Lesson 15: Miscellaneous Words and Grammar: 들다, Korean Homonyms, Being Sick,

Different/Similar/Same

More about 좋다/싫다 to 좋아하다/싫어하다

I have told you a few times that in most words ending in 하다, you can remove the ~하다 and the remaining word then
becomes a noun of that verb. For example:
말 = speech/words/the thing that you say
말하다 = to speak 주문 = an order
주문하다 = to order
This cannot be done with 좋아하다 and 싫어하다. That is:
좋아 is not a noun that means “likeness” (or whatever), and
싫어 is not a noun that means “dis-likeness “(or whatever)

Note, however that 좋아 and 싫어 can be found in sentences, but only as conjugated forms of 좋다/싫다 and not as the
noun form of 좋아하다 and 싫어하다. You learned in previous lessons that 좋다 and 싫다 are adjectives. As adjectives,
they can describe an upcoming noun or predicate a sentence. For example:
저는 좋은 김치를 먹었어요 = I ate good kimchi
김치는 좋아요 = Kimchi is good

Just a quick note. Only in rare cases would you actually say ‘김치는 좋아요.’ In most cases if you wanted to describe 김
치 by saying it was good, you would use the word 맛 있 다 instead. You would only really use this sentence if
you/somebody was talking about something bad (like maybe something bad for your health), and then you could say “…
is bad, but Kimchi is good.” Nonetheless, it is grammatically correct.

좋아하다 is made by adding ~아/어하다 to the stem of 싫어하다 is made by adding ~아/어하다 to the stem of
좋다. This changes 좋다 from an adjective (good) to a 싫다. This changes 싫다 from an adjective (not
verb (to like). Likewise, good) to a verb (to dislike).

It would be good to note that you can add ~아어하다 with some other adjectives as well. 좋다 and 싫다 are the most
common (and the most important) to worry about right now, but other common examples are:
부끄럽다 = shy (this is an adjective)
부끄러워하다 = shy (this is a verb) 부럽다 = envious (this is an adjective)
부러워하다 = envious (this is a verb)
Aside from knowing that one is a verb and one is an adjective, you don’t need to worry about these other words right now.
I talk more about this concept and how they are used differently in Lesson 105. For now, 좋아하다 and 싫어하다.

As a verb, 좋아하다 can be used to indicate that one

“likes” something. For example: Likewise, 싫어하다 can be used to indicate that one
김치는 좋아요 = Kimchi is good “dislikes” something. For example:
저는 김치를 좋아해요 = I like Kimchi 김치는 싫어요 = Kimchi is bad/not good
저는 김치를 싫어해요 = I don’t like Kimch
However, the use of “좋다” and “싫다” in these sentences is commonly used to say:
김치가 좋아요 = I like Kimchi, and 김치가 싫어요 = I don’t like Kimchi

The mechanics to how this is done is talked about next.

Subject – Object – Adjective Form
One of the basic fundamentals of grammar (not just Korean grammar) is that an adjective cannot act on an object. This
means in Korean you can never have a sentence predicated by an adjective that is acting on a word with the object particle
~를/을. This means that you cannot say this:
저는 김치를 좋다 = I kimchi good
(this doesn’t make sense in either language)

But, you can say any of these:

저는 김치를 먹었어요 김치가 좋아요 저는 좋은 김치를 먹었어요
= I ate kimchi = Kimchi is good = I ate good kimchi
An object predicated by a verb A subject predicated by an An object being described by an
adjective adjective predicated by a verb

That being said, sometimes, Korean people actually do make sentences that are predicated by adjectives and also have an
“object.” Remember though, you cannot (100% cannot) use an adjective to act on an object. So how do Korean people say
this? They do so by adding ~ 이 / 가 to the object instead of ~ 을 / 를 . This technically makes the grammar within the
sentence correct because there is not an adjective acting on an object. Take a look at the example:
김치는 좋아요 = Kimchi is good
저는 김치를 좋아해요 = I like kimchi, which can also be said like this
저는 김치가 좋아요 = I like kimchi

What I am trying to get at here – is that often times in Korean there is an adjective or passive verb that acts on objects.
However, these adjective/passive verbs must (of course) always be treated as an adjective or passive verb.

Adjectives and passive verbs can never act on objects, so instead of using ~를/을 in these situations, you have to use ~이/
가. Another example where this is commonly done is with 그립다:

그 립 다 = this word is translated as “to miss,” but is usually used when talking about missing a non-person (it is
sometimes used to say that you miss a person, but we will talk about how to say you miss a person in Lesson 17).

