Korean Sentence Structure: The Only Guide You Actually Need

So you're trying to learn Korean, and every sentence you make sounds... wrong. You're putting words together, you've memorized some vocabulary, but native speakers keep giving you that polite smile that says "I have no idea what you just said."

Here's the thing: Korean sentence structure works completely differently from English. And until you rewire your brain to think in Subject-Object-Verb order instead of Subject-Verb-Object, you're going to keep tripping over yourself.

The good news? Once you understand the basic Korean sentence structure, everything else clicks into place. Seriously. Grammar points that seemed random suddenly make sense. Korean sentences that looked like word salad become readable.

Let's fix this.

The One Rule You Can't Break

Korean is an SOV language. Subject-Object-Verb. That's it. That's the foundation of every Korean sentence you'll ever make or hear.

In English, you say: "I eat apples."

In Korean, you say: "I apples eat." (나는 사과를 먹어요)

Subject first, object second, verb last. Always.

Here's where it gets interesting though—Korean word order is actually pretty flexible. You can shuffle around the subject and object. You can drop them entirely sometimes. You can add time expressions and locations wherever feels natural.

But the verb? The verb goes at the end. Period. No exceptions. If you remember nothing else from this post, remember this: Korean sentences end with a verb.

This is why Korean dramas are structured the way they are, by the way. Characters can start saying something, drag it out with dramatic pauses, and you don't know the actual meaning until they hit that final verb. Pretty useful for cliffhangers.

Korean Particles: The Secret Sauce

Here's where Korean gets clever.

In English, we know who's doing what to whom based on word position. "The dog bit the man" means something very different from "The man bit the dog."

Korean doesn't work that way. Instead, it uses particles—little markers attached to nouns that indicate their role in the sentence. Because of these particles, Korean word order becomes flexible. The particles do the heavy lifting that word position does in English.

The Three Particles You Need First

Topic markers: 은/는

These mark what you're talking about. Use 은 after a consonant, 는 after a vowel.

Subject markers: 이/가

These mark who or what is doing the action or being described. Use 이 after a consonant, 가 after a vowel.

Object markers: 을/를

These mark what's receiving the action. Use 을 after a consonant, 를 after a vowel.

Now, I know what you're thinking: "What's the difference between 은/는 and 이/가? They both seem to mark subjects?"

Yeah. This confuses everyone. Even advanced learners mess this up sometimes. We've covered this in more detail in our basic Korean grammar guide, but here's the quick version:

If someone asks "Who ate my pizza?" you'd answer with 이/가 because you're identifying the culprit. If you're telling someone about yourself when you first meet, you'd use 은/는 because you're establishing yourself as the topic.

In practice? Use 은/는 when introducing yourself or setting up what you're talking about. Use 이/가 with 있다/없다 (existence), 아니다 (negation), and when answering "who" or "what" questions.

Don't stress too much about getting this perfect. Koreans will understand you either way. The nuance develops with exposure.

You Can Drop Stuff (And You Should)

Korean is what linguists call a "pro-drop" language. Meaning: if the context makes something obvious, you can just... not say it.

Check this out:

Full sentence: 저는 사과를 먹어요 (I eat apples)

Dropped subject: 사과를 먹어요 (Eat apples = I eat apples)

Dropped everything except the verb: 먹어요 (Eat = I eat / I'm eating)

All three are grammatically correct. In casual conversation, Koreans drop subjects and objects constantly. The context tells you what's going on.

This is why the phrase "사랑해" (I love you) doesn't have an "I" or a "you" in it. It's literally just the verb "love." But when someone says it to you, you know exactly what they mean.

This trips up a lot of beginners who want to say everything explicitly. But sounding natural in Korean often means saying less, not more. If you're answering a question about whether you've eaten, you don't need to say "I" or "lunch"—just the verb "ate" with a "yes" is enough.

The Weird Thing About Korean Adjectives

Okay, this one takes some mental adjustment.

In Korean, adjectives are basically verbs. They're called "descriptive verbs" and they function the same way action verbs do. They conjugate, they can end sentences, and they don't need a separate "to be" verb.

In English: "The weather is cold."

In Korean: "날씨가 추워요." (Weather cold-is)

See that? No separate word for "is." The adjective 춥다 (to be cold) carries the "is" meaning built right in. You conjugate it just like a verb.

This is actually simpler than English once you get used to it. You don't need to worry about "is/am/are" distinctions. The adjective does everything.

