Tag: basic korean

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How to say ‘What is this?’ in Korean #basickorean #ν•œκ΅­μ–΄ #뭐?

‘What?!’
‘What is this?’
‘What you talking about?’

I’m sure these have been our daily expression no matter in which language you are speaking! Humans are full of curiosity, many times we have to know ‘what is this’ before we make any decision, especially in shopping!

In this post, I will share how to say ‘what?’ in different situations using simple Korean!

There are different words that can express ‘what’ in Korean, depends on the context:

this material is taking ’90-day-korean’ online lesson post as reference, for original post please click here: How To Say β€˜What’ In Korean

뭐 (mwo)

asking ‘what is this?’ (mostly in a casual way)

Example 1: 뭐? (mwo?) – what? (casual)

Example 2: 이거 λ­μ˜ˆμš”? (i-geo mwo-ye-yo) – what is this?

무엇 (mu-eot)

asking ‘what is this?’ but in a very formal way, especially to the elders

Example: 이것은 λ¬΄μ—‡μž…λ‹ˆκΉŒ? (i-geo-seun mu-eot-sip-mi-gga?) – what is this? (formal way)

μ–΄λ–€ (eo-ddeon)

expressing ‘what kind of..’ or ‘how was..’

Example: Aliμ”¨λŠ” μ–΄λ–€ μ‚¬λžŒμ΄μ—μš”? (ali-ssi-neun eo-ddeon sa-ram-i-e-yo) – What kind of person Ali is?

무슨 (mu-seun)

asking for clarification or explanation

Example: 이말이 무슨 λ“―μ΄μ—μš”? (i-mal-i mu-seun deut-i-e-yo) – What did you mean with these words?

Let us practice what we learnt with some real life situations here, in the form of dialog.

Situation 1: When you want to ask what is delicious at a Korean street food stall…

You:
μ•ˆλ…• ν•˜μ„Έμš”, 사μž₯λ‹˜. μ—¬κΈ°μ—μ„œ 뭐가 λ§›μžˆμ–΄μš”?
an-nyeong ha-sae-yo, sa-jang-nim. yeo-gi-e-seo mwo-ga mat-si-sseo-yo?
Hi, ‘the owner’! What is delicious in here?

*most of the time, we can use ‘sa-jang-nim’ to address the owner of the stall/restaurant*

Owner:
여기에 μžˆλŠ” λͺ¨λ“  게 λ‹€ λ§›μžˆμ–΄μš”!
yeo-gi-e it-neun mo-deun ge da mat-si-sseo-yo
Everything in here is delicious!

Situation 2: When you are curious on something and expecting for a description…

You:
와, 이거 λ§›μ΄κ² μ–΄μš”! 사μž₯λ‹˜, μ΄κ±°λŠ” μ–΄λ–€ μŒμ‹μ΄μ—μš”?
wa, i-geo mat-si-get-sseo-yo! sa-jang-nim, i-geo-neun eo-ddeon em-sik-i-e-yo?
Wow, this food looks so tasty. Sa-jang-nim, what kind of food is this?

Owner:
μ΄κ±°λŠ” λ–‘λ½μ΄μ˜ˆμš”. μ’€ λ§€μ›Œμ§€λ§Œ μ™Έκ΅­μΈμ‚¬μ΄μ—μ„œ 인기가 λ„ˆλ¬΄ λ§Žμ•„μš”.
i-geo-neun ddeok-bbok-i-ye-yo. jom mae-wo-ji-man wi-gug-in-sa-i-e-seo in-gi-ga neo-mu man-a-yo
This is Spicy Korean Rice Cake. It is quite spicy, but very popular among foreigners.

More exclusive Korean lessons in MyDaehan!

Disclaimer: this post is created by Korean learners who want to share and practice Korean together. If there is any mistakes in the post, please feel free to contact us for editing at mydaehan2020@gmail.com . Your help will be much appreciated!

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Language Travel

How to order foods in Korean? (Korean restaurant survival phrases) #JomKoreanwithMawen

Eating is a survival instinct wherever we are! You will definitely suffer if you can’t even order something to eat while you were travelling in a foreign country. Korean foods are also one of the best cuisine in the world, we must at least learn some useful Korean phrases so we can get the food we want successfully!

Situation 1: You want to order a hotteok from a stall at Myeongdong street

Hotteok is a common street food which is similarly like a sweet chewy fried pancake. By default, they have filling made of peanuts and sugar.

To order a hotteok,
You : μ•ˆλ…• ν•˜μ„Έμš”! ν˜Έλ–‘ ν•˜λ‚˜ μ£Όμ„Έμš”.
an-nyeong ha-sae-yo! Ho-tteok ha-na chu-se-yo

The expression – μ£Όμ„Έμš”(ju-se-yo) means ‘please give me…’. And ν•˜λ‚˜ (ha-na) here means ‘one’ which is in the traditional Korean numbering system. If you want to have 2 or 3 hotteok, you can replace ν•˜λ‚˜ with λ‘κ²Œ (du-ge) or μ„Έκ²Œ (se-ge). You can change ν˜Έλ–‘ into other foods you want to have when you want to order other street foods, such as λ–‘λ³ΆκΈ° (tteokbokki), 였묡 (o-muk, fish cake), κ³„λž€λΉ΅ (gye-ran-bbang, egg bread).

