You've learned the Korean adjectives in the previous lesson. In this lesson, you will learn "How are you?" or "How have you been?" and answer those questions using the different feeling adjectives.
<Table of Contents>
0. Words
Here are some new words you'll need in this lesson. Don't forget to add new adjectives to your adjective organizer worksheet! Click the button to download if you need one!
(verb) to pass time | |
(adverb) well | |
(adverb) how | |
(adjective) to be okay | |
(adjective) to be good |
⚐ The Pronunciation Tips
When you read out the word "어떻게", you should not read it as it looks! The second syllable 떻 has the final consonant ㅎ[h]. After that, the ㄱ[g] comes. When ㅎ[h] and ㄱ[g] meet they become ㅋ[k]. So, even though you write the word "어떻게," you have to read it like [어떠케].
1. How are you?
Be aware...
In the U.S., people ask "Hi, how are you?" to anyone for greetings. However, it is a bit different in Korean.
You don't say expressions like "How are you?" for the people you never met before. The relevant "How are you?" expressions are only used to inquire after the people you know already.
So, be aware, not to use the expressions you'll learn here to the stranger or someone you just meet. To these people, you can simply say "안녕하세요. (Hi.)" or "만나서 반갑습니다. (Nice to meet you.)" If you want to know more basic greeting expressions, please click here.
Questions
"How" is "어떻게" in Korean. Depending on how polite you want to say, there are many ways to ask "How are you?" in Korean. In this lesson, I'll show you expressions that are good to use in daily life!
★ (More polite) To someone older than you or who has a higher social status than you. | |
(Polite) To someone who has a similar social status to you. | |
(Casual) To someone in the same age or younger |
As you see, age and social status are very important keys in Korean. I'll explain some details here for someone who is not familiar with this concept.
Make sure not to use the third one for someone older than you. This last one is considered very friendly and casual. So, you are allowed to use it only for someone of the same age or younger than you. If you say "어떻게 지내?" to your teacher, boss, etc, it's very rude!
The first and second ones are both polite ones. However, I recommend using the first one in daily life. "어떻게 지내세요?" is with the honorific word, so it is politer than "어떻게 지내요?" You don't have to worry about the honorific word yet but memorize the first expression as a chunk.
While the second option remains polite, it may not be entirely appropriate for use with a teacher, boss, senior, team leader, etc. Do you see my point? Instead, you can use it with co-workers in a professional setting or in situations where you wish to avoid appearing too casual or rude, even if the co-worker is younger or the same age as you.
Answers
There are many possible answers. However, people will usually just use positive ones as a courtesy. Here are some good answers you can try.
① I'm doing well.
Polite | |
Casual (Not polite) |
② I'm good.
Polite | |
Casual (Not polite) |
Of course, you can combine them like "좋아요. 잘 지내요." or "좋아. 잘 지내."
③ I'm fine.
Polite | |
Casual (Not polite) |
2. How Have You Been?
In Korean, there is no "perfect" tense. However, with the past tense, you can imply either simple past or present perfect tense. I'll show you the past tense expressions. These will mean "How have you been?" in English. These expressions are used to inquire after someone you haven't met in a while.
Questions
★ (More polite) to someone older than you or has a higher social status | |
(Polite) to similar social status | |
(Casual) to someone at the same age or younger than you |
The politeness levels are, of course, important. It is the same as I explained in the present tense, so I'll skip explain about it.
Answers
It's natural to answer the questions above in the past tense. Here are possible answers that are commonly used. 좋다 is not used as an answer here.
① I've been doing well.
Polite | |
Casual (Not polite) |
② I've been doing fine.
Polite | |
Casual (Not polite) |
3. Are You Doing Well?
Here is another way of saying "How are you?" in Korean. It is another common way to ask, so please study this one as well! People use questions like "Are you doing well?" or "Have you been doing well?" I'll start with the present tense ones.
Questions
It's not quite "How are you?" but it's close to "Are you doing well?" in English. And of course, there are many ways to say it depending on the politeness. Check out the table below.
From top to bottom, it gets less polite. I recommend memorizing the first one which is the politer version.
Answers
The questions above are "yes" or "no" questions. Let's check out the important answering words below. Memorize all these four important words!
Yes. | No. | |
Polite | ||
Not Polite |
Here are possible answers when someone asks you "잘 지내요? (Are you doing well?) in Korean. However, most of the time, you'll probably just say the positive answer, no matter how you actually feel. It's just by courtesy unless you talk to someone intimate.
Yes. | No. | |
Polite | ||
Not Polite |
4. Have you been doing well?
Questions
Let's check out the questions in the past tense version. We can imply how the listener has been doing. The top one is the most polite and the bottom one is not polite.
Answers
Yes. | No. | |
Polite | ||
Not Polite |
5. Examples
Let's combine what you've seen and see how we can ask and answer "How are you?" in Korean.
1
How are you? | |
I'm doing well. |
2
How have you been? | |
I've been doing well. |
3
Roy, how are you? | |
I'm doing well. How are you, Mina? | |
I'm doing well, too. |
This is a conversation between 미나(Mina) and 로이(Roy). 미나 is one of the female names in Korea. You can call someone of similar social status by adding the word 씨 to their name. It sounds politer than just calling the names; 미나 씨 and 로이 씨.
When you ask back someone who asked you first, you can use "(name) 씨는 어떻게 지내세요?" It sounds a little more natural than just saying "어떻게 지내요?" in an asking-back situation.
At the last answer of 미나, she said "저도 잘 지내요." The red-marked word 도 means "too" or "also." She is also doing well, so it's natural to add 도.
4
Roy, how are you? | |
I'm doing well. How about you, Mina? | |
I'm doing well, too. |
I want to show you how to shorten the asking-back question. It's the same example as the 3rd one except the blue part is different.
Before you saw the full sentence, "미나 씨는 어떻게 지내요? (How are you, Mina?)" However, "어떻게 지내요" is repeteing. So, we omit it and simply say "미나 씨는요?" The last syllable 요 can't be omitted because it is what makes the sentence polite.
5
Jen, are you doing well? | |
Yes, I'm well. You? | |
Me too. |
This is a conversation between friends. So, they use the not polite form of speech. With it, the sentences are more casual and shorter.
Look at the last answer of A. He can say "나도 잘 지내. (I am doing well, too.)" but with a casual tone, he simply says 나도. You can translate it as "Me too."
6. Wrap-up & Worksheet: "How are you?" in Korean
You've learned how to ask and answer "How are you?" in Korean. Here are the important expressions you should memorize.
"어떻게 지내세요?" How are you?
"어떻게 지내셨어요? How have you been?"
"잘 지내세요? Are you doing well?"
"잘 지내셨어요? Have you been doing well?"
Here is the worksheet you can use. Make sure to read aloud as you write.
I showed the common and courteous answers here. However, if you want to express various feelings, take a look at my other post; feelings & emotions in Korean.
In the next lesson, you'll learn about how to express your intention. See you then!