매튜의 한국어 연습 블로그

Clean. Think of all the different ways we use this word in English. It's a broad brush that has a lot of interpretation. In Korean, each instance is broken up into slew of different verbs and adjectives. Let's find out when it's appropriate to use each one:

청소하다 - to clean (general)
This is used in general to refer to cleaning but should not be used as a 1:1 replacement for the English equivalent. Examples:

이 빌딩을 청소하는 사람은 모두 5명이예요.
This building has five people who clean it.

저는 청소하는 것을 좋아해요.
I like to clean things.

청소 합시다!
Let's clean!


깨끗하다 - to be clean
Now think of "clean" as an adjective. Examples:

깨끗하게 청소했구나
Wow you really cleaned the room up nicely! (lit. cleanly cleaned)

이 빌딩은 정말 깨끗하군요. 누가 청소를 하나요?
This building is really clean! Who cleaned it?

우리는 깨끗한 물을 마셔야 해요.
We should drink clean water.

방이 정말 깨끗해졌네. 청소했어?
The room became so clean. Did you clean?


치우다 - to clean off
The next verb is more of taking away items or a wiping off a table. Examples:

이것 좀 치워 주세요.
Please clean off the table.

이 쓰레기 좀 치워주세요.
Please take out this trash.

밥 먹고 식탁 치우는 건 제가 할게요
After I eat, I'll wipe off the table.

저리 좀 치워!
Put that away!


마루 닦다 - to mop
This one is a bit confusing because in English we have a mop (명사) that used for mopping (동사). Korean separates these into 대걸레 and 자루걸레 that are used for 마루 닦기. Another thing of note is that 마루 and 바닥 mean the same thing. Examples:

부엌 마루를 닦아
Mop the kitchen floor

마루 닦았어?
Did you mop?

왜 바닥 안 닦았어? 내가 벌써 말했잖아.
Why didn't you mop the floor? You know I already asked you to do that.


쓸다- to sweep
A broom (빗) is used to sweep (쓸다) things. Ignore dictionaries that claim that 닦다 is also sweeping. That verb is used when liquid is involved. Examples:

교실 바닥 쓸었니?
Did you sweep the classroom floor?

청소할때 먼저 쓸고나서 걸레로 바닥을 닦아요.
When cleaning, first sweep and then mop the floor.

낙엽을 쓸어 담아 주겠니?
Will you rake up the fallen leaves?


청소기를 돌리다 - to vacuum
The original phrase was 진공청소기를 돌리다 but it's always shortened in conversation to simply 청소기. In English we think of pushing a vacuum cleaner, right? In Korean think of it as 돌다 to spin or 돌리다 to make spin. Examples:

내일 꼭 청소기 돌려
Make sure tomorrow that you vacuum.

매주 청소기 돌려야돼
You should vacuum every week

청소기 돌리는 거 싫어해
I hate vacuuming


정리하다 - to organize, pick up, put in order.
When you think of cleaning a refrigerator or picking up a room, think of this verb. Examples:

책상 정리 좀 하고 다녀
Go and clean off your desk

주말에 차고를 정리하려고 해.
I plan on cleaning the garage this weekend

주변 정리 잘 하는 사람이 일도 잘 하는 거야.
People who clean well work well (makes more sense in Korean, trust me)


설거지 - to wash dishes.
Everyone's least favorite kitchen chore. Examples:

설거지 좀 해줄래?
Would you wash the dishes?

엄마를 위해 설거지를 했어요?
Did you wash dishes for your mom?

부엌에 가서 설거지하는 것 점 도와드려.
Go to the kitchen and help out with the dishes.

