There are no adjectives but verbs with the meaning of an adjective which can be used as a verb or like an adjective.
There are no articles, genders, or declensions. It has extensive verb conjugations indicating tense and honorific level. There is a plural form, but it is very often omitted.
Korean has postpositions instead of prepositions: ''hanguk-e'', "Korea-in" instead of "in Korea."
Koreans refer to each other rather in terms like elder brother, elder sister, younger sibling, uncle, aunt, grandmother, grandfather, manager, teacher etc. than by using the word ''you''. It's not uncommon to refer to yourself by using such an expression. You can also call somebody an aunt, uncle or brother if this person is actually not. Most korean girls call their boyfriend ''older brother''.
Depending on the relation to the person you have conversation with, it's necessary to find the correct level of politeness. If the person is considered to be higher in the hierarchy, a very polite form has to be used, while this person will use a less polite form to address you as a lower person. Koreans often ask very personal questions (about your age, occupation, income, family status etc.) in order to find out in which form they should use when talking to you. This phrasebook assumes the highest speech level in most cases.
This phrasebook uses the '''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revised_Romanization_of_Korean Revised Romanization of Korean]''', which is overwhelmingly the most popular system in South Korea. The '''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCune-Reischauer McCune-Reischaur]''' romanization, used in North Korea and older South Korean texts, is noted in parentheses when different.
; a ? : like 'a' in "f'''a'''ther" ; o ? : like 'o' in "t'''o'''ne" ; eo (?) ? : like 'aw' in "l'''aw'''yer" ; u ? : like 'oo' in "h'''oo'''p" ; eu (?) ? : like 'i' in "cous'''i'''n" ; i ? : like the 'i' in "sh'''i'''p" (short) OR the 'ee' in "sh'''ee'''p" (long) ; e ? : like the 'e' in "s'''e'''t" ; ae ? : like the 'e' in "s'''a'''t" ; in Seoul, often pronounced the same as ''e''
In addition, most vowels can be modified by prefixing them with 'y' or 'w': ; wa ? : like 'wa' in "'''wa'''tch" ; wae ? : like 'wa' in "'''wa'''gon" ; wo ? : like 'wa' in "'''wa'''s" ; wi ? : like "'''we'''" ; we ? : like 'we' in "'''we'''st" ; ya ? : like 'ya' in "'''ya'''rd" ; yo ? : like 'yo' in "'''hey! yo~" ; yeo (y?) ? : like 'you' in "'''you'''ng" ; yu ? : like "'''you'''" ; ye ? : like 'ye' in "'''ye'''s" ; yae ? : like 'ye' in "'''ye'''s", not same as '?' but very similar sound
; b (p) ? : like 'p' in "spit" (unaspirated) ; p (p', ph) ? : like 'p' in "pig" (aspirated) ; pp ? : tensed 'p', like 'p' in "petit" in French ; m ? : like 'm' in "mother" ; d (t) ?: like 't' in "stab" ; t (t', th) ? : like 't' in "top" ; tt ? : tensed 't' ; n ? : like 'n' in "nice" ; j (ch) ? : like 'g' in "gin" ; jj ? : tensed 'j' ; ch (ch') ? : like 'ch' in "chin" ; g (k) ? : like 'k' in "skate" (unaspirated) ; k (k', kh) ? : like 'c' in "cat" (aspirated) ; kk ? : tensed 'k' ; ng ? : like 'ng' in "sing" ; s ? : like 's' in "soon" ; ss ? : tensed 's', 's' in 'sea' ; l ? : somewhere between 'l', 'r' and 'n', original sound is 'r' or 'l'. and 'n' sound is due to some grammatical thing. ; h ? : like 'h' in "help"
While the rules above are usually correct for the first consonant, those in the middle of a word are usually (but not always) '''voiced''', which means that ???? turn into English "b", "d", "j" and "k". The best rule of thumb is to concentrate on remembering that the first consonant is "special" and the rest are more or less as in English: ''bibimbap'' (???) is pronounced "''pee''-bim-bap", not "''bee''-bim-bap" or "''p'ee''-bim-bap".
The aspirated spellings with "h" are used only in the official North Korean orthography.
Korean is generally written using a native alphabet known as '''hangul''' ('''chosongul''' in North Korea and China). Designed by a committee and rather scary-looking at first, it's in fact a very logical alphabetic writing system ''far'' simpler than Chinese characters or even the Japanese ''kana'' syllabary, and it's well worth putting in the time to learn them if staying in Korea for more than a day or two.