그립다 is an adjective in Korean (because it actually describes the feeling rather than an action verb). This means that if
you want to say “I miss Korean food” you cannot say:
저는 한국 음식을 그리워요. Instead, you must say:
저는 한국 음식이 그리워요 = I miss Korean food

More examples. Notice that the predicating word of each sentence in an adjective:
나는 네가 자랑스러워 = I am proud of you
나는 그 사람이 싫어 = I don’t like that person
저는 한국이 좋아요 = I like Korea

You also saw this same phenomenon in the previous lesson with passive verbs. Remember, you cannot have a passive
verb act on an object. Therefore, we saw the following types of examples in the previous lesson:
저는 그것이 기억나요! = I remember that!
저는 땀이 나요! = I’m sweating!
저는 화가 났어요 = I was/I am angry

Korean Word: 들다
The word 들다 in Korean is very difficult because it can be used in so many ways. Two of the most common usages are:
 들다 = to carry/hold something
들다 = to enter/go into something/somewhere

Both of these usages are overarching situations that most of the usages of 들다 can fit into. The difficulty with 들다 is,
because it can be used in so many different ways, it is often hard to come up with a translation that fits all possible
situations. Let me show you three examples of how 들다 can be used under the overarching situation of “to enter/go into
something/somewhere.”
나는 동아리에 들었어 = I joined a club (I “entered” a club)
(나는) Play 잠이 들었다 = I fell asleep (I “entered” sleep)
저는 그 그림이 마음에 들어요 = I like that picture (That picture enters my heart)
The definition of the word 마음 generally refers to one’s heart/one’s mind

Now, let me show you examples of how 들다 can be used under the overarching situation of “to carry/hold something.”
저는 손을 들었어요 = I raised my hand (I “held up” my hand/carried my hand)
저는 가방을 들었어요 = I carried the/my bag

Okay, so what’s my point? Well, I have three points actually.

1) First, I wanted to introduce how 들 다 can be used. With a general understanding of the two overarching usages
presented here (along with the specific situations outlined in the example sentences), you should be able to tackle most
usages of 들다 as you continue to study more advanced sentences.

2) This is really crucial to your development of Korean and how it relates to the meanings you have of words from your
understanding of English. You have to realize that Korean and English are fundamentally different, and it is very difficult
to translate sentences sometimes. In cases like these, you should try not to translate the meaning of a word directly into a
specific definition. Rather, you should be open to the fact that it can have many meanings depending on the context.

For example, imagine if you knew the following words and their definitions:
저 = I/me 들다 = enter
마음 = heart/mind 그림 = picture

And you saw the following sentence:

저는 그 그림이 마음에 들어요

Would you be able to understand its meaning if I had not explained it to you earlier? Many learners of Korean might read
that and say “Well, it looks like that person has a picture entering his heart/mind… but I’m not quite sure what that
means.”

This is the first of many times where I will encourage you to not translate/understand sentences literally. Instead, try to
understand what the meaning of a sentence could be based on your understanding of the words within it. For example, if
you come across the word “ 들 다 ” in your studies, realize that it can have many usages – and just because it doesn’t
immediately look like it will translate to “enter” or “carry,” an open mind might allow you to see things in different ways.

3) I specifically wanted to teach you the meaning of 들다 because it is commonly used in compound words, which I will
talk about in the next section.
Korean Compound Verbs
You will notice many Korean verbs are made by combining two verbs together. This is done by adding one verb to the
stem of the other, along with ~아/어. When this happens, the meanings of both of the words form to make one word.
 들다 = to enter something
가다 = to go 들다 + 가다 = 들 + 어 + 가다
= 들어가다 = to go into something
아버지는 은행에 들어갔어요 = My dad went into the bank

들다 = to enter something
오다 = to come 들다 + 오다 = 들 + 어 + 오다
= 들어오다 = to come into something
남자는 방에 들어왔어요 = A man came into the room

나다 = to arise out of something/come up

가다 = to go 나다 + 가다 = 나 + 아 + 가다
= 나가다 = to go out of something
저는 집에서 나갔어요 = I went out of home (I left home)

나다 = to arise out of something/come out

오다 = to come 나다 + 오다 = 나 + 아 + 오다
= 나오다 = to come out of something
학생은 학교에서 나왔어요 = The student came out of school

가지다 = to own/have/posses
오다 = to come 가지다 + 오다 = 가지 + 어 + 오다
= 가져오다 = to bring something
나는 나의 숙제를 가져왔어 = I brought my homework
그 학생은 숙제를 가져오지 않았어 = That student didn’t bring his homework

가지다 = to own/have/posses
가다 = to go 가지다 + 가다 = 가지 + 어 + 가다
= 가져가다 = to take something
저는 저의 모자를 가져갈 거예요 = I will bring/take my hat

가져오다 often translates to “to bring” and 가져가다 often translates to “to take.” However, the translation of “to bring”
could work for both 가져오다 and 가져가다.

