Day 27: Describing things
★ Korean does not have adjectives. It has descriptive verbs.
좋다 does not mean good — it means "to be good", and it conjugates exactly like 가다 or 먹다. So 좋아요 is a complete sentence, 좋았어요 is its past, and 예뻐요 on its own means "she's pretty."
⚠️ This means you never add 이에요 to them. 예쁘이에요 is not a thing — the "is" is already inside the word.
1. ★★ They conjugate like verbs
| 좋다 | 예쁘다 | 어렵다 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| present | 좋아요 | 예뻐요 | 어려워요 |
| past | 좋았어요 | 예뻤어요 | 어려웠어요 |
| negative | 안 좋아요 | 안 예뻐요 | 안 어려워요 |
| long negative | 좋지 않아요 | 어렵지 않아요 | |
| future/guess | 좋을 거예요 | 어려울 거예요 |
★ Everything you learned in weeks 3 and 4 applies unchanged. The 해요 form, the past, 안/못, 거예요 — descriptive verbs take all of them.
⚠️ Two things they cannot take, because you cannot do a description:
| ❌ | Why |
|---|---|
| you cannot want to be good this way | |
| you cannot order someone to be good |
The common ones
| 좋다 | good | 나쁘다 | bad | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 크다 | big | 작다 | small | |
| 많다 | many, a lot | 적다 | few | |
| 비싸다 | expensive | 싸다 | cheap | |
| 예쁘다 | pretty | 멋있다 | cool, stylish | |
| 어렵다 | difficult | 쉽다 | easy | |
| 덥다 / 춥다 | hot / cold | 맛있다 / 맛없다 | tasty / not | |
| 재미있다 / 재미없다 | fun / boring | 피곤하다 | tired | |
| 바쁘다 | busy | 아프다 | it hurts, ill |
Feelings
기쁘다 (glad) · 슬프다 (sad) · 화나다 (angry) · 무섭다 (scary/scared) · 심심하다 (bored) · 걱정되다 (worried) · 행복하다 (happy)
⚠️ Note that these are irregular — 기쁘다 → 기뻐요, 슬프다 → 슬퍼요 (ㅡ deletion, Day 22), 무섭다 → 무서워요 (ㅂ).
2. ★ In front of a noun: -(으)ㄴ
You met this on Day 18 as 큰 거. Here is the rule:
### Vowel stem → -ㄴ · Batchim stem → -은 · ⚠️ 있다/없다 → -는
| Before a noun | ||
|---|---|---|
| 크다 | 큰 가방 | a big bag |
| 작다 | 작은 가방 | a small bag |
| 좋다 | 좋은 사람 | a good person |
| 예쁘다 | 예쁜 옷 | pretty clothes |
| 어렵다 | 어려운 시험 | a difficult exam |
| 맛있다 | ★ 맛있는 음식 | tasty food |
| 재미있다 | ★ 재미있는 영화 | a fun film |
⚠️ Anything built on 있다 or 없다 takes -는, not -은 — 맛있는, 재미있는, 맛없는, 재미없는. This is the one exception and it covers four very common words.
★ And action verbs take -는 too, meaning "the one that ~s":먹는 사람 (the person who eats) · 가는 버스 (the bus that goes).Recognise it; you will produce it after this challenge.
3. ★ 너무, 정말, 아주, 좀
| 아주 / 매우 | very | 매우 is written |
|---|---|---|
| ★ 너무 | too much — but used as "very" | |
| 정말 / 진짜 | really | 진짜 is more casual |
| 좀 / 조금 | a bit | |
| 별로 | not really — ★ needs a negative (Day 13) | |
| 하나도 | not at all — ★ needs a negative |
⚠️ ★ 너무 technically means "excessively", but everyone uses it for "very". 너무 맛있어요! literally means "it's excessively delicious" and simply means "it's so good!" — there is nothing negative about it. This is one of the biggest gaps between what a dictionary says and how Korean is actually spoken.
좀 is also a softener, not just "a bit": 좀 비싸요 (it's a bit expensive) is gentler than 비싸요, and 좀 깎아 주세요 (Day 18) uses it to soften a request.
4. ★★ -네요 — noticing something
### stem + 네요 = "oh, it's ~!"
| 좋네요! | Oh, that's nice! |
|---|---|
| 맛있네요! | This is good! |
| 예쁘네요! | That's pretty! |
| 춥네요. | It's cold, isn't it |
| 한국어 잘하시네요! | Your Korean is good! (Day 4) |
★ -네요 marks something you have just noticed or are reacting to, and it invites the other person to agree. It is warm, and it is everywhere in real speech.
⚠️ Do not use it about things you already knew. 저는 학생이네요 is odd — you know you are a student. 네요 is for discovery.
