Lesson 9

In this lesson, we are introducing a new verb ending which can be used, mainly, in three different ways. -(으)ㅁ is commonly used in everyday Korean in both formal and informal settings, and you can use it to simplify the structure of a sentence that would otherwise be a bit more complicated.

-(으)ㅁ changes a verb into a noun form. When the verb stem ends with a vowel, you just add -ㅁ, and when it ends with a consonant, you add -음 at the end. Let us look at the different usages and how -(으)ㅁ is different from other verb endings that make noun forms.

Usages of -(으)ㅁ

1. By attaching -(으)ㅁ after a verb stem, you can transform the verb into a noun. Basically any verb can be made into a noun in this manner, but there are certain words that are used so commonly with -(으)ㅁ that they are also often used as stand-alone nouns. The following are some of the most common examples:

웃다 (to laugh) - 웃음 (laughter, smile)

울다 (to cry) - 울음 (crying, weeping)

믿다 (to believe, to trust) - 믿음 (belief, trust)
Ex)
믿음을 가지세요. = Have some faith.

알다 (to know) - 앎 (knowing, knowledge) [암:]

살다 (to live) - 삶 (life) [삼:]

얼다 (to freeze) - 얼음* (ice)
* This does not mean “to be frozen”, but refers to frozen water or ice.

졸다 (to doze) - 졸음 (sleepiness, drowsiness)
Ex)
졸음 방지 껌 = anti-drowsiness gum
경은 씨는 졸음이 올 때 어떻게 해요? = What do you do when you get sleepy, Kyeong-eun?

슬프다 (to be sad) - 슬픔 (sadness)

기쁘다 (to be happy) - 기쁨 (pleasure, joy)

아프다 (to be painful, to be sick) - 아픔 (pain, agony)

젊다 (to be young) - 젊음 (youth)

꾸다 (to dream (a dream)) - 꿈 (dream)

지다 (to carry (luggage) on one's back) - 짐 (luggage)

추다 (to dance) - 춤 (dance)

자다 (to sleep) - 잠 (sleep)

Some of these verbs, such as 추다, 지다, and 꾸다 always have to be used together with their noun forms, whereas other verbs like 자다 and 살다 can be used with or without their noun forms.

자다 and 살다 can be used on their own or together with their noun forms, like “잠을 자다 (to sleep)” and “삶을 살다 (to live a life)”. One of the reasons one might use the noun form is to modify the noun with other adjectives.

추다, 지다, and 꾸다 can NOT be used on their own, because the meaning will not be clear enough. You always need to use them as a pair with their noun forms, such as “춤을 추다 (to dance)”, “짐을 지다 (to carry luggage on one's back)”, and “꿈을 꾸다 (to have a dream)”.

Ex)
I want to dance.
= 춤을 추고 싶어요. (O)
추고 싶어요. (X)

2. -(으)ㅁ can be used to make a sentence or clause into a noun group, so that you can then use the noun group as the object or the subject of a larger sentence structure.

Then, what is the difference between -다는/라는 것 and -(으)ㅁ?

Ex)
Nobody knew that today was my birthday.
= 오늘이 제 생일이라는 것을 아무도 몰랐어요.
= 오늘이 제 생일임을 아무도 몰랐어요.

In the sentence above, “오늘이 제 생일이에요” has been changed to the noun group, “오늘이 제 생일임” and is now the object of the verb 모르다, meaning that nobody knew “오늘이 제 생일임” or “the fact that today is my birthday”.

In most casual conversations, you should use -다는 것 or -라는 것 instead of -(으)ㅁ. -(으)ㅁ sounds much more formal than -다는 것 or -라는 것, therefore -(으)ㅁ is used more in official documents or more formal situations.

Ex)
He is a Korean person.
= 그 사람은 한국 사람이에요.

I knew that he was Korean.
= 그 사람이 한국 사람이라는 것을 저는 알고 있었어요.
= 그 사람이 한국 사람임을 저는 알고 있었어요.

* The sentence with -이라는 것을 is more likely to be used in everyday colloquial speech. However in written materials, such as in novels, news articles, official statements, etc., you will more often see -임을.
** Please note that the marker -은 in 그 사람은 was changed to -이 in the longer sentences. In compound sentences like these, the marker -은/는 often changes to -이/가 when the shorter sentence becomes part of a bigger structure.

