Basic routines and family | Learn Korean in English

Sentence explanations

1. 나는 자러 가요.

   I am going to bed.

   나는

   I; as for me

   자러

   to sleep

   가요

   go; am going

   More detail

   나는 presents the speaker as the topic: 나 means “I/me,” and 는 is a topic particle. Here, the topic is the speaker, who is also understood as the person going. The particle does not itself mark a numeric count. A useful contrast is 저는 ..., which uses the more deferential first-person form; 나는 ... is less deferential. 자러 comes from 자다, “to sleep,” with -러, a purpose ending used after a verb stem before a movement verb such as 가다 (“to go”). Thus 자러 가요 has the reusable pattern verb stem + -(으)러 + movement verb: “go in order to ...”. The form 자러 is not a separate verb meaning “to sleep”; it is the purpose form of 자다. 가요 is the polite, informal-present form of 가다, “to go.” With 자러 before it, it expresses going for the purpose of sleeping. In another context, 가요 can simply mean “go” or “am going,” depending on the situation. Together, 나는 + 자러 + 가요 means “I go in order to sleep,” expressed naturally in the supplied translation as “I am going to bed.” The sentence uses the speaker as topic, gives sleeping as the purpose, and uses polite everyday speech.

2. 나는 일찍 일어나요.

   I wake up early.

   나는

   I / as for me

   일찍

   early

   일어나요

   wake up

   More detail

   나는 means “I” here, with 는 marking 나 as the topic. 나 is the non-honorific first-person pronoun; it does not show the speaker’s gender or whether more than one person is involved. 는 is a topic particle, not a marker that makes the pronoun grammatically a subject. A reusable pattern is 나는 + ... for “As for me, ...” or simply “I ...” when the topic is clear. 일찍 is an adverb meaning “early,” describing when the action happens. It can come before the verb it modifies, as here. The adjective 이르다 means “to be early”; 일찍 is the adverb used for the time description. Example: 일찍 와요 means “I/you come early,” with the subject understood from context. 일어나요 is the polite present-style form of 일어나다, meaning “to wake up” or “to get up.” Here, the fixed translation selects “wake up.” The verb stem 일어나- combines with the polite -아요/-어요 ending; after the resulting contraction, the form is 일어나요. Context can determine whether the same verb is best translated as “wake up” or “get up.” Together, 나는 + 일찍 + 일어나요 means “I wake up early.” 나는 identifies the speaker as the topic, 일찍 says when the action occurs, and 일어나요 supplies the polite verb. This gives a reusable pattern: 나는 + time adverb + verb (“I + [when] + verb”).

3. 나는 일하러 가요.

   I go to work.

   나는

   I / as for me

   일하러

   to work

   가요

   go

   More detail

   나는 means “I” here, with 는 marking the topic: “as for me.” 나 is the informal first-person pronoun; in more polite speech, 저 is commonly used instead. The topic marker 는 can introduce what the sentence is about, without itself asserting a numerical meaning. 일하러 expresses “in order to work” in this sentence. It is built from 일하다 (“to work”) plus -(으)러, a purpose form used before a movement verb. Because 일하다 ends in a vowel, the form is 일하러; after a consonant, the corresponding form is often -으러, as in 먹으러 (“in order to eat”). 가요 means “go” here. Its base form is 가다 (“to go”); 가요 is the polite present-style form, formed from the verb stem 가- plus -아요, with the vowels combining in the written form. The same verb can appear with different destinations or purposes, such as 학교에 가요 (“I go to school”). Together, 나는 일하러 가요 means “I go to work.” The topic is “I,” 일하러 gives the purpose of the movement, and 가요 supplies the movement verb. The reusable pattern is [person/topic]은/는 [verb stem]-(으)러 가요: “[person] goes in order to [verb].”

4. 나는 학교에 가요.

   I go to school.

