How to Ask for the Price in Korean - Learn

Dialogue

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Lesson Transcript

Do you know how to ask for the price in Korean?

I'll explain it in just a moment.

Hi, my name is K-Jin, and this is Korean Explained by KoreanClass101.com.

In this lesson, you'll learn how to ask "how much" through a quick conversation.

Let's look at this dialogue in a shop.

As you listen, pay attention to how they ask the price and how the shopkeeper responds.

도와드릴까요?

Dowadeurilkkayo?

네, 저 그림은 얼마예요?

Ne, jeo geurimeun eolmayeyo?

어떤 그림이요? 이거요?

Eotteon geurimiyo? Igeoyo?

네, 그거요.

Ne, geugeoyo.

그림 두 개에 95,000원이에요.

Geurim du gaee guman ocheonwonieyo.

Let's break it down.

The shopkeeper says

도와드릴까요?

This means "Can I help you?" It's a set phrase used by shopkeepers to greet customers.

네, 저 그림은 얼마예요?

네 means "yes." 네 (enunciated). 네.

After this is 저. “That”. 저 (enunciated). 저.

Next is 그림. “Painting.” 그림 (enunciated). 그림.

은 is a topic marking particle. 은 (enunciated). 은.

It marks 저 그림 "that painting" as the topic of the sentence. Think of it like "As for..." in the expression, "As for that painting." 저 그림은.

After this is 얼마. “How much.” 얼마 (enunciated). 얼마.

Last is 예요 in this case, it's like the "is" in "how much is." It's a linking verb. 예요 (enunciated). 예요.

All together, it's 네, 저 그림은 얼마예요? This literally means, "As for that painting, how much [it] is?" but translates as, "How much is that painting?"

네, 저 그림은 얼마예요?

Next, the shopkeeper says

어떤 그림이요? 이거요?

First is 어떤. “Which.” 어떤 (enunciated). 어떤.

Next is 그림. “Painting.” 그림.

Together, 어떤 그림이요? means “Which painting?”

After this is 이거요. 이거 means "this one" and 요 is a polite ending. 이거요? “This one?”

After this, the customer says,

네, 그거요.

First is 네. “Yes.” 네.

Next is 그거요. 그거 means “that one” and 요 is a polite ending.

Together, it’s 네, 그거요. “Yes, that one.” 네, 그거요.

Finally, the shopkeeper says

그림 두 개에 95,000원이에요.

This is where the price is given. 그림 두 개 means "two paintings." 에 is a particle indicating a unit, so it means "for." 95,000원 is the price in Korean won. 이에요 means "is."

Together, it’s "It’s 95,000 won for two paintings." 그림 두 개에 95,000원이에요.

Let's look at the sentence pattern.

This pattern is the structure that all of our examples will follow.

[이, 그, or 저] [ITEM][은 or 는] 얼마예요?

[I, Geu, or Jeo] [ITEM][eun or neun] eolmayeyo?

How much is (this, that, or that over there) [ITEM]?

Let's look at the demonstrative adjectives, 이 (i), 그 (geu), and 저 (jeo), first.

이 (i) means "this" when something is close to the speaker.

그 (geu) means "that" when referring to something near the listener.

저 (jeo) means "that over there" when referring to something far from both the speaker and listener.

After that is [ITEM]은 (eun) or 는 (neun), which will be the item you're asking about. 은 (eun) is used when the item or the noun ends with a consonant. 는 (neun) is used when the item ends with a vowel.

은 (eun) and 는 (neun) are the topic-marking particles, which attach to the item to show that it’s the topic of this question.

And last is the key part: 얼마예요? (eolmayeyo?) “how much is it?”

Let’s see how a line from the dialogue follows this pattern.

"저 그림은 얼마예요?"

In this sentence:

저 (jeo) is the demonstrative adjective, meaning "that over there." 그림 (geurim) is the item being asked about, meaning "painting." 은 (eun) is a topic marking particle used here because "그림" ends in a consonant, marking "that painting" as the topic. 얼마예요? (eolmayeyo?) means "how much is it?"

So, "저 그림은 얼마예요?" translates to "How much is that painting over there?"

Now you can use this structure to ask about the price of anything when you’re shopping in Korea!

By the way…

When you’re asking how much something is, and it’s understood what you’re speaking about, for example, when asking the waiter about the final amount owed at a restaurant, you can omit the topic and the topic-marking particle.

So the pattern is: 얼마예요? (Eolmayeyo?), which means “How much is it?” 얼마예요?

Now let's look at some speaking examples.

Yeona Yu is at the store, looking at a book that's next to her.

Yeona Yu: 이 책은 얼마예요? (I chaegeun eolmayeyo?)

"How much is this book?"

Yeona Yu: 이 책은 얼마예요? (I chaegeun eolmayeyo?)

Can you see how the pattern applies also here?

Now imagine Yeona is pointing at a bag next to a clerk.

Yeona Yu: 그 가방은 얼마예요? (Geu gabangeun eolmayeyo?)

"How much is that bag?"

Yeona Yu: 그 가방은 얼마예요? (Geu gabangeun eolmayeyo?)

Let's try one more,

Yeona Yu: 저 신발은 얼마예요? (Jeo sinbareun eolmayeyo?)

"How much are those shoes over there?"

Yeona Yu: 저 신발은 얼마예요? (Jeo sinbareun eolmayeyo?)

Another one.

Yeona Yu: 이 커피는 얼마예요? (I keopineun eolmayeyo?)

"How much is this coffee?"

Yeona Yu: 이 커피는 얼마예요? (I keopineun eolmayeyo?)

One last example.

Yeona Yu: 그 시계는 얼마예요? (Geu sigyeneun eolmayeyo?)

"How much is that watch?"

Yeona Yu: 그 시계는 얼마예요? (Geu sigyeneun eolmayeyo?)

Let’s review.

Do you remember how to say "that"?

그 (geu)

And how to say "this"?

이 (i)

Do you remember how to say "that over there"?

저 (jeo)

And how to say "painting"?

그림 (geurim)

Do you remember how to say "how much"?

얼마 (eolma)

Do you remember how to say "how much is it"?

얼마예요 (eolmayeyo)

Do you remember how to say "How much is that painting?"?

저 그림은 얼마예요? (Jeo geurimeun eolmayeyo?)

In this lesson, you learned how to ask for price in Korean - (이, 그, or 저) [ITEM](은 or 는) 얼마예요?

Thanks for watching and see you in the next lesson!

다음 시간에 봐요! (Daeum sigane bwayo!)

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