Modifying Nouns with Adjectives (-ㄴ/은)

In Korean, just like in English, adjectives (called descriptive verbs) are placed before the nouns they describe. For example, to say "a pretty flower," you put "pretty" (예쁜) before "flower" (꽃).

To turn a dictionary-form adjective like 예쁘다 (to be pretty) into a form that can modify a noun, you need to attach a special ending to its stem. The most common ending for adjectives is -ㄴ/은 .

How to Attach -ㄴ/은

The choice between -ㄴ and -은 depends on whether the adjective stem ends in a vowel or a consonant.

1. Vowel Stems + ㄴ

If the adjective stem ends in a vowel, you attach -ㄴ directly to the stem.

Dictionary Form · Stem · + ㄴ · Result · Example

예쁘다 · 예쁘 · + ㄴ · 예쁜 · 예쁜 꽃

크다 · 크 · + ㄴ · 큰 · 큰 집

비싸다 · 비싸 · + ㄴ · 비싼 · 비싼 시계

2. Consonant Stems + 은

If the adjective stem ends in a consonant, you attach -은 .

Dictionary Form · Stem · + 은 · Result · Example

작다 · 작 · + 은 · 작은 · 작은 방

좋다 · 좋 · + 은 · 좋은 · 좋은 친구

많다 (many/much) · 많 · + 은 · 많은 · 많은 사람

Core takeaway: Vowel stem + -ㄴ (e.g., 예쁘다 -> 예쁜)

The descriptive verbs 있다 (to exist/have) and 없다 (to not exist/not have) are very common and follow a special rule. They are often part of compound adjectives like:

재미있다 (to be interesting/fun)

맛있다 (to be tasty)

멋있다 (to be cool/stylish)

재미없다 (to be uninteresting/boring)

맛없다 (to be not tasty)

When these are used to modify nouns, they always take the ending -는 , regardless of the stem.

Rule: Adjective stem ending in 있다/없다 + 는

Dictionary Form · Stem · + 는 · Result · Example

재미있다 · 재미있 · + 는 · 재미있는 · 재미있는 책

맛없다 · 맛없 · + 는 · 맛없는 · 맛없는 음식

This is a key difference from regular adjectives. While this lesson focuses on -ㄴ/은 for adjectives, you will learn in the next lesson that -는 is the standard ending for action verbs . For now, just remember that 있다/없다 adjectives behave like action verbs in this specific case.

Quick review

있다/없다 adjectives always use -는

e.g., 재미있다 -> 재미있는