   나는

   I (as the topic)

   학교

   school

   가요

   go

   More detail

   나는 combines 나 (“I,” the first-person singular pronoun) with 는, a topic marker. After a vowel, the topic marker is 는; after a consonant, its usual form is 은. Here, 나는 presents the speaker as the topic. 학교 means “school.” It is a noun and can be reused with particles: for example, 학교에서 means “at school” when an action takes place there. In this sentence, the destination meaning comes from the following 에 in 학교에, not from 학교 alone. 가요 is the polite, nonformal-polite present form of 가다, “to go.” The base verb is 가다; its stem 가- combines with the polite ending -아요, yielding 가요. Korean present forms can describe an action happening now or a regular action, so the fixed translation “I go to school” fits this form. A useful contrast is 와요, from 오다 (“to come”), which describes movement toward the relevant reference point rather than away toward a destination. The pattern 학교에 가요 is “go to school”: 에 marks the destination of movement, and 가요 supplies the action. Together with 나는, the utterance means “I go to school.”

5. 나는 가족과 함께 있어요.

   I am with my family.

   나는

   I (topic)

   가족

   family

   함께

   together

   있어요

   am; am present

   More detail

   나는 combines 나 (“I”) with the topic marker 는. It presents the speaker as the topic; 는 is not part of the pronoun itself. In polite speech, 저는 is a more formal or humble alternative to 나는. 가족 means “family.” It is a noun and can be used with possessive marking: 내 가족 means “my family.” The supplied sentence does not use that form; the relationship to the speaker is supplied by the fixed translation and context. 함께 means “together” and indicates that the speaker is accompanying or being in the same place or situation as someone or something else. A reusable pattern is A와/과 함께 (“together with A”). After a vowel, 와 is used; after a consonant, 과 is used. Thus 가족과 함께 means “together with my family” here. The Korean form 과 itself marks the accompanying partner; 함께 adds the meaning “together.” 있어요 is the polite present form of 있다, meaning “to be present,” “to be located,” or “to exist,” depending on context. Here it describes the speaker’s being with the family, not movement toward a place. The polite informal ending -어요 makes the statement suitable for ordinary courteous conversation. For example, 집에 있어요 means “I am at home.” Together, 나는 가족과 함께 있어요 means “I am with my family.” The topic is the speaker (나는), the accompanying group is the family (가족과 함께), and 있어요 states the speaker’s current presence in that situation.

6. 이 사람은 내 친구예요.

   This is my friend.

   이

   this

   사람은

   person

   내

   my

   친구

   friend

   예요

   is

   More detail

   이 means “this” here. It is a demonstrative used before a noun, so 이 사람 means “this person.” Korean also has 그 (“that/the”) and 저 (“that over there”), but the choice depends on the demonstrative’s intended distance or discourse reference, not just on the noun. 사람은 is 사람 (“person”) plus the topic marker 은. The marker presents “this person” as the topic of the statement. After a vowel, the corresponding topic marker is 는; for example, 친구는 means “as for the friend.” The specific person indicated by 이 is not otherwise identified in the sentence. 내 means “my” in this sentence. It is the possessive form of 나 (“I”), used before a noun: 내 친구 means “my friend.” The more formal possessive form is 저의, while 내 is the ordinary contracted form of 나의. 친구 means “friend.” It is a noun and does not change form here for singular or plural. Korean can leave number unspecified when the context does not require it; the fixed translation presents the intended meaning as “my friend.” Example: 친구가 와요. — “A friend is coming.” 예요 is the polite present form of the Korean copula, used after a noun ending in a vowel. It connects 친구 with the meaning “is”: 친구예요 means “is a friend.” After a consonant-final noun, the corresponding form is 이에요; for example, 학생이에요 means “is a student.” Together, 이 사람은 sets up “as for this person,” 내 친구 identifies the person as “my friend,” and 예요 makes the polite present-tense statement. The whole utterance therefore means “This is my friend.”