Learn Hardcore Korean: yeonghwagwan apeseo jureul seoyo. - I stand in line in front of the movie theater.

에서 is the location particle that marks where an action takes place. In 영화관 앞에서, it tells us that the action (lining up) happens at the front of the movie theater. If you used 에 instead, you’d mark a static location or direction (“to the front of the theater”) but wouldn’t clearly show that the action occurs there.

Why is 을 used after 줄 in 줄을 서다, and is it always required?

을 is the object particle marking 줄 (the line) as the direct object of 서다 (“to stand”). In the set expression 줄을 서다, it literally means “stand the line,” i.e. “line up.” In very casual speech you might hear 줄 서다, but in standard Korean you normally include 을 to be grammatically correct.

What does 줄을 서다 literally mean, and why is 서다 (to stand) used here?

Literally, 줄 means “line,” and 서다 means “to stand.” Combined, 줄을 서다 means “to stand in a line,” which idiomatically means “to line up” or “to queue.” Korean often uses the physical action verb (서다) to form idiomatic expressions like this.

What does the ending -요 in 서요 tell us about politeness?

The ending -요 makes the sentence polite informal, suitable for everyday conversation with strangers or acquaintances. Dropping -요 (e.g. 서) makes it casual, while using -습니다 (e.g. 섭니다) makes it formally polite.

Why is there no explicit subject in 영화관 앞에서 줄을 서요? Is that normal in Korean?

Yes. Korean often omits the subject when it’s clear from context. Here it’s implied that “we” or “people” are lining up. You could add 사람들이 (people) or 우리가 (we) for clarity, but it’s not needed if the listener understands who is performing the action.

What’s the correct pronunciation and romanization of 영화관, and is there any stress?

영화관 is pronounced roughly [yeong-hwa-gwan] in three even syllables. The standard romanization is yeonghwagwan (or hyphenated yeong-hwa-gwan). Korean is syllable-timed, so there’s no strong stress like in English—each syllable is pronounced evenly.

What is the literal meaning of 영화관 as a compound word?

영화관 is made of 영화 (movie/film) + 관 (building/house/institution). Literally it means “movie house” or “film building,” which in English corresponds to “cinema” or “movie theater.”