Question Formation in Korean

Overview

Forming questions in Korean is remarkably simple at the CEFR A1 level: in polite speech (-아/어요), you simply raise your intonation at the end of the sentence. The sentence structure stays the same. Korean also has a rich set of question words (interrogatives) that stay in their natural position in the sentence rather than moving to the front as in English.

The question words 뭐 (what), 누구 (who), 어디 (where), 언제 (when), 왜 (why), 어떻게 (how), and 몇 (how many) are essential vocabulary. Unlike English, these words do not move to the beginning of the sentence — they replace the unknown element in its original position.

In the formal speech level (-ㅂ니까/습니까), the ending itself marks the sentence as a question. This distinction between speech levels in question formation is straightforward once you know the patterns.

How It Works

Yes/No Questions

Simply use rising intonation with the same sentence structure:

Statement	Question
학생이에요. (Is a student.)	학생이에요? (Is (he) a student?)
갈 거예요. (Will go.)	갈 거예요? (Will (you) go?)

Question Words

Korean	Romanization	English	Example
뭐 / 무엇	mwo / mu-eot	what	뭐예요? (What is it?)
누구	nu-gu	who	누구예요? (Who is it?)
어디	eo-di	where	어디 가요? (Where are you going?)
언제	eon-je	when	언제 와요? (When are you coming?)
왜	wae	why	왜요? (Why?)
어떻게	eo-tteo-ke	how	어떻게 해요? (How do you do it?)
몇	myeot	how many	몇 개요? (How many?)
얼마	eol-ma	how much	얼마예요? (How much?)
어떤	eo-tteon	which/what kind	어떤 음식? (What kind of food?)

Question Word Position

Question words stay where the answer would be:

Question	Answer	Word replaced
어디에 가요?	학교에 가요.	place
뭐 먹어요?	밥 먹어요.	object
누가 왔어요?	친구가 왔어요.	subject

Examples in Context

Korean	Romanization	English	Note
이게 뭐예요?	i-ge mwo-ye-yo	What is this?	what
누구예요?	nu-gu-ye-yo	Who is it?	who
어디 가요?	eo-di ga-yo	Where are you going?	where
왜요?	wae-yo	Why?	standalone why
언제 만나요?	eon-je man-na-yo	When shall we meet?	when
어떻게 해요?	eo-tteo-ke hae-yo	How do you do it?	how
몇 시예요?	myeot si-ye-yo	What time is it?	how many + counter
얼마예요?	eol-ma-ye-yo	How much is it?	price
이거 맛있어요?	i-geo ma-si-sseo-yo	Is this delicious?	yes/no
한국어 할 수 있어요?	han-gu-geo hal su i-sseo-yo	Can you speak Korean?	ability question

Common Mistakes

Moving question words to the front of the sentence

• Wrong: 어디 당신은 가요? (English word order)
• Right: (당신은) 어디 가요?
• Why: Korean keeps question words in the position where the answer would naturally go. The question word replaces the unknown element.

Using 네 (yes) and 아니요 (no) with English logic

• Wrong: Answering "Don't you like it?" with 네 (yes) meaning "correct, I don't"
• Right: In Korean, 네 to a negative question means "Yes, I do like it," following the question's expected answer
• Why: Actually, Korean 네/아니요 can follow either the question's polarity or the fact. This is genuinely confusing and context-dependent. When in doubt, provide a full answer rather than just 네/아니요.

Forgetting question-specific particles

• Wrong: 누구 왔어요? (missing subject particle after 누구)
• Right: 누가 왔어요? (누구 + 가 → 누가)
• Why: 누구 (who) takes special contracted forms with particles: 누가 (who + subject), 누구를 (whom).

Usage Notes

In casual speech, questions are formed by intonation alone, and particles or even question words may be shortened. 뭐 (what) is the casual form of 무엇; both are correct but 뭐 dominates in speech. Adding 요 to question words creates polite standalone questions: 왜요? (Why?), 뭐요? (What?), 누구요? (Who?). In formal Korean, the -ㅂ니까/습니까 ending clearly marks questions without relying on intonation.

Practice Tips

• Practice transforming statements into questions by changing only the intonation. Read 학생이에요 as a statement, then as a question.
• Create question-answer pairs for each question word: 어디 가요? — 학교에 가요. 뭐 먹어요? — 밥 먹어요.
• In conversations, practice asking follow-up questions using different question words about the same topic.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Polite Ending -아/어요 — questions use the same polite ending with rising intonation