Eg. λ–‘λ³ΆκΈ° μ£Όμ„Έμš”. (tteokbokki ju-se-yo)
였묡 ν•˜λ‚˜ μ£Όμ„Έμš”. (o-muk ha-na ju-se-yo)
κ³„λž€λΉ΅ λ‘κ²Œ μ£Όμ„Έμš”. (gye-ran-bbang du-ge ju-se-yo)

Situation 2: You want to order a coffee in a cafΓ© down at Hongdae

A hot coffee in the morning definitely is the best to start the morning. Koreans really love coffee, so it’s not difficult at all to find cafes for you to have a coffee boost.

While you enter the cafΓ© and approached to the barista,
Barista: μ–΄μ„œ μ˜€μ„Έμš”! λ“œμ‹œκ³  κ°€μ‹œλ‚˜μš”?
(eo-seo o-se-yo! deu-si-go ga-si-na-yo?)
Welcome! Are you serving here?


You: λ„€. 컀피 ν•œμž” μ£Όμ„Έμš”.
(ne. keo-pi han-jan ju-se-yo)
Yes. Could you give me a coffee please?


Barista: λ”°λœ»ν•œ 걸둜 λ“œλ¦¬κΉŒμš”? μ°¨κ°€μš΄ 걸둜 λ“œλ¦¬κΉŒμš”?
(dda-ddeut-han geol-lo deu-ri-gga-yo? cha-ga-un geol-lo deu-ri-gga-yo?)
Would you like it hot? Would you like it cold?


You: λ”°λœ»ν•œκ²Œ μ£Όμ„Έμš”.
(dda-ddeut-ha-ge ju-se-yo)
Please give me a hot one.


Barista: 더 ν•„μš”ν•˜μ‹ κ±° μžˆμ–΄μš”?
(deo pil-yo-ha-sin-geo i-sseo-yo)
Is there any other thing you need?


Me: μ•„λ‹ˆμš”. κ·Έκ±°λ©° λ˜μš”.
(a-ni-yo. geu-geo-myeon dwae-yo)
No. That will be enough.


Barista: μ‚Όμ²œ μ˜€λ°±μ› μž…λ‹ˆλ‹€.
(sam-cheon o-baek-won ib-ni-da)
That would be 3500 won.


— Given the cash/card —
Barista: 영수증 λ“œλ¦΄κΉŒμš”?
(yeong-su-jeung deu-ril-gga-yo)
Do you need a receipt?


Me: μ•„λ‹ˆμš”. κ°μ‚¬ν•©λ‹ˆλ‹€.
(a-ni-yo. kam-sa-hap-ni-da)
No. Thank you.

From the conversation above, there are some very useful phrases we can point out here:

  • λ”°λœ»ν•˜λ‹€ (ddat-ddeut-ha-da) (verb) – to be hot (suitable to describe for drinks)
    Eg. 이 μ°¨λŠ” λ”°λœ»ν•΄μš”. (i cha-neun dda-ddeut-hae-yo)
    This tea is hot.
  • μ°¨κ°‘λ‹€ (cha-gap-da) (verb) – to be cold/chilly/icy
    Eg. 이 μ»€ν”ΌλŠ” μ°¨κ°€μ›Œμš”.
  • 영수증 (yeong-su-jeung) : receipt

Drinks that you can order in cafe, in Korean:

  • 아메리카노 (a-me-ri-ka-no) – Americano
  • μΉ΄νŽ˜λΌν…Œ (ka-pe-la-te) – caffe latte
  • μΉ΄ν‘ΈμΉ˜λ…Έ (ka-pu-chi-no) – cappuccino
  • 우유 (u-yu) – milk
  • λ…Ήμ°¨ (nok-cha) – green tea
  • ν•«μ΅Έμ½” (hat-cho-ko) – hot chocolate
more of Coffee shop conversation in korean

Situation 3: Ordering authentic foods in Korean restaurant

If you want to get some main dishes for your lunch or dinner, you will have to find the local Korean food restaurants, or often they called as 식당 (sik-dang).

As you enter the restaurant and meet the waiter,

Waiter: μ–΄μ„œ μ˜€μ„Έμš”! λͺ‡ λΆ„μ΄μ„Έμš”?
(eo-seo o-se-yo! myeot bun-i-se-yo)
Welcome! How many people?

You: 두 λͺ…μ΄μš”.
(du myeong-i-yo)
Two people, please.

Waiter: 이μͺ½μœΌλ‘œ μ•ˆλ‚΄ν•΄ λ“œλ¦΄κ²Œμš”.
(i-jjok-eu-ro an-nae-hae deu-ril-ge-yo)
Please follow me inside.

