Learn the ㄹ Irregulars
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| Hi everyone, welcome back to weekly Korean live class and my name is K-Jin. |
| So today, we are going to talk about Korean ㄹ(rieul) irregular. |
| This is actually one of the hardest part of learning Korean because it's an exception. ㄹ(rieul) irregular. |
| So what are irregular, right? Here are some examples. My favorite verb. 놀다(nolda) meaning "to play" or "to hang out" or "to have fun." 놀다(nolda). |
| How about this? 알다(alda), 알다(alda), it can be "to know" or "to understand". I know it, I know you. 알다(alda). |
| How about 울다(ulda)? 울다(ulda), "to cry." 울다(ulda), 울다(ulda). |
| Do you see something common here? 열다(yeolda). These are the examples. 열다(yeolda) meaning "to open." You open the door, open the door, right? |
| So these are the ㄹ(rieul) irregulars. So any Korean verb or adjective that has ㄹ(rieul) in their verb stem or adjective stem. Let me show it to you. So what are the stem, first? All the Korean verb or adjective end with 다(da), 다(da), 다(da). See? Here is 다(da), 다(da), 다(da), 다(da). Remove 다(da), remove 다(da). Then you only have this part, left part, right? This is the verb stem. So stem, stem of verb or adjective is this part. All the Korean verb or Korean adjective end with 다(da) and without 다(da), without 다(da), this is the verb stem. |
| So let's see the verb stem. Do you see this? It ended with ㄹ(rieul). Not only this, it ended with ㄹ(rieul). |
| These and these too. Any Korean verb or adjective that ends with ㄹ(rieul) in their stem is Korean ㄹ(rieul) irregular. So please remember that if a stem of a verb or adjective end with ㄹ(rieul), it's always ㄹ(rieul) irregular, ㄹ(rieul) irregular. So these are irregulars. |
| So since you know what kind of verb or what kind of adjective are ㄹ(rieul) irregulars, now let's see some rules. Rule number one, when ㄹ(rieul) irregular is followed by ending that starts with ㄴ, ㅂ, ㅅ, remove ㄹ(rieul) from the stem. So it sounds very difficult at the beginning, right? So let's look at the rule number one. |
| So it seems difficult. Don't worry. So I prepared some examples for you. For example, I have ㄹ(rieul) irregular. Let's see. 열다(yeolda). Why is it irregular? Again, this word, this is the verb stem, right? ithout 다, this is the stem and 열(yeol), there is ㄹ(rieul), right? If there, it’s ending with ㄹ(rieul), it's always irregular. |
| OK, so 열다(yeolda). I want to conjugate 열다(yeolda) plus… How about this? We learned 는데(neunde). If you don't know what is 는데(neunde), check out my previous lesson, but 는데(neunde) is more like "but" and the 열다(yeolda) means to open. So I opened the door, but there was something. Or when I open the door, I open the door, but my brother surprise me. So you say "I open, but" you can say that in English, right? |
| Okay, so let's conjugate it. First, I need to get the verb stem. What is a verb stem? It's 열(yeol), 열(yeol). Because verb without 다(da) is the verb stem. So I got the verb stem here. 열(yeol). And then just put 는데(neunde) here. 는데(neunde), 는데(neunde). So is that all? Actually, no. If it's a regular verb, it's like 가다(gada), 먹다(meokda), 가다(gada) means to go. Or 먹다(meokda), 먹다(meokda) means to eat. Then this rule applies like that. But again, this is ㄹ(rieul), ㄹ(rieul) irregular, ㄹ(rieul) irregular. So what should I do? Remove ㄹ(rieul) here. So the answer is 여는데(yeoneunde), 여는데(yeoneunde). I see the great awesome job. It's 여는데(yeoneunde), 여는데(yeoneunde). |
| Why? Do you see this? Do you see this 는(neun)? It starts with ㄴ, right? Right? It starts with ㄴ(nieun), so if the ending this is the ending, right? if the ending that starts with ㄴ(nieun) or if it starts with ㅂ(bieup) or even ㅅ(shiot), and if this ending meets this ㄹ(rieul) irregular, Wooo, then the ㄹ(rieul) is gone! This is the rule. |
| This is actually one of the difficult parts of the Korean language. So if you understand this today, other grammar lessons will be much easier. But if you don't understand, please don't worry. |
| This is actually not for beginners. This is for intermediate learners. So please don't worry. But if you know what, if you see what we are doing today, you know what you are going to learn in the future, so that's great! |
| How about 네요(neyo). Let's use the same verb. 열다(yeolda), 열다(yeolda), + 네요(neyo). 네요(neyo) is just an ending that shares your feeling. So if you just say 열어요(yeoreoyo), it means you just open without any nuance. But 네요(neyo) means you saw something and you felt, like, Oh the weather is great today!, 날씨가 좋네요(nalssiga jonneyo). So you felt something and then you share your feeling. The weather is great. Or oh, I don't know why but my brother is opening some box. My box, box. My parcel box. My parcel box is mine but somehow my brother is opening it. So 여(yeo), oops, I was about to say the answer. So when you share your feeling. So if you don't use this one, just say 아(a), 어(eo), 여요(yeoyo) form, that's just fact. It just has no nuance. But this one, you kind of feeling. The weather is great. Oh, your scarf looks really pretty. Or, wow, I like your bag. Your bag is pretty. So when you share your feeling, it's 네요(neyo), but I will share more about this in the future. But let's focus on the conjugation. |
