If you’ve been learning Korean or have come across Korean conversations, you may have encountered a sentence-ending particle -까요 (-kkayo). This versatile and commonly used particle plays a crucial role in communication, expressing various functions and nuances. In this blog post, we will delve into the intricacies of -까요, explore its usage, and provide practical examples to help you master this important element of Korean sentence structure.
Conjugation
- Take a verb i.e. 가다
- Drop 다 –> 가
If the verb ends in a vowel, add ㄹ까요 –> 가 –> 갈까요
If the verb ends in a consonant, add 을까요 –> 먹다 –> 먹 –> 먹을까요
If the verb ends in a ㄹ, add just 까요 –> 놀다 –> 놀 –> 놀까요
These rules exist for easier pronunciation, so just think of it that way. Now, let’s conjugate few more of these.
Conjugation examples
- 오다 –> 오 + ㄹ까요 –> 올까요
- 보다 –> 보 + ㄹ까요 –> 볼까요
- 있다 –> 있 + 을까요 –> 있을까요
- 도와주다 –> 도와주 + ㄹ까요 –> 도와줄까요
- 하다 –> 하 + ㄹ까요–> 할까요
- 팔다 –> 팔 + 까요–> 팔까요
Usage 1 – Asking an opinion or suggesting something
There are two ways to ask a question using the ㄹ/을 까요 form.
1. Asking oneself
Especially in Korean dramas, you can often see the character talking to themselves. I am sure many of you find yourselves talking to yourself sometimes (I know I do). In this instance, you can use ㄹ/을 까요 to convey the meaning of “shall I’? The usage is the same as in English so the concept should be fairly straight forward. Please note that since we are talking to ourselves, it’s not likely or natural to use 존댓말 so the 요 gets dropped.
When you are wondering about whether something will happen that is either outside of your control or you are wondering about someone else’s actions, the English translation will be the future tense. For example:
- 오늘 비가 올까? (Will it rain today?/I wonder if it will rain today)
- 친구가 내일 올까? (Will my friend come tomorrow?/ I wonder if my friend comes tomorrow)
It is often commonly used when wondering about oneself. In this instance, it gets translated as “Shall I…?) For example:
- 주말에 영화 보러 갈까? (Shall I go and watch a movie on the weekend?
- 이제 저녁 먹으러 갈까? (Shall I go and eat dinner now?)
- 이제 뭐 할까? (What shall I do now?)
2. Asking others
까요 can also be used to make suggestions or proposals. It adds a polite and gentle tone to the sentence, making it suitable for offering advice or recommendations. For example:
- 한 번 산책해 보시는 게 어떨까요? (How about taking a walk?)
- 내일 함께 공원에 가볼까요? (Shall we go to the park together tomorrow?)
- 주말에 영화 보러 갈까요? (Shall we watch a movie on the weekend?)
- 도와줄까요? (Shall I help you?)
- 어디서 만날까요? (Where shall we meet?)
You would use this when you want to suggest something to another person to do together and gets translated to “Shall we”.
Difference between ㄹ/을 까요 and ㄹ/을 래요
ㄹ/을 까요 is about asking a suggestions to make plans and translates to “Shall we?” whereas ㄹ/을래요 asks the other person whether they “want to” do something.
- 같이 운동 할래요? Do you want to exercise together?
- 같이 운동 할까요? Shall we exercise together?
- 내일 만날래요? – Do you want to meet tomorrow?
- 내일 만날까요? – Shall we meet tomorrow?
The difference between these two is the same as in English. One is asking the other person whether they want to do something and the other one is suggesting to do something.
Activity 1
Fill in the blanks with the correct verb.
- 같이 여행 __________? – Shall we go on a trip together?
- 주말에 같이 _________? – Shall we study together on the weekend?
- 언제 ________? – When shall we meet?
- 제가 ________? – Shall I call?
- __________? – Will it be ok?
Activity 1 Answers
- 같이 여행 갈까요? – Shall we go on a trip together?
- 주말에 같이 공부할까요? – Shall we study together on the weekend?
- 언제 만날까요? – When shall we meet?
- 제가 전화할까요? – Shall I call?
- 괜찮을까요? – Will it be ok?