Vocabulary for Korean Learners!

[stevospec1]

I thought it would be awesome if people posted words that they know in Korean. Maybe every day or maybe only once. But if enough people started posting words daily this could possible help a lot of people that are interested in learning Korean. It may get some what repetitive if this takes off but I guess will just have to see. Also I would say just post something simple like individual words or short phrases. I'll start this off with a few somewhat random words.

시작하다 = to Start
끝내다 = to Finish

Keep in mind I have posted just 2 basic verbs in just the basic verb stem form. You should have some knowledge already like how to read Korean and possibly how to conjugate verbs/adjective.

My hope is to have people involved and active in this post. That way they may remember these vocabulary words faster/better than usual. Have fun and enjoy!

[T.J.]

부활시키다  to revive, resurrect, bring back to life.

See what I did there.... 

[shaunabrowne87]

나는 영어 선생님 입니다........... I am an English teacher always a handy one to know. 

[hwana]

The all-encompassing English phrase "Excuse me" has several versions in Korean, depending on the situation you need to use it. You can't mix these up!

잠시만요 (jam-shi-man-yo) - used when you need somebody to move out of your way (bus, train etc.)  <--- this is probably the one that you'll get the most mileage out of!!!!

뭐라고요? (mwo-ra-go-yo?) - used when you didn't hear what somebody said - like "pardon?"

실례합니다 (shil-leh-ham-ni-da) - formal phrase used when you need to get a stranger's attention (to ask them directions for example).

저기요 / 여기요 (cheo-gi-yo / yeo-gi-yo) - this is the less formal version of the above, and is commonly used to get the attention of somebody working in a food or drink establishment.

[hwana]

BTW if you can't read Korean it's very easy to butcher the pronunciation by simply following the romanised version. It's not perfect, but as a rough guide to the correct pronunciation I recommend going to the Google translate page and pasting the Korean into the search box. You're not interested in the translation, but rather the "Listen" link underneath the big textbox.

For example, go here - http://tinyurl.com/3ptyley - and you can see 2 links underneath box with Korean text. Click "Listen" to hear the Korean pronunciation or "Read phonetically" to have it automatically romanised. This is the third phrase I posted above.

[hwana]

나는 영어 선생님 입니다........... I am an English teacher always a handy one to know.

Just a tip - it sounds a little off if you mix the informal personal pronoun 나 with the polite ending 입니다. It sounds more natural using the formal equivalent '저' :

저는 영어 선생님 입니다

[letsgoteacher]

http://quizlet.com/subject/korean/

[Serseri]

http://quizlet.com/subject/korean/

That is fantastic letsgoteacher! I just used it for 15mins before I could peel myself away to respond. Thank you!

Something I just learned is "한번도 가 본적 없어요".  (I've never been there before) I actually found it quite useful considering how often I get asked if I've been somewhere.

Also: "졸려요" - I'm sleepy....because I often am.

[WorkingTitle3484]

What's helped me out is meeting up with Korean friends and having an English/Korean palaver.

Recently, we got into the discussion of interests/weather.

날씨 (Nal-shi) = weather
오늘 (Oh-neul) = today
어제 (Uh-jeh) = yesterday
내일 (Naeh-eel) = tomorrow
좋아 [하다] (Jo-ah [ha-da]) = [do] like

어떻게 (Uh-dduh-keh) = how
생각 [하다] (saeng-gahk [ha-da]) = [do] think

오늘 날씨가 좋아해요? = Do you like today's weather? Or, for an open-ended question:
오늘 날씨가 어떻게 생각해요? What do you think about today's weather?

You can change 'today' and 'tomorrow' with no general problems, but if you want to ask about 'yesterday', you should change the verb to past tense. (했어요)

If I made mistakes, feel free to correct me, because I'm doing this kinda fast before I take off for the day!

Have a beautiful one!

[cassie]

For learning basic vocabulary words, check out this hilarious zombie game. The title alone is worth the visit.

http://www.animara.com/hanghoul/

[msls]

If you want to take something out of an order at a restaurant or coffee shop, 빼다 (baeda) is a useful verb. It means to "remove" or "take out". So if ordering coffee without milk you might want to say 우유 빼주세요. (uyu bae jusaeyo).

