Lesson 23 - Connecting Sentences - 고

Hello everyone! 

We’re back with another post, and today it’s going to be about connecting sentences! Yes, you understood well; it is possible to connect sentences with this grammar pattern. How? We’ll find out soon. 

Like the title of this page says, this grammar pattern is about -고. It’s usually translated as ‘and’ or ‘and then’ and it’s attached to the verb stem of any verb preceding it. It’s the first step to being close to sound as natural as possible in Korean. 

It’s basically expressing the function of ‘something happens, and then something else happens’ as if it was a sequence (and it basically has got this function). 

  

요리하고 먹을 거예요 

I’m going to cook and eat. 

  

숙제를 끝내고 친구하고 시내에 만나러 갔어요 

I finished my homework and (then) I went to meet my friend downtown. 

  

즐겁게 여행하고 와요 

Have a nice trip (and then come back) 

You can even stress what you want to say as a sequence with adding 나서 after the verb stem with -고. 

  

아침에 일어나고 밥을 먹고 샤워하고 학교에 가요 

아침에 일어나고 밥을 먹고 샤워하고 나서 학교에 가요 

 Both of these sentences mean ‘In the morning, I wake up, eat breakfast, take a shower and then go to school’ but, as you can see, the second one is emphasized by the addition of 나서 which means then. 

 It’s a very simple pattern that is used very often by natives and, as I said already, it helps you to sound more natural and fluent when either speaking it or just writing it. 

  

However, it has some tricks to it, too. You have to keep in mind that you should use it with sentences that have something in common. For example, the sentence above is about a morning routine. If you don’t put actions that have things in common, then it won’t make any sense because as we stated already, this pattern is for sequences.  

 Let’s look at other examples. 

  

내 남자친구는 재미있고 또 잘 생겼어요 

My boyfriend is funny and (then) handsome, too. 

  

오늘은 한국어 수업이 있고 나서 영어 시험이 있어요 

Today I have a Korean class and then I have an English exam. 

  

  

One more thing about the form of this pattern: you can attach it to a conjugated verb. All you need to do is to attach it to the verb stem conjugated into the past tense. Let’s look at some examples: 

  

집에 갔고 잤어요 

I went home and (then) slept. 

  

저는 한국어를 많이 공부했고 시험을 잘 봤어! 

I studied a lot of Korean and (then) I did well on the test! 

  

If the actions in the sentences connected to each other with -고 are both in the past, it might not be translated as ‘and then’, as it can refer to actions that did not necessarily happen in sequence. 

  

시험이 끝냈고 밥을 먹었어요 

I finished the exam and I ate 

• 1) It could refer to two actions that happened in sequence or, to actions that happened in an order that the speaker doesn’t specify 
• E.g. I ate then I went to the exam hall, did the exam and when it finished I did something else. 

  

맛있는 피자를 먹었고 술을 마셨어요 

I ate delicious pizza and drank 

  

  

It can also be used with a negative verb attached to it (if you can’t remember how to make a negative sentence, check here). You can either use the short or long negation. 

  

어제는 아주 많이 바빠서 치과에 예약을 하지 않았고 지금이 그걸  할거야 

I was so busy yesterday that I didn’t make an appointment with the dentist, and now I’ll do it. 

  

배를 아주 많이 고파도 밥을 아직 안 먹었고 지금이 편의점에 뭔가를 사러 갈 거예요 

Even though I’m really hungry, I haven’t eaten yet and now I’m going to the convenience store to buy something 

VOCABS SET ON QUIZLET: 1

KPOPOLOGY WEBSITE: Home, KPOPOLOGY Explains 

DROPBOX FILES: Main folder,  Lesson 23 Practice

I will see you next time with another grammar post!

 구름