TOPIK 1 Grammar Checklist (Complete Beginner Syllabus)

This is the whole beginner syllabus in one place: every grammar point a TOPIK I (level 1) learner is expected to control, laid out in the order you should actually learn them. Treat it as a checklist you can walk down from top to bottom — each line links to its full page. But read this first: the list is a dependency graph, not a menu. You cannot conjugate a tense until you can attach a particle to a noun, and you cannot build a connected sentence until you can conjugate. So resist the urge to jump ahead to the fun connectives; the payoff comes from doing these in sequence.

Stage 1 — "A is B": the copula and existence

Start where every Korean sentence starts: saying that one thing is another, and saying that something exists. These two verbs are the skeleton you will hang vocabulary on for weeks.

• The copula 이다 overview — how "to be (A=B)" works
• The polite copula 이에요/예요 — 이에요 after a consonant, 예요 after a vowel
• The negative copula 아니에요/아닙니다 — "is not"
• 있다/없다: existence and 없다: absence
• 있다 for possession ("have") and there is / there isn't

Stage 2 — The core particles

Now learn the little grammar tags that tell you who did what to whom. Korean has no fixed subject-verb-object order the way English does; word order flexes, and these particles carry the meaning instead. Learn the first four cold before adding the rest.

• Topic 은/는 — sets what the sentence is about
• Subject 이/가 — marks the grammatical doer
• Object 을/를 — marks what the verb acts on
• Location/time/goal 에 vs dynamic location/source 에서
• 도 "also / too" · 만 "only" · 의 "'s" (possessive)
• "And" between nouns: 와/과 (written) and 하고 (spoken)

Stage 3 — Present tense: the two speech levels

With particles in hand, learn to conjugate. Korean beginners learn two politeness levels at once: the everyday 해요체 (ends in -아요/-어요) and the crisp, formal 합니다체 (ends in -ㅂ니다 / -습니다). Use 해요체 by default; recognize 합니다체 in announcements, the military, and the news.

• Polite present -아요/-어요 (해요체) and the 해요체 register
• Formal present -ㅂ니다/-습니다 (합니다체) and the 합니다체 register

Stage 4 — Negation

Korean has two "no"s, and choosing between them is a real decision, not a style choice. 안 negates simple not-doing (I chose not to); 못 negates inability (I couldn't, something stopped me). Each also has a longer form built on -지.

• 안 (short negation) and its long form -지 않다
• 못 (inability) and its long form -지 못하다
• 안 vs 못 side by side

Stage 5 — Past and future

• Past -았어요/-었어요 — harmony-matched exactly like the present
• Future / intention -(으)ㄹ 거예요 — "will / is going to"

Stage 6 — Joining clauses: the first connectives

These four are the workhorses that turn choppy single clauses into real sentences. Learn them once you can conjugate all three tenses, because a connective sits between two conjugatable clauses.

• -고 "and (then)" — listing or sequence
• -지만 "but" — contrast
• -아서/-어서 "so / and then" and its cause use -아서/-어서 "because"
• -(으)면 "if / when"

Stage 7 — The three essential modal patterns

Round out the level with the patterns that let you express wanting, being able, and politely asking.

• -고 싶다 "want to"
• -(으)ㄹ 수 있다/없다 "can / can't"
• -(으)세요 "please do" (polite command) and the 세요 honorific ending

Stage 8 — The two number systems

This is the item beginners most often postpone and most regret postponing. Korean has two complete sets of numbers, and you must know which situations demand which — there is no shortcut, you memorize the split.

• Native Korean numbers 하나·둘·셋 — for counting things and telling the hour
• Sino-Korean numbers 일·이·삼 — for money, dates, minutes, phone numbers
• Counters: 개 (things), 명 and 분 (people)
• Time: hours with native + 시 but minutes with Sino + 분
• Money: prices in 원 (always Sino)
• The decision itself: which system when

Common mistakes at this level

Pairing the wrong number system with the context. This is the error to hunt down across everything you write. Money, dates, and minutes take Sino-Korean; counting objects and telling the hour take native. Mixing them is the beginner tell.

Using 있어요 to mean "it is" instead of "there is / have." 있다 is existence; the copula 이에요/예요 is identity. English "is" covers both, so learners overuse 있다.

Forgetting that 안 and 못 sit before the verb, not after. Korean negation is pre-verbal.

Dropping the object particle is fine; dropping the verb ending is not. In casual speech Koreans do drop 을/를, but a beginner should keep endings fully conjugated — a bare stem is not a sentence.

Key takeaways

• Work top to bottom: copula and particles → tense → negation → connectives → modals → numbers. Each stage depends on the one above it.
• Default to 해요체 in speech; recognize 합니다체 in formal settings.
• 안 = chose not to; 못 = couldn't. Both go before the verb.
• Two number systems, split by context — native for counting and hours, Sino for money, dates, and minutes. When you finish this list, move on to the TOPIK 2 checklist, or if a trip is coming up first, take the tighter grammar-for-travel path.