-(으)ㄴ / -는 / -(으)ㄹ

RuleVerb adnominal endings: to modify a noun, use past -(eu)n, present -neun, and future/presumptive -(eu)l by tense.

Curiosity

Korean puts the relative clause before the noun: "the book I read / am reading / will read." How is tense shown?

Intuition

To put a verb before a noun, turn it into an adnominal. The ending is a tense traffic light: past -(eu)n, present -neun, future/presumptive -(eu)l. The same verb changes into three outfits in front of the noun it modifies.

Visualization

gada → gan (past) → ganeun (present) → gal (future). The same stem ga- splits into adnominals by tense.

가다gadadictionary form

Essence

Verbs: past -(eu)n (ilgeun chaek), present -neun (ilkneun chaek), future/presumptive -(eu)l (ilgeul chaek). Adjectives use -(eu)n for the present (yeppeun kkot) and -(eu)l for the future. The eu of -(eu)n/-(eu)l appears by batchim (meogeun/meogeul). Adnominal + geot/jeok/su builds countless patterns.

Examples

어제 산 책을 읽어요.

I read the book I bought yesterday.

지금 읽는 책이 재미있어요.

The book I am reading now is interesting.

내일 만날 사람이 있어요.

There is a person I will meet tomorrow.

Mini-quiz

"the book I ___ yesterday" (past adnominal of ilkda, consonant-final) Which fits?