■ Noun + 적이다/적으로
적 is a suffix that makes a noun into an adjective or an adverb.
Noun +적+이다 => adjective
Noun +적+으로 => adverb
간접 indirect 간접적이다 간접적으로
과학 science 과학적이다 과학적으로
기본 basic 기본적이다 기본적으로
논리 logic 논리적이다 논리적으로
법 law 법적이다 법적으로
문화 culture 문화적이다 문화적으로
성공 success 성공적이다 성공적으로
역사 history 역사적이다 역사적으로
효과 effect 효과적이다 효과적으로
■ 의: possessive particle, "of" or "'s"
한국의 명소 attractions of Korea
저의 이름= 제 이름 my name
엄마의 차 mom's car
리차드의 일 work of Richard
■ 편이에요
편 can also act as a noun that is being described by an adjective or a verb (conjugated using the ~는 것 principle). The adjective/verb + 편 combination has a meaning that is very similar to that of just the adjective/verb on its own. The only difference is that “편” makes the meaning slightly softer than just the adjective/verb by itself. For example, I could say:
그 사람이 돈이 많아요 = That person has a lot of money
If I say this sentence, it might have a negative effect because maybe – for example – people will treat that person differently if they find out he/she has a lot of money.
However, if I say:
그 사람이 돈이 많은 편이에요
The meaning is softer than was expressed without the use of “편”. Instead of straight out saying “yes, he has a lot of money”, you are more humbly saying “Yeah, that person has fair amount of money, but not that much.”
Let’s look at some other examples:
우리 아이는 똑똑해요 = Our son is smart
우리 아이는 똑똑한 편이에요 = Our son is fairly smart
Because of the use of the word “편”, a common translation for these types of constructions is “on the X side.” For example:
우리 아이는 똑똑한 편이에요 = Our son is on the smart side
Other examples:
저의 남자친구가 잘생긴 편이에요 = My boyfriend is on the handsome side (fairly handsome)
제가 벌고 있는 급여가 높은 편이에요 = The salary I earn is fairly high (on the high side)
이 배낭여행용 가방이 비싼 편이었어요 = This backpacker backpack was fairly expensive
In each of the examples so far, the speaker would be downplaying something that is very good. In effect, this is a way to speak in a humble way in Korean. The opposite can be done with words that have a negative connotation to them. That is, when you use this type of construction with a negative word, you are expressing that – even though something is bad – it’s not that bad. For example:
저의 남자친구는 못생긴 편이에요 = My boyfriend is on the ugly side
저는 키가 작은 편이에요 = My height is on the small side (I’m quite short)
The situation doesn’t need to be inherently negative or positive in order to use this ~는/은/ㄴ construction. All it does is it softens the word being used and turns the severity of its meaning down a little bit. For example:
한국말을 할 수 있는 외국인이 드문 편이에요 = Foreigners who speak Korean are on the rare side
제가 내일 해야 할 면접은 중요한 편이에요 = The interview I have to do tomorrow is quite important
한국어 어휘를 외우는 것은 어려운 편이에요 = Memorizing Korean vocabulary is quite difficult
Just by the nature of the sentences ~는/은/ㄴ 편 is used in, it is quite easy and common to use this grammatical principle with adjectives. However, it can be used with verbs as well. For example:
제가 운동을 자주 하는 편이에요 = I exercise fairly often
When used with verbs, you’ll notice that the sentence often has an adverb in it as well. If you imagine the sentence above without the use of the adverb “자주”, you get:
제가 운동을 하는 편이에요 = I exercise… fairly? I fairly exercise…?
You need something else in there in order for it to make sense. It doesn’t necessarily need to be the adverb “자주”:
제가 운동을 잘 하는 편이에요 = I exercise fairly well
제가 운동을 열심히 하는 편이에요 = I exercise fairly hard
When used with verbs, a common translation that goes in these sentences is “tend(s) to…” For example:
제가 운동을 잘 하는 편이에요 = I tend to exercise well (English translation doesn’t really work in this situation)
제가 운동을 열심히 하는 편이에요 = I tend to exercise hard
Other examples:
제가 달리기를 빨리 하고 있는 편이에요 = I am running fairly quickly
제가 매일 늦게 자는 편이에요 = I tend to go to bed fairly late
저는 수영을 잘하는 편이에요 = I swim fairly well