Conversation 6: On the way to the Korean class

Anna bumps into Minjun on the way to her Korean class in the morning.

안나: 민준 씨, 안녕하세요? 

민준: 안녕하세요? 안나 씨, 어디에 가요?

안나: 학교에 가요.

민준: 요즘 많이 바빠요?

안나: 네, 월요일부터 금요일까지 대학교에 가요. 오전에는 학교에서 한국어를 배워요. 그리고 오후에는 도서관에서 공부해요. 

민준: 그럼 주말에는 뭐 해요?

안나: 주말에는 보통 한국 친구들을 만나요. 친구들하고 같이 술 한잔하고 한국 문화에 대해서 이야기해요. 밤에는 한국 영화를 보거나 한국 음악을 들어요.

Anna: Hello, Minjun.

Minjun: Hello. Where are you off to?

Anna: I’m going to the university.

Minjun: Have you been really busy recently?

Anna: Yes, I go to the university from Monday till Friday. In the morning I learn Korean there. And in the afternoon I study in the library.

Minjun: Well, what do you do at the weekend?

Anna: At the weekend I usually meet Korean friends. I have a glass of rice wine with them and talk about Korean culture. In the evening, I watch Korean films or listen to Korean music.

Vocabulary and notes

안나 씨, 어디에 가요? Note how names in Korean sentences are often used where English would have 'you'. 가요 is ‘go’; the Dictionary Form is 가다. ㅏ요, notㅓ요 is added to form the Polite Form because of the ㅏ in the stem and one of the ㅏs drops out. Further information about forming the Polite Form, etc. Here 에 is a postposition meaning ‘to’, one of its main meanings.

학교 school; here: short for 대학교 university

요즘 recently

많이 (adv.) a lot, cf. 많다 (adj.) many. Thus 많이 있어요 means the same as the neater 많아요 'there is a lot, there are many'.

바빠요 Polite Form of 바쁘다 ‘busy’. Note how ㅏ요 is used rather than the usual ㅓ요 because of the preceding ㅏ, and ㅡ drops.

…부터… 까지 from … until … (time). These postpositions may also be used individually, meaning ‘from’ and ‘until’ respectively.

월요일 Monday

금요일 Friday. List of the days of the week, etc.

오전에는 ‘in the morning’. 오전 is morning. Here 에 is a postposition indicating point of time, in and 는 indicates contrast, here with another time quite a bit further on: 오후에는 ‘in the afternoon’ and 밤에는 ‘in the evening’.

배워요 ‘learn’. The Dictionary Form is 배우다. Note how ㅜ + ㅓ요 -> ㅝ요.

에서 Postposition indicating where an action (e.g. studying) occurs, in/at. Not to be confused with 에, postposition indicating where something/someone is or point of time.

그리고 and, moreover. Note that this word cannot link two nouns. Use 하고 if you want to do that.

도서관 library

공부해요 study. The Dictionary Form is 공부하다. The change from 하 to 해 is irregular.

그럼 in that case, then, well

주말 weekend

보통 usually

만나요 meet. The Dictionary Form is 만나다. ㅓ요 becomes ㅏ요 here after the ㅏ in the stem.

친구들 friends. 들 may be used with some nouns, especially those indicating people, to form plural forms.

…하고 같이 Postposition meaning ‘(together) with …’.

술 한잔 a/one glass of rice wine. 잔 is used when counting glasses, etc.

…에 대해서 Postposition meaning ‘about …’.

이야기하다 to talk

밤 evening

영화 film

보거나 see or. The Dictionary Form is 보다, but ㅗ and ㅏ come together in the Polite Form to form ㅘ: 봐요. 거나 is an ending meaning ‘(do one thing) or (do another)’.

음악 music

들어요 listen to. The Dictionary Form is 듣다. ㄷ becomes ㄹ before ㅓ요 in the Polite Form. This change only happens with some verbs. For example, with 닫다 ‘close’ it doesn’t happen: 닫아요.