Pattern V-고 싶다 To want to V, Would Like to V
Verb (V)-고 싶다, conjugated as V-고 싶어(요), means "to want to V" and is a common pattern in Korean as it is in English. Replace V in V-고 싶다 with an action (processive) verb by taking its dictionary form and replacing '다' with '고'.
The pattern V-고 싶다:
- can only be used with action (processive) verbs, such as 가다, 먹다, or 자다; it cannot be used with adjectives (descriptive verbs) such as 춥다, 필요하다, or 예쁘다.
- can only be used when the subject is yourself, or when you are directly asking a question to somebody else; for any other case, use V-고 싶어하다.
- cannot be used with Noun (N)-이다; use N이/가 되다 instead ("I want to become N").
- can be combined with past and future markers. These markers go after 싶다 and not after V; for example, "하고 싶었어요" (O) & "하고 싶을거예요" (O), and not "했고 싶어요" (X) & "할고 싶어요" (X) or "했고 싶었어요" (X) & "할고 싶을거예요" (X). Like in English, using the pattern V-고 싶다 in the future tense is not common (e.g., "I will want to see you; 내가 널 보고 싶을거야").
- cannot be used with 못 (as in 못하다 cannot do).
When using honorifics with V-고 싶다:
List of Korean Honorific Verbs
The Korean language has a finite list of verbs and nouns that are used to refer to older or revered/esteemed people. These verbs and nouns are qualified as honorific, and must absolutely be used when talking to strangers and older people you know. The honorific verbs to be used when you speak to/talk about somebody esteemed are listed below. Do not use them to talk about your own actions/status. Make sure to check out the appropriate honorific nouns to use conjointly with these verbs (list forthcoming).
Ahjussi Taste: Best Traditional Korean Foods (아저씨 입맛)
Review of Chinese Characters Cognates - 808 Common Hanja
This book by Joon Geem lists the 808 most common 한자 Chinese characters in Mandarin (hanzi), Japanese (kanji), and Korean (한자) in a compelling format. This book is particularly recommended to language learners or both Japanese and Korean or Chinese and Korean. For each of the 808 most common Chinese characters across China, Korean, and Taiwan; the author lists the corresponding simplified Chinese character, the Japanese kanji, and the Korean hanja (한자). The author also provides three vocabulary words using the corresponding Chinese character for each language, allowing comparisons between Chinese and Korean for example.
Trains in South Korea
Trains are probably the fastest and most comfortable means of transportation in South Korea. Most of the time they are faster than buses are they cannot get stuck in traffic, and they are also faster than planes in that train stations are usually in downtown areas rather than in suburbs. There are also plenty of train options for traveling within a city or a metropolitan area, such as subways and suburban trains. For tourists however riding trains in South Korea can be overwhelming given the number of train services available, the different operators, and the different booking processes. This post summarizes all you need to know to book and ride trains in South Korea.
Intercity Train Services
There are several types of intercity train service in Korea. From fastest to slowest (and most expensive to cheapest): KTX & SRT, ITX & 새마을, 누리로 & 무궁화. Most services (except the SRT) are run by Korail (코레일), a public company.
The different train services run by Korail (all but SRT) and SR (SRT) (adapted from https://flytoazuresky.tistory.com/602?category=669623)
Public Transportation in Korea (Vocabulary)
Buses in South Korea
There are two major categories of buses in South Korea: 시내버스 (市內버스) or intra-city buses, and 시외버스 (市外버스) or intercity buses. 시내버스 include 마을버스, 지선버스, and some 간선버스 lines, while 시외버스 include some 간선버스 lines, 광역버스, and 고속버스.
마을버스 are neighborhood buses (literally "village buses") that stop every few blocks in both residential and commercial areas. In Seoul, many of these buses run in a loop, with one or two stops connecting to subway stations. Their routes are the shortest among city buses. Walking is sometimes faster than taking a 마을버스, especially during rush hours, as these buses rarely take bus lanes. In Seoul, these buses are green and shorter than regular buses.
Pattern V-더니 Past Observation of the Speaker
V-더니 is used to describe an observation of the speaker about people or things, or a change that came to be known through personal experience, and always precedes a statement resulting from that observation. A good example in English/Korean of how this pattern would be used: "my friend used to eat a lot of ice cream before더니 these days he even hates the sight of ice cream." V-더니 can therefore only be used in the middle of a sentence and can never end a sentence.
Hanja 火 (화) - Fire, Anger
한자 (pronounced [한짜]) are the Chinese characters behind many Korean words used in modern Korean. Being aware of them helps with guessing word meanings and retention of new vocabulary.
火 (화) as a character has two main English meanings, fire and anger, and is used in many words related to these concepts. When 火 is used by itself as a word, it almost always means anger. 火 as a radical that appears in many other 한자, such as 炎 (염, flame) or 災 (재, disaster). Below are some common words including the character 火.
Differences between -던 and -았/었던 (retrospective modifiers)
The retrospective modifier V/Adj-던 (e.g., 하던) and its past version V/Adj-았/었던 (했던) are both used to describe processes, states, or situations that happened/took place in the past. In a lot of cases, V/Adj-던 and V/Adj-았/었던 are very similar. The subtle differences manifest if the speaker chooses intentionally between one or the other.
V/Adj-던 describes a situation that was not finished in the past and interrupted before completion; or an action that was repeated continuously in the past or was done just once but may happen again.