neoneun eotteohge gongbuhaeyo?

How do you study?

Breakdown of neoneun eotteohge gongbuhaeyo?

• ~는: topic particle
• 공부하다: to study
• 너: you
• 어떻게: how

Questions & Answers about neoneun eotteohge gongbuhaeyo?

What does 너는 mean, and why is -는 attached to 너?

너 means you (informal). The particle -는 is the topic marker, indicating that you is what the sentence is about. In Korean, even pronouns often take topic or subject markers. So 너는 literally means “as for you…”

What part of speech is 어떻게, and how is it different from 어떤?

어떻게 is an adverb meaning how or in what way. It modifies the verb to ask about the manner of doing something.
어떤 is a determiner meaning what kind of, and it modifies a noun (e.g. 어떤 책 “what kind of book”).

Why is the verb 공부해요 instead of 공부하다? What level of politeness is this?

The dictionary form is 공부하다 (“to study”). To make it present tense polite, 하다 → 해요. So 공부해요 is polite informal speech (also called 반말 + 요-ending or 해요체), commonly used with strangers of similar age or in customer-service contexts.

Can I drop 너는 and just say 어떻게 공부해요?

Yes. Koreans often omit topics or subjects when they’re clear from context. 어떻게 공부해요? alone is perfectly natural and means “How do you study?”

How would I ask the same question more respectfully to a teacher or elder?

Use the honorific polite ending -세요:
어떻게 공부하세요?
This changes 해요 to 하세요, showing more respect toward the listener.

How would I change the sentence to past tense?

Conjugate the verb to past tense polite: 하다 → 했어요.
So it becomes: 너는 어떻게 공부했어요? (“How did you study?”)

How can I answer this question? Give an example.

You can start with 저는 (humble “I”) and then describe your method. For example:
• 저는 플래시카드로 외워요. “I memorize with flashcards.”
• 저는 노트에 정리하면서 공부해요. “I study while organizing my notes.”
• 저는 음악을 들으면서 공부해요. “I study while listening to music.”

What’s the literal word order in 너는 어떻게 공부해요?

Korean typically follows Topic-Adverb-Object-Verb (if there’s an object) or Topic-Adverb-Verb:
너는 (topic) / 어떻게 (adverb) / 공부해요 (verb)
Literally: “As for you, how (in what way) do (you) study?”