Hello johndramey,
This is Tim from KC101.com.
First, I have to say, "thanks for visiting our forum and leaving your question here!"
Your active effort toward Korean would encourage other listeners to feel free to leave their questions and comments here.
Second, you have been living in Korea for 3 years!!! where do you live in? Seoul? Kyung-gi-do?
(my home town is "Ansan". Have you heard of the name?) Where are you from? I guess... you are an English teacher, right?
(you don't need to answer me...
)
Third, you wrote, "So please forgive me for being quite low level. I'm not as diligent as I should be about my studies"
Your Korean is good enough! Learning a new language is not an easy task. That's okay...
Please feel free to make any mistake here in this Forum! Here is my permission for you! (자~ 여기 있습니다! ^^ 받았지요?)
Fourth, you have a girl friend!? is she Korean? You even have a dog? is she/he Korean as well? ㅋㅋㅋ
Okay Last, about your question - the verbs using ~기 or ~는 건...
Q: 보통 집에서 무엇을 합니까?
A: 책을 읽기나 강아지랑 놀아요.
First, your sentences are great! See~, your Korean is good!!!
Second, your question should be divided by two parts -
1. the usage of --기, 2.
the usage of 'Noun + (이)나 Noun'.
Okay. let's make it simple...
remember this -
"verb stem + 기" is a NOUN! NOT a verb. just like
playing, studying, doing, efc....
For ex, in the sentence of "playing is good", "playing" is a gerund, which is a noun in this case. Then, what's the main verb in this sentence? it's
"is".
Now, let's translate "playing" into Korean. as you know, the verb
"to play" is 놀다 in Korean.
놀 is the verb stem, and
you add 기;
so it becomes 놀 + 기 => 놀기, which becomes
"a NOUN".
What about "doing"? as you know, the verb "to do" is 하다 in Korean. 하 is the verb stem, and you add 기; so it becomes 하 + 기 => 하기 "a noun".
what about "reading"? as you know, the verb "to read" is 읽기 in Korean. 읽 is the verb stem, and you add 기; so it becomes 읽 + 기 => 읽기 "a noun".
Okay, now let's talk about #2 - the usage of N + (이)나 N.
you wrote, "I know that I can use N(이)나 N for a nounal construction". That's good! It's much easier for me to explain...
1. N
"reading" +
(이)나 + N
"doing" => 읽기나 하기.
2. N "playing" + (이)나 + N "eating" => 놀기나 먹기.
Now you come to know those two usages.
okay, go back to your original question...
Q: 보통 집에서 무엇을 합니까? => 보통 집에서 무엇을 하기를 좋아합니까?
A: 책을 읽기나 강아지랑 놀아요. => 책 읽기나 강아지랑 놀기를 좋아합니다.
okay... that's all~~~
Hope my explanation helps you understand better,
cheers,
Tim
.