I can ask and talk about the weather — 날씨가 어때요?, 추워요, 비가 와요 — change ㅂ words correctly, and say “it's cold but clear”.
The weather: ㅂ changes, and -지만
The weather: ㅂ changes, and -지만
How to ask about the weather: 날씨가 어때요? You answer with an adjective alone; English needs “is”, but Korean adds no 이에요: 맑아요, 흐려요. In Korean, rain and snow “come”, where English says “it rains”: 비가 와요, 눈이 와요; the wind “blows”: 바람이 불어요 (table).
Some words have a stem ending in ㅂ: 덥다, 춥다, 쉽다, 어렵다. Before an ending that starts with a vowel, ㅂ turns into 우: 덥 + 어요 → 더워요 (우 + 어 = 워), 춥다 → 추워요. Before a consonant ㅂ stays: 덥지만, 춥지 않아요. The familiar 고마워요 comes from 고맙다, a word of the same group. These are called ㅂ-irregular verbs.
With 돕다 “to help” you get 와: 도와요.
-지만 is “but” inside a sentence: the stem + -지만 + the second part: 비가 오지만 따뜻해요. At the start of a new sentence, “but” is 하지만 or 그렇지만.
In 어떻다 → 어때요 the ㅎ drops; these words are a separate group, taught at A2.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “덥어요” → 더워요.
• NOT “돕워요” → 도와요.
• NOT “덥워지만” → 덥지만.
• NOT “추워이에요” → 추워요.
How to talk about the weather
No “to be” needed: the adjective itself is the predicate.
| In Korean | Literally | In English |
|---|---|---|
| 날씨가 맑아요 | the weather is clear | it's clear |
| 날씨가 흐려요 | the weather is cloudy | it's cloudy |
| 비가 와요 | rain comes | it's raining |
| 눈이 와요 | snow comes | it's snowing |
| 바람이 불어요 | wind blows | it's windy |
| 날씨가 어때요? | the weather is how? | what's the weather like? |
Where ㅂ changes
ㅂ changes only before a vowel.
| Dictionary form | before a vowel (-어요) | before a consonant (-지만, -지 않아요) |
|---|---|---|
| 덥다 | 더워요 | 덥지만 |
| 춥다 | 추워요 | 춥지 않아요 |
| 어렵다 | 어려워요 | 어렵지만 |
| 돕다 (ㅗ + ㅂ → 와) | 도와요 | 돕지 않아요 |
Lesson notes
The weather: ㅂ changes, and -지만
How to ask about the weather: 날씨가 어때요? You answer with an adjective alone; English needs “is”, but Korean adds no 이에요: 맑아요, 흐려요. In Korean, rain and snow “come”, where English says “it rains”: 비가 와요, 눈이 와요; the wind “blows”: 바람이 불어요 (table).
Some words have a stem ending in ㅂ: 덥다, 춥다, 쉽다, 어렵다. Before an ending that starts with a vowel, ㅂ turns into 우: 덥 + 어요 → 더워요 (우 + 어 = 워), 춥다 → 추워요. Before a consonant ㅂ stays: 덥지만, 춥지 않아요. The familiar 고마워요 comes from 고맙다, a word of the same group. These are called ㅂ-irregular verbs.
With 돕다 “to help” you get 와: 도와요.
-지만 is “but” inside a sentence: the stem + -지만 + the second part: 비가 오지만 따뜻해요. At the start of a new sentence, “but” is 하지만 or 그렇지만.
In 어떻다 → 어때요 the ㅎ drops; these words are a separate group, taught at A2.
Common mistakes:
• NOT “덥어요” → 더워요.
• NOT “돕워요” → 도와요.
• NOT “덥워지만” → 덥지만.
• NOT “추워이에요” → 추워요.