Lesson 5 Summary
To be/ It is / What is it?/ Nouns
~ 이에요= To be/ it is when added to a word with a final consonant.
~ 예요 = To be/ it is when added to a word with a final vowel.
Conjugation
-Added to the end of a word to say “this thing is..”. 이에요 and 예요 are never used on it’s own and must always be added to the end of another word, usually a noun, proper noun or adjective.
For example: Noun + ~ 이에요/ ~ 예요
-Water = 물. It is water= 물이에요. (물’s final character ㄹ is a consonant.)
-Bag = 가방. It is a bag = 가방이에요. (가방’s final character ㅇ is a consonant.)
-Office = 사무실. It is an office = 사무실이에요. (사무실’s final character ㄹ is a consonant.)
-School = 학교. It is a school= 학교예요. ( 학교’s final character ㅛ is a vowel.)
-Student = 학생. I am a student= 학생이에요. (학생’s final characterㅇ is a consonant.)
-Me = 저*. It is me = 저예요. (저 ‘s final characterㅓis a vowel.)
-Toy = 장난감. It is a toy= 장난감이에요. ( 장난감’s final characterㅁ is a consonant.)
Note: You can easily turn these statements into questions by changing your intonation at the end, there’s no change in grammar or structure, which is super useful. For example, you can say:
“학생이에요”, meaning that you are a student, and then say exactly the same thing but as a question; “학생이에요?” to ask someone else if they are a student! Or you could say “사무실이에요” to say “this is an office” and exactly the same thing with question intonation; “사무실이에요?” to ask “is this an office?” Do note, though, that those examples aren’t totally grammatically correct, but it doesn’t matter right now because you’ll learn how to use them in full sentence form in the next two lessons by combining them with “this” “the” and “that”, and once you know this part, it’s super easy to form sentences with them!
What is it?
What is it = 뭐예요?
뭐예요 is a phrase you might have heard a few times before. It’s a really common phrase but it’s also super simple. It literally means “what is it?” but can also mean “what is this” “what is that” when you combine it with the this/the/that words that will be taught in the next two lessons. (That said, native Korean speakers often omit the “this/the/that” part altogether and just say “뭐예요” to mean what is it/ what is this/ what is that.)
* 저. Quick note to say that 저 is one of absolutely loads of ways of saying “me” or “I”, so don’t get put off if you see it written as other ways! 저 is just a medium formality way of saying it.
That’s it for Lesson 5. I suggest learning this in conjunction with Lesson 6 because while the phrases used in this lesson can be used on their own, to start forming real sentences you’ll need to use them with the things taught in Lessons 6 and 7!