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Grammar / Level 1 / Lesson 17

뭐, 누구, 어디, 언제: asking questions

By Daniel Buckley · 11 minute read · TOPIK 1

Vocabulary

  1. 뭐 - what
  2. 누구 - who
  3. 어디 - where
  4. 언제 - when
  5. 왜 - why
  6. 어떻게 - how
  7. 얼마나 - how much, how long
  8. 무슨 - what, what kind of
  9. 어느 - which
  10. 몇 - how many

밥을 먹었어요 is a statement. Say it with your voice going up at the end and it's a question, with no "did" and no words swapped round. You've been doing this since lesson 1.

Question words are no harder. They stay where the answer would go, so the question and its answer have the same shape. What's left is ten words and their habits.

Yes-no questions

In 해요체, a statement and a yes-no question are the same words. Your voice rises at the end, and in writing you add a question mark. 합쇼체 is the one with its own ending: 습니까.

  1. 커피를 좋아해요.

    (I) like coffee.

  2. 커피를 좋아해요?

    (Do you) like coffee?

  3. 내일 학교에 가요?

    Tomorrow (do you) go to school?

  4. 숙제를 끝냈어요?

    (Did you) finish homework?

Answers take 네, yes, or 아니요, no. The trap from lesson 11 is still there: 네 means "what you said is right", so to a question with 안 in it, 네 agrees that the negative is true.

A

커피 안 마셔요?

Coffee (you) don't drink?

B

네, 안 마셔요.

Yes, (I) don't drink.

A

밥 안 먹었어요?

Meal (you) didn't eat?

B

아니요, 먹었어요.

No, (I) ate.

Question words stay where the answer goes

Say the answer in your head, then swap the answer for the question word. Everything else stays put, and any particle stays on it.

  1. 친구를 만났어요.

    (I) met friend.

  2. 누구를 만났어요?

    (You) met who?

  3. 도서관에서 공부해요.

    (I) study at library.

  4. 어디에서 공부해요?

    (You) study where?

※ 뭐, 누구, 어디 and 언제 can also mean something, someone, somewhere and sometime. 어디 가요? with a rise at the end usually asks "are you going somewhere?", and the answer can be 네. The voice tells you which reading is meant.

뭐: what

뭐 is the spoken word, and 무엇 is the same thing in writing. With 을/를 it becomes 뭘 or 뭐를, but in speech the particle usually drops. 이게 is a short form of 이것이, this.

  1. 이게 뭐예요?

    This is what?

  2. 이름이 뭐예요?

    Name is what?

  3. 어제 뭐 했어요?

    Yesterday (you) did what?

  4. 점심에 뭘 먹었어요?

    At lunch (you) ate what?

누구: who

누구 takes particles like any noun, with one exception. 누구 plus 이/가 becomes 누가. Directly before a noun, 누구 means "whose".

  1. 저 사람은 누구예요?

    That person is who?

  2. 누가 왔어요?

    Who came?

  3. 누구하고 갔어요?

    (You) went with who?

  4. 누구한테 전화했어요?

    (You) phoned to who?

  5. 이거 누구 가방이에요?

    This is whose bag?

어디: where

어디 follows the 에 and 에서 rules from lesson 13. 어디에서 usually shortens to 어디서, and in 어디에 가요? the 에 is often dropped.

  1. 화장실이 어디예요?

    Bathroom is where?

  2. 지금 어디에 있어요?

    Now (you) are where?

  3. 어디 가요?

    (You) go where?

  4. 어디서 일해요?

    (You) work where?

  5. 어디에서 왔어요?

    (You) came from where?

언제: when

언제 takes no 에, for the same reason 오늘 doesn't. 부터 and 까지 go on it without any trouble.

  1. 언제 와요?

    When (do you) come?

  2. 생일이 언제예요?

    Birthday is when?

  3. 언제부터 한국어를 배웠어요?

    From when (did you) learn Korean?

  4. 언제까지 서울에 있어요?

    Until when (are you) in Seoul?

왜: why

왜 sits where a reason would, usually near the front. 왜요? on its own is a normal reply, but it can sound like a challenge if you say it flatly. The answer to 왜 usually ends in 아/어서요, which comes in lesson 23.

  1. 왜 안 먹어요?

    Why (do you) not eat?

  2. 왜 한국어를 배워요?

    Why (do you) learn Korean?

  3. 어제 왜 안 왔어요?

    Yesterday why (did you) not come?

어떻게: how

어떻게 goes right before the verb, like other adverbs. The next lesson shows where it comes from.

  1. 학교에 어떻게 가요?

    (You) go to school how?

  2. 이 음식은 어떻게 만들어요?

    This food (you) make how?

  3. 이름을 어떻게 써요?

    Name (you) write how?

얼마 and 얼마나: how much

얼마 is an amount, most often a price, and it behaves like a noun. 얼마나 asks how far something goes, and it sits before a verb, an adjective or an adverb. That makes it English "how" in "how far", "how long" and "how often".

  1. 이거 얼마예요?

    This is how much?

  2. 학교까지 얼마나 걸려요?

    To school takes how long?

  3. 집에서 회사까지 얼마나 멀어요?

    From home to company is how far?

  4. 얼마나 자주 운동해요?

    How often (do you) exercise?

무슨, 어느, 몇: before a noun

These three go directly before a noun and can't stand alone. 무슨 asks what the thing is or what type. 어느 picks from a set you both have in mind. 몇 asks for a number, and it's nearly always followed by a counter.

  1. 무슨 음식을 좋아해요?

    (You) like what kind of food?

  2. 오늘이 무슨 요일이에요?

    Today is what day of the week?

  3. 어느 나라 사람이에요?

    (You) are a person of which country?

  4. 어느 버스가 학교에 가요?

    Which bus goes to school?

  5. 지금 몇 시예요?

    Now is what o'clock?

  6. 가족이 몇 명이에요?

    Family is how many people?

  7. 커피를 몇 잔 마셨어요?

    (You) drank how many cups of coffee?

※ 몇 uses the counters in Korean counters: 몇 시, 몇 명, 몇 개, 몇 살.

  1. ___ 왔어요?

    Who came?

  2. ___ 음식을 좋아해요?

    What kind of food do you like?

  3. ___ 버스가 학교에 가요?

    Which bus goes to the school?

  4. 지금 ___ 시예요?

    What time is it now?

  5. 이 가방은 ___예요?

    How much is this bag?

Listen and type

1 / 3

Play it as often as you like.

Common mistakes

  1. 누구가 왔어요?

    누가 왔어요?

    누구 plus 이/가 is always 누가.

  2. 언제에 가요?

    언제 가요?

    언제 takes no 에.

  3. 이거 얼마나예요?

    이거 얼마예요?

    얼마 is the amount. 얼마나 asks about a verb or an adjective.

Check yourself

Quick check

1 / 6

___ 왔어요? Who came?

누구 plus 가.

Summary

The question words

  • 뭐: what. 뭘 with 을/를.
  • 누구: who. 누가 as a subject.
  • 어디: where. 어디서 for 어디에서.
  • 언제: when, with no 에.
  • 왜: why.
  • 어떻게: how, before a verb.
  • 얼마, 얼마나: how much as an amount, how much as a degree.
  • 무슨, 어느, 몇: what kind of, which, how many, before a noun.

Now you can say

  1. 이거 얼마예요?

    This is how much?

  2. 화장실이 어디예요?

    Bathroom is where?

  3. 지금 몇 시예요?

    Now is what o'clock?

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