The basic idea is simple: hangul consists of letters called ''jamo'' combined into square blocks, where each block represents a syllable. The block is always in the order (consonant)-vowel-(consonant), stacked from top to bottom, where ? is used as the first jamo if the first consonant is missing, and the space for the last consonant can be left empty is missing. For example, the word ''Seoul'' (??) consists of the syllables ''seo'' (? ''s'' plus ? ''eo'', no final consonant) and ''ul'' (? plus ? ''u'' plus ? ''l''). Tensed consonants are created by doubling the jamo (? ''s'' → ? ''ss'') and ''y''-vowel diphthongs have an extra dash tacked on (? ''a'' → ? ''ya''). And that's pretty much it!
Many Korean words can also be written using Chinese characters, known as '''hanja''' in Korean. These are still occasionally seen in newspapers, formal documents and official signs, but are in general rarely used and have even been completely abolished in North Korea. While they remain official in South Korea, their use is largely restricted to the elderly, and many youths are unable to recognize even their own names written in '''hanja'''.
; 0: ? (gong) / ? (yung) ; 1 : ? (il) ; 2 : ? (i) ; 3 : ? (sam) ; 4 : ? (sa) ; 5 : ? (o) ; 6 : ? (yuk) ; 7 : ? (chil) ; 8 : ? (pal) ; 9 : ? (gu) ; 10 : ? (ship) ; 11 : ?? (shib-il) ; 12 : ?? (shib-i) ; 13 : ?? (ship-sam) ; 14 : ?? (ship-sa) ; 15 : ?? (shibo) ; 16 : ?? (shim-yook) ; 17 : ?? (ship-chil) ; 18 : ?? (ship-pal) ; 19 : ?? (ship-gu) ; 20 : ?? (i-ship) ; 21 : ??? (i-shibil) ; 22 : ??? (i-shibi) ; 23 : ??? (i-ship-sam) ; 30 : ?? (sam-ship) ; 40 : ?? (sa-ship) ; 50 : ?? (oship) ; 60 : ?? (yukship) ; 70 : ?? (chilship) ; 80 : ?? (palship) ; 90 : ?? (kuship) ; 100 : ? (baek) ; 200 : ?? (ibaek) ; 300 : ?? (sambaek) ; 1,000 : ? (cheon) ; 2,000 : ?? (icheon) ; 10,000 : ? (man) ; 100,000 : ?? (shipman) ; 1,000,000 : ?? (baekman) ; 10,000,000 : ?? (cheonman) ; 100,000,000 : ? (uk) ; 1,000,000,000 : ?? (shibaek) ; 10,000,000,000 : ?? (baek=uk) ; 100,000,000,000 : ?? (chun-uk) ; 1,000,000,000,000 : ? (jo) ; 10,000,000,000,000 : ?? (ship-jo) ; 100,000,000,000,000 : ?? (baek-jo) ; 1,000,000,000,000,000 : ?? (chun-jo) ; 10,000,000,000,000,000 : ? (Gyung)
; number _____ (train, bus, etc.) : _____ ? (??, ??, etc.) (beon (yeolcha, beoseu, etc.) ; half : ? (ban) ; less : ? (dul) ; more : ? (du)
; objects (apples, sweets) : ? ''-gae'' ; people : ? ''-myeong'', ? ''-bun'' (polite) ; flat paper-like objects (papers, tickets, pages) : ? ''-jang'' ; bottles (or other glass or ceramic containers for liquid with a narrow mouth) : ? ''-byeong'' ; cups, glasses: ? ''-jan'' ; animals : ?? ''-mari'' ; times : ? ''-beon'' ; machines (cars, computers) : ? ''-dae'' ; long objects (pens, rifles) : ?? ''-jaru'' ; small boxes : ? ''-gap'' ; books : ? ''-gwon'' ; large boxes : ?? ''-sangja'' ; trees : ?? ''-geuru'' ; letters, telegrams, phone calls, e-mails : ? ''-tong'' ; boats : ? ''-cheok'' ; bunches of things such as flowers : ?? ''-song-i''
Note that when combined with a counting word, the last letter of numbers 1 through 4 as well as 20 is dropped: one person is ''han-myeong'' (''hana''+''myeong''), two tickets is ''dujang'' (''dul''+''jang''), three things is ''segae'' (''set''+''gae''), four things is ''negae'' (''net''+''gae''), twenty things is ''seumugae'' (''seumul''+''gae'').}}
; 1 : ?? (hana) ; 2 : ? (dul) ; 3 : ? (set) ; 4 : ? (net) ; 5 : ?? (dasut) ; 6 : ?? (yeoseot) ; 7 : ?? (ilgop) ; 8 : ?? (yeodeol) ; 9 : ?? (ahop) ; 10 : ? (yeol) ; 11 : ??? (yeolhana) ; 20 : ?? (seumul) ; 30 : ?? (seoreun) ; 40 : ?? (maheun) ; 50 : ? (swin) ; 60 : ?? (yesun) ; 70 : ?? (ilheun) ; 80 : ?? (yeodeun) ; 90 : ?? (aheun)
Numbers above 100 are always counted with Sino-Korean numbers.
