Lesson 37 - The Adjective Modifier

Hi everyone!

We're back with a brand new grammar post. With this, we're going to make a new Series! Excited?

The upcoming posts will be about another way to turn sentences into nouns (well, kind of). The patterns we'll discuss are called 'modifiers'.

What are modifiers? They are grammar patterns that are attached to the verb (or to the noun followed by the copula which is a verb), altering (or modify, hence the name) the meaning of the noun or verb.

They are widely used in Korean, and they're the first step to sound more natural when speaking the language!

There are four modifiers. Today we're only going to talk about one! Are you curious?


Let's start by saying that each modifier refers to verb tenses. So, there's the present modifier, the past modifier, the future modifier, and the retrospective modifier.

Today's modifier is going to be the one used with adjectives!

Yes, there are two different forms for Adjectives and Verbs, and we're going to see them with this and the next post.

The modifier for Adjectives is 은, if the verb stem ends with a consonant; or ㄴ, if the verb stem ends with a vowel. Let's look at some verb examples:

바쁘다  ->  바쁜

to be busy  ->  busy

많다  ->  많은

to be many  ->  many

크다  ->  큰

to be big  ->  big

친전하다  ->  친절한

to be kind  ->  kind

작다  ->  작은

to be small  ->  small

짧다  ->  짧은

to be short  ->  short

Obviously, there are the rules of the irregular verbs you need to follow if you want to apply this pattern to them as well. Let's look at a list of some of them.

길다  ->  긴

to be long  ->  long

멀다  ->  먼

to be far  ->  far

파랗다  ->  파란  

to be blue  ->  blue

빨갛다  ->  빨간

to be red  ->  red

어렵다  ->  어려운

to be difficult  ->  difficult

쉽다  ->  쉬운

to be easy  ->  easy

차갑다  ->  차가운

to be cold (to touch)  ->  cold (to touch)

뜨겁다  ->  뜨거운

to be hot (to touch)  ->  hot (to touch)

Modifiers basically turn any kind of verbs into something that describes the noun that follows. Let's look at some sentence examples:

가까운 편의점이 어디에 있어요?

Where's the nearest convenience store

감사한 마음을 전하고 싶어요

I'd like to express my gratitude

같은 걸로 한 잔 더 주세요!

Same again, please (literally: give us something similar again, please!)

그녀는 걱정스러운 얼굴을 하고 있어요

She has a worried look on her face

어떤 과감한 변화가 필요하게 될 거예요

You're going to need some drastic change

그 부자는 난감한 상황에 처했어요 

The rich man is in a difficult situation

넓은 사막이 우리 앞에 펼쳐져요
There's a big desert ahead of is

대단한 일은 아니지만 월급은 괜찮아요

It's not a great job, but the salary is good

VOCABS SET ON QUIZLET: 1

KPOPOLOGY WEBSITE: Home, KPOPOLOGY Explains 

DROPBOX FILES: Main folder, Lesson 37 Practice

I will see you next time with another grammar post!

 구름