5급 문법TOPIK 5 Korean Grammar — 56 Points
Politics, economics, culture and research Korean, plus the idioms native speakers use without explaining.
All 56 grammar points the dictionary grades at 5급, grouped by kind. Each links to its own page with the 받침 rule, every sense and real examples.
조사Particles
The bound markers that say what a noun is doing in its sentence — subject, topic, object, place, direction. Korean has no word order to lean on, so these carry the load English does with position.
따라
A postpositional particle used to mean "different from the usual for no particular reason."
이라든가
A postpositional particle used when listing things in which the choice of any one does not matter.
조차
A postpositional particle to indicate an inclusion of extreme cases that are generally hard to predict.
종결 어미Sentence Endings
What a Korean sentence ends in, and therefore what it is: a statement, a question, an order, a suggestion — and at which speech level you are saying it.
-거라
(formal, highly addressee-lowering) A sentence-final ending used when ordering.
-고말고
(informal addressee-lowering) A sentence-final ending used to emphasize one's agreement or affirmation to the other person's question or statement.
-네
(formal, highly addressee-lowering) A sentence-final ending used when talking about something that one just learned.
-는가
(formal, moderately addressee-lowering) A sentence-final ending referring to a question about a fact of the present.
-는걸
(informal addressee-lowering) A sentence-final ending used when the speaker says a newly learned fact with admiration.
-다
(formal, highly addressee-lowering) A sentence-final ending used when describing a certain event, fact, state, etc.
-다니
(informal addressee-lowering) A sentence-final ending used to ask again or admire an unexpected fact in surprise.
-더라고
(informal addressee-lowering) An expression used to refer to and convey in the present a fact the speaker learned through a past experience to the…
-데
(formal, moderately addressee-lowering) A sentence-final ending used when the speaker talks about something that he/she personally experienced.
-으려고
(informal addressee-lowering) A sentence-final ending used to doubt a given situation and ask again about it.
연결 어미Connectives
The endings that join two clauses — and, but, so, if, while. Korean puts the join on the first verb rather than between the clauses.
-고는
A connective ending used when the same event is repeated.
-길래
A connective ending referring to the cause or reason of the following statement.
-느니
A connective ending used when the following statement is better than the preceding statement.
-다가는
A connective ending used when an action or state, etc., is stopped and changed to another action or state.
-을뿐더러
A connective ending used to indicate that another fact exists other than a certain fact.
-을지라도
A connective ending used when presenting or assuming a certain situation and adding a situation that is irrelevant or opposite to it.
-지
A connective ending used to describe contradictory facts.
표현Expressions
Multi-part patterns that behave as one piece of grammar — -을 수 있다, -어야 하다, -은 적이 있다. Most of what a learner calls "grammar" past 2급 is here.
-게 마련이다
An expression used to indicate that it is natural for something to occur or become a certain state.
-게 생겼다
An expression used to indicate that someone is facing the situation expressed by the preceding statement.
-기 나름이다
An expression used to indicate that something depends on how the act mentioned in the preceding statement is done.
-기가 바쁘게
An expression used to indicate that something happens as soon as the act mentioned in the preceding statement is completed.
-기가 쉽다
An expression used to state that the act or state mentioned in the preceding statement is likely to occur.
-기만 하다
An expression used to state that one does only one act without doing anything else.
-기에 따라
-기에 앞서
-는 가운데
An expression used to indicate that the background or situation of a certain act or incident is continued.
-는 데다가
An expression used to indicate that a certain act or state has been added to its preceding act or state, making it worse or better.
-는 동시에
An expression used to indicate that a certain act or state mentioned in the preceding statement and following statement happens at the same time.
-는 듯하다
An expression used to guess the content of the preceding statement.
-는 법이다
An expression used to indicate that the act or state mentioned in the preceding statement has been decided already or is reasonable.
-는 이상
An expression used to indicate that one must do something or accept a certain situation because the preceding statement has been already decided.
-는 척하다
An expression used to indicate that one is pretending to do something or to be something, which is not true.
-는다기에
An expression used to indicate that something the speaker heard is the reason or basis for the following statement.
-는다는 것이
An expression used to indicate that a result not intended during the preceding act appears in the following statement.
-는다니
(informal addressee-lowering) An expression used to ask the listener about what another person said.
-는데도
An expression used to indicate that the following situation will occur, regardless of the preceding situation.
-는데도 불구하고
An expression used to indicate that the following content is different from or the opposite of what was expected in the preceding statement.
-어 내다
An expression used to indicate that one finally accomplishes the act mentioned in the preceding statement by oneself.
-었던
An expression used to recall a past incident or state, and indicate that the incident or state is suspended, not completed.
-으려나 보다
An expression used to guess that the something mentioned in the preceding statement is likely to happen.
-으면 몰라도
An expression used to assume an opposite state or an unrealized situation, and indicate that the following situation is possible only when such a…
-은 나머지
An expression used to indicate that something is the result of a certain act or state mentioned in the preceding statement.
-은 채로
An expression used to indicate that the state remains the same as when a certain act mentioned in the preceding statement occurred.
-을 만하다
An expression used to express that the act mentioned in the preceding statement is worth trying.
-을 법하다
An expression used to judge that the situation mentioned in the preceding statement is likely to happen.
-을 테다
(formal, highly addressee-lowering) An expression used to indicate the speaker's strong will or plan to do a certain thing.
-을 테면
An expression used to indicate that the speaker wants to do or has a will to do a certain thing, as a condition for the following statement.
-을 테지만
An expression used to indicate that the speaker is certain of the preceding content, but that the following content can be different from the former.
-자기에
An expression used to present someone's suggestion as the reason or basis for the following statement.
는 말할 것도 없고
An expression used to indicate that the preceding statement is naturally so, and that, compared to that, the following statement is also as such.
를 가지고
An expression used to indicate that the preceding statement is a tool, means, method, material, etc., for something.
에 관하여
An expression that modifies the following noun and indicates that the preceding noun is the subject of the following noun.
에도 불구하고
An expression used to indicate that the following content is different from or the opposite of what was expected in the preceding statement.
자주 묻는 질문Common questions
How many grammar points are there at TOPIK 5?
56 at 5급 itself — 3 particles, 10 sentence endings, 7 connectives, 36 expressions — and 280 counting every level below it.
What grammar is on the TOPIK II exam?
TOPIK II covers levels 3 to 6, and it assumes everything from TOPIK I as read. Grammar is never tested on its own — it appears inside reading and listening passages and has to be produced in the writing section.
Which 5급 grammar point should I learn first?
Work down this page in order. It is grouped by kind, and within a kind by the dictionary's own order, so the points that everything else depends on come first: -거라, -게 마련이다, -게 생겼다.
Grammar definitions, usage notes and examples from the 국립국어원 한국어기초사전, used under CC BY-SA 2.0 KR.