KOREAN LANGUAGE TUTORIAL

LESSON 42 (Part 2)

Then, it is simply a matter of putting those nouns into sentences:
친구는 큰 학교에 가고 있어요 = My friend is going to the big school
친구는 작은 학교에 가고 있어요 = My friend is going to the small school
친구는 나쁜 학교에 가고 있어요 = My friend is going to the bad school
친구는 제가 자주 가는 학교에 가고 있어요 = My friend is going to the school that I go to often
Incredibly complicated at first, incredibly simple once you get the hang of it. The only problem is that it is difficult for English speakers to get used to because we describe a noun with a verb after the noun.
Many more examples:
과학을 좋아하는 여자 = the/a girl that likes science
저는 과학을 좋아하는 여자들을 좋아해요 = I like girls that like science
제가 보고 있는 시험 = The exam I am writing
제가 보고 있는 시험은 어려워요 = The exam I am writing is difficult|
제가 사귀고 있는 여자 = The girl who I am going out with
제가 사귀고 있는 여자는 미국에 갔어요 = The girl who I am going out with went to the US
엄마가 요리하는 음식 = The food that my mother cooks
엄마가 요리하는 음식은 항상 맛있어요 = The food that my mother cooks is always delicious
공부하지 않는 학생들 = students who do not study
공부하지 않는 학생들은 똑똑하지 않아요 = Students who do not study are not smart
제가 공원에 가는 날 = the day(s) I go to the park
저는 공원에 가는 날에 항상 행복해요 = I am always happy on the days I go to the park
Actually, Korean people have the same problem with this concept when translating to English. If you meet a Korean person who can’t speak English well, they will always say sentences like this in their ‘Korean style.’
Instead of saying: “girls that like science,” they say:
“like science girls’
Instead of saying “the exam I am writing,” they say:
“I write exam”
Instead of saying “the girl I am going out with,” they say:
“I go out with girl”
Instead of saying “the food my mother cooks,” they say:
“my mother cooks food”
Anyways, enough of what Korean people say.

It is hard to translate the definition of this concept directly in English, but it sometimes translates to ‘who,’ ‘when,’ or ‘that.’ These words however don’t need to be in the sentence in English, as you will see in the following examples. All of these have the same meanings:
My friend is going to the school I go to often
My friend is going to the school that I go to often
The exam I am writing is difficult
The exam that I am writing is difficult
The girl I am going out with went to the US
The girl who I am going out with went to the US
The girl that I am going out with went to the US
The food my mother cooks is always delicious
The food that my mother cooks is always delicious
Students that do not study are not smart
Students who do not study are not smart
I am always happy on the days I go to the park
I am always happy on the days that I go to the park
I am always happy on the days when I go to the park
“That” can be used in most situations. If the noun you are using is a person, “who” can be exchanged for “that.” If the noun you are using is a time, “when” can be exchanged for “that.”

I’m going to say this one more time. Read it a few times to make sure you understand it completely (it is complicated). The noun that you create by describing it with a verb can be placed anywhere that other nouns can be placed!
Lets describe one more noun and see where it can be placed:
내가 가르치는 학생들 = the students that I teach
Placed as the subject of a sentence:
내가 가르치는 학생들은 수업을 듣고 싶지 않아 = The students that I teach don’t want to come to class
Before 이다:
그 사람은 내가 가르치는 학생이다 = That person is a student that I teach (I teach that student)
Placed in any clause within a sentence:
내가 가르치는 학생들이 수업에 오기 전에 나는 교실을 청소했어 = Before the students that I teach came to class, I cleaned the classroom
.. okay, I think you get it.

So far in this lesson you have learned how to describe nouns using verbs in the present tense:
The place I go
The food I eat
The student I teach
But what about the past tense?
The place I went
The food I ate
The student I taught
Or the future tense?
The place I will go
The food I will eat
The student I will teach
Lets talk about those now.
~는 것 Past Tense (~ㄴ/은 것)
You can also describe nouns with verbs in the past tense to make nouns like:
The place I went
The food I ate
The student I taught
To do this, instead of adding ~는 to the stem of a verb, you must add ~ㄴ/은. You must add은 to stems ending in a consonant (먹다 = 먹은), and ㄴ should be added directly to stems ending in a vowel (가다 = 간):
제가 간 곳 = The place I went
제가 먹은 음식 = The food I ate
제가 가르친 학생 = The student I taught
The general idea is the same as the present tense; the verb is simply conjugated into the past. More examples:
엄마가 요리한 음식은 너무 맛있어요 = The food my mom cooked is delicious
저는 엄마가 요리한 음식을 다 먹었어요 = I ate all the food my mom cooked
제가 어제 만난 사람은 저를 다시 만나고 싶어요 = The person I met yesterday wants to meet me again
남은 음식을 포장하고 싶어요 = I want to pack up the food that is left over
내가 작년에 가르친 학생 1명은 벌써 의사가 되었어 = One of the students I taught last year has already become a doctor
내가 회사에 가지 않은 날에 병원에 갔어 = On the day I didn’t go to work, I went to the hospital
~는 것 Future Tense (~ㄹ/을 것)
You can also describe nouns with verbs in the future tense to make nouns like:
The place I will go
The food I will eat
The student I will teach
To do this, instead of adding ~는 to the stem of a verb, you must add ~ㄹ/을. You must add을 to stems ending in a consonant (먹다 = 먹을) and ㄹ should be added directly to stems ending in a vowel (가다 = 갈):
내가 갈 곳 = The place I will go
내가 먹을 음식 = The food I will eat
내가 가르칠 학생 = The student I will teach