Everyday. There are entirely way too many different ways to express this simple little thing. Although not universally agreeable, below is what I would consider a classification of each term:

맨날 - conversational
하루 - both conversational and formal
하루하루 - conversational (emphasis)
매일 - both conversational and formal
일상적인 - both conversational and formal

While all of the above mean "everyday" the last really means "regularly" or "routinely" which could easily almost stand in for "everyday" in some contexts. Korean seldom uses 일상적인 but instead 일상 + 명사 as in:

일상생활 - everyday life, daily life, the day-to-day
일상업무 - daily business, the daily grind, routine work
일상용품 - things that are used routinely everyday

More examples:

엄마는 맨날 나보고만 뭐라고 해.
Why does my mom always (everyday) pick on me?

오늘 하루도 참 길었지.
Today was such a long day.

하루하루 멀어져 가겠지.
♪ Each day I'm getting farther from you ♪

나는 매일 아침 7시 30분에 출근해요.
I start work everyday at 7:30 in the morning.

저의 일상적인 업무는 학교에서 시작해서 학교에서 끝나요.
My daily routine starts and ends at school.

당신의 일상 생활은 바쁜 편입니까?
Is your daily life considered busy?

Can you hear me now?

While skyping recently I ran across a simple misunderstanding. If you're checking if someone can hear you or not, make sure to distinguish between these two:

들려.
I can hear you.
들어.
Hear me (listen to what I'm saying).


안 들려.
I can't hear you.
안 들어.*
I'm not listening to you. *(not common at all)


Make you you say what you mean to say to loved ones. Definitely a piece of Korean Grammar You Should Already Know. 다시 한번 미안해 여보.

Something seems to be like something. When you feel the urge to be less than specific about what you're talking about, seems like you should use this guy. However, the grammatical rules for affixing him at the end of the verb aren't especially difficult but are a bit long. Keep in mind that the tense of the sentence will be expressed at the end and that 것 is also commonly spelled (and pronounced) like 거. Also, the 아 often sounds like 애 in common speech. So, in effect, you might spell "it seems like it will rain" any number of different ways:

비가 올 것 같아요 (grammatically correct and most common spelling)
비가 올 거 같아요 (also common)
비가 올 것 같애요 (maybe only used as a text message)
비가 올 거 같애요 (least common spelling but most commonly pronounced)

More rules:

은/ㄴ 것 같다 = descriptive verb ending in a vowel or consonant
는 것 같다 = action verb
을/ㄹ 것 같다 = future tense

More Examples:

좋을 것 같아요
Seems he'll like it.

버스가 늦게 올 것 같아.
The bus seems to be running late.

직원들이 바쁜 것 같아.
The employees seem busy.

그가 실수로 그런 것 같아요.
I guess he did it by mistake.

경기가 곧 끝날 것 같아요.
It seems the game will end soon.

할 수 있을 것 같아요.
I think I can do it.

The only reason why I bring this up is that in English we use the same word "bag" for a purse, satchel, and indeed a plastic bag used at a grocery store. In Korean, the plastic bag that polite store clerks ask if you need to go with your purchased goods ("봉투 필요하세요?") I used to make the mistake of telling the clerk 가방 필요 없어요. I'm sure she was wondering why I was telling her that I had no need for a man purse.

가방
This native Korean word means "bag" as in:
서류 가방 document bag
가죽 가방 leather bag
여행 가방 travel bag [just like 짐 (朕)]


봉투 (封套)
bag, sack, envelope

In summary, a 가방 is a fashionable, purchasable briefcase or purse that is worn around the shoulders. A 봉투 is a thin, plastic non-eco friendly shopping bag accompanied by loaves of bread and groceries. 봉투 can also be a mailing envelope. If you ask for a 봉투 and someone happily offers you a thin black plastic bag used to carry fruit, politely smile and ask instead for a 편지 봉투 instead.

I'm not that great at distinguishing 어 and 오 when I speak and to a lesser extent 이 and 으. I'm also not that great at properly pronouncing words with ㄹ which kind of limits my level of clarity for anyone to listen to what I have to say. I know. it'll get better with practice. In the meantime, I'm mushmouth extraordinaire.