가지다 means “to possess” and “오다” and “가다” mean “to come” and “to go” respectively. Deciding to use 가져오다
or 가져가다 depends on the point of reference of the acting agent in the sentence to the speaker. Specifically, whether the
acting agent is coming or going to the location in question.

Imagine you have money at your house, and you will go to your friend’s house later to give it to him. Therefore, you will
have to “bring” or “take” (same meaning) that money with you when you head over there. If you are currently at your
house and are talking to your friend about what you will do, you should use the word “ 가져가다” because you are going
to your friend’s house while in possession of the money (저는 돈을 가져갈 거예요). In this example, 가져가다 is used
and the best English translation would be “I will bring the money.”
However, imagine you have already arrived at your friend’s house with the money. You can use the word “ 가져오다”
because you came to your friend’s house while in possession of the money ( 저는 돈을 가져왔어요). In this example, 가
져오다 is used and the best English translation would be “I brought the money.”
People would read those two examples and think “Oh, so if it is something happening in the future – I should use 가져가
다 and if it is something happening in the past, I should use 가져오다.”

No. It has nothing to do with the tense of the sentence. It has everything to do with the point of reference of the acting
agent of the sentence to the speaker.

For example, imagine you are at your house with the money. If your friend wants to tell you to “bring the money,” he
should use the word “가져오다” because you are coming (not going) to him. To his reference, you are “coming.” In this
case, 가져오다 should be used.

Another word that you will see commonly in these compound words is “돌다”:
돌다 = to turn/to spin/to rotate

Examples of compound words:

돌다 + 보다 = 돌아보다 = to turn around (and see)
돌다 + 가다 = 돌아가다 = to return/go back
돌다 + 오다 = 돌아오다 = to return/come back
돌리다 + 주다 = 돌려주다 = to give back

저는 9 월 1 일에 캐나다에 돌아갈 거예요 = I will go back to Canada on September 1st

저는 친구에게 책을 돌려줬어요 = I gave my friend back his book

Different/Similar/Same in Korean (다르다/비슷하다/같다)

Three words that you have learned in previous lessons are:
다르다 = different 비슷하다 = similar 같다 = same

Using these words isn’t as straight forward as it would seem, so I wanted to spend some time teaching you how to deal
with them. Of course, in simple sentences, they can be used just like any other adjectives. For example:
그것은 비슷해요 = That is similar
우리는 매우 달라요 = We are so different
우리는 같아요 = We are the same

The sentence above sounds unnatural in Korean. Although “ 같다” translates to “the same,” in most cases (especially in
cases like this where nothing is being compared), it is more natural to use the word “똑같다,” which usually translates to
“exactly the same.” For example:
우리는 똑같아요 = We are exactly the same

When comparing things like this in English, we use a different preposition for each word. For example:
I am similar to my friend
That building is different from yesterday
Canadian people are the same as Korean people

In Korean, the particle ~와/과/랑/이랑/하고 can be used to represent all of these meanings. For example:
저는 친구와 비슷해요 = I am similar to my friend
그 건물은 어제와 달라요 = That building is different from yesterday
캐나다 사람들은 한국 사람들과 같아요 = Canadian people are the same as Korean people
이 학교는 우리 학교와 똑같아요 = This school is exactly the same as our school
The ability of ~와/과/랑/이랑/하고 to be used in all of these cases creates confusion for Korean people when they learn
English. You will often hear mistakes from Korean people like:
“This school is the same to our school”

Notice in the sentence above that the particle ~ 와/과/랑/이랑/하고 is used to denote that something is different from,
similar to, or the same as something else. In theory, you could change the order of the sentences (to make the sentence
structure similar to what you learned in Lesson 13) to indicate that two things (this and that) are different, similar or the
same. For example:
우리 학교와 이 학교는 똑같아요 = Our school and this school are exactly the same

As you can see with the English translation – this doesn’t create any difference in meaning. It merely changes the wording
of the sentences and the function of the particles slightly.

I talk about the usage of 같 다 later in Lessons 35 and 36. Specifically, in Lesson 36 I talk about how 같 다 is more
commonly used to say “something is like something.” I don’t want to get into this too much in this lesson, because the
purpose of this section was for me to introduce you to the grammar within these sentences so you could apply it to what I
am about to introduce next.

Check this grammar out. This is probably an easy sentence to you now:
나는 잘생긴 남자를 만났어 = I met a handsome man
Subject – adjective (describing an) – object – verb

What about these next sentences?

