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

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/않을 거예요 – Negative Verb Endings (Don’t, Didn’t, Won’t)

7. V + 지 못 해요/ 했어요/할 거예요 – 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. -(으)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 돼요 have to/ need to/ must Do ..

21. -아도/어도 돼요 (It’s ok to …)(Asking for/granting permission)-(으)면 돼요 (You just have to…), You can just
do..(으)려고 하다 Intend/Plan to do something(으)기로 했어요 – Decided to do..

22. Modifiers – V + (으)ㄴ – Past; V + 는 – Present; V + (으)ㄹ – future; Adj. + (으)ㄴ

23. V/Adj + Modifier + 것 같아요- It seems like, looks like

24. -라고/다고/자고/냐고 하다– Indirect Speech

Most Basic Korean Connectors

1. V + 고 + V  – V + and + Verb

2. V + 지만 – I do V But

3. N 보다 – Than N

4. V + 아서/어서 – And (Sequence), So (Reason)

5. N + 때문에  and V + 기 때문에 – Because, So (Used to express reason)

6. V + (으)니까 – Because, So (Used to express reason but mainly with commands, request or proposals)

7. Adj + (으)ㄴ데 and V + 는데 –   but…, Used to express background information

8. V + (으)러 –  in order to do .., For doing … (Used with verbs come/go)

9. V + (으)려고 + Verb – To do … in order to do .. (Can be used with any verb)

10. N + 때 and V – (으)ㄹ 때 – At the time of …, When..

11. Time + 동안 – During .., For the duration of ..

12. V + (으)면 – If, When

13. V + 았/었으면 좋겠다 – I hope/wish/desire

14. V+ (으)면서 – While doing ..

15. V + 기 전에 – Before doing …

16. V + (으)ㄴ 후에 – After doing ..

17. N + 에 대해서/대해 + Verb and N + 에 대한 + Noun  – About something

18. N + 을/를 위해서/위해 and V + 기 위해서/위해 – In order to do, For the sake of

19. 그리고 – and

20. 그래서 – So

21. 그러면 – Then, In that case

22. 그러니까 – That’s why, For that reason

23. 그러나, 그런데, 그렇지만, 하지만 – But

How to Conjugate Present Tense Korean Verbs

 Casual formality 

o Verb + 아 or 어

 Polite low formality 

o Verb + 아요 or 어요

 Polite high formality

o Verb + 습니다 (if the verb ends in a consonant)

o Verb +ㅂ니다 (if the verb ends in a vowel)

The final vowel determines whether 아 or 어 is used in the casual form or 아요 or 어요 is used in the polite form.

 Use 아요 if the last vowel in the verb is ㅏ or ㅗ.

볶다 (to fry) → 볶아요

 Use 어요 if the last vowel in the verb is anything else.

 먹다 (to eat) → 먹어요

How to Conjugate Present Continuous Tense Korean Verbs

 Casual formality

o Verb + 고 있어

 Polite low formality 

o Verb + 고 있어요

 Polite high formality 

o Verb + 고 있습니다

How to Conjugate Past Tense Korean Verbs

To conjugate verbs into the past tense, you need to look at the last vowel in the verb stem like you did
in the present tense.

If the verb ends in ㅗ or ㅏ, you add 았다 to the verb stem.

If the last vowel isn’t one of these two, you add 었다.

Just like present tense verbs, some verbs that end in a vowel will condense.

For example: 가다 + 았어요 becomes 갔어요 instead of 가았어요.

 Casual formality

o Verb + 았어 or 었어

 Polite low formality

o Verb + 았어요 or 었어요

 Polite (high formality)

o Verb + 았습니다 or 었습니다

How to Conjugate Future Tense Korean Verbs

 Casual formality 

o Verb + ㄹ or 을 거야

 Polite low formality

o Verb + ㄹ or 을 거예요

 Polite high formality

o Verb + ㄹ or 을 겁니다