The irregular verbs that we’ve gone over so far are the verbs ending in ㄹ and ㄷ. With ㄹ verbs like 열다 (to open) it will be 열었어요 in the standard polite past tense. With ㄹ ending verbs, drop the 다 and add 었어요 to the stem. With ㄷ ending verbs like 듣다 (to hear, to listen) it will be 들었어요 in the standard polite past tense. With ㄷ ending verbs, drop the 다 and change the ㄷ on the bottom with ㄹ. Then add 었어요 to the stem. Ok, so here’s a test, what is the standard polite past tense of 살다 (to live) and 걷다 (to walk)? The answers are: 살았어요 and 걸었어요.

Did you notice that 살았어요 didn’t follow the regular pattern? Unlike the other verbs that ended in 었어요, 살았어요 ended with 았어요. That’s because 살다 contains an 아 vowel, which requires the verb to be conjugated in the 았어요 form. Verbs like 걷다 have the 어 vowel which requires the verb to be conjugated as 었어요. So, let’s do a little test, how would you conjugate 깨닫다 (to realize) and 받다 (to receive)? 깨닫다 will be 깨달았어요 in the standard polite past tense. However 받다 will be 받았어요. Hopefully you’ve remembered from the previous posts that not all ㄷ ending verbs change to a ㄹ and this is true for the verb 받다.

Now lastly, let’s look at the copula 이다. To change 학생이에요 (I’m a student) to the standard polite past tense, drop the 에요 and add 었어요. So 학생이에요 will turn to 학생이었어요 (I was a student). With 소라예요 (It’s Sora) it’ll change to 소라였어요 (It was Sora). With 예요 ending copulas, drop the 예요 and add 였어요. Now with 있다 endings, it will change to 있었어요 in the standard polite past tense. With the 아니다 (to not be etc.) it will change to 아니었어요 in the standard polite past tense. Just drop the 다 and add 었어요 to 아니. There was a lot of content in this post, so I may do a quiz on the past tense forms soon. For now just take a look at everything and see if you understand the general gist of this post.

Post from: Korean Blog

For more on the endings of the statement and interrogative forms of the standard and deferential polite forms, check out the post for October 19, 2009. Now when you want to negate this and say, “No, I don’t have money” the sentence will look like this, “아니요, 돈이 없어요“. (아니요 = No. 돈 = money. 이 = subject marking particle. 없어요 = don’t have.) Here, when you want to say that you “don’t have” something, you’re going to use the verb 없다 which means “to not have”. In the deferential polite form this verb will be 없습니다. In English you just place the word “don’t” in front of “have” to express the opposite of “have”.

However in Korean the expression “don’t have” is an entirely different word. Now there are other considerations to make when you use the verb 있다. 있다 can also mean “to be present”. This sentence, “집에 있어요” means “[I'm] at home” or more literally, “[I'm] present [in the] home”. (집 = house/home. 에 = locative particle. 있어요 = “present”.) Another example is a sentence like this, “여기 있어요!” which means “[I'm] here!” or more literally “I’m present!” (여기 = here. 있어요 = present). Context is key to understanding which meaning 있다 will take on.

Here are some clues that may help you determine which meaning 있다 will take. For example a sentence like 저기 있어요/없어요 gives you a clue that 있다/없다 will take on the meaning of “to be present”. Placement words like 여기 (here), 거기 (there), 저기 (over there) is a hint that 있다 must take on the meaning of presence. If you tried to make this sentence substituting “to have” it doesn’t make much sense. When there is an object involved (or non human things) like this sentence “가방이 없어요/있어요” it makes more sense that 있다 will take on the meaning of “have” or “don’t have”. (가방 = bag. “[I] have the bag”.)