나는 비슷한 남자를 만났어 = I met a similar man, or
나는 같은 남자를 만났어 = I met the same man

These sentences have the same structure as before:

Subject – adjective (describing an) – object – verb

That should be easy for you too. But what about if you wanted to say “I met a man who is similar to your boyfriend.”
Seems too complicated, but let’s break it down:
너의 남자친구와 비슷하다 = similar to your boyfriend
비슷하다 is an adjective – which means it can modify a noun:
비슷한 남자 = similar man

너의 남자친구와 비슷한 남자 = A man (that is) similar to your boyfriend

나는 ( — )를 만났어 = I met —

나는 (너의 남자친구와 비슷한 남자)를 만났어 = I met a man that is similar to your boyfriend

This structure is very complex and is an introduction to describing nouns with phrases instead of simply using one
adjective. In Lesson 26, you will learn more about how to describe nouns with things other than simple adjectives – such
as verbs and complex phrases.

The meaning of “different” in English has more than one nuance, which are possessed by “다르다” as well. Although the
meaning of “different” in the two sentences below is similar, try to see that they are slightly different:
I am different than him I saw a different movie
The first one describes that something is not the same as something else. The second one has a meaning similar to “other”
or “another,” where (in this case) the person did not see the movie that was originally planned, but instead saw “another”
or a “different” movie. 다르다 can be used in both situations. For example:
저는 그와 달라요 = I am different from him
저는 다른 영화를 봤어요 = I saw a different (another) movie

“ 또 다 르 다 ” usually translates to “another,” while “ 다 르 다 ” translates to “other.” However, in the example above,
replacing “another” with “other” makes it sound weird.

The function of “ 또 다 르 다 ” is hard to explain, but it is easier to explain (and understand) if you think of it as two
separate words (which it actually is). It is a combination of the adjective “ 다르다” and the adverb “또”, which is used
when something happens again.

“ 또 다르다 ” is used when one particular thing has already been described, and you are explaining another thing. For
example, imagine you are sitting in a meeting with your coworkers discussing potential problems for a plan. People are all
discussing the problems they see, and you can point out:
또 다른 문제는 그것이 비싸요 = Another problem is it (that thing) is expensive

In this same respect, you can say the following sentence, and although the translation in English is similar, try to
understand the difference in adding “또”:
저는 또 다른 영화를 봤어요 = I saw another movie
In this, maybe the person saw one movie, and then again saw a different movie.

Words that are the same but have different meanings (Korean Homonyms)
In Korean, there are a lot of words that have more than one meaning. Whenever there is a word with many meanings in
Korean, these different meanings will always have a separate entry in our vocabulary lists (not necessarily in the same
lesson, however). An example of this is “쓰다”:
쓰다 = to write 쓰다 = to use 쓰다 = to wear a hat

Each of these words has had a separate entry in our vocabulary lists. However, when a word has many meanings, but most
of those meanings can be combined into a few ‘umbrella term’ meanings – only those ‘umbrella term’ meanings will be
shown. A good example we talked about earlier is 들다. 들다 has so many meanings, most of which can fit into three or
four broad definitions.

Either way, be aware that many words have many meanings in Korean:
나는 편지를 친구를 위해 쓸 거야 = I am going to write a letter for my friend
나는 그 기계를 썼어 = I used that machine
저의 아버지는 모자를 항상 써요 = My father always wears a hat

Another word that has many common meanings is 걸리다:

걸리다 = to be (in the state of) hanging 걸리다 = to “take” a certain amount of time
걸리다 = to be caught/stuck/trapped 걸리다 = to catch a cold/sickness

There are more usages, but lets just focus on these four for now:
걸리다 = to be hanging
Similar to the passive verbs you learned in the previous lesson, this verb can be used to indicate the passive ‘state’
of hanging:
그림은 벽에 걸려 있어요 = The picture is hanging on the wall
 걸리다 = to be caught/stuck/trapped
A verb that can be used when something trips/gets caught/gets trapped:
Play 나는 줄에 걸렸어 = I tripped over the line

걸리다 = to “take” a certain amount of time

This is a very useful form that we will talk about in greater detail in a later lesson. You can use this to indicate
how long it takes to get from one place to another:
서울부터 인천까지 2 시간 걸려요 = It takes 2 hours to get from Seoul to Incheon
우리 학교에서 식당까지 10 분 걸려요 = It takes 10 minutes to get from our school to the restaurant

Notice however, that even though each of these has a very different meaning in English (to be hanging, to be caught, to
take a certain amount of time) they are actually pretty similar. When a picture is ‘hanging’ on the wall, technically it is
‘stuck/trapped’ on the wall. Similarly, if you go from Incheon to Seoul, the time it takes (2 hours) is ‘stuck/trapped.’
Haha, No? Well, that’s just the way I explained it to myself when I first learned some of these words.

