LEARN + KOREAN / Note 43 TOPIK I
The Song I Like (-는)
a
A verb describing an ongoing or habitual action takes -는 to modify a noun, no vowel-or-consonant split at all, always just -는: 좋아하는 노래, “the song I like.” 큰 가방’s adjectives split into -ㄴ/은; a verb’s present action doesn’t split, because a fixed trait and an ongoing action aren’t the same kind of description.
In Real Life
-(으)ㄴ 후에 already showed you a verb taking -ㄴ/은, but only ever glued in front of 후에. On its own, that same ending modifies a noun with a completed, past action instead of an ongoing one: 만난 사람 is “the person I met,” not “the person I’m meeting.” Swap -는 for -(으)ㄴ and the whole clause moves into the past.
In Real Life
지금 만나는 사람 있어요? is the standard, indirect way to ask if someone’s dating anyone. It leans on 만나다 doing double duty, the same verb used for a plain social “meeting,” now carrying a romantic implication purely from context.
jega jaju ganeun goseun syopingmorieyo.
The place I go often is the shopping mall.
Vocabulary
| Korean | English |
|---|---|
norae | song |
got | place |
syopingmol | shopping mall |
utda | to smile, to laugh |
ulda | to cry |
saramdeul | people |
yeonghwagwan | movie theater |
chwimi | hobby |
gasu | singer |
gasa | lyrics |
aelbeom | album |
deurama | TV drama |
yeneung | variety show |
konseoteu | concert |
paen | fan |
eumakga | musician |
jakgokhada | to compose |
myujikbidio | music video |
noraereul bureuda | to sing a song |
inggigok | popular song |