Questions Structure

In the previous section we learnt how to make a simple statement such as ‘저 피자 좋아해요’ (Jeo pija joahaeyo = I like pizza). Turning this into a question is quite simple. You just say ‘피자 좋아해요?’  (Pija joahaeyo? = Do you like pizza?) with a rising intonation.

So if a sentence has a rising intonation at the end, it becomes a question :

피자 좋아해요?                        Do you like pizza?

Pija joahaeyo?

And if it has a falling intonation, it becomes a statement :

저 피자 좋아해요.                     I like pizza.

Jeo pija joahaeyo.

You may be asking what has happened to the pronoun ‘you’ in the question form. As mentioned in Unit 1 ‘Introducing Yourself’, the equivalent Korean pronouns of ‘I’, ‘you’, ‘he/she’, ‘it’ and ‘they’ are normally omitted when it is obvious in context to whom or what you are referring. In particular, the Korean pronoun for ‘you’ is hardly ever used, unless the speakers are very close. To use it in any other situation is very insulting. The most common strategy when you are addressing someone is either to omit a subject altogether, or to use the person’s name instead.

For example :

1)    (너) 피자 좋아해?                 (Do you) like pizza?               (Casual)

       (Neo) pija joahae?

2)    로버트, 피자 좋아해?           Robert, do you like pizza?     (Casual)

        Robert, pija joahae?

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