#study korean

[studykoreanwithasya]

반말 Reference Guide (Casual Talk)

안녕하세요, 다시 에샤입니다. 오늘은 "반말"에 대해서 이야기할게요.

You can use 반말 with friends, younger siblings/people, romantic partners, pets -- close/casual relationships.

In almost all cases, it is virtually 요 form without the 요. Here's the breakdown:

Verbs & Adjectives

Present 현재: ~아/어/해

Past 과거: ~았어/었어/했어

Future 미래: ~을(c)/ㄹ(v) 거야

예:

가 / 갔어 / 갈 거야

들어 / 들었어 / 들을 거야

알아 / 알았어 / 알을 거야

바빠 / 바빴어 / 바쁠 거야

좋아 / 좋았어 / 좋을 거야

추워 / 추웠어 / 출 거야

싸워어 / 싸웄어 / 싸울 거야

Nouns (with 이다 /아니다)

Present 현재: ~이야(c)/야(v)

Past 과거: ~이었어(c)/였어(v)

Future 미래: 일(c)/ㄹ(v) 거야

예:

친구야 / 친구였어 / 친구일 거야

동생이야 / 동생이었어 / 동생일 거야

Names 이름

Vowel ending: add 야

Consonant ending: add 아

예:

민진아 vs 지수야

Commands 명령/권유

Remember, commands are those ~으/세요 or ~지 마세요 phrases in polite speech.

Verbs ("Do XXX"): ~아/어/해 (요 form without 요)

예:

써 / 와 / 앉아 / 들어

Negation ("Don't do XXX"): Verb stem + ~지 마

예:

가지 마 / 말하지 마 / 듣지 마 / 울지 마

Suggestions 제안 (let's/let's not...)

*Suggestions for joint action

"Let's": verb stem + 자

예:

찍자 / 앉자 / 걷자 / 만들자

"Let's not" (negation): verb stem + 지 말자

예:

타지 말자 / 가지 말자 / 먹지 말자 / 공부하지 말자

Copy and paste into a document to save/annotate your own copy. Also, feel free to practice in the comments (or point out any inaccuracies)! We’re all learning here.

지금까지 여기 있어 줘서 감사합니다. ❤️

[studykoreanwithasya]

~밖에 Quick Guide ("Nothing besides [Noun]")

Introducing another brain-twister of a grammar point, ~밖에.

Noun밖에 + Negative Verb (없다, 모르다, ~지 않다, 안 / 못)

This roughly means “only/nothing besides/nothing but” the [noun]

So when you want to say things like:

(1) I only have XXX and nothing more/else

(2) Besides XXX, he does nothing else

(3) I care about nothing besides XXX these days

These are random examples and not comprehensive.

Sidenote: 안 = don’t (choice) /  못 = can’t (ability / possibility) 

Other sidenote: You can use a verb with 밖에, but you must turn that verb into a noun-like form first.

예:

저는 요즘 한국 드라마밖에 안 봐요. These days, I don’t want anything besides Korean dramas.

요즘 예술밖에 관심이 없어요. These days, I have no interest in anything besides art (basically, all I care about is art right now).

약이 하나밖에 없어요. I only have one pill left (literally: I have nothing else besides this one pill.) 

어렸을 때 우리 오빠밖에 몰라요. 근데 지금 자주 안 만나요. When I was young, all I knew was my brother (I only cared about/loved/had eyes for/etc him). However, now we don’t meet often.*

*모르다 literally means you don’t know anything besides [noun], but it is often used figuratively to mean you only cared about/had eyes for this thing or person.

제니밖에 자지 않아요. Besides Jenny, no one else is sleeping. 

제니가 잠밖에 안 자요. Jenny does nothing but sleep. (Verb is 잠을 자다 → changes to 잠을 안 자다 becase needs ot be negative then adding ~밖에 replaces 을/를 in these cases so → 잠밖에 안 자요, where 잠 is the noun)

여기에는 물밖에 없어요. There’s nothing here except water.

라면밖에 안 먹어요. They eat nothing besides ramen.

그것밖에 몰라요. Besides that, they know nothing.

영어밖에 못 해요. I can only speak English (Literally: besides English, there's nothing I can speak.)