Try to think outside of the English box. One word in Korean is often used to represent many words in English. Usually
these words aren’t actually very different, but the different translations lead us to believe that they are in fact very
different. Read these sentences again and see if you can understand them this way:
The picture is caught on the wall
I was caught over the line
2 hours are caught to get from Seoul to Incheon

Obviously not natural in English – but you can probably understand what these sentences mean.

My point? Just because it looks like a word has many meanings doesn’t necessarily mean that those meanings are vastly
different from each other. Think about the example from earlier in this lesson ( 들 다 ) one more time. 들다 has many
meanings – but most of which can be grouped into only 2 or 3 different meanings. Always keep this in mind.

Being Sick in Korea

One of the things people often try to learn first when learning a new language is how to express themselves in the event
that they have to go to the doctor. This is something that wouldn’t fit into any specific lesson, so I want to cover it here:

You already know the word 아프다, which you can use to indicate that you are sick or sore in some place. In English
“sore” and “sick” mean slightly different things. Because of this, Korean people (who are learning English) often
mistakenly say “My arm is sick.” Also note that 아프다 is an adjective… and for some reason ‘이/가’ are used instead of
는/은 when creating sentences about a place on your body:

배가 아파요 = My stomach is sore

팔이 아파요 = My arm is sore
저는 어제 너무 아팠어요 = I was very sick yesterday

Also, you can use the word 걸리다 to indicate that you have some sort of disease/sickness. You learned a little bit about
걸리다 in the previous section. This usage of 걸리다 essentially has the same meaning that was described in all the other
examples of 걸리다 (I am caught in a sickness). Korean people use this in the following way:
저는 감기에 걸렸어요 = I caught a cold/I have a cold
저는 독감에 걸렸어요 = I caught the flu/I have the flu
Notice how “에” is used in these sentences due to 걸리다 having the nuance of being stuck IN something
Also note that even though you have a cold in the present tense, Korean people use the past “걸렸다” to express that they
currently have a cold.

기침 (a cough) and 재채기 (a sneeze), although not originally nouns of Chinese origin, are both nouns where you can add
하다 to get the respective verb form (to cough and to sneeze). For example:

저의 아들은 시끄럽게 기침했어요 = My son coughed loudly

(Probably more naturally translated to “My son was coughing loudly.” Korean people don’t really distinguish between
simple and progressive past tenses as much as we do in English. You will learn about the progressive tense in Lesson 18.)

Lesson 16: Noun + ~적, ~적으로, ~적이다, ~스럽다

~적/적으로/적이다
~적 is a common suffix that can be added after some nouns of Chinese origin (적 (的) is of Chinese origin). At first, there
is no way to anticipate or expect which nouns this can be added to. As you progress through your Korean studies, you can
sort of start anticipating this, but still, the only real way of knowing if ~적 can be added to a particular noun is if you have
specifically learned that it can. The goal of this lesson isn’t to teach you all of the words that ~적 can be attached to (that
would take forever). Rather, the goal of this lesson is to show you how you can recognize and use these words when you
come across them.

Adding ~적 to a noun changes it into a descriptive word that has the meaning of “relating to, or having the properties of’
the original noun. For example:
 문화 = culture 경제 = economy
문화적 = relating to, or having the properties of 경제적 = relating to, or having the properties of
culture economy

However, the translations above are nonsense and a more accurate way to translate words with ~적 is to add “-al” to the
English word. For example:
문화 = culture
문화적 = cultural 경제 = economy
경제적 = economical

Adding “-al” doesn’t always work with the English word, though. For example:
과학 = science
과학적 = relates or having properties of science 충동 = impulse/shock
과학적 = scientific 충동적 = relating to, or having the properties of impulse
충동적 = impulsive
The main point of this lesson is to teach you how you can understand the meaning of a word ending in ~적 even if you
have never seen it before. This still happens to me fairly regularly – I will read something, and come across a word I have
never seen before ending in ~적.

For example, if you knew that the word “민주” meant “democracy” What do you think “민주적” would mean? A
descriptive word that has the properties of democracy – that would be “democratic.”
민주 = democracy
민주적 = democratic

Though these descriptive words can be used in sentences, it is easy for a beginner to understand them when they are used
by adding ~이다 or ~으로.

