The Heart of Korean: The Predicate Comes Last
The Predicate-Final Rule
In a basic Korean sentence, the most important part—the predicate —typically comes at the very end.
The predicate is the part of the sentence that describes the action (like 'to run' , 'to eat' ) or a state of being (like 'to be big' , 'to be happy' ). It can be a verb, a descriptive verb (adjective), or a copula (like '이다', meaning 'to be').
This is the most fundamental difference from English, where the verb usually comes after the subject (Subject- Verb -Object). Remembering to put the predicate at the end is your first step to making natural Korean sentences.
Simple Sentences: Subject + Predicate (SV)
Subject + Predicate (SV)
The simplest complete Korean sentence has two core parts: a subject and a predicate . This is often called the SV structure.
Examples:
아기가 자요. (A baby sleeps.)
날씨가 좋아요. (The weather is good.)
친구가 웃어요. (A friend is laughing.)
In these examples, 아기가 (baby) and 날씨가 (weather) are the subjects. The predicates, 자요 (sleeps) and 좋아요 (is good), come at the end of the sentence.
Adding an Object: Subject + Object + Predicate (SOV)
Subject + Object + Predicate (SOV)
When a sentence describes an action that affects something, we add an object . The object is the noun that receives the action.
In Korean, the object is typically placed before the predicate. This creates the most common structure for action sentences: Subject-Object-Predicate (SOV) .
Subject · Object · Predicate · Meaning
제가 · 커피를 · 마셔요. · I drink coffee.
학생이 · 책을 · 읽어요. · A student reads a book.
아이가 · 그림을 · 그려요. · A child draws a picture.
Notice how the action word (predicate) stays at the end, which is consistent with the primary rule.