How To Make Korean Sentences?

It’s not difficult to make Korean sentences if you know how to read and write Hangul( Korean alphabets).

Sentences are made up of words so you should be able to read and write Korean words. I suggest you learn Korean verbs, Korean adjectives and Korean phrases first.

Korean sentence structure and english sentence structure are a little different.

Korean sentence structure

Let’s take an example of I LOVE YOU IN KOREAN to practice Korean sentence structure. In English, the basic sentence structure goes like this 

 I love you

It goes in the order of the subject-verb and then the object. But in Korean the placement order is different. The subject comes first and then object and then comes the verb.

So I in Korean is 나 you is 너 and love is 사랑하다. But you shouldn’t leave the sentence this way because it’s grammatically wrong to say or write like this. So here’s the correct sentence.

나는 너를 사랑해. (Naneun neoreul saranghae) So let’s explain one by one what exactly is changed 는 and를 here are called the particles or postpositions. They are always attached behind the noun.

There are many types of postpositions. Each with different meaning and with different variation depending on the noun that comes before it.

Most Basic Korean Particles

1. 은/는 – Topic particles

2. 이/가 – Subject Particles

3. 을/를 -Object particles

4. 에/에서 – In, at

5.에- To 에서 – From

6.에서 – From (Place) 부터 – From (Time)까지 – To/till (Place

7.에게/한테- To (someone) 에게서/한테서 – From (someone)

8. 와/과/하고/랑 – And (connect two things)

9.나 /(이)나 – Either/Or

10. 로/(으)로 – to/towards(direction)with (tool/method)

11. 의 – of/’s (belongs to)12. 도 – also/too

는 here has an official name which is the topic particles but I prefer to call it a subject marker because by using this particle you indicate that the noun is the subject of what you’re about to say or write.

   는  is replaced by 은 when the noun ends with the final consonant. It’s for the sake of the easiness of the pronunciation.

 So 나 doesn’t have the final consonant and that’s why 는 is placed for the subject marker but if the subject was 휴대폰 which means a cell phone you have to say 휴대폰은 because it ends with the final consonant.

There are other types of subject markers which are 이/가 they are all subject markers but each has a slightly different meaning and usage.

Now lets move to another particle which is 를.

It is an object marker. If the noun ends with the final consonant it should be replaced with 을.

Let’s move on to the most exciting part the verb 사랑하다.

 사랑하다 changed to 사랑해 (saranghae). Now let’s find out how that happened. Every Korean verb has the base form (the mother form) that gives birth to every other form; it’s most commonly known as a dictionary form and it ends with 다.

How to conjugate Korean verb?

So the verb loves base form in Korean is 사랑하다 but when we put the verb into a Korean sentence it must be conjugated otherwise you’ll sound like a robot. So conjugation means it changes its form by replacing the verb ending with another verb ending that has a different meaning.

사랑하다 (Base form) – 사랑해 (present tense)

So here is the list of verb endings in Korean which obviously we can’t go over in just one lesson but it’s important that you know about verb conjugation.

In Korean language or probably in most other languages the verb is the most significant constituent in a sentence because it conveys most of the meaning.

Most Basic Korean Verb Endings

1.입니다,이에요/예요 – Is/am/are

2. 있다 – To have, To exist and 없다 – Not to have, To not exist

3. V + 아요/어요 or ㅂ니다 /습니다 – Present tense verb ending

4. V + 았어요/었어요 – Past Tense Verb Ending

5. V + 겠어요 and V+ (으)ㄹ 거예요 – Future Tense Ending

6. V + 지 않아요/ 않았어요/ 않을거예요. – Negative Verb Endings (Don’t, Didn’t, Won’t)

7. V + 지 못 해요/ 했어요/ 할거예요. – Negative Verb Endings (Can’t, Couldn’t, Won’t be able to)

8. 안/못 + Verb 안+ V + Ending = Do Not: 못+ V + Ending = Cannot

9. V + 죠/지요 – Isn’t it? (used for confirmation)- 잖아요 – As you know/You know that…

10. V + 고 있다-V + ing

11. V + 고 싶다 -Want to V

12. V+ (으)세요/십시오 – Please do.. / Making a Request

13. V + 아/어 보다 – To try doing …

14. V+ 아/어 주다 – To do.. for someone

15. Adj +아/어지다- To become/get …

16.(ㅇ)ㄹ 수 있다/없다 – Can/Can’t

17. (으)ㄹ까요? – Shall we .?

