Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 5 - Intermediate Korean #2 (Lessons 121 to 150) ᚛ Lesson 145 - Nominalization in Korean [-(으)ㅁ]

Nominalization in Korean [-(으)ㅁ]

In this course: ㅁ / 음

In a previous lesson, we saw that it is possible to nominalize a Korean verb, that is, to turn a verb into a noun, with the -기 and -는 것 structures. However, nominalization with -(으)ㅁ is quite particular and cannot replace all the use cases of nouns in -기 and -는 것.

Creating a noun with -(으)ㅁ

In Korean, a verb can be nominalized in the following manner:
[Stem](으)ㅁ

If the stem ends in a vowel: [Stem]ㅁ
If the stem ends in a consonant: [Stem]음

Nominalization with -(으)ㅁ allows one to create independent vocabulary words that can be used as such:

꾸다 (= to dream) → 꿈 (= a dream)
추다 (= to dance) → 춤 (= a dance)
젊다 (= to be young) → 젊음 (= youth)
웃다 (= to laugh, to smile) → 웃음 (= a laugh, a smile)
…

Exceptions with -(으)ㅁ

The stem ends in ㄹ

For verbs whose stem ends in ㄹ, nominalization with -(으)ㅁ is obtained in the following manner:
Replace the final ㄹ of the stem with ㄻ.

살다 (= to live) → 삶 (= life)
만들다 (= to make) → 만듦 (= making)

The stem ends in ㅂ

For irregular verbs whose stem ends in ㅂ, nominalization with -(으)ㅁ is obtained in the following manner:
Remove the final ㅂ of the stem, then add 움.

돕다 (= to help) → 도움 (= help)
귀엽다 (= to be cute) → 귀여움 (= cuteness)