jom cheoncheonhi malhae boseyo.

slowly

Breakdown of jom cheoncheonhi malhae boseyo.

• 말해 보다: to try speaking
• ~세요: please (polite imperative)
• 좀: a little

Questions & Answers about jom cheoncheonhi malhae boseyo.

What does 좀 mean here? Does it literally mean a little?

In this sentence, 좀 does come from a little / a bit, but very often it works as a softener in requests.

So 좀 천천히 말해 보세요 is not really about speaking only a little slowly. It is more like:

• Please speak a bit more slowly
• Could you speak a little more slowly?

It makes the sentence sound less blunt.
Without 좀, the sentence is still correct, but it can sound a little more direct:

• 천천히 말해 보세요.

What does 천천히 mean grammatically?

천천히 is an adverb, meaning slowly.

It describes how the action is done:

• 말하다 = to speak
• 천천히 말하다 = to speak slowly

So in this sentence, 천천히 modifies 말해 보세요.

A useful comparison:

• 빠르게 = quickly
• 조용히 = quietly
• 천천히 = slowly

Why is it 말해 보세요 and not just 말하세요?