Sidenote: This grammar typically has a more negative connotation, i.e., you're not glad you can only do this (when you should do more) or only have this left (when you want or need more). Looking at how you can only use negative verbs here, it makes sense.

Copy and paste into a document to save/annotate your own copy. Also, feel free to practice in the comments (or point out any inaccuracies)! We’re all learning here.

지금까지 여기 있어 줘서 감사합니다. ❤️

[purple-studying]

제가 자신을 낫고 싶다. 자신을 고치고 싶다. 요즘에 입맛이 없다. 그리고 그것을 진짜 짜증나는데 입맛이 없어서 별로 먹지 않고 에너지를 없다.

오늘은 영어 속제만 했다. 아니, 한국어 쓰기 속제도 했다.

생활이 요즘에... 무겁다. 혹시 기온 때문에? 더운 날씨 때무넹 몸이 무겁다? 잘 모르겠다.

저는... 건강하고 싶다. 매일 좋은 세개 밥을 먹고, 주에 나흘 운동하고 잘 자고 싶다. 그것을 곤란하다. 어떻게 하기 모르겠다. 유튜브에 블로그 보지만 제 생활에 병화하기 어렵다.

저는 자신을 싫어하지 하지만 자신을 사랑하고 싶다.

생활이... 기이하다. 한 시간 두더지에 대한 공황하고 다른 시간 청소하는 고양이 그린다.

다 나아질 것이다. 천천히 나아질 것이다. 한 번에 한 밥을, 한 번에 한 스트레칭 운동, 한 번에 그리는 고양이 나아질 것이다.

[purple-studying]

Finally!!!

I'll stop sounding like a lunatic when I post in Korean. I mean... I used normal endings, so they're okay, but... this will sound more professional

[studykoreanwithasya]

그러다 Quick Guide~ ⭐

에샤의 노트: 오늘 밤 우리 "그러다" 친구에 대해 이야기할게요. 그럼 시작할까요?

What it is:

그러다 = 그러 + 다 (그래요 / 그랬어요 / 그럴 거예요)

It’s a contraction of:

그렇게 하다 (“to do like that / to act that way”)

그렇게 말하다 (“to say that”)

그렇게 되다 (“to become like that”) — depending on context

Core meanings (context decides which one)

A. “Act like that / behave that way”

Used when referring to someone’s behavior, attitude, or state.

*This one freely uses all tenses and politeness levels.

그러지 마세요. Don’t act like that.

왜 그래? Why are you acting like that?

B. “Say that”

Used when quoting or referring to what someone said.

*This one freely uses all tenses and politeness levels.

그러길래… Since you said that…

그 사람이 그러더라고요.

That person said so.

선생님이 그러셨어요.

The teacher said that. (honorific)

그러길래 그렇게 했어요.

Since you said that, I did it that way.

C. “End up like that / become like that”

Used in cause–and–effect or warning contexts.

*Warnings in this form are spoken Korean and informal. You can use other more formal forms like ~요, but this changes the tone from a warning to a prediction or advice.

그러다 다쳐. If you keep doing that, you’ll get hurt.

그러다 늦어. If you keep that up, you’ll be late.

*As you can see, these verbs are all in the present tense. However, English doesn’t use the present tense for warnings like this, so it translates to the future tense.

D. Common connective forms of 그러다

그러면 → 그럼 (“if so / then”)

그러니까 → 그니까 (“so / therefore / because of that”)

그러다가 → 그러다(가) (“while doing that / and then suddenly…”)

그러면서 (“while saying/doing that…”)

그러길래 (“since you said/did that…”)

그러고 나서 (“after doing that…”)

These are all built from 그러 + connective endings.

More examples:

Behavior

애가 왜 그래? What’s wrong with the kid? / Why is he acting like that?

Reported speech

친구가 그러더라고요. My friend said so.

Warning / natural consequence

그러다 감기 걸려. If you keep doing that, you’ll catch a cold.

Sequence

그러고 나서 집에 갔어요. After that, I went home.

Contrast / contradiction

그러면서 왜 안 해? You say that, but why aren’t you doing it?

Change / interruption

그러다가 넘어졌어요. While doing that, I fell.

