Adverbs in Korean
How to add emphasis to verbs in Korean
Here’s how to say words like “quickly” and “well” in Korean. Let’s cover some examples.
잘 (well)
많이 (a lot)
너무 (very)
빨리 (quickly)
조금 (a little, kind of)
더 (more)
Let’s see how they pair with verbs:
한국어를 잘하다 (to speak Korean well)
많이 먹다 (to eat a lot)
너무 예쁘다 (to be very pretty)
빨리 일하다 (to work quickly)
하다 (to do) is used by itself with a language to mean “to speak (language).”
한국어를 잘해요?
Do you speak Korean well?
일 (work) is a noun, so it can be separated from 일하다. We covered this in the lesson on 하다. So both of these are valid:
빨리 일하다
quickly do work
일/(일를) 빨리 하다
work quickly do
Adverbs can also pair with each other:
조금 더 (a little more)
더 빨리 (more quickly)
E.g.
저는 조금 더 먹고 싶어요.
I want to eat a little more.
How to say “really” in Korean
정말 and 진짜 both mean “really.” However, 진짜 is usually only used in casual or informal situations, while 정말 can be used in any situation.
You can also use these two with the conjugation of the verb 이다 (to be) to say something is real or really the case:
Both mean “It’s real” or “I’m being serious!”
How to say “Really?” in Korean
진짜, 정말, and the conjugation of the verb 그렇다 (to be so) are all valid:
진짜?
정말?
그래요? (is it so?/really?)
Did you know?
진짜 literally means an object/something is real/genuine (as opposed to a fake).
- The opposite of 잔짜 is 가짜 (something fake).
정말 more literally means true words/speech.
- The opposite of 정말 is 거짓말 (lie/lies).
- You can start a sentence with “정말…” to mean “Honestly…”
예쁘다 = to be pretty
일하다 = to do work
진짜 = true/genuine/not fake
정말 = true words/speech
가짜 = fake/not genuine
거짓말 = lie/lies