Vocabulary and Grammar (어휘와 문법)
What this domain tests
This domain checks the grammar and lexis that Level 5 texts assume: causative and passive forms, honorifics, indirect speech, nominalisation, and 한자어 vocabulary that appears in news and official documents (지원, 확대, 감소, 정책, 대상, 기준). Idioms and 속담 also appear, because they carry cultural meaning that literal reading cannot recover.
Core rules
- Causative: -이/히/리/기/우 (먹다→먹이다, 알다→알리다) plus -게 하다 and -시키다 for 한자어 nouns (교육시키다).
- Passive: -이/히/리/기 (보다→보이다, 열다→열리다), -아/어지다, and -되다 with noun stems (발전되다, 제한되다).
- Honorifics: subject honorific -시- (할아버지께서 진지를 드신다), humble verbs 드리다/뵙다/여쭈다, and special words 진지, 연세, 댁, 성함.
- Indirect speech: -다고 하다 (statement), -냐고 하다 (question), -자고 하다 (suggestion), -라고 하다 (imperative).
- Nominalisation: -음/기 turns clauses into nouns; -는 데 is used for "in doing so".
Worked example
Choose the correct form: "정부가 청년 일자리 (늘다 / 늘리다) 정책을 발표했다." Reasoning: the verb needs an object (정책을), and 늘다 is intransitive, so a policy cannot "increase" on its own here; the causative 늘리다 is required. Note the same distinction in 늘어나다 vs 늘리다, 줄다 vs 줄이다, which appears in statistics-heavy reading passages.
Traps that cost marks
- Using an intransitive verb with an object (인구가 늘리다 is wrong).
- Overusing -시- with the speaker's own actions.
- Mixing -다고 and -냐고 in reported questions.
- Reading a 속담 literally: 티끌 모아 태산 means small savings add up, not a mountain of dust.