Have, want, can, must, and going places

Open this when a tail on the end of a verb stops you. Korean has no word for “have”, and want, can and must are three fixed tails glued onto a verb you know.

≈ 5 min of reading · Practise at your own pace

What’s in this chapter

Open this when a tail on a verb blocks you; neither reading at the end uses any of it.
Korean has no word for “have”. It reuses 있다it-tta: “as for me, three dogs exist”.
Want, can and must are three fixed tails glued onto a verb.
English puts to / from / in in front of a place; Korean glues it onto the back.
Inside and on top are nouns, not prepositions: 집 안에jip a-ne is “at the house’s inside”.

You do not need this section to finish the lesson. Open it when a tail on the end of a verb stops you; neither story at the end uses one. What follows is four things English does with little helper verbs, and Korean does not: three of the four are tails you glue onto a verb you already know.

I have a house. I do not have a house.

나는 집이 있다. 나는 집이 없다.

na-neun ji-bi it-tta. na-neun ji-bi eop-tta

Notice which word carries the subject tag: the house, not me. What you have is the thing that exists — and “not have” is 없다eop-tta, the same word that meant “is not here”.

Want, can and must are tails on a verb

English uses a helper word in front of the verb. Korean glues a tail onto the back of it, so read each row from the plain verb to the extended one.

보다bo-da“to see”

보고 싶다bo-go ship-tta“to want to see”

verb + 고 싶다 — there is no separate word for “want”

보다bo-da“to see”

볼 수 있다bol ssu it-tta“to be able to see”

verb + ㄹ 수 있다, literally “there exists a way of seeing”, which is why 있다 is in there again

가다ga-da“to go”

가야 한다ga-ya han-da“to have to go”

verb + 야 한다

먹다meok-tta“to eat”

먹을 수 있다meo-geul ssu it-tta“to be able to eat”

after a consonant a helping syllable slips in; the tail bends, but 수 있다 is still the last thing you see

Which 요 ending a verb takes

The stem is what is left of a verb once you drop its last syllable. Its final vowel decides which spoken ending goes on.

Last vowel of the stem	Ending	Example
ㅏ or ㅗ	아요a-yo	가다ga-da“to go” → 가요ga-yo; 보다bo-da“to see” → 봐요bwa-yo
anything else	어요eo-yo	먹다meok-tta“to eat” → 먹어요meo-geo-yo
하다ha-da“to do” verbs	해요hae-yo	말하다ma-ra-da“to speak” → 말해요ma-rae-yo

Drop 다, look at the last vowel, pick the ending. Two vowels in a row squeeze together: 보아요 is written 봐요.

To, from and inside go on the end of the word

English puts a small word in front of a place. Korean glues it on behind. Read the English on the left, then find the glued piece on the right.

to the forest

숲에su-pe

숲sup“forest” plus the place tag 에

in the forest

숲에su-pe

the same tag. Whether it means to or in depends on the verb: going means to, being means in

from the forest

숲에서su-pe-seo

from morning until night

아침부터 밤까지a-chim-bu-teo bam-kka-ji

부터 is from, 까지 is until or as far as; both glue on like 에

집jip“house”

집 안에jip a-ne“inside the house”

literally “at the house’s inside” — 안an is a noun, not a preposition

나무na-mu“tree”

나무 위에na-mu wi-e“on the tree”

literally “at the tree’s top”

Come back to these chapters whenever you need them.All Korean chapters ↗