Postby austinfd » May 3rd, 2008 11:47 am
Try to keep the two separate in your mind. They are spelled the same, but serve a different grammatical purpose.
The particle that makes an verb into an adjective has 3 forms, actually.
는 - present
ㄴ/은 - past (ㄴ if there is no 받침; 은 if there is)
ㄹ/을 - future (ㄹ if there is no 받침; 을if there is)
Here's an example for each:
Past:
When you order at a coffee shop, you might hear something like:
주문히신 에스프레소 나왔습니다
(주문하다 (to order) + 시(honorific marker) + ㄴ(no 받침) 에스프레소 + 나오다 (to come out)
literally: Your ordered espresso came out. (In English, the espresso that you ordered)
Future:
I had to use this to explain to my Korean teacher I needed to move to the next level:
우리 배울 문법 이미 공부했어요
배우다(to learn) + ㄹ (no 받침)
literally: Our will learn grammar I already studied. (the grammar that we will learn)
Present:
제 다니는 학교 아주 가까워요.
다니다 (to attend) + 는 + 가깝다 (near, close)
literally: my attending school is very close (the school that I attend)
This construction is enormously helpful. I wish English had such an efficient way to do the same thing.
If you want to ask what something is you can say things like:
먹는 것이에요? (Is this something for eating?)
미시는 것이에요?
Or when trying to explain something that you don't really have the vocabulary for, if you a verb associated with it, you can use this, and a Korean will probably understand. For example:
You can't remember the word for baseball stadium:
야구 게임 보는 장소 (baseball game watching place)
You can't remember the word for car:
운전하는 것 (driving thing)
or maybe you forgot the word for newspaper:
매일매일 뉴스를 읽는 것 (everyday news reading thing)
Another useful phrase is:
가는 길이에요 (I am on the way) literally, "the going road"
Hope this helps!
