chingudeuri myeot myeongina wasseoyo?

How many friends came?

Breakdown of chingudeuri myeot myeongina wasseoyo?

• ~이: subject particle
• 친구: friend
• 오다: to come
• 몇: how many
• 명: person
• ~이나: as many as

Questions & Answers about chingudeuri myeot myeongina wasseoyo?

What does 친구들이 mean here, and how is it formed?

친구들이 breaks down into three parts:

• 친구 = “friend”
• 들 = plural marker (makes “friends”)
• 이 = subject particle (marks the word as the subject of the sentence)
  So 친구들이 means “friends” as the subject of “came.”

Why do we use 몇 and 명 together? What does each part do?

• 몇 = “how many” (question word for numbers)
• 명 = counter for people
  In Korean, you pair 몇 with the appropriate counter. 몇 명 literally asks “how many people.”

What is the nuance of adding -이나 after 몇 명 in 몇 명이나?

Attaching -이나 to a number or counter adds an emphatic or slightly surprised tone, meaning “as many as” or “no less than.”
So 몇 명이나 왔어요? implies you’re surprised or impressed by the number of friends who came.

Can we ask the question without -이나, i.e. 친구들이 몇 명 왔어요? How does that change the nuance?

Yes. 친구들이 몇 명 왔어요? is perfectly natural and simply means “How many friends came?” Removing -이나 makes it a neutral, straightforward inquiry without emphasis or surprise.

Why is the verb 왔어요 used in this form, and what are its components?

왔어요 is the polite past form of 오다 (to come). It consists of:

• Stem 오-
• Past tense marker -았- (attaches after stems ending in 오/아)
• Polite ending -어요
  Combined, they form 왔어요, meaning “(they) came.”

Could we make this question more formal or honorific? How would it look?

Yes. An honorific, more formal version would be:
친구분들이 몇 분이나 오셨습니까?
Changes made:

• 친구분들 uses 분 (honorific counter for people) instead of 명
• 오셨습니까 is the honorific past form of 오다 with a formal ending

Why use the subject particle -이 (in 들 이) instead of the topic particle -은/는?

• -이/가 marks the grammatical subject, focusing on “who” performed the action (came).
• -은/는 marks the topic or contrast.
  Since you’re asking “how many friends came” (subject focus), -이 is appropriate. Using -은/는 would sound like “As for friends, how many came?” with a slight topical nuance.

Is it possible to omit the subject marker -이/가 in casual speech?

In very informal spoken Korean, you might hear:
친구들 몇 명이나 왔어? (dropping -이)
But in standard polite speech, keeping -이 helps clarity and is grammatically proper.