Talk with your classmates about your experiences visiting Korean restaurants. Are they much different from or similar to American restaurants or other ethnic restaurants?

What seems to be happening in the following dialogue?

In this lesson, you will learn how to place an order and share your opinions about foods using “-지요?” and “-네요.”

-지 is a sentence ending that indicates that the speaker presumes the listener has knowledge about what is being talked about. When used in a question, it makes the sentence very much like an English tag question, such as adding “isn’t it?” or “don’t you?”. It is used often for emphasis more than for seeking confirmation (like tag questions with falling intonation in English). It comes after the verb or adjective stem, and can be used with -요 for politeness.

A: 여기 즉석 떡볶이 있지요?                 This place has on-the-spot tteokboki (stir-fried rice cake), right? (You should know)

B: 네, 있어요. 아주 맛있어요.                Yes, it does. It’s very delicious.

A: 점심에 한식 먹을 거지요? [먹을 꺼지요]    We will be eating Korean food for lunch, right?

B: 네, 한식 먹을 거예요.                        Yes, we will.

In statements, the ending -지 has a stronger implication that the information should be obvious to the listener. Be careful not to use -지 too much in statements or you will sound like a know-it-all:

떡볶이는 맵지요.                      Teokbokki is spicy, of course.

In English, different moods are often conveyed by varying intonations. In Korean, sentence endings are used for expressing the speaker’s moods or attitudes. One ending you already know is the presumed knowledge suffix -지. -네 is another such ending; it expresses the speaker’s emotional status, namely a spontaneous (and short-lasting) reaction to something unexpected.  (You can use an appropriate punctuation mark at the end of the sentence depending on the degree of emotionality intended.)

어, 오늘 날씨가 춥네요!                  (I didn’t realize) it is cold today!

밥이 좀 많네!                                  Wow, there is a lot of rice!

한국음식을 잘 먹네요.                    You can really eat Korean food (e.g., unlike my other foreign friends).

김치가 별로 안 맵네요.                   김치 isn’t all that spicy (unlike its fame).

그 사람이 아직도 안 왔네.               He is still not here yet. (How strange.)

친구가 벌써 집에 갔네요!                Oh, my friend already went home.

라면을 많이 샀네요!                        Oh (good); you bought a lot of ramen.

와, 김치 만들었네요!                       You made kimchi!

ㄹ-verbs drop their “ㄹ” before this ending.

한국어를 많이 아네요!                     You surely know a lot of Korean!

이 반찬은 아주 다네요.                     This side dish is very sweet.

You will be given a summary of this notorious conflict between ㄹ and ㄴ in Korean at the end of the chapter.

About ninety-nine percent of the verbs and adjectives that end in 르 conjugate irregularly. Unlike other types of irregular verbs and adjectives, however, 르-irregulars change only before the –어/아 ending.  Before –어/아 endings, -르 words drop the vowel 으 in the stem and add another ㄹ, so they end up with a double ㄹ (letter and pronunciation).

우리 누나는 노래를 잘 불러요.           My older sister sings well.

목이 말라요. 뭐 마셔요.                      I am thirsty. Let’s drink something.

Alexa and Bryan are at a Korean restaurant. Listen carefully and answer the following questions in Korean.

1. What did Alexa and Bryan order? List everything.
2. What is Alexa’s favorite food?
3. How do you get water in this restaurant?
4. Why did Alexa come to this restaurant?

Bryan’s SNS post: 신당동 즉석 떡볶이 집 떡볶이 다들 좋아하시지요? 어제 신당동에서 유명한 “즉석 떡볶이 집”에 떡볶이 먹으러 갔어요. 군만두와 즉석떡볶이를 시켰어요. 떡볶이 양도 많고 어묵도 많이 줬네요!  떡볶이 국물이 좀 매웠지만 진짜 맛있었어요! 군만두도 기름이 많지 않고 뜨겁고 바삭바삭해요. 떡볶이하고 같이 먹으면 최고예요. 라면하고 치즈도 넣을 수 있어요. 그런데  여기에서  즉석떡볶이는 2인분 이상 시켜야 돼요. 그렇지만 떡볶이가 별로 안 비싸서 괜찮아요. 2인분에 15,000원밖에 안 해요. 아, 서비스가 진짜 빨라요. 참, 그리고 물은 셀프예요!   #신당동 # 즉석떡볶이 #어묵최고 #물은셀프

Bryan posted about the food he had today on his SNS site. Read his post and complete the summary chart in English.

My Favorite Food/ Comfort Food 

Talk about your favorite Korean dishes with your friends and take a memo. Present what you and your friends talked about.

Food Suffixes

When you go to a Korean restaurant, you will see recurrent parts of food names. Here are some tips that will make you Korean-cuisine savvy!

• 볶음, 볶기, 볶이 lightly stir-fried dish (오징어 볶음, 멸치 볶음, 떡볶이)
• 찌개 salty stew (김치 찌개, 된장 찌개)
• -탕 soup based on meat broth (갈비탕, 설렁탕)
• 구이 broiled meat or fish (닭구이, 소금 구이)
• -면 noodles (냉면, 라면, 짜장면)
• -전 thin, savory Korean pancakes (파전, 해물전)
• -밥 rice-based dish (비빔밥, 볶음밥)
• 불- broiled or barbequed over open fire (불고기, 불갈비)

Photo Credit: Pixabay

One bowl of rice and a dish of 김치 can make a complete meal to most Korean folks. Although 김치 is famous for its red-hot spice, it used to be made white in Korea. Red pepper was introduced into Korea in the 1600’s and was not used as a main ingredient in 김치until the 18th century! According to one of the many 김치research institutes in Korea, there are almost 200 different kinds of 김치, which Koreans enjoy daily, including 25 different kinds of Napa cabbage-김치, 62 radish-김치, ten cucumber-김치, five seafood-based 김치, and 54 other kinds of 김치 made with various vegetables.

Each province has its own special 김치 recipes. 경상도 김치 is famous for its use of anchovy extract, 전라도’s delicious 김치 uses a bounty of salted seafood, 충청도 김치 has a clean and refreshing aftertaste, and in North Korea, (e.g. 평안도, 함경도) red pepper or garlic is used sparingly. Here are some of the names you can cite when you have an intellectual 김치 conversation:  배추 김치, 총각 김치, 깍뚜기, 동치미, 나박 김치, 오이 소배기. Ask a friend or search the web for 여러가지 김치 (different kinds of 김치) to learn more about김치!

NOTE: Although the side dish 김치 is well-known for its spice, there are also plenty of spicy Korean main dishes. In general, anything red is spicy. Korean spice is usually based on 고추장 or 고춧가루, and it tends to last longer than Japanese wasabi. If you are up for spicy Korean dishes, try these!

떡볶이, 육개장, 매운탕, 김치찌개, and 비빔밥 (though for the last, some restaurants let you decide on the amount of 고추장 you use).