Adding 으로
Adding ‘으로’ to the end of ~적 changes the word into an adverb. These adverbs usually have the ending ‘ly’ in English.
Below are the most common examples of using ~적으로 with example sentences for each:
문화 = culture 문화적 = cultural 문화적으로 = culturally
한국은 지난 50 년 동안 문화적으로 많이 변했어요
= Korea has changed a lot culturally in the period of/during/for the past 50 years

경제 = economy 경제적 = economical 경제적으로 = economically

그것은 경제적으로 가능하지 않아요 = That isn’t economically possible

역사 = history 역사적 = historical 역사적으로 = historically

한국과 미국은 역사적으로 좋은 관계가 있다 = Historically, Korea and the US have had a good
relationship

과학 = science 과학적 = scientific 과학적으로 = scientifically

그들은 그 문제를 과학적으로 풀었다 = They solved that problem scientifically

충동 = impulse/shock 충동적 = impulsive 충동적으로 = impulsively

저는 자주 옷을 충동적으로 사요 = I often buy clothes impulsively
 민주 = democracy 민주적 = democratic 민주적으로 = democratically
미국은 대통령을 민주적으로 선출해요 = America elects its president democratically

Adding 이다
Adding ‘이다’ to the end of ~적 turns the word into an adjective that can predicate a sentence or describe an upcoming
noun. The translation of these adjectives are usually are the same (in English) as without adding ‘이다.” For example:
문화 = culture 문화적 = cultural 문화적이다 = cultural
캐나다와 미국은 문화적인 차이가 있다 = Canada and the US have a cultural difference
(차이 = difference)

경제 = economics 경제적 = economical 경제적이다 = economical

미국은 경제적인 결정을 했어요 = The US made an economical decision

역사 = history 역사적 = historical 역사적이다 = historical

저 학교는 역사적인 건물이에요 = That school is a historical building

과학 = science 과학적 = scientific 과학적이다 = scientific

이것은 과학적인 문제예요 = This is a scientific problem

충동 = impulsive 충동적 = impulsive 충동적이다 = impulsive

저는 너무 충동적이에요 = I’m too impulsive

Notice that when a word ending in ~적이다 is used to predicate a sentence, 이다 is conjugated as if it were actually 이다.

민주 = democracy 민주적 = democratic 민주적이다 = democratic

미국은 민주적인 나라예요 = The US is a democratic nation

A question that always comes up here is – What is the difference between using ~적이다 and just using ~적? For
example, what is the difference between these two:
경제적 = economical
경제적이다 = economical

The difference between these is that ~적 is a noun, whereas ~적이다 is an adjective. Sometimes however, nouns can
technically be used to sound like adjectives. For example:
That is a big bag

‘Big’ describes the type of bag it is. Big is clearly an adjective which is telling us about the type of bag that it is (that it is
big). “Book” is clearly a noun.

However, in the following example:

That is a book bag

In this example, ‘book’ acts as a descriptive word because it describes the type of bag it is (that it is a book bag).

This is usually the only time that ~적 (with nothing following it) is used in Korean. That is, when it is actually a noun, but
acting as a descriptive word within a sentence. Because it is usually used as this type of descriptive word, you don’t really
need to worry much about the difference between ~적 and ~적이다. Just be aware that ~적이다 is more commonly used,
and how they are used within a sentence. That is, when using “~ 적이다,” 이다 should be conjugated, and when using “~
적” nothing needs to be conjugated because it is a noun. For example:
미국은 민주적인 나라예요 = The US is a democratic nation
북한에는 민주적 정부가 없습니다 = There is not a democratic government in North Korea

The purpose of this lesson was to introduce you to what ~ 적(이다/으로) can do to a word and how it can be used. I’ve
created four more examples of ~ 적 vs. ~적이다 that I would like to show you, but please don’t worry about these too
much. If anything, just try to understand the use of ~적(이다) in these sentences:
경제적 문제가 있다 = There is a financial problem
경제적인 문제가 있다 = There is a financial problem

캐나다와 미국은 문화적 차이가 있다 = Canada and the US have a cultural difference
캐나다와 미국은 문화적인 차이가 있다 = Canada and the US have a cultural difference

나는 개인적 문제로 회사를 그만두었다 = I quit the company due to personal reasons (problems)
나는 개인적인 문제로 회사를 그만두었다 = I quit the company due to personal reasons (problems)
(그만두다 = to quit a job or school)

이 건물은 역사적 건물이다 = This building is a historical building

이 건물은 역사적인 건물이다 = This building is a historical building

In all cases above, I would rather use the ~적인 form to describe the upcoming noun. The native Korean speaker beside
me says the same thing. However, she also says that the first example of each (the examples just using ~ 적 instead of ~적
인 ) are also acceptable. In my opinion, the use of ~ 적 인 instead of ~ 적 is more common in speaking and in printed
sources. However, you are more likely to see ~적 in print sources compared to hearing it in spoken Korean. (i.e. ~적이다
is more common than ~적 in all cases. However, when compared only to itself, you are more likely to find ~ 적 in print
than in speech).

