How to use Korean Grammar V + (으)면서

The Korean text pronunciation feature (🔊) is only available for Chrome, Edge, Safari, and Opera browsers.

Verb, Adjective + 면서 / 으면서

면서 - if a word ends in a vowel or ㄹ, 으면서 - if it ends in a consonant (except ㄹ)

In Korean grammar, -면서 / -으면서 is used to describe two or more simultaneous actions or situations. -면서 / -으면서 is attached directly to a verb or adjective stem. It cannot be attached to tense suffixes -겠 or -았/-었/-였. -면서 / -으면서 can be translated as "while", "and", "as... so...".
(Sometimes you can see -면서 / -으면서 is attached to the past tense suffixes -았/-었/-였. This is a different grammar pattern with a completely different meaning.)

See examples,
(click on translation and grammar buttons)

저는 걸으면서 커피를 마셔요.

Korean

걷다

커피

마시다

English

I

to walk

coffee

to drink

I drink coffee while walking.

으면서 커피 마시+어요.

저는 기타를 배우면서 피아노를 가르쳐요.

Korean

기타

배우다

피아노

가르치다

English

I

guitar

to learn

piano

to teach

I teach piano while learning guitar.

기타 배우면서 피아노 가르치+어요.

제가 이 곳에서 살면서 친구를 많이 사귀었어요.

Korean

살다

친구

많이

사귀다

English

I

this

place

to live

friend

a lot

to make friends, to date

I made a lot of friends while living here.

저+ 이 곳에서면서 친구 많이 사귀++어요.

최저임금이 오르면서 물가도 올라요.

Korean

최저

임금

오르다

물가

English

minimum

wage

to go up

price

As the minimum wage rises, so do prices.

최저임금 오르면서 물가 오르+아요.

이 제품은 싸면서 품질이 아주 좋아요.

Korean

제품

싸다

품질

아주

좋다

English

this

product

cheap

quality

very

good

This product is cheap and of great quality.

이 제품면서 품질 아주 좋아요.

Quick reference (click to open)

Vowels: a, e, i, o, u

Consonants: b, c, d, f, g, h, j

Syllable: Bra-zil (2 syllables), Ar-gen-ti-na (4), In-di-a (3), Viet-nam (2), thin-king (2), beau-ti-ful (3), good (1)

Batchim: is a final consonant in a syllable. → Bra-zil (batchim: 'l'), Ar-gen-ti-na (batchims: 'r' and 'n'), In-di-a ('n'), Viet-nam ('t', 'm')

Romanization: is a conversion of text (not pronunciation ! ) from different writing system (Korean, Arabic, Russian, etc.) to the Roman (Latin) alphabet.

IPA: is an alphabetic system of phonetic (pronunciation) notation.

Noun: road, user, sister, table, sky

Pronoun: I, my, we, you, they, her

Verb: to go, to study, to think, to feel

Adjective: cold, kind, hungry, curious, expensive

Adverb: quickly, nicely, never, exactly, urgently

Preposition: from, to, on, in, with, till

Conjuction: and, because, if, but, while

Declarative sentence: I learn Korean.

Interrogative sentence: Do you learn Korean?

Imperative sentence: You must learn Korean!

Exclamative sentence: Wow, you learn Korean!

Verb / Adj. stem in Korean: part of a verb or adj. which is left after removing the last syllable -다 ( e.g. 가다 → 가, 예쁘다 → 예쁘, 듣다 → 듣 ).