How to Say "The duck drinks water, and then walks the path" in Korean | -아/어요 Grammar

Quick Answer: "The duck drinks water, and then walks the path" in Korean is "오리가 먼저 물을 마시고, 그다음에 길을 걸어요." (origa meonjeo muleul masigo, geudaeume gileul geoleoyo.). It uses the -아/어요 grammar pattern (Polite Ending (-아/어요)). Level: A1.

Curious how Koreans express "The duck drinks water, and then walks the path"? The answer is "오리가 먼저 물을 마시고, 그다음에 길을 걸어요.". Here you will see -아/어요 in action — a A1-level grammar point every learner needs.

Category: 동물

What does "The duck drinks water, and then walks the path" mean in Korean?

The Korean sentence "오리가 먼저 물을 마시고, 그다음에 길을 걸어요." translates to "The duck drinks water, and then walks the path." in English. At the A1-A2 level, "오리가 먼저 물을 마시고, 그다음에 길을 걸어요." is an excellent sentence to memorize. Every word serves a purpose, and the overall meaning — "the duck drinks water, and then walks the path" — comes through clearly.

Pronunciation guide: origa meonjeo muleul masigo, geudaeume gileul geoleoyo.

Grammar Point: Polite Ending (-아/어요)

The -아/어요 ending is the standard polite speech level in Korean. Use -아요 after bright vowels (ㅏ, ㅗ), -어요 after dark vowels, and 해요 for 하다 verbs.

가다 → 가요, 먹다 → 먹어요, 하다 → 해요. This is the most common speech level in daily Korean.

Korean Sentence Structure Breakdown

Korean follows a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) word order, which is different from English (SVO). In "오리가 먼저 물을 마시고, 그다음에 길을 걸어요.", the verb comes at the end of the sentence. Here is the word-by-word breakdown: • 오리가 (origa) • 먼저 (meonjeo) • 물을 (muleul) • 마시고, (masigo,) • 그다음에 (geudaeume) • 길을 (gileul) • 걸어요 (geoleoyo)

In Korean, the verb ending tells you everything: who is speaking, how polite they are, and what tense they mean. Pay close attention to the last syllable.

Why This Korean Expression Sounds Natural

This Korean version sounds natural because it uses the most common speech level (-요 form). Korean has seven speech levels, and this one strikes the perfect balance between formal and casual.

Cultural Insight

한국 이야기에서 모험은 물리적 여행보다 내면의 성장에 초점을 맞추는 경우가 많아요. 용기, 인내, 지혜가 진짜 보물이 됩니다.

Examples

오리가 먼저 물을 마시고, 그다음에 길을 걸어요. — origa meonjeo muleul masigo, geudaeume gileul geoleoyo. — The duck drinks water, and then walks the path.

오리가 먼저 물을 마시고, 그다음에 길을 걸어요? — origa meonjeo muleul masigo, geudaeume gileul geoleoyo? — Does the duck drinks water, and then walks the path?

오늘도 오리가 먼저 물을 마시고, 그다음에 길을 걸어요. — oneuldo origa meonjeo muleul masigo, geudaeume gileul geoleoyo. — Today too, the duck drinks water, and then walks the path.

Common Mistakes

Incorrect: 먹아요 → Correct: 먹어요. The stem 먹- ends in a dark vowel (ㅓ), so it takes -어요 not -아요. Match the vowel harmony.

Incorrect: 걸어요 오리가 먼저 물을 마시고, 그다음에 길을 → Correct: 오리가 먼저 물을 마시고, 그다음에 길을 걸어요. Korean uses Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) order. The verb must come at the end of the sentence, unlike English where it comes after the subject.

Quiz

How do you say "The duck drinks water, and then walks the path" in Korean?

The correct Korean translation is "오리가 먼저 물을 마시고, 그다음에 길을 걸어요.". origa meonjeo muleul masigo, geudaeume gileul geoleoyo.

Fill in the blank: 오리가 먼저 물을 마시고, 그다음에 길을 ___

The correct ending is "걸어요". The polite -요 form is essential for everyday Korean conversation.