18. (으)ㅂ시다 – Let’s do ..

19. V+ 게 됐어요 – Happened to do

20. V +아야/어야 해요 and V + 아야/어야 돼요have to/ need to/ must Do..

21. 아도/어도 돼요 (It’s ok to … Asking for/granting permission)-  

22. (으)면 돼요 (You just have to…., You can just do..  

23. (으)려고 하다 Intend/Plan to do something 

24. (으)기로 했어요 – Decided to do..

Now you have the basic understanding of Korean sentence structure. Let’s try a few more sentences

Jack knows me.

To translate this into Korean Jack subject should come first and then the object and then the verb comes. So it should be in the order of

Jack – me – know 제크   – 나   – 알다

This also sounds like a robot and we have to conjugate the verb properly and we also need to put some particles next to the nouns.

제크는 나를 알아. This is the correct form.

  One more thing about Korean verb is that we don’t have subject verb agreement role which is you have different verb forms depending on the nature of the subject for example

In English it should be I know but it shouldn’t be I knows(I knows is incorrect in English grammar).

She knows but it shouldn’t be she know(She know is incorrect in English grammar) and Jack has but it shouldn’t be Jack have.(jack is also a person so it is incorrect to say jack have in English grammar).

In Korean verbs we don’t have that rule so whatever the subject of the verb is it doesn’t affect the form of the verb, only the meaning decides which verb ending you’re going to use and how it’s gonna get conjugated.

반말 vs 존댓말

 Actually Korean people use formal(more respectful) and non-formal (Less respectful) systems of language. More respectful system of Korean is known as 존댓말 and less respectful system of Korean is known as 반말.

제크는 나를 알아. 반말 (Informal)

제크는 저를 알아요. 존댓말 (Formal)

Both sentence has same meaning but their usage is different.If you want to know more about 존댓말 and 반말 click here.

You can also say

제크 나 알아.

제크 저 알아요.

Both are the same with the above two sentences except that the particles are removed here and this works fine here. It is grammatically acceptable but that doesn’t mean the particles are always removable whether they’re removable or not depends on the context.

At a beginner’s level of korean language it’s safer and more helpful to stick to the standard grammar and practice.

Let’s practice with one more sentence: I eat breakfast.

I – breakfast – eat.나 – 아침 – 먹다.

It should be

나는 아침을 먹어. Informal way

저는 아침을 먹어요. Formal way

다 is the root form so we always have to remove it and conjugate. 는 and 을 are particles. We have to add these kinds of particles to make complete sentences.

 Now let’s specifically look at how to conjugate verbs although not everything but I want to help you get the just of it so that you’ll be able to follow the next coming grammar lessons a lot easier.

  So the verbs in the previous three example sentences were 사랑하다, 알다, 먹다. Now let’s conjugate them.

