N+요

Table of content

Politeness ending

Used to indicate respect for the other person, the subject who is shown respect.

Example

꽃향기를 맡고 있었어요.

I was smelling the scent of flowers.

Short reply

Used when you have a response related to the question by using '요' as the short answer. A way to reply with just a noun, without having to repeat any of what has just been said. Also written as 이요.

Example

어디까지 가세요? 서울역이요.

Where are you going? Seoul Station.
아들아, 점심은 뭐 먹었니? 라면요.

Son, what did you eat for lunch? Ramen.
몇 분 예약 도와 드릴까요? 10명요.

How many people are you making a reservation for? 10 people.

Usage

With politeness

The grammar pattern N+요 is extremely common. It is used with a lot of other grammar patterns to make the sentence polite.

With short reply

The same can be done in English. Eg. "What is your name?".

Long answer "My name is John."
Short answer "John".

Since it would be rude in Korean to just say "John". You can add this N+요.

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