[Learn Korean E35] “-는”, “-는 게 좋다”

안녕하세요. 토미입니다.

The theme of today’s class is “택시 타고 가는 게 좋겠어요(I think it’s better to take a taxi).”

We will learn how to modify nouns with action verbs ‘-는(that (I) do),’ and how to politely express your opinion to others with the expression ‘-는 게 좋다(It’s better to (do an action)).’

Lessons 31 to 35 will be on the test. You can build a solid grammatical foundation through the exam.

By learning my lessons, I am sure you can pass TOPIK smoothly and become a master of Korean!

그럼 시작할게요.

Listen to the Conversation

The theme of today’s conversation is “택시 타고 가는 게 좋겠어요(I think it’s better to take a taxi).”

Sangmin and Tammy are talking about what they will have for lunch today.
What will they eat? Please listen to the conversation and try to guess.

그럼 들어보세요！

• 상민：토미 씨, 점심 먹었어요?
  Sangmin： Tammy, did you eat lunch?
• 토미：아니요, 아직 안 먹었어요. 이제 먹으려고요. 상민 씨는요?
  Tammy： No, I haven’t eaten yet. I’m going to eat now. How about you, Sangmin?
• 상민：잘됐다. 우리 같이 먹죠.
  Sangmin： Good. Let’s eat together.
• 토미：좋아요. 근데 뭘 먹을까요? 상민 씨가 자주 가는 식당이 있어요?
  Tammy： Okay. But what should we eat? Is there a restaurant that you go to often?
• 상민：찌개 잘하는 가게가 있어요. 토미 씨는 순두부찌개나 된장찌개 좋아해요? 좋아하면 거기 갈까요?
  Sangmin： There is a restaurant that makes good Jjigae. Do you like Soondubu Jjigae or Doenjang Jjigae? If you do, why don’t we go there?
• 토미：찌개요? 맛있겠다. 좋아요. 거기로 가죠. 걸어서 갈 수 있어요?
  Tammy： Jjigae? Sounds delicious. Good. Let’s go there. Can we walk there?
• 상민：네. 근데 좀 많이 걸어야 돼요. 택시 타고 가는 게 좋겠어요.
  Sangmin： Yes. But we have to walk a lot. I think it’s better to take a taxi.

Vocabulary and Phrases

• 상민：토미 씨, 점심 먹었어요?
• 토미：아니요, 아직 안 먹었어요. 이제 먹으려고요. 상민 씨는요?

‘이제’ means ‘now.’
As in today’s conversation, “이제 먹으려고요.” would mean “I’m going to eat now.”

• 상민：잘됐다. 우리 같이 먹죠.

‘잘되다’ means ‘to do well, go well, succeed.’
For example, ‘공부가 잘되다’ is ‘the study goes well’ and ‘회사가 잘되다’ is ‘a company is doing well.’
When this ‘잘되다’ is used in the past tense as ‘잘됐다’ in the conversation, it means ‘Good’ in the sense of ‘I’m glad’ or ‘I’m lucky.’
By the way, you can use ‘잘됐다’ when talking to someone in a friendly way or yourself.

• 토미：좋아요. 근데 뭘 먹을까요? 상민 씨가 자주 가는 식당이 있어요?

‘자주’ means ‘often/frequently.’

‘식당’ means a ‘restaurant’ or a ‘dining hall.’
In addition to ‘식당,’ another commonly used word that means ‘restaurant’ is ‘음식점.’

• 상민：찌개 잘하는 가게가 있어요. 토미 씨는 순두부찌개나 된장찌개 좋아해요? 좋아하면 거기 갈까요?

‘찌개’ is a Korean stew made with several ingredients such as tofu, vegetables, seafood, etc.

순두부찌개’s main ingredient is soft tofu, and ‘된장찌개’ is soybean paste stew.
Korean stews are very hot and delicious; I hope you enjoy eating them in Korea.

• 토미：찌개요? 맛있겠다. 좋아요. 거기로 가죠. 걸어서 갈 수 있어요?

‘맛있겠다’ means ‘It sounds delicious.’
Like ‘잘됐다(good)’ that we have just learned, you use the phrase when you talk to someone in a friendly way or to yourself.
In a polite manner, you can also say ‘맛있겠네요(It sounds delicious).’

