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안녕하세요 여러분! In this lesson, we are going to have a look at the interrogatives “why” “how” and also how to say things like “how much” “how fast” “how quickly” and so on. You can also review how to say “what” “who” and “where” in this lesson. Be sure to try making your own sample expressions and share them with us in the comment box! And if you have any other questions, please feel free to ask! Thank you! 감사합니다.
You can download a free PDF for this lesson here, or if you want to study with our TalkToMeInKorean textbooks, you can get them here. And after you learn the basics, try writing your own Korean sentences and get corrections from native speakers through HaruKorean, our 1:1 correction service.
Hello
I want to be active with every lesson, so can i ask if this is right?
-왜 울었어요?
-얼마나 힘들요?
Yes, but spelling – 힘들어요 (힘이 들어요)
힘 is strength.
들다 can also mean to be required (there’s many other meanings)
힘들다 – requires strength literally, aka hard
시간이 얼마나 들어요 how much time is required
Is that the hangeul of “how hard is it?”
How hard is it – 얼마나 힘들어요 or 힘이 얼마나 들어요
감사합니다 (^_^)
어떻게 제주도 찾아요? (jeju island)
얼마나 높요? (it)
얼마나 내요? (I)
누가 하고 있어요? (you)
(~~~) = inferred subject
Can’t ‘어떻게’ also mean something like ‘what are we gonna do?’ / ‘what to do?’?
Yes, in the sense that how to deal with a problem. Though the problem can also be a bored mood
I think It can also mean why sometimes Like “Why (for what reason) did you come?”
어떻게 왔어요? Not necessary by what means,
안녕하세요!
How can i say ‘what is your telephone number? i want to call you.’
전화 번호 좀 주세요 연락하고 (열라카고) 싶어요 (junhwa buno jom jooseyo. yullakago sheepuyo).
Would you please give you tel number. I want to contact you.
Well if you want to say using “what”: 전화번호가 뭐예요?
I think it would help me if there was more visual, like a video of you guys writting on a whiteboard than just the audio of you just talking.
Thank you so much for your useful and interesting lessons ^_^!
How would you say “how are you”
Hi Ace,
Well, we don’t often say that expression as much as other country people do.
However, I would say “어떻게 지내세요” for the expression.
Thanks for your comment.
Hello! I’m new here. My family and I are going to Korea in the end of 2013, so my parents told me to learn Korea language so that I can help to communicate with Korean people. Got any suggestion or video for me to learn? I’ll appreciate it very much if you can help me =)
If 얼마나 is used only for adjectives and adverbs, why is it used with 크다 and 무겁다? They are verbs right, since they end in 다 and mean “to be…”?
크다 and 무겁다 are descriptive verbs. they describe adjectives or adverbs. they end with 다 bcoz they are in dictionary forms. since 얼마나 means “how much” or “how long”, it can also be used with action verbs for example, 그녀는 얼마나 사랑해요 which is “how much i love her”.
Why is “big” a verb in korean(To be big)? In the english expression “How big is it?”, “big” is an adjective. So when you say that in korean you use big as a verb there. It seems weird, so aren’t there any adjectives in korean language?
Hi Tino,
The Korean word 큰 which means “big” is not a verb, but 크다 which means “to be big” is used as a verb.
“How big is it?” = “그것은 얼마나 커요?”
Thanks for your comment.
Why isn’t 어떻게 used if 그다 is a verb and 얼마나 is only used with adjectives and adverbs?
어떻게 is “in what way”
so if you say 어떻게 커요 it means how (why) is it big
얼마나 is how much – how (much) big is it.
When do you use 까지 to mean “to” and when do you use 에 to mean “to”? Is it that whenever you use 부터 or 에서 to mean “from,” you can only use 까지 to mean “to,” not 에? So you can’t use 까지 without 부터 or 에서 in the sentence? 감사합니다!
If you look at it technically like that, I guess so.
