LEARN + KOREAN / Note 18 TOPIK I
I Want To (-고 싶어요)
a
고 싶다 attaches straight to a verb stem, no vowel harmony to worry about, and means “want to.” Used for your own wants, that’s the whole grammar point.
Talk about someone else’s desire and 싶다 gets wrapped in 하다: 고 싶어 하다, not 고 싶다. You can state your own wants directly, but you’re only ever observing someone else’s from the outside, so Korean marks that difference in the grammar itself.
anna ssineun jejudoe yeohaengeul gago sipeo haeyo.
Anna wants to travel to Jeju Island.
In Real Life
This split exists because Korean grammar is strict about what you can claim to know directly. You have direct access to your own wants, so 고 싶다 states it plainly. You can only ever observe someone else acting like they want something, so 고 싶어 하다 literally reads as “shows wanting to.”
je dongsaengeun gasuga doego sipeo haeyo.
My younger sibling wants to become a singer.
In Real Life
되다 (to become) is the verb behind every career ambition: 가수가 되고 싶어요 is literally “want to become a singer,” not “want to do singer.” Watch for the particle in front of it: it’s 이/가, the same subject marker from 은/는 vs 이/가, not 을/를. You’re not doing the job yet, you’re becoming it.
Vocabulary
| Korean | English |
|---|---|
nonggu | basketball |
yeohaeng | travel, trip |
baeuda | to learn |
doeda | to become |
keipap | K-pop |
kkum | dream |
mokpyo | goal |
seonggonghada | to succeed |
dojeonhada | to challenge, attempt |
noryeokhada | to make an effort |
gidaedoeda | to look forward to, to be excited about |
gunggeumhada | to be curious |
aswipda | to be a pity, unfortunate |
daebak | awesome, no way (slang exclamation) |
gwansimsa | area of interest |
gyeolsimhada | to resolve, to make up one's mind |
iruda | to achieve, fulfill |
sangsanghada | to imagine |
yeoljeong | passion |
sowon | wish |