How Much Is This?
이거 얼마예요 [Igeo eolmayeyo?]

How to Shop

Korean cities like Seoul and Busan are bustling metropolises where you can find all kinds of people doing and selling all kinds of things. 명동, Seoul’s upscale shopping district, and 남대문시장, it’s largest traditional market, are two popular spots for foreigners to visit, both to shop and simply to watch the action.

If your sole purpose for going is the latter, well then you can just skip this chapter! ^;^ But if you’re ever planning on buying something here or elsewhere in the country, you’re going to need to learn some key shopping expressions, right? Right. We’ll start out with something easy. How do you say “shopping” in Korean? Hey, guess what? It’s just 쇼핑!

So, you’ve been 쇼핑 around, and you’ve finally found something you want to buy. Most likely, the store clerk has already spotted you and will come over to say:

뭘 도와 드릴까요 [Mweol towa teurilkkayo?] May I help with anything?

드리다 (honorific) and 주다 (plain) both mean “to give,” but when either of them is used after the verb ending -아 / -어 / -여, it makes whatever you’re saying sound extra polite. The clerk wants to be as polite as possible, of course, so he’s not going to say 뭘 도까요 or 뭘 도와 줄까요, but rather 뭘 도와 드릴찌요 I’m sure you recognize the propositive ending - ᄅ 까요? / - 을까요?, right?

Likewise, this form can make a command sound nicer. So if you do in fact need the clerk’s help, don’t say 나를 도와요. Nobody’s going to want to help you if that’s what they hear. Instead, you should say 저를 도와주세요, looking as helpless as possible.

By the way, what are you hoping to buy? A 핸드폰 (“cell phone”)? A 시 계 (“watch”)? Or are you just window shopping? In Korean, people use the term 아이 쇼핑 (“eye shopping”) when they’re simply looking around without anything specific in mind. Don’t think they’re actually shopping for eyes! But if that’s what you’re doing, then how would you tell the clerk, “I’m just looking around so I don’t need your help. If you’ll only leave me alone I might buy all the things in this shop!”? Basically, like this:

팬찮아요. 그냥 구경하고 있어요. [Kwaenchanayo. Keunyang kugyeonghago isseoyo.] I’m okay. I’m just looking around.

Very nice! Upon hearing this, the clerk will retreat to wherever he was sitting before, defeated by your expert Korean. But, oops…wait! You’ve just found some clothes you love and you really want to try them on. Hurry, catch him before he sits down and ask:

이 옷 입어 봐도 돼요 [I ot ibeo pwado twaeyo?] May I try on these clothes?

Ordinarily, the verb 보다 means “to see.” But just as we learned above, conjugating a verb with the ending -아 / -어 / -여 and then adding 보다 changes its meaning. It now signifies “to give something a try.”

But there’s actually a second expression being used in the sentence above: -아도 / -어도 / -여도되다. 되다 is the verb for “to become,” remember? And guess what? That’s right, in this case it has nothing to do with “becoming,” but rather it’s how you ask permission to do something. (Incidentally, the expressions -어야 / -어야 / -여야 되다 (for obligation) and -(으) 면 안되다 (for prohibition), which we learned in chapter 21, use the verb 되다 as well.)

So, using a combination of the two expressions we just covered, the final product is 이 옷 입어 봐도 돼요? 봐도 is the contracted form of 보아도, and 돼요 is the contracted form of 도어요. Make sense?

This is a very polite expression, and it’s important to use it while shopping. The customer is king, of course, but you still need to ask permission nicely to try something on. After all, they’re not your clothes yet; they’re still the shop owner’s! But once you honor him with your polite speech, he’s sure to respond:

네. 입어 보세요. [Ne. Ibeo poseyo.] Sure. Try them on.

Next, you’ll be ushered into a tiny room where you can put on the clothes and…poof! You’ll be transformed into a different person. Your clerk will no doubt have some flattering things to say about your new look, eyeing that money burning a hole in your pocket. But remember, there’s no hurry. We have time for some serious negotiation here. First, ask the price:

이거 (가격이) 얼마예요 [Igeo (kagyeogi) eolmayeyo?] How much is this?

가격 is another word for “price” in Korean, but you can usually omit it. The clerk knows exactly what you’re talking about. When you inquire about a price, the key is the noun 얼 마, meaning “how much” or “what.”

Right, and now the moment of truth:

만원이에요. [Man weonieyo.]

