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Lesson 2 : Master reading & writing
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. How to read
- syllable
- final sound of each consonant
3. Hangeul Writing Block
4. Consonant cluster
5. Korean honorifics
6. Wrap up
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Introduction: Master reading & writing Hangeul
■ The list of things you are supposed to know after studying Lesson 1.
1. 14 consonants and 10 vowels
2. 11 compound vowels
3. 5 double consonants
4. The position of vertically drawn vowels and horizontally drawn vowels in a block
5. The fact that Hangeul is written in blocks and one block makes up one syllable.
Ok. It’s time to go deeper.
In Lesson 2, We are going to learn:
1. All 9 Korean writing blocks
2. More examples of each writing block
3. How to read
4. Consonants cluster
5. Korean honorifics
LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING!!
1. Do not be frustrated by the fact there are 9 types of writing blocks. You will be familiar
with all of them with the given examples here. Don’t worry.
2. The name Type (1), Type (2) … are not important at all. Forget them. You just need to
remember the principle of the writing order in Hangeul. It’s quite easy to remember.
Let’s master reading & writing Hangeul in this lesson!!
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2
How to read
You’ve already seen these 4 basic writing blocks.
Let’s not name them as type(1), (2), (3), (4) anymore.
type (1)
C
V
type (2)
type(3)
C
C
V
V
type(4)
C
C
C
-
We write Hangeul from left to right and from top to bottom. You read Hangeul in the
same order you write.
C
V
C
C
V
V
C
-
V
C
V
C
Let’s forget about the type of the blocks for now. But, you should remember that 'one
block makes up one syllable'.
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3
How to read
-
In Hangeul, you always start with one consonant. I said always.
ㅎㅏ
ㅗ
-
-
, and add one vowel. One vowel means one single vowel or one compound vowel. Do
you remember we learned compound vowels in Lesson 1? Yes, it’s a compound of 2 or
3 basic vowels. It doesn’t ring any bell? Then, you need to go back to Lesson 1.
How to position the vowel then? As we learned in Use of Lesson 1, if the vowel is drawn
horizontally, put it on the bottom of the consonant , and if it’s drawn vertically, put it on
the right side of the consonant. No exception.
ㅎ [h]
one consonant first
-
ㅎㅏ
ㄷ
ㅁ
ㅎㅏㅇㅣ ㅗ ㅜ
e.g.)
[ha]
vertical vowel on the right
vertical vowel on the right
horizontal vowel on the bottom
Compound vowels which are written vertically should be located on the right side of the
consonant. It’s so obvious, isn’t it.
ㄱㅐ ㄴㅔ ㅇㅒ ㄹㅖ
e.g.)
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4
Do not try to read these.
They are just examples. : )
How to read
Let’s write 'Han' and 'geul' in Hangeul. Can you do that? We haven’t learned it. : ))
[han]:
ㅎ[h]
ㅎㅏ[ha]
start with consonant
put vowel [a] on the right
because it’s vertical vowel
where should we put [n]????
Ok. Now, it’s time to learn the initial, medial and final in a Korean writing block.
ㅎㅏ[han]
ㄴ 3) final :
2) medial : the vowel
1) initial:
the consonant that starts the block
the consonant or consonant cluster that
ends the block.
exactly as you put 'n' at the end of [ha]
to make it [han], you should put 'ㄴ' [n]
on the bottom of the block in Hangeul.
※ You’ve never heard of 'consonant cluster', have you?
we will certainly get back to that later.
Just remember that:
1. Initial is a consonant or a double consonant which comes first in a block.
2. Medial is always a vowel.
3. Final is a consonant or a consonant cluster. That’s it.
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How to read
※ Syllable
We guess you already know what syllable means. Just to remind you.
1. Definition : A syllable is a part of a word that contains a single vowel sound and
that is pronounced as a unit.
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. A syllable is typically
made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins
(typically, consonants).
2. e.g.) 'book' has one syllable, and 'reading' has two syllables.