One thing that always, for whatever reason, confuses me is the difference between 어린이 and 어른. Ironically, they could not be more opposite in meaning, standing for "young" and "old" respectively. If 어른 has the subject marker, it's 어른이, of course. Which to me sounds a lot like 어린이 when I speak. Course, if 어린이 has the subject marker, it's all gravy: 어린이가. So how do I remember the difference?

어린이 always has the 이 ending attached to it. It's part of the definition. That kind of reminds me of the 이 ending the we use to address kids. Think about calling someone 소연. If they were just a kid, you'd call them 소연이~ right?

I have an awful mnemonic for 어른. Okay, so little kids are always running around and standing up cause they have so much energy, right? Well, the ㅣ in 린 is like a person standing up. The ㅡ in 른 is like a prerson laying down, right? Like an older person lays down to rest. So the ㅡ in 어른 makes me think of an older person taking a nap. Am I bad for saying this?

Anyway, I feel bad for the borderline ageism but hey if it confused you before, you'd surely remember it from now on. Thus ends another entry for Korean Grammar You Should Already Know.

What's so funny? The difference between these two little jokers is no laughing matter.

농담 (弄談)
kidding, joking (through speech)

장난
playing, teasing (through action)

The English explanation sounds a bit off but stay with me. 농담 is easy to define because it has the 말씀 담 (談) in it's name. You know off the bat that it's something to do with speaking. The preceding character is 희롱 농 (弄) which is like a taunt, mock or jeer. You may have seen this in 성희롱 (性戱弄) which means "sexual harassment".

장난 is a bit different. This natively Korean expression is more encompassing. It can be an action speech or a sticked out tongue (메롱) given to some kid onthe subway giving you the stink eye. Whatever it is, it's a joke. You can also see this in 장난감 which is a "toy" or also my personal favorite but not so common 붓장난 which can be interpreted as "hack writing". The idea is that someone's writing is so bad that it must be a joke.


Examples:

장난 아냐! 사실이야.
I'm not kidding! I'm telling the truth.

어렸을때 그 곰 인형은 제일 좋아하는 장난감이었어요.
That teddy bear was my favorite plaything as a kid.

그것도 농담이라고 해요?
You call that a joke?

농담할 기분이 아니에요.
I'm not in the mood for jokes.

이제 농담은 그만 해야겠군요.
I seems I should stop joking now, yeah?

농담은 집어치우고 진짜 이유를 말해 봐요.
All joking aside, what's the real story?

A non-internet request is happily filled. On occasion, I must admit, I flip the correct usage of hot and cold. It's just a knee-jerk reaction from time to time. I used to get really frustrated with talking about heat until I was humbled by the sheer number of verbs for "to wear". I then stopped jinxing my luck.

Cold
춥다 condition of being cold
차갑다 cold to the touch

When you're outside and it's chilly, it's 추워요. If it's around you, it's this type of cold.
When you dip your toe into the pool and it's nippy, it's 차가워요. If you touched it, it's this type of cold.

Hot
덥다 condition of being hot
뜨겁다 hot to the touch

When you're standing outside waiting for the bus in the summer, it's 더워요. If you're sweating, it's this type of heat.
When you take a sip of your morning coffee and discover that it's burning a hole in your mouth, it's 뜨거워요. If you touched it, it's this type of heat.
*Also, when you've had your fill of 청량고추 and want to call it a day because you think you have discovered an ulcer in your stomach, it's 매워요. If it's spicy, it's this type of heat.


Hope that clears it up. Just in case one starts to think that only Korean is unnecessarily confusing, consider in English the multiple uses of "china" (the country, dishes), "story" (book, building floor, lie), and "butt" (fanny, bottom of a gun, to interfere).

There's nothing more embarrassing than having to ask where the bathroom is in broken Korean. If I had to pinpoint a particular moment when my face and pride first went out the window (first implies that my face has been lost many times which would be a correct assumption) it would be the awkward bathroom moment. I couldn't remember which one to say:
화장실 어디있어요?
화장실 어디예요?