You remember 원, right? It’s the Korean currency. Good. And then how much is 만 No? Can’t remember? Okay, I give you permission to flip back to the previous chapter and find out. Or, better yet, let’s figure it out here.

Keep in mind, the origin of Sino-Korean number names is based on four digits separated by commas, not just three. So 10 is 십, 100 is 백, 1,000 is 천, and 10,000 is… 심천' No! 10,000 has its own name, rather than being a combination of 10 + 1,000. And that name is만, of course.

Now, you’ve been given a price of 만원, but how much is that really? If you’re not familiar with the value of the Korean currency, it might sound like a lot, right? Well, here’s a good guideline for remembering the worth of the won. As of 2009, a Big Mac costs about 3,300 원. In that case, 만원 is just enough to give yourself a heart attack by eating three burgers! Wow!

So, do you think those jeans you just tried on are worth three Big Macs? If not, then you’re in luck, because Korea is by and large a haggling society. You can’t do this in a department store, where the salespeople will look down their noses at you if you try to ask for a discount, but in traditional markets, it’s quite appropriate to put your bargaining skills to use.

Your clerk has suggested 만원 for this pair of designer jeans. Even if you think this is already the best deal in the world, you can still try to whittle it down by saying:

너무 비싸요. [Neomu pissayo.] It’s too expensive.

Ah, let the haggling begin. Don’t let up now! You have to continue your attack. Instead of just saying “it’s too expensive,” you have to ask him to discount the price for you:

깎아 주세요. [Kkakka chuseyo.] Please give me a discount.

The verb 깎다, in a general sense, means “to cut” (as in a carrot, or one’s hair), but it’s also used for “to discount.” And, as you can see, you’re using the expression -아 / -어 / -여 주다 that we learned above, both politely and desperately asking the favor of a lower price.

And what happens next? Who can say? Whether or not you’ll get a discount depends on the clerk, as well as how expertly you can use your Korean. But if you succeed and he asks you afterwards, “Where the heck did you learn this practical, cut-throat Korean?” don’t forget to say, “Why, from Korean for Beginners, of course!”

Korean Style: Korean euphemisms

My wife has an interesting habit. Maybe you know someone who’s the same way. When she goes shopping for clothes, she likes to try on practically everything in the store, but she hardly ever finds something she likes enough to buy. As she’s leaving, the clerk will ask her if there’s anything she’d like to purchase, but she just says 다음에 살게요 (“I’ll buy something next time.”). Of course, she won’t. But she doesn’t want to hurt the shopkeeper’s feelings by telling him “I don’t like your clothes.”

In English, we call this a white lie, right? White lies are little untruths we tell people in order to spare them unnecessary pain. For instance, you tell your sister she has a nice singing voice even though she sounds like a dying cat. Or you might reassure your friend that his new haircut doesn’t look that bad, when all you really want to do is point and laugh. Another term for a white lie is a euphemism.

Euphemisms and other indirect, polite forms of speech have developed in Korean, too. And, unlike the Korean proverbs we learned a little while back, these are pretty easy to understand. See for yourself:

아버지는 제가 세 살 때 하늘 나라로 가셨어요. Lit. My father went away to heaven when I was three.

아버지는 제가 세 살 때 돌아가셨어요.. Lit. My father returned when I was three.

아버지는 제가 세 살 때 죽었어요. My father died when I was three.

Just like in English, Koreans sometimes use softer speech like this when they’re talking about death, as saying the word directly can be taken as harsh or insensitive in some instances.

Here’s another example:

화장실에 갔다 올게. Let me go to restroom.

In English, we say “restroom” in place of “toilet” to be polite, even though it’s not actually a room for resting. Similarly, Koreans say 화장실, which literally means a place where people put on makeup, despite the fact that men (well, most men ^^) don’t use it for that purpose.

And finally, compare these sentences:

운전 면허 시험에 미끄러졌어요 . Lit. I slipped the driver’s license test.

운전 면허 시험에서 미역국을 먹었어요. Lit. I seaweed soup-ed the driver’s license test.

운전 면허 시험에 떨어졌어요. I failed the driver’s license test.

Wow, these are pretty strange, aren’t they? I mean, using “to slip” in place of “to fail” makes a little bit of sense, but what’s with the seaweed soup? Well, if you’ve ever had the pleasure of eating this dish, you’ll know that the seaweed is quite slippery. Hence, it’s sometimes used as a euphemism for “to fail” in the same way “to slip” is!