As you have seated,
You: λ©”λ‰΄νŒ μ’€ μ£Όμ„Έμš”.
(me-nyu-pan jom ju-se-yo)
Could you give me the menu?

Waiter: μ£Όλ¬Έν•˜μ‹œκ² μ–΄μš”?
(ju-mun-ha-si-ge-seo-yo)
Would you like to take the order?

You: μ—¬κΈ° 뭐가 λ§›μžˆμ–΄μš”?
(yeo-gi bwo-ga mas-si-seo-yo)
What is delicious here?

Waiter: μ—¬κΈ΄ λΉ„λΉ”λ°₯은 인기가 λ§Žμ•„μš”.
(yeo-gin bi-bim-bap-eun in-gi-ga man-a-yo)
The bibimbap here is popular.

You: λΉ„λΉ”λ°₯ 두인뢄 μ£Όμ„Έμš”.
(bi-bim-bap du-in-bun ju-se-yo)
Please give me 2 servings of bibimbap.

Waiter: λ„€. μž μ‹œλ§Œ κΈ°λ‹€λ € μ£Όμ„Έμš”.
(ne. jam-si-man gi-da-ryeo ju-se-yo)
Ok. Please wait for awhile.

Aside from the conversation above, there are also other useful sentences we could use while we are taking order/waiting for the food.

If you would like your food to be less spicy:
덜 맡게 ν•΄ μ£Όμ„Έμš”. (deol maeb-ge hae ju-se-yo)

If you want to remind that your order has not arrived:
저희 μ£Όλ¬Έν•œ μŒμ‹μ΄ 아직 μ•ˆ λ‚˜μ™”μ–΄μš”.
(jeo-ui ju-mun-han eum-sik-i a-jik an na-wa-seeo-yo)

If you want to ask where is the washroom:
ν™”μž₯싀은 어디에 μžˆμ–΄μš”? (hwa-jang-sil-eun eo-di-e i-sseo-yo)

If you want to pay after you finish your meal:
κ³„μ‚°ν• κ²Œμš”. (gye-san hal-ge-yo)

Click for more korean phrases in restaurant

I hope you enjoy this post and practice when you travel in Korea! To learn more about basic Korean:

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Language

‘Months’ in Korea

Calligraphic set of quote Hello months of the year. Brush handwritten months of the year. Hand lettering names of months. Calligraphic isolated set in black ink. Vector illustration

Do you know that learning Korean can be hard and can be easy at the same time? If you read the post before, Korean take it from Chinese word as well. In this post, I will let you know how you can memorize month so easy.

First thing first, you will need to memorise the Korean number first which came from Chinese system. If you learn Korean, you will know that there are two ways to memorise Korean number. I don’t want to teach you the other one hehehehe, so let’s go to Sino-Korean number.

This is Sino-Korean that you will need to memorise in order to know the month in Korea.

– Month in Korea is μ›” (Wol) –

In order to know January is first month, you will need to take 일 (il) and μ›” (Wol) together.

일 il (One) + μ›” Wol (Month) = 일월 il Wol (January)

Same goes with February, can you make it?

이 I (Two) + μ›” Wol (Month) = 이월 I Wol (February)

I don’t think I will need to explain more since you have seen the example given, so let’s just put it until the end. Let’s go~~

μ‚Ό Sam (Three) + μ›” Wol (Month) = μ‚Όμ›” Sam Wol (March)

사 Sa (Four) + μ›” Wol (Month) = 사월 Sa Wol (April)

Can you see the word on the album?

였 O (Five) + μ›” Wol (Month) = μ˜€μ›” O Wol (May)

윑 Yook (Six) + μ›” Wol (Month) = μœ μ›” Yoo Wol (June)
*this one is quite special, since Korean hard to pronounce Yook Wol, they remove the the K sound on the Yook so it pronounce as β€˜Yoo Wol’

μΉ  Chil (Seven) + μ›” Wol (Month) = μΉ μ›” Chil Wol (July)

νŒ” Pal (Eight) + μ›” Wol (Month) = νŒ”μ›” Pal Wol (August)

ꡬ Gu (Nine) + μ›” Wol (Month) = ꡬ월 Gu Wol (September)

μ‹­ Ship (Ten) + μ›” Wol (Month) = μ‹œμ›” Si Wol (October)
*same case with Yoo Wol

Since we have learn from 1 to 10 just add another 11 and 12.

십일 Ship Il Wol (Eleven) + μ›” Wol (Month) = 십일월 Ship Eel Wol (November)

십이 Ship E Wol (Twelve) + μ›” Wol (Month) = 십이월 Ship Ee Wol (December)

Have you heard Miracle in December by EXO?

Done!! Memorise the number and just need to add μ›” (Wol) at the back and you got all month in your hands.

Happy learning and studying. I will see you on the next post.

Alisya Nasir

Online Supporter for Korean Embassy in Malaysia

Learn Korean for 4 years

Instagram @alisyanasir