DIFFICULT GRAMMAR TOPICS FOR SPEAKERS OF KOREAN
Korean-speaking students often struggle with English grammar because the two languages organize grammatical meaning in very different ways. English relies on fixed word order, obligatory articles, auxiliary verbs, and a complex tense-aspect system, whereas Korean is an agglutinative, head-final language with no articles and relatively flexible word order. In Korean, grammatical relationships are primarily expressed through particles and verb endings, and many distinctions that English marks explicitly—such as definiteness, subject-verb agreement, and tense-aspect contrasts—are conveyed implicitly or through context. As a result, English verb forms (especially tense and aspect), the use of articles, auxiliary verbs (do, be, have), prepositions, and subject-verb agreement tend to be particularly challenging for Korean learners.
ARTICLES
Korean has no article system, so articles are often omitted or used inconsistently.
Examples:
❌ I bought phone yesterday.
✅ I bought a phone yesterday.
❌ Teacher gave homework.
✅ The teacher gave homework.
PLURALS
Plurality in Korean is optional and context-dependent.
Examples:
❌ Three student are waiting.
✅ Three students are waiting.
❌ Many problem in society.
✅ Many problems in society.
SUBJECT PRONOUNS (DROPPING OR DOUBLING)
Korean frequently omits subjects once they're understood, or restates them unnaturally.
Examples:
❌ Went to library after class.
✅ I went to the library after class.
❌ My friend she is very kind.
✅ My friend is very kind.
VERB TENSE & ASPECT (ESP. PERFECT TENSES)
Korean tense is simpler; English bundles tense and aspect. Korean verb endings mainly mark tense (past vs. non-past), while aspect (whether an action is ongoing, completed, habitual, etc.) is often inferred from context or expressed optionally with auxiliaries.
English, on the other hand, grammaticalizes aspect very strictly:
I eat (habitual)
I am eating (progressive)
I have eaten (perfect)
I have been eating (perfect progressive)
For Korean students, this feels like English is "over-specifying" information they're used to encoding directly in the verb, which, in practice, can lead to errors.
Another common issue: Korean's
non-past form can refer to
present actions, future events, and habitual truths. So a single Korean form maps onto multiple English tenses.
Example:
나 밥 먹어
→ I eat, I am eating, or I will eat (depending on context)
English forces learners to choose one, even when Korean wouldn't. This can lead to confusion as to which English tense to use.
WORD ORDER
Korean is subject-object-verb, which strongly affects English sentence structure.
Examples:
❌ I coffee drink every morning.
✅ I drink coffee every morning.
❌ She English studies hard.
✅ She studies English hard.
PREPOSITIONS
Korean uses particles rather than prepositions.
Examples:
❌ I arrived to school early.
✅ I arrived at school early.
❌ I discussed about the problem.
✅ I discussed the problem.
RELATIVE CLAUSES
Korean relative clauses come before the noun, without relative pronouns.
Example:
❌ The yesterday I met person is my teacher.
✅ The person (who) I met yesterday is my teacher.
COUNTABLE VS. UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
Korean relies on counters, not English-style countability.
Examples:
❌ Two furnitures
✅ Two pieces of furniture
❌ Many advices
✅ Much advice
PASSIVE VOICE OVERUSE
Korean uses passive forms frequently and naturally.
Examples:
❌ The homework was finished by me.
✅ I finished the homework.
❌ The window was broken by him.
✅ He broke the window.
EXPRESSING POLITENESS
Korean politeness is grammatical; English politeness is pragmatic.
Examples:
❌ Please understand my situation. (sounds demanding)
✅ I hope you can understand my situation.
❌ I strongly ask you to help me.
✅ Could you help me, please?
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