The ending for suggesting something. Attached to a verb root, -(으)ㄹ까요? asks the listener’s opinion — “shall we…?”, “should I…?”
| -을까요? | -ㄹ까요? | N할까요? |
|---|---|---|
| Stem ends in a consonant | Stem ends in a vowel, or in ㄹ | N하다 |
| 먹다 → 먹을까요? [머글까요] | 가다 → 갈까요? | 전화하다 → 전화할까요? |
| 앉다 → 앉을까요? [안즐까요] | 만나다 → 만날까요? | 공부하다 → 공부할까요? |
| 듣다 → 들을까요? [드를까요] | 만들다 → 만들까요? | 회의하다 → 회의할까요? |
The same consonant/vowel split as -(으)세요 in 117 and -았/었 in 121. It is the same question every time: does the stem end in a consonant, and therefore need a 으 to sit on?
Two irregulars visible in the bottom row:
- 듣다 → 들을까요? — the ㄷ-irregular, its 받침 becoming ㄹ before a vowel. Same verb as in 121.
- 만들다 → 만들까요? — the stem already ends in ㄹ, so it takes the -ㄹ까요 column and nothing is added. 만들ㄹ까요 ✗.
Vocabulary: 약속하기, making plans
| Korean | English |
|---|---|
| 약속(이) 있다 / 없다 | to have / not have plans |
| 시간(이) 있다 / 없다 | to have / not have time |
| 일(이) 있다 / 없다 | to have / not have work on |
| 요즘 | these days |
| 바쁘다 → 바빠요 | to be busy |
| 괜찮다 [괜찬타] → 괜찮아요 [괜차나요] | to be okay, to be fine |
바쁘다 is a ㅡ-irregular — 바ㅃ + 아요 → 바빠요, from 125.
괜찮아요 is worth its own line. It carries all of “I’m fine”, “that’s fine”, “no problem” and “no thanks”, and which one it means comes entirely from context — so it is both the most useful word in this lesson and the easiest to misread.
약속 vs 예약
Korean splits what English calls an “appointment” into two words, and the line between them is whether the other party is a person or an institution.
| 약속 — a plan with a person | 예약 — a booking with a business | |
|---|---|---|
| Used for | meeting a friend, lunch with a colleague | a restaurant, a hotel, a meeting room, the doctor |
| Example | 내일 약속(이) 있어요. | 내일 병원 예약이 있어요. |
A doctor’s appointment is 병원 예약, not 의사 약속. You book the hospital; you do not make a promise to the doctor.
Things you do to a 약속
| Korean | English |
|---|---|
| 약속(을) 지켰어요 | I kept the promise |
| 약속(을) 어겼어요 | I broke the promise |
| 약속(을) 취소했어요 | I cancelled the plan |
| 약속(을) 연기했어요 | I postponed it |
| 약속 시간(을) 변경했어요 | I changed the time |
변경하다 is the one for work: 회의 시간 / 날짜 / 일정을 변경하다 — to change a meeting’s time, date or schedule.
Dialogue
민수: 내일 몇 시에 만날까요? What time shall we meet tomorrow?
투이: 열한 시 어때요? How about eleven?
민수: 미안해요, 오전에는 일(이) 있어요. 오후는 어때요? Sorry, I’ve got something on in the morning. How about the afternoon?
투이: 괜찮아요. 두 시에 만날까요? That’s fine. Shall we meet at two?
민수: 네, 좋아요. Yes, good.
오전에는 — the 는 on top of 에 is contrastive. It marks the morning as the part that doesn’t work, which is what sets up the counter-offer. Dropping it gives a flatter sentence that doesn’t invite one.
Practice
Build the suggestion from time + place + action:
| Korean | English |
|---|---|
| 영화관에서 영화(를) 볼까요? | Shall we see a film at the cinema? |
| 탄종파가에서 만날까요? | Shall we meet at Tanjong Pagar? |
| 한국 식당에 갈까요? | Shall we go to a Korean restaurant? |
| 오차드에서 쇼핑할까요? | Shall we shop at Orchard? |
| 도서관에서 한국어(를) 공부할까요? | Shall we study Korean at the library? |
| 카페에서 커피 한 잔(을) 할까요? | Shall we have a coffee at a café? |
Times that take 에: 목요일에 · 금요일에 · 주말에 · 오후에 · 저녁에 · 오늘 밤에. Times that do not: 오늘 ✗ · 내일 ✗ · 모레 ✗ — the exception list from 125.
Note 커피 한 잔 — the counter 잔 with its shortened 한, from 119. And 같이 [가치], “together”.
Work culture: food tied to a day
Four dishes that belong to a specific date, all of them on the lunar calendar.
| Food | English | Occasion |
|---|---|---|
| 떡국 | rice cake soup | 설날 — Lunar New Year |
| 삼계탕 | ginseng chicken soup | 복날 — 초복, 중복, 말복, the hottest days of summer |
| 송편 | half-moon rice cakes | 추석 — Korean Thanksgiving |
| 팥죽 | red bean porridge | 동지 — winter solstice |
삼계탕 is the interesting one: a boiling hot soup eaten on the hottest days of the year, on the principle of 이열치열 — fighting heat with heat. The 복날 fall in July and August and the queues outside 삼계탕 restaurants on those days are real.
Note that 떡국 and 삼계탕 are a 국 and a 탕 respectively — the distinction from 126.
Unique Korean food
The deck’s list of things that surprise visitors:
| Korean | English |
|---|---|
| 산낙지 | live octopus |
| 멍게 | sea squirt |
| 해삼 | sea cucumber |
| 개불 | spoon worm |
| 번데기 | silkworm pupae |
| 도토리묵 | acorn jelly |
| 간장게장 | raw crab marinated in soy sauce |
| 홍어회 | fermented skate |
홍어회 is the one Koreans themselves argue about — it is fermented until it smells strongly of ammonia, and liking it is regional and generational rather than universal. 간장게장 has the nickname 밥도둑, “rice thief”, because of how much rice disappears alongside it.