Lesson 38 - The Present and Past Modifiers

Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Modifier Series in KPOPOLOGY GRAMMAR!

In the last lesson (click here for Lesson 37), we introduced you to the topic of modifiers. What are modifiers? If you can't remember what they are, let us tell you again.

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!

In the last lesson, we talked about the Adjective modifier. Today we're going to talk about two other modifiers which we classify under the category of Verb modifier since they're the forms used with processive verbs.

There are two modifiers for Verbs that express either the present tense or the past tense. The forms are 는 for the present tense, and (으)ㄴ for the past tense.

Now, as you can see, the past tense form is pretty similar to the adjective modifier one; this means that you kind of already can understand how it's going to be placed in sentences. If you don't remember, though, fear not! We'll explain it again.

For the past modifier, the rule is to place 은 to the verb stem of the verb if it ends in a consonant, and ㄴ if it ends in a vowel. Let me show you some examples:

가다  ->  간

to go -> that went

오다  ->  온

to come -> that came

그리다  ->  그린

to draw -> that drew

끝나다  ->  끝난

to end -> that ended

먹다  ->  먹은

to eat -> that ate

넣다  ->  넣은 

to put (something in) -> that put (something in)

놓다  ->  놓은

to lay -> that laid

닦다  ->  닦은

to clean -> that cleaned

닮다  ->  닮은

to resemble -> that resembled

Remember that in this case, too, you will have to follow the rules for irregular verbs. Let's check some examples:

돕다  ->  도운

to help -> that helped

만들다  ->  만든

to make -> that made

알다  ->  안

to know -> that knew

울다  ->  운

to cry -> that cried

잠들다  ->  잠든

to fall asleep -> that fell asleep

Let's check some examples out:

장미는 활짝 핀 꽃보다 봉오리가 더 아름다워요

Roses are more beautiful than open flowers

그녀를 향한 내 사랑은 변함이 없어요

My love for her remains unchanged

이 식당은 주인이 직접 키운 채소를 사용해요

This restaurant uses vegetables raised by its owner

태어난 새끼 판다는 쌍둥이였어요

The pandas that were born were twins

속을 채운 파스타와 고기만두도 좋아요

I like stuffed pasta and meat dumplings

초대한 사람만 오는 파티예요

It's a party where only the ones that were invited come

Now, let's move on the present modifier. As you may have noticed from the introduction, there's only one version. And, that's because whether it's a regular or irregular verb, or a consonant ending or vowel ending verb stem, the form used will be 는. Let's see some examples:

축하하다  ->  축하하는

to congratulate -> that congratulates

찾다  ->  찾는

to find -> that finds

지키다  ->  지키는

to keep -> that keeps

죽다  ->  죽는

to die -> that dies

입다  ->  입는

to wear -> that wears

있다  ->  있는

to have -> that has

However, it does influence the irregular verbs, that, instead, might change their stems due to the rules. But now, let's look at some sentence examples, now:

그들은 이야기하는 것도 좋아해요

They also like to talk, too

그녀는 웃는 얼굴이 가장 아름다워요

She has the most beautiful smile

커피숍을 여는 데 돈이 얼마나 들어요?

How much does it cost to open a coffee shop?

한국 문화를 알리는 몇몇 프로젝트를 선보이고 있어요

I'm presenting some projects to promote Korean culture

적절한 양말을 신는 것은 정말 도움이 돼요

Wearing the right socks can really help

VOCABS SET ON QUIZLET: 1

KPOPOLOGY WEBSITE: Home, KPOPOLOGY Explains 

DROPBOX FILES: Main folder, Lesson 38 Practice

I will see you next time with another grammar post!

 구름