Infinitive in Korean

7. Sentences like ‘I drink tea.’ 저는 차를 마십니다. /t͡ɕʌ̹nɯn t͡ɕʰarɯɭ maɕʰimnida/

Korean verbs always have the ending -다 (ta/da) in their dictionary form. When we use the formal and polite style of speech, the ending -다 (ta/da) is replaced by -ㅂ니다 /mnida/ after a vowel or -습니다 /sɯmnida/ after a consonant:

마시다 /maɕʰida/ ‘to drink’ – 마십니다 /maɕʰimnida/

먹다 /mʌ̹kta/ ‘to eat’ – 먹습니다 /mʌ̹ksɯmnida/

The direct object is formed by the particle -를 /rɯɭ/ after a vowel and -을 /ɯɭ/ after a consonant:

차를 마시다 /t͡ɕʰarɯɭ maɕʰida/ – to drink tea

손님을 만나다 /sʰonnimɯɭ mannada/ – to meet a guest

Exercises

저는 차를 마십니다.	I drink tea.
개는 고기를 먹습니다.	Dogs (lit.: dog) eat meat.
민규는 손님들을 기다립니다.	Mingyu waits for the guests.
아버지는 텔레비전을 봅니다.	(My) father watches television.
어머니는 음악을 듣습니다.	(My) mother listens to the music.
형은 책을 읽습니다.	(My) older brother reads a book.
여자는 열차를 탑니다.	A woman gets on the train.
학생은 숙제를 합니다.	A pupil does the homework.

Note: if the root of the word ends in -ㄹ /ɭ/, when forming the official polite style of speech -ㄹ /ɭ/ disappears, and the ending -ㅂ니다 /mnida/ is added to the root, for example:

알다 /ˈaɭda/ ‘to know’ – 압니다 /amnida/

살다 /ˈsʰaɭda/ ‘to live’ – 삽니다 (sʰamnida)

만들다 /mandɯɭda/ ‘to make’ – 만듭니다 /mandɯmnida/

Additional vocabulary