Learn the key pattern to ask for a word Korean
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| Let’s take a closer look at the conversation. |
| Do you remember how Ben asks |
| "How do you say “textbook” in Korean?" |
| 한국어로 textbook 어떻게 말해요? (Han-gug-eo-ro textbook eo-tteo-ke mal-hae-yo?) |
| First is 한국어로 (Han-gug-eo-ro), meaning, "in Korean." 한국어로. |
| This starts with 한국어 (Han-gug-eo), "Korean," as in the Korean language. 한국어. 한국어. |
| Next is the particle, 로 (ro), which marks the thing you use to do something. 로. 로. |
| In this sentence, 로 (ro) marks 한국어, "Korean," as the language used to speak. |
| Note, 로 (ro) follows words that do not end in consonants, as in 한국어. |
| Together, it’s 한국어로 (Han-gug-eo-ro), "in Korean." 한국어로. |
| Next is the English word, "textbook." |
| Note: this is the shortened version of “textbook은 (eun).” |
| Ben Morris omits the topic-marking particle 은 (eun). |
| In spoken Korean, speakers tend to omit particles when it’s clear which particle would be used. |
| Last is the phrase 어떻게 말해요? (eo-tteo-ke mal-hae-yo), translating as "how [do you] say…?" 어떻게 말해요?. 어떻게 말해요? |
| First is 어떻게 (eo-tteo-ke), meaning "how." 어떻게. 어떻게. |
| Next is "말해요" (mal-hae-yo), "say." 말해요. 말해요. |
| 말해 (mal-hae) is from the verb 말하다 (mal-ha-da), meaning "to say." 말하다 (mal-ha-da). |
| Last is 요(yo), the polite sentence-ending particle. 요. |
| Together, it’s 어떻게 말해요?" (eo-tteo-ke mal-hae-yo?), literally "how [you] say…?" 어떻게 말해요? |
| At this level, remember it as a set phrase. 어떻게 말해요?. 어떻게 말해요? |
| All together, 한국어로 textbook 어떻게 말해요? (Han-gug-eo-ro textbook eo-tteo-ke mal-hae-yo?) literally means, "In Korean, textbook how [you] say," but translates as "How do [you] say “textbook.” in Korean? |
| 한국어로 textbook 어떻게 말해요? (Han-gug-eo-ro textbook eo-tteo-ke mal-hae-yo?) |
| Let’s take a closer look at the response. |
| Do you remember how Ga-eun Gim says, |
| "It's “textbook.”" |
| 교과서예요. (Gyo-gwa-seo-ye-yo.) |
| First is 교과서 (gyo-gwa-seo), "textbook." 교과서. 교과서. |
| Next is 예요 (ye-yo). In this case, it's like the "is" in "It’s." 예요. 예요. |
| 예요 is from 이다 (i-da) meaning "to be." 이다. |
| While 이다 is technically a particle, it acts like a verb. |
| Note: 예요 follows words that do not end in a consonant, such as 교과서 (gyo-gwa-seo). |
| Together, 교과서예요 (Gyo-gwa-seo-ye-yo.) literally means "textbook [it] is," but translates as, "It’s textbook." |
| 교과서예요. (Gyo-gwa-seo-ye-yo.) |
| Note: "it" is understood from context, as the speaker is answering a question. |
| 교과서예요 is the shortened version of the sentence, Textbook은 교과서예요. (Textbook-eun gyo-gwa-seo-ye-yo.) |
| The first part, "textbook은," meaning "As for textbook," is omitted since the context is clear, as Ga-eun is responding to a question about the "textbook." |
| 교과서예요. (Gyo-gwa-seo-ye-yo.) |
| The pattern is |
| 한국어로 (Han-gug-eo-ro) {ENGLISH WORD} 어떻게 말해요? (eo-tteo-ke mal-hae-yo?) |
| How do you say {ENGLISH WORD} in Korean? |
| 한국어로 (Han-gug-eo-ro) {ENGLISH WORD} 어떻게 말해요? (eo-tteo-ke mal-hae-yo?) |
| To use this pattern, simply replace the {ENGLISH WORD} placeholder with the word you want to know. |
| Imagine you want to know the Korean word for 'pen'. |
| Ask |
| "How do you say "pen" in Korean?" |
| Ready? |
| 한국어로 pen 어떻게 말해요? (Han-gug-eo-ro pen eo-tteo-ke mal-hae-yo?) |
| "How do you say “pen” in Korean?" |
| 한국어로 pen 어떻게 말해요? (Han-gug-eo-ro pen eo-tteo-ke mal-hae-yo?) |
| If you want to keep the conversation in Korean, you can say, "How do you say this in Korean?" simply replace the English word with 이거 (i-geo), meaning "this." 이거. 이거. |
| When using this pattern, you may want to gesture or point at the thing you want to know the Korean word for. |
| 한국어로 이거 어떻게 말해요? (Han-gug-eo-ro i-geo eo-tteo-ke mal-hae-yo?) |
| "How do you say this in Korean?" |
| If the thing is far away from you, you can also use the Korean word 저거 (jeo-geo), "that (over there)." 저거. |
| 한국어로 저거 어떻게 말해요? (Han-gug-eo-ro jeo-geo eo-tteo-ke mal-hae-yo?) |
| "How do you say that in Korean?" |
| Again, these patterns are very useful for using Korean to learn Korean. |
| Keeping the conversation in Korean as long as possible is a great tactic to learn a language. These questions will help with that. |
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