| So it's supposed to be just verb stem + 네요(neyo). It's supposed to be 열네요(yeolneyo). But unfortunately if the stem is ending with ㄹ(rieul), that's an irregular, so you have to remove ㄹ(rieul) like this. 여네요(yeoneyo). My brother is opening my box. 제 박스를 여네요(je bakseureul yeoneyo). 여네요(yeoneyo), so, It just means open. He opens. Yes, remove ㄹ(rieul), remove ㄹ(rieul). This is rule number one. |
| So here are some examples of ending that start with ㄴ(nieun), ㅂ(bieup), or ㅅ(shiot). I'm not going to cover all of these, but just look at this and please remember when you conjugate with any verb or adjective that's, who’s stem end with ㄹ(rieul), and it means this kind of ending, then you have to remember this irregular rule and then remove ㄹ(rieul) from the stem. |
| It's not only applied for verb but it also applied for adjective too. So for example, 길다(gilda), 길다(gilda) means “long”, “long”. I have long skirt, long skirt. So I can say 기네요(gineyo). It's not 길네요(gilneyo). It's 기네요(gineyo). I remove ㄹ(rieul). |
| Okay, let's look at number two. Rule number two. When ㄹ(rieul) irregular is followed by endings that start with ㄹ(rieul) or 을(eul), remove ㄹ(rieul) from the ending. So let me show you the examples of the ending too. How about this? -ㄹ/을 거예요(-rieul/eul geoyeyo). It means “I will”, “I'm going to”, it’s future tense. 을 것 같아요(eul geot gatayo), this is what we learned quite recently, right? 을 것 같아요(eul geot gatayo) means “it seems”, “I think”, “probably”. 을 수 있어요(eul su isseoyo) means “can do”, “I can do it”, “I'm able to”. 을 때(eul ttae), “when I do”. |
| By the way, I put the subject as "I", But in Korean, it can be "he" or "she", “they", "we", "you". |
| Because in Korean language, we often omit the subject. So when I see this, I don't know if it can be "I" or "you", but in English, you always need "subject" in the sentence. That's why I put "I" as an example. |
| Okay! So let's look at another example. I'm going to use the same verb because, well, then it's easier for you to understand. How about 열다(yeolda), “to open” again? This time I'm going to conjugate with...How about this? When I open the door. ㄹ/을 때(rieul/eul ttae). Usually I have to choose one of these. ㄹ(rieul) or 을(eul). I have to choose one of these. If the verb or adjective, end with vowel, which one do you think it goes? And consonant, which one do you think it goes? For example, 가다(gada). If it's 가다(gada), 가다(gada), 가다(gada), the verb stem end with vowel. So we use this. And 먹다(meokda), 얌냠냠 먹다(yamnyamnyam meokda), it end with consonant, we use ㄹ(rieul). |
| So since 열다(yeolda), 열다(yeolda), 열(yeol). It ended with "Constant L" kind of English L, but it's not actually, but I'm just giving you as a romanization for beginners. So if you ended with constant, I was supposed to use 열을 때(yeoreul ttae), 열을 때(yeoreul ttae), 열을 때(yeoreul ttae). But actually, no. If it end with ㄹ(rieul), in their verb or adjective stem, we just remove this and just plus this, just like 열(yeol) and plus 때(ttae). 열 때(yeol ttae), 열 때(yeol ttae), when I open the door. 열 때(yeol ttae), 열 때(yeol ttae). So when ㄹ(rieul) irregular is followed by ending, that start with ㄹ(rieul) or 을(eul), then remove ㄹ(rieul) or 을(eul) from the ending. |
| So not only this 때(ttae), if you use all of this, all of this, or there are actually even more, I cannot put all the conjugations that start with ㄹ(rieul) or 을(eul), so I only choose 4 of these, but there are so many of them. So if you see ㄹ(rieul) or 을(eul), always remove, remove and just conjugate it. So it's simpler. We can remove ㄹ(rieul). |
| The reason is simple as a Korean, because it's easier to pronounce. There is already ㄹ(rieul) in the stem. So we don't have to put another ㄹ(rieul) here. That's why we just say it. We just say it. So don't worry. If you get used to this, you will say it naturally. Because it's seriously easier to pronounce. But at the beginning, unfortunately, you have to remember the rules. |
| Rule number three. When ㄹ(rieul) irregular is followed by ending that starts with 으(eu), oh, remove 으(eu) from the ending. What are the examples? 으면(eumyeon) means “if”, “if”. Or (으)러 오다((eu)reo oda) or (으)러 가다((eu)reo gada) means “I come for something”, “I come home to do my homework” or “I go to school to study”. So you go for some purpose. So (으)러 오/가다((eu)reo o/gada). |
