Korean adverbs – Words that describe verbs and adjectives

Korean Adverbs are another part of Korean grammar greatly connected with Korean verbs and adjectives. It can be used in sentences, phrases, and clauses – so basically, it can be a useful addition to any type of written or spoken word!

Adverbs may not be as easy to detect in sentences as Korean verbs, adjectives, and nouns might be. However, by the end of this article, we’re confident that you’ll learn Korean adverbs’ rules and master them!

What are Korean adverbs?

Korean Adverbs are used to describe a verb or an adjective further. You can expect Korean adverbs to operate largely in a similar fashion as they do in other languages. There are three ways in which adverbs are created and used in the Korean language, and at least 100 commonly used Korean adverbs.

To understand the basics of Korean adverbs, first, you will want to fully grasp the lessons on Korean verbs and adjectives and basic Korean grammar.

“Adverb” in Korean

The Korean word for “adverb” is 부사 (busa).

How to make adverbs in Korean – the three basic rules of Korean adverbs

Before moving onto the list of Korean adverbs we want to equip you with right away, let’s look at the Korean grammar rules with which adverbs are formed.

Do note that there are also numerous adverbs, such as some adverbs related to frequency, which do not need to follow any of these rules and simply stand on their own. In their case, you, unfortunately, have no option but to memorize which adverbs follow the rules and which do not.

Thankfully, there are quite clear steps regarding what kind of adverbs fit which rule category. And to make memorizing a little easier, we’ve included the special adverbs that aren’t conjugated by any rules as a separate chart for you to memorize from.

1) 히 (hi)

The conjugation 히 (hi) is used when you form adjectives into adverbs. This is usually added to adjectives that end with -하다 (hada). To do that, you replace -하다 (hada) in the dictionary form of the word with 히 (hi).

For example:

In this example, both 성급하다 (seonggeupaha) and 막연하다 (magyeonhada) end with -하다 (hada). However, in order to turn them from adjectives into adverbs, the 하다 (hada) gets removed and is replaced by the syllable 히 (hi).

Note that some 하다 (hada) adjectives can be used with 이(-i) instead of 히 (hi).

For example, if the stem ends in ㅅ, 이 is used for adverbs.

깨끗하다 (kkaekkeuthada) to be clean → 깨끗이 (kkaekkeusi) cleanly

2) ~게 (ge)

With ~게 (ge) conjugations, you can make an adverb in Korean out of an adjective. In this case, you keep the entire word stem and simply replace 다 (ge) with 게 (ge).

For example:

As you can see in the above examples, 다 (da) gets removed from the verb stem, and 게 (ge) gets added, and a Korean adverb is thus formed. Do note that in the case of some adjectives with -하다 (hada) endings, the syllable 히 (hi)-rule is used. You, unfortunately, simply have to learn to memorize these different adverbs in Korean that “break” the rule.

3) ~으로 (euro)

Finally, the third way of forming Korean adverbs. Technically, ~으로 (euro) is a post-position, not an adverb. But when used together with adjectives, you can create adverbs from them. If you translate Korean to English, 으로 adverbs mean “in some way,” which helps explain why they can be used in adverb form as well. It’s used with adjectives that end in the suffix 적 (jeok).

For example:

With each adjective in the example above, the great thing is that you don’t have to remove any part of it; you just simply add 으로 (euro)!

List of the most common adverbs in Korean

Below, you can find different types of adverbs and lists of Korean vocabulary formed from adjectives to their adverb form, which you can also start using right away.

Korean adverbs of degree

If you’d like to describe something in terms of its degree or intensity, these are the adverbs that you can use.

Korean adverbs of degree without rules

Below is another set of adverbs of degree. However, these do not follow any rules.

Korean adverbs of frequency

Here are the common Korean adverbs in terms of frequency. They describe how often things occur or happen.

Korean adverbs of frequency without any rule

Similar to Korean adverbs of degree, some adverbs of frequency also do not follow any rule. Here are some of them.

Korean adverbs of manner

The words for the adverbs of manner below are used to describe the action and descriptive verbs in terms of manner.

Korean adverbs of place

If you’d like to talk about a certain location of an object or a person, below are the common Korean adverbs of place.

Korean adverbs of time

The words below refer to the adverbs of time. These describe when events happened or will happen.

Other adverbs in Korean without rules

Similar to adverbs on frequency, here are other adverbs that do not follow any rule.

Sentence Examples of the Most Common Adverbs in Korean

Finally, here are a few example sentences to get you started on understanding how to use and place adverbs in a sentence.

솔직히 말하면 이 일은 제가 혼자 하기에 너무 복잡해요. (soljiki malhamyeon i ireun jega honja hagie neomu bokjapaeyo.)

Honestly speaking, this task is too complex for me to do alone.

밤에 기차역에서 집까지 안전하게 갈 수 있나요? (bame gichayeogeseo jipkkaji anjeonhage gal su innayo?)

Can you get home from the train station safely at night?

우리는 마지막 순간에 기적적으로 이겼어요. (urineun majimak sungane gijeokjeogeuro igyeosseoyo.)

We miraculously won the game at the very last minute.

미나와 함께 하면 두 배 빨리 끝낼 수 있어요. (minawa hamkke hamyeon du bae ppalli kkeunnael su isseoyo.)

If we do this together with Mina, we can finish twice as quickly.

나는 고기를 좀처럼 먹지 않아. (naneun gogireul jomcheoreom meokji ana.)

I seldom eat meat.

아무데나 앉으세요. (amudena anjeuseyo.)

Feel free to sit anywhere.

Other Helpful Resources

Becoming familiar with the different aspects of Korean Grammar can help you understand and use adverbs better. Here are other related resources that you can use:

• Korean Nouns – Essential words for your language learning
• Korean Verbs – The Complete List of Passive, Action, Irregular, and Adjective Words
• Korean Adjectives – Descriptive verbs and how to conjugate them
• Korean Conjugation – How to Use Verbs & Adjectives

Wrap Up

Now that you’ve found yourself equipped with a huge list of Korean adverbs and some example sentences aiding you in using them, you’re one step further in understanding Korean grammar. This will also greatly help in using the Korean language as naturally and colorfully as possible. As you learn Korean, you’ll highly appreciate gaining knowledge of these Korean adverbs.

What kind of adverbs do you most like? Which ones do you think will be tough to memorize? Let us know in the comments! If you’d prefer a lighter lesson next as you study Korean, how about learning some fun Korean exclamations?