3 Sentence Summary of This Lesson:
- Korean interrogative pronouns (의문사) include 누구 (who), 뭐 (what), 언제 (when), 어디 (where), 어떻게 (how), and 왜 (why).
- These pronouns can be combined with particles and are often shortened in casual speech (e.g., 무엇 → 뭐, 뭐를 → 뭘).
- Additional useful question words include 무슨 (what kind of), 얼마 (how much), 얼마나 (to what extent), and 어떤 (which).
Interrogative pronouns are called “의문대명사” in Korean. We usually just call it 의문사. 의문 means “question.” If you want to ask any questions that start with who, what, when, where, how, and why, you will use the following words:
누구
누구 means “who.” You can use this word to stack it with particles.
When 누구 is the subject of the verb, it’s not “누구가,” it’s “누가.”
누가 그런 말을 했어요? (Who said something like that?)
누구를 위해서 한 거예요? (Who did you do that for?)
누구랑 같이 갔어요? (Who did you go with?)
무엇
무엇 means “what” and it is the most formal, full form. We don’t use it as is in daily conversations.
Let’s look at how it can be shortened:
무엇 → 무어 → 뭐
뭐 is the one we use daily, but you will see 무엇 in poems, books, and formal documents.
Now if you stack some particles with 뭐, they also get shortened:
뭐가 → Stays the same
뭐를 → 뭘
뭐는 → 뭔 (뭔 is also the shortened version of 무슨, which means “what kind of.” It’s likely that you will never see 뭔, as the shortened version of 뭐는. The shortened version of 무슨 is the commonly used one.)
- 뭔 되고 뭔 안되고, 누가 결정하는 거야? (Some things are okay to do and some things aren’t okay. Who decides these things?)
Here, the 뭔 is from 뭐는. It is only used in speech form, not written.
- 뭔 일인지 알고 싶어요. (I want to know what’s going on)
Here, 뭔 is from 무슨. This is the most common form used.
Now going back to the usage of 무엇, let’s look at some examples:
무엇을 도와드릴까요? (What can I help you with?)
뭘 알고 싶어? (What do you want to know?)
뭐가 문제인가요? (What is the problem?)
Fun fact: When you want to say “something, something, something,” or “blah, blah, blah,” to fill in a blank, in Korean we say “뭐뭐뭐.”
언제
언제 means “when.” 언제 is not often used with other particles.
언제 한국에 왔어요? (When did you come to Korea?)
언제가 될 지 모르겠어요. (I don’t know when it’ll be.)
어디
어디 means “where.” 어디 is often used with other particles.
어디에서 왔어요? ( Where did you come from?)
어딜 가려고요? (Where do you think you’re going?)
Remember that 어딜 is the shortened form of 어디를.
어디가 마음에 들어? (What do you like about it?)
어딘 잘 됐는데, 어딘 망가졌어요. (Some parts are well done, but some parts are ruined.)
어딘 come from 어디는
어떻게
어떻게 means “how.” This one is not stacked with particles and neither shortened.
어떻게 지내요? (How have you been/ How are you these days?)
어떻게 할지 모르겠어요. (I don’t know what to do.)
어떻게 왔어요? (How did you get here?)
In casual texting, people often says 어떠케 or 어뜨케 for ease of use.
왜
왜 means “why.” This one is also not stacked.
왜 일찍 일어났어요? (Why did you wake up early?)
왜 물어봐요? (Why do you ask?)
왜인지 모르겠어요. (I don’t know why.)
왜인지 is often shortened to 왠지.
Some other useful 의문(대명)사
무슨
무슨 means “what kind of.” There are many fixed expressions with 무슨.
The shortened version of 무슨 is 뭔.
뭔 말이에요? (What do you mean?)
무슨 일이든 열심히 할 거예요. (I will work hard, no matter what kind of work it is.)
무슨 말을 해야 할지 모르겠어요. (I don’t know what to say.)
무슨 뜻이에요? (What does it mean?)
Remember that saying 뭔 is very informal and can sound rude as if saying the subject is ridiculous or unworthy.
얼마
얼마 means “how much.”
얼마예요? (How much is it?)
얼마 냈어요? (How much did you pay?)
얼마가 됐던지 살 거예요. (No matter how much it is, I will buy it.)
얼마나
얼마나 is used to ask the degree or extent of something. It is also used to emphasize how intense something is.
얼마나 예쁜지 몰라요. (You have no idea how pretty it is.)
얼마나 샀어요? (How many did you buy?)
얼마나 자주 운동해요? (How often do you work out?)
여기에서부터 얼마나 걸려요? (How long does it take from here?)
어떤
어떤 means “which.”
어떤 아이스크림을 좋아해요? (Which ice cream do you like?)
그사람은 어떤 사람이에요? (What kind of person is he?)
No, you cannot use 무슨 instead of 어떤 here. 무슨 indicates some type of object, but we are talking about a person, so using 어떤 is more appropriate.
어떤 기분이에요? (What does it feel like?/ What mood are you in?)
Try the following exercise.
Complete the sentences with the correct 의문사.
- ___ 미국에 가요? (When are you going to the States?)
Answer
언제
- ___에 살아요? (Where do you live?)
Answer
어디
- ___ 됐어요? (How did it turn out/end?)
Answer
어떻게
- 오늘이 ___ 날이에요? (Which day is it today = Is today some kind of a special day?)
Answer
무슨
- 가격이 ___인지 알려 주세요. (Please tell me how much the price is.)
Answer
얼마
- ___라고 말했어요? (What did you say?)
Answer
뭐
- ___ 사람이 그렇게 할 수가 있어요? (What kind of person could do that?)
Answer
어떤
- ___ 학교에 안 왔어요? (Why didn’t you come to school?)
Answer
왜
- ___ 웃긴지 알아요? (Do you know how funny it is?)
Answer
얼마나
- ___ 옷을 입었어요? (What kind of clothes did he/she wear?)
Answer
어떤/무슨
* For more practice exercises, visit the ‘Practice Hub’.
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