Lesson 8
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to say and write sentences such as “You are like an angel”, “This looks like coffee”, or “You are similar to my teacher.”
First, take a look at how to express that something is similar to something else.
비슷하다 = to be similar
- Present tense: 비슷해요 = it is similar
To say “A is similar to B” in Korean, the particle which means “with” or “together with” is needed. Do you remember which particle that is? It is -(이)랑 or -하고. (Go back to Level 2 Lesson 4 to review if you have forgotten!)
A랑 비슷해요. = It is similar to A.
B하고 비슷해요. = It is similar to B.
Ex)
도쿄는 서울하고 비슷해요?
= Is Tokyo similar to Seoul?
참외는 멜론하고 비슷해요.
= 참외 (a type of fruit) is similar to melon.
Now, look at the word for “to be the same” in Korean.
같다 = to be the same
- Present tense: 같아요 = it is the same, they are the same
In English, when saying “A is the same as B”, the word “as” is needed. In Korean, -(이)랑 or -하고 is used here as well.
A랑 같아요. = It is the same as A.
A하고 B는 같아요. = A and B are the same.
Ex)
이거랑 이거랑 같아요?
= Is this the same as this? / Are these two things the same?
So, -(이)랑/하고 비슷하다 and -(이)랑/하고 같다 are used to express that something is similar to, or the same as something else, in Korean!
There is another frequent usage of 같다, which means “to be like Noun.” In this usage, the noun followed by 같다 is mostly used by itself without any particles attached.
Conjugation
Noun + 같다 = to be like + Noun / to look like + Noun / to seem to be + Noun
Ex)
커피 같아요.
= It is like coffee. / It seems to be coffee. / It looks like coffee.
거짓말 같아요.
= It seems to be a lie. / It sounds like a lie.
로봇 같아요.
= It is like a robot. / It seems to be a robot. / It looks like a robot.
Sample Sentences
저 사람은 로봇 같아요.
= That person is like a robot.
경은 씨는 천사 같아요.
= Kyeong-eun is like an angel.
현우 씨는 천재 같아요.
= Hyunwoo seems to be a genius.
그 이야기는 거짓말 같아요.
= That story sounds like a lie.
이 강아지는 고양이 같아요.
= This puppy is like a cat.
Although this lesson only covered how to use 같아요 with nouns, in the next lesson, you will build upon that knowledge and learn to use 같아요 with verbs so you can say many more things in Korean!