하다 hada (to do) > 하는 것 haneun geot (doing)
찾다 chajda (to find) > 찾는 것 chajneun geot (finding)
살다 salda (to live) > 사는 것 saneun geot (living) (irregular)
믿다 mitda (to believe) > 믿는 것 mitneun geot (believing)
This 것 will often be followed by the subject marker 이 (assuming, of course, that it is the subject of your sentence). In that case it can be shortened to 게. This is used more often in conversation while 것이 is more commonly seen in writing.
Here’s a table that shows how to conjugate 는 것. See page 237 for more on 던 deon.
| Example | Past | Present | Future | |
| Action verbs ending in vowels | 하다 | 했던 것 haetdeon geot | 하는 것 haneun geot | 할 것 hal geot |
| Action verbs ending in consonants | 찾다 | 찾던 것 chajdeon geot | 찾는 것 chajneun geot | 찾을 것 chajeul geot |
| Descriptive verbs ending in vowels | 예쁘다 | 예뻤던 것 yeppeotdeon geot | 예쁜 것 yeppeun geot | 예쁜 것 yeppeun geot |
| Descriptive verbs ending in consonants | 작다 | 작았던 것 jagatdeon geot | 작은 것 jageun geot | 작은 것 jageun geot |
Changing Action Verbs to Descriptive Verbs: (으)ㄴ/는/(으)ㄹ
(으)ㄴ/는/(으)ㄹ are tense markers and are covered in greater detail on page 235. For now, let’s look at how to use them to change an action verb into an adjective. English isn’t very efficient about this; if you want to talk about a person visiting your house, you have to say “the person who came,” “the person who is coming,” or “the person who will come.” In Korean, it’s much simpler.
ㄴ and 은 are past tense markers. ㄴ goes after verbs ending in vowels and 은 after verbs ending in consonants.
는 is the present tense marker and follows any verb.
ㄹ and 을 are future tense markers. ㄹ follows vowels and 을 follows consonants.
Going back to the visitor we had:
온 사람 on saram the person who came
오는 사람 oneun saram the person who is coming
올 사람 ol saram the person who will come
Who, of course, needs to eat from time to time:
먹은 음식 meogeun eumsig the food that was eaten
먹는 음식 meogneun eumsig the food that is being eaten
먹을 음식 meogeul eumsig the food that will be eaten
By adding (으)ㄴ/는/(으)ㄹ, you can use any verb to describe any noun. Please note that your choice of (으)ㄴ/는/(으)ㄹ depends on the time the action happened relative to the sentence, not relative to right now.
올 사람은 김종국이라고 했어요.
Ol sarameun Kim-jong-guk-i-lago haesseoyo.
The person who was going to come was called Kim Jongkook.
온 사람은 김종국이라고 했어요.
On sarameun Kim-jong-guk-i-lago haesseoyo.
The person who had come was called Kim Jongkook.
오는 사람은 김종국이라고 했어요.
Oneun sarameun Kim-jong-guk-i-lago haesseoyo.
The person who was coming was called Kim Jongkook.
Descriptive verbs usually take only (으)ㄴ or maybe sometimes (으)ㄹ. This (으)ㄴ is built into many of them: you’ve probably talked about things that were 큰 or 작은 or 아름다운. These are all based on verbs (크다, 작다 and 아름답다) that were conjugated using (으)ㄴ.
예쁜 아이 yeppeun a-i a beautiful child
멋있는 남자 meo-sinneun namja a handsome man
아름다운 여자 areumdaun yeoja a beautiful woman
Changing Verbs to Adverbs: 히, 이, 게
■ 게
This is the most common way to form an adverb. You just take the 다 off your verb and add 게.
조용하다 joyonghada (to be quiet) > 조용하게 joyonghage (quietly)
즐겁다 jeulgeobda (to be pleasant) > 즐겁게 jeulgeobge (pleasantly)
슬프다 seulpeuda (to be sad) > 슬프게 seulpeuge (sadly)
In particular, any verb not ending in 하다 should be changed to an adverb using 게. 하다 verbs can always be changed this way as well if you’d like, but in many cases it’s more natural to use 히. See below.
■ 히
You can also form an adverb by taking a verb ending in 하다 and changing that 하다 to 히.
적당하다 jeogdanghada (to be suitable) > 적당히 jeogdanghi (suitably)
무사하다 musahada (to be safe) > 무사히 musahi (safely)
편하다 pyeonhada (to be comfortable) > 편히 pyeonhi (comfortably)
부지런하다 bujileonhada (to be diligent) > 부지런히 bujileonhi (diligently)
■ 이
This is the rarest of the adverbial forms, and I’ve seen it only a few times:
~없이 eobsi without
~빠듯이 ppadeusi barely, narrowly
밖이 bakki outside (as an adverb)
깊이 gipi deeply
굳이 guji firmly, stubbornly
깨끗이 kkaekkeusi cleanly
This isn’t a comprehensive list, but it does cover most of the more common 이 adverbs.
Changing Descriptive Verbs to Action Verbs: 아/어/여지다, 게 되다
To change an adjective (descriptive verb) into an action verb, you need to add “become.” So “big” becomes “to become big.” “Beautiful” becomes “to become beautiful.” There are two ways to add this “become,” and which one you use depends on whether you’re focusing on the situation changing or the fact that the situation has already changed. 아/어/여지다 a/eo/yeojida means the focus is on the change itself while 게 되다 ge doeda means the focus is on the finished product. In situations where you’re using 아/어/여지다 in the past tense (아/어/여졌다), although the change has been completed, the focus is on the situation changing rather than the final result. This is usually not a very big difference.
게