To me, they both made sense. Now, I know the difference, but how can we differentiate them in English? How can I justify not using one over the other? First things first, a note about the subject. If the subject is an inanimate object, like, say the bathroom, it's fine to use both. If it's a person, you only have one option. Moving on with examples:

화장실 어디있어요? (o) Where is the restroom located? (shortened form)
화장실이 어디에 있어요? (o) Where is the restroom located? (grammatically correct)
화장실 어디예요? (o) Where is the restroom?

Both questions are asking the location of the restroom but the nuance is slightly different. Feel free to use both. Problem solved, right? Now, as for a person:

(다) 효연이 어디예요? (x) Where is the Hyoyeon?
(라) 효연이 어디있어요? (o) Where is Hyoyeon?

The first example doesn't make grammatical sense because 효연 is a person. I liken it to adding an unnecessary article like "the". I will say though that sometimes it can be heard in spoken language. It is a genuine mistake but then again, so is "That ain't right", "We be tough on'em" and "Git'er done".

A piece of cake. 씩 is a piece of something. like saying "a piece" "per" or "만큼" and is used with money a lot.

우리 아이에게 만원씩 줬어
I gave each of my kids ten dollars.
I gave my kids ten dollars a piece.

조금씩 먹어라
eat nice and slow; chew your food (piece by piece)

보통 하루에 네 번씩 식사를 해요
I usually eat four times a day.

저는 날마다 10시간씩 근무해요
I work 10 hours a day.

한 학생에 사탕 두 새씩 줬어요
I gave two pieces of candy to each student.

한 주 다섯 번씩 운동해요
I work out five times a week.

가끔씩
sometimes


식 (式) is much more versatile and is used much more frequently. The form that was getting me confused with the spelling was the ~식 that stands for "ceremony" or "way"

결혼식
wedding ceremony

미국식으로
American way

졸업식
graduation ceremony

장례식
funeral

성찬식
communion

이런식으로...
this way

You've been there. Constructing a sentence and when pressed to spell "not" as in "안 했어요" you pause for a moment and wonder... should you spell it "않 했어요" instead? Which one is correct? You've seen both, haven't you?

Sort of. They have the same basic meaning but a different usage.
'안'한다 (don't) - 하지 '않'는다 (don't)

안 할게요
I won't

안 합니다
I don't

안 했어요
I didn't

안 잤어요
I didn't sleep

안 갈거야
I'm not going

아직 안 왔어요
She/he hasn't come yet.

안 먹어?
You're not eating?


않다 also indicates negation but in a different sense

제가 하지 않았습니다
I didn't do that.

그렇게 하지 않나요?
Don't you do it like that?

다시는 실수하지 않겠습니다.
I won't make a mistake again.

먼저 가지 않을게요.
I won't go first.

쉽지 않아요
It's not easy


So in the first example, it is indeed 안 했어요 but do keep in mind that 않다 is its own thing and that it has a place. When I'm questioning it, I think to myself of the placement of 안 or 않. If it's in front of an action verb like 하다 or 가다 I use 안 as in: 공부 안 했다 or 학교 안 가. Where it gets fuzzy is situations like "aren't you tired?" where the message can be conveyed two different ways:

피곤하지않아요?
안 피곤 해요?

just watch your 안s and you'll be fine. More examples:

안 먹어요
안 자요
안 예뻐요
안 추워요

먹지 않아요
자지 않아요
예쁘지 않아요
춥지 않아요

Thus concludes another Korean Grammar You Should Already Know.

Now. How are these two different but mean the same? Both mean "now" but they have slightly different nuances. Essentially:

지금 means "now" as in "now".
이제 means "now" as in "now and also the upcoming future"

EX)
지금부터 수업을 시작 하겠습니다 X
이제부터 수업을 시작 하겠습니다 O
From now, I guess class will start (Class is starting now)

지금부터 열심히 공부 해야겠어요 X
이제부터 열심히 공부 해야겠어요 O
I should start studying for real from now on.

