-기

Build it

When to use it

Attach -기 to any plain stem: 읽기, 쓰기, 만들기. Nothing changes, ㄹ stays, and tense never appears in front of it.

Most of the time you will meet it inside a fixed pattern rather than on its own: -기 쉽다 / 어렵다 (easy / hard to), -기 시작하다 (start doing), -기 좋다 / 싫다, -기 위해서 (in order to), and -기 전에. These take -기 and nothing else.

It also names activities in the abstract, which is why the four language skills are 읽기, 쓰기, 듣기, 말하기. Where you want to talk about a specific instance with its own tense, Korean switches to -는 것.

How to attach it

In use

1. 한국어는 읽기가 어려워요.

   Reading is the hard part of Korean.

2. 운동하기 시작했어요.

   I’ve started exercising.

3. 이 책은 읽기 쉬워요.

   This book is easy to read.

4. 내일 만나기로 했어요.

   We’ve arranged to meet tomorrow.

5. 저는 요리하기를 좋아해요.

   I like cooking.

6. 자기 전에 이를 닦으세요.

   Brush your teeth before going to bed.

Compared with

• -는 것

  -기 names an activity in general; -는 것 refers to a particular instance and can carry tense. When a specific event with a time is involved, use -는 것.

  수영하기를 좋아해요. (I like swimming)  /  어제 수영한 것을 후회해요. (I regret swimming yesterday)

• Fixed patterns

  Several constructions accept only -기. Substituting -는 것 in them is ungrammatical rather than merely unusual.

  읽기 쉬워요  /  가기 전에  /  시작하기 — never 읽는 것 쉬워요

• -(으)ㅁ

  Another nominalizer, restricted to formal writing and note-taking. It names a completed fact rather than an activity.

  회의 참석하기 (attending meetings)  /  회의에 참석함 (attended — in a report)

Watch out

• 이 책은 읽는 것 쉬워요.

  이 책은 읽기 쉬워요.

  쉽다 and 어렵다 take only -기. The same applies to 좋다, 싫다, 편하다 in this pattern.

• 작년에 배웠기 시작했어요.

  작년에 배우기 시작했어요.

  -기 never carries tense. The past is expressed once, on 시작하다.

• 그 사람이 온 기를 몰랐어요.

  그 사람이 온 것을 몰랐어요.

  To refer to a specific event that already happened, Korean needs the modifier plus 것. -기 cannot take a past form.

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