Learn Korean

Sentence Order

In regards to the order of a sentence, there are four basic types in Korean. These are:

•S + N

•S + V

•S + A

•S + O + V

* S = subject, N = noun, A = adjective, O = object and V = verb.

The tense of a sentence is determined by the last part of a sentence, namely, by a noun, verb or adjective.

In Korean, adjectives function like verbs in that they can be converted to different forms to 

determine the tense of a sentence.

For example,

•In English, the past tense of "go" is "went."

•In Korean, the past tense of "가다" (gada, go) is "갔다" (gatta, went).

The verbs function in the same way in English and Korean.

However, in the case of adjectives, the past tense of "good" in English is not "gooded" but it is 

written, "was good."

Contrary to this, in Korean, "좋다" (jota, good) has a past tense form of "좋았다" (joatta, was 

good).

Compare:

•In English, "good" (present) → "was good" (past)

•In Korean, "좋다" (present) → "좋았다" (past)

Therefore, the adjectives in Korean function like verbs in that they can be converted to a past tense 

or future tense, or any other tense forms.

This conversion of a verb(or adjective) to its past, future, present continuous or past continuous 

tense forms is called a verb (or adjective) "conjugation."

To understand Korean grammar, it is crucial that you become familiar with the concept of a distinct 

part of speech called, "particles."

Particles are function words that indicate what the subject or object is in a sentence.

Note: S = Subject, N = Noun, V = Verb, A = Adjective, O = Object

1. S + N

•나는 학생이다 = I am a student

•리사는 선생님이다 = Lisa is a teacher

•앤드류는 의사였다 = Andrew was a doctor

•저는 중학생이에요 = I am a middle school student [polite spoken form]

For more explanations on the S + N pattern, please read Nouns - Present, Past.

나 = I

학생 = student

리사 = Lisa

선생님 = teacher

앤드류 = Andrew

의사 = doctor

저 = I (polite)

중학생 = a middle school student

2. S + V