How do you greet your friends when you run into them on the street? Talk with your classmates about what you say in your native language.

Read these two dialogues with your friend. What did the person on the right suggest and what would probably happen next?

In this lesson, you will learn how talk about who is going where and how to make negative sentences.

1. The ‘point’ particle –에 with the verb 가요

You learned –에 as a location particle in, at, on, and you have been practicing sentences like this:

친구가 도서관에 있어요.                My friend is at the library.

The core meaning of –에 is more like a point on a map or on a clock (as you will see in upcoming lessons). So, when it is used with a verb like 가요 go or 와요 come, that “point” becomes a destination:

저는 내일 슈퍼에 가요.                    I am going to the supermarket tomorrow.

내일 집에 반 친구들이 와요.           My/some classmates are coming to (my) house tomorrow.

2. Casual polite-present tense

You know the subject can be left out, if it is I, you, it, or the same as the one in the previous sentence––that is, if the subject can be understood from the context.

Although Korean verbs do not conjugate like English (e.g. I go, she goes), they do change forms to give information about whether the action being talked about has been completed (e.g. it rained vs. it will rain), how polite the speaker is being, or even about the speaker’s attitude. If you hear –ㅂ니다/습니다 at the end of sentences, the person is speaking in the formal speech style, for example.

If you see a verb that ends in –아/어요, it is “conjugated” for what is called the casual-polite present tense. The suffix –요 shows that the speaker is being polite to the listener, and the –아/어 part shows that it is in the present tense. You may hear verbs without –요, but it would be an unmentionable social transgression to speak this way with those who are older than you.

Once you get to know your classmates and become good friends (and if they are very close in age, you may start dropping –요 when you speak to each other. No using –씨 after names then. To practice speaking properly, your teacher may insist on using –요. It’s always safer to be polite.

Although it is in the “present” tense, the verb can have other interpretations than “present,” depending on the context (and accompanying adverbs). Check out how 가(요) can be understood in many different ways:

	General fact or habitual action (usually, always)	매일 공원에 가요.	I go to the park every day.
	Progressive action (now)	지금 공원에 가요.	I am going to the park now.
	Definite plan	내일 공원에 가요.	I am going to the park tomorrow.
	Proposal Let’s	우리, 공원에 가요!	Let’s go to the park!
	Question	공원에 가요?	Do you/will you/are you going to the park?

As you have seen, the –아/(요) ending is quite versatile, thus useful. Until you learn other speech endings, it can cover the most ground!

누구 was briefly introduced in Lesson 2 when we ask “whose” questions. 누구 means who (or whom), but when used as the subject, the shape changes to 누가 (Who is the subject of the sentence when it is a doer of something). When is it not the subject of the sentence, use 누구 + other particles:

In every-day speech, you’ll hear people leaving out the subject particle (집에 누구 있어요? Who is home?/Is anyone home?).

Questions with 누가 put focus on and demand clarification of which specific one. Whenever asked with 누가, answer with the subject particle –이/가 (내가 or 제가 if I is the answer).

후안: 지금 내 방에 누가 있어요?             Who is in my room now?

니콜: 내가 있어요.                                      I am.

By varying the word order, you can have a different effect, putting extra focus on who:

알리사: 커피숍에 누구하고 가요?    Who are you going to the coffee shop with?

웨이: 친구하고 가요.                           I am going with a friend.

vs.

누구하고 커피숍에 가요? Who is it that you are you going to the coffee shop with?

반친구하고 가요.                                              (I am going) with a classmate.

NOTE: When 나 and 저 are used as the subject in a sentence and come with the subject particle 가, they change their shapes to 내 and 제. This can be confusing, as the possessive forms are also 내 and 제. Luckily, the subject particle is never omitted, in spoken or written Korean when the base form is changed. So when you see 내 or 제, that is the possessive form, and when you see 내가 or 제가, that is a pronoun being used as the subject.

가: 오늘 학교에 누가 가요?                            Who is going to (the) school today?

나: 제가 가요.                                                    I am (going).

It will be very helpful if you learn this summary chart by heart. (Written forms are left out.)

In Lessons 2 and 3, you learned how to negate 이에요 and 있어요 with special negative verbs. Can you negate the following sentences?

     저는 선생님이 __________________. 학생이에요.

도서관에 친구가 __________________. 커피숍에 있어요.

(Answer)

For other verbs, 안 is added directly before the verb to make a negative statement:

알리사는 오늘 회사에 가요.                         Alyssa is going to work today.

