TOPIK 2 Grammar Checklist (Upper-Beginner Syllabus)

You have cleared the TOPIK 1 checklist: you can build a sentence, put it in three tenses, negate it, and stitch clauses with -고 and -지만. TOPIK 2 is where Korean stops feeling like slotting words into frames and starts feeling like a language with texture. This level adds the machinery for social positioning (honorifics), doing things for others (benefactives), obligation and suggestion, a much richer set of connectives, and — the crown jewel — the attributive endings that let you build relative clauses. Work down the list in order; the sequencing is deliberate.

Stage 1 — Two futures, and firming up the past

First, sharpen tools you already met. The past tense should now be automatic; the new work is distinguishing the plan/prediction future from the volition/conjecture future 겠.

• Past -았어요/-었어요 — from recall to reflex
• Future -(으)ㄹ 거예요 — plans and predictions
• Future/volition 겠 — willingness ("I'll…"), conjecture ("it'll probably…")
• Choosing 겠 vs -(으)ㄹ 거예요

Stage 2 — Honorifics: the subject-raising -(으)시-

This is the heart of TOPIK 2. To speak to or about someone older or higher in status, you raise the subject of the verb with -(으)시-. Learn the regular ending, then the handful of verbs that swap for a whole new suppletive word, then the subject-marking particle 께서.

• The honorific stem -(으)시- and how -(으)시- attaches
• The polite -(으)세요 / formal -(으)십니다
• Suppletive honorific verbs: 계시다 "to be", 드시다/잡수시다 "to eat", 주무시다 "to sleep" — the full suppletive set
• Subject-honorific particle 께서 (replaces 이/가) — see also 께서 as a particle
• The rule that saves you: -(으)시- is never for yourself

Stage 3 — Auxiliary verbs: doing things for and trying things

Korean chains a second verb onto the -아/어 form of the first to add nuance. Two are essential now: the benefactive (doing something for someone) and the attempt ("try doing").

• -아/어 주다 "do (for someone)"
• -아/어 보다 "try doing" — see also -아/어 보다 as attempt/experience
• Progressive -고 있다 "be ~ing"

Stage 4 — Obligation and suggestion

• Obligation -아야/어야 되다/하다 "have to"
• Suggestion -(으)ㄹ까요? "shall we?"
• Proposal -(으)ㅂ시다 "let's" and the formal 합시다
• Experience -(으)ㄴ 적이 있다 "have (ever) done"

Stage 5 — The connective expansion

Your connective toolkit doubles here. The most important new distinction is reason: -(으)니까 gives a reason that can be followed by a command or suggestion, where -아서/어서 cannot. Then add purpose and background clauses.

• Reason -(으)니까 and when to pick 아서 vs 니까
• Background/contrast -(으)ㄴ데/는데 — see also -는데 for setting the scene
• Purpose of going: -(으)러 "in order to (go/come)" vs intent -(으)려고 "intending to", and how they differ
• Before / after: 전에 and -(으)ㄴ 후에 lean on the time/place bound nouns

Stage 6 — The three attributive endings (relative clauses)

This is the level's structural leap. English uses "who/which/that" to hang a clause in front of a noun; Korean instead conjugates the verb into an attributive form and puts it directly before the noun, with no relative pronoun at all. Three endings cover it, split by tense and word class.

• Present -는 (verbs) — "the book that I am reading"
• Past / adjective -(으)ㄴ — "the book that I read"; also -(으)ㄴ on adjectives
• Prospective -(으)ㄹ — "the book that I will read"
• The big picture: modifier before noun and the attributive forms table

Common mistakes at this level

Applying -(으)시- to yourself. The honorific raises the subject; you never raise yourself. This is the number-one TOPIK 2 error.

Using -아서/어서 in front of a command or suggestion. Reason clauses that lead into an imperative or a "let's" require -(으)니까; -아서/어서 is grammatically blocked there.

Trying to insert a relative pronoun. There is no Korean word for "that/which/who" in a relative clause — the attributive ending is the linkage. Learners transfer English and look for a connecting word that doesn't exist.

Forgetting that adjectives take -(으)ㄴ, not -는, before a noun. Descriptive verbs (adjectives) use the past-shaped -(으)ㄴ for a present meaning: 예쁜 옷 "pretty clothes," never ×예쁘는 옷.

Key takeaways

• -(으)시- honors the subject, never you. Internalize this before anything else.
• -(으)니까, not -아서, when a reason leads into a command or suggestion.
• Two futures: -(으)ㄹ 거예요 for plans and predictions, 겠 for volition and conjecture.
• Relative clauses are built by conjugating the verb into an attributive form (-는 / -(으)ㄴ / -(으)ㄹ) and placing it directly before the noun — no relative pronoun exists.
• When this list is second nature, step up to The Intermediate Path (TOPIK 3–4), and treat honorifics as a lifelong project with the mastering honorifics roadmap.