Talk with your classmates about your travel experiences and your future travel plans. Where would you like to go and what would you like to do?

What seems to be happening in the following dialogue?

In this lesson, you will learn how to ask for one’s recommendations and essential expressions to plan a visit to your travel destination.

1. V–(으)ㄹ까(요)? How about, Should I, Shall we?

–(으)ㄹ까 expresses the wondering or pondering mindset of the speaker, so –(으)ㄹ까 sentences are always questions. When this kind of thinking-to-oneself mood is expressed to a listener, –(으)ㄹ까 is interpreted as asking for a suggestion, often an invitation. A sentence with a sense of invitation sometimes has 우리 in it.

가: 점심에 뭐 먹을까?                     What should I have for lunch?

나: 글쎄, 시원한 냉면 먹어!             Hmm… Eat refreshing cold noodles!

가: 그럴까? 좋아!                             Shall I? OK!

가: 점심에 (우리) 뭐 먹을까?           What should we have for lunch?

나: 글쎄, 시원한 냉면?                     Dunno… refreshing cold noodles?

가: 좋아!                                           OK!

–(으)ㄹ래, on the other hand, makes an invitation, asking about the listener’s likes:

가: 연휴에 어디 갈래?                     Where do you wanna go this long weekend?

나: 글쎄, 우리 한글 박물관에 갈래? Hmm, do you/we wanna go to the National Hangeul Museum?

가: 우와! 좋은 생각!                         Wow! Good idea!

Going back to –(으)ㄹ까, if you need to respect the age-based social hierarchy or keep a linguo-social distance to the listener, you should add –요 to the –(으)ㄹ까 ending.

이번 연휴에 우리 경복궁에 갈까요? Shall we go to Gyeongbok Palace this long weekend?

When you are asked an “–(으)ㄹ까 question, you can return with a suggestive question “_______ 어때요?” or “_______ –(으)ㄹ까요?”

가: 저녁에 뭐 먹을까요?                  What shall we have for dinner?

나: 한국 음식은 어때요?                  How about Korean food?

나: 한국 음식은 어떨까요?              What do you think of Korean food?

나: 한국 음식 먹을까요?                  Shall we have Korean food?

2. A/V–(으)ㄹ까 (What) do you think?

If the question is not an invitation, the –(으)ㄹ까 ending solicits the listener’s opinion, having the meaning of “(What) do you think?” Both adjectives and verbs can be used in this construction. A polite thing to do is to answer to the best of your knowledge:

가: 내일 날씨가 좋을까요?              Do you think the weather will be good tomorrow?

나: 네, 좋을 거예요.                          Yes, it’s going to be nice.

–(으)ㄹ까 can be used for wondering or asking about things that might have happened already or in the past. In this case, you use an extended ending –ㅆ을까:

가: 은비가 표를 예약했을까요²?      I wonder if Eunbi reserved the ticket. What do you think?

나: 바빠서 예약 못 했을 거예요.       She was busy, so she probably has not reserved the ticket.

3. –(으)ㄹ까 Conjugation

Like any other –으 ending, –(으)ㄹ까요 conjugation requires irregular stems. Let’s take a look at the conjugation patterns.

² 예약하다: to reserve

4. Conjugation Practice

Complete the following table with the appropriate –(으)ㄹ까(요) form.

<Answer key> 가까울까(요), 읽어요, 읽을까(요), 멀어요, 멀까(요), 만들어요, 만들까(요), 알아봐요, 알아볼까(요), 들어요, 들을까(요), 구경해요, 구경할까(요), 멋있어요, 멋있을까(요), 아름다워요, 아름다울까(요), 써요, 쓸까(요), 달라요, 다를까(요)

1. A/V–(으)면 if/when

–(으)면 is a sentence connector meaning if or when (the first clause happens). Sentences with –(으)면 might be translated using when in some cases, but keep in mind that –(으)면 implies that the situation is hypothetical.

커피를 안 마시면 피곤해요.                               If I don’t drink coffee, I get tired.   OR   When I don’t drink coffee, I get tired.

When used concerning future events, –(으)면 is better translated as English when:

집에 가면 나한테 전화하세요.                           Call me when you go home.

It still carries a sense of a hypothetical situation, here, since you might end up not going home. –(으)면 is NOT used for definite time phrases like “when I was a child.”

To conjugate verbs and adjectives before –(으)면, drop 으 after vowels and ㄹ-ending verbs and adjectives:

시간 있으면 뭐 해?                                            When you have time, what do you do?

한강 공원에서 걸으면 기분이 좋아요!              If I walk at Hangang Park, I feel good.

날씨가 추우면 등산 가지 마세요.                      If the weather is cold, do not go hiking.

The verb 이다 usually takes a special form when used with –으면: 이면 →(이)라면. Also, drop the syllable –이 when the noun ends in a vowel.

커피라면 마실 거에요.                                       If it’s coffee, I’ll drink some!

한국 음식이라면 다 좋아요!                              If it’s Korean food, I like it all!

