In this post, you will learn how to ask for help in Korean.
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1. V아/어/여 주세요
"주다" means "to give" in Korean. When you use it as the expression "아/어/여 주다," you can ask a listener to give you help or a favor. This means you can use this expression to ask the listener to take action to help you or someone else. Technically, this expression is a command, but it is close to a polite asking like "Would you do V?" or "Please do V."
창문을 열어 주세요. Please open a window.
제인 씨에게 알려 주세요. Please let Jane know.
↪ You can ask the listener to give a favor to someone else (the third person.)
2. Conjugation information
You attach "아/어/여 주세요" to a verb stem. You can't ask to be an adjective. That means you can't attach this to an adjective stem.
Since this rule starts with "아/어/여" that means the last vowel of the stem is the important part of conjugation, just like an informal present and past tense. If you are not familiar with this concept, please click here to check out the tense post first!
A. Regular conjugation
1. ㅏ or ㅗ: -아 주세요
When the last syllable of the stem has ㅏ or ㅗ as a vowel, add 아 주세요.
가다 [ga-da] to go → 가 주세요. Please go.
사다 [sa-da] to buy → 사 주세요. Please buy.
앉다 [an-dda] to sit → 앉아 주세요. Please sit down.
2. 하다 verbs: 해 주세요
When a verb ends with 하다, in other words, when the stem is 하, you add 여 주세요.
전화하다 [jeon-wha-ha-da] to make a phone call → 전화해 주세요.
말하다 [mal-ha-da] to talk → 말해 주세요.
도착하다 [do-cha-ka-da] to arrive → 도착해 주세요.
3. Others: -어 주세요
When the regular verb doesn't have ㅏ, ㅗ, or 하 as a stem, you must add 어 주세요.
읽다 [il-dda] to read → 읽어 주세요.
만들다 [man-deul-da] to make → 만들어 주세요.
빌리다 [bil-li-da] to borrow, to lend → 빌려 주세요.
4. Summary chart
Click the meaning to see the conjugated forms!
B. Irregular conjugation
1. ㄷ verbs: ㄷ → ㄹ +아/어 주세요
You must change ㄷ to ㄹ first and then add 아 주세요 or 어 주세요 depending on the last vowel using the regular conjugation rule.
깨닫다 [ggae-dad-dda] to realize → 깨달아 주세요.
듣다 [deu-dda] to listen → 들어 주세요.
2. ㅅ verbs: Erase ㅅ + 아/어 주세요
For irregular ㅅ verbs, get rid of the ㅅ first and then add 아 or 어 주세요 depending on the regular rule.
붓다 [bu-dda] to pour → 부어 주세요.
잇다 [ee-dda] to connect → 이어 주세요.
3. ㅂ verbs: Erase ㅂ + 와/워 주세요
For irregular ㅂ verbs, you need to remove the ㅂ and then append either 와 주세요 or 워 주세요. 와 주세요 is for 아 주세요 rule. 워 주세요 is for 어 주세요 rule.
돕다 [dop-dda] to help → 도와 주세요. Please help (me).
줍다 [jup-dda] to pick up → 주워 주세요. Please pick it up.
4. ㅡ and 르 verbs
Irregular ㅡ and 르 verb rules are a bit complicated. If you want to read about it, please click here to read my other post!
For a long reading short, you have to erase ㅡ of the stem and then add 아 주세요 or 어 주세요 depending on the last vowel.
쓰다 [sseu-da] to write → 써 주세요.
부르다 [bu-leu-da] to call → 불러 주세요.
5. Summary chart
3. Sentence information
A. Commonly used word
In daily conversation, this "아/어/여 주세요" is often used with the word "좀." It means "a little" but in this case, it is a word that is inserted to soften the tone when you ask a favor.
"저 좀 도와 주세요. Please help me." sound a bit more polite and soft than "저 도와 주세요." Without 좀, it sounds a bit more rude and forceful.
좀 is a shortened version of "조금 [jo-geum] a little", but it is more natural to use 좀 in this asking favor situation.
