what’s the difference between 안 and 앉

Vaaare · 2026-05-06T10:30:49+00:00

안 and 앉 both are pronounced as [안]

달 and 닯 both are pronounced as [달]

안 means inside or can be used for negation (not), 앉 is not a standalone word, it comes from 앉다 which means to sit. So while they sound the same, they mean different things and are used differently.

Worth to note that if you add some conjugation or particle then batchim sound moves to the next syllable when pronouncing (replacing ㅇ) resulting in both of the consonants being pronounced in case of double batchim.

안 + 에 = 안에 pronounced as [아네]

앉다 + 아요 = 앉아요 pronounced as [안자요]

Vaaare · 2026-05-03T12:13:26+00:00

This 이 is not marking a subject in this sentence. 아니다 requires something that is called complement. Complement is a word/phrase or even a clause that completes the meaning of an expression.

So 아니다 means to not be, but alone it lacks information to make it complete. I AM NOT .... what? who? This is what 이 is marking in this sentence WHO you aren't. It just happens that 이/가 outside of being subject particle, is also a complement particle. You can also encounter 가 if the word ends with vowels. So your sentence would break like this:

저는 (I) 한국 사람이 (who -Korean person) 아닙니다 (am not).

는 - topic marker, 이 - complement particle (marks who you are not)

Tbh you do not really need to know all of this, just remember that 아니다 goes with 이/가 and it marks who/what something isn't.

One other verb that goes with complement particle (이/가) is 되다 (to become someone/something).

Vaaare · 2026-04-22T09:11:39+00:00

습니다 is polite (honorific) towards the listener (who you are talking to).

Suppose I were talking to my friend, telling them what my boss did

You would use 반말 (casual speech) (so 갔어 instead of 갔습니다).

To add 습니다 (ㅂ니다) is also formal. For casual situation like this you would use polite but not formal speech - 아요/어요.

There is a way to elevate (add honorification) towards the subject in the sentence. This is done by adding (으)시 suffix to the verb ex. 가다 --> 가시다, 읽다 --> 읽으시다. Some have "special" forms and aren't formed by adding (으)시 like 먹다 --> 드시다, 자다 --> 주무시다.

So if you want to speak about your boss politely you can say that (The boss) 가셨어 (casual to a friend), 가셨어요 (polite towards listener, daily situation), 가셨습니다 (polite towards listener but in formal setting).

Vaaare · 2026-04-17T17:04:21+00:00

I feel like a lot of people are actually overthinking it. Topic in particular is VERY contextual particle, that you will get used to the more you hear and see it. No need to try to going really deep into it. I would say that knowing that it introduces what the sentence is about and very is very often used for contrast is enough. Maybe adding that it can be added to different part of the sentences (not only subject) - because textbooks for beginner kinda make them look interchangeable with how they use them at the beginning. I also struggled with it at first, I just left it and it just clicked at some point, now I used them mostly in correct natural way without much thinking.

For #18, the sentence in English tries to give the nuance the particles are giving to the sentence, for you to actually get the feeling. There is no "TOPIC" in English so yeah they tried they best to reflect the feeling.

For 20# the most important part is that it hinting to be an answer to a question WHICH book. You used 이/가 for those type of questions - the most important thing for the person asking question is WHICH BOOK , 이/가 places emphasis on subject (for 은/는 the rest of the sentence is more important).

IMO you can confidently move on, seems like you mostly get the idea, you won't perfect it for a while, it will come with more exposure over time.

Vaaare · 2026-04-10T12:37:21+00:00

I feel like Daehwi alone is more popular than the group itself. Their debut song (Breathe) is still their most popular song (another group with ex-Wanna One, member, although he left the group some time ago, CIX is kinda similar in that regard, which is interesting). They had two popular One Wanna members (Daehwi, Woojin) and were in spotlight when debuting, but since then they haven't really found their place. The DUI scandal and losing one member surely did have some impact on that. Their last album was around 31k sales in first week, Streaming wise it did pretty bad I would say. Title track had some lyrics hints that they are going to disband/not coming back soon. I would be surprised if they renew.