Copy and paste into a document to save/annotate your own copy. Also, feel free to practice in the comments (or point out any inaccuracies)! We’re all learning here.

지금까지 여기 있어 줘서 감사합니다. ❤️

[studykoreanwithasya]

Passive Korean Verbs to Memorize (3 Forms) ✨

에샤의 사이드 노트: So I was looking at a promotional poster for "지옥에서 온 판사" where they write: "지금부터 진짜 재판이 시작된다" (The real trial begins now). Therefore, we are talking about passive verbs today. Yay. 시작되다 is the passive form of 시작하다 (something starts/begins versus you start something). This verb ending with ~ㄴ다 is used for things like posters, headlines, dramatic statements, and often self-talk/narration. It is usually called "plain declarative form" and is for neutral, factual, narrator‑style statements. Anyway, today's topic.

Korean passive verbs don’t really form a single grammar system or rule (this is why they scare me, ㅋㅋ). Some follow patterns, but many of the most common ones are simply their own vocabulary or are supposed to be intuitive (as my professor put it, use "what sounds right"). Because of this, the most reliable way, IMO, to learn Korean passives is to treat them as individual vocabulary, not as a rule‑based conjugation. Ergo, here is a good-to-know list to get you started. I highly recommend flashcards, Quizlet, or adding these to wherever you store your vocabulary.

FYI:

We're talking about -> Passive = it happens to something/someone.

NOT -> Active = someone/something does it.

1) 이/히/리/기 Passives

Fixed pairs. Intuitive, apparently.

닫다 → 닫히다 (닫다 = to close something; 닫히다 = something closes / is closed)

열다 → 열리다 (열다 = to open something; 열리다 = something opens / is opened)

잡다 → 잡히다 (잡다 = to catch something; 잡히다 = something/someone gets caught)

먹다 → 먹히다 (먹다 = to eat something; 먹히다 = something gets eaten)

보다 → 보이다* (보다 = to see something; 보이다 = something is seen / visible)

*"보여요" is my nemesis... she is so hard for me to say lol

듣다 → 들리다 (듣다 = to hear something; 들리다 = something is heard / audible)

끊다 → 끊기다 (끊다 = to cut/stop something; 끊기다 = something gets cut/disconnected)

안다 → 안기다 (안다 = to hug someone; 안기다 = to be hugged)

물다 → 물리다 (물다 = to bite something; 물리다 = to be bitten)

2) ~아/어지다 Passive

Used when the verb has no fixed passive pair.

FYI: this is the same conjugation rule for indicating a change (i.e., the weather became nice). Same conjugation, different use.

고치다 → 고쳐지다 (고치다 = to fix something; 고쳐지다 = something gets fixed)

정하다 → 정해지다 (정하다 = to set/decide something; 정해지다 = something becomes set / is determined)

바꾸다 → 바뀌어지다 (바꾸다 = to change something; 바뀌다 = something changes / is changed)

만들다 → 만들어지다 (만들다 = to make something; 만들어지다 = something is made / created)

쓰다 → 쓰여지다 (쓰다 = to write something; 쓰여지다 = something is written)

지우다 → 지워지다 (지우다 = to erase something; 지워지다 = something is erased)

3) 하다 → 되다 Passive

For ~하다 verbs FYI: ~되다 / ~돼요 / ~됐어요 / ~될 거예요

시작하다 → 시작되다 (시작하다 = to start something; 시작되다 = something starts / begins)

결정하다 → 결정되다 (결정하다 = to decide something; 결정되다 = something is decided)

선택하다 → 선택되다 (선택하다 = to choose something; 선택되다 = something is chosen / selected)

준비하다 → 준비되다 (준비하다 = to prepare something; 준비되다 = something is prepared / ready)

발표하다 → 발표되다 (발표하다 = to announce something; 발표되다 = something is announced)

구성하다 → 구성되다 (구성하다 = to form/compose something; 구성되다 = something is formed / made up of)

변화하다 → 변화되다 (변화하다 = to change something; 변화되다 = something is changed)

등록하다 → 등록되다 (등록하다 = to register something; 등록되다 = something is registered)

예약하다 → 예약되다 (예약하다 = to reserve something; 예약되다 = something is reserved)

승인하다 → 승인되다 (승인하다 = to approve something; 승인되다 = something is approved)

Copy and paste into a document to save/annotate your own copy. Also, feel free to practice in the comments (or point out any inaccuracies)! We’re all learning here.

