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Tricky Pronunciations of the Consonant ㄹ (Rieul)

Cover of Korean: A Comprehensive Grammar (Routledge Comprehensive Grammars)

In Korean, the pronunciation of ㄹ and consonants preceding or following it, such as ㄱ (기억, giyeok), ㅂ (비읍, bieup) or ㅁ, differs from the 한글 reading. Because of rules of assimilation of ㄹ to ㄴ after nasal consonants, the pronunciation of ㄱ, ㄹ, and ㅂ needs to be accounted for these changes. This post lists some of these uncommon pronunciation transformations; comprehensive pronunciation rules can be found in Korean: A Comprehensive Grammar by Jaehoon Yeon and Lucien Brown (Routledge Edition).

Pattern V/Adj-은/는 척하다: To Pretend To V/A

Verb/Adjective (V/A)-은/는 척하다 is commonly used in spoken and written Korean to express "to pretend to (V/Adj)." It can also be translated at "to make it look like (V/Adj)" in more complex sentences (see examples below).

The pattern is written differently depending on whether the word in front of the pattern is a verb or an adjective:

For verbs, present tense: V-는 척하다 regardless of the 받침 of the verb, using common conjugation rules. E.g., 모르다 → 모르는 척하다, 놀다 → 노는 척하다, 읽다 → 읽는 척하다, 넣다→ 넣는 척하다.
For verbs, past tense: V-ㄴ/은 척하다. E.g., 모르다 → 모른 척하다, 놀다 → 논 척하다, 읽다 → 읽은 척하다, 넣다 → 넣은 척하다. See Note 3 for a usage note.
For adjectives: A-ㄴ/은 척하다. E.g., 똑똑하다 → 똑똑한 척하다, 이쁘다 → 이쁜 척하다.

Examples

Verbs

(모르다) 저는 전 여자친구를 모르는 척했어요. I pretended I didn't know my ex-girlfriend.

(놀다) 저는 친구들에게 어젯밤 노는 척(을) 했지만 시험 공부를 열심히 했어요. I pretended to my friends I was having fun last night but I was studying hard for my exam.

(읽다) 그는 핸드폰을 쓰고 있었지만 책을 읽는 척했어요. He was using his phone but made it look like (=pretended) he was reading a book.Contrast with 그는 핸드폰을 썼지만 책을 읽은 척했어요. He used his phone but pretended he read a book.

(넣다) 엄마가 볶음밥에 야채를 안 넣는 척했지만 양파를 많이 넣었어요. The mom pretended she did not put any vegetables in the fried rice but she put a lot of onions. Contrast with 엄마가 볶음밥에 야채를 안 넣는 것처럼 했지만 양파를 많이 넣었어요. The mom made it look like she did not put any vegetables in the fried rice but she put a lot of onions. The first sentence has a more negative connotation than the second one.

Adjectives

(똑똑하다) 나는 시험을 보기 전에 똑똑한 척했는데 시험이 완전 망했어 (반말). I pretended I was smart before taking the exam but I completely failed it.

(이쁘다) 그녀는 매일 가면을 써서 이쁜 척해요. That girl wears a mask every day but pretends she is pretty.

Example Dialogue

빅터: 준형아, 잘 생긴 척하지마! 너 정말 못생겼어!

Most Common Korean Words Pronounced Wrong Part. 3

This is Part. 3 of the series Most Common Korean Words Pronounced Wrong (read Part. 1 (words 1-1000) and Part. 2 (words 1001-1500).

Cover of the book A Frequency Dictionary of Korean

Pronouncing Korean can be difficult given the many exceptions to basic pronunciation rules. In many cases, words seemingly simple have a different pronunciation from their 한글 spelling. Below are listed the most common words that have a different pronunciation from their spelling. These common words were selected among words 1501-2000 from the book A Frequency Dictionary of Korean. This list will be updated with relevant pronunciation guides on KoniKorean when available.

Most Common Korean Words Pronounced Wrong Part. 2

This is Part. 2 of the series Most Common Korean Words Pronounced Wrong. Read Part. 1 (words 1-1000) and Part. 3 (words 1501-2000).

Pronouncing Korean can be difficult given the many exceptions to basic pronunciation rules. In many cases, words seemingly simple have a different pronunciation from their 한글 spelling. Below are listed the most common words that have a different pronunciation from their spelling. These common words were selected among words 1001-1500 from the book A Frequency Dictionary of Korean. This list will be updated with relevant pronunciation guides on KoniKorean when available.

Pronouncing Korean can be difficult given the many exceptions to basic pronunciation rules. In many cases, words seemingly simple have a different pronunciation from their 한글 spelling. Below are listed the most common words that have a different pronunciation from their spelling. These common words were selected among the first 1000 words from the book A Frequency Dictionary of Korean. This list will be updated with relevant pronunciation guides on KoniKorean when available.

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).

Public Transportation in Korea (Vocabulary)

Public transportation is omnipresent in Korea and is faster than driving in most cases. This post gives you an overview of public transportation-related vocabulary that you may encounter and use in South Korea.

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.