2. –(으)면 Conjugation

Like any other –으 ending, –(으)면 conjugation requires irregular stems. Let’s take a look at the conjugation pattern.

3. Conjugation Practice

Complete the following table with the appropriate –(으)면 form.

<Answer key> 배우면, 힘들다, 걸으면, 마시면, 놀면, 아름다우면, 멋있으면, 피곤하면

1. V–아/어 보세요 Try …ing and See

보다 (to see, to look) is another of the most commonly used auxiliary verbs in Korean.  When it comes after another verb in the -어/아 form, the combination means something like try verb-ing and see (how it works). This ending is often used to provide recommendations or suggestions. The adverbs such as 꼭 (certainly, definitely) and 한번 (once) can be added.

가: 서울에 가면 남산 타워를 구경해 보세요.                  If you go to Seoul, take a tour of Namsan Tower.

가: 그리고 한강 공원에서 꼭 걸어 보세요.                     And, definitely try walking in Hangang Park.

가: 맛집에서 맛있는 한국 음식도 한번 먹어 보세요.      Try eating delicious Korean food at a popular restaurant, too.

나:  네, 그럴게요!                                                            Will do!

–아/어 보다 can soften the tone when you’re asking someone to do something:

잘 들으세요.                                                  Listen carefully.

좀 들어 보세요                                              Hear me out/Listen (and see what you think).

2. V–아/어 봤어요 Have experienced

In the past tense, –아/어 보다can be used to indicate have or have not experienced.

한국 음식 먹어 봤어요.                                   I have tried (eating) Korean food.

스키 한 번도 안 타 봤어요.                             I have never tried skiing.

Although the majority of the -어 보다 verbs are transparent in meaning (“try doing…” or “try and see…”), some compound verbs have developed out of the try and see and into some other unique meanings.

인터넷에서 싼 표를 알아 볼까요?                  Shall we search for (and find out) a cheap ticket on the internet?

3. Conjugation Practice

Complete the following table with the appropriate –아/어 보세요 form.

<Answer key> 만들어 보세요, 사 보세요, 춤을 춰 보세요, 불러 보세요, 와 보세요, 구워 보세요, 관람해 보세요, 올라가 보세요

Listen to the conversation between Hanna and Bryan and answer the following questions in Korean.

1) What are they talking about?

2) What did Hanna suggest?

3) What did Bryan suggest?

4) What are their plans in the end?

Photo Credit: Pixabay

You are planning for a couple of short daytrips over the holiday break in Korea. Read the following passages from an online travel blog site and answer questions in English.

Complete the summary table based on the blog content above.

My Travel Story

Describe a place you have visited and want to recommend to your friends. Try to talk about the place in as much detail as you can in Korean. Talk with your partner/small group members first. Then, present in class.

Suggested but not limited to:

Knowledge Builds on Itself!

As you are studying Korean, every bit of what you already know will come in handy. Try to make connections between words if you see similar or identical parts. Analogical sensitivity is more powerful than simple memorization. Based on the words you know, can you deduce the meaning of related words below?

비행기

비행장        주차장, 운동장

지하철

지하실        교실, 사무실, 연구실

지하도

방학

휴학             휴가, 휴게실

학교

바닷가

강가           눈가, 입가(의 미소)

호숫가 

서울 Seoul

If you’re going to Korea, chances are, you are going to Seoul – either to stay, or at least to pass through before you venture into the 지방 and 시골.  Seoul is the largest city in Korea and one of the most densely populated cities in the world, with a population of over ten million people (about 25% of the population) in 605 sq. km. (http://global.seoul.go.kr/).  This means there are high-rise apartment and business buildings mixed in with old palace buildings and temples as well as bustling, narrow streets.  It is a modern, cosmopolitan, mega-city with ancient and traditional flavor to its architecture and culture; there’s lots to see and experience in Seoul.

서울 has been the capital of Korea since the beginning of the 조선 period (the late 14th century, 1394) and was one of three sub-capitals starting in 1067. Evidence suggests that there have been people living there since about 4000 B.C.

There is great historical-cultural importance to the division of Seoul into North-of-the-River (강북) and South-of-the-River (강남). Seoul was originally built up north of the river, nestled into the mountains (북한산) for protection. 강북 is thus the older part of Seoul, with more palaces, traditional houses and ‘Old Wealth’ (such as the homes of historically wealthy families). In the 조선period, Seoul (formerly called 한성) was the area surrounded by the four great gates (사대문: 동대문, 남대문, 서대문, 북대문) (and the walls between them). While 강남 is a planned city, Old Seoul (the area inside of the 사대문) is like Paris and other old cities where streets, buildings and neighborhoods sprung up as needed instead of being planned ahead of time as in most of the US, for example:  the street layout is more often triangular and at random angles as opposed to grid-patterned. This is why, when you talk about going to a friend’s house or place of business in Korean, it’s called 찾아가다! The “map” of Seoul, and addresses then, are expressed in terms of –동 and –구, neighborhoods and districts.  Otherwise, people often use well-known landmarks.

Photo Credit: JaeMin_Han on Pixabay