Perhaps you’re booking into a hotel, or going for an interview. You’ll probably be asked some basic personal questions in Korean like “what is your nationality?” “what is your address?” or “what is your date of birth?” These are all useful things to be able to talk about for everyday conversations as well, so how about we get started…
Resources for further reading:
Pronunciation help for introductions in Korean
Sunghami utduke dweshimnikga?
Nationalities
Koreans have two ways to name countries: a Hangulisation of the original English name (for example Singgaporeu for Singapore), and the Korean pronunciation of the Chinese version of that country name – eg Ilbon (lit: sun’s origin) for Japan.
Making words for nationalities from country names is easy! You simply need to add ~saram or ~in (the pure Korean and Sino-Korean words for “person”). There are certain occasions where the pronunciation may change with this addition, such as Migook (America) becomes Migook-in (lit: America-person).
Age
A simple way to avoid offence, especially when speaking to someone older than you, and asking about his/her age, is to add the polite ending ~yo to the end of your question.
When asked about your age, birthday, or your daughter/son’s age, here’s how you can answer:
How old are you? (to a child)
How old are you? (to an adult around your age or younger)
How old are you? (to an adult older than you)
What is your date of birth?
He/She is […] years old. (while pointing)
제 생일은 [...]년 [...]월 [...]일이에요.
Je saeng-il eun […] nyun […] wol […] eel ieyo.
My birthday is on the [day] of [month] [year].
Junwha bunho badeul soo itseulkgayo?
Can I have your telephone number?
Haendeupon bunhoga maw yeyo?
What is your cell phone number?
Yukgwon bunhoga utduke dweyo?
What is your passport number?
Eemaeil joosoga utduke dweyo?
What is your email address?
When you’re responding, you can follow one of the simple formats below. Just insert the appropriate information in the brackets.
Je eemaeil jooso neun […] ieyo.
My email is [your email].
My address is [your address].
Je junhwabunho neun […] ieyo.
My telephone number is [your number].
Je haendeupon bunho neun […] ieyo.
My cell phone number is [your number].
Je yukwon bunho neun […] ieyo.
My passport number is [your number].
Filling out Forms in Korean
If you find yourself being asked to fill out forms with your personal details, you won’t get the complete questions that you’ve studied above. Instead, you’ll get short words or phrases.
That’s it for this lesson, well done!
If you want to learn how to say Hello in Korean or other Korean salutations then check these lessons out!
Anyoung hee gaseyo!
Sujung Lee: Rocket Korean
