Unit 4: Today I'm Busy In this unit, you will learn how to: talk about the existence of objects and events; conjugate verbs in the polite informal style; categorize verbs as either descriptive or action; add a direct object to an action verb using 을 ~- 를. talk about your weekly schedule referencing the days of the week (using 에 ); Grammatical Notes The existence verbs: 있다 and 없다 Perhaps the most common and useful verb in Korean, 있다 means "to exist." When used in sentences, 있다 can be translated as "there is/are" or as "have": 책이있어요. 시간이있어요. 연필이있어요? 칠문이있어요? There are books. / I have (a) book(s). There's time. / I have time. Is there a pencil? / Do you have a pencil? Are there questions? Note that there is no independent verb that corresponds directly with English "to have." To indicate that something does not exist (or is absent), one uses the verb 없다 : 책이있어요. 책이없어요. 시간이있지오. 시간이없지오. There are books. / I have (a) book(s). There aren't any books. / I don't have a book. There's time, isn't there?. / I do have time. There's isn't any time, is there? 연필이있어요? Do you have a pencil? 아니오, 연필이없어요. No, I don't have a pencil. or 아니오, 없어요. No, I don't. Verb Conjugations In addition to their polite forms (both informal and formal), all verbs have a neutral form; this form is often referred to as the verb's "citation form" or its "dictionary form." When looking up a verb in the dictionary, one will find it listed in its citation form. The citation form is made up of two elements: the verb root and the citation form ending, - 다. Draft Do not cite! revised 9/18/2004 39
Beginning Korean: A Grammar Guide To convert a verb from its citation form to its polite informal (- 요 ) form, take the verb root, add the linking verb 어 (or 아, if the final verb in the root is either 아 or 오 ), and then 요 : 있다 있어요 exist 없다 없어요 not exist 읽다 읽어요 read 먹다 먹어요 eat 쉬다 쉬어요 relax There are numerous minor exceptions to this general pattern; the most relevant at this point are the following: 하다 해요 make, do, speak 가르치다 가르쳐요 teach Verb Categories Until this point, we have focused on two types of verbs: the linking 'be' verb 이다 and the existence verbs 있다 ~ 없다. In addition to these two categories, there are two more: descriptive verbs and action verbs. In Korean, there are very few words that are true adjectives. Rather, words that correspond to adjectives (in English) are actually verbs in Korean: 바쁘다 바빠요 be busy 기쁘다 기뻐요 be happy 많다 많아요 be numerous 나는아주바빠요. 김선생은, 바쁘세요? 책이많아요? 네, 책이많아요. I am very busy. Mr./Ms. Kim, are you busy? Are there a lot of books? Yes, there are a lot of books. Action verbs conjugate just like descriptive verbs: 하다 해요 make, do, speak 공부하다 공부해요 study 가르치다 가르쳐요 teach 40 Autumn 2004
To add an honorific sense to a verb in the polite informal form, the order of elements is as follows: Verb Root + Honorific Marker ( 세 ) + 요. The pattern is used for both descriptive and action verbs: 바쁘다 바쁘세요 be busy 기쁘다 기쁘세요 be happy 하다 하세요 make, do, speak 공부하다 공부하세요 study 가르치다 가르치세요 teach If the verb root ends in a consonant, a linking vowel ( 으 ) is inserted before the honorific marker: 많다많으세요 be numerous The Noun Particle 을 ~- 를 : Direct Object Marker To mark the direct object of a noun (the accusative case), Korean attaches the particle 을 to nouns ending in a consonant or 를 to nouns ending in a verb. 한국어를가르쳐요. 저도영어를조금해요. 일본말을공부하세요? I teach Korean. I, too, speak a bit of English. Do you study Japanese? The particle 을 ~- 를 can also be used in conjunction with the question word 무엇 "what": 무엇을가르치세요? 수미는무엇을공부해요? What do you teach? What does Sumi study? It is often the case that this particle is omitted in casual speech, particularly in commonly used constructions: 한국어가르쳐요. 저도영어조금해요. 일본말공부하세요? I teach Korean. I, too, speak a bit of English. Do you study Japanese? Locating Events in Time: The Nominal Particle 에 To locate an event in time, attach the temporal particle 에 to the time word. In such cases, - 에 is equivalent to the English preposition "on" or "during": 수요일에바빠요. 금요일에영어를공부해요. On Saturday(s), I am busy. I study English on Friday(s). Draft Do not cite! revised 9/18/2004 41
Beginning Korean: A Grammar Guide 일요일에무엇을하세요? 목요일에는수업이있어요. 주중에바쁘세요? 주말에는틈이많지오. What do you do on Sundays? On Thursday(s), we have class. Are you busy during the week? On the weekends, you have a lot free time, don't you? A Note on the Days of the Week In Korean, the days of the weeks are named after natural elements. The words are of Chinese origin and can be written in Chinese Characters. 일요일월요일화요일수요일목요일금요토요일 日曜日月曜日火曜日水曜日木曜日金曜日土曜日 sun moon fire water wood metal earth 日月火水木金土 On calendars, it is often the case that the days of the week are indicated by the initial characters (indicate above in large print). Exercises Exercise A. For each of the following sentences, fill the blank space with the correct particle. For this exercise, limit your choices to the following: 이가을를에. You should then translate each of the sentences. 1. 이것 무엇이에요? 2. 내 바빠요. 3. 박선생님은무엇 가르치세요? 4. 실레지만, 펜 있어요? 5. 일요일 바쁘세요? 6. 나도컴퓨터 없어요. 7. 김선생님 영어 못하세요. 8. 토요일 는일본말수업이있어요. 42 Autumn 2004
Exercise B. Complete the following table by inserting the missing verb forms. (Use the neutral, non-honorific forms.) Meaning 1. 2. 있다 없다 to exist 3. to make, do, speak 4. 가르쳐요 5. 바쁘다 to be busy 6. 공부해요 Don't forget to do the CD-ROM Exercises! Draft Do not cite! revised 9/18/2004 43