Korean for Dummies (11 page)

People (honorific)

bun
(boon)

Sheets

jang
(jang)

Parts

bubun
(boo-boon)

Months

dal
(dal)

Bottles

byeong
(byoung)

The hour

si
(shi)

Cup

jan
(jan)

Hours

sigan
(si-gan)

Plates

jeobsi
(juhp-shi)

Years old

sal
(sal)

Table 2-6

Counters That Use Sino-Korean Numbers

English

Korean (Pronunciation)

Korean currency

won
(won)

Dollars

dalleo
(dal-luh)

Miles

mail
(ma-il)

Kilometers

killometeo
(kil-lo-me-ter)

(continued)

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Table 2-6 (continued)

English

Korean (Pronunciation)

Minutes

bun
(boon)

Days

Il
(il)

Months

wol
(wol)

Years

nyeon
(nyeon)

Kilograms

killo
(kee-ro)

Pounds

paundeu
(pa-oon-deu)

Floors

cheung
(cheung)

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Chapter 2: The Nitty-Gritty: Basic Korean Grammar and Numbers

47

Fun & Games

Fill in the blanks with equivalent English and Korean words:

1. Which form of politeness should you use in everyday conversation?

____________________________________________________________________

2. Is respect a big thing in Korea?

____________________________________________________________________

3. How many different ways are there to count in Korean?

____________________________________________________________________

4. What is the Korean word used to count bottles?

____________________________________________________________________

5. What is the Korean word used to count animals?

____________________________________________________________________

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Chapter 3

Introducing yourself and your friends

Addressing people formally or informally

Being polite

Saying goodbye

Awarm
insa
(
in-sa;
greeting) and a solid
sogae
(
so-gae;
introduction) can leave a good first impression. Done correctly, introductions help you

express your sincere
hogam
(
ho-gam;
interest) in not only the
saram
(
sa-ram;
person) that you’re talking to, but also
hangungmal
(
han-goog-mal;
Korean language) and culture. Although most people understand you even when you botch your introduction, in some cases, you can annoy or offend the person you want to get to know. In this section I show you how to begin and end the first few minutes of
daehwa
(
dae-hwa;
conversation) on a solid note.

Making Introductions

If you’re going to be meeting people, chances are you have to make introductions at one point or another. In Korean, your introduction depends on the person you’re introducing and the person to whom you’re making the introduction.

In English, you state someone’s
ireum
(
ee-rum;
name) and any specific information, such as a job, in a basic introduction. You may say something like,

“This is my friend Huckleberry. He’s a team leader at Mischief and Misconduct Co.” In Korean, the introduction is similar, but you say the specific information about the person, such as a
jikjang
(
jikjang;
job) title or who he is (a friend or relative, for example), before his name. The following sections give you the Korean words you need to know.

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Greetings and salutations

An introduction begins with a
insa
(
in-sa;
greeting), usually a simple hello.

Korean offers a few kinds of greetings, such as the following:

Annyeonghaseyo
(
an-young-ha-sae-yo;
Hello/hi, informal polite): This word is the most-often taught and used greeting of the Korean language.

It didn’t originally mean
hello;
rather, it was a question regarding well-being that meant, “Are you doing well?” But the greeting has lost most of its original meaning and now you can use it the same way as any greeting. This has formal polite counterpart, however, it is more than enough to use this informal polite form. See the section “Getting formal or informal,” later in this chapter, for more information.

Cheoeumboepgetseumnida
(
Chuh-eum bwep-get-sseumni-da;
It’s nice to meet you for the first time, formal polite): Use this greeting when you’re meeting someone for the first time. For example, when you are meeting your Korean friend’s parents for the first time or when you are at a job interview. Do not use this greeting if you have already met the person you are greeting before.

Mannaseobangapseumnida
(
man-na-suh ban-sseum-ni-da;
It’s a pleasure to meet you, formal polite): Usually this greeting follows.

If you happen to know the people you’re speaking to, perhaps through work or acquaintances, Korean offers a few more greetings that you may want to try:

Jal jinaeseoyo
(
jal-ji-nat-ssuh-yo;
Are you doing well?): This phrase is another way of asking how someone is doing and can be used like ‘How

are you?’

Oraeganmanineyo
(
O-rae-gan-man-ee-nae-yo;
Long time no see.) This greeting can be used when you haven’t seen someone for a while. Can be used at everyday setting.

Siksa hasyeoseoyo?
(
Shik-sa-ha-syut-ssuh-yo;
Have you eaten?): This greeting is used when you are greeting someone after or around meal

times. If someone asks you this question, it doesn’t mean that they want to eat with you — part of Korean custom involves checking to see

whether those around you have had a good meal.

Geudongan byulil eobseusyutseubnikka?
(
Geudong-an byul-il uhp-sseu-syuh-sseum-ni-kka;
Is everything all right? formal)

Geudongan byeoril reopseoseoyo?
(
Geudong-an byul il-uhp-ssut-suh-yo;
Is everything all right?): Literal translation of this greeting is “Nothing bad has happened, right?” This greeting can be used to check if everything is going well with the person you are greeting.

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When someone is asking you above questions, you may want to answer these questions with
ye
(
ye;
yes) or
aniyo
(
a-ni-yo;
no).

Bowing and shaking hands

Koreans usually shake hands during introductions and greetings when they haven’t seen each other in a while. When you shake hands, you bend your waist slightly and put your right hand forward. Your left hand should look as if it’s supporting the right arm by holding the wrist or elbow. Sometimes Koreans hold their chests or stomachs instead of holding the wrist or an elbow.

