공항 가는 길 or 가까이 사는 집

Question

Given that

후세인 회사에 다닌다.

We can say the below about Husain.

후세인 회사에 다니는 사람인다.

Where 회사에 다니는 is an attributive verb modifying 사람.

How can one use 공항 가는 and 가까이 사는 as attributive verbs to 길 and 집, respectively?

공항 간다 -> (길)

가까이 산다 -> (집)

I don't think that the two attributive verbs are derived from the above two sentences because I'm sure they are wrong.

Answer 1

1

First off, you probably don't want to say

후세인 회사에 다닌다.

to say about Husain, if what you want to say is

Husain goes to a/the company.

, because then you would end up with saying either

(Someone in context) goes to a company named Husain.

or

(Someone in context) goes to a company owned by Husain.

In Korean, noun-noun sequence is tend to be interpreted as the preceding one modifies the following one. Thus, in this case, 후세인 회사 is most likely either Husain's company or literally Husain Co. (Just like Trump administration, a noun-noun combo)

You should use case marker 은/는 or 이/가 to specifically say that Husain is the subject who goes to the company, as such,

후세인은 회사에 다닌다.

후세인은 회사에 다니는 사람이다. (회사원이다)

2

Now move on to the question. Attributive ending ㄴ/는 works somewhat similar (but not exactly the same) to relative clauses in English, in that it makes the embedded verb (verb with the ㄴ/는 ending) to modify the following noun (note that a relative clause in English follows the noun, whereas in Korean the noun follows). That being said, you can transliterate the above like this;

후세인은 회사에 다니는 사람이다.

Husain is a person who goes to the company.

Thus both

공항 가는 길

the way that leads to the airport (= way to airport)

and

가까이 사는 집 (집 here means a family, not a house)

a family that lives around (= a neighbor)

make perfect sense.

Here are a couple examples

후세인이 공항 가는 길에 전화했어요

Husain called on his way to the airport

후세인은 가까이 사는 집들이랑 친하다면서요?

I heard Husain does get along with his neighbors.

Answer 2

You can use use 공항 가는 as an attributive verb (adjective) for 길 as well as using 가까이 사는 as an attributive verb (adjective) for 집:

공항가는 길이다

회사에서 가까이 사는 집이 좋다

But the second one is still a little awkward since 가깝다 is it's own verb anyway, so you should probably say

회사에서 가까운 집이 좋다