Learning Korean (한국어 배우기) [COMPLETE]

Unit 1.13 - Korean Particles 2

Remember If you can't read these words, you shouldn't be reading this chapter! If you know how to read but still need confirmations for some words, just comment on what words you need help on.

Nouns:

사실 ~ fact
약 ~ medicine
지하 ~ underground
빵 ~ bread
쓰레기 ~ trash/garbage
회계사 ~ accountant
녹차 ~ green tea
정부 ~ government
성격 ~ personality
온도 ~ temperature
커튼 ~ curtains
숨 ~ breath

Verbs:

축하하다 ~ to congratulate
일어나다 ~ to rise, to get up
준비하다 ~ to prepare, to get ready
익숙하다 ~ to be familiar with something
들어오다 ~ to come in
들어가다 ~ to go in
입장하다 ~ to admit
숨쉬다 ~ to breathe

Adjectives:

흥미롭다 ~ interesting
늦다 ~ late
시원하다 ~ cool as in temperature
질투하다 ~ jealous
맵다 ~ spicy
무겁다 ~ heavy
가볍다 ~ light
유명하다 ~ popular, famous

Adverbs:
요즘 = these days
같이 = together

In the last lesson, you learned some important Korean particles that you can use in a wide variety of situations.

Most of these particles are very common, so it is hard to build sentences using more complex grammar without the use of what you learned in Lesson 12, and what you will learn in this lesson.

Korean Particles (and): ~과/와, ~랑/이랑 and ~하고

~과/와, ~랑/이랑 and ~하고 can all be used interchangeably to mean "and" in Korean.

~과 and ~와 are the same.
~과 is used when the front has a 받침
~와 is used when it doesn't

Similarly, ~랑 and ~이랑 are the same.
~이랑 is a used when the front had a 받침
~랑 is used when it doesn't

~하고 can be used with or without 받침

우리는 밥과 빵을 팔아요
= We sell rice and bread

나는 사과와 바나나를 샀어
= I bought apples and bananas

The two examples above show ~와/과/랑/이랑/하고 placed between two nouns that together act as the object of the sentence. Notice that although there are two nouns, both of them (together) sort of act as the single object of the sentence.

나는 인천이랑 서울에 갈 거야
= I will go to Seoul and Incheon

형하고 아버지는 영화를 봤어
= My brother and dad saw a movie

저는 약과 녹차만 샀어요
= I only bought medicine and green tea

Each one can be used interchangeably, but ~랑/이랑  is used more in conversation, whereas ~하고 and ~와/과 are used in writing. But, it depends on the person.

Korean Particles (with): ~과/와, ~랑/이랑 and ~하고

Don't worry. It gets harder! Hehe
This sounds crazy to an English speaker, but the same particles are used to mean "and" and "with" in Korean. You can distinguish them purely by the context of the conversation, which sounds like it would be difficult. However, even though you probably think it is difficult, it is always clear (even to a beginner) if the speaker is trying to express the meaning of "and" or "with" because of the sentence structure.

For example, when used to have the meaning of "and," a noun will always follow 과/와/(이)랑/하고:  For example:

나는 사과와 바나나를 샀어
= I bought apples and bananas

After 와, another noun is used, which means you are talking about apples AND bananas. But if I said this:

나는 친구랑 갔어
= I went with my friend

There is no additional noun after 랑, which means it can only mean "with." If ~랑 in that sentence had the meaning of "and", it would translate to:

I went, my friend and...
... which is just nonsense

나는 아버지랑 공원에 갈 거야
= I will go to the park with my dad

공원 is a noun but..... it's still obvious. Because it is using '에' after 공원, it is stating the park as a location they will arrive. So the sentence can't be dad and park.

선생님은 학생들과 박물관에 갔다
= The teacher went to the museum with the students

Also notice that you can actually use these particles to mean both "and" and "with" within the same sentence:

저는 밥을 저의 어머니랑 친구랑 먹었어요
= I ate with my mom and my friend

Two adverbs that are commonly used in sentences with "with" are 같이 and 함께.

Both of them mean "together," and can be used in sentences even if the sentence doesn't have one of the particles meaning "with" (과/와/랑/이랑/하고). For example:

우리는 빵을 같이 먹었어요
= We ate bread together

우리는 빵을 함께 먹었어요
= We ate bread together

The use of the word "together" in the same sentence as the word "with" in English is usually unnatural. For example, it sounds unnatural for me to say something like this:

I ate bread together with a friend

Instead, in English, we would say one of the following sentences:

I ate bread with a friend
We ate bread together

In Korean however, it is okay to use 같이 or 함께 in either of these situations; that is – with the word "with" in the sentence, or without it. For example:

저는 빵을 친구랑 같이 먹었어요
= I ate bread with a friend (together)
저는 빵을 친구와* 함께 먹었어요
= I ate bread with a friend (together)

저는 빵을 친구랑 먹었어요
= I ate bread with a friend
저는 빵을 친구와 먹었어요
= I ate bread with a friend

The use of "함께" is generally used in writing and formal situations. Therefore, the use of 함께 is more likely to be paired with ~과/와 in these cases.

To add an additional level of complexity to this explanation – 같이 is more commonly used than 함께. However, when 함께 is used, it is more likely to be used with ~과/와. These are just generalizations, it literally just depends on the person.

More examples:

저는 녹차를 엄마랑 같이 마셨어요
= I drank green tea with my mom

저는 엄마랑 유명한 영화를 같이 봤어요
= I saw/watched a famous movie with my mom

저는 선생님과 함께 공부했어요
= I studied with my teacher

저는 여자 친구와 함께 영화를 봤어요
= I watched a movie with my girlfriend

You can also use these particles to say that you are simply 'with' somebody in a location. In order to do this, you must use 있다 along with one of the adverbs meaning "together". For example:

나는 친구랑 같이 있어
= I'm with my friend

저는 친구와 집에 함께 있어요
= I'm with a friend at home

Note that this meaning of "with" in Korean cannot be used like this:
I built a house with my hands
Remember, "my hands" are the method in which you did something, so, as you learned in Lesson 12 ~(으)로 should be used in those situations. For example:

저는 손으로 집을 지었어요

Author's Note:

I'm so sorry everyone for updating so late. I'm still very busy but I thought of uploading a chapter so I don't make you guys wait for SOOOOO long ^^ sorryyy ㅠㅠㅠㅠ