Language/Korean/Grammar/Questions
Hi Korean learners! ๐
In this lesson, we will learn how to ask questions in Korean. Mastering the art of asking questions is essential for improving your language skills. It's the best way to learn and find answers to what you don't know yet. After this lesson, you'll be able to ask basic and complex questions in Korean ๐ฐ๐ท๐.
Take a moment to explore these relevant pages as you conclude this lesson: Connectors, Korean Grammar โ Conjunctions and Connectors โ Conditional ..., Gender & Subject and Object Markers.
Formal and Informal Questions[edit | edit source]
In Korean, as in many other languages, we distinguish between formal and informal language. Formal language is often used with those who are older or have higher status, like your boss or a stranger. Informal language is used with those who are younger or have lower status, like your friends or family members.
When it comes to asking questions, the same distinction applies. We use different verb endings depending on the level of formality. Let's take a look at some examples:
Informal[edit | edit source]
Korean | Pronunciation | English |
---|---|---|
์ง๋ฌธํ๋ค (jilmunhada) | [tษil.mun.ha.da] | to ask a question |
๋ญ (mwo) | [mwo] | what |
์ด๋ (eodi) | [ส.di] | where |
์ธ์ (eonje) | [สn.dสe] | when |
์ด๋ป๊ฒ (eotteoke) | [ส.tฬtฬส.gอe] | how |
์ (wae) | [wษ] | why |
Formal[edit | edit source]
Korean | Pronunciation | English |
---|---|---|
์ง๋ฌธํ์ญ๋๊น (jilmunhasimnikka) | [tษil.mun.ha.ษim.nikฬ.ka] | to ask a question (formal) |
๋ฌด์ (mueot) | [mu.สtฬ] | what (formal) |
์ด๋์ (eodie) | [ส.di.e] | where (formal) |
์ธ์ (eonje) | [สn.dสe] | when (formal) |
์ด๋ป๊ฒ (eotteoke) | [ส.tฬtฬส.gอe] | how (formal) |
์ (wae) | [wษ] | why (formal) |
Notice the difference in the verb endings: -ํ๋ค(-hada) for informal and -ํ์ญ๋๊น(-hasimnikka) for formal. For example:
- Informal: ๋ญ ํด? (mwo hae?) - What are you doing?
- Formal: ๋ฌด์์ ํ์๊ณ ๊ณ์ญ๋๊น? (mueoseul hasigo gyesimnikka?) - What are you doing? (formal)
We use the polite form -์ญ๋๊น(-simnikka) as a way of showing respect to the person we are talking to.
Making Yes/No Questions[edit | edit source]
Yes/No questions in Korean are formed by adding the particle -ใด๊ฐ(-n ga) at the end of a sentence. If the verb ends with a consonant, we add -์๊ฐ(-eun ga) instead. For example:
- Affirmative: ํธํ ์ ๊ฐ์ (hotere gayo) - I'm going to the hotel.
- Question: ํธํ ์ ๊ฐ์? (hotere gayo?) - Are you going to the hotel?
Notice that the only difference is the question mark and -ใด๊ฐ(-n ga) particle.
Asking Open Questions[edit | edit source]
Open questions require more detailed answers than yes/no questions. Here are some examples of how to ask open questions in Korean:
Korean | Pronunciation | English |
---|---|---|
๋ญ๋ผ๊ณ ์? (mworagoyo?) | [mwo.ษพa.go.jo] | What did you say? |
์ด๋์ ๊ฐ์ จ์ด์? (eodie gasyeosseoyo?) | [ส.di.e ka.ษส.sส.jส] | Where did you go? |
์ธ์ ๊ฐ์๊ฒ ์ด์? (eonje gasigesseoyo?) | [สn.dสe ka.ษi.kสs.sส.jo] | When are you planning to go? |
์ด๋ค ์ข ๋ฅ๊ฐ ์๋์? (eotteon jonglyuga innayo?) | [ส.tฬtฬสn tษoล.njส.ga inหa.jo] | What kinds are there? |
์ ๊ทธ๋ ๊ฒ ์๊ฐํ์ธ์? (wae geureohge saenggakhaeyo?) | [wษ kษฏ.ษพสhg.e sรฆล.gสkฬ.hษ.jo] | Why do you think so? |
Asking open questions is a great way to learn new things and get to know people better.
Conversation Example[edit | edit source]
Here is a conversation between two people, using the vocabulary and grammar points we've learned so far:
- Person 1: ์ค๋ ๋ญ ํ ๊ฑฐ์์? (oneul mwo hal geoyeyo?) - What are you doing today?
- Person 2: ์น๊ตฌ๋ ์ํ๋ฅผ ๋ณผ ๊ฑฐ์์. (chingurang yeonghwaleul bol geoeyo) - I'm going to watch a movie with my friend.
- Person 1: ์ธ์ ๋ณผ ๊ฑฐ์์? (eonje bol geoyeyo?) - When are you going to watch it?
- Person 2: ๋ด์ผ ์คํ 2์์ ๋ณผ ๊ฑฐ์์. (naeil ohu isie bol geoyeyo) - I'm going to watch it tomorrow at 2pm.
- Person 1: ์ด๋์์ ๋ณผ ๊ฑฐ์์? (eodieseo bol geoyeyo?) - Where are you going to watch it?
- Person 2: CGV์์ ๋ด์. (CGVeseo bwayo) - I'm going to watch it at CGV.
It's always more fun to learn things in context, and that's why we included this dialogue. ๐ฌ
Get More Help[edit | edit source]
To improve your Korean grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!
You can also visit our Korean Grammar section, where you'll find more articles to help you on your Korean learning journey.
Sources[edit | edit source]
- Lesson 21: Asking Questions in Korean: Why, When, Where, Who
- Korean Question Words - Vocabulary for Asking Questions
- How To Ask Questions In Korean: 3 Easy Ways - Ling App
โก If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments section below.
โก Feel free to edit this wiki page if you think it can be improved. ๐
Videos[edit | edit source]
How to Ask Questions in Korean - YouTube[edit | edit source]
3 Korean Grammar Rules to Speak Casually: -๋ & -๋ (question ...[edit | edit source]
[(Basic Korean Grammar] ์ด์์ / ์์ : Narrative/Question ...[edit | edit source]
Other Lessons[edit | edit source]
- Future Tense
- Give your Opinion
- Plurals
- How to Use Be
- Nouns
- Gender
- How to Use Have
- Conditional Mood
- Negation