LEARN KOREAN (한국어) [GRAMMAR] #1

KOREAN COMPOUND VERBS

You will notice (or may have already noticed) that many Korean verbs are made by combining two verbs together. This is usually done by adding one verb to the stem of the other, along with ~아/어. When this happens, the meanings of both of the words form to make one word. For example:

들다 - to enter something
가다 - to go

들다 + 가다 = 들 + 어 + 가다
= 들어가다 - to go into something

아버지는 은행에 들어갔어요 - My dad went into the bank

들다 - to enter something
오다 - to come

들다 + 오다 = 들 + 어 + 오다
= 들어오다 - to come into something

남자는 방에 들어왔어요 - A man came into the room

나다 - to arise out of something/come up/come out
가다 - to go

나다 + 가다 = 나 + 아 + 가다
= 나가다 - to go out of something

저는 집에서 나갔어요 - I went out of home (I left home)

나다 - to arise out of something/come up/come out
오다 - to come

나다 + 오다 = 나 + 아 + 오다
= 나오다 - to come out of something

학생은 학교에서 나왔어요 - The student came out of school

가지다 - to own/have/posses
오다 - to come

가지다 + 오다 = 가지 + 어 + 오다
= 가져오다 - to bring something

나는 나의 숙제를 가져왔어 - I brought my homework
그 학생은 숙제를 가져오지 않았어 - That student didn't bring his homework

가지다 - to own/have/posses
가다 - to go

가지다 + 가다 = 가지 + 어 + 가다
= 가져가다 - to take something

저는 저의 모자를 가져갈 거예요 - I will bring/take my hat

가져오다 often translates to "to bring" and 가져가다 often translates to "to take." However, the translation of "to bring" could work for both 가져오다 and 가져가다.

가지다 means "to possess" and "오다" and "가다" mean "to come" and "to go" respectively. Deciding to use 가져오다 or 가져가다 depends on the point of reference of the acting agent in the sentence to the speaker. Specifically, whether the acting agent is coming or going to the location in question.

Imagine you have money at your house, and you will go to your friend's house later to give it to him. Therefore, you will have to "bring" or "take" (same meaning) that money with you when you head over there. If you are currently at your house and are talking to your friend about what you will do, you should use the word "가져가다" because you are going to your friend's house while in possession of the money (저는 돈을 가져갈 거예요). In this example, 가져가다 is used and the best English translation would be "I will bring the money."

However, imagine you have already arrived at your friend's house with the money. You can use the word "가져오다" because you came to your friend's house while in possession of the money (저는 돈을 가져왔어요). In this example, 가져오다 is used and the best English translation would be "I brought the money."

People would read those two examples and think "Oh, so if it is something happening in the future – I should use 가져가다 and if it is something happening in the past, I should use 가져오다."

No. It has nothing to do with the tense of the sentence. It has everything to do with the point of reference of the acting agent of the sentence to the speaker.

For example, imagine you are at your house with the money. If your friend wants to tell you to "bring the money," he should use the word "가져오다" because you are coming (not going) to him. To his reference, you are "coming." In this case, 가져오다 should be used.

You will come across many of these words when you are learning how to speak Korean. It is not something terribly difficult, but is something that you should be aware of (it helps to understand the word if you realize that it is made up of two separate words).

Another word that you will see commonly in these compound words is "돌다":

돌다 - to turn/to spin/to rotate

Examples of compound words:

돌다 + 보다 = 돌아보다 - to turn around (and see)
돌다 + 가다 = 돌아가다 - to return/go back
돌다 + 오다 = 돌아오다 - to return/come back
돌리다 + 주다 = 돌려주다 - to give back

저는 9월1일에 캐나다에 돌아갈 거예요 - I will go back to Canada on September 1st
저는 친구에게 책을 돌려줬어요 - I gave my friend back his book

That's good enough for now, but you will continue to see these as you progress through your studies.