#korean differences

[studykorean101]

Hi! Can you explain the difference between 가지다, 가지고 싶다, 원하다 and 있다?

Hello! So, the main difference is in meaning:

가지다 - to have / possess something

      ☆ 파티를 가졌어요 --> We / I had a party

가지고 싶다 - to want to have something

      ☆ 저는 새 가방을 가지고 싶어요 --> I want to have a new bag (alternative translation: I’d like a new bag)

-고 싶다 vs. 원하다 [x]

원하다 - to want something

      ☆ 저는 이 아이스크림을 원해요 --> I want this ice cream

있다 - to exist 

      ☆ 비빔면이 있어요? --> you have bibim-myeon? (lit. bibim-myeon exists?)

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*NOTE: while 있다 and 가지다 may have a similar meaning, it changes the tone of the sentence depending on which you use. For example:

가방이 있어요 - have a bag (in the moment / as of right now)

가방을 가졌어요 - have a bag (you are the owner of the bag)

It is also important to remember that 이/가 goes with 있다 

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Hope this helps! Happy Learning :)

~ SK101

[studykorean101]

There is something that has been stomping my studies that it seems should be a simple concept to grasp but I struggle... Can you explain to me the difference between 없습니다 and 아닙니다? They’re both negations and I know that but I don’t know when to use them.

Hello! So the difference might seem a lot easier to understand once I explain!

없다 - to not have / exist아니다 - to not be

Examples:

선생님이 아니에요 - I am not a teacher

선생님이 없어요 - There is no teacher

Clearing out confusion:

당근이 없어요? VS 당근이 아니에요?

     Do you have any carrots? VS This is not a carrot?

여기에 학교가 없어요! VS 여기에 학교가 아니에요!

     There is no school here (as in it doesn’t exist) VS This is not a school!

Hopefully this makes sense! While you’re right, they both negate something, they don’t negate the same thing and they don’t mean the same thing. Happy Learning :)

~ SK101

P.S. try to also remember that they’re opposites of other verbs!

이다 - to be // 아니다 - to not be

있다 - to exist / have // 없다 - to not exist / have

[studykorean101]

hello! may i ask what 것 같아 means? thank you so much!

Hello! Before I start, I deeply apologize for not seeing this until now; Tumblr likes to play a magic trick on me where it will make asks disappear then make them reappear months later. 

I’ve heard this is the number one most confusing grammar point in Korean, but to be honest, if you learn it quickly, it’s really easy to understand.

The first big way to use it is:

같다 - Same (ADJ.)

When you want to say something (A / noun) is like something (B / noun), you can use 같다 with (B / noun) -와 / 과 / 랑 / 이랑. It can be used in similar to 비슷하다 - to be similar and 다르다 - to be different:

(NOUN + -와 / 과 / 랑 / 이랑 + 같다)

같다 - same   a. 저는 제 언니와 같아요 - I am like my sister (the same as)   b. 저는 제 언니와 똑같아요 - I am just like my sister (exactly the same)

비슷하다 - similar   a. 저는 제 언니와 비슷해요 - I am similar to my sister

다르다 - different   a. 저는 제 언니와 다라요 - I am different than my sister

You can also use it like this:

같다 -> 같은 (ADJ.)

When you use this to describe your noun rather than to compare your nouns, it looks similar to this.

(같은 + NOUN)

저도 같은 컴퓨터를 쌌어요 - I bought the same computer

우리는 같은 사람입니까?? - Are we the same person??

우리는 같은 생각을 하고 있어요 - We have the same thought (lit. we are thinking the same)

Next way is more common

-ㄹ/을 것 같다 - It seems / Probably / Might (future)

This is taken from -ㄹ 것이다, which is from the future tense conjugation. In this case, you take away 이다 (to be) and replace it with 같다.

(VERB + -ㄹ/을 것 같다)

저는 밥을 먹을 것 같아요 - I might eat

내일 제 할머니의 집에 갈 것 같아요 - It seems I’m going to my grandma’s house tomorrow

비가 올 것 같아요 - It will probably rain

-ㄴ / 은 것 같다 - It seems / Probably / Might (past)

To understand the difference between the two is -ㄹ/을 것 같다 is in the future. Whereas -ㄴ/은 것 같다 is in the past. The same rules applied for the future tense version.

(VERB + -ㄴ/은 것 같다)

학생이 열심히 공부한 것 같아요 - it seems the student studied hard

오빠가 그 영화를 좋아하지 않은 것 같아요 - It seems he didn’t like the movie

그녀는 많이 나쁜 연애를 한 것 같아요 - it seems she has had many bad relationships

HOW TO CONJUGATE -ㄴ/은 // -ㄹ/을 것 같다:

같아 (casual)

같아요 (polite)

같습니다 (formal)

I didn’t know the EXACT form of “것 같다” you meant, so I tried to cover all bases. If there’s any confusion, please don’t hesitate to send me a message, I will explain it to the best of my abilities. Hope this helped! Happy Learning :)

~ SK101

[studykorean101]

I have been studying Korean for maybe a few months now and I'm just starting to understand tense and conjugation, however, I don't know the difference between the two tenses 것이다 and 겠다 can you please help me? I love your blog by the way

Hey anon! So, there is a difference (as you’ve probably seen), but many people don’t know the difference and it can kind of be a little confusing. BUT! I hope that my answer clears up that confusion and you will use each form appropriately :)

To start, I would like to add that there isn’t technically 100% certainty in Korean that you are absolutely going to do something, just varying levels of certainty. In terms of the two that you’ve stated, they are the most certain of the two, but there is (of course) a difference:

ㄹ/을 것이다

것이다 is usually paired with ㄹ/을 (see the difference between ㄴ/는 것이다 ㄹ/을 것이다 here). This is the most basic and common future tense for beginners. Here are the main points:

Used to reassure the listener

Not used for personal opinion

More of a statement

Emphasizes the subject

EXAMPLES:

☆ 내일 갈 거예요 - I will go tomorrow ☆ 내가 할 거야 [extremely casual] - I will do it ☆ 학교에 공부할 거예요 - I will study at school

As you can see, it’s not really used to express your opinion in terms of your future plans. To further explain, out of the two, it is more casual***

-겠다

This is a little more difficult to explain. This is the more formal of the two. *** When I say formal or casual, I don’t mean that one is rude to say and the other is better; if you are unsure which to use, ALWAYS use ㄹ/을 것이다!! Here are the reasons for using -겠다:

The notion of a future event (you have a feeling something will happen)

Used to express sympathy

More opinion based due to the current situation

Emphasizes the action

EXAMPLES:  [think of this as it looks like / seems like / feels like ‘X’]

☆ 잘 먹겠습니다 - I will eat well☆ 비가 오겠습니다 - It will rain [kind of sounds like a weather prediction on the news] ☆ 한국은 여름에 덥겠습니다 - Korea will be hot in the summer

Of course, I’ve explained it to the best of my ability and how I understand the difference. The main one is -겠다 is more opinionated and based on action, whereas ㄹ/을 것이다 is the opposite! I would recommend checking out Go!BillyKorean’s explanation, it’s really helpful! But I hope that I made it clear for the most part ~~ Happy Learning :)

~ SK101

BONUS: ㄹ/을 것 같다!

[studykorean101]

thers something i am finding so difficult to understand. please help me know the difference between 는 거예요 and 고 있습니다. 고마워요

Hey there anon! So I have seen an ask like this floating around, my friend @akatskui replied to an ask like this; you can check that out here!

But! I will also try to explain it to the best of my abilities :)

While they are both in the progressive tense, they attach to different situations and can help express what you’re saying differently depending on those situations:

-는 거예요 

In this case, you kind of use this if you’re retelling a fact or trying to clarify a fact that the other person might know. It’s kind of like saying, you know(?):

ex. 우리는 내일 시험이 있는 거예요(?) - (Did you know) We have a test tomorrow(?)

For this example, I put (?) and (did you know) in brackets, to try and show how the sentence can change depending on the situation. It can be a little confusing, but let me give an example in a conversation:

person a: 희주야 뭐해? - heeju, what’s up?person b: 드라마를 보고 있어 - I’m watching dramasperson a: 뭐? 왜?? 넌 항상 드라마를 보고 있어! - what? why?? you’re always watching dramas!person b: 한국어를 배워서 드라마를 보는 거야! - I watch dramas because I want to learn Korean!

As you can see in this conversation, it’s kind of necessary for person b to explain to person a the reason they watch dramas. However, when someone asks you what you’re doing, it is a little unnatural to start with -는 거예요

-고 있어요

This is really simple! As you can see in the sample conversation, it’s really common to use this when you’re just expressing what you’re doing:

먹고 있어요 - eating읽고 있어요 - reading잠을 자고 있어요 - sleeping

I would say that the main difference is that one expresses new information in the progressive tense [ㄴ/는 거예요], whereas one just expresses what you’re doing in the moment without new info [-고 있어요].

Hope that helped anon! You can check out akatskui’s post, it’s also really helpful! And of course, if you’re confused with anything, don’t hesitate to send another ask // send me a message! Happy Learning :)

~ SK101

[studykorean101]

tell me the difference between 귀찮아요 and 괜찮아요

Hi anon (and hello to future anons). When asking me for help, I would really appreciate maybe a please // more of a request rather than a demand. I am not your personal translator or a robot on this end. Please be considerate of the people running the blog. To answer your question:

귀찮다 - to be annoying

괜찮다 - to be okay

~ SK101

[studykorean101]

hi! what is the difference between 생선 and 물고기? They both mean fish but how do I know which one to use?

Hello Anon! You’re right :) they both mean fish, however, you eat 생선 [dead] and you can look at or view 물고기 [alive]. For example, you can eat salmon [연어] but you can’t eat a guppy [구피]. 

You can say: 아~! 이 물고기가 귀엽당~~ - Ahh, this fish is cute!!

In my cooking post, I used 물고기 as an example to the term 고기, so if you want to cook with fish, use 생선! 

example: 어젯밤에 맛있는 생선을 요리했어요 - I cooked delicious fish last night

BONUS: I mentioned it in my post, but 해물 refers to ‘seafood’! So, you can say:

저는 해물을 좋아하지 않아요…진짜 맛없어요     I don’t like seafood…(it) is really gross

Hope this helped you understand the difference! Happy Learning :)

~ SK101

[studykorean101]

hello!! i’m confused about something. is there any difference between “않다” and “아니다”?

Hi there! Hopefully I can help :)

아니하다 -> 않다 (also a contraction of 안 하다)     ~ follows adjectives (and is usually paired with -지)     ~ can be ‘not’ or ‘not do x’

Examples:     1. 공부하지 않아(요) - (I) don’t study     2. 어렵지 않아(요) - not difficult

아니다 -> 안     ~ follows nouns and can also come in front of adjectives and verbs

Examples:     1. 선생님이 이니에요 - I’m not a teacher     2. 안 예뻐요 - not pretty

If you’re still confused, don’t hesitate to send me another message ~ Happy Learning :)

~ SK101