; now : ?? (jigeum) ; later : ??? (najung-e) ; before : ?? (jeon-e) ; after : ?? (hu-e) ; morning : ?? (a-chim) ; afternoon : ?? (o-hu) ; evening : ?? (jeonyeok) ; night : ? (bam)
; one o'clock AM : ?? ? ? (ojeon han shi) ; two o'clock AM : ?? ? ? (ojeon du shi) ; noon : ?? (jeong-o) ; one o'clock PM : ?? ? ? (o-hu han shi) ; two o'clock PM : ?? ? ? (o-hu du shi) ; midnight : ?? (jajeong)
; _____ minute(s) : _____ ? (___ bun) ; _____ hour(s) : _____ ?? (___ shigan) ; _____ day(s) : _____ ? (___ il) ; _____ week(s) : _____ ? (___ ju) ; _____ month(s) : _____ ? (___ dal) ; _____ year(s) : _____ ? (___ nyeon)
; today : ?? (o-neul) ; yesterday : ?? (eo-je) ; tomorrow : ?? (nae-il) ; this week : ?? ? (i-beon ju) ; last week : ?? ? (jinan ju) ; next week : ?? ? (da-eum ju) ; Sunday : ??? (ilyo-il) ; Monday : ??? (wolyo-il) ; Tuesday : ??? (hwayo-il) ; Wednesday : ??? (suyo-il) ; Thursday : ??? (mokyo-il) ; Friday : ??? (keumyo-il) ; Saturday : ??? (to-yo-il)
; January : 1? (??) ''ilwol'' ; February : 2? (??) ''i-wol'' ; March : 3? (??) ''samwol'' ; April : 4? (??) ''sawol'' ; May : 5? (??) ''o-wol'' ; June* : 6? (??) ''yu-wol'' ; July : 7? (??) ''chilwol'' ; August : 8? (??) ''palwol'' ; September : 9? (??) ''ku-wol'' ; October* : 10? (??) ''shiwol'' ; November : 11? (???) ''shipilwol'' ; December : 12? (???) ''ship-i-wol''
Koreans generally write the date in yyyy.mm.dd format (e.g. 2006.12.25 for December 25th, 2006).
; March 1st, 2005 : 2005? 3? 1? (???? ?? ??) ''ee-cheon-oh-nyeon samweol il-il'' (____year, _____month, ____day)
; black : ??? (geon-eunsaek) ; white : ?? (huinsaek) ; gray : ?? (hoesaek) ; red : ??? (ppalgansaek) ; blue : ??? (paransaek) ; yellow : ??? (noransaek) ; green : ??? (choroksaek) ; orange : ??? (ju-hwangsaek) ; purple : ??? (jaju-saek) ; brown : ?? (kalsaek)
; How much is a ticket to _____? : _____? ?? ?? ?????? (_____e ganeun pyoga eolma-imnikka?) ; One ticket to _____, please. : _____? ?? ? ? ???. (_____e ganeun pyo han jang-iyo.) ; Where does this train/bus go? : ? ??/??? ??? ???? (i gicha/beo-seu neun eodiro gamnikka?) ; Where is the train/bus to _____? : _____? ?? ??/??? ??? ????? (_____e ganeun gicha/beo-seu neun eodi-e isseumnikka?) ; Does this train/bus stop in _____? : ? ??/??? _____? ???? (i gicha/beo-seu neun _____e seomnikka?) ; When does the train/bus for _____ leave? : _____? ?? ??/??? ?? ?????? (_____e ganeun gicha/beo-seu neun eonje chulbalhamnikka?) ; When will this train/bus arrive in _____? : ? ??/??? _____? ?? ?????? (e gicha/beo-seu neun _____e eonje dochakamnikka?)
