고맙다 [ gomapda ]
고맙다 means ‘to thank’, ‘to appreciate’ or ‘to be grateful’, and it is the same as 감사하다 [ gamsahada ].
You can use 고맙다 or 고마워 [ gomawo ] between friends. You can use 고마워요 [ gomawoyo ] or 고맙습니다 [ gomapseumnida ] to be polite. 정말 [ jeongmal ] can be added to emphasize the meaning.
ex)
저를 도와주셔서 고맙습니다. (Thank you for helping me.)
함께 있어줘서 정말 고마워. (I am really greateful that you are with me.)
♠ Some Koreans mistakenly say 고마와 or 고마와요, but they are wrong. They make this mistake because 고마워 or 고마워요 doesn’t follow the general rule — vowel harmony. To roughly explain, in a word with more than one syllable, the adjacent vowels should be the same or similar.
♠♠ If a vowel is one of 아, 야, 오, 요, the next vowel should be 아, 야, 오 or 요 and if a vowel is one of 어, 여, 우, 유, the next vowel should be 어, 여, 우 or 유 (I listed only main vowels). 고마워 and 고마워요 are exceptional.
