Overview
Maybe you already know a lot of Korean words but can't make a sentence with them yet. This pattern is a good place to start. It takes two nouns and says that one is the other, so you can use it for your nationality, your job, or the kind of person you are.
The pattern: A은/는 B이에요/예요
Noun + 은/는 + Noun + 이에요/예요 means "A is B."
Each part has two forms, and which one you use depends on the last sound of the noun in front of it:
선생님 ends in a consonant, so it takes 은: 선생님은. 저 ends in a vowel, so it takes 는: 저는. The same rule applies at the end of the sentence: 사람이에요, but 가수예요.
1. Four sentences about yourself
저는 프랑스 사람이에요. I'm French.
프랑스 is France and 사람 is person. To say your nationality, put the country name before 사람.
저는 채식주의자예요. I'm a vegetarian.
채식 means a diet of vegetables, and 채식주의자 is a person who follows one. 채식주의자 ends in a vowel, so it takes 예요.
저는 대학생이에요. I'm a university student.
대학 means university and 학생 means student. Put them together and you get 대학생, a university student.
저는 집순이예요. I'm a homebody.
집 means home. 집순이 is a woman or girl who likes to stay home. If you're a man, say 집돌이 instead: 저는 집돌이예요.
You'll often see this sentence written as 집순이에요, and that's how it appears in the video's subtitles too. Since 집순이 ends in a vowel, the standard spelling is 집순이예요.
2. Talking about other people
The first noun doesn't have to be 저. You can put anyone in that spot.
선생님은 한국 사람이에요. The teacher is Korean.
한국 is Korea. 선생님 ends in a consonant, so it takes 은.
지수 씨는 가수예요. Jisu is a singer.
가수 means singer. 씨 after a name is a polite way to refer to someone.
저는 고양이예요. I'm a cat. (야옹!)
It's a silly sentence, but it follows the same pattern. As with 집순이, you'll also see it written 고양이에요.
3. Are you a morning person?
저는 아침형 인간이에요. I'm a morning person.
아침 means morning, and 아침형 인간 is a "morning-type person."
저는 저녁형 인간이에요. I'm a night owl.
저녁 means evening. Swap 아침 for 저녁 and you have the opposite.
Try it yourself
How would you say these in Korean?
I'm a university student.
Jisu is a singer.
I'm a morning person.
Answers: 저는 대학생이에요. / 지수 씨는 가수예요. / 저는 아침형 인간이에요.
Now try one about yourself. Which one fits you better, 아침형 인간 or 저녁형 인간?
Keep practicing
All of these sentences come from the video "Introduce Yourself in Korean | Korean Sentence Pattern" by Learn Korean With Gillian. Listening to each sentence a few times and then saying it out loud helps the pattern stick faster than memorizing the rule.
If you want to practice with this lesson, you can add the video to LoudClip. It shows the subtitles in time with the video, so you can shadow it: listen to a line, then say it out loud right after.
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