Wait, there is another form for making nouns, which is -기!

Ex)
그 사람은 한국어를 배우기(를) 시작했어요.
= He started learning Korean.

In this sentence, you can see that 한국어를 배우다 has been changed to the noun form of 한국어를 배우기 to be used as the object of 시작하다.

Then, what is the difference between -(으)ㅁ and -기?

The basic difference between -(으)ㅁ and -기 is that the two endings are usually used with different types of verbs:

Verbs that follow nouns made using -(으)ㅁ
옳다 (= to be right)
나쁘다 (= to be bad/wrong)
분명하다 (= to be certain)
확실하다 (= to be sure)
발견하다 (= to discover)
알다 (= to know)
주장하다 (= to claim, to insist)
알리다 (= to tell/notify)
...etc.

Verbs that follow nouns made using -기
쉽다 (= to be easy)
어렵다 (= to be difficult)
좋다 (= to like)
싫다 (= to hate)
바라다 (= to hope)
시작하다 (= to begin)
계속하다 (= to continue)
멈추다 (= to stop)
약속하다 (= to promise)
...etc.

The verbs in the left column are related to whether something is a fact, or whether it is the right or wrong thing to do.

Examples

I am sure that he/she is a student.
= 학생임이 분명해요. (O)
학생이기가 분명해요. (X)

Learning Korean is easy.
= 한국어를 배우기는 쉬워요. (O)
한국어를 배움은 쉬워요. (X)

He is difficult to meet.
= 그 사람은 만나기가 어려워요. (O)
그 사람은 만남이 어려워요. (X)

I proved that I am innocent.
= 무죄임을 증명했어요. (O)
무죄이기를 증명했어요. (X)

He claimed that he was innocent.
= 그 사람은 자신이 무죄임을 주장했어요*. (O)
그 사람은 자신이 무죄이기를 주장했어요. (X)
* In this sentence, you can see the clause “자신이 무죄이다” inside the bigger structure “그 사람은 주장했어요.”

3.
-(으)ㅁ can also be used at the end of a sentence when it is not clear which formality level or sentence ending one should use. This usage is often found in written memos, online messages, warnings, reports, dictionaries, laws, notices, etc.

Ex)
진석진 씨에게 전화 왔음.
= Someone named 진석진 called you.

When you answer the phone for your coworker when she is away, you can leave a memo like this. You could write “전화 왔어요” or “전화 왔습니다”, but since you are not really “talking” to your coworker but rather simply delivering information, you can just use the neutral -(으)ㅁ ending. This is neither 반말 nor 존댓말. However, you would not write this to someone who is older than you unless you are close with them.

Ex)
읽음.
= (It has been) read.

When you send a message to someone on your phone or write an email, when the recipient receives and reads the message your phone or email might say “읽음” to let you know that the person read it. -(으)ㅁ is used instead of “읽었어요” or “읽었습니다” because it is more neutral and shorter to use.

Ex)
모르고 있음.
= He does not know.

You can see this type of subtitle on Korean TV shows. If one person does not know a fact that everybody else knows, you might see “모르고 있음” or “아직 모르고 있음” written on the screen, which means, “He does not know” or, “He does not know yet.”

Ex)
오늘 비가 옴.
= It rained today.

You might also use -(으)ㅁ in a journal as well if you list facts about the day rather than write a long passage.

Sample Dialogue

예은: 주연 씨, 왜 얼음을 씹어 먹고 있어요?
주연: 졸음 쫓으려고요.
예은: 그렇게 졸려요?
주연: 네, 사실 방금 졸다가 꿈까지 꿨어요.

Ye-eun: Jooyeon, why are you chewing on ice?
Jooyeon: To wake myself up.
Ye-eun: Are you that sleepy?
Jooyeon: Yes, I actually just nodded off and even had a dream.

Exercises for Lesson 9
Change the following verbs into nouns by attaching -(으)ㅁ.

웃다 →
울다 →
믿다 →
알다 →
살다 →
추다 →
자다 →
젊다 →
꾸다 →
졸다 →

Answers for Level 9, Lesson 9
웃음
울음
믿음
앎
삶
춤
잠
젊음
꿈
졸음