I'm still not entirely sure if I'm understanding -na
-type adjectives correctly, but I figured I'd give you an overview of Korean adjectives. I suspect that Korean does have the -na
-type adjectives you want but I think they also have -na
-type verbs too.
Both adjectives and verbs in Korean inflect in almost identical ways. Both take sentence-ending inflections (such as the formal (ㅂ/습)니다
, less formal (아/어)요
, etc) and tense inflections (such as the past tense 았/었
). Compare the verb 가다
(to go) to the adjective 크다
(to be large):
갑니다 (go, formal)
크나다 (big, formal)
가요 (go, casual)
커요 (big, casual)
갔어요 (went)
컸어요 (was big)
Both adjectives and verbs can inflect as noun modifiers but use slightly different particles. Adjectives use ㄴ/은
for both past and present. Verbs also use ㄴ/은
for past, but use 은/는
for present.
가는 사람 (the person who is going)
큰 사람 (the person is/was large)
간 사람 (the person who went)
큰 사람 (the person who is/was large)
I believe they use the same for future:
갈 사람 (the person who will go)
클 사람 (the person who will be large, although semantically this seems weird)
Furthermore, both Korean verbs and adjectives can use the X + do
construction. Usually the X
is a noun derived from Sino-Korean vocabulary. 노래
(song) + 하다
(to do) = 노래하다
(to sing). Similarly, 강
(strength/health) + 하다
= 강하다
(strong). However, even when using this construction they still use their respective noun modifier inflections:
노래*하는* 사라 (the person who is singing)
강*한* 사람 (the person who is strong)
The only way I can think of to treat an adjective as a noun is using ㄴ/은 것
(literally a noun modifier + thing ). Verbs also follow the same pattern:
강한 것 (the strong thing but I believe being strong is also possible)
노래하는 것을 좋아해요 (I like singing, literally I like the singing thing)