How do we split the word when we write it in a Hangeul writing block? By a unit of syllable!
- reading : ‘rea – ding’, - apple : ‘a – pple’, - water : ‘wa – ter’
- energy : e – ner- gy (it can’t go like ‘e- ne – rgy’, and you know why)
■ study tips
1. The Romanized word 'Han-geul' consists of 2 syllables. Right?
2. In Korean, one block makes up one syllable. Therefore, you should write 'Han' in one
block and 'geul' in another block.
3. Remember that the final consonant should be located at the bottom of the block.
4. As you see on the bottom of the page. First consonant [giyeok] has the final sound [k]
according to the Romanization rule. But, we don’t recommend you to memorize
Romanized final sound of the consonants. Before you do that, please go to the next page.
ㄱㄴㄷㄹㅁㅂㅅㅇㅈㅊㅋㅌㅍㅎ
[giyeok] [nieun]
[digeut] [rieul]
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[mieum]
[bieup]
[siot]
[ ieung ]
6
[jieut]
[chieut]
[kieuk]
[tieut]
[pieup]
[hieut]
How to read
Ok. Let’s get back to writing 'hangeul' in Hangeul first.
1. Write the initial consonant first.
2. Put vowel on the correct position.
3. If there is any consonant before the next syllable starts, It should be final sound of the block.
Put it on the bottom of the block. Always put the final sound on the bottom.
ㅎ
[h]
one consonant first
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[ha]
vertical vowel on the right
one consonant first
ㄱ
하 한
[g]
Final consonant on the bottom
그 글
[geu]
[han]
[geul]
horizontal vowel under the consonant Final consonant on the bottom
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How to read
Is it really necessary to memorize all the final sound of the consonants?
We DON’T THINK SO.
LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING!!
Just think that they sound the same wherever they go with a few exceptions.
1. Let us give you an example.
how do you read this?
the correct Romanization of this word is [bap].
because the final sound of 'ㅂ' [bieup] is [p].
but, what if we write this [bab]. does its sound change?
[b] and [p] sound so different when they come as the final sound?
means “meal”
Bob and Bop sound so different even in English?
[bap]
the answer 'NO!' in Korean.
밥
ㅂ[b] ㅏ[a] ㅂ [p]
[bieup]
ㅂㅏ[bap]
ㅂ
[bab]
2. What If someone shows you one Romanized Korean word and ask you to convert it to
Hangeul. Let’s see with the same word ‘밥’.
[bap]: [b] -
ㅂ [a] -ㅏ [p] –
[bieup]
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this is the final of
the block. Therefore, let’s
find the consonants which
have [p] as the final sound.
8
ㅂ ㅍ
[bieup]
[pieup]
[비읍]
[피읖]
which one?
How to read
-
-
This is exactly why we suggested not studying Korean Romanization. Because that
makes it more CONFUSING!
Therefore, we believe that it is more important for you to understand the sound of
Korean alphabet itself than just memorize all the Romanized initial and the final sound
of them.
Ok. This is what we are going to do.
We will put it in 2 different ways to make you understand and memorize them easy.
1. Original sound as a final sound.
Let’s divide them into 3 groups by consonants:
- Group 1 : no problem to use the initial sound as the final sound.
- Group 2 : sound [t] when it comes as the final sound.
- Group 3 : exceptions. only 'ㅇ' and 'ㅎ' are in this group.
2. This is exactly why we suggested not studying Korean Romanization. Because that [k],
[p] or [t] as a final sond.
Let’s divide them into 4 categories by consonants :
- Category 1 : sound [k] as the final sound.
- Category 2 : sound [p] as the final sound.
- Category 3 : sound [t] as the final sound.
- Category 4 : others.
Let’s find out what we are talking about specifically!!!
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How to read
The consonants that have no problem to use the initial sounds as the final sounds.