알리사는 내일 회사에 안 가요.                    Alyssa is not going to work tomorrow.

엘라는 지금 한국에 살아요.                         Ella lives in Korea now.

엘라는 지금 한국에 안 살아요.                    Ella doesn’t live in Korea now.

Ella is texting with Nicole. Find out what they are texting about.

^*근데 (=그런데):  by the way       ^*농담: a joke

Read the text messages above and answer True or False.

1) Nicole is at the Korean restaurant now.                              True        False

2) Nicole will go to the restaurant with her friends.             True        False

3) The restaurant is in front of a supermarket.                      True        False

4) Ella will join Nicole at the restaurant.                                 True        False

Nicole bumps into Alissa on the street. Listen to their conversation and answer the following questions in Korean.

1) Where was Alissa headed?

2) Where was Nicole headed?

3) Who is Nicole meeting there?

4) What will happen next?

반친구들을 인터뷰해 보세요. Interview your classmates.

Ask at least two classmates about where they are going after class today and tomorrow. Which place seems to be the most popular? Share the results of your interviews with the class.

 You in Korean

We have been talking exclusively about “me” and “I,” be it humble or plain, singular or plural. What about “you” in Korean? In English, you can directly call the person when you want their attention with ‘hey you,’ or if you want to be more polite, adopt a more round-about way with ‘excuse me.’ There are quite a few second-person pronouns (the “you” variety) in Korean, but each is used in a very limited context.

You can use 너 (you) only if the following two conditions are met: 1) the person is the same age as you or younger, or 2) the person is an adult, and you two are very close. In short, it is not a form of respect or politeness at all and NEVER should be used with adults who are older than you or whom you don’t know, as it is one of the biggest social blunders you can commit in the Korean language, amounting to a slap in the face!

How do we say you in Korean without using a pronoun? There are a few ways:

• Use FIRST NAME + 씨, if the person you are speaking to is an adult. (You can use 너 if they are a child.)
• Use family relationship terms like 언니/누나 older sister or 오빠/형 older brother, 이모 auntie for younger ladies, 아주머니 auntie for older ladies, and 아저씨 uncle even for strangers.
• Use workplace or organization-based titles like 선생님 teacher, 교장선생님 principal, 원장선생님 head of an institute, 부장님 section chief, 팀장님 Ms./Mr. team leader, or 선배님 someone with more years and experience

The uses of titles to mean “you” and to mean a third party are distinguished by a comma in written Korean. In spoken Korean? By context. You will learn necessary honorifics and verbal endings as you go.

웨이 씨 어디 가요?                                      Where is Wei going?

웨이 씨, 어디 가요?                                     Where are you going, Wei?/ Wei, are you going somewhere?

If you are working with grown-up classmates and meeting college-age friends, you can start with FIRST NAME + 씨. Don’t forget to use 선생님, always, for your teacher, and never use 씨 for yourself!

It’s all in the little ones!

If you look at the words carefully, there are recognizable bits of words that recur with a similar meaning. Learn them to increase your vocabulary power exponentially:

• –실 a single room                지하실 basement, 온실 greenhouse
• –원 open garden                 공원 park, 동물원 zoo, 유치원 kindergarten
• –관 a large hall                    미술관 art museum, 역사박물관 history museum
• –방 room, place                  찜질방 dry sauna house, 빨래방 coin laundry
• –점 a store                          상점 store, 음식점 restaurant

Although not introduced in this lesson, there are a few more very useful bits of word meaning you might want to pick up:

• –장 field, area                     시장 market, 주차장 parking lot, 수영장 swimming pool, 스키장 ski slope
• –가 street, district               대학가 college town, 상가 shopping center/district
• –청 government agency      시청 city hall, 국세청national tax service agency,
• –국 bureau, office               우체국 post office, 전화국 telephone company
• –원 institute                       대학원 graduate school, 병원 hospital, 학원 private tutoring institute

These word-fragments cannot stand alone as independent words in a sentence:

실이 있어요.    There is a room.

Instead, they must combine with other words or word-fragments to form a full noun:

교실    classroom (literally, “teaching room”)

Exchange pleasantries

Asking  “어디 가요?” is not usually considered intrusive in Korean. It is a friendly gesture, showing that one cares. Also, if a pause precedes the word 가요, the question simply means “Hello.” (Literally, ‘going somewhere?’)  In that case, you can respond with “네, 어디 가요.” (Yes, I am going somewhere.)  Find out how to say “어디 가요?” in two different ways!