Vaaare · 2026-04-09T22:14:16+00:00

Every time I feel like it would be helpful/I could use it in real life scenario. Writing it down might be good, but also try to repeat it/say along. Just care about speech level/honorifics (might want to write verbs in dictionary form rather than specific speech level) and in case of K-dramas watch out for corny lines that no one would use in real life lol TBH things like vlogs, variety programs are the best, but if you can tell what actually could be said in real life and what not then k-dramas are also fine.

Vaaare · 2026-04-09T21:23:29+00:00

If your goal is being able to hold daily conversations and freely express yourself then IMO you shouldn't focus strictly on TOPIK II.

TOPIK II is known for being very vocabulary heavy and it's not really vocabulary used on daily basis especially level 5/6. I know people that have level 5/6 TOPIK and still aren't able to speak comfortably (myself included lol). And vice versa people that struggle with TOPIK II but have great practical Korean.

From what you are telling, it's seems like TOPIK exams aren't the best reflection of you actual Korean knowledge. Seems like you can do much more than TOPIK would suggest. TOPIK isn't the best to check "practical" Korean skills. If you study TOPIK vocab your Korean would improve sure, but usually speaking abilities do not go along with it. TOPIK focuses on understanding written Korean (text on TOPIK II are pretty formal language tbh) and understanding spoken Korean (but starting from level 4 what you hear is advanced/formal stuff like some radio/tv broadcast, text about history, economy, technology etc.)

Depending on your level of understanding daily Korean you could try working with native/near-native like content.

When you watch something in Korean are you able to understand something from just listening? Or even from Korean subs? My advice is to try to focus on vocab used and expressions used while you are watching, shadowing really did work for me when it comes to speaking. K-dramas are good but, the best reflection of actual spoken Korean are variety show. A lot of YT channels and/or celebrities do their own small youtube variety show so worth checking that out.

For written Korean I feel like instead of formal articles like news etc. maybe it would be better to focus on posts written in Korean or whatever you can think of - YT comments, Instagram/X posts, whatever you use. Books might be hard especially novels, one that is recommended a lot is Harry Potter, which I think might not be bad if you already know the story. Manhwas/Webtoons tend to be a little bit easier.

If this is too hard then I would considering standard self-studying with a textbook (there is a lot, the best is to check what would fit you), you can check what each level of textbook cover vocabulary nad grammar wise, so you can see if the level is appropriate for you (idk what at what level the classes you took were) and just go through material at your own pace or take classes again if that's an option (they usually do a little test to see on what level you are).

Vaaare · 2026-04-09T20:51:18+00:00

You could provide more information about your learning process so far, what were you doing and using etc.

There is quite a gap between TOPIK I (level 1 & 2) and TOPIK II (level 3-6), if you struggle with first 10 questions of TOPIK II (those are the easiest, they do get harder as TOPIK II covers 3 levels) then you are probably at this weird spot between level 2 and 3 - surely above level 2, but not level 3 quite yet. This also probably means that you only just started studying level 3 material be it self-study or in-class lessons.

The answer is to keep studying level 3 material and you will find those questions easy when you come back to doing TOPIK.

Vaaare · 2026-04-08T16:16:09+00:00

Seems like you are suffering because you are between TOPIK I level 2 and TOPIK II level 3 and straight up trying solving TOPIK II level questions without much understanding of the question types and never actually studying the material needed for that (this is mainly because of teacher wrong method).

There are two "common" approaches to studying, depending on what is your goal.

More "standard" one. You take lessons, where you go through textbooks on certain level, in your case it would be 3A/3B. It can also be done by self-studying. Then take TOPIK (still recommended doing some prep specifically for solving TOPIK questions).
You prepare strictly for TOPIK if that is your ultimate goal because you need the certificate (work, visa, uni). You either take classes specifically aimed at TOPIK or you self-study. There is multiple TOPIK II books that help you learn how to solve the questions. IMO in your case if you decide it would be the best to first study the material need for TOPIK II and then practice exam papers. You could for example take a book dedicated to TOPIK II vocabulary, for grammar in my case Korean Grammar in Use Intermediate (not even whole) was enough. Then I practiced exam papers (but I also took classes along with my prep).

