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Adjectives
A Korean adjective is a verb. 예쁘다 means "to be pretty", 크다 "to be big", and they conjugate with the same endings as any verb: 예뻐요, 예뻤어요, 예쁠 거예요. No copula stands in front of them; the grammar books call them descriptive verbs.
As the predicate: conjugate it
| dictionary | polite present | past | formal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 크다 be big | 커요 | 컸어요 | 큽니다 |
| 좋다 be good | 좋아요 | 좋았어요 | 좋습니다 |
| 맛있다 be tasty | 맛있어요 | 맛있었어요 | 맛있습니다 |
| 바쁘다 be busy | 바빠요 | 바빴어요 | 바쁩니다 |
| 조용하다 be quiet | 조용해요 | 조용했어요 | 조용합니다 |
날씨가 좋아요. — "The weather is good." 이거 비싸요. — "This is expensive."
Before a noun: -ㄴ/은
To modify a noun the adjective takes the attributive ending and goes in front:
| dictionary | attributive | example |
|---|---|---|
| 크다 | 큰 | 큰 집 — a big house |
| 좋다 | 좋은 | 좋은 사람 — a good person |
| 맛있다 | 맛있는 | 맛있는 음식 — tasty food (있다/없다 take -는) |
| 예쁘다 | 예쁜 | 예쁜 꽃 — a pretty flower |
-ㄴ after a vowel stem, -은 after a consonant stem. The same ending on an ordinary verb makes a relative clause: 어제 산 책 "the book I bought yesterday".
Degree
| word | position | force |
|---|---|---|
| 아주 / 매우 | before | very (매우 is more written) |
| 너무 | before | too, so — and in speech simply "very": 너무 좋아요 |
| 정말 / 진짜 | before | really (진짜 is casual) |
| 꽤 | before | quite |
| 좀 / 조금 | before | a bit |
| 별로 + negative | before | not very: 별로 안 좋아요 |
Comparison
| pattern | example | |
|---|---|---|
| comparative | X보다 (더) adj | 서울이 부산보다 커요. — "Seoul is bigger than Busan." |
| superlative | 가장 / 제일 adj | 제일 큰 도시 — "the biggest city" |
| equality | X만큼 adj, X처럼 | 형만큼 커요. — "as tall as my brother" |
| less | 덜 adj | 덜 비싸요 — "less expensive" |
보다 attaches to the standard, and the comparative word 더 "more" is optional — 보다 alone already means "than".
Adjectives as adverbs: -게
빠르다 fast → 빠르게 quickly · 조용하다 quiet → 조용하게 quietly · 크다 big → 크게 loudly, big
Some common adverbs are their own words: 잘 well, 빨리 fast, 많이 a lot, 천천히 slowly.
하다 adjectives
Many Sino-Korean and loan adjectives are noun + 하다: 조용하다, 피곤하다 tired, 행복하다 happy, 심플하다 simple. They conjugate as 하다 does: 피곤해요, 피곤한 사람.
If you speak Vietnamese
Same category — Vietnamese adjectives are verbs too and take no copula — and the opposite position: nhà to "house big" is 큰 집 "big house". 보다 is hơn placed after the standard instead of after the adjective; 제일 is nhất.
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