; How do I get to _____ ? : _____? ??? ??? ?? ??? ? (''____e karyeomyeon eotteoge hamnikka?'') ; ...the train station? : ???...? (''gicha yeok...?'') ; ...the bus station? : ?? ???...? (''beo-seu jeongnyujang...?'') ; ...the airport? : ??...? (''gong-hang...?'') ; ...downtown? : ??...? (''shinae...?'') ; ...the youth hostel? : ?? ???...? (''yuseu hoseutel...?'') ; ...the _____ hotel? : _____ ??? (''____ hotel...?'') ; ...the American/Canadian/Australian/British consulate? : ??/???/??/?? ???...? (''mi-guk/kaenada/hoju/yeong-guk yeongsagwan...?'') ; Where are there a lot of... : ...? ?? ?? ??? ????? (''man-heun...i eodi-e issumnikka?'') ; ...hotels? : ??...? (''hotel...'') ; ...restaurants? : ??...? (''sikdang...'') ; ...bars? : ??...? (''suljip...'') ; ...sites to see? : ????...? (''bolgeori-deul...'') ; Is it far from here? : ??? ???? (''yeogi-seo meomnigga?'') ; Can you show me on the map? : ????? ??? ??????? (''...jidosang-eseo gareuchyeo jushigessumnikka?'') ; street : ? (''gil'') ; Turn left. : ???? ????. (''oen-jjok-euro dosipsio'') ; Turn right. : ????? ????. (''o-reunjjok-euro dosipsio'') ; left : ?? (''oen-jjok'') ; right : ??? (''o-reunjjok'') ; straight ahead : ?? ???? (''got-jang gasipsio'') ; towards the _____ : _____? ?? (''...reul hyang-hae'') ; past the _____ : _____? ?? (''...jina'') ; before the _____ : _____ ?? (''...'') ; Watch for the _____. : _____? ??????. (''...reul gidarisipsio'') ; intersection : ??? (''gyocharo'') ; 3-way crossing : ??? (''samgeori'') ; 4-way crossing : ??? (''sageori'') ; north : ? (''buk'') ; south : ? (''nam'') ; east : ? (''dong'') ; west : ? (''seo'') ; uphill : ???? (''oreumakgil'') ; downhill : ????(''naerimakgil'')
; Taxi! : ??! (''taeksi'') ; Take me to _____, please. : _____? ??? ????. (''____ro deryeoga jusipsio'') ; How much does it cost to get to _____? : _____??? (???) ?????? (''____ggajineun (yogeumi) eolma-imnigga?'') ; Take me there, please. : ??? ??? ????. (''jeogi-e deryeoga jusipsio'')
; Do you have any rooms available? : ? ????? (''bang issseubnikka?'') ; How much is a room for one person/two people? : ? ??/? ??? ?? ?????? (''han salam/du salamdang bangi eolmaibnikka?'') ; Does the room come with... : ? ??? ...? ????? (''geu bangeneun ...i issseubnikka?'') ; ...bedsheets? : ...???? (''chimdaebo'') ; ...a bathroom? : ...???? (''hwajangshil'') ; ...a telephone? : ...???? (''jeonhwagi'') ; ...a TV? : ...???? (''tibeui'') ; May I see the room first? : ?? ?? ?? ?????? (''bangeul meonjeo bwado doegessseubnikka?'') ; Do you have anything quieter? : ? ??? ? ????? (''deo joyonghan bang issseubnikka?'') ; ...bigger? : ...? ?? (''deo keon?'') ; ...cleaner? : ...? ???? (''deo kkaekkeushan?'') ; ...cheaper? : ...? ?? (''deo ssan?'') ; OK, I'll take it. : ????, ???? ?????. (''chohseubnida, geugeoseulo hagessseubnida.'') ; I will stay for _____ night(s). : _____ ? ?????. (''_____ bam muggessseubnida.'') ; Can you suggest another hotel? : ?? ??? ?? ??????? (''dareun hoteleul gwonhae joshigessseubnikka?'') ; Do you have a safe? : ?? ????? (''geumgo issseubnikka?'') ; ...lockers? : ...???? (''...jamulsoe?'') ; Is breakfast/supper included? : ????/???? ? ?????? (''achimshiksa/jeonyeokshiksa ga pohamdoenikka?'') ; What time is breakfast/supper? : ????/???? ? ?????? (''achimshiksa/jeonyeokshiksa neun myeotshimnikka?'') ; Please clean my room. : ?? ??? ????. (''bangeul cheongsohe jushibshio'') ; Can you wake me at _____? : _____ ?? ????????? (''shie kkewojushigeseumnikka?'') ; I want to check out. : ?? ???? ????. (''chekeu authago shibsumnida.'')