Post from: Korean Blog

In South Korea, Pepero Day is a lot like Valentines Day. Pepero Day is a day where people give 빼빼로 snacks to friends and lovers. It’s a day usually capitalized by the younger generation. All over Korea, you’ll see stores sell these packaged baskets full of Pepero. Some local bakeries make their own special version of the Pepero sticks. It’s a day where businesses really profit, and many try to sell as many of these chocolate varieties. The most common kind are the ones covered with chocolate, but there are also the kinds covered with strawberry. There are also the kinds covered with chocolate nuts as well. The choices are pretty diverse.

Even though the majority of snacks sold on Pepero Day are the 빼빼로 sticks, 초코파이 is also a popular alternative. Choco Pies are these round shaped chocolate covered snacks with cream filling. Some people freeze the Choco Pies and eat them like a frozen treat. Like the Pepero sticks, the Choco Pies are also sold in red boxes. Both Pepero and Choco Pie are classic Korean snacks loved and consumed by both adults and children.

Post from: Korean Blog

Now that you know 묻다 doesn’t necessarily change to a ㄹ ending depending on the meaning, let me show you some other verbs that end in ㄷ that do not change to ㄹ. The verb 받다 ends in ㄷ but does not change to a ㄹ. 받다 means “to receive”. Take a look at this sentence. “돈을 받아요“. (돈 = money. 받아요 = receive). In English this means “[I] receive money”. Note that since 받다 has an 아 vowel, it’s going to be conjugated at 받아요 not 받어요. Also, 묻다 has a 우 vowel so it’ll be conjugated as 묻어요 or 물어요. I talked about this when we talked about the ㄹ ending verbs on September 14th, so check that post out for a refresher on this concept.

The question that I get the most is, how do you know when a ㄷ ending verb ends in a ㄹ? The answer is that you just have to know. In other words, you’ll just have to memorize which verbs change to ㄹ and which verbs don’t. Now what happens when ㄷ ending verbs are conjugated into the deferential polite form? So far we’ve been dealing with the ㄷ ending verbs in the standard polite form, but let’s take a look at the verbs in the deferential polite form. Let’s take a look at a sentence like this, “어머님의 말씀을 듣습니다“. (어머님 = mother. 말씀 = word. 듣습나다 = listen) which means “[I] listen to [my] mother’s words”.

Notice how 듣다 doesn’t change to a ㄹ in the deferential polite form. It only changes in the standard polite form. In this sense, the deferential polite form is much easier to form then the standard polite form. Let’s take another verb and conjugate it in the deferential polite form. 걷다 will be 걷습니다. To conjugate into the deferential polite form, drop the 다 and you’re left with the stem 걷. Then add 습니다 to the stem. Try this with the verb 묻다. Did you get it? You should have conjugated it to 묻습니다. Much easier than the standard polite form right?

Post from: Korean Blog

However, 듣다 can also be used in another context. Let’s look at the sentence 다섯 과목을 들어요. (다섯 = five. 과목 = course. 을 = object marking particle. 들어요 = take.) Here the sentence means “[I] take five courses/subjects.” In this sentence 들어요 is used in the sense of taking a class/course. The way you can remember this is to change the meaning of this sentence as “[I] listen/hear five courses.” It’s a little awkward with this sentence, but it works better in this sentence, 온라인 수업 들어요 where you can say “[I] listen to an online course”. Still however, it works better when you say “[I] take an online course/class”

(온라인 = online. 수업 = class/course. 들어요 = take). When the verb 듣다 is used in the sense of “take” you can only use it in the sense of taking a class, a lecture or a course. You can’t use 듣다 when you want to say something like “I take my medicine everyday” because 듣다 can’t be used as “take” unless it has to do with taking a lesson, course, etc. Another verb that has the ㄷ ending as 듣다 is 걷다. 걷다 means “to walk”. The sentence 유리는 학교까지 걸어요 means “Yuri walks until she gets to school”. (유리 = Yuri. 학교 = school. 까지 = until/to. 걸어요 = walk).

