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Grammar / Level 1 / Lesson 5

Verbs and adjectives are one family

By Daniel Buckley · 7 minute read · TOPIK 1

Vocabulary

  1. 크다 - to be big
  2. 작다 - to be small
  3. 좋다 - to be good
  4. 좋아하다 - to like
  5. 비싸다 - to be expensive
  6. 많다 - to be many, to be a lot
  7. 덥다 - to be hot (weather)
  8. 아프다 - to hurt, to be ill
  9. 필요하다 - to be needed
  10. 피곤하다 - to be tired

The English word "big" can't do anything alone. You need "is" to hold it up: "the house is big". In Korean, 커요 is a complete sentence, and there's no "is" in it anywhere.

That's because a Korean adjective is a kind of verb, one that describes instead of doing. It goes last and takes most of the same endings as 먹다.

※ The 요 forms here are chunks until lesson 6, which shows how they're built. This lesson is about what these words are.

다 and the stem

Every verb and adjective in the dictionary ends in 다: 가다, 먹다, 크다, 좋다. That 다 is the label on the dictionary form, and you'll rarely hear this form in conversation. To use a word in a sentence, you take off 다 and work with what's left, which is called the stem.

Finding the stem

  • Take 다 off the dictionary form.먹다 → 먹가다 → 가크다 → 크공부하다 → 공부하

Every ending in Korean attaches to the stem or to a form built from it, so this is the first step every time. It works identically for verbs and adjectives, which is the first sign they're one family.

Adjectives have "is" built in

크다 doesn't mean "big". It means "to be big", and the "is" comes inside the word. That's why this site glosses every adjective as "to be" something. Give it an ending and it's a sentence.

Same slot, same kind of ending

  • A verb or an adjective can end a sentence.밥을 먹어요.날씨가 좋아요.

  1. 집이 커요.

    House is big.

  2. 가방이 작아요.

    Bag is small.

  3. 커피가 비싸요.

    Coffee is expensive.

  4. 오늘은 더워요.

    As for today, (it) is hot.

  5. 좋아요.

    (It) is good.

Example 5 is a complete sentence with no separate verb, and you can use it on its own for "sounds good". Never add 이에요 to an adjective: 이다 goes on nouns, and an adjective already has its "is".

Where they differ

They're one family, not one thing. Verbs mostly say something happens, and adjectives say how something is. The difference you need today is that adjectives never take 을/를, because nothing is being acted on.

The classic pair is 좋다 and 좋아하다. 좋다 is an adjective, so the good thing is its subject. 좋아하다 is a verb, so the liked thing is its object. Both sentences below are normal ways to say you like coffee.

  1. 커피가 좋아요.

    Coffee is good. (I like coffee.)

  2. 커피를 좋아해요.

    (I) like coffee.

Later lessons bring two more differences. Adjectives take a different ending before a noun (lesson 10), and you usually can't turn one into a command (lesson 27).

※ Don't go by the English. "Hurt" and "need" are verbs in English, but 아프다 and 필요하다 are adjectives: 머리가 아파요, head hurts, and 돈이 필요해요, money is needed. And 있다 and 없다 from lesson 4 behave partly like one and partly like the other, which later lessons point out as they come up.

Sort these. Ask whether something is happening or something is being described. A 을/를 in the sentence gives it away.

  1. 날씨가 좋아요.

  2. 친구를 만나요.

  3. 사람이 많아요.

  4. 동생이 자요.

  5. 돈이 필요해요.

  6. 음악을 들어요.

Listen and type

1 / 3

Play it as often as you like.

하다 words

A huge number of Korean words end in 하다, "to do". Put it on a noun and you get a verb: 공부 is study, and 공부하다 is to study. It makes adjectives as well, and the same 해요 ending covers both.

  1. 한국어를 공부해요.

    (I) study Korean.

  2. 오늘은 운동해요.

    As for today, (I) exercise.

  3. 저는 피곤해요.

    I am tired.

  4. 집이 조용해요.

    House is quiet.

Most verbs of this kind can split: 공부를 해요 means the same as 공부해요, with 공부 as the object of 하다. Adjectives can't, because they have no object. There's no 피곤을 해요.

Common mistakes

  1. 집이 크예요.

    집이 커요.

    크다 already contains "is". 이에요 and 예요 go on nouns.

  2. 저는 커피가 좋아해요.

    저는 커피를 좋아해요.

    좋아하다 is a verb, so the thing you like takes 을/를.

  3. 저는 커피를 좋아요.

    저는 커피가 좋아요.

    좋다 is an adjective, so it can't take 을/를.

Check yourself

Quick check

1 / 6

Type the stem of 먹다.

Take off 다.

Summary

Verbs and adjectives

  • Both end in 다 in the dictionary. Take it off to find the stem.먹다 → 먹크다 → 크
  • Both can end a sentence. An adjective has "is" built in.밥을 먹어요.집이 커요.
  • Only verbs take 을/를.커피를 좋아해요.커피가 좋아요.
  • 하다 makes both, and only the verbs can split.공부해요, 공부를 해요피곤해요

Now you can say

  1. 좋아요.

    (It) is good.

  2. 저는 피곤해요.

    I am tired.

  3. 커피가 비싸요.

    Coffee is expensive.

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