• 상민：네. 근데 좀 많이 걸어야 돼요. 택시 타고 가는 게 좋겠어요.

‘택시’ is a ‘taxi.’

Let’s also learn how to say vehicles.
We have already covered ‘버스(bus),’ ‘지하철(subway),’ and ‘비행기(airplane).’
There are also other vehicles like ‘자동차(car),’ ‘자전거(bicycle),’ ‘오토바이(motorcycle)’ and ‘전철(subway train).’

Grammar

-는　Noun Modifier

I will give you an example.
I said this phrase in the conversation.

• 상민 씨가 자주 가는 식당이 있어요?
  Is there a restaurant that you often go to, Sangmin?

Let’s focus on ‘that you often go to’ in English.
This part describes a restaurant specifically as an adjective.

“That you often go to”’s ‘go to’ is a verb, which modifies the noun ‘restaurant.’
If you describe a noun like this, this grammar is a noun modifier.

In English, you can also say ‘that, who, where, which’ to make a modifier like ‘a restaurant that I eat, where I eat, which I eat’ etc.

But in Korean, you don’t need all of these.
Just attach ‘는’ to the verb stem.

Moreover, in English, the sentence order is noun (a restaurant) + modifier (that) + subject (you) + verb (go to.)

But in Korean, the order is going to be a verb stem (가) + modifier(는) + noun (a restaurant.)

There are past, present, and future tenses to turn action verbs into adjectives.
Today, we will focus on the present tense of action verbs, ‘는.’

The use of this grammar is very simple.

You must attach ‘-는’ to the verb stem whether it has a final consonant.
For example, ‘먹다(to eat)’ becomes ‘먹는,’ which means ‘that (I) eat.’

A verb without a final consonant like ‘보다(to see)’ becomes ‘보는,’ which means ‘that (I) see.’

Also, notice pronouns such as I, you, he, and she, etc., are omitted from sentences.
If you want to specify it, add it in a sentence.
Otherwise, it is okay to omit it in Korean.

Then, let’s look at a phrase in the conversation again.

Ex.1)
상민 씨가 자주 가는 식당이 있어요?
Is there a restaurant that you often go to, Sangmin?

Here, ‘가다’ is ‘to go.’ The verb stem is ‘가.’
So you attach 는 to make ‘가는(that (you) go).’

Ex.2)
찌개 잘하는 가게가 있어요.
There is a restaurant that makes good Jjigae.

Here, ‘잘하다’ is ‘to do well.’
The verb stem is ‘잘하.’ You attach ‘는’ to make ‘잘하는(that makes).’

Quiz

What fits into the parentheses?

・　여기가 우리 언니가 (      ) 회사예요.
This is the company that my sister works for.

(1)일한 (2)일하는

The answer is (2).
‘일하다’ is ‘to work.’ So, if you add 는 to the stem to make ‘일하는.’

The whole sentence would be “여기가 우리 언니가 (일하는) 회사예요.”

-는 게 좋다　 It’s better to~, It’s good to~

The second grammar we are going to learn is ‘-는 게 좋다(It’s better to (do an action)).’

The way to use this grammar is the same as ‘는.’

Regardless of a final consonant in a stem, you add ‘-는’ to the verb stem.

For example, ‘사다(to buy)’ becomes ‘사는 게 좋다(It’s better to buy),’ and ‘듣다(to listen)’ becomes ‘듣는 게 좋다(It’s better to listen).’

For ‘만들다(to make),’ you drop /ㄹ/, so it becomes ‘만드는 게 좋다(It’s better to make).’

Now, let’s review a phrase in today’s conversation.

Ex.1)
택시 타고 가는 게 좋겠어요.
I think it’s better to take a taxi.

Since ‘타고 가다’ means ‘to take (a taxi),’ you attach ‘는 게 좋겠다’ directly to say ‘타고 가는 게 좋겠다 (I think it’s better to take).’
The ‘요 form’ of ‘좋겠다’ is ‘좋겠어요.’
So together, it becomes “타고 가는 게 좋겠어요(I think it’s better to take).”

Ex.2)
옷을 더 입는 게 좋지 않을까요?
Wouldn’t it be better to wear more clothes?

‘입다(to wear)’ becomes ‘입는,’ so the phase becomes ‘입는 게 좋다(It’s better to wear).’
To make “Wouldn’t it?” in a sentence, you need to use ‘(으)ㄹ까요?’ at the end of the sentence.
So it becomes ‘입는 게 좋지 않을까요?’

