Korean Grammar: Basic grammar rules and explanations

Korean grammar. Why learn it?

Compared to many languages, Korean has its own unique grammatical structures, which are distinct but not necessarily simpler than those in English. While English grammar often presents challenges with its numerous exceptions, Korean grammar has complexities like verb conjugations and honorific forms. Understanding why grammar is essential in any language, including Korean, is important.
● Grammar as a Key to Opportunities: Correct grammar is crucial in both English and Korean-speaking environments. Proper use of grammar can impact professional opportunities and social interactions in both languages.
● Grammar as an Organizational Tool: In any language, grammar structures words in sentences, giving them meaning. This is especially true in Korean, where sentence structure and verb endings are crucial for conveying respect and formality.
● Appreciating Language Richness: Mastery of grammar in any language, be it English or Korean, allows for a deeper understanding and more effective expression. Korean grammar rules, in particular, reveal the language's subtleties and complexities.
● Expanding Horizons: As the US National Council of Teachers of English notes, understanding grammar is important for discussing any language. This holds true for Korean as well, where grammar is key to understanding cultural nuances and constructing meaningful sentences. Learning the grammar of any language, including Korean, is fundamental for effective communication, cultural understanding, and personal and professional development.
Though it’s not the first thing you have to learn, knowing the Korean grammar has its importance and sooner or later you will have to deal with it. The secret is taking courses designed to teach you grammar without the need to study endless rules. How? By absorbing the basic Korean grammar rules while listening to natives having real conversations. That’s how kids learn. At the age of 5, kids are already fluent in their native language. How can this be? They don’t even know what a verb is at that age. It’s because they hear their parents speaking. That’s the best approach for you as well. That’s exactly how we, at Mondly, approach learning the Korean grammar and millions of people worldwide appreciate our innovative app. By listening to natives, you will know advanced Korean grammar rules to use in real life conversations even if you never studied the rules themselves.

Learn Korean Online

Korean grammar exercises can be fun

Korean grammar exercises

Have you ever thought you can love learning grammar? Learning the Korean grammar doesn’t have to be neither boring nor hard. That’s exactly why our world class linguists have created fun and friendly Korean grammar exercises so you can enjoy learning Korean.
Inside the app, you will find different sections dedicated to learning the Korean grammar online. Each section consists of 7 or 8 grammar lessons that take around 5 minutes each to complete. Every lesson introduces Korean grammar exercises where you read, listen to natives, write and speak. Rooted in science, our exercises are specifically created to keep you engaged and make learning Korean as easy and fun as possible.

Discover how easy it is to learn verb conjugations in Korean

갖다

have

Past

Present

Future

나는 가지고 있었습니다

I had

당신은 가지고 있었습니다

You had

그 남자는 가지고 있었습니다

He had

그녀는 가지고 있었습니다

She had

우리는 가지고 있었습니다

We had

당신들은 가지고 있었습니다

You had

그들은 가지고 있었습니다

They had

나는 가지고 있습니다

I have

당신은 가지고 있습니다

You have

그 남자는 가지고 있습니다

He has

그녀는 가지고 있습니다

She has

우리는 가지고 있습니다

We have

당신들은 가지고 있습니다

You have

그들은 가지고 있습니다

They have

나는 가질 것입니다

I will have

당신은 가질 것입니다

You will have

그 남자는 가질 것입니다

He will have

그녀는 가질 것입니다

She will have

우리는 가질 것입니다

We will have

당신들은 가질 것입니다

You will have

그들은 가질 것입니다

They will have

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Korean grammar exercises for real-life situations

Korean grammar online

We believe Korean grammar exercises should get you ready for real life conversations. In school, you were typically forced to memorize conjugations, pronouns and verbs. This makes learning hard and, even after a few years, you might not be able to have a real conversation. Millions of people around the world are in this exact situation.
That’s why our language experts created a language learning experience where you can practice Korean grammar naturally, by building real sentences anchored in real life situations. Order food in a restaurant. Have a casual chat with a fluent speaker about your day. Explore ways of talking about the books you read. These are all grammar exercises created around certain themes in order to boost your learning.
Want to learn certain conjugations? With our on demand conjugation table you can click on verbs during any exercise and you will be able to see their conjugations. The present, past and future tense are now all at your fingertips. What’s even better, depending on your grammar level, you can choose to learn Korean grammar for beginners, intermediate grammar or jump to the advanced Korean grammar exercises. No matter your level of Korean, you will get the most out of your learning with Mondly.

Practical Korean Grammar Examples

Korean landmark

The most frequently used Korean adjective is "좋은" (jo-eun), meaning "good". Korean also has a unique structure for ordering adjectives in sentences, although it differs from the example provided. Typically, in Korean, adjectives (or descriptive verbs) precede the noun they describe, and there's no strict rule for the order of multiple adjectives like in English. Instead, the order is often based on what the speaker wants to emphasize. Additionally, the most common noun in Korean is "시간" (si-gan), which translates to "time". Korean language structure and usage can be quite distinct from English, reflecting the unique characteristics of the language.
In Korean, the concept of ""most common letters"" as in alphabetic languages like English doesn't apply in the same way. Korean uses an alphabet called Hangul, composed of syllables rather than individual letters. Each syllable block in Hangul is made up of individual components called 'jamo,' which represent different sounds. It's more about the frequency of these sounds in the language rather than individual letters as in English. Regarding the starting sound of words, there isn't a specific sound in Korean that dominates as the initial sound in the same way 's' does in English. Korean vocabulary is diverse, with words beginning with a variety of sounds. As for numbers, Korean has two number systems: native Korean and Sino-Korean. The representation of numbers in full words differs from English and doesn't follow the same pattern regarding the use of certain letters at specific numerical milestones like ""one billion"" in English. Instead, numbers are constructed using a set of basic words combined in different ways to form larger numbers.

Learning the Korean grammar with Mondly by Pearson has real benefits

The Korean grammar will seem easy and fun

Our linguists have created Korean exercises that will feel like playing a game. The catch: you absorb the Korean grammar effortlessly. In no time, you’ll be getting compliments from natives for your Korean skills.

Learn Korean the smart way

Instead of learning the hardest parts of the Korean grammar first, we take you through a journey of the most used Korean words and sentences. This means that you start by learning what really matters first.

Learn Korean with friends

Learning Korean can sometimes feel overwhelming. That’s why we created language leaderboards to keep you motivated along the way. Play your way to Korean by competing with friends and the entire world.

Get ready for real conversations in Korean

Every Korean exercise created by our world class linguists is meant to bring you one step closer to having real conversations. That’s why we created speaking exercises for you to practice the Korean grammar you learn.