Korean Grammar Study Guide: Verb Endings, Particles and Honorifics in 161 Flashcards
Learn Korean grammar with deck IV0133: 161 flashcards on verb suffixes, speech levels, particles like 은/는 and 께서, and honorifics from 드시다 to 폐하.
Studying. But it's also a video game. 🎮
Flashcards, quizzes and games that make you actually remember.
Posted by
FLIP IT TeamRelated reading
Memorize Hangul Fast: 71 Flashcards on Jamo, Batchim and Syllable Blocks
Learn the Korean alphabet with 71 real flashcards: 24 basic jamo, tense and aspirated consonants, compound vowels, batchim rules and syllable blocks.
Learn Korean Numbers, Colors, Days & Months: Native vs Sino-Korean in 79 Flashcards
Learn Korean numbers with 79 flashcards: native vs Sino-Korean, when to use each, counter forms, colours, weekdays as elements and the months 유월 and 시월.
Memorize Korean Proverbs, Idioms and Casual Slang: 173 Flashcards from 속담 to ㅋㅋㅋ
Study 85 Korean proverbs, 10 body idioms and 78 casual words with real flashcards: clipped proverbs, idiom pairs, and fixes for 심심해, 헐, 대박 and 왜냐하면.
Korean grammar is built from the right: a verb root, then a stack of suffixes for honorifics, tense, formality and mood. Flip It deck IV0133, Korean Grammar: Verbs, Particles & Honorifics, covers that stack in 161 cards, split into three clear blocks you can study one at a time.
Study this deck: Korean Grammar: Verbs, Particles & Honorifics
1 / 10Four main categories of Korean verbs
Tap the card for the answer · swipe right if you knew it, left if not
The three blocks
| Cards | Block | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| 1-50 | Verb morphology | infinitive -어/-아, tense suffixes, speech-level endings, attributive forms |
| 51-67 | Particles | 은/는, 이/가, 을/를, 에/에서, 부터/까지, 께서/께 |
| 68-161 | Honorifics | -(으)시, suppletive verbs, -님 titles, 존댓말 vs 반말 |
Sample cards from the deck
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| Infinitive form of 오 (o, 'come') | 와 (wa) - the vowels contract |
| Past perfective form of 오 | 왔 (wat) - from 와 + 았 |
| What does 먹던 밥 mean | Once-eaten cooked rice (imperfective) |
| Difference between 못 and 안 negation | 못 = inability/cannot; 안 = general negation |
| 에서 (eseo) | From (with motion), at/in (with action): 방에서 공부를 했다 |
| Suppletive honorific: 'to sleep' (자다) | 주무시다 (jumusida) |
| Humble verb: 'to give' (주다) | 드리다 / 올리다 |
| Inappropriate use of -ssi | Never with the surname alone (박 씨) |
You'll cover: vowel harmony, -었/았 past, -었었 remote past, -겠 prospective, -(스)ㅂ니다 / -(스)ㅂ니까, plain -(는)다, -자 propositive, -어라 imperative, 요 politeness, the six speech levels from 하십시오 to 해, attributive -는/-(으)ㄴ/-(으)ㄹ/-던, connectors -고 vs -서, 이다/아니다, irregular 하다 → 했, passive/causative -이/-히/-리/-기, 께서, 께, 으로/로, 의, 도, 만, 과/와/랑, 저/저희, 계시다, 드시다, 시장하시다, 형님, 누님, 아드님, 따님, 선배/후배, 군/양, vocative 아/야, 각하, 전하, 폐하, 압존법, and the archaic humble -(으)옵 of 주시옵소서.
Study tips specific to this deck
Learn the four 먹- forms as one picture. Cards 34-37 (먹는 밥, 먹은 밥, 먹을 밥, 먹던 밥) are the cleanest way to lock in attributive forms, which is how Korean builds relative clauses (card 45). Drill them together, then make the same four-way set with 읽다 and 보다 yourself.
Merge the doubles and fix three backs. The honorific block repeats the first half: 께서 (55 and 66), 께 (56 and 67), 계시다 (41 and 73), -(으)시 (10 and 71), and the formal endings (19-20 vs 84-85). Keep one card of each. Then correct card 85: the formal interrogative is 습니까, not 십니까 (the romanization on the card is already right). Card 87 should read 하시오/하십시오, and card 131 romanizes 선생님이 as seonsaengnimi. Also note that the "subjunctive -시" in card 18 is a historical analysis; in modern textbooks -(으)시 means the honorific (card 10), so don't let the two collide.
Particles before honorifics. Block 2 is short and pays off immediately in every sentence; block 3 is mostly vocabulary (titles, family terms, suppletive verbs) that you can learn in sets of ten.
Pair it with vocabulary
The particles here are exactly the ones sorted in our Korean A2 vocabulary guide, and the 반말 side of the politeness scale shows up in Korean proverbs, idioms and casual slang.
Search for deck IV0133 in the Flip It library to start studying.
Ready to learn faster? 🚀
Join FLIP IT for free and turn studying into a game.