Ex.3)
이거 파는 게 좋을 거예요.
I think it’s better to sell this.

‘팔다(to sell)’ finishes with the /ㄹ/ final consonant.
So, you drop /ㄹ/, goodbye /ㄹ/ and add ‘는 게 좋다’ to make ‘파는 게 좋다(It’s better to sell).’
“I think” can be expressed as ‘(으)ㄹ 거예요,’ so it becomes ‘파는 게 좋을 거예요(I think it’s better to sell).’

Quiz

What goes into the parentheses?
・ 몇 시에 (            ) 좋을까요?
What time is it better to start?

(1)시작하는 게 (2)시작하다 게

The answer is (1).
‘시작하다’ is ‘to start,’ right? So ‘시작하는 게 좋다’ is ‘It’s better to start.’
To ask ‘Is it~?,’ you just need to say ‘(으)ㄹ까요?,’ so it becomes “시작하는 게 좋을까요?(Is it better to start?)”

The whole sentence would be “몇 시에 (시작하는 게) 좋을까요?”

Conversation (Korean only)

Let’s listen to the conversation once again, but this time only in Korean.

그럼 확인해 보세요！

• 상민：토미 씨, 점심 먹었어요?
• 토미：아니요, 아직 안 먹었어요. 이제 먹으려고요. 상민 씨는요?
• 상민：잘됐다. 우리 같이 먹죠.
• 토미：좋아요. 근데 뭘 먹을까요? 상민 씨가 자주 가는 식당이 있어요?
• 상민：찌개 잘하는 가게가 있어요. 토미 씨는 순두부찌개나 된장찌개 좋아해요? 좋아하면 거기 갈까요?
• 토미：찌개요? 맛있겠다. 좋아요. 거기로 가죠. 걸어서 갈 수 있어요?
• 상민：네. 근데 좀 많이 걸어야 돼요. 택시 타고 가는 게 좋겠어요.

Conversation Practice

This is practice time.
그럼 큰소리로 읽어 보세요！

• 상민：토미 씨, 점심 먹었어요?
  Sangmin： Tammy, did you eat lunch?
• 토미：아니요, 아직 안 먹었어요. 이제 먹으려고요. 상민 씨는요?
  Tammy： No, I haven’t eaten yet. I’m going to eat now. How about you, Sangmin?
• 상민：잘됐다. 우리 같이 먹죠.
  Sangmin： Good. Let’s eat together.
• 토미：좋아요. 근데 뭘 먹을까요? 상민 씨가 자주 가는 식당이 있어요?
  Tammy： Okay. But what should we eat? Is there a restaurant that you go to often?
• 상민：찌개 잘하는 가게가 있어요. 토미 씨는 순두부찌개나 된장찌개 좋아해요? 좋아하면 거기 갈까요?
  Sangmin： There is a restaurant that makes good Jjigae. Do you like Soondubu Jjigae or Doenjang Jjigae? If you do, why don’t we go there?
• 토미：찌개요? 맛있겠다. 좋아요. 거기로 가죠. 걸어서 갈 수 있어요?
  Tammy： Jjigae? Sounds delicious. Good. Let’s go there. Can we walk there?
• 상민：네. 근데 좀 많이 걸어야 돼요. 택시 타고 가는 게 좋겠어요.
  Sangmin： Yes. But we have to walk a lot. I think it’s better to take a taxi.

Homework

We have two homework assignments for today.

The first homework is to make a sentence.

Use ‘하는 게 좋다’ that we learned today to advise someone, such as ‘It’s better to do~.’
For example,

• 감기에 걸리면 빨리 들어가서 쉬는 게 좋아요.
  If you catch a cold, going home early to rest is better.

The second homework is memorizing vocabulary.
Please memorize 40 words from #1001 to #1040 on page 13 of the Elementary Vocabulary List.

Also, this is the 35th lesson. So, I prepared a special test for you.
Lesson No. 31 to 35 will be on the test.
You can strengthen your reading skills and grammar through it.
And it can be a solid foundation for answering all the questions on TOPIK.

That’s all for today!
그럼 오늘도 행복 가득, 웃음 가득한 하루 되세요！ 한국어 화이팅, 화이팅, 화이팅！！