[Sticks]

A few expressions that might make them go 'oooooh' and clap their hands.
In Korean restaurants:
사장님 - sah-jang-nim: Literally, 'boss'. Use it when you want some attention from the owner(s) when you want to order or order something else, get the bill, etc.
포장(하다) - po-jang: Packing, pack, wrap. Used when you want your leftovers in a doggy bag if the restaurant will do it. You can also use it at fast food places like McDs and Lotteria if you want your order as take-away.
추가(하다) - chu-ga: 'Add.' Use when you want to add an extra to your order, e.g. side of fries, bowl of rice, extra kimchi in your kimchi-jjigae at kimbap-nara.

[northaveorange]

For the times that I have to work with 1st and 2nd graders and they stare at me wondering if they're answers are correct I"ll say. .맞아!. if talking more formally use, 맞아요. (majahyo).  This means "correct!" or "It's correct."

If someone is explaining something to you, you can say "알겠습니다" (ahlgaessumnida) to mean "I see" or "I understand" formally.  Informally is "알았소." (arasso).

[Loki001]

Thanks for the previous posts, there were many there I still don't know

Here are a few useful ones I could quickly find

조용히 해요 - be quiet please
앉새요 - sit down please
다음 - next
보지 마! - don't look
하지 마세요 - don't do that please
만나서 반갑습니다 - I am very pleased to meet you (very formal and impressive to say)

[GuMiho]

그만해! (Stop that!) is always useful, but it's also super informal, so be careful with it.

[SpaceRook]

좋아 [하다] (Jo-ah [ha-da]) = [do] like

This one is a little tricky.

좋다 (adjective) = to be good
좋아하다 (verb) = to like

날씨가 좋아요 = The weather is good.
날씨를 좋아해요 = (I) like the weather.

This is useful to know, because there are a LOT of adjectives that get turned into verbs by adding "하".

Also, note the use of 가 (subject marker) and 를 (object marker).  This is a very common Korean grammar question. 

 

[Paul]

Just to clear up 하다 for you guys: it takes the role of "to do" in English and is paired with a noun to make a hada-verb.

A comparative example in English would be to "do karate" or "do taekwondo". Note that both of those examples use loan words that do not fit in the English language very well. Same in Korea, only there's a lot of loan words from Chinese. This is why most hada-verbs possess associated hanja.

I'm personally not a fan of calling 가 the "subject marker" as it plays a broader role, but it can mark subjects too.

[WorkingTitle3484]

It's important to know how to express what you want.  One of the most valuable stems I've learned is ~고싶어요 (I want to ~).  Because it ends in the polite ~요, it's not as aggressive as it sounds in English.  It's closer to 'I would like to', even tough there's a different stem to specifically express that.

You can place this stem after a verb in order to express your preference.

For example,

가 (ka)= go
가고싶어요 (ka gosheepuhyo)=I want to go

or

먹 (muk)= eat
먹고싶어요 (mukgosheepuhyo)= I want to eat.

It helps because if you're ever in a bind while traveling, you can state what you'd like to do.  Also, if you keep an ear out, you'll probably hear this every day.  Ks love to speak into the wind sometimes and they're always munching, so they more often say 먹고싶다 (mukgosheepda) when talking to themselves or amongst friends.  The ~다 ending is just the base form of every verb.  So for the 2 verbs above, it's 가다 and 먹다.

[baja0204]

What is the best way to end a sentence when asking where something is?

[WorkingTitle3484]

@Baja, there are three different ways to ask people, depending on your relationship/age of the Korean person.

In English, you'll say 'Where is ~ _____?'  In Korean, you'll say '____ ~어디에요?'

If s/he's substantially older than you, use

____ 어디습니까?

If they're around your age, use

____ 어디에요?

If they're younger, use

____ 어디야?

Let's say it's Emart.  Play it safe, and say this:

Emart 어디에요?

Adding -요 after the verb makes your sentence more polite, so you won't piss off any older Koreans.