| (으)려고((eu)ryeogo) means “in order to”, “in order to”. |
| 으세요(euseyo), this is what we learned quite recently too, and this is honorific ending, right? Honorific. So when you be very polite to other people's actions, then we use this. |
| 열다(yeolda), I have 열다(yeolda) again, meaning “to open” plus let's use this grammar. If. 으면(eumyeon). So while there is 으(eu), actually it, the verb stem end with a vowel, then we use 면(myeon) only. For example, 가면(gamyeon). “If I go”, 가면(gamyeon). “If I go” is 가면(gamyeon), 가면(gamyeon), 가면(gamyeon). |
| Or 먹으면(meogeumyeon), 먹다(meokda), 먹다(meokda) is “to eat”, and “if I eat” is 먹으면(meogeumyeon). So if the 먹(meok), 먹(meok), the stem end with concern that we use 으면(eumyeon). So usually there is this kind of complicated rule. So if you follow this rule, 열(yeol), 열(yeol), it ended with consonant. So I have to say 열으면(yeoreumyeon), right? So that's the natural thinking. But actually this is irregular. So don't follow any rule here because it's irregular. It's an exception. |
| So what happens then? Then just say, 열(yeol) and remove 으(eu) from the ending, remove 으(eu) from the ending and just put 면(myeon) here. So “when I open this”, 열면(yeolmyeon). It’s not 열으면(yeoreumyeon), it's 열면(yeolmyeon). When I open the door, Chimchim always welcome me. When I open the door, 문을 열면 침침이가 항상 반겨줘요(Muneul yeolmyeon chimchimiga hangsang bangyeojwoyo). |
| So yes, this seems difficult and it is difficult. I understand and my students always say this because you have to memorize the rule, right? But again, for intermediate learners, unfortunately, you have to learn this. And upper beginner too, this is one of the most important part of the Korean grammar. And if you say, 열으면(yereumyeon), well, in the context, Korean people will understand, but 열면(yeolmyeon) is the correct word, correct word. 열면(yeolmyeon). |
| Korean people made all of these rules to make the pronunciation easy. Ta-da, like this. Ta-da, like this. Ta-da, like this. So this is only for the pronunciation. So if you keep learning Korean, you will understand. But at the beginning, you have to memorize it. So I'm sorry, that's the only way. |
| I have a question for you. So when Korean people think, speak, do we think about all these grammar rules? Like I'm going to say, for example, like this. For example, I want to say, "Oh, I will open the door. I will open the door." Okay, so, mmm, so I'm going to say “I'll open the door”, the original form is 열다(yeolda), 열다(yeolda) Okay, and then I'm going to put this ㄹ 거예요(rieul geoyeyo). Oh Before that the verb stem and with ㄹ(rieul), so I have to adjust this rule. I have to apply this rule. Okay, so I remove ㄹ(rieul) or 을(eul) and I just put 거예요(geoyeyo). And again, I have to remove 다 here, 열 거예요(yeol geoyeyo). Do Korean people always think like that? Actually no. Just like English, you don't think too much when you speak, right? |
| So how can you do that like Korean people? Unfortunately there's only one way, one way, one way, one way. You have to just get familiar with this word. So if you say 열 거예요(yeol geoyeyo). 열 거예요(yeol geoyeyo), "I'll open the door." "I'll open the door." 열 거예요(yeol geoyeyo). If you say this many, many times and when you know that you want to say "I will open, I'm going to open" then you naturally comes out. |
| You just think the verb first and then you just know the conjugation, this ending next. Then you naturally conjugate it, because your mouth will say it immediately. So, at the beginning you have to memorize all these rules, all these rules. But if you try to conjugate it with many different verbs and when you try to pronounce many different times, you will naturally say that. And if you make a mistake like, 열을 거예요(yeoreul geoyeyo), you will naturally notice. "This doesn't sound natural." "Alright, I always say 열 거예요(yeol geoyeyo), 열 거예요(yeol geoyeyo)" So it should be 열 거예요(yeol geoyeyo). |
| So unfortunately, please, please keep pronouncing these words so your ears can be trained to. |
| So even though when you make a mistake, your ear will recognize it. "Oh, this doesn't sound natural." "Ah, right, it's 열 거예요(yeol geoyeyo)." So yes, please keep it up, everyone. You guys are doing really, really great. English is also difficult, too, right? For example, child, ah let think of book, books. You just need to put S to make the plural, but child is not childs, right? Children, you just have to memorize it. But you don't think about the rule anymore, right? It's just an exception and you naturally say it, because you are very familiar with the word “children”. |
| So it's same for these Korean words, so please make yourself pronounce the word all the time. |
| So thank you, bye-bye! |
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