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Korean grammar 한국어 문법

Korean grammar explained with real example sentences: verb endings, particles, connectors, honorifics and more. Every page shows the pattern, how it is formed, examples with romanization and English, and a short quiz.

Practice now Korean grammar practice

Beginner Korean grammar

Verb endings & tenses

-ㅂ니다 / -습니다Formal polite endingformal polite statement-아요 / -어요Polite present 해요 formpolite, friendly statement or question-았- / -었-Past tensedid, was안 + verb / -지 않다Negative sentencesdo not, is not-고 싶다Want to dowant to (do something)-(으)ㄹ 거예요Future tensewill, going to-고 있다Progressive: be doingbe doing (right now)-(으)세요Polite requests and commandsplease do-(으)ㅂ시다 / -(으)ㄹ까요?Let’s / shall we?let’s, shall we-(으)ㄹ 수 있다 / 없다Can / cannotcan, be able to

Particles

은/는 · 이/가 · 을/를Basic particlestopic, subject and object markers와/과 · 하고“And” between nounsand, with도Also / tooalso, too, even

Connecting sentences

-지만Butbut, although-아서 / -어서Because / sobecause, so, and then-고“And” between actionsand, and then

Numbers, counters & questions

하나, 둘… · 일, 이…Native and Sino-Korean numbersthe two Korean number systems명 · 개 · 시 · 분Counterscounting words for people, things and time뭐 · 누구 · 어디 · 언제 · 어떻게 · 왜 · 몇Question wordswhat, who, where, when, how, why, how many

Intermediate Korean grammar

Particles

은/는 vs 이/가Topic vs subject particletopic (as for…) vs subject (it is X that…)에 vs 에서Location particles 에 and 에서at, to (에) vs at, from (에서)

Connecting sentences

-아서/어서 vs -고-아서/어서 vs -고connected sequence vs simple listing

Conditions, obligation & permission

-(으)면If / whenif, when-(으)면 좋겠다I hope / I wishit would be nice if-(ㄴ/는)다면Hypothetical “if”if (hypothetically), supposing-(으)면 안 되다Must notmust not, not allowed-아/어야 하다 / 되다Must / have tomust, have to-아/어도 되다May / it is OK tomay, it is OK to-아/어 보다Try / have the experience oftry doing, have ever done

Honorifics & speech levels

반말Casual speech (반말)informal speech with close friends-(으)시-Honorific verb markershows respect for the person doing the action드시다 · 계시다 · 주무시다Special honorific wordsseparate respectful verbs and nouns저 · 드리다 · 여쭙다Humble speech (겸양어)lowering yourself to show respect-아/어 주세요 · -아/어 주시겠어요?Polite requestsplease do (for me)

Causative & passive

-게 하다Make / let someone domake or let someone do something-이- · -히- · -리- · -기- · -우-Causative verbsverbs that mean “make someone do”-이- · -히- · -리- · -기-Passive verbsbe done (by someone)-아/어지다Passive and change with -아/어지다become, get done하다 → 되다Passive with 되다be done (for 하다 verbs)

How to study Korean grammar

Korean grammar mostly lives at the end of words: particles follow nouns and endings attach to verb stems. Learn a pattern, then read its examples aloud.

Start with the polite 해요 form, the basic particles and -고 / -지만. They appear in almost every sentence.

New to Korean? Start with the Hangul chart so you can read every example.

Practice what you read

Writing drills, fill-in-the-blank and sentence building for every pattern. Free to start, no account needed.

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