Annyeonghaseyo, yeorobun! In learning Korean, we can’t avoid the grammar part, especially Korean conjunctions. Understanding conjunctions is necessary to improve our Korean skill level. Similar to English, Korean conjunctions are basically used to connect phrases, clauses, or sentences. In a simpler word, conjunction is like words connector. It can be used in a sentence or more than one sentence. We will find many conjunctions in Korean and each conjunction has its own function, rule, and formula. Some of them will be complicated to learn and you probably get confused. So, we are gonna divide them into some parts. Surely, we provide examples in sentences to make it easier to understand.

1. 그리고 (Geurigo) – Korean Conjunctions to Connect Similar Ideas

We use 그리고 (geurigo) to connect words or correlate phrases in sentence. This conjugation is equivalent to ‘and’ or ‘and then’ in English. It is commonly placed after noun in a sentence. Besides, we can also use it in separate sentences but those still have a correlation. Let’s see the examples below:

저는 아버지, 어머니 그리고 동생을 사랑합니다 (Jeoneun abeoji, eomeoni geurigo dongsaengeul saranghamnida) = I love father, mother, and little brother.

2. -지만/ 하지만 (-jiman/ hajiman) – Korean Conjunctions to Express Opposition

Both conjunctions actually have the same meaning but are slightly different in rule and formula. We use them to express the contrast clauses and sentences. -지만 (-jiman) is used to connect two opposite clauses in a sentence. We get two rules here: -지만 (-jiman) and -이지만 (-ijiman). -지만 is added after verb or adjective while -이지만 is positioned after noun. We use 하지만 (hajiman) to express two opposite sentences. It indicates that the following sentence contrasts with the previous sentence. Please check the examples below:

저는 피자를 먹고 싶지만 돈이 없습니다 (Jeoneun pijareul meokgo sipjiman doni eobseumnida) = I want to eat pizza but I don’t have money.
그남자는 뚱뚱합니다. 하지만 멋있습니다 (Geunamjaneun ttungttunghamnida. Hajiman meosisseumnida) = That man is fat. However, he is cool.

3. 그래서 (Geuraeseo) – Korean Conjunctions to Express Cause and Effect

In order to connect two sentences which have cause-effect relation, we use 그래서 (geuraeseo). In English, it is equivalent to ‘so’ or ‘therefor’. The first sentence indicates the fact or causal statement. The following sentence explains the effect or result of the previous sentence by using 그래서 (geuraeseo). The formula is simple. We only put 그래서 (geuraeseo) in the beginning of the following sentence (result sentence). Let’s find the example below:

오늘 보라는 아픕니다. 그래서 학교에 갈 수 없습니다 (Oneul Boraneun apeumnida. Geuraeseo hakgyoe gal su eobseumnida).
Today Bora is sick. So, she can’t go to school.

4. 때문에 (Ttaemune) – Conjunction to Express Reason

We use 때문에 (ttaemune) to express a reason in a sentence. Literally, it has the similar meaning with “Because of…” in English. Actually there are several Korean conjunctions to express reason but we will discuss the common one. We add 때문에 (ttaemune) after a noun. The following clause is the result of noun added by 때문에. Please see the example below:

게임 때문에 저는 공부할 시간이 없습니다 (Geim ttaemune jeoneun gongbuhal sigani eobseumnida) = Because of game, I don’t have time to study.