Okay, enough of that for now. Let’s talk about something else.

~스럽다
~스럽다 can also be added to some nouns to change them into an adjective, much like the function of ~ 적(이다). When
doing this, ~스럽다 changes the noun into an adjective that has the “properties” of that noun. The two easiest examples to
explain this change are:
사랑 = love 사랑스럽다 = “with the properties of love”

자연 = nature 자연스럽다 = “with the properties of nature”

For example:
그 여자가 아주 사랑스러워요 = That girl is something “with the properties of love”
그 여자의 머리 색깔은 자연스러워 = That girl’s hair color has “the properties of nature”

Of course, those translations are nonsense. A more accurate translation of these words would be:
사랑스럽다 = lovely 자연스럽다 = natural
The only way of knowing if ~스럽다 or ~적 can be added to a word is if you have specifically learned that it can. Because
one can never know which words ~스럽다 and ~적 can be added to, these words will always be presented as a separate
entry in our vocabulary lists.

Anyways, ~스럽다 can be added to nouns to make that noun a descriptive word:
The two examples above are fairly straight-forward. However ~스럽다 is sometimes added to words that seem to already
have an adjective form. For example:
실망 = disappointment
실망하다 = to be disappointed
실망스럽다 = “with the properties of disappointment” (disappointing)

I’ll do the best I can to distinguish between 실망스럽다 and 실망하다 for you.
실망하다 is used to describe a person’s emotions. This could be referring to anybody’s emotions; not necessarily just the
speaker’s emotions. For example:
저는 실망했어요 = I was disappointed
우리 아버지는 어제 실망했어요 = Our dad was disappointed yesterday

If you want to say that somebody is disappointed in a person using 실망하다, you must attach the particle ~에게/한테 to
the person he/she is disappointed in. For example:
저는 친구에게 실망했어요 = I was disappointed in my friend
우리 아버지는 저에게 실망했어요 = Our dad was disappointed in me yesterday

If you want to say that somebody is disappointed in a non-person using 실망하다, you must attach the particle ~에 to the
thing he/she is disappointed in. For example:
저는 영화에 실망했어요 = I was disappointed in the movie
우리 아버지는 식당에 실망했어요 = Our dad was disappointed in the restaurant

Hmmm… Adding ~에게/한테 to a person, and adding ~에 to a non-person. What does this remind you of? Remember,
you learned this same rule in Lesson 14 when predicating sentences with passive verbs.

Well, 실망하다 is a verb. In English, it definitely feels like an adjective, but in Korean the dictionary (and the use of the
particles ~에게/한테 and ~에) indicate that it is a verb. Here, 실망하다 is a verb (much like passive verbs) that cannot act
on an object. Other verbs like this are 자다 (to sleep), 죽다 (to die), etc. This really means very little, and the only thing
you need to take from this is:

In order to say one is disappointed, you can use 실망하다:

저는 실망했어요 = I was disappointed
우리 아버지는 어제 실망했어요 = Our dad was disappointed yesterday

In order to say one is disappointed in something/somebody, you can use 실망하다 along with the use of the particles ~에
게/한테 (for a person) or ~에 (for a non-person). For example:
저는 친구에게 실망했어요 = I was disappointed in my friend
우리 아버지는 저에게 실망했어요 = Our dad was disappointed in me yesterday

저는 영화에 실망했어요 = I was disappointed in the movie

우리 아버지는 식당에 실망했어요 = Our dad was disappointed in the restaurant
Now, 실망스럽다 usually is not describing one’s emotions. Rather, it is describing something that has the “properties of
disappointment.” This usually translates to “disappointing.” For example:
결과는 조금 실망스러웠어요 = The result was a little bit disappointing
그 영화는 조금 실망스러웠어요 = The movie was a little bit disappointing

That being said, you might sometimes hear 실망스럽다 being used like this:
저는 실망스러웠어요

In this case, what do you think this would mean? I guess in theory this could sometimes mean “I am disappointing.” But
very rarely would somebody say that. Most of the time, this sentence would translate to “I am disappointed.”

Wait a second… I thought the word to describe one’s emotions as “disappointed” was “ 실망하다.” In this sentence, why
is “실망스럽다” being used to describe the person’s emotions in this sentence. It’s not.

If you heard the sentence “저는 실망스럽다” in Korean, it would most likely be from a person describing that something
is disappointing, but they have omitted it from the sentence. For example, using the adjective “ 실망스럽다” you can use
the Subject – Object – Adjective form in the following way:
저는 친구가 실망스러워요 = I am disappointed in my friend
(My friend is disappointing, and therefore I am disappointed)

저는 학생들이 실망스러웠어요 = I was disappointed in the students

(My students were disappointing, and therefore I was disappointed)

저는 그 영화가 실망스러웠어요 = I was disappointed in the movie

(The movie was disappointing, and therefore I was disappointed)

If you just walked into a room and said:

저는 실망스러워요~ = I am disappointed (in something….)