Group 1
Alphabet
ㄱ ㅋ ㄴ ㄹ ㅌ ㅁ ㅂ ㅍ
Romanization
[giyeok]
[kieuk]
[nieun]
[rieul]
[tieut]
[mieum]
[bieup]
[pieup]
Korean name
[기역]
[키읔]
[니은]
[리을]
[티읕]
[미음]
[비읍]
[피읖]
The consonants that sound [t] when it comes as the final sound. ■ study tip
1. You can see the
Romanized final sound of
Group 2
Alphabet
all these 5 letters is [t].
2. Therefore, you pronounce
them [t] whenever they
Romanization
[digeut]
[siot]
[jieut]
[chieut]
come as the final. Just like
[디귿]
[시옷]
[지읒]
[치읓]
Korean name
the final sound of the
Romanization.
■ study tip
Group 3
1. 'ㅇ' sounds [-ng] when it comes as
Alphabet
the final.
2. The final sound of 'ㅎ' is mixed with
Romanization
[ieung] [hieut]
the consonant in the next block. We
will get back to that later. : )
[이응] [히읗]
Korean name
ㄷ ㅅ ㅈ ㅊ
ㅇ ㅎ
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ㄱ
[기역] [Giyeok]
How to read
What does it sound like? [g]
What do you call it? [giyeok]
How do you call it in Korean? [기역]
How come we say you can use the initial sound as the final sound for the group 1?
As you see here, when we
write the actual name of the
consonant '기역', we use the
same 'ㄱ' for the initial of the
first block and the final of the
second block.
It shows the letter 'ㄱ' has
the same initial and the final
sound.
there is no 'ㅋ' [k] here
actually.
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This is not Korean Romanization learning
material. Therefore, we are not going to
explain why 'k' is used as the final sound.
It’s just a rule.
But, what if we replace 'k' with 'g' as we
learned. Did its sound change completely?
No!! Not at all!!
[Giyeog]
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How to read
Let’s see more examples on this. Can you read this?
학교
ㅎ 하 학
[h]
[ha]
it has [g] sound
as we’ve learned
from the
beginning.
[hag]
1. According to the Romanization rule, it has to be [hak]. However, even though you use
the initial sound [g] as the final sound, it would make the same sound [hag].
2. We are not saying that it has to be [hag]. Just it’s easier for you to naturally remember
the sound of the consonant than memorize all the initial and the final sound.
학교
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[hag-gyo] or
[hak-gyo]
12
which means 'school'.
How to read
LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING!!
1. Again, this is not a Romanization learning material. You don’t have to study Korean
Romanization rule here. Romanized letters are just references we use to understand the
pronunciation better. Nothing more.
2. Therefore, you’d better understand the actual sound of the letter itself.
Do you want to see another
example of this?
ㅌ
팥
ㅍ 파 팥
[p]
팥
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[pa]
[pat]
it has [t] sound as
we’ve learned
from the
beginning.
[pat]
which means 'red bean'. It’s easy!
13
How to read
Now you understand what we meant and why you don’t have to remember the Romanized
final sound of the consonants below?
We will give you more examples in 'Use of Lesson 2' after this. Don’t worry about it.
Group 1
Alphabet
ㄱ ㅋ ㄴ ㄹ ㅌ ㅁ ㅂ ㅍ
Romanization
[giyeok]
[kieuk]
[nieun]
[rieul]
[tieut]
[mieum]
[bieup]
[pieup]
Korean name
[기역]
[키읔]
[니은]
[리을]
[티읕]
[미음]
[비읍]
[피읖]
'ㅌ' which sounds [t] was included in the group 1 while other consonants which have the
final sound [t] were categorized as the group 2, because the initial sound and the final
sound of 'ㅌ' is the same [t].
But, it can be also categorized as the group 2 because it has the final sound of [t].
Therefore, let’s put it in the group 2 for a while.
Let’s take a look at the consonants which sound [t] when they come as a final sound.
Group 2
Alphabet
ㄷ ㅌ ㅅ ㅈ ㅊ
Romanization
[digeut]
[tieut]
[siot]
[jieut]
[chieut]
Korean name
[디귿]
[티읕]
[시옷]
[지읒]
[치읓]
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14
How to read
Let’s just check out one example for one final consonant at a time to see how it pronounces.
