TeacherJoy

Let’s learn the pre-noun forming ending ‘-ㄴ/-은.’

A pre-noun literally means a word that comes before a noun. In English, adjectives naturally sit before nouns, like “a busy day.”

But in Korean, adjectives function like verbs—they usually stay at the end of the sentence. To use them like English adjectives, we must transform them into pre-nouns.

For example, the adjective “바쁘다” is in the dictionary form. If you want to say “a busy day” in Korean, you should transform “바쁘다” first.

To understand this, you need to know Aspect. Aspect describes the manner of an action—whether it is completed and has become a state, or if it’s still ongoing.

Textbooks say: use it for adjectives, or use it for past tense verbs. But here’s a Korean grammar hack by Teacher Joy. The pre-noun forming ending “-ㄴ/-은” simply represents the completion of an action or the continuation of a state.

Back to “a busy day.” 
Take the adjective “바쁘다” and the dependent noun “날.” The stem is “바쁘-.” Since it ends in a vowel, we add ‘-ㄴ.’ So, “바쁜 날.”

How about “a good person”? 
The stem “좋-” has a final consonant, so we add “-은.” “좋은 사람.”

Now, verbs. 

“The drama I watched yesterday.” 
Take: 어제, 보다, and 드라마.

Korean does not have relative pronouns (like which or that). Instead, the description always comes first.

So “drama” goes at the very end. For “watched,” we add ‘-ㄴ’ after the verb stem ‘보-.’ So, “어제 본 드라마” is correct.

Here’s a tricky one: “The jacket I’m wearing today.” 

You put the jacket on in the past, and you’re still wearing it now. It’s a continued state. So, it’s “오늘 입은 자켓.” Grammatically and logically, this describes the state you’re in!

If this is confusing, watch it again and think it through. 
I can only show you the door. You’re the one that has to walk through it. I’m rooting for you!