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안녕하세요? 🤗 Do you want to speak Korean fluently? (한국어를 잘 하고 싶어요?) Then, you should study hard with My Korean Lesson! ☺️ Haha. Anyway, I just used our goal expression "want to" in Korean. At the end of this lesson, you'll be able to tell your want as well!
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1. V고 싶다 grammar: I want to V.
1. 싶다 [sip-dda] is a word meaning "want to", "would like to", "wish to", or "desire to." Guess what. It is actually an auxiliary adjective, not a verb. This adjective needs to be used as the expression, "고 싶다." It is conjugated to 싶어요 [si-peo-yo] in the present tense and 싶었어요 [si-peo-sseo-yo] in the past tense.
고 싶다 want to | 예시 example | |
Present Tense | 고 싶어요. | 밥을 먹고 싶어요. I want to eat a meal. |
Past Tense | 고 싶었어요. | 밥을 먹고 싶었어요. I wanted to eat a meal. |
2. The final consonant or vowel doesn't matter to conjugate the verb with the 고! Even with usual irregular verbs like ㄷ, ㅅ, or ㅂ, you can add 고 to their stems! Watch out where the space in this expression. The space is between 고 and 싶다 (싶어요/싶었어요)
먹다 to eat → 먹고 싶어요. I want to eat.
마시다 to drink → 마시고 싶어요. I want to drink.
공부하다 to study → 공부하고 싶어요. I want to study.
만들다 to make → 만들고 싶어요. I want to make.
듣다 to listen → 듣고 싶어요. I want to listen.
돕다to help → 돕고 싶어요. I want to help.
3. As a statement: It shows the speaker's want or hope. You can't say someone else's hope using this ending. So, you can use this to only mean "I want to". Since it already includes "I" in the expression itself, 나 or 저 are often omitted. You can use the plural pronouns with this expression as well. Take a look at the chart below!
The Korean first-person pronouns
반말 non-polite | 존댓말 polite | |
단수 singular | 나 | 저 |
복수 plural | 우리 | 저희 |
I want to eat.: 저는 밥을 먹고 싶어요. = 밥을 먹고 싶어요.
We want to go.: 저희가 가고 싶어요. = 가고 싶어요.
4. As a question: You can use this expression to ask the listener's want or hope. You can translate it as "Do you want to?" in English.
젠 씨, 밥을 먹고 싶어요? Jen, do you want to eat?
2. Negative Sentence: I don't want to V.
You can attach the negative adverb 안 in front of the "V고" part to make a negative sentence. Make sure to put 안 at the right place.
The present tense: 안 V고 싶어요. I don't want to V.
The past tense: 안 V고 싶었어요. I didn't want to V.
먹다 to eat
(O) 밥을 안 먹고 싶어요. I don't want to eat.
(X) 안 밥을 먹고 싶어요.
(X) 밥을 먹고 안 싶어요.
마시다 to drink
(O) 커피를 안 마시고 싶어요. I don't want to drink coffee.
공부하다 = 공부를 하다 ] to study
(O) 공부를 안 하고 싶어요. I don't want to study.
(X) 안 공부를 하고 싶어요.
(X) 공부를 하고 안 싶어요.
↪ 공부하다 is actually a combination word of a noun 공부 and a verb 하다. So, the real verb part is only 하다. In this case, we need to separate a noun using the object marker and think of it as 공부를 하다.
3. Sentence Information
V고 싶다 is attached to a verb stem. It can't be attached with an adjective. However, only a few positive adjectives can be attached to it in idiomatic acceptance. Those are 건강하다 and 행복하다.
건강하다 to be healthy → 건강하고 싶어요. I want to be healthy.
행복하다 to be happy → 행복하고 싶어요. I want to be happy.
2) You've learned "V(으)ㄹ래요" to express your intetion. How can "고 싶어요" and "V(으)ㄹ래요" be different? Please check this chart out!
4. Examples
1
저는 하늘을 날고 싶어요. I want to fly in the sky.
↪ "-고 싶어요." can be used to express a simple hope and wish. You can say something that possibly can't happen with this ending.
2
(식당에서 In the restaurant)
가: 뭐 먹고 싶어요? What do you want to eat?
나: 저는 햄버거를 먹고 싶어요. I want to eat a hamburger.
↪ You can attach interrogatives like 뭐 (what), 언제 (when), 어디 (where) to ask specific questions. You can replace "고 싶어요" with "을래요" in this situation.
3
(까페에서 In the cafe)
다: 뭐 마실래요? What would you like to drink?
라: 커피를 마시고 싶어요. I want to drink coffee.
↪ Here you can see both expressions. You can mix up as long as you talk about the current, simple hope or intention.
4
마: 빵 먹을래요? Would you like to eat some bread?
바: 아니요, 안 먹고 싶어요. No, I don't want to eat.
↪ 안 comes in front of the "verb고" part and makes the negative sentence.
5
자: 어느 나라에서 살고 싶어요? Which country do you want to live in?
차: 한국에서 살고 싶어요. I want to live in Korea.
↪ To ask what country a person wants to live in is more close to a subjunctive situation. So in this case "살고 싶어요?" sounds correct, but "살래요?" does not. If you want to learn more country names in Korean, please click here.
5. Wrap-up & Worksheet: I want to V in Korean
-고 싶다 is attached to a verb stem and shows the hope or wish of the speaker.
It can be also used to ask about the listener's hopes or wishes.
The final consonant is not important.
"V고 싶어요" is used for the present tense; I want to V/ Do you want to V?
"V고 싶었어요" is used for the past tense; I wanted to V/ Did you want to V?
How was the lesson today? (오늘 수업은 어땠어요?) Please download the free printable PDF worksheet and practice more!
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