Base verb	Past tense	Present tense
사랑하다	사랑했어	사랑해
알다	알았어	알아
먹다	먹었어	먹어

Easy Korean sentences

Here are some examples of korean sentenes

•  What’s your name? 성함이 어떻게 되세요?
• My name is Jack. 내 이름은 Jack이야.
• Nice to meet you. 만나서 반가워요.
• Glad to meet you. 만나서 반가워요.            
• How are you doing? 어떻게 지내세요?            
• How are you today? 오늘 어떠니?
• 그의 전화기가 꺼졌어.       his phone is dead.
• 내 카메라 배터리 얼마 없어.   My camera battery is low.
• What’s the weather like? 날씨는 어때?
• How’s the weather? 날씨가 어때요?
• It’s sunny. 화창하다.
• It’s rainy. 비가 내려요.
• It’s windy. 바람이 불어요.
• It’s cloudy. 날이 흐리네요.            
• It’s snowy. 눈이 내려요.
• 다시 전화해.     call me again.
• 신경 쓰지 마 Don’t worry
• 별일 아니야          No big deal.
• 잔소리 하지마. Don’t start nagging.
• 가고 있어. I’m going.
• 잘 되어가고 있어요. It’s doing well.
• 나 태워다 줄 수 있어?   Can I get a ride?
• 저도 탈 수 있어요? Could I get a ride?
• What time is it? 지금 몇 시예요?
• It’s ten o’clock. 10시 정각이에요.
• It’s nine-fifteen. 9시 15분이야.
• It’s three-thirty. 3시 30분이다.
• Who is this? 누구세요?
• This is my sister. 이쪽은 제 여동생입니다
• This is my brother. 이 사람은 나의 형이에요.
• This is my father. 이 사람은 나의 아버지에요.
• This is my mother. 이분은 나의 어머니야.
• This is my grandfather. 이 사람은 나의 할아버지에요.
• This is my grandmother. 이 사람은 나의 할머니에요.
• Where are you from? 너는 어디 출신이니?
• I’m from Brazil. 나는 브라질에서 왔어.
• I’m from Canada. 캐나다에서 왔어요.
• 마음 쓰지 말아요. Never mind.
• 농담 그만하세요  stop kidding me
• When is the field trip? 현장학습은 언제야?
• It’s April 2. 4월 2일이야.
• It’s February 14. 2월 14일이야.
• When is the school festival? 학교축제는 언제니?  
• It’s October 3. 10월 3일이야.   
• What day is it today? 오늘이 무슨 요일인가요?   
• It’s Sunday. 일요일입니다.   
• It’s Monday. 월요일입니다.   
• This is for you. 이거 선물이에요.   
• Thank you. 감사합니다.   
• You’re welcome. 천만에요.   
• Do you like history? 너는 역사를 좋아하니?   
• Do you like math? 너는 수학을 좋아하니?
• Do you like English? 너는 영어를 좋아하니?  
• I like science. 나는 과학을 좋아해.   
• Are you hungry? 배가 고픈가요?   
• No, I’m not. 아니, 난 그렇지 않아요.   
• Are you excited? 너 흥미롭니?   
• Are you angry? 화가 나셨어요?   
• I’m scared. 난 무서워.   
• I’m happy. 난 기뻐요.   
• I’m sad. 난 슬퍼요.   
• No, I don’t mean it like that. 아냐, 난 그렇게 진심이 아니었어.
• What colour is your pencil? 너의 연필은 무슨 색이니?
• It’s blue. 파란색입니다.  
• It’s green. 초록색 입니다.   
• What colour do you like? 너는 어떤 색깔이 좋니?   
• I like yellow. 나는 노란색을 좋아합니다.   
• Where is my book? 내 책이 어딨지?   
• It’s in the box. 상자 안에 있다.   
• It’s in the box. 상자 위에 있다.   
• It’s next to the box. 상자 옆에 있어.   
• I’m looking for my book. 나는 내 책을 찾고 있는 중이다.   
• Do you want some meat? 고기 먹을래?  
• Do you want some spaghetti 스파게티 먹을래?  
• Do you want some cookies? 쿠키 종 드릴까요?   
• Eat more. 많이 드세요.   
• Is this your wallet? 이것이 당신 지갑인가요?   
• Is this your bike? 이것이 당신 자전거인가요?   
• Are these your shoes? 이것들이 너의 신발들이냐?   
• Is this your umbrella? 이것은 당신의 우산 인가요?   
• Yes, it is. It’s mine. 응, 내 꺼야!   
• Is this your watch? 이게 네 시계니?   
• Do you have an eraser? 지우개 있어요?
• Do you have scissors? 가위 가지고 있어요?  
• I have a notebook 나는 공책을 가지고 있다.   
• I don’t have a textbook. 나는 교과서가 없다.                
• What are you doing now? 지금 무엇을 하고 계세요?   
• I’m watching TV. 저는 텔레비전을 보고 있어요.   
• I’m cooking. 지금 요리를 하고 있어요.   
• I’m swimming. 나는 수영을 하고 있어요.   
• I’m cleaning my room. 나는 내 방을 청소하고 있어요.   
• What is he doing now? 그는 지금 무엇을 하고 있는 중이니?   
• He is studying English. 그는 영어를 공부하고 있다.             
• Are you waiting for the bus? 버스를 기다리십니까?  
• Are you drinking juice? 너 주스 마시고 있니?   
• Are you writing a card? 카드를 쓰고 있니?   
• Are you eating ice cream? 아이스크림 먹고 있어?   
• I’m washing the dishes. 나는 설거지를 하고 있다.   
• I’m not reading a book 나는 책을 읽고 있지 않다.                
• Can you cook? 너는 요리를 할줄 아니?   
• Can you swim? 수영을 할 수 있나요?   
• Can you sing?   당신은 노래를 할 수 있나요?   
• I can ski. 나는 스키를 탈 수 있다.  

korean sentence practice

To practice Korean sentence and korean quiz click here.