JIJEON Korean

Do you know that there are a lot of homonyms in Korean? Homonyms are words that share the same spelling and pronunciation but have different meanings .  For example, 말 has two meanings, 'word, language' and 'horse', but they are written and spoken exactly the same. A long time ago, Koreans used to speak the two homonyms in different accents or lengths of the pronunciation. They spoke 말(word, language) in a long sound and pronounced 말(horse) shortly. However, today, most of the Koreans don't know the different length between homonyms and spoke the same. So, when you hear some homonyms, you have to distinguish them by the context.  Homonyms in Korean 말 [Mal] 1. word, language 2. horse 눈 [Nun] 1. eye 2. snow 배 [Bae] 1. pear (fruit) 2. boat 3. stomach 차 [Cha] 1. car 2. tea 팔 [Pal] 1. arm 2. 8 (number) 풀 [Pul] 1. grass 2. glue 개 [Gae] 1. dog 2. item, thing (counting unit) 점 [Jeom] 1. dot, mole 2. fortune-telling 다리 [Dari] 1. leg 2. bridge 사과 [Sagwa] 1. apple 2. apology...

Today is Sunday and our weekend is about to finish! What did you guys do this weekend? 이번 주말에 뭐 했어요? :D In Korean, a week can be divided into two periods: 주말[Jumal]  평일[Pyeong-il] 주말 means 'weekend', referring to Saturday and Sunday. And 평일  means 'weekday', referring to 'Monday to Friday'.  So, you can describe your schedule in a week like this: 평일 에 학교[회사]에 가요.  I go to school[work] on weekdays. 평일 에 공부해요[일해요]. I study[work] on weekdays. - 이번 주말 에 시간 있어요? Do you have time this weekend? - 네, 주말 에 영화 보러 갈까요? Yes, shall we go to the movies on the weekend? - 주말 에 뭐 해요? What are you doing on the weekend? - 주말 마다 보통 운동해요. I usually work out every weekend. However, technically, 평일weekday is the opposite concept of 주말weekend, but not an antonym of it. 주말weekend, as a Sino-Korean word, is written '週末' and it means 'the end of the week'. So, its antonym must be 주초 which means 'the beginning of the week', referring to 'Monday' or 'Tue...

1. 치맥 [chimaek] ‘치킨' literally means ‘chicken’ but in Korea, it means the food ‘fried chicken’. Almost every Korean people love this food and always craves it in any situation!  As ‘치킨' always comes together with ‘맥주(beer)', Koreans call them in one word ‘치맥[chimaek]’. It’s an acronym of the two words:  ‘치킨[chikin], fried chicken)’ and ‘맥주[maekju], beer’. 2. 소맥 [somaek] ‘소맥’ is the most popular boilermaker in Korea. It’s a beer cocktail made of Soju(the most common Korean liquor) and beer. The word ‘Somaek’ is an acronym of ‘소주[soju]’ and ‘맥주[maekju]’.   Korean beer is not that strong so people usually mix the soju with beer. It has a certain proportion of those two but it depends on one’s taste. When these two alcohols are mixed up, you get more easily drunk!  3. 콜! [call] ‘콜' is a broken English which means ‘deal’. It’s often used to accept the suggestion between young people when they make an appointment.   4. 짠! [jjan] ‘짠' means...

Do you know how to say the word 'vegetable' in Korean? There are two words to say it ; 야채  and  채소 But technically, they have different meanings. 야채 is the wild plants that you gathered from outside 채소 is what you grow and get from the farm or garden However,  most of Koreans don't really know their difference  and use them randomly. So, You can use both of them as you want.

윷놀이Yut Nori 윷놀이 is the most representative Korean traditional game. It is usually played between family on holiday, especially in the New year. This board game has four wooden sticks, a board that is usually made of stitched cloth and some small tokens called 'mal'. The wooden sticks are used as a dice. The players throw the sticks in the air and can get six patterns from them : 도, 개, 걸, 윷, 모, 빽도. E ach combination of the four sticks has a certain number to move forward and the player(or a team) who first reaches the finish line is the winner of the game.

'-(으)ㄹ게요' is a pattern for the future tense  and is used to speak  your strong will or commitment . As it's talking about someone's will,  only 'I' can be the subject of '-(으)ㄹ 게요'  and there must be a listener that  you are giving a promise. *To speak it casually in 반말(low form),  drop the 요 ending.  For example,  one of your friends is moving place  and asking for help from you. A: 이번 주말에 나 이사하는데, 도와줄 수 있어?     I'm moving this weekend, can you help me? B: 그럼! 내가 도와줄게 .    Sure! I'll help you. Conjugation Rule  VERB + ㄹ게요     When there is no 받침     가다 → 갈게요  VERB + 을게요  When there is a 받침  먹다 → 먹을게요     VERB + 게요  When there is ㄹ 받침  팔다 → 팔게요  Notes 1. Only the first person(I) can be the subject. 2. There must be a listener and t he action of the subject  must be  related to the listener's situation. 3. This pattern can...

Do you know how to say 'every day' in Korean? 매일 [Maeil] Every day 每日 As it's the Sino-Korean word, each letter has its own meaning. 매每 means 'every' and 일日 means 'day'. This is how 매일 means 'every day' in Korean. You can do likewise to say 'every week' or 'every month' 매每 + 주週 week = 매주 [Maeju] every week 매每 + 월月 month = 매월 [Maewol] every month 매每 + 년年 year = 매년 [Maenyeon] every year Example 나는 매일 일기를 쓴다. I keep a diary every day. 매일 식후 두 알씩 드세요. Take two pills daily after meals. 이 잡지는 매주 발행된다. This magazine is published every week. 이 프로그램은 매주 일요일에 방영된다. This program airs every Sunday. 매월 1일은 정기휴일이다. We close on the first day of every month. 매년 수천 헥타르의 숲이 파괴된다. Thousands of hectares of forest are destroyed every year.