지금 인터넷이 안 돼요 O
이제 인터넷이 안 돼요 X
The internet isn't working now

지금은 볼 수 있습니다 O
이제는 볼 수 있습니다 X
I can see it now


As you can see, 이제 has a slightly wider usage but both are similar. Careful not to use 지금 as events that are occurring now and also will occur in the future. Save that for 이제.

A helpful Korean explanation:

"이제"와 "지금" 비슷한 말이에요. 뜻이 같아요.
그런데 지금은 "말하고 있는 바로 이때"라는 뜻으로 "지금 비가 와요." 등에서 사용할 수 있어요.
그런데 이제는 지금보다 조금 더 넓은 뜻이 있어요.
지금 (진짜 지금) (right now)
이제 (지금과 앞으로) (now, in the future)

미래에 대한 문장:
"이제 소주를 마시지 않을 거예요" O
"지금 소주를 마시지 않을 거예요" X

I hate splitting hairs but these two get me all kinds of mixed up. First of all, they both mean "these days" or "recently" so in that respect, they are similar. First, they are actually abbreviations. As it turns out:

요즘 is an abbreviated form of 요즈음 but I doubt you'll ever use it.
요새 is also an abbreviation of 요사이 but, again, not exactly super common. But, it might help to remember the spelling is not to be confused with 요세

Essentially, they are the same expression. They are, for most purposes, interchangeable. Both are natively Korean and thus do not differentiating 한자. If you want to say "these days" use either one.

EX)
요즘은 한자를 배우고 있어요
These days I've been studying Hanja.
요새는 한자를 배우고 있어요
These days I've been studying Hanja.

A Korean explanation:
요즘은 "요즈음"의 준말이에요. 둘 다 "지금과 가까운 시간 동안"이라는 뜻이에요.
그런데 "요세"가 아니라 "요새"가 맞아요. 한국 사람들이 맞춤법을 많이 틀려요. 요새=요사이

예)
요즘 한국 물가가 비싸지요? O
요새 한국 물가가 비싸지요? O

모두 사용할 수 있어요. 그런데 신문, 방송이나 회의 등 공적으로 말할 때는 "요즘"을 사용하는 것이 좋아요.

I'm not the only one who gets these switched up. Thankfully, it's not nearly as a unintelligible as, say flipping the word "pork" for "fork" in English (think "Use a pork at the table") but it is important to make sure to say the right word. Yes, even some Koreans get these two words mixed up but that isn't much of bragging rights; it still carries the connotation that you're an idiot that doesn't know the difference between "to lose something" and "to forget". There are some situations where the meaning is similar so just be sure to use the right verb with the right situation.

Confusing examples:

어제 집에서 핸드폰을 잊어버렸어.
I left (forgot) my phone at home yesterday.
대안: 어제 핸드폰을 안 가져왔어요.
alt: I didn't bring my phone with me today.

어제 집에서 핸드폰을 잃어버렸어.
I lost my phone at home yesterday.
대안: 어제 내 핸드폰이 없어졌어요.
alt: My phone disappeared (went missing) yesterday.

Non-confusing examples:

ATM 비밀을 엊어버렸어요...
I forgot my ATM password

아들을 잃어버렸어요!
I lost my son!