ㅅ
찻길
ㅊ
차
찻
[ch]
[cha]
[chat]
it sounds [t] as a
final sound
even though it
has [s] sound.
1. Actually this ‘ㅅ’ takes really important part in Hangeul. It’s used for several purposes.
2. The letter ‘ㅅ’ here is used to connect 2 nouns and make them one word. ‘차’ : car ‘길’:
street. ‘차’ + ‘길’ = ‘찻길’: road. Let’s learn about this later again.
찻길
[chat-gil]
찯길
[chad-gil]
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which means ‘road'.
If you dig up to the Korean dictionary, it is said that 찻길
actually sounds like 찯길 with ‘ㄷ‘ as the final, and it applies
all the consonants in the group 2. You can memorize them
that way instead of memorizing the Romanized final
sound [t]. We will explain more about it shortly.
15
How to read
Let’s just see one example for one consonant to see how it pronounces.
ㅈ
낮잠
[nat-jam]
[nad-jam]
which means ‘midday nap'.
ㄴ
나
낮
[n]
[na]
[nat]
ㅊ
꽃
[kkot]
which means ‘flower'.
[kkod]
ㄲ
꼬
꽃
[kk]
[kko]
[kkot]
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it sounds [t] as a
final sound
even though it
has [j] sound.
16
it sounds [t] as a
final sound
even though it
has [ch] sound.
How to read
We can’t think of any noun example with the final ‘ㄷ’. This is the first ‘verb’ example.
ㄷ
걷다
ㄱ
[geot-da]
which means the verb ‘walk'.
거
걷
[geo]
[geot]
[g]
it sounds like [t]
as a final sound
according to the
Romanization
rule.
Do you remember what we mentioned about the final sound of ‘ㄷ’ [d]?
We told you that it looked like ‘ㄷ’ [d] was supposed to be a part of the group 1.
We will show you why we said that.
걷다
[geod-da]
Do you think it sounds so different if we use the initial sound [d] of ‘ㄷ’ as the final sound
of the first block? We think it sounds almost the same. It looks even more reasonable.
We don’t mind if you memorize this as the group 1.
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How to read
These four letters sound all the same actually.
낫 낮 낯 낟
[nat]
[nad]
‘sickle’
[nat]
[nad]
‘daytime’
[nat]
[nad]
‘face’
[nat]
[nad]
‘no meaning’
※ Just for your information
1. If you look into the Korean-Korean dictionary, it is said that ‘낫’ actually sounds like ‘낟’
with ‘ㄷ’[d] which supports what we explained about the final sound of ‘ㄷ’ here and in
the previous page.
2. We don’t mind if you memorize ‘ㅅ’, ‘ㅈ’ and ‘ㅊ’ sound like ‘ㄷ’ [d] when they come as
the final sound.
3. Just remember that these 3 consonants sound the same when they come as the final
sound and it can be either ‘t’ or ‘d’ in Romanization.
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18
How to read
Let’s see what we have in the group 1.
ㄱ ㅋ ㄴ ㄹ ㄷ ㅌ ㅁ ㅂ ㅍ
Group 1
Alphabet
Romanization
[giyeok]
Korean name
[기역]
[kieuk] [nieun]
[rieul] [digeut] [tieut]
[키읔]
[리을]
[니은]
[디귿]
[티읕]
[mieum] [bieup]
[미음]
[비읍]
[pieup]
[피읖]
Then, we have only 3 consonants in the group 2.
ㅅ ㅈ ㅊ
Group 2
Alphabet
Romanization
[siot]
[jieut]
[chieut]
Korean name
[시옷]
[지읒]
[치읓]
Last, but not least.
Group 3
Alphabet
ㅇ ㅎ
Romanization
[ieung] [hieut]
Korean name
[이응]
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[히읗]
As we mentioned earlier :
1. 'ㅇ' sounds [-ng] when it comes as the final.
