78. 광복절 Liberation Day of Korea (August 15); 미스터 션샤인 Mr. Sunshine (2018), Ep. 24
In Korea, today is 광복절 (光復節) – Liberation Day, which commemorates Japan’s unconditional surrender to the Allies on August 15, 1945, which ended not only…
Tag: K-Drama
75. After All, We All Live Life Alone 어차피 인생은 혼자; A Simple Way to Ask a Tag Question; 50 Shades of the English Word “Life”; 형사록 Shadow Detective (2022), Ep. 8
In English, a tag question is formed by stating a positive sentence followed by a negative question, or vice versa: In Korean, however, you don’t…
74. How to Call In-Laws; The Simplest Negation with 안; What Do You Mean?; 아씨 두리안 Mrs. Durian (2023), Ep. 1
Koreans don’t call family members by their names, except between siblings or cousins. Of course, you call your children by the names you or your…
73. How to Talk about an Experience: -ㄴ/은 적 있다/없다; 마당이 있는 집 Lies Hidden in My Garden (2023)
To talk about one’s experience or the absence of it, English speakers would often use the present perfect tense (have + past participle). Koreans simply…
66. Future Tense -(으)ㄹ 거예요; 푸른 바다의 전설 The Legend of the Blue Sea (2016), Ep. 18
Korean signature sound for speaking about the future is ㄹ. Conjugating a Korean verb in the future tense is a piece of cake. It is…
62. 인어 Mermaid; 연음 법칙 Linking; 푸른 바다의 전설 The Legend of the Blue Sea (2016); 인어 이야기 The Mermaid Story by 허림
인어 mermaid sirène sirena sirena sereia Meerjungfrau syrena mořská panna undinė русалка This one is simple. When a syllable that begins with a vowel (denoted…
58. Simple Negation: 안 vs. 못; How to Diplomatically Turn Down an Offer or an Invitation; 경상도 사투리 Gyeongsang-do Accent; 종이의 집: 공동경제구역 Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area, Part 2, Ep. 9
The moment you are able to say what you want to do in a foreign language, you would also want to say what you don’t…
57. How to Say ‘I like …’ 좋아요 vs. 좋아해요; Negative Command -지 마세요/말아요 vs. Positive Request -아/어/해 주세요; 수상한 파트너 Suspicious Partner (2017), Ep. 12 & 22
If you like a foreign language, you should be able to say confidently “I like (something).” The challenge is that we humans have grammatically inconsistent…
56. How to Describe Tastes in the Real Korean Way; 당신이 소원을 말하면 If You Wish upon Me (2022)
Korean has a rich vocabulary including many single-word adjectives to describe various tastes, flavors, and textures of foods. Would you like to learn a few…
55. Rule of Vowel Harmony (모음조화); Even if -도; Whether … (or not) -든지 (말든지) / -든가 (말든가); 꽃피면 달 생각하고 (Moonshine, 2021)
I. Verb Conjugation for a Concessive Particle -도 From my previous articles, you may already know that -도 at the end of a verb means…
