Sentence Structures 2

So, we know sentence structures aren’t very important in Korean language. However, learning about sentence structures is still very useful. Perhaps you are thinking like ‘hey, Jun you said those aren’t important but why do you want me to learn it now?’. Well… I’m sorry 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂.

Basic Structures in Korean Language

Even though sentence structures or word positioning aren’t important in Korean language, it really doesn’t mean we, native Koreans, always break the sentence structures. Just think about it. If Koreans spoke in all different ways without any standard, we all would look like a bunch of idiots 😂

So, the most natural and common sentence structure in the Korean language is like this. A subject comes first, an object follows and a verb is always placed at the end and finishes the sentence: S + O + V. You must remember that verbs with a sentence-closing ending finish sentences! It never changes no matter what.

Second Reason : Formal

But why do we have to learn the most basic sentence structures if we can put any word in any position? Think about English, probably you also break the English grammar sometimes like ‘you doing ok?’. However, you don’t do that in very formal situations like ‘ya mmK? sir?’. The Korean language is the same. We break sentence structures often. But as formal as we are, the Korean language tends to stick with the most basic ones.

S + V / S + C Structure in Korean Language

S + V structure is a sentence structure without an object like ‘I’m working’, ‘I’m not sleeping’, ‘I’m dying’. Korean sentence S + V structure is exactly the same as English’s S + V sentence structure. A subject comes first and then a verb follows. SO EASY! It seems like you don’t need any further explanation for this, right?

Yes you actually need lol 😂. Korean adjectives don’t need the verb ‘be’. So, it works like verbs. For example, ‘I smart’, ‘I pretty’, and ‘this good’.

Quiz Time!

Let’s play a quiz for fun and warming up your brain! I’ll give you 2 sentences this time. Guess which sentence is most correct and natural for ‘I gave Jun a book’. Here are Korean words that I’m going to use!

1. 저는 준한테 책을 줬어요
2. 저는 책을 준한테 줬어요

Which sentence did you pick? A or B? It’s much easier to guess than before because now you have only 2 options!

Indirect object in Korean Language 1

If you answered A, Well done! you answered correctly! The Korean language puts an indirect object first before a direct object.

The Korean language uses the indirect object marker 한테 / 에게 to make indirect object. Remember, the important thing is the markers, not the position of words or sentence patterns. So… why don’t you read the next part? 😂 You feel something is odd right?

Indirect object in Korean Language 2

Did you answer B? lol well done! you answered correctly too 😂😂😂. Yes, it’s right as much as another sentence structure. (I really hope they didn’t stop reading before this.) Now the direct object came first and then the indirect object marker followed.

In Korean language, the word positions can be ignored easily as long as the sentence becomes.

Which One Is More Natural?

Here is the question you might have right now. ‘Which one is more natural? There must be the most natural sentence structure for this.’ That’s a good question and the answer is that both are perfectly natural and common. Native Koreans use both ways in formal Korean and informal Korean. The Korean language is quite free from sentence patterns thanks to markers.

More Reasons?

So, now we know, the Korean language put words in order just to look sane or formal. But, are they important enough to memorize all of these? Of course, no. I will explain why following sentence structure becomes so important in the next tutorial. Let’s keep going! And if you liked the tutorial, join us in Patreon!

Sample Sentences

준이 저한테 양을 그려줬어요
Jun drew me a sheep

차차씨가 저한테 차차씨 그림을 보여줬어요
Chacha showed me her drawings

저한테 이메일 보냈어요?
Did (you) send me an e-mail?

저는 몰라요
I don’t know

치킨은 맛있어요
Fried chicken is delicious

저는 캐나다 사람이에요
I’m Canadian