There’s another common verb that ends in ㄷ that follows this rule. 질문을 자주 물어요. The verb here is 묻다 which means “to ask”. (질문 = question. 자주 = often. 물어요 = ask). In English the sentence means “[I] often ask questions”. Be careful with 묻다. 묻다 can also mean “to bury” like in this sentence, 소라는 시체를 묻어요 which can mean “Sora burys the corpse”. (소라 = Sora. 는 = topic marking particle. 시체 = corpse. 를 = object marking particle. 묻어요. So when the verb 묻다 means “to ask” you’ll have to conjugate it like 듣다, but when it means “to bury” it’ll be conjugated as 묻어요.

Post from: Korean Blog

One other thing that you should keep note is that just because the plural marker is attached doesn’t mean the subject marker disappears. Notice in the first sentence the subject marker comes after the plural marker. Now sometimes 들 can be dropped when it’s clear that the subject is plural. For example, 저희는 학생이 아니에요. (저희 = we. 는 = topic marking particle. 학생 = student. 이 = subject marking particle. 들 = plural marker. 아니에요 = is not.) This sentence means, “We are not students.” This sentence would also be correct if it had the plural marker 들 after the pronoun 저희. Since 저희 means “we”, it is already plural in nature. That’s why it’s ok to drop the 들.

Now let’s look at some pronouns and see if the meaning changes when 들 is added.

저희 = we. 저희들 = also means we.

너희 = you plural casual. 너희들 = you plural casual.

당신 = you singular polite. 당신들 = you plural polite.

그녀 = literally means “that girl”. 그녀들 = those girls.

그들 = can mean “they” as in a mix of boys and girls or just boys.

�

Post from: Korean Blog

불신지옥 - Living Hell/Living Death. About two sisters, one who may possibly be possessed.

여고괴담 5 동반자살 - A Blood Pledge. About a group of high school girls who promise to commit suicide together, but two girls back out of the pact…

고死: 피의 중간고사 - Death Bell. A classroom full of students are taking an exam and are being executed one by one. How do the remaining students stop this mysterious occurence?

해부학교실 - The Cut. A couple of medical students start dying off one by one during a dissection lecture. Could the mysterious new student be involved in the killings?

기담 - Epitaph. The setting of the movie takes place in Korea, under Japanese occupation. Mysterious events start to occur in a hospital. Is there a good explantion for this, or is the place simply haunted?

전설의 고향 - Evil Twin. The spirit of a deceased sister may be taking over the living sister’s body. Does the mother hold the secret to this mystery?

두 사람이다 - It’s Two People/Someone Behind You/Voices. A girl tries to escape a curse haunting her family, but can she even trust her own family?

You can try looking for these movies on Netflix. If that doesn’t work, maybe Blockbuster will have them in the foreign film section. You can also buy them on YESASIA. Keep in mind that some of these movie titles are not translated with the same meaning in Korean. My guess is that some of the titles were changed so that international audiences would find these movies more scary/appealing.

�

Post from: Korean Blog

So where do Korean ghost stories come from? They may have formed from an old misconception or perhaps an exaggeration of an ancient Korean practice. The practice stems from old funeral rites. Long ago when a parent died, it was not unusual for an unmarried daughter to untie her hair in a gesture of grief. Nowadays some people in Korea wear black when someone dies, but white was actually the color of mourning in the olden days. Not coincidentally, Korean ghost stories describe the ghosts as wearing a white 한복 with unkempt, untied hair in the form of a female. Perhaps this is where the first Korean ghost stories come from.

A 도깨비 is a goblin. In Korean folklore, the 도깨비 is described as having a large piece of skin dangling from the chin, cheek or anywhere on the face. Sometimes they have warts on the skin. The 도깨비 is described as gullible and easily mislead. They are said to live deep in the woods or in the mountains where nobody lives. The story of the 도깨비 may have originated from real life social outcasts living in the mountains. These outcasts were sometimes disfigured in some way and some may have had mental disabilites. Since there were no sanitoriums back then, perhaps the 도깨비 was based on this group.