The senior person in a group initiates handshakes, but whichever person first sees the other can initiate bows. Make sure to accompany the bow with a nice greeting (see the previous section for some ideas on appropriate greetings).

Bowing is an
jungyohan
(
joong-yo-han;
important) part of Korean
munhwa
(
moon-hwa;
culture) and communication. You use bows to accompany greetings, apologies, and expressions of gratitude. You also use bows to show regard and respect. Bow from the
heori
(
huh-ri;
waist), but only a little, and make sure to tilt your head. People who haven’t bowed before often make the
silsu
(
shil-soo;
mistake) of bowing too much, and sometimes they look straight at the other person or at the other person’s
bal
(
bal;
feet). Doing so makes it seem as though you’re trying to challenge the other person to a bout of Tae kwon do. If you can, try watching a few Koreans bow before trying it yourself.

Getting formal or informal

Korean is big on politeness. When you’re getting ready to make introductions, you need to
ihae
(
ee-hae;
understand) which form of politeness people are using with you, so that you can pick the right form of politeness when speaking to others.

In introductions, you need two degrees of politeness: formal polite and informal polite Korean. Both are equally appropriate and respectful, and the difference between the two is subtle. Perhaps the easiest way to think of it is to examine the differences between occasions where you wear formal attire versus casual attire. You wear formalwear when you want to give a professional or courteous
insang
(
in-sang;
impression), and you choose casualwear 07_037188-ch03.qxp 6/24/08 11:07 PM Page 52

when you want to be more easy-going and relaxed. Likewise, you use formal Korean as you would wear formal dress, and informal Korean as you would casualwear.
Namja
(
nam-ja;
men) tend to use more formal Korean, and
yeoja
(
yuh-ja;
women) use both forms or even mix the two. However, it is perfectly okay to use informal polite Korean in everyday living for both men and women.

The degree of politeness you use is determined by the ending you put on at the end of a sentence. I give you a concrete example using the verb
ida
(
ee-da;
to be). If you want to know more about conjugating verbs, check out Chapter 2.

Although informal polite form is used more often in
maeil
(
mae-il;
everyday) conversations, depending on who you are speaking to (e.g., someone older than you, your teacher, in-laws, or at a job interview) you need to use formal polite form of the conversation. However, if this is getting too detailed, just remember the informal polite form. This should get you by without offending someone.

For formal polite form, use the following endings:

[some word]
imnida
(-
im-ni-da
): This ending can be used when you are introducing or talking about yourself, family, and friends. You use this ending with the word ending with a vowel [some word]
ida
(
ee-da;
to be) to get [some word]
imnida
. This ending is usually used with words ending with a vowel, with some exceptions. However, the exceptions are beyond the scope of this book, and therefore will not be discussed. An example of this ending is,
jeoneun Inigo Montoyaimnida.
(
juh-neun inigo
mon-to-ya-im-ni-da;
My name is Inigo Montoya.)
[some word] seumnida
(-
sseumni-da
): This ending is usually used with words ending with a consonant.
Jota
(
jo-ta;
good) can become
jossum-nida
(
jo-ssum-ni-da;
it is good). For example
. Nalssiga josseumnida
(
nal-sshi-ga josseum-ni-da;
the weather is good).

[some word] imnikka/[some word] seumnikka
: Use this ending when you want to ask a question politely.

For example,

1)
Chinguga robeoteuimnikka
(
chin-goo-ga ro-bo-teu-im-ni-kka;
Is your friend Robert?)

2)
Nalssiga josseumnikka
(
nal-sshi-ga josseum-ni-kka;
Is the weather good?)

When you want to talk with your boss or your
bumo
(
boo-mo;
parents), or talk about them with your friends, you need different endings. If you want to show that you respect your parents and your
sangsa
(
sang-sa;
boss), you 07_037188-ch03.qxp 6/24/08 11:07 PM Page 53

add
-ssi
after their name. For example,
jenipeossiimnida
(
je-ni-puh-sshi-im-ni-da;
This is Jennifer). Adding
-ssi after people’s name
gives you the honorific degree of politeness. The formal polite honorary form of introducing someone by using the
[some word] ida
(
ee-da;
to be) is
[some word]

ishimnida/[some word] ishimnikka
([some word]
ee-shim-ni-da/[some word]

ee-shim-ni-kka:
to be but in ultra polite form). However, don’t use the [some word] ssi after your name, or the honorary form when speaking about yourself unless you want to look like you have serious ego problems.

Examples of the honorary form include the following:

Ibuni eomeoniisimnikka
(
ee-boo-ni uh-muh-ni-ees-him-ni-kka;
Is this person your mother?)

Ibuneun jeoui abeojiisimnida.
: (
ee-bu-neun juh-ae a-buh-jee-ee-shim-ni-da;
This person is my father.)

For informal polite endings, use the following:

[some word] ieyo
(
[some word] ee-yae-yo;
this is [some word]): Use this ending to make statements and also when asking questions. To make a

statement, speak with a normal tone. If you want to ask a question, raise the tone of your voice at the end of the sentence, just like you do in English.

[some word] iseyo
(
[some word] ee-sae-yo;
this is [some word]): You use

-iseyo
just as you do
-ieyo,
only you use it when you talk about or talking to people you want to show respect to.