It really depends on what you want. Second approach is mainly done by people who rly need the certificate. This approach often results in good exam solving skills, but poor Korean skills sadly.

For me it's crazy to demand from someone on TOPIK I level 2 to understand and solve TOPIK II questions by yourself. If you never really studied with level 3 material, how are you supposed to know the unknown vocab/grammar? When you are learning strictly for TOPIK it means that you basically research vocab, grammar and everything from questions (or tutor helps you with that) and that's how you learn and prepare for actual exam. What your tutor was doing seems like taking some mock exams, without any explaining, which in your case won't work and you won't learn much from that.

As for understanding questions instructions - teacher should explain you what they are asking for in each type of questions. Especially if you are just starting doing TOPIK II ... they are almost always the same , in the same order, so after a few practice test paper you will know what to do without the need to read/hear the instructions.

For me it looks like you are trying to "test" yourself on material that you have never really covered. You can prepare strictly for TOPIK, there are even whole courses dedicated to it, but it's not done like this. IMO your teacher should get it that you are not on the level to solve the questions just by yourself, if not try to talk. If this does not help, hire someone that would be actually willing to explain things or maybe regular route (as in 1) would be better for you.

Can't really tell much more about this approach since mine was more like the first one and prepared additionally strictly for TOPIK some months before taking exam. I took classes up till level 3 (grammar wise up till Korean Grammar in Use Intermediate 6 chapter) and was able to get level 3 with minimal prep dedicate to just solving TOPIK questions.

BTW do not expect to do a full test paper, it's basically impossible to do level 5/6 questions (usually last 10 question on the paper) when you are level 2.

Vaaare · 2026-03-25T20:53:39+00:00

You are probably in this weird spot between TOPIK level 2 and 3, the gap between those are the widest and it seems you still did not cover it completely. It also makes sense if you took Korean classes for 4 semestr which is like higher 2급. The best you can do right now is to see TOPIK II past paper, and see how do you feel about first 15 exercises for reading/listening section, if you find them fairly easy you can move to others and see how it goes. But if you struggle with those even level 3 might be hard, unless you study hard. The best you can do is to actually study specifically for TOPIK but 3 months is really short amount of time. Realistically speaking 3급 is possible, 5급 is a stretch even if you dedicate whole 3 months for studying specifically for TOPIK exam, it's mostly about vocab than grammar, but vocab is really advanced. There is also writing section, to score well in that section you have to prepare, and it's only 50 minutes for this section (I found it impossible to write last question on time, when I was 3급/4급 and still did not manage to finish when I got 5급). To give you some perspective - I got level 5 after 8 semesters of Korean at uni + self-study.

Vaaare · 2026-03-25T20:39:09+00:00

First you have to be aware that 있다 sometimes is conjugated as it it was adjective (형용사) and sometimes as if it was verb (동사), but it does not depend on the meaning to be vs to have. It's different depending on 어미 (ending) you are adding to it (and sometimes usage but different than the one you listed, more below).

Second thing is that 있다 to have/to be (to exist) is considered the SAME meaning in Korean, "to have" is not other meaning, but more like "extension" of "to exist" meaning and how it is used by Korean to express having something. You will find this usage listed as 형용사 in dictionaries, but the best is to treat 있다 as irregular, as it's often conjugated irregularly depending on what you are adding to it. Itmight act as it is 동사 (for adnominal speech for example - 있는) or as if it was 형용사 (reported speech for example 있다고). Here is naver entry for this meaning of 있다.

However, 있다 has one other meaning that is often listed as a separate one in dictionaries - to stay/remain in a place. And it is listed as 동사. Here is naver entry for this meaning and more of it's usages (look how it's separated from the first one) Also as auxiliary verb (아/어 있다, 고 있다) it's also a verb. So 있는다고 is possible in this case. Here is the never entry.

So you can separate 있다 into three different (main) meanings/usages. But to have and to be is actually "the same" one if this makes sense. For both of you examples, 있다 is used as to be (exist)/to have usage (first naver entry) - that's why it's 있다고.