지금까지 여기 있어 줘서 감사합니다. ❤️

[asyastudieskorean]

3.23.2026 — Studying late today, but at least I get to be in my cozy safe space. 🌱 As my free Korean class at KCCLA is ending soon, I’m going to give you guys a full review of how it went and if I think it’s worth it. Stay tuned!

🎧 Unkind - Taylor Bradshaw

[studykoreanwithasya]

Overview: Expressing Time Durations in Korean (Mins, Hours, Days, Months, Years)

*When you want to express a certain number of minutes, hours, days, or years, 예를들면: “I have studied for 5 years,” “I came here 4 months ago,” or “We can leave in 10 minutes,” etc.

🎧 FOOLS - Troye Sivan

1. Minutes

Sino number + 본

*Sino numbers note: 1-4 change; 5-10 stay the same

So: 한, 두, 세, 네, 다섯, 여섯, 일곱, 여덟, 아홉, 열

Examples~

10분 후에 갈 수 있어요. We can leave in 10 minutes.

5분만 기다려 주세요. Please wait just 5 minutes.

30분 동안 공부했어요. I studied for 30 minutes.

2. Hours

Native number + 시간

Again: 한, 두, 세, 네, 다섯, 여섯, 일곱, 여덟, 아홉, 열

Examples

두 시간 동안 걸었어요. I walked for two hours.

한 시간 후에 시작해요. It starts in one hour.

세 시간 기다렸어요. I waited for three hours.

3. Days

There are specific words used up to 10. In order 1-10, they are:

하루, 이틀, 사흘, 나흘, 닷새, 엿새, 이레, 여드레, 아흐레, 열흘

Examples

하루 걸렸어요. It took one day.

이틀 동안 여행했어요. I traveled for two days.

사흘 전에 왔어요. I came three days ago.

After that:

Sino numbers + 일

So:

11 days → 11일 ("십일일")

12 days → 12일 ("십이일")

15 days → 15일 ("십오일")

etc.

Examples

11일 동안 쉬었어요. I rested for 11 days.

20일 전에 왔어요. I came 20 days ago.

14일 후에 다시 만나요. Let’s meet again in 14 days.* *Lol, who would say this? "Let's meet in 14 days as the clock strikes 12 and the moon is full." ㅋㅋ

4. Months

Native Korean + 달

Examples

네 달 전에 왔어요. I came here four months ago.

두 달 동안 한국어를 배웠어요. I studied Korean for two months.

세 달 후에 다시 만나요. Let’s meet again in three months.

5. Years

Sino number + 년

Examples

5년 동안 공부했어요. I have studied for 5 years.

10년 전에 결혼했어요. I got married 10 years ago.

3년 후에 졸업할 거예요. I'll graduate in 3 years.

FYI: Some good-to-know vocab

전에 = ago

네 달 전에 왔어요. I came four months ago.

후에 / 뒤에 = after or in (a duration)

10분 후에 출발해요. We leave in 10 minutes.

세 달 뒤에 이사해요. I’m moving in three months.

에 = at, on, to

3시에 만나요. Let’s meet at 3.

에서 = at, in, from

집에서 공부했어요. I studied at home.

부터 = from (start)

세 시간 전부터 기다렸어요. I’ve been waiting since three hours ago.

까지 = until (end)

5시까지 일해요. I work until 5.

동안 = for (duration)

두 시간 동안 기다렸어요. I waited for two hours.

동안 = for (duration)

두 시간 동안 기다렸어요. I waited for two hours.

마다 = every 주말마다 운동해요. I exercise every weekend.

밖에 = only (with negative)

한 시간밖에 못 잤어요. I only slept (for) one hour.

정도 / 쯤 = about / around

세 시간 정도 걸려요. It takes about three hours.

Copy and paste into a document to save/annotate your own copy. Also, feel free to practice in the comments (or point out any inaccuracies)! We’re all learning here.

지금까지 여기 있어 줘서 감사합니다. ❤️