Breakdown of chinguege gireul mureobwayo.
~을~eul
object particle
친구chingu
friend
~에게~ege
dative particle
물어보다muleoboda
to ask
Questions & Answers about chinguege gireul mureobwayo.
Why is 에게 used after 친구? Could I use 한테 instead?
에게 marks the indirect object or recipient of an action – here, the person you’re asking. In spoken, casual Korean you can indeed use 한테:
- 친구에게 길을 물어봐요. (neutral/polite)
- 친구한테 길을 물어봐요. (colloquial)
Why is 길 followed by 을 instead of 를 or another particle?
을 is the object particle attached to nouns ending in a consonant (길 ends in “ㄹ”). It tells you that 길 (“way” or “road”) is the direct object of 물어보다. If the noun ended in a vowel (e.g., 가게), you’d use 를.
What’s the difference between 묻다 and 물어보다?
- 묻다 alone can mean both “to ask” and “to bury,” so it’s ambiguous in speech.
- 물어보다 is a compound verb literally “ask-and-see,” meaning “to ask (a question).” It’s the standard everyday expression.
Koreans rarely say 묻어요 for “ask”; they say 물어봐요.
How is 물어봐요 formed from 물어보다?
- Start with the dictionary form 물어보다.
- Drop -다 → .