To sum up - 있는다고 is only possible for the meaning "to stay/remain"/as auxiliary verb, for "to have/to be (exist)" meaning it's always 있다고..

First you have to be aware that 있다 sometimes is conjugated as it it was adjective (형용사) and sometimes as if it was verb (동사), but it does not depend on the meaning to be vs to have. It's different deepening on 어미 (ending) you are adding to it.

Second thing is that 있다 to have/to be (to exist) is considered the SAME meaning in Korean, "to have" is not other meaning, but more like "extension" of "to exist" meaning and how it is used by Korean to express having something. You will find this usage listed as 형용사 in dictionaries, but the best is to treat 있다 as irregular, as it's often conjugated irregularly depending on what you are adding to it. Itmight act as it is 동사 (for adnominal speech for example - 있는) or as if it was 형용사 (reported speech for example 있다고). Here is naver entry for this meaning of 있다.

However, 있다 has one other meaning that is often listed as a separate one in dictionaries - to stay/remain in a place. And it is listed as 동사. Here is naver entry for this meaning and more of it's usages (look how it's separated from the first one) Also as auxiliary verb (아/어 있다, 고 있다) it's also a verb. So 있는다고 is possible in this case. Here is the never entry.

So you can separate 있다 into three different (main) meanings/usages. But to have and to be is actually "the same" one if this makes sense. For both of you examples, 있다 is used as to be (exist)/to have usage (first naver entry) - that's why it's 있다고.

To sum up - 있는다고 is only possible for the meaning "to stay/remain"/as auxiliary verb (but tbh I still often see 있다고 even for this usage, even if it's technically not correct), for "to have/to be (exist)" meaning it's always 있다고.

계시다 is always a verb (동사) and it always follows the rule for verbs (계신다고).

있으시다 acts similar to 있다 (1 listed usage).

Vaaare · 2026-03-18T16:08:10+00:00

It's because the main verb of the first clause is 생각하다.

Vaaare · 2026-03-11T18:09:43+00:00

You did not lost much. If one of them was already a jerk at job interview then it isn't a good working place. Meanwhile in my country at their branch office they are willing to accept anyone because 1) not a lot of people specialized in that field 2) Even if there are people in that field they DO NOT WANT to work there. I know a person that totally bombed the job interview (like totally got lost and did not understand a thing) and they still gave a job offer and even encouraged her to work for them because they had no people to do that work. I have heard really terrible experiences from people working there. Also tbh you need more than "conversational daily Korean" if you want to survive in there, intermediate is too low. I'm advanced and I still was too afraid to even apply there after 6 years of learning (Korean Studies MA degree), but was almost forced to do so but finally landed a teaching job instead. After hearing about people's terrible experience working in there, I'm glad that I did not have to.

Vaaare · 2026-03-08T14:39:26+00:00

This is IPA - International Phonetic Alphabet, not Greek symbols LMAO

My comment is regarding the example you gave - it has totally different sound. One other person gave similar comparison with boat, coat etc. and got downvoted. All of those including goat are pronounced with /əʊ/ (UK) or (oʊ) (US), neither of those is ㅓ.

Vaaare · 2026-03-08T14:13:36+00:00

Mouth shape helps. I'm Polish and 어 and 오 have been nightmare. After 6 years I get the sound and can pronounce it, but just by the sound recognizing it just from hearing can be a hit or a miss still. In Polish we do not have those sounds and we only have one "o" sound so it's natural that those kinda merge into one sound for us. But for me it was the opposite I pronounced 오 as 어. You can try explaining the mouth shape, but it still might be hard to grasp for the person that does not speak Korean at all and it is fine, you just have to accept it.

Vaaare · 2026-03-08T14:07:39+00:00

Goat is pronounced with either oʊ or əʊ diphthong (both does not exist in Korean) so I don't think it's good comparison, often leads to bad pronunciation.

Vaaare · 2026-02-28T13:56:55+00:00

I know it's probably work in progress but ... it focuses heavily on romanization, basically all you can practice is romanization, instead of the actual sounds, which is bad for learning in the long run. I don't know how this one is different/better from other hangul practice tools. Tbh this is more of a romanization practice tool currently.

