A2
Modifying a noun with a clause
How Korean builds relative clauses with 은/는/을, why they precede the noun, and what each ending says about time.
English puts a describing clause after the noun: the book that I read. Korean puts it in front, with no equivalent of that or which, and marks the verb with an ending that carries the tense.
제가 읽은 책.
Jega ilgeun chaek.
The book I read.
어제 만난 사람.
Eoje mannan saram.
The person I met yesterday.
Three endings, three times
| 읽은 책 | the book I read — past |
| 읽는 책 | the book I am reading — present |
| 읽을 책 | the book I will read — future |
은/ㄴ for the past, 는 for the present, 을/ㄹ for the future. This is the single most useful pattern in Korean above beginner level, and it appears in almost every sentence of any length.
지금 사는 집이 좋아요.
Jigeum saneun jibi joayo.
I like the house I live in now.
Adjectives use 은/ㄴ for the present
An adjective describing a noun takes 은/ㄴ, not 는 — which is the same ending a verb uses for the past, and the overlap catches people.
좋은 사람.
Joeun saram.
A good person.
좋는 사람.
좋은 사람.
좋다 is an adjective, so it takes 은. 는 is for verbs in the present: 먹는 사람, a person who is eating.
Everything stacks in front
Long modifiers stay in front however long they get, which is why Korean sentences can feel back-loaded to an English reader.
어제 친구한테서 빌린 책을 읽고 있어요.
Eoje chinguhanteseo billin chaegeul ilgo isseoyo.
I’m reading the book I borrowed from a friend yesterday.
The noun 책 arrives after nine syllables of description. English would have delivered the book first and hung the rest behind it.