Lessons for English speakers

Learn to read Korean

A short, active path into reading Korean: take a syllable block apart, decode ten real words before the full alphabet, learn the sound changes automatic romanizers get wrong, and read a small story before opening your first book.

13 core sections · ≈ 36 min + 4 optional lookups · ≈ 57 min with everything

Verbs and stories

3 sections

The verbs a story runs on, and how they show the past

≈ 3 min

What you'll learn

A dictionary verb ends in 다. For a plain written statement Korean pushes a syllable in before it: 가다ga-da → 간다gan-da“goes”. Describing words do not take it.
The past ends …았다 or …었다 — that pair of final syllables is the whole recognition test.
English writes quote, verb, speaker. Korean writes quote, speaker, verb — the verb comes last even then.
A quote marker closes the quotation: 하고ha-go in storybooks, 라고ra-go in modern prose.

Eleven verbs that carry a fable

English	Korean	English	Korean
to go	가다ga-da	to say	말하다mal-ha-da
to come	오다o-da	to ask	묻다mut-tta
to see	보다bo-da	to answer	대답하다dae-da-pa-da
to live	살다sal-da	to think	생각하다saeng-ga-ka-da
to blow (wind)	불다bul-da	to fall over	넘어지다neo-meo-ji-da
to eat	먹다meok-tta

All eleven end in 다 — the dictionary shape, not the shape a sentence uses.

Dictionary shape → plain written statement

가다ga-da“to go”

간다gan-da“goes”

after a vowel, ㄴ slides underneath

먹다meok-tta“to eat”

먹는다meong-neun-da“eats”

after a consonant, 는 goes in — and the k comes out ng, rule two

살다sal-da“to live”

산다san-da“lives”

a final ㄹ drops here. And describing words do not do this at all — 크다keu-da“is big” stays 크다 — so the inserted syllable tells you the sentence is about an action

Now → then

간다gan-da“goes”

갔다gat-tta“went”

본다bon-da“sees”

보았다bo-at-tta“saw”

산다san-da“lives”

살았다sa-rat-tta“lived”

the ㄹ comes back and slides across

묻는다mun-neun-da“asks”

물었다mu-reot-tta“asked”

크다keu-da“is big”

컸다keot-tta“was big”

every past form ends …았다 or …었다 — you never have to produce the right one, only recognise the pair. Describing words and the glued is-word take it too: 슬펐다seul-peot-tta“was sad”, 새였다sae-yeot-tta“was a bird”

“Hello,” “안녕하세요.” 하고an-nyeong-ha-se-yo, ha-go said 말했다mal-haet-tta Dara 다라가da-ra-ga.

“안녕하세요.” 하고 다라가 말했다.

an-nyeong-ha-se-yo, ha-go da-ra-ga mal-haet-tta

Quote, speaker, verb — with the quote marker 하고ha-go closing the quotation. Two styles in one line: the speech wears 요 because a person is talking; the narration ends in 다 because it is a book.

Find the tense, then the speaker

여우가 숲에 갔다.
Last two syllables first: which ending is that?
Show answer +Hide answer −
yeo-u-ga su-pe gat-tta — “The fox went to the forest.”
새가 나무에 살았다.
살다 in the past — the ㄹ comes back.
Show answer +Hide answer −
sae-ga na-mu-e sa-rat-tta — “A bird lived in the tree.”
“여기 있어요.” 하고 곰이 대답했다.
Which part was spoken aloud, and who spoke it?
Show answer +Hide answer −
yeo-gi i-sseo-yo, ha-go go-mi dae-da-paet-tta — “It is here,” answered the bear.