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In the previous lesson, we introduced how the phrase “I mean...” can be translated into various
Korean expressions. In this lesson, let’s take a look at how to ask someone in Korean, “what do
you mean?”, “what does that mean?”, or “what’s that suppose to mean?” when you can’t believe
what you’ve just heard or when you don’t understand someone’s remark or point very well.
무슨 말이에요?
[mu-seun ma-ri-e-yo?]
무슨 [mu-seun] means “what kind of” or “which” and 말 [mal] means “word” or “language”.
Therefore, 무슨 말 [mu-seun mal] means “what word” “which word” or “what kind of things (to
be said or written)”
무슨 말이에요? literally means “what word/language is it?”, but it is more correctly translated
as “What do you mean?” You can use 무슨 말이에요? when you are in disbelief after you hear
someone say something or when you have not clearly understood what they mean.
Ex)
A: 카메라 팔 거예요. ( I’m going to sell my camera.)
B: 무슨 말이에요? 카메라도 없잖아요. (What do you mean? You don’t even have a camera!)
무슨 소리예요?
[mu-seun so-ri-ye-yo?]
This PDF is to be used along with the MP3 audio lesson available at TalkToMeInKorean.com.
Please feel free to share TalkToMeInKorean’s free Korean lessons and PDF files with anybody who
is studying Korean. If you have any questions or feedback, visit TalkToMeInKorean.com.
TalkToMeInKorean.com - Free Korean Lesson Notes
LEVEL 6 LESSON 12
무슨 소리예요? is the same as 무슨 말이에요? but it is less formal and less polite. Therefore, it
is not advised to use it to someone older than you or someone you’re supposed to be polite
to. This is because 말 means “words”, but 소리 means “sounds”. You don’t want to refer to the
words of the other person as mere “sounds”. You can use 무슨 소리예요? more safely, however,
무슨 말씀이세요?
[mu-seun mal-sseu-mi-se-yo?]
In Korean, there are many ways of making a phrase “honorific” and one of the ways is to use
expression means, you can use the expression “무슨 뜻이에요? [mu-seun tte-si-e-yo?]”
Sample Sentences
1. 네? 그게 무슨 말이에요?
3. 무슨 말이에요? 제가 왜요?
This PDF is to be used along with the MP3 audio lesson available at TalkToMeInKorean.com.
Please feel free to share TalkToMeInKorean’s free Korean lessons and PDF files with anybody who
is studying Korean. If you have any questions or feedback, visit TalkToMeInKorean.com.
TalkToMeInKorean.com - Free Korean Lesson Notes
LEVEL 6 LESSON 12
4. 무슨 말인지 잘 모르겠어요.
5. 무슨 말인지 알겠어요.
This PDF is to be used along with the MP3 audio lesson available at TalkToMeInKorean.com.
Please feel free to share TalkToMeInKorean’s free Korean lessons and PDF files with anybody who
is studying Korean. If you have any questions or feedback, visit TalkToMeInKorean.com.