In this lesson, you will learn five Hanja characters related to the past, present and future.
今 = 금 = now
(이제 금)
今 is a Hanja character that refers to now, the present. If you are around Chinese words, this is a character you will see very often as it appears in a lot of Chinese words referring to the present.
今
方今 = a moment ago
今方 = in just a moment
今年 = this year
지今 = now
前 = 전 = in front
(앞 전)
前 is an incredibly important syllable in Korean, but it would be hard to find a young Korean person who recognizes its Hanja character. You’ll find 前 in some very common Korean words!
前
事前 = in advance
前半 = first half
前進 = progress
前方 = ahead, in front
기元前 = B.C.
오前 = morning
직前 = right before
여前하다 = to be unchanged
來 = 래/내 = upcoming
(올 래/내)
來 is a Hanja character meaning to come or to arrive. It appears in vocabulary related to upcoming time, the future, and the origin of something in relation to the present.
來
來日 tomorrow
來年 next year
本來 originally
原來 originally
미來 = future
再 = 재 = twice
(두 재)
再 is a Hanja character meaning again or once more. It is used in vocabulary related to repetition, renewal, or returning to a previous state. The Korean SAT exam is called 수능, and it only happens once per year. If you miss it, or don’t do well on it, you have to wait for another year to take it. If you take it again, it is called 再수. A person who takes the exam again is called 再수生.
再
再生 = reborn
再活用 = recycling
再出發 = depart again
再작年 = year before last
再活用品 = recycled product
再生産 = re-produce
昨 = 작 = previous
(어제 작)
昨 is not used a whole lot of Korean words, other than a few very common ones. You might think “why is this even worth remembering?” Well, in Hanja Unit 2 you learned about 지을 작 (作) which is very similar to this 어제 작 (昨). Also, I particularly like characters where I can present words that contain only characters that are known to you.
昨
昨年 = last year
再昨年 = two years ago