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EXPRESSING DESIRE IN KOREAN
The most common verbs used to express desire in Korean are 싶다 (shipda) and 원하다 (wonhada).
The objects or actions that are being desired are usually placed in front of the verbs ‘싶다’ and ‘원하다’ and are used with the object particles ‘을/를 (eul/rul)’.
WITH ~하다 VERBS
When the verbs ‘싶다’ and ‘원하다’ are used with objects that have been derived from ‘하다’ verbs, it takes the following structure:
- ~하기를 원하다. Conjugation I
- ~를/을 하고 싶다. Conjugation II
Let’s take a look at a few examples on how we can conjugate ‘하다’ verbs in this case.
| ‘하다’ verb infinitive | Conjugation I (i.e., ~하기를) | Conjugation II (i.e., ~를/을 하고) |
|---|---|---|
|
공부하다
To study | 공부 하기를 | 공부를 하고 |
|
식사하다
To have a meal | 식사 하기를 | 식사를 하고 |
|
운동하다
To do physical exercise | 운동 하기를 | 운동을 하고 |
|
독서하다
To read | 독서 하기를 | 독서를 하고 |
|
여행하다
To travel | 여행 has-text-align-center center data-th='Conjugation II (i.e., ~를/을 charset="utf-8">[speak 여행을 하고 | |
|
수영하다
To swim | 수영 하기를 | 수영을 하고 |
Now that you understand the conjugation part, let’s have a look at some sentence examples to help you better understand this topic:
| Korean | English |
|---|---|
| 나는 휴가 동안 독서를 많이 하고 싶다. | I want to read a lot of books during my vacation. |
| 그녀는 주말에 수영 하기를 원한다. | She wants to go for swimming on the weekends. |
| 내 친구는 러시아어 공부를 하고 싶다. | My friend wants to study Russian language. |
| 이번 여름엔 유럽 여행을 하고 싶다. | I want to travel in Europe this summer. |
| 운동을 하고 맛있게 식사 하기를 원한다. | I want to eat a good meal after I exercise. |
| 아버지와 함께 운동을 하고 싶다. | I want to go for exercise with my dad. |
WITH OTHER VERBS
When the verbs ‘싶다’ and ‘원하다’ are used with objects that have been derived from verbs in general, it takes the following structure:
- ~고 싶다. Conjugation I
- ~기를 원한다. Conjugation II
Let’s take a look at a few examples on how we can conjugate verbs in this case.
It’s quite simple – you just need to remove ‘다’ from the infinitive of the verb and add ‘기를’ or ‘고’.
| Infinitive verb | Conjugation I (i.e., ~기를) | Conjugation II (i.e., ~고) |
|---|---|---|
|
잠자다
To sleep | charset="utf-8"> | charset="utf-8"> |
|
charset="utf-8">
To walk | charset="utf-8"> | charset="utf-8"> |
|
charset="utf-8">
To run | charset="utf-8"> | charset="utf-8"> |
|
charset="utf-8">
To eat | charset="utf-8"> | charset="utf-8"> |
|
charset="utf-8">
To write | charset="utf-8"> | charset="utf-8"> |
|
charset="utf-8">
To read | charset="utf-8"> | charset="utf-8"> |
Let’s use these verbs in context, with sentence examples:
| Korean | English |
|---|---|
| 1)
나는 빨리 잠자기를 원한다. charset="utf-8">
2) 나는 빨리 잠자고 charset="utf-8"> | I want to go for sleep right away. |
| 1)
그녀는 버스를 타기 보다는 걷기를 원한다. charset="utf-8">
2) 그녀는 버스를 타기 보다는 걷고 charset="utf-8"> | She wants to walk rather than taking a bus. |
| 1)
나는 잘 달리고 싶다. charset="utf-8">
2) 나는 잘 달리기를 charset="utf-8"> | I want to run well. |
| 1)
동생은 빵을 먹고 싶다. charset="utf-8">
2) 동생은 빵을 먹기를 charset="utf-8"> | My younger brother wants to eat some bread. |
| 1)
사라는 글을 잘 쓰고 싶다. charset="utf-8">
2) 사라는 글을 잘 쓰기를 charset="utf-8"> | Sarah wants to write well. |
| 1)
철수는 영어로 잘 읽고 싶다. charset="utf-8">
2) 철수는 영어로 잘 읽기를 charset="utf-8"> | Cheol Su wants to read well in English. |
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MORE RESOURCES
Want to learn more? Check out these other free resources:
- Learn how to express desire in Mandarin
- Learn how to express desire in Japanese
- Learn how to express desire in Vietnamese
FAQs
How to express desire in Korean?
The most common verbs used to express desire in Korean are 싶다 (shipda) and 원하다 (wonhada).
The objects or actions that are being desired are usually placed in front of the verbs ‘싶다’ and ‘원하다’ and are used with the object particles ‘을/를 (eul/rul)’:
나는 휴가 동안 독서를 많이 하고 싶다.
I want to read a lot of books during my vacation.
나는 빨리 잠자고 싶다.
I want to go for sleep right away.
Some examples with 하고 싶다 ?
내 친구는 러시아어 공부를 하고 싶다.
My friend wants to study Russian language.
아버지와 함께 운동을 하고 싶다.
I want to go for exercise with my dad.
나는 휴가 동안 독서를 많이 하고 싶다.
I want to read a lot of books during my vacation.
Is Korean SVO or SOV?
Korean is a SOV language, meaning the basic language structure is:
Subject + Object + Verb
Japanese, Mongolian and Turkish are also SOV languages for example.
English is a SVO language: subject + verb + object
—
Learn more about Korean sentence structure here.
How to make negative sentences in Korean?
Expressing ‘not’. For verbs and adjectives. Add ‘안’ or ‘-지 않아요’ in front of them.
Example: 지수는 초콜릿을 좋아하지 않아요.
Expressing ‘cannot’. For verbs only. Add 못’or ‘-지 못해요’ in front of the verb.
Example: 저는 수영을 못 해요.
Expressing ‘do not know’. The word ‘to know’ in Korean is ‘알다’. However, we rarely apply the methods of case 1 and case 2 for this word. Instead, we use the word ‘몰라요’
Example: 나는 그녀의 연락처를 몰라요.
Expressing ‘not have’. When we make a sentence to talk about the absence of something, we would use ‘없어요’.
Example: 공원에 사람들이 거의 없어요.
—
Learn more about the negative form in Korean here.
What are some Korean sentence structures?
Here are the 3 most basic Korean sentence structure:
#1 || Subject + Verb
#2 || Subject + Object + Verb
#3 || Subject + Noun / Adjective
—
Learn more about Korean sentence structure here.
Where can I find more free Korean resources?
Our Korean Grammar Bank has some fantastic free resources for you to check out.