2. The final sound of 'ㅎ' is mixed with the sound of
the first consonant in the next block
Let’s check out some examples of these.
19
How to read
Let’s see the example of the final
sound of 'ㅇ'.
ㅇ
공기
Can you read this?
ㄱ 고 공
[g]
[go]
it sounds [-ng]
as a final sound
[gong]
1. As you already know, the consonant ‘ㅇ’ does not have any sound.
2. But, as a final sound, ‘ㅇ’ sounds exactly like [-ng] of wing, king or ring.
3. It’s easy, but it’s also very important, because there are a plenty of words which use ‘ㅇ’
as the final sound in Korean.
공기
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which means ‘air'.
[gong-gi]
20
How to read
We can’t think of any noun example with the final ‘ㅎ’. This is the first ‘adjective’ example.
We’ve got to tell you that this is the tricky one!!
ㅎ
좋다
ㅈ ㅗ ㅎ
this is the basic form of the adjective ‘good'.
First of all, we will show you the Romanization of this word.
[jo-ta]
Are you about to be maxed out?
Where has ‘ㅎ’ gone and where does [t] sound come from?
Ok. Come down. We’ll give you a quick answer and move on.
좋
We don’t really
read this. Let’s say
this is silent.
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다
The final ‘ㅎ’
combines with ‘ㄷ’
and change the
sound ‘ㄷ’ to ‘ㅌ’
which is [t]
조
타
[jo]
[ta]
Let me tell you something!
Just remember that there is something like
this. We will show you more examples later.
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How to read
Most of the consonant are in the group 1.
Group 1
Alphabet
ㄱ ㅋ ㄴ ㄹ ㄷ ㅌ ㅁ ㅂ ㅍ
Romanization
[giyeok]
Korean name
[기역]
[kieuk] [nieun]
[rieul] [digeut] [tieut]
[키읔]
[리을]
[니은]
[디귿]
Only 3 consonants are in the group 2.
ㅅ ㅈ ㅊ
Group 2
Alphabet
Romanization
[siot]
[jieut]
[chieut]
Korean name
[시옷]
[지읒]
[치읓]
Only 2 consonant are in the group 3.
Group 3
Alphabet
ㅇ ㅎ
Romanization
[ieung] [hieut]
Korean name
[이응]
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[히읗]
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[티읕]
[mieum] [bieup]
[미음]
[비읍]
[pieup]
[피읖]
How to read
Let’s find out another way to memorize the final sounds of the consonants.
Final Sound
Alphabet
ㄱ
k
ㅋ
Romanization
[giyeok]
[kieuk]
Korean name
[기역]
[키읔]
Category 1
p
ㅂ
Romanization
[bieup]
[pieup]
Korean name
[비읍]
[피읖]
t
ㅍ
ㄷ ㅌ ㅅ ㅈ ㅊ ㅎ
Romanization
[digeut]
[tieut]
[siot]
[jieut]
[chieut]
Korean name
[디귿]
[티읕]
[시옷]
[지읒]
[치읓]
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[hieut] silent
[히읗]
How to read
Let’s find out another way to memorize the final sounds of the consonants.
Category 2
Final Sound
Alphabet
Final Sound
Alphabet
l
ㄹ
n
ㄴ
Romanization
[rieul]
[nieun]
Korean name
[리을]
[니은]
m
ㅁ
Romanization
[mieum]
[ieung]
Korean name
[미음]
[이응]
-ng
ㅇ
■ Study tip
1. You can choose any of these ways to memorize the final sound of the consonants.
2. But, we recommend you the first way we presented here with the sound of consonant
itself, because it will be handy when you have to learn how to read the mixture of the
final sound of the former block and first sound of the latter block.
3. With the second way, you’ll get to depend too much on Romanization. It’s not good.
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Hangeul writing block : 9 writing blocks
Now, it’s time to learn all the 9 writing blocks.
There is a reason why we didn’t learn these 9 writing blocks in the first place, because it’s
not as important as you think.
init. : initial consonant, med. : medial vowel, fin.: final consonant
init.
init.
med.
med.
fin.
init.
fin.
med.
fin.