And -아/어 보여요 — "looks ~"
해요 form − 요 + 보여요
| 좋아 보여요. | It looks good |
|---|---|
| 피곤해 보여요. | You look tired |
| 맛있어 보여요. | It looks delicious |
| 어려워 보여요. | It looks difficult |
★ 피곤해 보여요 is what a friend says to you, and 맛있어 보여요 is what you say when food arrives. Both are worth having ready.
5. Dialogue
민수: 알렉스 씨, 오늘 좀 피곤해 보여요.Alex: 네, 어제 늦게 잤어요. 너무 바빴어요.민수: 요즘 일이 많아요?Alex: 많아요. 그리고 한국어 시험도 있었어요.민수: 어려웠어요?Alex: 네, 진짜 어려웠어요. 쉬운 문제가 하나도 없었어요.민수: 고생했네요! 그럼 오늘은 맛있는 거 먹어요.Alex: 좋아요! 뭐 먹을까요?민수: 저기 새로 생긴 집 어때요? 사진 봤는데 맛있어 보였어요.Alex: 오, 좋네요! 비싸요?민수: 좀 비싸요. 그런데 괜찮아요, 제가 살게요.Alex: 고마워요! 민수 씨 진짜 멋있어요.
★ Everything from today: 피곤해 보여요 / 맛있어 보였어요 (looks), 좋네요 / 고생했네요 (noticing), 맛있는 거 / 쉬운 문제 (before a noun, with the 있다 exception), 너무 · 진짜 · 좀 · 하나도 (intensifiers, including 하나도 with a negative).
6. Exercises
A. Conjugate 좋다.
- present 2. past 3. negative 4. future/guess
B. Give the 해요 form.
- 크다 2. 예쁘다 3. 어렵다 4. 덥다 5. 슬프다 6. 바쁘다
C. ★ Before a noun.
- 크다 + 가방 2. 작다 + 가방 3. 좋다 + 사람 4. 예쁘다 + 옷
- 어렵다 + 시험 6. 맛있다 + 음식 7. 재미있다 + 영화
D. 너무 / 정말 / 좀 / 별로 / 하나도.
- It's so delicious! 2. It's a bit expensive.
- I don't really like it. 4. It's not spicy at all.
E. -네요.
- That's nice! 2. This is tasty! 3. It's cold, isn't it.
F. -아/어 보여요.
- It looks good. 2. You look tired. 3. It looks delicious.
G. ⚠️ Fix the mistake.
- 예쁘이에요.
- 맛있은 음식.
- 좋고 싶어요.
- 저는 학생이네요.
- 슬프어요.
Answers
A. 1. 좋아요 2. 좋았어요 3. 안 좋아요 (or 좋지 않아요) 4. 좋을 거예요 B. 1. 커요 2. 예뻐요 3. 어려워요 4. 더워요 5. 슬퍼요 6. 바빠요 C. 1. 큰 가방 2. 작은 가방 3. 좋은 사람 4. 예쁜 옷 5. 어려운 시험 6. 맛있는 음식 7. 재미있는 영화 D. 1. 너무 맛있어요! 2. 좀 비싸요. 3. 별로 안 좋아해요. 4. 하나도 안 매워요. E. 1. 좋네요! 2. 맛있네요! 3. 춥네요. F. 1. 좋아 보여요. 2. 피곤해 보여요. 3. 맛있어 보여요. G. 1. 예뻐요 — the "is" is inside 2. 맛있는 (있다 → 는) 3. ✗ — you cannot want to be good this way 4. 저는 학생이에요 — 네요 is for discovery 5. 슬퍼요 (ㅡ deletion)
7. Today's 10 sentences (flashcards)
- 너무 맛있어요! — It's so delicious!
- 진짜 어려웠어요. — It was really difficult
- 좀 비싸요. — It's a bit expensive
- 하나도 안 매워요. — It's not spicy at all
- 맛있는 거 먹어요. — Let's eat something tasty
- 재미있는 영화예요. — It's a fun film
- 좋네요! — Oh, that's nice!
- 맛있어 보여요. — It looks delicious
- 피곤해 보여요. — You look tired
- 오늘 너무 바빴어요. — I was so busy today
8. 📲 Upload to LangNote
Upload section 2 (-(으)ㄴ), section 4 (-네요 and -아/어 보여요) and section 7 → study language Korean.
| Mission | What to do with it today |
|---|---|
| 🎧 Podcast | The dialogue — this is the register of warm everyday conversation |
| ✍️ Dictation | 맛있는 / 맛있은 — the exception you will get wrong |
| 🗣 Shadowing | Today's key mission. Ten reactions with -네요, out loud, with the right warmth |
| 📖 Vocab | ★ Descriptive verbs as three forms: 예쁘다 / 예뻐요 / 예쁜 |
| 🎭 Role-play | Describe your day, your food and your mood — no bare nouns |
★ Two days left. Tomorrow is connecting sentences — the endings that turn your short correct sentences into long natural ones.
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