3.5 The Copula — Saying That One Thing Is Another — Epoché
What you will be able to do Say that one thing is another, choosing the right shape by the last letter of the noun: 저는 학생이에요. after a consonant, 나는 의사예요. after a vowel. Write the copula attached to its noun with no space, and say why it is written that way when every other verb stands apart. Deny an identity with the separate negative word, and remember that the noun then takes the subject ending: 저는 미국인이 아니에요 . Recognise the dictionary forms 이다 and 아니다 when you meet them in writing, as in 프랑스어가 아니다. Say four things English does in this sentence type that Korean does not do at all. Prerequisites : 3.2, which gave you the topic and subject endings, because the negative form in this lesson needs the subject ending and will be wrong without it. You also want 3.4 Grammar for the possessive, since half the sentences below say whose something is. The commonest sentence in any beginner's Korean is the one that says A is B. You have been reading them since the first volume without being told how they are built, because they are built out of a single small word that behaves unlike anything else in the language: it is a verb, it takes all the endings verbs take, and it is written stuck to the noun in front of it as though it were a particle. That combination is unusual enough to be worth a lesson of its own, and the negative, which is a separate word with its own requirements, is worth the second half of it. The pattern The affirmative has two shapes in the polite style, chosen as always by the last letter of the noun, and it is written with no space. After a consonant After a vowel Dictionary form 학생이에요 의사예요 이다 사람이에요 나라예요 이다 Korean Block by block English 저는 학생이에요. [1] 저는 as for me · 학생이에요 student-am I am a student. 한국 사람이에요. [2] 한국 Korea · 사람이에요 person-am I am Korean. 그는 좋은 사람이에요. [3] 그는 as for him · 좋은 good · 사람이에요 person-is He is a good person. 내 딸이에요. [4] 내 my · 딸이에요 daughter-is She is my daughter. 내 아들이에요. [5] 내 my · 아들이에요 son-is He's my son. 내 잘못이에요. [6] 내 my · 잘못이에요 fault-is It's my fault. 여기 제 여권이에요. [8] 여기 here · 제 my · 여권이에요 passport-is Here's my passport. 일본과 한국은 이웃이에요. [7] 일본과 Japan and · 한국은 as for Korea · 이웃이에요 neighbours-are Japan and South Korea are neighbors. After a vowel the shape is shorter, because the linking vowel is no longer needed. Korean Block by block English 나는 의사예요. [11] 나는 as for me · 의사예요 doctor-am I'm a doctor. 그는 의사예요. [12] 그는 as for him · 의사예요 doctor-is He's a doctor. 이건 저의 컴퓨터예요. [13] 이건 as for this · 저의 my · 컴퓨터예요 computer-is This is my computer. 서울은 한국의 수도예요. [14] 서울은 as for Seoul · 한국의 Korea's · 수도예요 capital-is Seoul is the capital of South Korea. 미국은 큰 나라예요. [15] 미국은 as for America · 큰 big · 나라예요 country-is The United States is a large country. 제 아내예요. [16] 제 my · 아내예요 wife-is She's my wife. 저는 현실주의자예요. [22] 저는 as for me · 현실주의자예요 realist-am I'm a realist. 내 거예요. [17] 내 my · 거예요 thing-is It's mine. The same form makes questions, with no change except the rise you learned in lesson 1.7. Korean English 이름이 뭐예요? [18] What is your name? 전화번호가 뭐예요? [19] What is your phone number? 버스 요금은 얼마예요? [20] How much is the bus fare? 몇 시예요? [21] What time is it? The negative is a different word. It is written with a space, like an ordinary verb, and the thing being denied takes the subject ending rather than standing bare. Korean Block by block English 저는 미국인이 아니에요 [23] 저는 as for me · 미국인이 an American · 아니에요 am not I'm not an American. 농담 아니에요? [24] 농담 a joke · 아니에요 is not No kidding? 프랑스어가 아니다. [25] 프랑스어가 French · 아니다 is not That's not French. 나는 교사가 아니다. [26] 나는 as for me · 교사가 a teacher · 아니다 am not I'm not a teacher. 나는 선생님이 아니다. [27] 나는 as for me · 선생님이 a teacher · 아니다 am not I'm not a teacher. The last three are quoted in the plain written style rather than in the polite style this phase uses. They are here because they show the dictionary form clearly, and because you will meet that form in print long before you are asked to write it. Notice in all five that the denied noun carries the subject ending: 미국인이 , 프랑스어가 , 교사가 , 선생님이 . Leaving it bare is the commonest mistake in this construction. How This Differs from English Four things English does here that Korean does not do at all. English needs an article and Korean has none. 저는 학생이에요. is "I am a student", and nothing in the Korean corresponds to "a". Nothing would correspond to "the" either. Korean has no articles of any kind, and a noun by itself is indifferent between one and many, definite and indefinite. English speakers spend a while looking for the missing word and eventually stop. English changes the verb for person and number and Korean does not. I am , he is , they are : three forms in English, one in Korean. 나는 의사예요. and 그는 의사예요. differ in exactly one block, the pronoun, and the verb is untouched. Nothing anywhere in Korean agrees with a subject, which removes an entire class of error. English separates the verb and Korean joins it. The copula is written with no space, so 학생이에요 looks like a single word and is treated as one by the spacing rules. Every other Korean verb stands as its own block. This is worth knowing not as a curiosity but because it changes what you see on the page: a noun with an unfamiliar tail is very often a noun plus this verb, and once you can peel it off, a great many sentences become readable. English negates by adding a word to the same verb and Korean swaps the verb. "Is not" is "is" plus "not"; Korean has a separate word with its own dictionary form, and it governs its noun differently, demanding the subject ending. That is why a learner cannot form the negative by analogy. It has to be learned as a second construction, and the surest sign of a beginner is a denied noun with no ending on it. One consequence deserves stating on its own. Because the copula attaches, and because the negative does not, the two constructions look quite different on the page even though English writes them almost identically. Compare 저는 학생이에요. with 저는 미국인이 아니에요 . In the first there are two blocks, in t