ㄷㅏ [da]
ㄷㅏ [dak]
ㄱ
ㄷㅏ [dak]
ㄹㄱ
init.
med.
init.
med.
fin.
init.
med.
fin.
fin.
ㅁ [mu]
ㅜ
ㅁ
ㅜ [muk]
ㄱ
ㅁ
ㅜ [muk]
ㄱㄱ
init.
med.
med.
init.
med.
med.
fin.
init.
med.
fin.
med.
ㅇㅣ[wi]
ㅜ
ㅇ
ㅜㅣ[wing]
ㅇ
can’t think of anything
right now
fin.
※ This is what we call 'consonant cluster'
we WILL get back to that later. Don’t worry about it.
LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING!!
1. Don’t be overwhelmed by these 9 writing blocks. You don’t even have to remember
them. We will tell you why in a couple of pages.
2. We will show you the examples of each block later and explain about it very nicely.
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25
Hangeul writing block : 9 writing blocks
1. Just in case you want to know the writing order of each individual block.
2. The easiest way to memorize this without memorizing it is:
- write from the left to the right in order of initial, medial and final all the time.
- when there is compound vowel in medial, write the bottom one first because it’s on the
left.
- when there is 2 consonants called consonant cluster in the final, write the left one first.
3. Again, you don’t have to memorize them. You shouldn’t. : )
init.
init.
med.
med.
fin.
init.
fin.
med.
fin.
ㄷㅏ [da]
ㄷㅏ [dak]
ㄱ
ㄷㅏ [dak]
ㄹㄱ
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init.
med.
init.
med.
fin.
init.
med.
fin.
fin.
ㅁ
ㅜ [mu]
ㅁ [muk]
ㅜ
ㄱ
ㅁ
ㅜ [muk]
ㄱㄱ
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init.
med.
med.
init.
med.
med.
fin.
init.
med.
fin.
med.
fin.
ㅇ
ㅜㅣ [wi]
ㅇ
ㅜㅣ [wing]
ㅇ
can’t think of anything
right now
Hangeul writing block : 9 writing blocks
Ok. Forget all the blocks. Forget them completely.
We just need a one block to explain them all.
The easiest way to memorize all Korean writing blocks without memorizing them!
Write in order of initial, medial and final all the time.
1. Always write the
initial consonant
first.
C
V
2. ,and then vowel in medial.
When there is compound
vowel in medial, write the
bottom one first because
it’s on the left.
V
C
C
3. When there are 2 consonants
called consonant cluster in final,
write the left one first.
That’s all. You’ve finished learning the Korean writing block with this one page.
I told you. It is EASY!!
Some websites even show you all the possible combination of the writing blocks.
Please do not even take a look at it, not even a little bit.
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Hangeul writing block: Compound Vowel
-
then, let’s see the example of positioning the compound vowels.
ㅚ ㅗ ㅣ
=
+
[o]
[oe]
-
[i]
You already know 'ㅚ'[oe] is the compound of 'ㅗ'[o] and 'ㅣ'[i].
You also know that 'ㅚ'[oe] sounds almost the same as 'ㅙ'[wae] in reality.
If you don’t understand what we are talking about, you can go back to Lesson 1 or just
keep going with Lesson 2. We will give you more examples later.
ㅎ 호 회
[h]
one consonant first
[ho]
means 'raw fish' or 'sashimi'
[hoe]
horizontal vowel on the bottom vertical vowel on the right
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※ yes, '회' and '홰' sound
almost the same in reality.
if you don’t remember
how to make sound of 'ㅚ',
just go back to Lesson 1.
Hangeul writing block: Compound Vowel
-
Let’s take a look at how to position the compound vowel 'ㅘ'.
ㅘ ㅗ ㅏ
=
+
[wa]
-
-
[o]
[a]
Consonant first, horizontally drawn vowel first under the consonant and vertically
drawn vowel on the right.
