Learn the top adjectives to describe people
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| Hi, everyone! Welcome to the Korean Whiteboard Lesson! |
| “My name is K-Jin.” |
| 안녕하세요, 케이진입니다. |
| (Annyeonghaseyo, keijin-ibnida.) |
| Today, we are going to talk about top 10 adjectives to describe people in Korean. |
| These are really common adjectives, so please try to remember while I’m teaching it. |
| So, let’s get started! |
| Okay. So, let’s look at the vocabulary! |
| First word we have is… |
| 키가 크다 (kiga keuda). It means “tall.” |
| 키가 크다 (kiga keuda) [enunciated] |
| 키가 크다 (kiga keuda) |
| 키 (ki) means “height.” |
| 가 (ga) is a subject-marking particle. |
| 크다 (keuda) means “big.” |
| So, it literally means “height is big” and in English, it’s “tall.” |
| “Height is big.” 키가 크다. (Kiga keuda.) |
| Then, what is the opposite word for 크다 (keuda) “big”? |
| It’s “small,” right? |
| Small in Korean is 작다 (jakda). |
| 작다 (jakda) |
| So, you use exactly the same word, 키가 (kiga). |
| 키 (ki) means “height.” |
| 가 (ga), subject-marking particle. |
| 작다 (jakda) means “small.” |
| So, it literally means “height is small,” but in English, it’s “short.” |
| 키가 작다 (kiga jakda) [enunciated] |
| 키가 작다 (kiga jakda) |
| So, these are the opposite words, so please try to remember. |
| And the next word we have is... |
| 날씬하다 (nalssinhada) |
| 날씬하다 (nalssinhada) [enunciated] |
| 날씬하다 (nalssinhada) |
| It means “slim.” |
| What is the opposite word then? |
| It’s “fat,” right? |
| “Fat” in Korean is… |
| 뚱뚱하다 (ttungttunghada) [enunciated] |
| 뚱뚱하다 (ttungttunghada) |
| 뚱뚱하다 (ttungttunghada) |
| 날씬하다 (nalssinhada) and 뚱뚱하다 (ttungttunghada), these are the opposite words. |
| Anda 뚱뚱하다 (ttungttunghada) literally means “fat,” so if you use it directly to people, it might be offending. So, if you really want to say it, I would say different words, which is 통통하다 (tongtonghada). |
| 통통하다 (tongtonghada) |
| It means “chubby.” |
| So, it sounds like it’s cute. |
| So 뚱뚱하다 (ttungttunghada) and 통통하다 (tongtonghada). |
| 통통하다 (tongtonghada), it means “chubby.” |
| But 뚱뚱하다 (ttungttunghada) is pretty used commonly in Korea and it means “fat.” |
| How about this, “young”? |
| “Young” is 어리다 (eorida) [enunciated]. |
| 어리다 (eorida) [enunciated] |
| 어리다 (eorida) |
| 어리다 (eorida) |
| Next word we have is, 예쁘다 (yeppeuda). |
| 예쁘다 (yeppeuda) [enunciated] |
| 예쁘다 (yeppeuda) |
| It means “pretty.” |
| If you watch lots of Korean dramas or K-Pop song, then you probably heard this because it’s really popular word and it’s 예쁘다 (yeppeuda). |
| 예쁘다 (yeppeuda) |
| How about this, “cute”? |
| cute |
| “Cute” in Korean is 귀엽다 (gwiyeopda). |
| 귀엽다 (gwiyeopda) [enunciated] |
| 귀엽다 (gwiyeopda) |
| And to guys, you often say, “Wow, he’s cool!” |
| You can use this word, 멋있다 (meositda) [enunciated]. |
| 멋있다 (meositda) [enunciated] |
| 멋있다 (meositda) |
| This can be used for female too, but more commonly, it’s used for male. |
| How about this, “good-hearted”? |
| 착하다 (chakada) |
| 착하다 (chakada) [enunciated] |
| 착하다 (chakada) |
| It means “good-hearted,” so someone who doesn’t have any bad will to hurt people, so someone who has good heart, someone who is really nice, 착하다 (chakada). |
| How about this, 친절하다 (chinjeolhada) [enunciated]? |
| 친절하다 (chinjeolhada) |
| 친절하다 (chinjeolhada) |
| It means “gentle, kind, nice.” |
| So, what’s the difference between 착하다 (chakada) and 친절하다 (chinjeolhada)? |
| 친절하다 (chinjeolhada) is about your behavior / action. |
| So, if you talk softly like, “Oh, I see, that’s great” or “I’ll help you,” it’s very 친절하다 (chinjeolhada). It’s very gentle, it’s very nice, it’s very kind, 친절하다 (chinjeolhada). |
