Everything in 1B so far has been regular. This is where that stops, in four places at once — and all four are things you will meet daily, so none of them can be deferred.
Relative dates
| Korean | English | Korean | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| 그제 | the day before yesterday | 월요일 [워료일] | Monday |
| 어제 | yesterday | 화요일 | Tuesday |
| 오늘 | today | 수요일 | Wednesday |
| 내일 | tomorrow | 목요일 [모교일] | Thursday |
| 모레 | the day after tomorrow | 금요일 [그묘일] | Friday |
| 글피 | two days after tomorrow | 토요일 | Saturday |
| 평일 | weekday | 일요일 [이료일] | Sunday |
| 주중 | during the week | 주말 | weekend |
Korean has single words for two days after tomorrow (글피) and the day before yesterday (그제), where English needs a phrase.
| Last | This | Next |
|---|---|---|
| 지난주 — last week | 이번 주 — this week | 다음 주 — next week |
| 지난달 — last month | 이번 달 — this month | 다음 달 — next month |
| 작년 [장년] — last year | 올해 — this year | 내년 — next year |
Note that the years break the pattern completely: 작년, 올해, 내년 are three unrelated words, not 지난/이번/다음 plus a unit.
Months and days
Both take Sino-Korean numbers (117).
| # | Month | # | Month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 일월 [이뤌] | 7 | 칠월 |
| 2 | 이월 | 8 | 팔월 [파뤌] |
| 3 | 삼월 | 9 | 구월 |
| 4 | 사월 | 10 | 시월 |
| 5 | 오월 | 11 | 십일월 |
| 6 | 유월 | 12 | 십이월 |
유월 and 시월 are the two irregulars. 육월 ✗ and 십월 ✗ are both wrong. The final consonant is simply dropped — 육 → 유, 십 → 시 — because 육월 and 십월 are awkward to say. Note that 십일월 (November) keeps its ㅂ; only the bare 십월 changes.
Days are regular throughout: 일일, 이일, 삼일 … 십일일, 이십일.
Parts of a month
| Korean | English |
|---|---|
| 6월 초에 | at the beginning of June |
| 6월 중순에 | in the middle of June |
| 6월 말에 | at the end of June |
Useful alongside the 첫째 주 / 마지막 주 vocabulary from 120 — 초/중순/말 are vaguer and therefore safer.
The particle 에, second job
에 marked place in 122. It also marks time.
| Example | English |
|---|---|
| 일요일에 | on Sunday |
| 칠월에 | in July |
| 칠월 팔일에 | on 8 July |
| 3시에 | at 3 o’clock |
에 is not attached to 어제, 오늘, 내일, 언제 or 지금. 오늘에 ✗ · 내일에 ✗ · 지금에 ✗
The rule of thumb: a time you could point at on a calendar takes 에; a time defined relative to now does not.
That single exception list explains a dialogue line in 127 — 오늘 저녁 같이 먹을까요? has no 에 on 오늘, and it is not an omission.
Asking about dates
| Question word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 몇 년(도) | which year | 몇 년도예요? |
| 몇 월 [며 둴] | which month | 몇 월이에요? |
| 며칠 | which day | 며칠이에요? |
| 무슨 요일 | which day of the week | 무슨 요일이에요? |
Two spelling traps:
- 며칠, not 몇 일. The word is built from 몇 + 일, but it is spelled the way it is said. This is one of the very few places where Korean orthography gives up on showing the parts — it is a standard exam question for exactly that reason.
- 무슨 요일, not 몇 요일. 몇 asks how many, and days of the week are not a quantity. 무슨 asks which kind.
오늘이 몇 월 며칠이에요? — What’s today’s date? 칠월 팔일이에요. — It’s 8 July.
오늘이 무슨 요일이에요? — What day is it today? 금요일이에요. — It’s Friday.
Irregular verbs
Two classes, both triggered by adding a vowel ending like -아요/어요.
ㅡ 불규칙 — the ㅡ irregular
A stem ending in ㅡ drops it before -아요/어요. The vowel choice is then made by whatever vowel is left behind.
바쁘다 → 바ㅃ + 아요 → 바빠요 예쁘다 → 예ㅃ + 어요 → 예뻐요
| Dictionary | -ㅂ니다 | -아/어요 | Past |
|---|---|---|---|
| 바쁘다 — busy | 바쁩니다 | 바빠요 | 바빴어요 |
| 예쁘다 — pretty | 예쁩니다 | 예뻐요 | 예뻤어요 |
| 아프다 — sick, sore | 아픕니다 | 아파요 | 아팠어요 |
| 고프다 — hungry | 고픕니다 | 고파요 | 고팠어요 |
| 크다 — big | 큽니다 | 커요 | 컸어요 |
| 쓰다 — to write, to use | 씁니다 | 써요 | 썼어요 |
Why 바쁘다 goes to 바빠요 but 예쁘다 goes to 예뻐요: once ㅡ is gone, the harmony rule looks at the preceding syllable’s vowel. 바 has ㅏ → 아요. 예 has ㅖ → 어요. The rule from 121 is unchanged; it is just being applied one syllable further back.
크다 and 쓰다 have no preceding syllable at all, so they default to 어 — 커요, 써요.
ㅂ 불규칙 — the ㅂ irregular
A stem-final ㅂ becomes 우 before a vowel ending — and then contracts.
맵다 → 매우 + 어요 → 매워요 덥다 → 더우 + 어요 → 더워요
| Dictionary | -ㅂ니다 | -아/어요 | Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|
| 맵다 — spicy | 맵습니다 | 매워요 | 매운 N |
| 쉽다 — easy | 쉽습니다 | 쉬워요 | 쉬운 N |
| 어렵다 — difficult | 어렵습니다 | 어려워요 | 어려운 N |
| 춥다 — cold | 춥습니다 | 추워요 | 추운 N |
| 덥다 — hot | 덥습니다 | 더워요 | 더운 N |
| 돕다 — to help | 돕습니다 | 도와요 | 도운 N |
돕다 is the exception inside the exception: its ㅂ becomes 오, not 우, giving 도와요. Only 돕다 and 곱다 do this.
입다, 잡다 and 좁다 are regular. They keep their ㅂ — 입어요, 잡아요, 좁아요. There is no way to tell from the spelling which ㅂ verbs are irregular; it has to be learned per verb.
This is where the weather words from 124 came from: 덥다 → 더워요 and 춥다 → 추워요 are both this rule.
Side by side
| ㅡ irregular — the ㅡ is dropped | ㅂ irregular — the ㅂ becomes 우 (or 오) |
|---|---|
| 바쁘다 → 바빠요 / 바빴어요 | 어렵다 → 어려워요 / 어려웠어요 |
| 예쁘다 → 예뻐요 / 예뻤어요 | 쉽다 → 쉬워요 / 쉬웠어요 |
| 배고프다 → 배고파요 / 배고팠어요 | 덥다 → 더워요 / 더웠어요 |
| 아프다 → 아파요 / 아팠어요 | 돕다 → 도와요 / 도왔어요 |
The formal -습니다 forms are regular for both classes — 바쁩니다, 맵습니다 — because -습니다 begins with a consonant. That is the general shape of Korean irregulars: they fire before a vowel and lie dormant before a consonant.
Practice
Q: 무슨 요일에 한국어 수업이 있어요? — Which day is the Korean class? A: 금요일에 있어요.
Q: 언제 (회사에) 입사했어요? — When did you join the company? A: 작년 12월 1일에 입사했어요.
입사하다 — to join a company. The counterpart is 퇴사하다, to leave one.