Korean grammar

This article is a description of the morphology and semantics of Korean. For phonetics and phonology, see Korean phonology. See also Korean honorifics, which play a large role in the grammar.

Morphology

Korean is primarily an agglutinative language, as can be seen especially in the section on verbs below.

Pronouns

Main article: Korean pronouns

Korean has personal pronouns for the 1st and 2nd person, with distinctions for honorifics. In the third person, it has demonstrative pronouns, which distinguish three distances.

Personal pronouns

	single				plural
	familiar	honorific	humble	pejorative	familiar	honorific	humble
1st	나 na		저 jeo		우리 uri		저희 jeohui
2nd	너 neo	당신 dangsin 선생님 seonsaengnim		자네 jane	너희 neohui 너희들 neohideul	당신들 dangsindeul

The monosyllabic pronouns 나 na, 너 neo, 저 jeo add -i or -iga rather than the expected -ga to form the nominative case (see below). This produces the forms 내 nae, 네 ne, 제 je. However, because many Koreans have lost the distinction between the vowels ae and e, 네 ne "you" is dissimilating to 니 ni. The familiar pronoun 당신 dangsin is actually a noun, the Sino-Korean loanword 當身 "the aforementioned body". There are a large number of such pseudo-pronouns in Korean.

In colloquial Korean, the topic forms 나는 naneun "me" and 너는 neoneun "you" are contracted to 난 nan "me" and 넌 neon "you". Accusative 나를 nareul "me" contracts to 날 nal. The possessives 나의 na-ui "my" and 너의 neo-ui "your" contract to 내 nae and 네 ne.

Second person pronouns are rare in Korean. Instead, the person's name (for friends and younger family members) or relationship to the speaker (for older family members and superiors) is generally used. With strangers, the honorific 선생님 seonsaengnim "teacher" is usual.

The word for "who" is 누구 nugu, which in the nominative is 구나 nuga.

Demonstratives

	Prefix	Object	Place
Near	이 i-	이것 igeot "this"	이곳 igot, 여기 yeogi "here"
Given	그 geu-	그것 geugeot "that"	거기 geogi "there"
Far	저 jeo-	저것 jeogeot "that"	저기 jeogi "there"
Which?	어느 eoneu-	무엇 mueot "what?"	어디 eodi "where?"

The plural suffix -deul is used with pronouns, as in 그들 geudeul "they".

The "given" series is often called "medial", and said to be close to the addressee rather than the speaker. However, they actually refer to referents already established in the conversation, whether near or far. With new referents, the near or far forms will be used.

In colloquial speech, the object words, composed of the prefix plus the generic noun classifier geot, frequently drop the final t, with proximate 이것 igeot becoming 이거 igeo This occurs before case clitics as well, for nominative 이게 ige (a form of 이것이 igeosi), topical 이것은 igeoseun becoming 이건 igeon, and accusative 이것을 igeoseul becoming 이걸 igeol "this". In colloquial Korean, interrogative 무엇 mueot contracts to 뭐 mwo "what" (often pronounced meo, as w tends to drop after m), and the accusative 무엇을 mueos-eul contracts to 뭘 mwol "what".

The classifier 쪽 jjok "side" is used when referring to people. 이쪽 ijjok "this side" then means "this person, these people" (that is, he, she, or they), but is further extended via "our side" as a polite form for "us" or "me".

"How many" is 몇 myeot.

Nouns

Nouns do not have grammatical number. However, nouns for people—especially kin terms—as well as pronouns typically take the plural suffix 들 -deul.

Both nouns and pronouns take case clitics. Pronouns are somewhat irregular, and are covered above. As with many clitics and suffixes in Korean, for many case clitics a different form is used with nouns ending in a consonant than with nouns ending in a vowel. The most extreme example of this is in the nominative (subject), where the historical clitic 이 i is now restricted to appearing after consonants, and a completely unrelated (suppletive) form 가 ga appears after vowels.

Case clitics

Case	After V	After C
Nominative	가 -ga	이 -i
Accusative	를 -reul	을 -eul
Genitive	의 -ui *
Dative (also destination)	에 -e (inanimate) 에게 -ege (animate)
Locative (place of event, also source)	에서 -eseo (inanimate) 에게서 -egeseo (animate)
Instrumental	로 ro	으로 -euro
Comitative (also and)	하고 -hago
	와 -wa	과 -gwa
	랑 -rang	이랑 -irang

* The genitive marker 의 is usually pronounced e, just like 에.

Information clitics

Type	After V	After C
Topic*	는 neun	은 -eun
Also*	도 -do
And (and so on)	나 -na	이나 -ina

* The topic marker and the also marker mark the noun phrase with case markers. They override the nominative and accusative case markers rather than being attached after those case markers.

Numerals and classifiers

Main article: Korean numerals

Number

Korean has general number. That is, a noun on its own is neither singular nor plural. It also has an optional plural marker 들 -deul, which is most likely to be used for definite and highly animate nouns (primarily first- and second-person pronouns, to a lesser extent nouns and third-person pronouns referring to humans, etc.) This is similar to several other languages with optional number, such as Japanese.

