Learn Hardcore Korean: jeonyeoge peuraipaene yachaewa gogireul bokkayo. - I stir-fry vegetables and meat in a frying pan in the evening.

저녁에 means “in the evening.” The particle 에 attached to a time noun indicates “at” or “in” a specific time. Here it tells us when the action takes place: in the evening.

Why is 에 used after 프라이팬? Can't we use 에서 to mean “in the frying pan”?

Both 에 and 에서 can mark a place, but for verbs like 볶다 (to stir-fry), Korean often uses 에 to show the “container” or vessel you cook in. You’re not emphasizing the location “where” but rather the medium (“into the pan”). Saying 프라이팬에서 볶아요 would still be understood (“at/from the frying pan”), but 프라이팬에 볶아요 is more idiomatic when you add ingredients into the pan and stir-fry them.

What part of speech is 프라이팬, and why is it written in Hangul?

프라이팬 is a loanword from English frying pan, adapted to Korean pronunciation and spelling. Hangul is used to write foreign words phonetically, so frying pan becomes 프라이팬.

Why does only 고기 take the object particle 를, while 야채 is followed by 와?

와 means “and” when connecting nouns (A and B). You connect 야채 (“vegetables”) to 고기 (“meat”) with 와, giving 야채와 고기 (“vegetables and meat”). After that you need just one object marker 를 for the whole phrase: 야채와 고기를 볶아요.

Could I also write 야채하고 고기를 볶아요 instead of 야채와 고기를 볶아요?

Yes. 하고 also means “and” for nouns. 야채하고 고기를 볶아요 is perfectly natural. 와/과 are slightly more formal; 하고 is casual and very common in spoken Korean.

How do we get 볶아요 from the dictionary form 볶다?

Drop 다 from 볶다, leaving the stem 볶-.
The stem vowel is 오, so add -아요 to form the polite present tense.
Result: 볶다 → 볶 + 아요 = 볶아요.

Is 볶아요 polite or casual? What would be the formal and casual equivalents?

볶아요 is the polite informal style (해요체).

Formal (합쇼체): 볶습니다
Casual/plain: 볶아 (used with close friends or family)

Can the word order be changed? For example, 야채와 고기를 저녁에 프라이팬에 볶아요?

Yes. Korean word order is fairly flexible for elements like time (저녁에) and objects (야채와 고기를). Placing the time first (저녁에) is most common, but you could say 야채와 고기를 저녁에 프라이팬에 볶아요 without changing the meaning. The verb must stay at the end.

What’s the difference between 야채 and 채소?

Both mean “vegetables.” 채소 is the native Korean word, while 야채 is derived from Chinese. They’re interchangeable, though 채소 is slightly more formal or standard in writing.