| Okay. So, if someone is 착하다 (chakada), that person might not be 친절하다 (chinjeolhada). So, the way they speak or the way they treat people, maybe they’re not so kind, but they have a good heart. They don’t hurt people. They actually have a good heart, but maybe they’re shy, so they can’t speak nicely like, “Oh, I can help you” like this. But actually, this person has a good heart, 착하다 (chakada). |
| So, the difference is more like how you behave. |
| So, 친절하다 (chinjeolhada), you can see. |
| 착하다 (chakada), you might not be able to see. |
| So, these are very similar words, though. |
| Okay. So, let’s quickly review. |
| 키가 크다 (kiga keuda) “tall” |
| 키가 작다 (kiga jakda) “short” |
| 날씬하다 (nalssinhada) “slim” |
| 뚱뚱하다 (ttungttunghada) “fat” |
| 통통하다 (tongtonghada) “chubby” |
| 어리다 (eorida) “young” |
| 예쁘다 (yeppeuda) “pretty” |
| 귀엽다 (gwiyeopda) “cute” |
| 멋있다 (meositda) “cool” |
| 착하다 (chakada) “good-hearted” |
| 친절하다 (chinjeolhada) “gentle, kind, or nice” |
| Let’s look at the dialogue. This is a conversation between two friends. When I read the sentences, please find the adjective and see how it’s used. |
| 저기 내 남동생이에요. (Jeogi nae namdongsaeng-ieyo.) |
| 아, 키가 크네요. 아, 키가 크네요 (A, kiga keuneyo.) |
| Listen one more time. |
| 저기 내 남동생이에요. (Jeogi nae namdongsaeng-ieyo.) [enunciated] |
| 저기 내 남동생이에요. (Jeogi nae namdongsaeng-ieyo.) |
| 아, 키가 크네요. 아, 키가 크네요. (A, kiga keuneyo.) [enunciated] |
| 아, 키가 크네요. 아, 키가 크네요. (A, kiga keuneyo.) |
| So, it means… |
| 저기 내 남동생이에요. |
| (Jeogi nae namdongsaeng-ieyo.) |
| “That's my brother there.” |
| But, it’s not just brother, it’s younger brother. |
| “That’s my younger brother there.” |
| And this… |
| 아, 키가 크네요. |
| (A, kiga keuneyo.) |
| “Oh, he's tall.” |
| So, when you look at this: |
| 저기 (jeogi) means “there” |
| 내 남동생이 (nae namdongsaeng) “my younger brother” |
| 이에요 (ieyo) |
| 아 (A) “oh” |
| 키가 크네요 (kiga keuneyo) “he’s tall” |
| So, did you find the adjective in the sentence? |
| Yes, it’s here, 키가 크네요 (kiga keuneyo). |
| 키가 크네요 (kiga keuneyo) “he’s tall” |
| And it literally means, 아 (A) “oh” 키가 크네요 (kiga keuneyo) “height is big.” |
| So, it’s not actually mentioning the subject. It’s not “he” or “she” or “we, they, you,” they’ are not mentioning it. So you have to know what is the subject from the context. So, you see the context and they’re talking about younger brother, so it must be “he.” That’s why I edit it in English, but in Korean, we don’t really always mention the subject, so it can be omitted too. |
| 키가 크네요 (kiga keuneyo) |
| So, what if I want to say, “Oh, he’s young.” “He’s young.” |
| It’s 어리네요 (eolineyo). |
| 어리네요. (Eolineyo.) [enunciated] |
| 어리네요. (Eolineyo.) |
| “She’s slim.” 날씬하네요. (Nalssinhaneyo.) |
| 날씬하네요. (Nalssinhaneyo.) [enunciated] |
| 날씬하네요. (Nalssinhaneyo.) |
| Oh, do you notice this, “he, she”? |
| Yes, as I mentioned, subject is omitted, so it can be “he,” it can be “she,” it can be “they,” it can be “you,” it can be “we.” You know it by looking at the context. |
| So, 어리네요 (eolineyo) means “he’s young” and 날씬하네요 (nalssinhaneyo) means “she’s slim” or “he’s slim.” |
| Have you noticed, there is a sentence pattern that I use in this lesson? |
| Here, 네요 (neyo), 네요 (neyo), hmm, this one also has 네요 (neyo), 네요 (neyo). That’s right! |
| So today, I’ll quickly explain about this sentence ending 네요 (neyo). |
| 네요 (neyo) [enunciated] |
| So, you use [adjective stem] and add 네요 (neyo). |
| 네요 (neyo) [enunciated] |
| [adjective stem] + 네요 (neyo) |
| And it means “He is [adjective].” |
| Again, it can be “he, she, we, I, you, they,” I don’t know. You know it from the context, but it just means “(Someone) is [adjective]” or “(Something) is [adjective].” |
| So, what is the “adjective stem”? |
| What is “adjective stem”? |
| So, let’s look at the vocabulary. |
| When you look at the vocabulary, hmm, do you find anything in common? |
