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? asked in Society & CultureLanguages · 9 years ago

How do I make a simple sentence, "A is B", in Korean?

It seems that every description I read complicates things. I know that there are different subject markers (가 and 이) and levels of respect, but if I want to say a simple sentence like, "He is a doctor," or "She is a teacher," how would I do that?

Also, is there a different way to use adjectives ("She is smart") or can I use the same sentence structure?

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  • 9 years ago
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    X is Y --> X ga/i Y imnida

    ga for X ending in a vowel, i for X ending in a consonant.

    He is a doctor--> kubun-i uisa seongsaengnim imnida. (Literally He-subject-doctor-is)

    She is a teacher--> kunyo-ga seongsaengnim imnida (Literally She-subject-teacher-is)

    In Korean, adjectives function the same way verbs do, but differ when modifying an adjective.

    She is smart --> kunyo-ga ddokddok hamnida. (Literally She-subject-smart-does)

    She is a smart girl --> kunyo-ga ddokddokhan yeoja imnida. (Literally She--subject-smart-girl-is).

    This is a bit simple, but it's the basic structure.

    (To be a bit less formal, use iyeyo for imnida and haeyo for hamnida.)

    Source(s): I'm a permanent resident of Korea.
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