Advanced and uncommon Korean grammar points that you should know as an intermediate learner of the Korean language. Very useful when you start reading novels!
It is tempting to start reading a real Korean novel when you’ve only just started to learn Korean. As a beginner or lower intermediate Korean language learner, you have probably studied lots of grammar, but you are as well-versed as your textbook or grammar book decided to teach you.
Upon starting to read novels that aren’t meant for young kids, you’ll come across many more grammar points – some more frequent than others – that can prevent you from understanding the nuances of the story.
Below I’ll explain some grammar points that I wish I had known before I started reading. Some of them were not easy to look up (and took time away from reading), and other endings kept confusing me because they looked so similar to grammar points I did know.
Still, the biggest challenges are offered by the stacking of ending upon ending. When you’re just starting out, be happy with capturing the general idea of the sentence, and aim for a full understanding of the nuances when you return to the book after reaching a more advanced knowledge of the Korean language.
Table of Contents
Grammar points
1) -구 instead of -고
The ending -구 is a written substitute for -고 and reflects how the ending -구 is pronounced in many areas. In the first example below you will also see 같애 for 같아. In the second example you can see the use of 니 that is more commonly written as 네 or 너의, and -대루 for -대로. All this has to do with the everyday pronunciation of Korean.
Examples from 종이밥 by 김환영:
- 그리구 어떨 땐 껌 씹는 것 같애. “And sometimes it’s like chewing gum.”
- 으이구. 니 맘대루 해라. “Aigoo. Do as you please.”
2) -소/-오 instead of -아/어요
If you have ever seen a Korean historical tv drama, you’ll have come across this ending. -소 (after consonants) and -오 (after vowels) are used in 하오체. This is a Korean speech level that is very common in historical tv dramas and in books. In manhwa, you’ll often find this ending as well, for example when deities are speaking among each other.
It is a polite ending that a speaker uses to pay respect to the listener without humbling himself. You can compare this ending to the textbook ending -아/어요.
Examples from 해리 포터 혼혈 왕자 by JK Rowling:
- 걱정할 것 없소. “It is not something to worry about.”
- 다시 만나서 반갑소. “Let’s meet again.”
- 그렇소. 물론이오. “Yes, of course.”
3) -곤 하다 versus -군
-곤 하다 is used to express an action’s repetition. This can either be that someone has a habit of doing something, but also that a person never does something. This grammar point is in the last chapter of Korean Grammar in Use Intermediate, but I wish I’d learned this grammar point before starting my first real Korean novel as I came across it very frequently.
Example from Korean Grammar for International Learners:
- 기회가 있을 때마다 그 친구를 만나곤 했어요. “I used to meet that friend whenever I had the chance.”
Try not to confuse this ending with -(는)군 / 구나 / 군요 which is used to express surprise.
Example from 해리 포터 저주받은 아이 by JK Rowling:
- 고맙군, 친구. “Thank you, friend.”
4) -자꾸나 and -자
Let’s compare the above -구나 to -자꾸나. -자꾸나 is similar to the ending -자 that means “let’s”.
Example from 해리 포터 혼혈 왕자 by JK Rowling:
- “자, 그럼 호그와트에서 다시 보자꾸나, 해리. “Okay, let’s see each other again at Hogwarts, Harry.”
5) -느니 versus -(으)니
-느니 means “rather than” or “instead of”. It is used to indicate that the second clause is preferable to the content of the first clause. When -느니 is used twice it indicates a choice or a deliberation on which option is better.
Example from 해리 포터 저주받은 아이 by JK Rowling:
- 죽일 수도 없는 사람을 죽었느니 살았느니 할 수 있는 거요? “Can you live rather than kill someone that you can’t kill?”
Don’t confuse -느니 with -(으)니 that implies a result (“since”, “and so”) and can be compared to -(으)니까 in one of its uses.
6) -길래 and -기에
The ending -길래 is used to signify that the content of the preceding clause is the reasoning for what is said in the following clause. You’ve probably come across -기에 already: both patterns are interchangeable.
Example from 세가지 소원 by 박완서:
- 그러고 나서 얼마 안 있다 슬기가 잊어버리고 안 가지고 온 준비물을 가지고 슬기 엄마가 학교에 오신 적이 있길래 선생님은 혹시나 슬기 아빠가 슬기에게 너무 무심한 게 아닌가 걱정이 되어 넌지시 그 그림 얘기를 하셨습니다. “It’s not long after that, that Seulgi’s mother came to school with the supplies she forgot and didn’t bring, so the teacher hinted at the painting because she was worried that Seulgi’s dad might be too indifferent to Seulgi.”
7) -다니 versus -더니
You use -다니 to express that you are surprised about something and can hardly believe it. The disbelief part of the meaning makes this ending different from the exclamatory -(는)군 discussed above or -네요 that can be used to express surprise when you learn something new.
-더니 on the other hand is used to express some past experience that is relevant to what is said in the following clause. This past experience can either be the cause of what follows or simply a recollection used as an introduction to express an observation or the result of changes that happened over time. What is important is that this past experience is something the speaker directly experienced or witnessed.
Examples from 복원가의 집 11 의뢰 71 by 김상엽:
- 심지어 왕실의 친척인 진씨 일족을 건드리다니. “He even touched the Jin clan, a relative of the royal family.”
- 왕실에 충성적인 척하더니 전쟁 준비를 하고 있었다 그건가? “He pretended to be loyal to the royal family and was preparing for war. Is that it?”
8) -끼리
This ending means “among” or “between” and is often used after nouns referring to persons. It often bears a nuance of exclusivity: the persons mentioned and no one else.
Example from 해리 포터 저주받은 아이 by JK Rowling:
- 쟤랑 볼드모트 아들은 저희끼리 놀게 내버려 둬. “Let him and Voldemort’s son play amongst themselves.”
Did you come across any grammar points that you chose to ignore when you first started reading novels in Korean?
