What criteria are used to classify parts of speech?
Korean school grammar classifies words into 9 parts of speech based on three criteria: form (whether the form changes), function (what role it plays in a sentence), and meaning (whether it shares a common semantic characteristic). Grouped again by function, they can be organized into 5 broader categories: substantives (nouns, pronouns, numerals), predicates (verbs, adjectives), modifiers (determiners, adverbs), relational words (particles), and independent words (interjections).
How do you distinguish verbs from adjectives?
Verbs and adjectives are easy to confuse because both share the trait of being conjugated, but they differ in meaning: verbs express an action or process, while adjectives express a quality or state. A practical way to distinguish them is to try attaching the present-tense ending "-는다/-ㄴ다": if it sounds natural, it's a verb (e.g., 먹는다, "eats"); if it sounds awkward, it's an adjective (e.g., "예쁜다" sounds unnatural).
Are determiners and adjectives different?
Yes, they are different. A determiner, like 새 ("new") in 새 옷 ("new clothes"), never changes form and only modifies a substantive, whereas an adjective, like 예쁜 ("pretty") in 예쁜 옷 ("pretty clothes"), is formed by conjugating its base form (예쁘다). A determiner is a word whose part of speech is fixed, while an adjective combining with a determiner-form ending to modify a substantive is the result of conjugation — that is the key difference.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a particle considered a word on its own?
Yes, Korean school grammar recognizes particles as an independent part of speech (a word) in their own right. However, unlike other parts of speech, they have the distinctive orthographic feature of being written attached to the preceding word, by rule.
What is the relationship between parts of speech and spelling?
Accurately distinguishing parts of speech makes it much easier to understand spelling rules such as spacing and ending conjugation. If you're curious about commonly misspelled examples in everyday Korean, see our complete guide to commonly misspelled Korean words as well.