B. Comparisons
You learned the command, request ending (으)세요 before. 주세요 came from 주다 plus this (으)세요. They can both be used to ask the listener to do an action. However, (으)세요 has a stronger command tone than today's expression "아/어/여 주세요." Since "아/어/여 주세요" is closer to asking "Please give me your help."
읽으세요. : Read. (Please, read.) - Stronger command vibe.
읽어 주세요. Please read (for me.) - Softer, gentle, polite request vibe.
You can use this "아/어/여 주세요" to ask the listener to give a favor to someone else. When you ask the listener to give a favor to the subject of a sentence, and if the subject is older than you, you have to use the honorific version which is "-아/어/여 드리세요. [ah-eo-yeo deu-li-sae-yo]"
For example, in an office situation, you ask your co-worker to help the boss by saying 사장님을 도와 드리세요. The subject of the sentence is 사장님 (boss), so you have to use the honorific version word, 드리세요 instead of 주세요.
(O) 사장님을 도와 드리세요.
(X) 사장님을 도와 주세요.
D. Casual version
When the listener is the same age or younger than you, you can use the casual version (or so-called low-form of speech). You can use the expression "-아/어/여 줘. [ah-eo-yeo jwo]"
"나 좀 도와 줘." is more friendly and intimate version than "저 좀 도와 주세요."
Even if the listener is younger than you, if you are speaking in a more formal situation like an office, you'd better use "아/어/여 주세요."
E. Restriction
Since the expression already has the word "주다," it is awkward to say 주다 in the verb spot. (X) 줘 주세요.
When you need to ask someone to give you something, you can just say N을/를 좀 주세요.
휴지를 좀 주세요. Please give me some tissues.
However, in daily conversation, the object marker 을/를 can be easily omitted. So you will often hear the expression like the one below.
휴지 좀 주세요. Please give me some tissues.
4. Examples
You will see the examples with the softening word "좀". It is good to add when you ask to someone to give you a favor in daily life. If you want to practice making more examples using different verbs, please check out my post about 100 basic Korean verbs.
1
이 문제가 너무 어려워요. 좀 가르쳐 주세요.
This question is too difficult. Please teach me.
↪ 너무 [neo-mu] means "too". 가르쳐 주세요 came from the word 가르치다 [ga-leu-chi-da] to teach.
2
전화번호가 뭐예요? 좀 알려 주세요.
What is your phone number? Please let me know.
↪ 알리다 [al-li-da] means "to let know, to inform". It is very close looking with 알다 [al-da] "to know," right? To say "let me know," you can use this 알리다 and say 알려 주세요.
3
중요해요. 메모해 주세요.
It's important. Please take a memo.
↪ 메모하다 [mae-mo-ha-da], obviously, came from the English word "memo." By adding this noun 메모 to a verb convertor 하다, now 메모하다 is a verb like "take note" or "take a memo." 중요하다 [joong-yo-ha-da] is an adjective, meaning "to be important."
4
나중에 전화 좀 해 주세요.
Please call (me) later.
↪ 나중에 [na-jung-ae] means later. Because there is no other person indicated, it means asking the listener to call the speaker (I).
5
나중에 저한테 전화 좀 해 주세요.
Please call (me) later.
↪ You can add "me" by saying 저한테. 저 [jeo] means I (me) and 한테 means "to" So you can show call "to" me. You can replace 저 with another specific name to ask the listener to call that person.
6
무슨 일이 있었어요? 좀 말해 주세요.
What happened? Please tell me.
5. Quiz
Please check your understanding of today's grammar!
6. Wrap up: Asking for help in Korean: V아/어/여 주세요 grammar
You can use the expression "V아/어/여 주세요" to ask the listener to do action in a favor.
You have to pay attention to the last vowel of the stem to conjugate 아/어/여 part.
You can ask to the listener to do an action not only in favor of the speaker but someone else as well.
How was the lesson? If you have any questions, please let me know! 알려 주세요! Don't forget to subscribe to my blog for the latest lessons!
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