介绍:
Now, everyone, it’s time to start looking at more ways to make compound sentences in Korean.
Of course there are many different ways to make compound nouns depending on what you
want to say, but in this lesson, we are looking at how to use the verb ending -고 [-go].
-고 [-go]
What does -고 do? Do you remember the conjunction, 그리고 [geu-ri-go]? Yes, 그리고 means
“and” or “and then” in Korean, and when you use -고 after a verb stem, it has the same meaning
as 그리고. By using the verb ending -고 instead of ending the sentence with just one verb
and then starting the next one with 그리고, you can save a lot of time and make the logic in
your sentence more clear.
이 책은 재미있어요. 그리고 이 책은 싸요.
[i chae-geun jae-mi-i-sseo-yo. geu-ri-go i chae-geun ssa-yo.]
= This book is interesting. And this book is cheap.
But since you are talking about the same subject in the second sentence, you can just omit “이
책은”.
▶ 이 책은 재미있어요. 그리고 싸요.
= This book is interesting. And (it’s) cheap.
But you can make it even shorter and combine the two sentences together by saying:
▶ 이 책은 재미있고 싸요.
[i chae-geun jae-mi-it-go ssa-yo.]= This book is interesting and cheap.
Construction:
Verb stem + -고 + another verb
Ex) 이 책은 재미있고, 싸고, 좋아요.
[i chae-geun jae-mi-it-go, ssa-go, jo-a-yo.]
= This book is interesting, cheap and good.
Attention:
When you make a compound sentence in English using the conjunction “and” to connects two
smaller sentences, you need to make the tenses of the verbs agree. However, in Korean, that’s
not absolutely necessary and sometimes it sounds even unnatural to try to use the same tenses
for every verb, especially the future tense and the past tense. Most native Korean speakers
usually just use the past tense or the future tense in only one last verb.
Past tense example:
어제 친구를 만났어요.
[eo-je chin-gu-reul man-na-sseo-yo.]
= I met a friend yesterday.
그리고 영화를 봤어요.
[geu-ri-go yeong-hwa-reul bwa-sseo-yo.]
= And I saw a movie.
Let’s put the two sentences above together.어제 친구를 만났어요. 그리고 영화를 만났어요.
▶ 어제 친구를 만났고, 영화를 봤어요.
[eo-je chin-gu-reul man-nat-go, yeong-hwa-reul bwa-sseo-yo.]
= I met a friend yesterday and saw a movie.
But you can also say 어제 친구를 만나고, 영화를 봤어요. with the part “만나고” in the present
tense.
Future tense example:
내일 영화를 볼 거예요.
[nae-il yeong-hwa-reul bol geo-ye-yo.]
= I will watch a movie tomorrow.
서점에 갈 거예요.
[seo-jeo-me gal geo-ye-yo.]
= I will go to a bookstore.
Let’s put them together.
내일 영화를 볼 거예요. 그리고 서점에 갈 거예요.
▶ 내일 영화를 볼 거고, 서점에 갈 거예요.
[nae-il yeong-hwa-reul bol geo-go, seo-jeo-me gal geo-ye-yo.]
= I will watch a movie, and go to a bookstore.Remember?
Do you remember that 그리고 (or in this case, -고) has the meaning of “and after that” or “and
then”? Therefore, making compound sentences using -고 is a good way of talking about things
that happened or will happen in a sequence.
Sample sentences
1. 내일은 친구 만나고, 서점에 갈 거예요.
[nae-i-reun chin-gu man-na-go, seo-jeo-me gal geo-ye-yo.]
= As for tomorrow, I’m going to meet a friend and go to a bookstore.
2. 책 읽고, 공부하고, 운동했어요.
[chaek il-go, gong-bu-ha-go, un-dong-hae-sseo-yo.]
= I read a book, studied, and did some exercise.
3. 9월에는 한국에 가고, 10월에는 일본에 갈 거예요.
[gu-wo-re-neun han-gu-ge ga-go, si-wo-re-neun il-bo-ne gal geo-ye-yo.]
= In September I will go to Korea, and in October I will go to Japan.
4. 커피 마시고, 도너츠 먹고, 케익 먹고, 우유 마셨어요. 배 불러요.
[keo-pi ma-si-go, do-neo-cheu meok-go, ke-ik meok-go, u-yu ma-syeo-sseo-yo. bae bul-leo-yo.]
= I drank some coffee, ate a donut, ate some cake, and drank some milk. I’m full.
