Question Words
Korean question words: who, what, where, when, why, how, how many
Can ask basic questions using Korean question words
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
이름이 뭐예요?
What is your name?
어디에서 왔어요?
Where did you come from?
왜 안 먹어요?
Why don't you eat?
지금 몇 시예요?
What time is it now?
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
의문사 — Question Words
Korean question words stay in place — they don't move to the front of the sentence like in English. Korean forms questions with intonation (rising pitch) or question particles.
| Korean | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 누구 | who | 누구를 만났어요? (Who did you meet?) |
| 뭐 / 무엇 | what | 뭐 먹어요? (What do you eat?) |
| 어디 | where | 어디에 가요? (Where are you going?) |
| 언제 | when | 언제 와요? (When are you coming?) |
| 왜 | why | 왜 안 먹어요? (Why don't you eat?) |
| 어떻게 | how | 어떻게 가요? (How do you get there?) |
| 몇 | how many / what number | 몇 시예요? (What time is it?) |
| 얼마 | how much (price) | 이거 얼마예요? (How much is this?) |
Key rules:
- Question words take 이/가 as subject (누가 = who + subject), never 은/는
- 뭐 is the casual form of 무엇 (뭐 해요? = 무엇을 해요?)
- 누구 + 가 contracts to 누가
- Yes/no questions use the same form as statements — just rising intonation: 학생이에요? (Are you a student?)
어떤 (which/what kind): 어떤 음식을 좋아해요? = What kind of food do you like?
Common Error Patterns
Moved question word to sentence-initial position (English/German habit)
Korean question words stay in their normal position: 어디에 가요? (NOT *가요 어디에?)
Used 은/는 with a question word instead of 이/가
Question words take 이/가: 누가 (NOT *누구는), 뭐가 (NOT *뭐는)
이름이 뭐예요?
What is your name?
이름 (name) + 이 (subject) + 뭐 (what) + 예요 (is). The question word 뭐 stays in the predicate position, not the front.
어디에서 왔어요?
Where did you come from?
어디 (where) + 에서 (from) + 왔어요 (came). 에서 with 오다 means 'from': 어디에서 = from where.
왜 안 먹어요?
Why don't you eat?
왜 (why) + 안 먹어요 (don't eat). 왜 is a special adverb — it takes no particle. It can go at the start or middle of a sentence.
지금 몇 시예요?
What time is it now?
몇 (how many/which number) + 시 (o'clock) + 예요 (is). 몇 is used for countable quantities: 몇 개 (how many items), 몇 명 (how many people).
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises