~적 is a common suffix that can be added after some nouns of Chinese origin (적 (的) is of Chinese origin). At first, there is no way to anticipate or expect which nouns this can be added to. As you progress through your Korean studies, you can sort of start anticipating this, but still, the only real way of knowing if ~적 can be added to a particular noun is if you have specifically learned that it can. The goal of this lesson isn’t to teach you all of the words that ~적 can be attached to (that would take forever). Rather, the goal of this lesson is to show you how you can recognize and use these words when you come across them. Adding ~적 to a noun changes it into a descriptive word that has the meaning of “relating to, or having the properties of’ the original noun. For example: 문화 = culture 문화적 = relating to, or having the properties of culture 역사 = history 역사적 = relating to, or having the properties of history However, the translations above nonsense and a more accurate way to translate words with ~적 is to add “-al” to the English word. For example: 문화 = culture 문화적 = cultural 역사 = history 역사적 = historical Adding ‘이다’ to the end of ~적 turns the word into an adjective that can predicate a sentence or describe an upcoming noun. The translation of these adjectives are usually are the same (in English) as without adding ‘이다.” For example: 문화 = culture 문화적 = cultural 문화적이다 = cultural 캐나다와 미국은 문화적인 차이가 있다 = Canada and the US have a cultural difference (차이 = difference) 역사 = history 역사적 = historical 역사적이다 = historical 성공 = success 성공적 = successful 저 학교는 역사적인 건물이에요 = That school is a historical building 수술은 성공적이었다 = The operation was successful. c.f. "The operation was success." would be translated also 수술은 성공적이었다 *수술은 성공이었다. (a little awkward) The operation was the favorable or prosperous termination