Notes: Notes: 수고하다 is often used when leaving a place of business (like a store or office). Korean people usually say “수고하세요!” which literally translates to telling somebody to “work hard.” This would be very awkward to say in English, but is common in Korean.
It is also possible to say “수고했어요!” to thank a person for helping you in some way. Essentially, you are telling the person that he/she worked hard, and that you are thankful for this.
밥 말고 빵 먹을래요? = Instead of rice, shall we eat bread?
Notes: Notes: ~아/어하다 is sometimes added to adjectives when they describe an emotion experienced by another person. This is discussed more in Lesson 105.
Notes: This word is sort of a mix between a “nice” personality and something that is “tame” in a way that it is easy to take care of. Therefore, it is kind of strange to use this word directly to describe a person, as it kind of implies that you are “taming” or “controlling” the person.
= This station is Seoul Station. Seoul Station. The exit doors are on the right.
가만히 있어! = Stay still!/Don’t move!
In this lesson, you will learn how to tell people to do things. If you are a grammar buff, you know this as the Imperative Mood. If you’re not so into grammar, this “mood” is used when giving people commands/telling people what to do. You will learn how to do this in Korean, often in conjunction with the word ‘주다,’ which we will talk about in the next lesson.
All of those mean exactly the same thing. In the imperative mood as well, there are many different ways you can give a command to somebody. Let’s cover these from the least formal, to the most formal.
열심히 공부해! = Study hard!
Notice that in both English and Korean, the subject isn’t usually used in a sentence when giving a command. This is because the person you are giving the command to is usually the subject, so it is omitted.
You can use this form when you are giving a command to somebody who is younger than you or the same age as you, or somebody who you are close with. Saying something like “빨리 가!” to your superior would most likely warrant a slap in the face.
열심히 공부해요! = Study hard!
In these cases, distinguishing between a regular sentence and an imperative sentence is done through context. When you first learn this, you think it would be impossible to do, but trust me; it is easy to distinguish by considering the situation.
Although they differ in their respective levels of politeness, all of the above are acceptable ways to make a command. That being said, each of the last examples (the one using ~(으)셔요) is less common. Instead, the construction of ~(으)셔요 is often pronounced and written as ~(으)세요, which we will discuss next.
If you have been studying Korean for a while (and if you are here on Lesson 40 you probably have been), you are probably already quite familiar with the ~(으)세요 form. This is one of the first things people learn when they study Korean, but I waited until Lesson 40 to teach it to you. Trust me, there is a method to my madness.
I will say it again: Only when you see “~(으)셔요” can you use “~(으)세요.
열심히 운동하세요! = Work out hard!
As you learned in the previous lesson, 계시다 is the formal equivalent of this usage of 있다. When ~아/어요 is added to 계시다 to create a command, the construction 계셔요 is formed which you now know can be presented as “계세요.” This is where the expression “안녕히 계세요” (which translates to “stay in peace”) comes from.
The majority of Korean learners don’t know that ~(으)셔요 and ~(으)세요 are equivalent ways to end a sentence. To be honest, you don’t really need to know this. The use of ~(으)세요 in Korean is much more common when making a command so as an early learner of Korean it isn’t immediately important. For now, I would suggest using the ~(으)세요 form when giving a command to a person who deserves respect, but at the same time be aware of the ~(으)셔요 form in case it comes up.
Now… this brings us to another problem.
~(으)셔요 can be added to make a command.
선생님, 어디 가셔요? = Teacher, where are you going?
선생님, 어디 가세요? = Teacher, where are you going?
그 사람이 언제 오셔요? = When is that person coming?
그 사람이 언제 오세요? = When is that person coming?
Refer back to Lesson 7 on irregulars to review these concepts.
Let’s look at another ending you can use to make a command.
빨리 가라! = Go fast!
If you want to give a command to somebody in a formal way, check out the next section.
Adding ~(으)십시오 to a verb stem is done in the same manner as when adding ~(으)세요. That is, the same irregulars come in to play. However, adding ~(으)십시오 to a verb stem allows you to give a command very formally. You will most likely only use this form in a few circumstances, as it is usually reserved for times when speaking to people who deserve a ridiculous amount of respect. If you were to meet your girlfriend/boyfriend’s grandparents for the very first time, you might use this ending. You will also see it sometimes in government buildings/stores/restaurants on signs telling you to “come again” or stuff like that.
You can also use the imperative mood to make a negative command. In these sentences, you can tell somebody not do something. These sentences require the use of the word “말다.” 말다 can be used in other situations as well, but I will present those to you as they become important (for example, you will see 말다 used to eliminate a choice in Lesson 73 and used with ~든지 in Lesson 106).
In order to make those constructions a command, you should use one of the imperative conjugations that I taught you earlier in the lesson.
가다 + ~아/어 = 가!
가다 + ~아/어라 = 가라!
가다 + ~아/어요 = 가요!
가다 + ~(으)십시오 = 가십시오!
1) 가지 말다 + ~아/어 = 가지 말아! 가지 마!
3) 가지 말다 + ~아/어요 = 가지 말요! 가지 마요!
4) 가지 말다 + ~(으)세요 = 가지 마세요!
5) 가지 말다 + ~(으)십시오 = 가지 마십시오!
Notice that numbers 1, 2 and 3 go against the normal grammatical rules of Korean. 말다 is an irregular verb in this respect and to my knowledge no other verb follows this pattern.
너무 빨리 먹지 마세요 = Don’t eat your food too fast!
부끄러워하지 마세요 = Don’t be shy!
그렇게 하지 마! = Don’t do it like that!
집에 가지 마! = Don’t go home!
앉지 마! = Don’t sit down!
You can see ~지 말다 attached to 내려가다 on a Korean sign in this YouTube video.
Before we finish this lesson, let’s talk about some specific ways these imperative sentences can be used.
엄마가 요리한 음식을 먹어 봤어? = Did you try the food mom cooked?
이것을 먹어 봐! = Try eating this!
Especially when used in the least formal imperative form (~아/어 봐), it is very common to see this used simply as a command without any meaning of “try/attempt.” Nonetheless, the meaning of “try/attempt” is often very subtle and doesn’t really change the meaning of much in the sentence.