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

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

"할아버지가 먼저 물을 마시고, 그다음에 길을 걸어요." means "The grandfather drinks water, and then walks the path" in Korean. It features the -아/어요 pattern — the -아/어요 ending is the standard polite speech level in korean. Practice this phrase to build your Korean fluency.

Category: 가족

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

The Korean sentence "할아버지가 먼저 물을 마시고, 그다음에 길을 걸어요." translates to "The grandfather drinks water, and then walks the path." in English. "할아버지가 먼저 물을 마시고, 그다음에 길을 걸어요." — a sentence that Korean children might hear in bedtime stories. It means "the grandfather drinks water, and then walks the path" and uses vocabulary that appears in hundreds of other Korean sentences, making it a powerful building block.

Pronunciation guide: halabeojiga 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 "할아버지가 먼저 물을 마시고, 그다음에 길을 걸어요.", the verb comes at the end of the sentence. Here is the word-by-word breakdown: • 할아버지가 (halabeojiga) • 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

What makes it sound authentically Korean is the absence of pronouns. Unlike English, Korean often drops "I", "you", or "it" when context makes them obvious — creating a leaner, more elegant sentence.

Cultural Insight

한국 동화에서 가족은 모든 모험의 출발점이자 귀환점이에요. 집을 떠나도 결국 가족에게 돌아오는 서사가 많습니다.

Examples

할아버지가 먼저 물을 마시고, 그다음에 길을 걸어요. — halabeojiga meonjeo muleul masigo, geudaeume gileul geoleoyo. — The grandfather drinks water, and then walks the path.

할아버지가 먼저 물을 마시고, 그다음에 길을 걸어요? — halabeojiga meonjeo muleul masigo, geudaeume gileul geoleoyo? — Does the grandfather drinks water, and then walks the path?

오늘도 할아버지가 먼저 물을 마시고, 그다음에 길을 걸어요. — oneuldo halabeojiga meonjeo muleul masigo, geudaeume gileul geoleoyo. — Today too, the grandfather 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 할아버지가 먼저 물을 마시고, 그다음에 길을 → Correct: 할아버지가 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 grandfather drinks water, and then walks the path" in Korean?

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

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

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