The principle is always the same. No exception
ㄱ 고 과
[g]
one consonant first
[go]
[gwa]
horizontal vowel on the bottom vertical vowel on the right
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※ If you want to know
how [o] + [a] makes [wa]
sound, you need to go
back to Lesson 1.
or, just simply say [o] and
[a] fast consecutively and
make it one sound.
Hangeul writing block: Compound Vowel
-
One more example
'웨‘ before we go to the next step.
ㅞ ㅜ ㅔ
=
+
[u]
[we]
-
[e]
The Romanization looks like 'we‘ in English, but you already know it sounds like [u] + [e].
In Lesson 1, we’ve already told you that it wouldn’t be a good idea to see Romanization
of these compound vowels to remember the pronunciations.
ㅇ 우 웨
[ ]
one consonant first
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[wu]
horizontal vowel on the bottom
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[we]
vertical vowel on the right
Consonant cluster
You don’t really need to spend much time to study consonant cluster.
Just see what it is here and move on.
There are not so many consonant clusters used in reality.
We will show you some examples in Use of Lesson 2.
Anytime we see another consonant cluster while we are studying, we’ll explain it again.
looks familiar?
C
V
V
C
C
When there are 2 consonants in the final of the block, we call it consonant cluster. That’s it!!!!
Let’s move on!!!
How about we even forget the term ‘consonant cluster’ from now on. : )
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31
Korean honorifics
■ study tips
1. You know there is honorifics in Korean, don’t you?
Korean grammar uses an extensive system of honorifics to reflect the speaker's relationship to
the subject of the sentence and speech levels to reflect the speaker's relationship to the
audience.
2. Some divide it into ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ while the other divide them into ‘polite’ and ‘impolite’.
But, we want to divide them into ‘informal’ and ‘honorifics’, and ‘honorifics’ is again divided
into ‘formal’ and ‘casual’.
3. Someone’s age is a very good indicator when you have to choose whether ‘informal’ or
‘honorifics’.
- informal :
to someone who is very very very close to you or to friends whose
age is equal to or younger than yours.
- honorifics : to any stranger or to someone whose age is older than yours.
•
formal :
normally used in a formal document or in a military
•
casual :
normally used in a everyday conversation
4. There are honorific verbs with honorific suffix and higher respect nouns. It is going to
be very hard for you to learn higher respect nouns now.
5. Just remember that all the phrases and sentences we are going to learn are going to
use honorific verbs or adjectives at least, because you should use honorifics when you
meet any Korean for the first time. It is even good to use honorifics to children when
you meet them for the first time. Nobody will laugh at you.
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Korean honorifics
■ Honorific suffixr
1. '요’ [yo] ‘니다’ [nida] and ‘니까’ [nikka] are the honorific suffixes.
2. We are gonna mainly use the suffix ‘요’ in this learning material because that’s the one
commonly used in normal everyday conversation.
~니다
[nida]
is used for a bit formal declarative phrases or sentences.
~니까
[nikka]
is used for a bit formal interrogative phrases or sentences.
[yo]
is used for a bit more casual situation. It can used for both declarative
and interrogative phrases or sentences.
~요
e.g.) hello - ‘an nyeong ha se요?' - can be ‘an nyeong ha sip 니까?'
LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING!!
Just remember that Korean honorific verbs and adjective end in the suffix '요’ [yo] ‘니다’ [nida]
or ‘니까’ [nikka].
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Korean honorifics: Useful & Simple phrases
안녕하세요
hi
hello
[an-nyeong-ha-se-yo]
ㅇㅏ
ㄴ
ㄴㅕ ㅎㅏ
ㅇ
ㅅㅔ
ㅇ
ㅛ
■ study tips
1. how are you? : Koreans don’t say 'how are you?' that much, but '안녕하세요' is actually
a question to ask someone if she/he is ok. You can put a question mark at the end.
Therefore, it can mean 'how are you?'.
2. how do you do? : There is no direct translation for ‘how do you do’ in Korean. So, you
can still say '안녕하세요' instead when you meet someone for the first time.