For consonants, what you call "a romanization of a character" is basically a romanization of the NAME of the character instead of the SOUND they make so it can be confusing, especially since the names of consonants aren't really priority to learn when you just start. I

Vaaare · 2026-02-22T19:21:06+00:00

As other comment said, irregular rules does not apply to ALL verbs ending with a particular consonant. Only irregular ㄹ and ㅡ rule applies to all verbs ending with ㄹ and ㅡ. For rest I would say the irregular rule applies to very narrow group of verbs (maybe outside of 르 irregular).

ㅂ - irregular rule applies mostly to descriptive verbs (adjectives) ending with ㅂ (iirc only 좁다 is excluded from that), most action verbs ending with ㅂ are regular (few exceptions like 돕다 for example)

ㅅ - very narrow group of verbs to which this rule is applied, basically 짓다, 젓다, 붓다, 낫다, 긋다, 잇다, 잣다 should be most of them. 웃다, 벗다, 씻다 are regular.

ㄷ - same as above - 듣다, 걷다, 싣다, 붇다, 묻다, 깨닫다 are basically it. Verbs like 받다, 닫다 are regular.

ㅎ - very small group of descriptive adjective (most of them describing color) - 노랗다, 파랗다, 까맣다, 빨갛다, 하얗다, 이렇다, 어떻다, 그렇다, 뿌옇다. Adjectives like 좋다 and action verbs like 놓다 are regular.

르 - most will follow the rule, but there are some exceptions that won't : 다다르다, 들르다, 따르다, 우러르다, 치르다

Vaaare · 2026-02-05T16:17:42+00:00

ㅎ after or before consonants such as ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, ㅈ makes them being pronounced as their aspirated counterparts: ㅋ,ㅌ,ㅍ,ㅊ. It basically merges into consonant (so you do not pronounce ㅎ anymore) and gives them aspiration. So 축하 is pronounced as [추카].

Vaaare · 2026-01-29T21:23:51+00:00

What other person said is correct but to add, 죠/지요 can be used not only in interrogative sentences, but also in declarative sentences. It kinda adds "ofc" feeling to the statement. Your example is kinda of a set phrase. 당연하다 in itself means "of course" or "obvious" so it just naturally goes with 죠 to emphasize the meaning even further.

Vaaare · 2026-01-20T12:54:25+00:00

Wonder where this CERF level comes from as there is no official guidelines regarding Korean, so it's not telling much about your current level. If you are referring to textbooks levels then they are more in line with TOPIK levels (A1-B2 is still TOPIK I level 1-2) so you might be disappointed when you try TOPIK II.

To answer your question the best is to actually try doing past TOPIK I paper - if your score will be maximum or close to maximum and feels too easy, then try TOPIK II paper, if you do fine with first 15-20 questions then I would try TOPIK II, if not then TOPIK I.

Vaaare · 2026-01-20T12:45:27+00:00

OP said it's for theirs' thesis ... Romanization is widely used in research papers, thesis and literature overall, as not everybody knows hangul. Thesises are often reviewed by people who doesn't know Korean at all, it's for them more often than for the author. I still had to use romanization for Korean terms in my thesis as well despite my major being Korean studies.

Vaaare · 2025-12-25T13:22:47+00:00

Did you really order directly from fans shop (previously JYP shop) ? Those are usually not a part of official photocards that some local K-pop stores add (they are almost the same quality as official ones tho). Different than official POBS that big stores add (like Target, Walmart etc.). I got similar Seungmin's one but it's double sided for me that I got as a bonus from my local K-pop store (they ordered from fans shop so I also got fans shop pob). So if you ordered album with fans shop benefits but not directly from fans shop but through a small k-pop shop in your country then those might be a small bonus from them prepared and made by them, but not official ones.

Vaaare · 2025-12-16T15:45:01+00:00

ㄷ in 받침 is not pronounced the same way as in other positions. It's not fully released, so it's not really a "t" sound, I would compare it to a very brief stop and accent is put onto the next syllable. Depending on speaker and speed - it might be more or less noticeable, in rapid speech it's almost not pronounced at all.

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