I tried to think of a mnemonic to remember which one is which but there isn't one that sticks to me. The only thing I can do to remember which one is which is by thinking how are they spelled. 잊 and 잃. 잊어 sounds like /ee joe/ which reminds me of when I was a kid and I would forget to clean up my G.I.Joes. I never lost them, though. 잃어 sounds like /ee loh/ which reminds me of a kilo, as in a kilogram, as in losing weight, as in "I lost ten kilo(s)" 이러 = kilo.

no? then just memorize it:

잊어버렸어요 I forgot
엃어버렸어요 I lost it

Another reason my teacher is awesome is that she'll answer just about any question I have regardless of how trivial or basic it may seem. Today's puzzle was as follows:

I see "~하지오" a lot. I have always been confused by ~하지오 and ~하지요. I know that ~하죠 is just a shortened form but what is the original, correct spelling? Form the horse's mouth:

"잘 지내지오?" - 이것은 spelling 맞춤법이 틀렸어요
"잘 지내지요?" - 이것이 맞아요.
"잘 지내죠?" - 이것은 "지요?"의 shortened word (줄임말)이에요. 지요 = 죠

There you have it. Just like 께 and 게 it's a simple spelling error that doesn't really ruffle up any feathers. Thus ends another tasty Korean Grammar You Should Already Know.

Learning Korean can be incredibly frustrating especially when the seemingly most simple vocabulary escapes you. I know all of these words now obviously but I learned them incidentally through embarrassing moments with tutors, teachers and patient parents-in-law. There's nothing wrong with not knowing a new word but these are way too basic to not know. If you're learning Korean on your own, make it a point to burn these to memory.

문법 grammar
주어 subject
목적어 object
동사 verb
명사 noun
형용사 adjective
부사 adverb
자음 consonant
모음 vowel

제목 title, topic
문장 sentence


연습 practice
복습 review

억양 intonation
발음 pronunciation *
사투리 dialect
표준어 standard speech

규칙 regular, class rules
불규칙 irregular

문전 thing
장소 location
단어 word
표현 phrase, expression

첫글자 first letter
대문자 uppercase letters
소문자 lowercase letters
글씨 handwriting


* not to be confused with 바람 (wind)

What in the world is the difference between 그렇게 할께요 and 그렇게 할게요? Anytime I see 할께요 and 할게요 I just get frustrated not knowing which one is which. I learned 을 게요 of course but I very often see 을 께요....so which one is right? Is one different from the other?

After asking countless number of people this question and never getting a straight or consistent answer, I was starting to lose hope. Thankfully, my teacher finally clarified. There are indeed the same thing. Both imply future intent but only one is spelled correctly. ㄹ께요 is just a cute or common mispelling that sticks.....kind of like "light" and "lite" to describe a food's sugar or calorie count. We know "lite" is wrong but accept it anyway.

I have actually heard that the prior to 1988 it was officially spelt as 께 but I can't verify that. Either way, it is currently spelled as 게.

Scratch that one off the list.

Why does this one confuse me? Well, it goes back to the whole subject versus object discussion. If it's a subject, use 좋아. If it's an object, use 좋아하다. Try not to think of it as "if you like the subject" or "if you like the object" because that's a bit misleading. Plus, one type of thought can easily be expressed a number of different ways. For example:
소녀시대 중에서 누가 제일 좋아?
소녀시대 중에서 누구를 제일 좋아해?

Both loosely mean "Who is your favorite member in 'Girl's Generation'?" but one uses 좋아 and the other uses 좋아하다. Confused? As simple as it is, I get it messed up from time to time. I shouldn't but I do.

A trick that might help is to think of the root. 좋아하다 is a 하다 verb. 하다 is to do something. If you like to do something, then it's 좋아하다 as in "운동 좋아해요?" (Do you like to exercise?) makes more sense than "운동 좋아요?" which makes virtually no sense. If you want to ask if someone likes the act of exercising, perhaps what you mean to ask is "운동 하기 좋아요?" which would, to my best translation, be the same as I the first example but only less common.

Lastly, I've once heard the explanation that 좋아하다 is only used for active verbs but I couldn't tell you the first thing about active versus non-active verbs let alone verify if that trick actually works.

UPDATE: TTMIK has a great lesson on this very subject

Easily the most embarrassing grammar point to mess up.

I know why I get it messed up. Since the subject is omitted in Korean so much, I forget exactly what I'm talking about from time to time. Also, the object doesn't always need to be said....but, when you want to say it, what does one say?

