Learn how to ask permission
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| In today’s lesson, we will introduce a question related to can you take my picture please which in Korean is 사진 찍어 주세요 (sajin jjigeo juseyo). One time slowly, 사진 찍어 주세요 (sajin jjigeo juseyo). There are cases when you may want to take a picture of someone or with someone but before doing so, you’d like to ask for permission. In Korean, may I take your picture is 사진 찍어도 돼요 (sajin jjigeodo dwaeyo)? And now by syllable, 사-진 찍-어-도 돼-요 (sa-jin jji-geo-do dwae-yo)? The first word 사진 (sajin) means picture. Let’s break this down and hear it one more time. 사-진 (sajin). This is followed by 찍어 (jjigeo) which in English is, to take a picture or snap a picture. 찍어 (jjigeo). So to recap here, we have 사진 찍어 (sajin jjigeo) picture take or picture snap. |
| Let’s take a look at the last part 도 돼요 (dwaeyo). This means may I. 도 돼요 (do dwaeyo) is the sentence structure used when you are asking someone for permission. One time slowly, it’s 도 돼요 (do dwaeyo). So altogether we have 사진 찍어요 돼요 (sajin jjigeodo dwaeyo) which literally is, picture take may I. Translated, it’s may I take a picture. Now, let’s take that last phrase and step it up a notch. By adding one word, you can ask someone for permission to take a picture together. What was that last phrase again? It was 사진 찍어도 돼요 (sajin jjigeodo dwaeyo). One time slowly, 사진 찍어도 돼요 (sajin jjigeodo dwaeyo)? Now let’s insert the word together which in Korean is 같이 (gachi). One time slowly, 같이 (gachi). And now by syllable, 같-이 (ga-chi). Let’s add together to the front of the phrase we just learned. 같이 사진 찍어도 돼요 (gachi sajin jjiseogo dwaeyo)? Now, you can ask the guards at 동대문 (dongdaemun), Buddhist monks or maybe a hot dog vendor. |
| The reason I mentioned hot dog vendor is because my friends thought this hot dog vendor was good looking and wanted to take a picture with him. So, she asked him, 같이 사진 찍어도 돼요 (gachi sajin jjigeodo dwaeyo)? But he politely refused. His reasoning, he wouldn’t be able to get married. Now, what kind of reasoning is that? Let me explain. Korean society is so small and so well connected at least in terms of the internet, someone knows someone who knows someone who knows you. So if there’s a picture of him and a random girl on the internet, his future wife might say, what! I am not marrying you. |
| Okay. To close our today’s lesson, we’d like for you to practice what you’ve learned. I will provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you are responsible for shouting it out loud. You will have a few seconds before I give you the answer. So 화이팅 (hwaiting)! |
| May I take your picture - 사진 찍어도 돼요 (sajin jjigeodo dwaeyo)? |
| May I take a picture together - 같이 사진 찍어도 돼요 (gachi sajin jjigeodo dwaeyo)? |
| All right, that’s going to do it for today. |
Comments
Hide