However, Korean -deul may also be found on the predicate, on the verb, object of the verb, or modifier of the object, in which case it forces a distributive plural reading (as opposed to a collective reading) and indicates that the word it is attached to expresses new information.

For instance, in

ai-deul-i	gim-ege-0	ppang-eul-0	manhi-0	ju-eoss-eo-0
child-pl-NOM	Kim-to	bread-ACC	a_lot	give-PRET-INT,

plural -deul could also occur at any of the 0's. If it did, it would not be redundant with the plural marking on the subject. For example, in,

haksaeng-deul-i	pungseon	hana-reul	sa-ss-eo-yo
student-pl-NOM	balloon	one-ACC	buy-PRET-INT-POL

"The students bought a balloon",

it's not clear if they bought one balloon together, or one each. However, with the plural on "one",

haksaeng-deul-i	pungseon	hana-reul-deul	sa-ss-eo-yo
student-pl-NOM	balloon	one-ACC-pl	buy-PRET-INT-POL

"The students bought a balloon each",

"balloon" is specified as a distributive plural.

Finite verbs

Verbs are the most complex part of speech in Korean. Their structure when used as the predicate of a clause is prefix + root + up to seven suffixes, and can be illustrated with a template:

Finite verb template

Prefix	0	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII
negative	ROOT	valency	honorific	tense-aspect	formality	syntactic mood	pragmatic mood	polite

• The negative prefix may be 안 an- "not" or 못 mot- "can't"

I Valency may be passive or causative. These often involve a stem change, followed by the suffix 이 -i (the spelling of this suffix may change, depending on the stem change of the verb)

II The honorific suffix is 으시 -eusi- after a consonant, 시 -si- after a vowel. The i elides before another vowel. For example, with a following past tense, -si-eoss- reduces to 셨 -syeoss-.

This shows deference towards the topic of the conversation, for example when speaking of one's elders.

III If there is no suffix in this slot, the verb is in present or gnomic tense. Future tense & prospective aspect is 겠 -gess-, past perfective is 었 -eoss-, but with vowel harmony: After a yang vowel, a or o, in the previous syllable, the past-tense suffix becomes 았 -ass-. If there is no intervening consonant, this reduces, both in pronunciation and in writing: a-ass- to 았 ass-, and o-ass- to 왔 wass-. The verb 오 o "to come" is therefore 왔 wass- in the perfective. The verb 하 ha "to do" is an irregular 해 hae- in the perfective.

There are also compound tenses: remote past 었었 -eoss-eoss- (or yang inflection 았었 -ass-eoss-), past-future 었겠 -eoss-gess- (or 았겠 -ass-gess-), remote past-future 었었겠 -eoss-eoss-gess- (or 았었겠 -ass-eoss-gess-).

IV The formal suffix is ᄇ -p after a vowel (it is normally written in the same block as that vowel), 습 -seup after a consonant in a declarative or interrogative verb, 읍 -eup after a consonant in a proposition. (After a consonant s or ss, the s of the suffix drops.) The p is pronounced m before a nasal consonant, but is still written p. Examples: 먹습니다 meog-seum-ni-da, but 먹읍시다 meog-eup-si-da.

This shows deference towards the audience of the conversation, for example when speaking to one's elders. If speaking both to and of one's elders, one would use both the formal and the honorific suffixes.

V The syntactic moods, for want of a better term, are the indicative 는 -neun, 니 -ni, or ㄴ -n-; the retrospective (imperfective) 던 -deon, 디 -di, or ㄷ -d-; and the subjunctive 시 -si or ㅅ -s-. None of these are used in the casual or intimate styles, and the formal plain indicative declarative can only occur in the gnomic tense.

는 -neun and 던 -deon are used in the formal plain and familiar interrogative styles. After a vowel, 는 -neun reduces to ㄴ -n. Before declarative 라 -la, 던 -deon reduces to 더 -deo.

니 -ni, 디 -di, and 시 -si are used in the formal polite style.

ㄴ -n-, ㄷ -d-, and ㅅ -s- are used in the familiar declarative and subjunctive styles.

VI The pragmatic moods, for want of a better term, are the declarative 다 -da (formal polite), 라 -la (formal plain), and 에 -e (familiar); interrogative 까 -kka, 야 -ya (formal) and 가 -ga (familiar); propositive 다 -da (formal polite), 자 -ja (formal plain), and 에 -e (familiar); and the imperative 오 -o (formal polite), 어라 -eola (formal plain; harmonizes to 아라 -ala after an a or o in the previous syllable), and 게 -ge (familiar).

Style: These distinctions are not made in the intimate and casual styles. Instead, this slot is taken by the intimate suffix 어 -eo (아 -a after an a or o) or the casual suffix 지 -ji.

VII The polite suffix 요 -yo (이요 -iyo after a consonant) appears in the informal styles. It expresses one's relationship to the audience.

