(으)세요/을 까요/을 래요 (Question, Suggestion)

Hello, everyone! Today, let’s learn about the Korean grammar points “(으)세요”, “을까요”, and “을래요”.
These three grammar points are frequently used in everyday life for making requests, suggesting ideas, expressing intentions, and more.

Let’s explore their usage and examples.!!

Part 1,
Let’s grasp the concept of grammar

(으)세요: is a polite imperative form used to make requests or give commands politely.
It’s often used when asking someone to do something in a respectful way.

How to Form “(으)세요”

Formation:

For verbs ending in a consonant (except ‘ㄹ’), drop “다” and add “으세요”.

먹다 (to eat) → 먹으세요 (Please eat)

For verbs ending in a vowel or ‘ㄹ’, drop “다” and add “세요”.

가다 (to go) → 가세요 (Please go)
주문하다 (to order) → 주문하세요(Please order)


Verbs ending in “ㄹ”, we will drop “ㄹ” and add 세요.

살다 (to live) → 사세요 (Please live)
만들다 (to make) → 만드세요 (Please make)



Super easy, isn’t it? This grammar is frequently used when placing orders. To say “Can I get… something,” you use the verb 주다 (to give) + 세요 conjugation, which becomes 주세요! (Please give me…)

This grammar is polite, so you can use it in almost every situation. If you prefer a more informal tone, you can simply use the present tense:


주세요 (please give me, polite)
줘요 (Give me, quite informal)
줘! (Give me! very casual)



Examples!

(1) 읽다 (to read) -> 읽으세요. (Please read)
*ending in a batchim, add 으세요

– 책을 읽으세요. (Please read the book.)

(2) 앉다(to sit) -> 앉으세요(Please have a seat)
*ending in a batchim, add 으세요

– 여기 앉으세요. (Please take a seat here.)

(3) 하다(to do) -> 하세요(Please do)
*ending in a vowel, add 세요

– 조심하세요. (Please be careful.)

(4) 웃다(to smile) -> 웃으세요(Please smile)
*ending in a batchim, add 으세요

– 사진 찍을 거예요! 다들 웃으세요. (We are going to take a picture, everybody please smile!)

(5) 자다(to sleep) -> 자세요(please sleep)
*ending in a vowel, add 세요

– 늦었어요. 얼른 자세요! (It’s late, Please go to sleep soon!)



Let’s try conjugating together. Try it on your own first!

(1) 정리하다 (to tidy up / organize)

(2) 취소하다 (to cancel)

(3) 입다 (to wear)

(4) 진행하다 (to proceed / carry out)

(5) 놀다 (to hang out, play)

(6) 보호하다 (to protect / defend)

(7) 읽다 (to read)

(8) 달성하다 (to achieve / accomplish)

Let’s check the answers together!

(1) 정리하다 (to tidy up / organize) : 정리하세요.

– 매일 집을 조금씩 정리하세요.
Clean up your house a little bit every day


(2) 취소하다 (to cancel) : 취소하세요.

– 얼른 취소하세요.
Please cancel it quickly.


(3) 입다 (to wear) : 입으세요

– 정장(을) 입으세요.
(Please) Wear a suit.


(4) 진행하다 (to proceed / carry out) : 진행하세요

– 프로젝트를 진행하세요.
Please proceed with the project.


(5) 놀다 (to hang out / play) : 노세요 (irregular)
* We will drop “ㄹ” and add 세요!

– 강아지랑 노세요.
(Please) Play with the puppy.


(6) 보호하다 (to protect / defend) : 보호하세요.

– 환경을 보호하세요.
Please protect the environment.


(7) 읽다 (to read) : 읽으세요

– 사 페이지까지 읽으세요.
(Please) Read until page 4.


(8) 달성하다 (to achieve / accomplish) : 달성하세요.

– 목표를 달성하세요.
Please achieve the goal.

When this conjugation is used with adjectives, it changes the meaning to “ask someone politely”


Are you hot? (politely) : 더우세요?
(덥다 – ㅂ irregular, 더우 + 세요 -> 더우세요)

Are you busy? (politely) : 바쁘세요?

