LESSON 27

Infinitives and Favors

The infinitive is the form we get when we drop the particle yo: hae 해 = do, ga 가 = go, masyeo 마셔 = drink, anja 앉아 = sit, noa 놓아 = put, ilgeo 읽어 = read. But the infinitives of iseoyo 있어요, eopseoyo 없어요 and gatayo 같아요 are iseo 있어, eopseo 없어 and gata 같 아. (Some people say -(eu)seoyo 으세요 for -(eu)seo 으서, eopsseoyo 없어요 for eopseoyo, and gateyo for gatayo.) And the infinitives of honorific verbs which end in -(u)seyo have the ending -(eu)seo: japsuseyo 잡수세요 = someone honored eats but japsuo 잡숴. There is also a past infinitive with the ending -eoseo 었어 or -aseo 았어 (with all the usual irregularities). The basic rule for making the infinitive from the base is this:

Add -a if the vowel of the preceding syllable is o, otherwise add -eo. But the infinitives of vowel bases are a bit more difficult, and the rules depend on which vowel the base ends in; it is probably easiest just to learn the infinitives without worrying how they are made.

The infinitive form is used in a great many ways. It should not be confused with the English form called infinitive—the two have little or nothing in common.

One way you will hear the infinitive form is all by itself at the end of a sentence in the FAMILIAR style. This style is just like the POLITE style you have learned, except that you drop the yo at the end (and usually change -e to -eo):

POLITE	FAMILIAR
Eodi-seo wasseoyo?	Eodi-seo wasseo?
어디서 왔어요?	어디서 왔어?
Where are you from?
Mueot-eul haeyo?	Mwo hae?
무엇을 해요?	뭐해?
What do you do?
Gongjang-eseo il haeyo?	Gongjang-eseo il hae?
공장에서 일해요?	공장에서 일해?
Do you work at the factory?
Ilgop si-e meogeoyo?	Ilgop si-e meogeo?
일곱시에 먹어요.	일곱시에 먹어?
Do you eat at 7?
Gongbu haji anayo?	Gongbu haji ana?
공부하지 않아요?	공부하지 않아?
Don’t you study?

Another way to use the infinitive is in linking two verbs:

dorayo	돌아요	turns
dorawayo	돌아와요	comes back, returns
doragayo	돌아가요	goes back, returns
deureowayo	들어와요	comes in
deureokayo	들어가요	goes in
nawayo	나와요	comes out
nagayo	나가요	goes out
anjayo	앉아요	sits
anja isseoyo	앉아있어요	is seated
nuwoyo	누워요	lies down
nuwo isseoyo	누워있어요	is lying, is prone

With the verbs jueoyo = gives and deuryeoyo = gives to someone honored, this is the way to report a favor:

Abeoji kkeseo pyeonji-reul sseo jueosseoyo.

어버지께서 편지를 써 주셨어요.

Father wrote the letter for me (he gave me the favor of writing the letter).

Ajumeoni-ga aideul-hante iyagi-reul hae jusyeosseoyo.

아주머니가 아이들한테 이야기를 해 주셨어요.

The aunt told the children a story.

Adeul-i abeoji-ui gudu-reul dakka deuryeosseoyo.

아들이 아버지의 구두를 닦아 드렸어요.

The boy shined his father’s shoes (for him).

The person FOR whom the favor is done is the INDIRECT OBJECT and takes the particle hante 한테 (or its equivalents ege 에게 or its honorific equivalent kke 께).

To ask someone for a favor you can use the infinitive juseyo 주세 요 = (someone honored, that is YOU) please give or the FORMAL style command jusipsio 주십시오 = please give:

Don-eul juseyo. Doneul jusipsio.

돈을 주세요. 돈을 주십시오.

Please give me some money.

Don-eul naejusipsio.

돈을 내주십시오.

Please (do me the favor of) pay(ing) the money.

Naeil uri jip-e wa jusipsio.

내일 우리 집에 와 주십시오.

Please come to our house tomorrow.

Jom deo japsuseyo.

좀 더 잡수세요.

Please eat a little more.

Iyagi-reul hae juseyo.

이야기를 해주세요.

Tell us a story.

Mannyeonpil-lo sseo juseyo.

만년필로 써 주세요.

Please write with a fountain pen.

Igeo-seul bada jusipsio.

이것을 받아 주십시오.

Please take (accept) this.

Yeogi-e noa juseyo.

여기에 놓아주세요.

Put it here, please.

To make a negative request you use the -ji 지 (or -eusiji 으시지) form followed by the auxiliary verb maseyo 마세요 = avoid or its FORMAL style command form masipsio 마십시오:

Yeongeo-ro mal haji maseyo.

영어로 말하지 마세요.

Don’t speak English.

Geogi anjji masipsio.

거기 앉지 마십시오.

Don’t sit there.

Yeonpil-lo sseuji maseyo.

연필로 쓰지 마세요.

Don’t write with a pencil.

Igeo saji maseyo.

이거 사지 마세요.

Don’t buy this.

To tell someone not to do something in the familiar style, you just drop the -seyo from ma.

Igeo saji ma.

이거 사지 마.

Don’t buy this. (familiar)