The 귀신 stories seem to have some cautionary tale, sometimes directed at children. Some of the messages might be: don’t lie, don’t cheat, don’t kill people, etc or you may be visited by a ghost. The 도깨비 stories seem to be comical stories, with less cautionary themes. In fact, the messages for the 도깨비 stories seem to be: use your head, or outrick your enemy. I, myself find it interesting that the ghosts tend to be female. I may be reading too much into this, but what does that say about Korean society and women?

�

Post from: Korean Blog

The history behind the 38th parallel is a source of national regret and sorrow. Before I introduce the history behind the 38th parallel, I’ll just briefly mention what it is. The 38th parallel is a latitudinal boundary set between North and South Korea. South of the 38th parallel lies South Korea and accordingly north of the parallel is North Korea. Sometimes the 38th parallel is referred to as the DMZ or the Demilitarized Zone (한반도 비무장지대).

The DMZ was created in 1953 as an armstice between North and South Korea. Before the armistice, North Korea had formed an alliance with the Soviet Union and South Korea had an alliance with the US. From 1950 to 1953 the two sides fought for territorial gains and political/ideological supremacy. Although the fighting ended with an armistice, there was never a peace treaty that followed afterward. Therefore, technically speaking North and South Korea are still engaged in a type of cold ‘war’. Both sides have agreed not to cross the DMZ, but there were periodic violations of this agreement.

There is a lot more to this story, but since we’re short on time, I’ll just say that it’s been estimated that around 36, 940 US troops were killed, with 245,000 - 415,000 South Korean troops killed and around 2,000,000 civilians who were also the casualities of the war. With these casualties in mind, let us not forget the sacrifices of these lives on 국군의 날.

�

Post from: Korean Blog

The word 아니에요 negates things. In the sentence above 아니에요 takes on the meaning of ‘not’. However 아니예요 can also take on the meaning of ‘no’. For instance in this sentence, 아니에요, 저는 미국 사람이에요, the 아니에요 takes on the meaning ‘no’ instead of ‘not’. (아니에요 = no, in the standard polite form. 저 = I. 는 = topic marking particle. 미국 = America. 사람 = person. 이 = subject marking particle. 이에요 = is.) In English the sentence means, ‘No, I am not an American person’. You can also say, 아니에요, 저는 한국 사람이 아니에요. 저는 미국 사람이에요, which emphasizes that you’re not a Korean person even more.

Generally when 아니에요 is placed at the beginning of the sentence, it takes on the meaning of ‘no’. When 아니에요 comes at the end of the sentence, it takes on the meaning of ‘not’. Also, the meaning ‘no’ and ‘not’ can also be expressed as 아닙니다. 아니에요 is the standard polite way of saying ‘no’ or ‘not’, but 아닙니다 is the deferential polite way of saying ‘no’ or ‘not’. For example you could say ‘저는 아닙니다’ or ‘it’s not me’. (저 = polite way to say ‘I’. 는 = topic marking particle after a vowel. 아닙니다 = deferential polite way of saying ‘not’.)

You can also use 아니에요 and 아닙니다 in the interrogative form. For example you could say, 승미 집이 아니에요? or 주나 씨 아닙니까? In English this would mean something like ‘It’s not Sungmi’s house?’ or ‘Are [you] not Mr. Juna?’ (승미 = Sungmi (a person’s name). 지 = house/home. 이 = subject marking particle used after consonants. 아니에요 = ‘not’. 주나 = Juna. 씨 = can mean Mr./Ms. 아닙니까 = deferential interrogative form of ‘not’.) You might have also noticed that 아니에요 is not spelled as 아니예요, the difference being that one has the 에 and the other has 예 even though 아니 ends in a vowel. That’s because 아니 is not a noun, and so it doesn’t follow the normal conventions for vowel and consonant endings.

Post from: Korean Blog