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haksaengdeuri seonsaengnimege jilmunhaeyo.

학생들이 선생님에게 질문해요.haksaengdeuri seonsaengnimege jilmunhaeyo.
Students ask the teacher questions.
FromLesson 15inHardcore Korean

Questions & Answers about haksaengdeuri seonsaengnimege jilmunhaeyo.

Why does 학생들이 have both 들 and the particle 이?
  • 들 is the plural marker, so 학생들 means “students.”
  • 이 is the subject particle, marking 학생들 as the doer of the action.
  • Order in Korean is always noun + plural marker + case particle, hence 학생들이.
  • You can drop 들 if plurality is clear from context, but adding 들 emphasizes “more than one student.”
What is the role of 에게 in 선생님에게? Could I use 한테 or 께 instead?
  • 에게 marks the indirect object or target: “to the teacher.”
  • 한테 is a casual, spoken equivalent of 에게, common among friends or for younger speakers.
  • 께 is the honorific form of 에게, used when showing extra respect (e.g., elders, high‐status people).
    Examples:
    • 선생님에게 질문해요 (neutral polite)
    • 선생님한테 질문해요 (casual)
    • 선생님께 질문해요 (honorific)
Why isn’t there an object particle 을/를 after 질문? Shouldn't it be 질문을 해요?
  • 질문하다 is a Sino-Korean compound verb: noun 질문
    • verb 하다 = “to ask.”
  • You treat 질문하다 as one verb, so you do 질문해요 without inserting 을/를.
  • You can say 질문을 해요 for emphasis, but the standard form is 질문해요.
What is the dictionary form of 질문해요, and what level of politeness is it?
  • Dictionary (infinitive) form: 질문하다.
  • To make it present tense polite, drop -다 and add -해요, giving 질문해요.
  • This is the everyday polite (요-form), suitable for most conversational settings.
Why is the verb at the end of the sentence?
Korean follows a Subject–Object–Verb (SOV) order. You present the subject (학생들이), then the object or indirect object (선생님에게), and finally the verb phrase (질문해요). Even if you shuffle the noun phrases for emphasis, the verb remains at the end.
Could I use a more colloquial verb to say “ask,” such as 물어보다?

Yes. 물어보다 is a native Korean verb meaning “to ask.” If you use it, you need the object marker -를/을 after 선생님 because 물어보다 isn’t a compound with 하다:

  • 학생들이 선생님한테 뭘 물어봐요?
    This sounds more casual than 질문해요, which is slightly more formal or written.
How would I ask “What are the students asking the teacher?” in Korean?

Insert an interrogative pronoun and the appropriate object marker before the verb:

  • 학생들이 선생님에게 무엇을 질문해요?
    Or more colloquially:
  • 학생들이 선생님한테 뭐를 물어봐요?
How do I change the sentence to past tense or make it negative?
  • Past tense: replace 해요 with 했어요
    • 학생들이 선생님에게 질문했어요.
  • Negative: place 안 before the verb or use -지 않아요
    • 학생들이 선생님에게 질문 안 해요.
    • 학생들이 선생님에게 질문하지 않아요.
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“How do speech levels work in Korean?”
Korean has multiple speech levels that indicate formality and politeness. The most common are the formal polite (‑습니다/‑ㅂ니다), informal polite (‑아요/‑어요), and casual (‑아/‑어) forms. Which level you use depends on who you're speaking to and the social context.

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