Korean Grammar Bank

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:

KoreanEnglish
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 verbConjugation I (i.e., ~기를) Conjugation II (i.e., ~고) 
잠자다
To sleep
charset="utf-8"> charset="utf-8">
charset="utf-8">
To walk
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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:

KoreanEnglish
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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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.

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