[to add: quotative -eula/-la; -ke-na]

Speech styles

Not all combinations of the suffixes in the template above are possible. The most common sequences after the tense suffix (that is, after the root or honorific 시 -si- in the present tense, after the 었 -eoss- or 겠 -gess- in the past and future) are,

		Formal polite	Formal (book style)	Familiar	Familiar polite	Intimate	Casual
Indicative	declarative	습니다 -seumnida	(는)다 -(neun)da*	네 -ne	네요 -neyo	어 -eo Polite: 어요 -eoyo	지 -ji Polite: 지요 -jiyo
	interrogative	습니까 -seumnikka	느냐 -neunya	는가 -neun'ga	는가요 -neun'gayo
Retrospective	declarative	습디다 -seupdida	더라 -deola	데 -de	데요 -deyo
	interrogative	습디까 -seupdikka	더냐 -deonya	던가 -deon'ga	던가요 -deon'gayo
Subjunctive	propositive	습시다 -seupsida	자 -ja	세 -se	세요 -seyo
	imperative	(시)습시오 -(si)seupsio**	어라 -eola	게 -ge	게요 -geyo

*This indicative 는 -neun is not found after the past or future suffixes, or at all in the case of descriptive verbs (predicate adjectives).
**The formal-polite imperative almost always takes the formal suffix 시 -si.

Copula

The copula clitic 이 -i may be historically related to the nominative case clitic 이 -i. Regardless, nouns do not take the case clitic 이 -i / 가 -ga when followed by the copula. The copula inflects like any verb, except that it has a special honorific form.

The copula takes the negative prefix 안 an-, but the result is written as if it were a single morpheme: 아니 ani. Nouns do take the nominative clitic 이 -i / 가 -ga before the negative copula. The derived form 아니요 aniyo is the word for "no" when answering a question. (In the case of a negative question, 아니요 aniyo is equivalent to "yes" in English.)

The copula is only for "to be" in the sense of "A is B". For existence, Korean uses the verbs 있다 itda "there is" and 없다 eopda "there isn't." The honorific existential verb for 있다 is 계시다 gyesida.

Attributive verbs

Korean does not have relative pronouns. Instead, attributive verbs modify nouns, as adjectives do in English. Where in English one would say "I saw the man who walks the dog", the structure of Korean is more like "The dog-walking man I saw".

The structure is ROOT + valence + attributive suffix, with little of the complexity of finite verbs above.

Attributive verb template

Prefix	0	I	II	III
negative	ROOT	valency	tense	attributive (tense)

Active verbs use the attributive suffix 은 -eun after a consonant, or ㄴ -n after a vowel, for the past tense. For descriptive or stative verbs, often equivalent to adjectives in English, this form is used for generic (gnomic) descriptions; effectively, "eaten food" is food which once was eaten (past), whereas "a pretty flower" is a flower which has become pretty, and still is (present/timeless). To specify the on-going action for an active verb, the invariable suffix 는 -neun is used instead. This is not found on descriptive verbs, as it makes no sense to say that *"a flower is being pretty". For the future, the suffix 을 -eul, ㄹ -l is used, and in the imperfective/retrospective (recalling what once was) it is -deon.

For example, from the verb 먹 meog "to eat", the adjective 예쁘 yeppeu "pretty", and the nouns 밥 bap "food" and 꽃 kkot "flower", we get:

Attributive forms

	Active verb			Descriptive verb
Present progressive	먹는 밥	meongneun bap	"food which is being eaten"
Perfective	먹은 밥	meogeun bap	"eaten food (food which was eaten)"	예쁜 꽃	yeppeun kkot	"a pretty flower"
Imperfective	먹던 밥	meokdeon bap	"food which one used to eat"	예쁘던 꽃	yeppeudeon kkot	"a flower which was once pretty"
Future	먹을 밥	meogeul bap	"food to be eaten"	예쁠 꽃	yeppeul kkot	"a flower which will be pretty"

The perfective suffix 었 -eoss- is sometimes used as well, on active verbs. It precedes the attributive suffix:

• 먹었던 밥 meogeotteon bap "food which had been eaten"

For action verbs, -었 is used for completed actions or processes that result in a present state. The individual verb’s meaning can help determine which interpretation is appropriate. Hence 결혼했다 can mean ‘got married,’ focusing on the past event, or ‘is married,’ focusing on the present state resulting from the past event. But 공을 찼다 ‘kicked the ball’ can only denote a past action and 잘 생겼다 ‘is handsome’ can only denote the present state. (생기다 is an action verb, meaning ‘get formed/ created.’)

Gerunds

Verbs take a suffix 서 -seo for gerund and adverbial uses (먹어서 meogeoseo "having eaten", etc). The form is 어 -eo after a consonant, with vowel harmony to 사 -sa, 아 -a after a yang vowel (가 ga "having gone", 봐 bwa "having seen"), and 에 -e after stems ending in ps, ss, or with the copulas (-sseyo, ieyo).

The -seo form is used with the existential verb 있다 itda for the perfect.

Syntax

Korean is typical of languages with a verb-final word order, such as Japanese and Turkish, in that most affixes are suffixes and clitics are enclitics, modifiers precede the words they modify, and most elements of a phrase or clause are optional.

See also Korean parts of speech.