Talk with your classmates about your typical day. Are their days much different from where you are from?

Now read these two dialogues. Based on what you learned from previous lessons, can you guess what the friends are discussing?

In this lesson, you will finish learning how to conjugate regular verbs for the casual-polite present tense, and you will learn how to ask and answer time-related questions.

A. How to Tell Time in Korean

In Korean, use the Native Korean numbers (한, 두, 세…) for telling the hours, and the Sino-Korean numbers (일, 이, 삼…) for telling minutes.

As noted in Vocabulary Notes, native Korean numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 20 have shortened adjective forms, and it is the adjectives that are used with 시, the hour of the clock. Also, 시 and 분 each follows a space in writing.

Let’s try reading the times:

한 시	두 시	세 시	네 시	다섯 시 십오 분

여섯 시 삼십 분/반	일곱 시 사십 오 분	여덟 시 오십 분	열 시 십 분	열두 시 오십구 분

Other (“larger”) time expressions like day of the week, 오늘 or 내일 can be added before the time. When multiple time expressions are used together, 에 is used just once at the end of the whole time phrase.

매일 아침 일곱 시에 일어나요.                    I get up at 7 a.m. every day.

토요일 아침 열 시 십 분에 일어났어요!        I got up at 10:10 Saturday morning!

B. 몇 시예요?

몇 means how many, and it is used to ask how many of something there are:

가: 몇 사람이에요?       How many people?

나: 세 사람이에요.        There are three people.

We will get back to the use of 몇 again in later lessons, but here, remember that 몇 시 is used with time. To ask what time one does something, be sure to use the time particle -에:

가: 지금 몇 시예요?                         What time is it now?

나: 여덟 시예요.                               It’s 8 o’clock.

가: 몇 시에 아침을 먹어요?             What time do you have breakfast (at)?

나: 여덟 시에 먹어요.                       I eat breakfast at 8 o’clock.

For more a vague time frame, you can use 언제 when instead of 무슨 요일 or 몇 시:

언제 아침을 먹어요?                        When do you have breakfast?

여덟 시에 먹어요.                            I eat breakfast at 8 o’clock.

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1. Review of the present tense forms so far

Here is a summary table of the casual-polite verb conjugation you have learned so far. (If you need to refresh your memory more, re-read the grammar notes from previous lessons.)

2. Verbs with contracting vowels

As you can tell from 가아요, Korean doesn’t like two of the same vowels next to each other. When that happens, one simply drops out. Like so, when the verb root has no final consonant and two similar vowels come adjacent (“similar” in their bright vs. dark grade), they contract. 오 + 아 becomes 와, and 우 + 어 becomes 워. Likewise, 이 + 어 become 여. Try saying 오 and 아 together fast, you can hear how they become 와. Try the same with 우 and 어 for 워, and 이 and 어 for 여. So, the rule is:  

오 + 아 = 와              우 + 어 = 워    이 + 어 = 여

3. No vowel contraction

Vowels that are already complex (위, for example) do not contract with -어요, but keep their original form.

4. Conjugation Practice

Complete the following table with the appropriate casual-polite verb conjugations.

<Answer key> 만나요, 쉬어요, 와요, 마셔요

1. ㄷ–Irregular verbs

Korean also has irregular verbs and ㄷ irregular is the first one we introduce. Some verbs that end in ㄷ change ㄷ to ㄹbefore suffixes that begin with a vowel (e.g. -어, -으). These ㄷ~ㄹ alternating verbs are called ㄷ-irregulars. Here, we present the two most frequently used ㄷ-irregular verbs:

걷다 and 듣다

Haruto is talking to Alyssa on the phone. Listen to the conversation and choose True or False based on the conversation you heard.

1) Alyssa works out every day.

2) Alyssa and Haruto are early risers.

3) Haruto is available at 5 PM today.

4) Haruto and Alyssa will exercise together tomorrow at the park in front of the school.

Read Dami’s blog post and answer the questions in English.

나는 월요일하고 수요일, 금요일 저녁 일곱 시에 태권도를 배우고 화요일, 목요일, 토요일 오후 세시 반에 한국어를 배워요. 태권도는 힘들어요1. 그렇지만 정말 재미있어요. 토요일하고 일요일 아침 열 시에 요리 수업이 있고 아르바이트도 있어요. 요리 수업에서 두 시간 요리해요. 한국요리하고 중국 요리, 일본 요리를 배워요.  저는 요리 수업이 좋아요! 1힘들다: to be hard, laborious

1) When does Dami have Korean classes?

2) How many times does Taekwondo class meet per week?

3) What does Dami do on weekdays?

4) How many hours per week does Dami have his cooking class?

You want to do something fun with your partner this weekend. Find the best day, time, and place to get together. Use the following expressions in your dialogue. Take turns.

• 몇 시
• 언제
• 어디에서
• 나하고 같이…
• 어때요? (How’s)
• 미안해요
• 시간 있어요/시간 없어요
• 바빠요 (busy)
• 좋아요/괜찮아요

Your Daily Schedule

1. Your partner is a dazzling celebrity who has a dizzyingly busy daily schedule. You be the news reporter and interview your partner to fill in the time chart below.

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2. Now, based on what you have learned, report the celebrity’s busy schedule to the class.

Time of the Day

오전 and 오후 are typically translated as AM and PM, but the actual usage is somewhat different. 오전 is a synonym for 아침, used in less colloquial situations, and 오후 spans the time after lunch until dusk.

Here are some time expressions that you can use when telling time in Korean.

오전     A.M. (around 7 A.M. ~ 11 A.M.)

오후     P.M. (around 1 or 2 P.M. ~ 5 P.M.)

새벽     dawn, early morning (around 3 or 4 A.M. ~ 6 A.M.)

아침     morning (meal time around 7 A.M. ~ 10:30 A.M.)

점심     midday (meal time around 11:30 A.M. ~ 2:30 P.M.)

저녁     evening (meal time around 5 or 6 P.M. ~ 8 P.M.)

낮         daytime (from sunrise to sunset)

밤         night (from sunset to sunrise)

Image by jairojehuel from Pixabay

Sleepless in Korea

Image by min woo park from Pixabay

Foreign visitors are often surprised at the liveliness of Korea’s city night scenes. Even after Korea’s public office (e.g. city hall, police stations or banks) workday, which is usually from 8:00 AM to 6 PM or 6:30 PM, city life goes on. Retail stores like department stores have later business hours, from 10:30 AM to 8PM, while some mega-marts are open until 11 PM. Many spas, convenience stores, fast food restaurants, and even movie theaters are open 24 hours. You can get matinee tickets for shows starting 6 AM to 10 AM (조조 영화) at these theaters, and starting at 10 PM, after the peak hours, tickets are sold at discount fares for late night movies (심야 영화).