If you are working in Korea or if you are going to Korea on a business meeting, it’s always best to leave the best impression possible and there is no better way to leave a good impression than to say good morning in Korean. So to start, when you enter the office in the morning, it’s quite pleasant to hear 좋은 아침입니다 (joeun achimimnida). One more time, 좋은 아침입니다 (joeun achimimnida). And by syllable, 좋-은 아-침-입-니-다 (jo-eun a-chim-im-ni-da). This was covered in one of our previous lessons, greetings but we will be going over this phrase again for review sake. The first word is 좋은 (joeun). This means good. 좋은 (joeun). What comes after that is 아침 (achim) which means morning. 아침 (achim). And lastly we have 입니다 (imnida) which means is. 입니다 (imnida). Literally we have good morning is, pretty straightforward. This means good morning. Once again, this phrase is used almost solely at the office place. |
If you see the same people every morning, it’s acceptable to use this phrase. It can also be used before entering a business meeting of some kind. Now, another phrase that can be of great use is 부탁합니다 (butakamnida). This is a phrase used all the time in all types of businesses or offices. This phrase is translated as I ask a favor from you. One more time, it’s 부탁합니다 (butakamnida). In Korean culture, politeness is always well appreciated. In the context of business, if you ask someone to make a report for you, you can say this phrase 부탁합니다 (butakamnida). Here, you are actually asking for a favor for someone to make a report for you but to be polite, you say 부탁합니다 (butakamnida). |
If there is a meeting between two companies and the two companies have come to an agreement, you can say 부탁합니다 (butakamnida). The favor you are asking for here is for the future to be a good relationship, to have good business and all that jazz. You say at the end of your meeting or after you reached your agreement, you say 부탁합니다 (butakamnida). Let’s break this phrase down. The first word of this phrase is 부탁 (butak). This means favor. One more time 부탁 (butak). After that is 합니다 (hamnida) which means do. 합니다 (hamnida). Altogether, the phrase literally means favor do. This is translated as I ask a favor from you. I and you are inferred. 부탁합니다 (butakamnida). |
Our last phrase is 수고했습니다 (sugohaetsseumnida). This phrase is translated as you’ve worked hard or good job. One more time, it’s 수고했습니다 (sugohaetsseumnida). This phrase is used at the end of the day when you are leaving the office or you’ve ended a meeting, you can say 수고했습니다 (sugohaetsseumnida). This basically tells everyone, good job. It’s used when you’ve worked with someone and the job you or the other person has done is now finished. It tells everyone that you appreciate their work. Let’s break this phrase down. The first part of this phrase is 수고 (sugo) which means effort or troubles 수고 (sugo). The next word is 했습니다 (haetsseumnida). This is do but in the past tense. So did. 했습니다 (haetsseumnida). So literally it means efforts did. This is translated as you’ve worked hard or good job. |
Now, whenever you are doing business in Korea, it’s always good to leave a good impression and this is not exclusive to Korea but all around the world. So when you are in Korea, make sure you try to leave the best impression possible. All of these phrases we went over today, 좋은 아침입니다 (joeun achimimnida), 부탁합니다 (butakamnida), 수고했습니다 (sugohaetsseumnida) give the impression that you are a polite person and as no one wants to do business with a rude person, try to be as polite as possible. Good luck! |
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)! |
Good morning - 좋은 아침입니다 (joeun achimimnida). |
I ask a favor from you - 부탁합니다 (butakamnida). |
You’ve worked hard or good job - 수고했습니다 (sugohaetsseumnida). |
All right, that’s going to do it for today. |
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