Dictionary

My Dictionary is integrated with the website. When you see a Korean word, you should see it linked to a page in the wiki.

All of the things on a dictionary page should be linked. For instance, if you see 명 you'll see that that links to the page on 명사.

Reading a page, you should be able to see what the word means at the very top. If there is no obvious translation, I don't put a translation up there for you because it would probably hurt your efforts to understand.

I try to list all the definitions of the word that Koreans might know about, in the way they might understand it, along with my stab at English translations.

I also try to list short examples to give you a feel.

The Dictionary includes 속담 (sayings), because Koreans really, really like their sayings.

Oftentimes, the same word appears in multiple forms. I'm trying to collect them into one page. For instance, 를 and 을 are the same word, they just show up depending on the ending of the word they attach to. So you can go to Object Marker and read about what those words really mean.

Why Do I Use Korean Grammar Terms?

In all but the most trivial cases, I use the words Koreans use. The reason for this is simple: Our grammar words simply don't apply to Korean.

For example, take the concept of a 형용사. I can translate that roughly as "Adjective Verb", but that is all but meaningless to a non-Korean speaker in English. I think it's better to just learn that 형용사 are those words that describe something but behave mostly like verbs.

The most difficult grammar term you will come across is 관형사형 전성 어미, but when you get used to the words (어미 is a Verb Ending, 관형사 is a (true) Adjective, etc...) you'll be able to decode and remember these long names easily.