Everyday Korean questions and quantities

Identify the thing you mean, ask for missing information, and give a useful quantity or time. These lessons combine demonstratives, question words, and the two Korean number systems with concrete situations.

Track the speaker and the intended referent

The demonstrative lesson explains 이, 그, and 저 before nouns, the related thing words, and common contractions. A book beside one speaker can receive a different demonstrative when the other person speaks. Shared conversation also matters, especially when 그 refers back to something already discussed.

The lesson keeps things separate from places and distinguishes the demonstrative 저 from the humble first person pronoun. These small words become clearer when you follow their position and role in a complete phrase.

Choose a question from the answer you need

The question lesson asks what, who, where, when, how, which, and how many. It preserves the grammatical role of the missing information: asking who comes differs from asking whom someone meets. A location question also retains the distinction between a destination and the place of an activity.

Imagine the expected answer before choosing the question. A method fits an action question with 어떻게, while an evaluation fits 어때요. Produce a question and an answer together so you can check whether they solve the same information gap.

Read the number together with its unit

The Sino Korean lesson covers quantities, prices, dates, minutes, and digit sequences. The native number lesson then adds item counters and ordinary clock hours. A number's unit and practical purpose determine the useful series; the two systems are not different politeness levels.

Compare a clock time with a count of books and a price. Keep the special forms 한, 두, 세, 네, and 스무 before appropriate counters, and use the Sino Korean series for minutes. The practice tasks ask for complete messages, so recognizing a numeral is only the first part of the work.

Sources

• University of Pennsylvania: You Speak Korean, Lesson 4
• University of Pennsylvania: You Speak Korean, Lesson 6
• How to Study Korean: Asking Korean questions
• Tokyo University of Foreign Studies: Humble first person forms
• Tokyo University of Foreign Studies: This that and which before nouns
• Tokyo University of Foreign Studies: Thing demonstratives
• Tokyo University of Foreign Studies: Counters with Sino Korean numbers
• Tokyo University of Foreign Studies: Native number forms before counters
• Tokyo University of Foreign Studies: Counters with native numbers
• Tokyo University of Foreign Studies: Object particles