When adjectives come before nouns (like "cold weather" instead of "the weather is cold"), they need to be modified:

The pattern: drop 다, add ㄴ (if the stem ends in a vowel) or 은 (if it ends in a consonant).

If you want to really understand how this works with Korean verb conjugation, we've got a detailed breakdown. But the core concept is simple: adjectives are verbs. Treat them that way.

Making Questions in Korean

Good news: Korean questions are easy.

In casual and polite speech (the 해요체 form you'll use 90% of the time), you make a question by... raising your voice at the end. That's literally it. The sentence stays exactly the same.

Statement: 밥 먹었어요. (I ate.)

Question: 밥 먹었어요? (Did you eat?)

Same words. Different intonation. In writing, you just swap the period for a question mark.

For formal situations (news broadcasts, business presentations, talking to your girlfriend's intimidating father), there's a specific question ending: swap -ㅂ니다/습니다 with -ㅂ니까/습니까.

But honestly, unless you're doing business in Korea or watching the news, you'll mostly use the simple intonation method.

For "wh-questions," Korean has question words that work similarly to English:

These typically go right before the verb, but Korean's flexible word order means you can put them elsewhere too.

Saying "No" in Korean

Negation in Korean comes in two flavors:

안 (an) — "not" (by choice)

Put 안 right before the verb. You're saying you choose not to do something.

못 (mot) — "cannot" (unable)

Same position, but this indicates inability rather than choice.

The difference matters. "I don't eat spicy food" (choice) versus "I can't eat spicy food" (allergy? physical limitation?) tell very different stories.

For 하다 verbs (verb + 하다, like 공부하다 "to study"), the 안/못 goes between the noun and 하다:

There's also a longer, more formal negation structure (-지 않다 / -지 못하다) that works the same way but sounds more polite. Good for writing or respectful speech.

Quick note: some words have built-in negatives. 있다 (to exist) becomes 없다 (to not exist)—you don't say "안 있어요." And 알다 (to know) becomes 모르다 (to not know). Korean just works that way sometimes.

Speech Levels: A Quick Reality Check

Korean has this whole honorific system with seven speech levels that textbooks love to explain in excruciating detail. Here's what you actually need to know:

해요체 (informal polite): Endings with -아요/-어요. Use this 90% of the time. Safe with strangers, coworkers, people older than you, shopkeepers, everyone basically. This is your default.

반말 (casual): Same structure but drop the 요. Use with close friends who are your age or younger. Never use with someone older unless they specifically tell you to.

하십시오체 (formal): Endings with -ㅂ니다/-습니다. News anchors, business presentations, very formal situations.

That's it. Learn 해요체 first. Get comfortable with it. The rest comes with exposure. People ask a lot whether Korean is hard to learn, and honestly, the speech level system sounds more intimidating than it actually is in practice.

Basic Korean Sentence Patterns to Practice

Here are the sentence patterns you'll use constantly:

Subject + Verb (SV)

Subject + Object + Verb (SOV)

Subject + Adjective

Subject + Noun + 이다

Time/Place + Subject + Object + Verb

Notice how in that last example, time (내일) and place (학교에서) come before the main action? Korean tends to set the scene first, then describe what happens. Time expressions usually come early. The verb still comes last.

Actually Learning This Stuff

Look, I could give you fifty more example sentences and grammar explanations. But here's the truth: you don't internalize Korean sentence structure by reading about it. You internalize it by hearing and reading thousands of Korean sentences until the patterns become automatic.

That's why studying from textbooks alone doesn't work for most people. You memorize rules, you do the exercises, and then you freeze up the moment you try to actually speak or watch something in Korean. The patterns haven't become instinct yet.

The fastest way to make Korean sentence structure feel natural is immersion—consuming real Korean content (dramas, YouTube, webtoons, whatever you're actually interested in) while actively learning from it.

This is exactly what Migaku is built for. The browser extension lets you look up Korean words instantly while watching Netflix or browsing the web. You see a sentence, you understand it in context, and you can save it to your flashcards with one click. Your brain starts absorbing natural Korean sentence patterns because you're seeing them used by real people in real situations—not artificial textbook dialogues.

The mobile app syncs your flashcards so you can review anywhere. And because everything comes from content you actually want to consume, you're not grinding through boring study sessions. You're just watching shows or reading stuff you'd read anyway, but now you're learning from it.

If you want to learn Korean in a way that actually sticks, give Migaku a shot. There's a 10-day free trial, so you can see if it clicks for you before committing to anything.