Korean Asking Questions

Forming Questions in Korean

Asking questions in Korean is remarkably straightforward once you know the system. Unlike English, which requires changing word order ("You are" becomes "Are you?"), Korean keeps the same word order and simply changes the verb ending or raises intonation. The question words themselves stay exactly where the answer would go — they do not move to the front of the sentence like in English.

The easiest way to ask a yes/no question in polite casual Korean is to simply say a statement with rising intonation. The -아요/어요 ending stays exactly the same — just raise your voice at the end. This works in most everyday situations.

Yes/No Questions by Speech Level

Formal Polite: -ㅂ니까? / -습니까?

In formal speech, questions have their own dedicated ending. Change -ㅂ니다 to -ㅂ니까? and -습니다 to -습니까?

한국어를 공부합니까?

hangugeo-reul gongbu-hamnikka?

Do you study Korean?

이것은 김치입니까?

igeot-eun gimchi-imnikka?

Is this kimchi?

Polite Casual: -아요?/어요? (Rising Intonation)

In the polite casual level, questions and statements use the same -아요/어요 ending. The only difference is intonation — questions rise at the end.

커피 마셔요?

keopi masyeoyo?

Do you drink coffee?

내일 시간 있어요?

naeil sigan isseoyo?

Do you have time tomorrow?

Casual (반말): Rising Intonation on Plain Form

Among close friends and younger people, questions use the plain verb form with rising intonation.

밥 먹었어?

bab meogeosseo?

Did you eat?

지금 어디 가?

jigeum eodi ga?

Where are you going now?

Essential Question Words

Korean question words (의문사 / uimunsa) are the building blocks for information questions. Unlike English, Korean question words stay in the position where the answer would go — they do not jump to the beginning of the sentence.

Korean question words stay in situ — they remain in the same position in the sentence where the answer would appear. Do not move them to the front like English "wh-" words. For example, "You eat what?" not "What do you eat?"

뭐 / 무엇 (mwo / mueot) — What

뭐 is the casual form used in everyday speech. 무엇 is the full formal form.

뭐 먹을 거예요?

mwo meogeul geoyeyo?

What are you going to eat?

이것은 무엇입니까?

igeot-eun mueot-imnikka?

What is this?

누구 (nugu) — Who

누구 만났어요?

nugu mannasseoyo?

Who did you meet?

저 사람은 누구예요?

jeo saram-eun nugu-yeyo?

Who is that person?

어디 (eodi) — Where

화장실이 어디에 있어요?

hwajangsil-i eodi-e isseoyo?

Where is the restroom?

어디에서 왔어요?

eodi-eseo wasseoyo?

Where are you from?

언제 (eonje) — When

생일이 언제예요?

saengil-i eonje-yeyo?

When is your birthday?

한국에 언제 왔어요?

hangug-e eonje wasseoyo?

When did you come to Korea?

왜 (wae) — Why

왜 한국어를 공부해요?

wae hangugeo-reul gongbu-haeyo?

Why do you study Korean?

왜 안 왔어요?

wae an wasseoyo?

Why did you not come?

어떻게 (eotteoke) — How

이거 어떻게 먹어요?

igeo eotteoke meogeoyo?

How do you eat this?

학교에 어떻게 가요?

hakgyo-e eotteoke gayo?

How do you get to school?

얼마 (eolma) — How Much

이거 얼마예요?

igeo eolma-yeyo?

How much is this?

시간이 얼마나 걸려요?

sigan-i eolmana geollyeoyo?

How long does it take?

몇 (myeot) — How Many

몇 is used with counters to ask "how many" of something.

몇 시예요?

myeot si-yeyo?

What time is it?

학생이 몇 명이에요?

haksaeng-i myeot myeong-ieyo?

How many students are there?

어느 (eoneu) — Which

어느 나라에서 왔어요?

eoneu nara-eseo wasseoyo?

Which country are you from?

어느 것이 좋아요?

eoneu geot-i joayo?

Which one do you like?

Answering Yes and No

Korean uses 네 (ne) for "yes" and 아니요 (aniyo) for "no." However, these words work differently from English — they confirm or deny the truth of the question's assumption, not the English translation.

밥 안 먹었어요? — 네, 안 먹었어요.

bab an meogeosseoyo? — ne, an meogeosseoyo.

You did not eat? — That is correct, I did not eat.

커피 좋아해요? — 아니요, 안 좋아해요.

keopi joahaeyo? — aniyo, an joahaeyo.

Do you like coffee? — No, I do not like it.

When answering negative questions, 네 means "that is correct" (confirming the negative), not "yes" in the English sense. If someone asks "You did not eat?" and you respond 네, you are confirming that you DID NOT eat. This is the opposite of English, where "yes" would mean "I did eat." This catches many learners off guard.

Tag Questions: ~지요? / ~죠?

Adding ~지요? (or its shortened form ~죠?) to a verb creates a tag question — similar to "right?" or "isn't it?" in English. It seeks confirmation of something the speaker believes to be true.

날씨가 좋죠?

nalssi-ga jojyo?

The weather is nice, right?

한국 음식 좋아하시죠?

hanguk eumsik joaha-sijyo?

You like Korean food, don't you?

Korean culture values indirect communication and maintaining harmony. Koreans often use tag questions (~죠?) and softer phrasing rather than direct questions when the topic might be sensitive. Rather than asking "Why are you late?" a Korean speaker might say "Traffic was bad, right?" (차가 많이 막혔죠?) to give the other person a graceful way to explain. This indirect style extends to many aspects of daily conversation.

Quick Reference Table

Question Word	Reading	Meaning	Example
뭐 / 무엇	mwo / mueot	what	뭐 먹어요?
누구	nugu	who	누구예요?
어디	eodi	where	어디 가요?
언제	eonje	when	언제 와요?
왜	wae	why	왜 울어요?
어떻게	eotteoke	how	어떻게 해요?
얼마	eolma	how much	얼마예요?
몇	myeot	how many	몇 개예요?
어느	eoneu	which	어느 거예요?

Summary

Asking questions in Korean is simpler than it first appears. The key takeaways:

Same word order — Korean questions keep the same SOV structure as statements, just change the ending or intonation
Formal questions get their own ending — -ㅂ니까?/습니까? replaces -ㅂ니다/습니다
Polite casual questions use intonation — the -아요/어요 form stays the same, just raise your voice
Question words stay in place — they do not move to the front of the sentence like English "wh-" words
네 confirms the question's assumption — it means "that is correct," which can be confusing with negative questions
Use tag questions for softness — ~죠? is a natural, polite way to seek confirmation in conversation