Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 4 - Intermediate Korean #1 (Lessons 91 to 120) ᚛ Lesson 111 - Purpose, "in order to" in Korean #1 [-(으)려고] [-(으)러]
Purpose, "in order to" in Korean #1 [-(으)려고] [-(으)러]
The goal of this lesson is to teach how to express a purpose. In English, for this, we generally use expressions such as "to", "in order to", "so as to"… etc. In Korean as well, many ways exist to express a purpose, and each has its own specificities.
Purpose with -(으)려고
"In order to" in Korean
In Korean, to express the fact that we do something with the purpose of carrying out an action, we generally use the following structure combined with an action verb:
[Purpose: … Stem](으)려고 [Action]
- If the stem ends with a vowel: [Stem]려고
- If the stem ends with a consonant: [Stem]으려고
살을 빼려고 일주일 동안 샐러드를 먹었어.
→ I ate salad for a week to lose weight.
점심을 먹으려고 식당에 왔어요.
→ I came to the restaurant to have lunch.
책을 사려고 서점에 들렀어.
→ I stopped by the bookstore to buy a book.
저는 한국어를 배우려고 한국에 왔습니다.
→ I came to Korea to learn Korean.
민지는 공부하려고 도서관에 갑니다.
→ Minji goes to the library to study.
재현이는 집에 가려고 버스를 탔습니다.
→ Jaehyeon took the bus to go home.
잘 지내시죠? 안부 인사 드리려고 전화했어요.
→ Are you doing well? I called to check in on you.
Be careful, the -(으)려고 structure cannot be used to express an order or a suggestion.
"To be about to" in Korean
Learn more
Purpose with -(으)러
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Summary table of structure
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Exercises
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Particles are omnipresent in Korean. They indicate the role of words in a sentence, nuance meaning, and make it possible to understand who does what, where, how, and why.
Particles are also often the aspect that causes the most difficulty for Korean learners. In grammar books, they are usually presented in the middle of long sentences, with complex vocabulary, without being clearly highlighted.
With Korean Particles, we made the opposite choice:
taking the time to explain each particle, one by one, using very simple sentences, accessible even to beginners.
