Korean Grammar Essentials Flashcards

What is the function of the Korean particle '은/는' (eun/neun)?

Answer: It marks the topic of the sentence

The particle 은/는 is the topic marker in Korean, indicating what the sentence is about. It's different from the subject marker 이/가.

What is the basic Korean sentence structure?

Answer: Subject-Object-Verb (SOV)

Korean follows Subject-Object-Verb word order, meaning the verb always comes at the end of the sentence, unlike English which uses Subject-Verb-Object.

What are Korean speech levels and how many are commonly used?

Answer: Levels of formality in verb endings; 7 levels exist but 4 are commonly used in modern Korean

Korean has 7 speech levels reflecting different degrees of formality and politeness, but modern Korean commonly uses 4: formal polite (합쇼체), informal polite (해요체), formal plain (해라체), and informal (해체).

What is the Korean counting system and how many systems exist?

Answer: Two systems: native Korean numbers and Sino-Korean numbers, used for different purposes

Korean uses two counting systems: native Korean numbers (하나, 둘, 셋) for counting items and age, and Sino-Korean numbers (일, 이, 삼) for dates, phone numbers, and money.

What is the function of the particle '을/를' (eul/reul) in Korean?

Answer: It marks the direct object of the sentence

The particle 을/를 is the object marker in Korean, indicating what receives the action of the verb. 을 follows consonants, 를 follows vowels.

How are Korean verbs conjugated for past tense?

Answer: By adding -았/었/였 to the verb stem before the ending

Past tense in Korean is formed by adding -았/었 (or -였 for 하다 verbs) to the verb stem. The choice depends on the last vowel of the verb stem: 아/오 takes 았, others take 었.