Whoever was listening to that sentence would probably say “In what?”
What the speaker has done when saying “저는 실망스러워요” is they have simply omitted the object that they are
describing.

Wow… that’s a lot of stuff to wrap your head around. Let’s break it down one more time:
실망하다 is a verb that describes one’s emotions of being disappointed:
저는 실망했어요 = I was disappointed
실망하다 cannot act on an object (like 자다, 죽다, or any passive verb). Therefore, the following is incorrect:
저는 학생을 실망했어요
Instead, as with passive verbs, the use of ~에게/한테 should be used to indicate that you are disappointed in a person:
저는 친구에게 실망했어요 = I was disappointed in my friend
~에 can be used to indicate that you are disappointed in a non-person:
저는 영화에 실망했어요 = I was disappointed in the movie
실망스럽다 is an adjective that describes something which is disappointing:
그 영화는 조금 실망스러웠어요 = The movie was a little bit disappointing
The adjective 실망스럽다 can be used in the subject – object – adjective form to indicate that you were disappointed in
something:
저는 그 영화가 실망스러웠어요 = I was disappointed in that movie
In the sentence above, the object can be omitted from the sentence, in which case the speaker is indicating that something
was disappointing (and by virtue, he/she is disappointed), but has omitted the noun that is disappointing:
저는 실망스러웠어요 = I was disappointed (something was disappointing…)

This same phenomenon happens with the word 만족스럽다. Look at the following three words:
만족 = satisfaction
만족하다 = to be satisfied
만족스럽다 = “with the properties of satisfaction” (satisfactory)

Just like with 실망하다, 만족하다 is used to describe a person’s emotions. This could be referring to anybody’s
emotions; not necessarily just the speaker’s emotions. For example:
저는 만족해요 = I am satisfied
그는 만족해요 = He is satisfied

Again, just like with 실망스럽다, 만족스럽다 is not describing one’s emotions. Rather, it is an adjective that is
describing something that has the “properties of satisfaction.” This usually translates to “satisfactory.” For example:
결과는 만족스러웠어요 = The results were satisfactory

만족스럽다 can be used in the Subject – Object – Adjective form to indicate that one is satisfied in something.
저는 결과가 만족스러웠어요 = I was satisfied with the results
저는 음식이 만족스러웠어요 = I was satisfied with the food

In this Subject – Object – Adjective form, the object can be omitted and the speaker can indicate that something was
satisfactory (and thus he/she was satisfied). For example:
저는 만족스러웠어요 = I was satisfied (something was satisfying…)

Don’t worry too much about the difference between words like 실망하다 vs. 실망스럽다 and 만족하다 vs. 만족스럽다.
I’m really going deep into this, and it is not something you really need to worry about as most Korean people wouldn’t
know the difference unless they really think about it.

In other words with -스럽다, the difference is much less ambiguous because the -스럽다 version of the word is an
adjective, but the –하다 version is a verb that can act on an object. For example:
저는 그 여자를 사랑해요 = I love that girl
그 여자는 사랑스러워요 = That girl is lovely

Another good example of –스럽다 is:

자랑하다 = to show off (verb)
자랑스럽다 = proud (adjective)

Here as well, 자랑하다 is a verb that can act on a noun, so its usage is very simple:
저는 저의 한국어 실력을 자랑했어요 = I showed off/boasted my Korean skills

자랑스럽다 is usually used in the Subject – Object – Adjective form to indicate who somebody is proud of.
저는 저의 딸이 아주 자랑스러워요 = I am very proud of my daughter
저는 학생들이 자랑스러워요 = I am proud of the students
It’s also good to recognize that because all of these ~스럽다 words are adjectives, they can also describe an upcoming
noun (just like any other adjective) by placing ~ㄴ/은 to the stem of the word. For example:

Play 우리 딸은 사랑스러운 여자예요 = Our daughter is a loving/lovely girl

Also, ~게 can be added to the end of the stem of –스럽다 to change the word into an adverb. For example:
그는 한국어를 자연스럽게 말해요 = he speaks Korean naturally
저는 그를 사랑스럽게 봤어요 = I looked at him lovingly
그는 실망스럽게 행동했어요 = He acted disappointingly (in a disappointing way)
저는 일을 만족스럽게 끝냈어요 = I finished the work/job satisfactorily (in a satisfactory way)

That’s it!