이 (것) this (thing)
그 (것) that (thing)
저 (것) that (thing) over there
Noun Usage with 하다 verbs:
Most 하다 verbs are made up of a noun + the ending 하다 (to do).
For example, the noun for ‘work’ is 일, and the verb ‘to work’ is 일하다.
Other examples are:
noun 청소 = cleaning
verb 청소하다 = to clean
noun 운동 = exercise
verb 운동하다 = to exercise
noun 숙제 = homework
verb 숙제하다 = to do one’s homework
noun 요리 = cooking
verb 요리하다 = to cook
Compound nouns consist of two or more independent morphemes. For example:
noun + noun
물고기 “fish” = 물 “water” + 고기 “meat”
천지 “heaven and earth” or “universe” = 천 “heaven” + 지 “earth”
Sometimes you will see compound words where ㅅ is inserted where the final consonant of the first half of the word would go. The addition of a ㅅ into a compound word is called “사이시옷.” 사이 means “in between” and “시옷” is the name of the letter ㅅ.
For example, if we combine 회 and 집, the compound word is not 회집, but instead it is 횟집. Here, ㅅ is originally a contracted form of possessive particle 의, and is used to combine two nouns. 회의 집 (a 집 (restaurant/house) for 회 (sashimi/raw fish)). 횟집.
This is a very complex topic which we will learn at a later time.
Pronouns in Korean
Korean sentences in general are less specific than English sentences. A key spot where this difference shows up is an omission of pronouns from Korean sentences, particularly subjects and topics.
This makes Korean a “pro-drop language.” A pro-drop language (from “pronoun-dropping”) is a language where certain classes of pronouns may be omitted when they can be grammatically inferable.
Nonetheless, pronouns do exist in Korean and when you do use pronouns, you have to choose between a number of different words depending on the social relationships of the people involved. Using the wrong pronoun in the wrong context can be extremely impolite, and this is probably why you should avoid using them in the first place.
Korean has the following first-person pronouns:
| I | We |
| 나 | 우리 |
| 저 Polite | 저희 Polite |
Note:
Of all the pronouns, Koreans avoid (second-person pronoun) words for you the most, and so should you.
If unavoidable, try title (+님), such as 사장님 (사장 means owner, CEO); 박사님 (who are a Ph.D.) or surname + 선생님, such as 김 선생님.
When talking about or addressing your student peers, the safest pattern is name + 씨, e.g., 남준 씨 or 미나 씨.
Technically speaking, Korean has no proper third-person pronouns at all. Instead, for he, she, it, they, Korean uses an expression equivalent to that person, that woman, that thing, those people, etc. For example:
그 사람 that [aforementioned] person
he, him; she, her
그것 that [aforementioned] thing
it
Online Korean Education 