Though you can say something like 집에서 은행에 가요, you don’t say 까지 in this case. 까지 translates more like “up to”, “until”, “even”. I mean the difference is like:
집에서 or 부터 은행까지 가요 – I’m going from home to bank. Here’s it’s more about the distance or period. The sentence is a bit weird like that, but you may use it in a question like “how much is it from home to bank?”.
So you should say 집에서 은행에 가요 – I’m going to the bank from home. Here you’re like talking about where you going or where you going from. You can also say 집에서 은행으로 가요, The focus on the locations.
So to sum it up:
~에서/~부터 + ~까지 = distance or period of time.
~에서 + ~에/ ~로 = locations
You I’ll figure it out as you see more example s and situations I guess,
언제 공윈에 가요?
How would I say
When do you want to go to the park?
언제 너는 해요 공원에 가고싶어요?
Thanks!
This site has helped me a lot!
언제 너는 해요 공원에 가고싶어요? > You can say “언제 공원에 가고 싶어요?”
Thanks for your comment.
알 마 시 간 있 어 요 ? How much time we have ? Is that correct ?
Well, I just want to thank you for this amazing web site ^^ It has helped me a lot with my Korean, I started learning it a week a go and I am progressing because of the efforts that you put to explain the lessons to us
Thank you again =D
알 마 시 간 있 어 요 ? > 시간 얼마나 있어요?
Thanks for your kind comment.
힘 is strength.
들다 can also mean to be required (there’s many other meanings)
힘들다 – requires strength literally, aka hard
시간이 얼마나 들어요 how much time is required
힘 is strength.
들다 can also mean to be required (there’s many other meanings)
힘들다 – requires strength literally, aka hard
시간이 얼마나 들어요 how much time is required
THANK U
힘 is strength.
들다 can also mean to be required (there’s many other meanings)
힘들다 – requires strength literally, aka hard
시간이 얼마나 들어요 how much time is required
KAM SA HAM MI DA
Do these sentences work?
Or is there a better way to ask each question?
어디에 김치 있어요?
어떻게 있어요?
이거, 어떻게 말했어요?
감사합니다!
Hi Sarah Cole,
어디에 김치 있어요?
You can use the sentence. Good job, but it will be better to say “김치 어디에 있어요?”
어떻게 있어요? > This one is quite subtle. Can you let me know what you mean in English?
이거, 어떻게 말했어요? > Good job!
어떻게 있어요?
안녕하세요!
I have a question, which may be a little irrelevant to the lesson (but it is necessary for using adjectives with “얼마나”): how do you go from the form 크다 to 커요 and 무겁다 to 무거워요? These don’t look like they follow the same rules for present tense in Lesson 16. Am I missing something?
감사합니다!
Hi 칼,
If the verb stem’s last vowel isᅡ[a] or ᅩ [o], it is followed by 아요 [a-yo].
If the last vowel is NOT ᅡ[a] or ᅩ [o], it is followed by 어요 [eo-yo].
Regarding 크다, the last vowel of the verb stem is ㅡ, so 어요 was followed so it became 커요.
Regarding 무겁다, the verb stem’s last vowel is ㅓ, so 어요 was followed too. However, it was effected by ㅂ irregular rule, the ㅂ was omitted and 우 was added between 거 and 어요.
For the detail of the ㅂ irregular rule, please check the link below:
http://www.talktomeinkorean.com/lessons/level-3-lesson-11
Thanks for your comment.
What is the difference in usage of
있어요
and 이에요?
Is it just in shortening of pronunciation?
Look here >> http://www.learn-korean-now.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1731
Hi TTMIK,
im wondering, how would you say:
1. how is (or what do you think about) something? i.e. how is (what do you think about) this movie?
2. also (since we’re on the topic of question words) what is the difference between 무슨 & 어떤?
3. why is it sometimes i see 어디가 and sometimes 어디에? is there a rule as to when i use which particle? also i see both verbs ‘있슴니까?’ and ‘입니까?’ used together with 어디 too e.g.
여기가 어디입니까?
제주도가 어디에 있슴니까?
when do i use which verb? i apologize for all the questions i hope its not too much! haha,
thanks