Difference between 더니, 았/었더니 and other sentence conjugation patterns

After learning Korean for six years, one of the things that still not perfectly clear for me is the usage of 더니 and 았/었더니. I feel like I now know so much, yet at the same time it feels like grasping at sand and watching it flow through between my fingers. I've tried coming up …

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자 vs 자마자

I feel like there is so much confusion on how this is taught. I kind of vaguely understood what the difference was for years and years until only recently when I came across an example that cleared it up for me. First of all I'm just going to lay out some basic definitions of what …

How to say “lets have a look if we have rice”

우리 쌀 있나 보자. 있나 functions like 있는지 and they can both be used in this context here, but 있나 has a better nuance of speculation. 있는지 is a factual way of saying whether there is (or not) and comes off stiff in this context. Some other sentences following this grammar pattern could be: Shall …

-나/가 싶다, 다 싶다 – I was wondering if she got a boyfriend

The form 싶다 is most common seen in the -고 싶다 structure, to mean want to. However here 싶다 mean completely different things. -나/가 and 다 싶다 is a grammar pattern to convey the speakers thoughts and sometimes contains a slight speculative nuance. It is similar to the English expression "I was thinking that".  For …

Counting in Korean: Beyond the basics. Part 2

This lesson assumes you can count in both pure Korean and in Sino Korean numbers. Pure Korean being 하나 둘 셋 and Sino Korean being 일 이 삼. The first part of the lesson introduced when to use each system and then an overview of counting duration. This second part of the counting lesson will teach …

Counting in Korean: Beyond the basics. Part 1

This lesson assumes you can count in both pure Korean and in Sino Korean numbers. Pure Korean being 하나 둘 셋 and Sino Korean being 일 이 삼. This first part of the lesson will introduce when to use each system and then an overview of counting duration. The second part of this lesson will …

Grammar – This looks, sounds, tastes, smells, feels strange

The grammar 아/어보이다 only applies to how something 'looks'. Have you ever wanted to say "this sounds X" or "this smells Y" but couldn't figure out how to say it? Taking the adjective 'strange' for example, in English we have the same grammar for it looks strange, it sounds strange, it feels strange, it smells …

Advanced quotation expressions, part 1

Advanced quotation expressions are formed by combining the usual quotation expressions with other grammar principles such as -는데, -면, -면서, -니까 I'm going to cover two quotation forms. -는/ㄴ다고 and -(으)라고, and for the purpose of demonstration I will use the 하다 verb. At the end I'll show the conjugation rules for verbs with 받침 …

-는지: He walked past me as if he did not recognise me

This post will talk about a more advanced use of the 은/는지 grammar. Before that, a quick refresher on the basic usage (or the usage generally introduced in textbooks): 저 사람 누구인지 알아요? - Do you know who that person is? 뭘 하고 싶은지 말해요 - Tell me what you want to do 내가 너를 …

-만, -오랜만에

If you've already read the explanation of how this particle works in your textbook or online but still aren't "feeling" this grammar in your gut, have a read ahead of my own personal interpretation of how you should interpret this particle. Firstly some examples: 오랜만에 여기에 오네요 - It's been a long time since I've …