I know what's the main idea of the sentence but having to stop and give it a marker is a bit trying when one is talking at a normal speed can be frustrating. To help myself, I ask myself some questions. Take this sentence "효연 봤어", Let's break it down:

Who saw 효연? I did. I'm the one talking so clearly it was me that saw her.
Who did the subject see? 효연. (self-thought) She's an object of my fantasy (also the object of the sentence). Therefore, "내가 효연을 봤어요." would be appropriate. Too bad no one talks like that...

It should be noted that the whole "oh you don't need it" excuse is both lazy and bad advice. Sure, for simple sentences, it isn't needed but once someone is trying to move from basic baby sentences to complete thoughts, these markers are essential to keeping up the conversation and staying understood. Don't be scared, get comfortable with these markers and only when situation calls for mutual understanding should one start to drop them. Just my two cents.

A classic example of how Korean is unnecessarily difficult. In English, virtually anything that someone puts on as clothing uses the verb "to wear". However, Korean likes to tick off the world off by making separate verbs for each section of the body. I still struggle a bit with these so forgive me if there are mistakes:

to wear (on your upper and lower body) 입다
ex) 스웨터를 입고 있어요 I'm wearing a sweater.
ex) 밖에 추우니까 코트 입어. Since it's cold, put on your coat
ex) 날씨가 더우니까 남방 셔츠를 입으세요 Since it's hot, put on a Hawaiian style shirt
ex) 무슨 청바지를 입을까? Which blue jeans should I wear?

to wear (on your head) 쓰다
ex) 언제부터 안경 써요? Since when do you wear glasses?
ex) 머리띠를 쓰면 더 예쁘게 보일거야. If you wear a hairband, you'll look even more pretty.
ex) 왜 선글라스를 쓰고있어? Why are you wearing sunglasses?

to wear (on your feet) 신다
ex) 방 안에 신발 신지마라! Don't wear your shoes in the house.
ex) 그 아저씨가 분홍색 양말 신고있어 That guy is wearing pink socks.
ex) 실내화를 신야봐 Put on some house slippers.

to wear (or tie something around your neck) 매다
ex) 우리 큰 형은 매일 넥타이를 매고있어요 My brother wears a necktie everyday
ex) 목걸이를 매고있어요. I'm wearing a necklace
ex) 스카프를 매고있어요 I'm wearing a scarf

to wear (or hang something over/on something) 매달다
ex) 크리스마스 트리에는 예쁜 장식품들을 매달아요 We hang cute decorative stuff on Christmas trees.

to wear (over your shoulder) 메다
ex) 초등학생들은 어깨에 가방을 메고 가요. Elementary students wear their school bags over their shoulders.
ex) 네팔의 포터들은 히말라야 산을 오를 때 20kg 이하의 짐을 메고 가야해요. The weight of Nepalese porters (Sherpas) wear on their shoulders climbing the Mountain Himalaya should not exceed 20kg.

to wear (an accessory) 차다, 하다 (interchangeable)
ex) 새로운 시계를 하고 있어요 I'm wearing my new watch
ex) 허리띠를 차고 있니? Are you wearing a belt?
ex) 다이아몬드 귀걸이를 하고 싶은데.. I want to wear diamond earrings...

to wear (something on your hand) 끼다
ex) 묵주반지를 보통 껴요? Do you usually wear your Catholic ring?
ex) 추우니까 장갑을 껴봐 Since it's cold, put on these gloves
ex) 지금 커플링을 끼고있어요? Are you wearing a couple ring?

to hold (something in your hand) 들다
ex) 저는 지금 선물을 들고 있어요. I am holding a present in my hands.
ex) 내가 무슨 짐을 이렇게 많이 들고 있지? 내 아내가 쇼핑한 물건이잖아. Why am I holding so much baggage... this is all of my wife's shopping....
ex) 제 컵을 잠시만 들고 있어주실래요? Could you hold my cup for a while please?