| 키가 크다 (kiga keuda) |
| 작다 (jakda) |
| 날씬하다 (nalssinhada) |
| 뚱뚱하다 (ttungttunghada) |
| 어리다 (eorida) |
| 예쁘다 (yeppeuda) |
| 귀엽다 (gwiyeopda) |
| 멋있다 (meositda) |
| 다 (da) |
| 다 (da) |
| Yes! All the Korean verbs and adjectives in the dictionary end with 다 (da). |
| So when you look at some words in Korean dictionary, you will notice, oh, all the adjectives and verbs end with 다 (da), 다 (da), like this. Remove 다 (da) at the end, then that’s the verb stem or adjective stem. |
| Okay. So, let’s see… |
| 키가 크다 (kiga keuda) |
| Okay, K-Jin said, remove this. |
| 키가 크 (kiga keu) |
| 키가 크 (kiga keu) |
| If you remove 다 (da), you only have 키가 크 (kiga keu), yes. |
| 키가 크 (kiga keu) + 네요 (neyo), how do you say it? |
| 키가 크네요 (kiga keuneyo) |
| 키가 크네요 (kiga keuneyo) [enunciated] |
| Put 네요 (neyo) |
| 키가 크네요 (kiga keuneyo) |
| How about this, 키가 작네요 (kiga jagneyo)? |
| Have you noticed how? |
| 키가 작 (kiga jag) + 네요 (neyo) |
| Although, what’s the meaning, what is 네요 (neyo)? |
| 네요 (neyo) is a sentence ending that has nuance. You realize something. You saw something and you realized something and you share your feelings with others. If you use just regular present tense, 키가 크 (kiga keu), you are just telling the fact like “He’s tall,” which is a fact. But, if you use this 네요 (neyo) ending, that give some nuance, like, “Oh! I just realized he’s tall” or “I just felt he’s tall!” |
| So, when you use a conversation, when you have a conversation with other people, you often use this 네요 (neyo) because you share your feeling and instead of giving the fact, when you express your feeling, the person also agrees, and then it gives more natural feeling to the conversation. So this, again, 네요 (neyo), is a sentence ending when you express your feeling, when you realize something and share it with others. |
| 키가 크네요. (Kiga keuneyo.) |
| Because this person introduced the brother, right? |
| “Oh, that’s my younger brother” and you saw him and, “Oh, he’s tall.” You realized, you saw, you felt, “Oh, he’s tall,” and then you share your feeling. |
| 키가 크네요. (Kiga keuneyo.) |
| How about this? |
| You saw his brother and he’s very slim. |
| Oh, 날씬하네요 (nalssinhaneyo). |
| Again, why it’s 날씬하 (nalssinha)? |
| Because I removed 다 (da) at the end and just put 네요 (neyo). |
| 날씬하네요 (nalssinhaneyo) |
| How about this? |
| 뚱뚱하네요 (ttungttunghaneyo) |
| 어리네요 (eorineyo) |
| 예쁘네요 (yeppeuneyo) |
| So when you see the K-Pop idol, and you say, “Wow, she’s so beautiful!” you just feel it, and you want to share, oh, then you can say, 아, 예쁘네요 (A, yeppeuneyo.) |
| 예쁘네요 (yeppeuneyo) |
| If you just say, 예쁘 (yeppeu), 예쁘 (yeppeu), it means exactly same in the English translation, but the nuance is different. |
| 예쁘 (yeppeu) means “she’s pretty,” it’s a fact. |
| 예쁘네요 (yeppeuneyo) means you felt and sharing it, “Oh, she’s pretty!” |
| What if she’s cute? |
| You can say 귀엽네요 (gwiyeopneyo). |
| 귀엽 (gwiyeop), remove 다 (da), and put 네요 (neyo). |
| 귀엽네요 (gwiyeopneyo) |
| How about this? |
| “He’s cool.” “She’s cool.” |
| 멋있네요 (meositneyo) |
| How about this? |
| 착하네요 (chakaneyo) |
| 친절하네요 (chinjeolhaneyo) |
| So, if you use 네요 (neyo), you can give a little bit of nuance and it goes very well with adjective, because adjective usually describe something and when you see something, you realize something, you felt something, and you can share your feeling with others. |
| Here’s a cultural tip. |
| Don't be surprised or offended if your Korean friends or colleagues talk about your appearance. If they feel intimate with you, they will tell you what they think honestly. Also, they often, Korean people use positive adjectives like “cute,” “cool,” “pretty” as compliments to build a good relationship with you. |
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