Complex sentences sometimes make you sound fluent and fluid. Although technical writers may not agree to this, joining two simple sentences that are somehow related creates an impression.
A simple Korean sentence can be tranformed into a clause modifier by using one of the modifier endings -(으)ㄴ or – 는 (attached to the final verb of the sentence) and then placing a noun after it. The result of which is a noun expression and no longer a sentence. This noun expression can then be used as a subject or object just like any other noun expression.
To give you an illustration on how this works:
- He is —> is my friend
- Ms. Jane Reyes —> is my friend
- The lady wearing a pink dress —> is my friend
- The lady standing between Ms. Reyes and Atty. Cruz —> is my friend
For descriptive verb, it’s a bit simple just the way it works for English. Here are some examples:
- 작은 책 (chakeun chaek/ small book) <—- 책이 작아요 (chaeki chakayo / The book is small)
- 예쁜 여자 (yeepeun yoja / beautiful lady) <—- 여자가 예뻐요. (Yojaga yeppeoyo/ She [the lady] is beautiful)
There is an exception though which is in the use of verbs 있어요 (isseoyo) and 없어요(opseoyo):
- 가방이 있는 사람 (Kabangi ittneun saram) –> the person who has bag
- 연필이 없는 사람 (Yeonpil opneun saram) –> the person who has no pencil.
For the case of processive verbs, its a bit different . There are some other things to consider when transfoming sentence ending in processive verb into noun phrase. This I have to read on…
It Started with Hangul 