LEARN + KOREAN / 29 of 125 TOPIK I

A Big Bag 큰 가방

The shopping photo needs a caption: “big bag,” not “the bag is big.” Korean changes the adjective before the noun: 가방이 커요 describes the bag, while 큰 가방 names a big bag. Most adjective stems take -ㄴ after a vowel or -은 after a consonant.

jaemin ssineun siwonhan nalssireul joahaeyo.

Jaemin likes cool weather.

seoureun hangugeseo gajang keun dosiyeyo.

Seoul is the largest city in Korea.

hallasaneun nopeun sanieyo.

Hallasan is a high mountain.

bulgogineun masinneun hanguk eumsigieyo.

Bulgogi is a delicious Korean food.

Hint · 힌트

있다 and 없다 break the pattern. They take -는, the same modifier ending verbs use, not -ㄴ/은, because Korean treats them as more verb-like than purely descriptive. 맛있는 (delicious) and 재미있는 (interesting) are both built on 있다, so they inherit this.

anna ssineun jaemiinneun yeonghwareul bogo sipeo haeyo.

Anna wants to watch an interesting movie.

keun gabang isseoyo?

Do you have a big bag?

mugeoun gabangieyo.

It's a heavy bag.

maeun eumsigeul joahaeyo.

I like spicy food.

Hint · 힌트

The ㅂ-irregular adjectives from 무거워요 keep their irregularity here too: ㅂ becomes 우, which then contracts with -ㄴ into -운. 무겁다 becomes 무거운, not 무겁은. 맵다 becomes 매운, following the same shift.

Vocabulary

Korean	English
도시 dosi	city
산 san	mountain
높다 nopda	to be high, tall
가장 gajang	the most (superlative)
유명하다 yumyeonghada	to be famous
인기 있다 ingi itda	to be popular
중요하다 jungyohada	to be important
특별하다 teukbyeolhada	to be special
새롭다 saeropda	to be new
오래되다 oraedoeda	to be old (things, not people)
예쁘다 yeppeuda	to be pretty
멋있다 meositda	to be cool, good-looking
편하다 pyeonhada	to be comfortable
불편하다 bulpyeonhada	to be uncomfortable
넓다 neopda	to be spacious
좁다 jopda	to be narrow, cramped
깨끗하다 kkaekkeutada	to be clean
더럽다 deoreopda	to be dirty
화려하다 hwaryeohada	to be flashy, splendid
소박하다 sobakhada	to be simple, modest

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