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Korean honorifics: Useful & Simple phrases
Let’s break down ‘안녕하세요’.
안녕
하세
요
[an-nyeong]
[ha-se]
[yo]
Do you know what it’s going to be like if we directly translate ‘안녕하세요’ in English?
It’s going to be like ‘are you fine?’, ‘are you ok?’ or ‘are you well?’.
are you well?
1.
2.
3.
안녕
하세
요
well
are
(honorific suffix)
‘안녕’ means ‘hi’ or ‘hello’, or
literally ‘wellness’ as a noun.
You can use it as a greeting
to your friends or someone
whose age is equal to or
younger than yours.
Subject is quite often removed
from sentences or phrases in
Korean language.
1.
2.
3.
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‘하세’ is a part of the ending of a
verb or an adjective which acts
like a bridge between the stem
‘안녕’ and the honorific suffix
‘요’[yo].
Let’s not dig deeper. ‘하세’ is
just honorific form which is used
to turn ‘안녕’ part into an
adjective.
It is sometime used like the verb
‘do’.
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1.
2.
‘요’[yo] itself doesn’t contain
any inherent or implicit
meaning.
,but it takes a role as a
honorific suffix which is used
to show some respects to the
audience.
Korean honorifics: Useful & Simple phrases
Do you want to see one more example?
식사하세요
Please start your meal.
Please have your meal.
[sik-sa-ha-se-yo]
ㅅㅣ
ㄱ
ㅅㅏ ㅎㅏ
ㅅㅔ
ㅇ
ㅛ
■ study tips
1. It’s funny, but this phrase is really important in Korea.
2. Imagine that there are people around the dinner table and you are the host. The host
may want to say “you can start your meal.” ,or your father is on upstairs and you want
to go tell him that “the dinner is ready”. These are exactly where you use this phrase.
3. Let’s break it down on the next page.
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Korean honorifics: Useful & Simple phrases
Let’s see how ‘하세’[ha-se] was used in this phrase.
식사
하세
요
[sik-sa]
[ha-se]
[yo]
If we directly translate ‘식사하세요’ in English,
Please do(eat) your meal
1.
2.
식사
하세
요
meal
do
(honorific suffix)
‘식사’ is the honorific of the
noun ‘밥’ that we learned on
the page 8 here.
Remember that this is a noun.
1.
‘하세’ here is used as the
representative verb ‘do’ to make
the noun ‘식사’ a verb.
1.
Well, you can say that this
honorific suffix ‘요’[yo] is used
in exchange of ‘please’. : )
Have you already found the common denominator between two? : )
No, you don’t have to. Just feel it and move on! : D
We are not going to break down these simple phrases in this lesson anymore.
Just take them as what they are here and let’s see what’s going on next.
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37
Wrap-up
Now, you’ve learned all about writing while you’re learning about reading, and there is no more.
You’ve also learned 90% of reading. You will be learning the rest 10 % by doing.
Let’s practice some writing with real words in Use of Lesson 2 before it gets really boring.
■ The list of things you are supposed to know now.
1. 14 consonants and 10 vowels, 11 compound vowels, 5 double consonants
2. How to fill out the block and draw individual letter in order.
3. The fact that Hangeul is written in blocks and one block makes up one syllable.
4. How to read the consonant when it comes as the final in a block.
5. What is consonant cluster
6. Korean honorific verbs end in the suffix ‘요’[yo] or ‘니다’[nida] in declarative sentences.
LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING!!
1. Do not be frustrated by the things you don’t understand here such as consonant cluster.
It’s not about writing. You already know how to write it. It’s all about spelling and
reading. Maybe you have to memorize it later because there is no rule for it.
2. We assume that you are dying for making some sentences with what you’ve learned so
far. We will certainly do that from the Lesson 3.
3. Since you’ve chosen to learn the alphabet first, we are not going to provide you with the
Romanized equivalents to Hangeul from the next lesson unless it’s necessary. So, you’d
better master it in this lesson. : )
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