; Do you accept American/Australian/Canadian dollars? : ??/???????/??? ?? ?????? (''...'') ; Do you accept British pounds? : ?? ??? ?????? (''...'') ; Do you accept credit cards? : ?? ?? ?????? (''...'') ; Can you change money for me? : ?? ???????? (''...'') ; Where can I get money changed? : ???? ??? ? ????? (''...'') ; Can you change a traveler's check for me? : ??? ??? ???? ????????? (''...'') ; Where can I get a traveler's check changed? : ???? ??? ??? ???? ?? ? ????? (''...'') ; What is the exchange rate? : ??? ?????? (''...'') ; Where is an automatic teller machine (ATM)? : ?? ?? ???? ??? ????? (''...'')
; A table for one person/two people, please. : ? ??/? ?? ??? ?????. (''...'') ; Can I look at the menu, please? : ??? ?? ?????? (''...'') ; Can I look in the kitchen? : ??? ?? ?????? (''...'') ; Is there a house specialty? : ? ?? ?? ??? ????? (''...'') ; Is there a local specialty? : ? ??? ?? ??? ????? (''...'') ; I'm a vegetarian. : ?? ????????. (''...'') ; I don't eat pork. : ?? ????? ?? ????. (''...'') ; I don't eat beef. : ?? ???? ?? ????. (''...'') ; I only eat kosher food. : ?? ??? ??? ????. (''...'') ; Can you make it "lite", please? (''less oil/butter/lard'') : Can you make it "lite", please? (''...'') ; fixed-price meal : ?? ?? (''...'') ; a la carte : a la carte (''...'') ; breakfast : ?? ?? (''achim shigsa'') ; lunch : ?? ?? (''jeomshim shigsa'') ; tea (''meal'') : ? (''cha'') ; supper : ?? ?? (''jeonyeog shigsa'') ; I want _____. : ?? _____? ????. (''jeoneun _____eul wonhamnida.'') ; I want a dish containing _____. : ?? _____?/? ???? ??? ?? ????. (''jeoneun ____eul/reul pohamhaneun yorireul meoggo shibsumnida.'') ; chicken : ???/?? (''dargogi/chikin'') ; beef : ??? (''sogogi'') ; fish : ?? (''saengseon'') ; ham : ? (''haem'') ; sausage : ??? (''soseji'') ; cheese : ?? (''chijeu'') ; eggs : ??/?? (''deolgyal/gyelan'') ; salad : ??? (''saelladeu'') ; (fresh) vegetables : (???) ?? (''(shinseonhan) yache'') ; (fresh) fruit : (???) ?? (''(shinseonhan) gwail'') ; bread : ? (''ppang'') ; toast : ??? (''toseuteu'') ; noodles : ?? (''gugsu'') ; rice : ? (''bab'') ; beans : ? (''kong'') ; May I have a glass of _____? : _____ ? ? ??????? (''____ han jan jushigessumnikka?'') ; May I have a cup of _____? : _____ ? ? ??????? (''____ han keob jushigessumnikka?'') ; May I have a bottle of _____? : _____ ? ? ??????? (''____ han byeong jushigessumnikka?'') ; coffee : ?? (''keopi'') ; tea (''drink'') : ? (''cha'') ; juice : ?? (''joseu'') ; (bubbly) water : ??? (''tansansu'') ; water : ? (''mul'') ; beer : ?? (''mek ju'') ; red/white wine : ?/? ??? (''jeok/bek podoju'') ; May I have some _____? : _____?/? ?? ??? ?????? (''____ eul/reul jogeum meokeodo doegessumnikka?'') ; salt : ?? (''sogeum'') ; black pepper : ?? (''huchu'') ; butter : ?? (''beoteo'') ; Excuse me, waiter? (''getting attention of server''): ???? (Literally, this means "Here." (''yogiyo?'') ; I'm finished. : ? ?????. (''da meokeossumnida.'') ; It was delicious. : ??????. (''mashiseossumnida.'') ; Please clear the plates. : ??? ??????. (''jeobshireul chiwojushibshiyo.'') ; The check, please. : ??? ?????. (''gesanseo butakhamnida.'')
; How do you say _____ in Korean? : _____? ???? ??? ???? ? (''____eun hang-gungmalo eotteoke malhamnikka?'') ; What is this/that called? : ???/??? ????? ????? (''igeoseun/jegeoseun mu-eosirago bureumnikka?'')