Lesson 10
Past Tense in Korean
22. Sentences like ‘I read the book.’ 저는 책을 읽었습니다. /t͡ɕʌ̹nɯn t͡ɕʰɛgɯɭ iɭgossɯmnida/
The past tense in Korean is formed from the second stem of the verb. The sub-syllable ㅆ /ss/ should be added to it, followed by the polite style ending.
Exercises
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I read the book. |
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Mingyu washed (his) hands. |
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I poured brandy into the glass. |
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I called a friend. |
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The student asked. |
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The owner has already come. |
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I got the money. |
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The teacher answered. |
Additional vocabulary
손 | hand | |
씻다 | to wash | |
잔 | (drinking) cup, glass | |
브랜디 | brandy | |
붓다 | to pour | |
부르다 | to name, to call (out) | |
묻다 | to ask | |
주인 | master, owner | |
벌써 | already | |
받다 | to get, receive, take, obtain | |
대답 | answer, response | |
대답하다 | to answer, reply | |
23. Sentences like ‘The weather was good yesterday.’ 어제 날씨가 좋았습니다. /ʌ̹d͡ʑe naɭɕɕiga t͡ɕoassɯmnida/
The past tense of descriptive verbs is formed in the same way as that of action verbs.
Exercises
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The weather was good yesterday. |
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That woman was pretty back then. |
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Three years ago, our horse was still small. |
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The wind was strong in the morning. |
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That house was far (away). |
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The office in which my friend works was close. |
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The tiger was very scary. |
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That little room was dirty. |
Additional vocabulary
어제 | yesterday | |
날씨 | weather | |
좋다 | to be good | |
그때 | (at) that time, the given time, (back) then | |
예쁘다 | to be pretty, lovely, beautiful | |
삼년전에 | three years ago | |
말 | horse | |
아직 | still | |
작다 | to be small | |
아침 | morning | |
바람 | wind | |
세다 | to be strong | |
멀다 | to be far | |
가깝다 | to be close, to be near | |
호랑이 | tiger | |
아주 | very | |
무섭다 | to be worrisome, fearsome, frightening, scary | |
방 | room | |
더럽다 | to be dirty | |
24. Sentences like ‘I sent a letter to the parents.’ 저는 부모에게 편지를 보냈습니다. /t͡ɕʌ̹nɯn pumoege pʰjʌ̹nd͡ʑirɯɭ ponɛssɯmnida/
The particle -에게 /ege/ denotes the addressee of an action (‘to whom?’).
Exercises
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I sent a letter to the parents. |
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Mingyu gave a chair to (his/the) grandfather. |
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He gave (some) orange juice to (his/the) wife. |
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She sent me a postcard. (or ... a postcard to me) |
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Chulsoo gave Younghee an eraser. |
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I gave the recorder to a friend. |
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The student gave the teacher a notebook. |
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The waiter gave me a glass of soju. |
Additional vocabulary
의자 | chair |
부인 | (another person’s) wife (honorific) |
오렌지 주스 | orange juice |
엽서 | postcard |
지우개 | eraser, rubber |
녹음기 | recorder (e.g. tape recorder) |
노트 | notebook, notes |
종업원 | waiter, employee |
소주 | soju (Korean rice liquor) |
한잔 | one drink (of liquor); one glass |
25. Sentences like ‘I got a letter from my parents.’ 저는 부모에게서 편지를 받았습니다. /t͡ɕʌ̹nɯn pumoegesʰʌ̹ pʰjʌ̹ɲd͡ʑirɯɭ padassɯmnida/
The particle -에게서 /egesʰʌ̹/ has the meaning ‘from someone’.
Exercises
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I got a letter from (my) parents. |
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He got a gift from a stranger. |
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Mingyu got a razor from his older brother. |
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Younghee got flowers from (her) boyfriend. |
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I got a puppy as a gift from (my) grandparents. |
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She got a plate from me. |
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Those animals get protection from the government. |
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He got an audio tape from a friend. |
Additional vocabulary
낯선 사람 | stranger | |
면도 | razor; shave, shaving | |
남자 친구 | boyfriend | |
꽃 | flower | |
조부모 | grandparents | |
강아지 | puppy | |
접시 | plate | |
동물 | animal | |
정부 | national government, particularly the executive branch | |
보호 | protection | |
오디오 테이프 | audio tape | |
26. Sentences like ‘My father presented me with a book.’ 아버지는 저에게 책을 선물해 주었습니다. /abʌ̹d͡ʑinɯn t͡ɕʌ̹ege t͡ɕʰɛgɯɭ sʰʌ̹nmurhɛ t͡ɕuʌ̹ssɯmnida/
The construction ‘2 verb stem + verb 주다 /t͡ɕuda/’ is used to indicate that an action is done in someone’s interest. If you do something in the interest of your interlocutor, its polite analogue 드리다 /tɯrida/ ‘to present, to offer’ is used instead of 주다 /t͡ɕuda/.
Exercises
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(My) father presented me with a book. |
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Please wait for me. |
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Please show me that thing. |
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Please write (your) phone number. |
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I’ll teach you Korean. |
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I’ll go to the department store (for your sake). |
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Buy me a bottle of beer. |
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Please translate this text. |
Additional vocabulary
보이다 | to show | |
전화 번호 | telephone number | |
백화점 | department store | |
한 병 | one bottle | |
본문 | text | |
번역하다 | to translate | |