Are you okay? (politely) : 괜찮으세요?

You can use the simple present tense, like “Are you hot” – “더워요?” but it’s less polite.

ㄹ/을까요 is used to ask someone’s opinion or to suggest something. It can mean “Shall we?” or “Should I?”.

Formation:

For verbs ending in a batchim, add “을까요“.
먹다 (to eat) → 먹을까요? (Shall we eat? / Should I eat?)

For verbs ending in a vowel, add “ㄹ까요“.
가다 (to go) → 갈까요? (Shall we go? / Should I go?)

Similar to “(으)세요” grammar, depending on the final consonant or vowel of the verb, we add “을” or “ㄹ” and “까요“. This grammar pattern is frequently used to ask for someone’s opinion or to inquire about one’s own opinion.



If you simply drop the last part “요”, it becomes casual !
갈까? (Should we go?) – casual
먹을까? (Shall we eat?) – casual



Examples!

(1) 보다 (to watch) -> 볼까요?
*ending in a vowel, add ㄹ and 까요

– 영화를 볼까요? (Shall we/I watch a movie?)

(2) 마시다 (to dirnk) -> 마실까요?
*ending in a vowel, add ㄹ and 까요

– 커피를 마실까요? (Shall we/I drink coffee?)

(3) 찾다 (to find, look up) -> 찾을까요?
*ending in a batchim, add 을 and 까요

– 제가 찾을까요? (Should I go find it?)

(4) 만들다 (to make) -> 만들까요?
*ending in a batchim, add 을 and 까요

– 같이 만들까요? (Should we make it together?)

Second usage of ㄹ/을까요: Expressing Uncertainty or Speculation

This form is also used to express uncertainty or to speculate about something happening in the future, similar to making guesses or predictions.

Examples:

내일 눈이 올까요? (Do you think it will snow tomorrow?)

시험을 통과할까요? (I wonder if I’ll pass the exam, Do you think I’ll pass the exam?)
* 통과하다 to pass / 시험 exam

내 남자친구는 존재할까요? (I wonder if my bf exists, Do you think my boyfriend exists?)
* 존재하다 to exist

우리 엄마는 언제 집에 올까요? (I wonder when my mom will come home. When do you think my mom will come home?)
* 언제 when

걔는 많이 바쁠까? (Do you think he/she is really busy?) – casually.

Good job! Now, let’s dive into the last grammar point for today: ㄹ/을래요!

ㄹ/을래요 is used to express the speaker’s intention or to ask about the listener’s preference.
It can mean “Would you like to / Do you want to?” or “I would like to.”

Formation:

For verbs ending in a batchim, add “을래요“
먹다 (to eat) → 먹을래요 (I would like to eat / Would you like to eat?)

For verbs ending in a vowel, add “ㄹ래요“.
가다 (to go) → 갈래요 (I would like to go / Would you like to go?)


If you simply drop the last part “요”, it becomes casual
갈래? (Do you want to go?) – casual
먹을래? (Do you want to eat?) – casual


You might wonder, since we’ve studied the grammar for expressing “want to,” which is “고 싶어요”.
To express “Do you want to go?”, you can also say “가고 싶어요?”. And yes, it works almost the same!

The difference lies in formality and politeness:

“ㄹ/을래요” is casual and often used among friends or in informal situations.
“고 싶어요” is more polite and suitable when speaking to someone older or in a formal context.


Since 을/래요 itself is more casual, ㄹ/을 래 (informal form) is very commonly used among friends.

These are the most commonly used examples in real life:


뭐 먹을래? What do you want to it? What would you like to eat?
나는 김치찌개 먹을래. I’m going for kimchi stew!

주말에 뭐 할래? what do you want to do on the weekend?
아무것도 안 할래. I don’t want to do anything

이거 살래? do you want to buy this?
아니 안 살래. 너무 비싸. No, I don’t want to buy it/ I’m not going to buy it, it’s too expensive.

집에 갈래? Do you want to go home?
응. 지금 집에 갈래. Sure. I want to go home now.

나랑 사귈래요? Do you want to be my gf/bf? (literally: Would you like to date me?)
아니요. 안 사귈래요. No, I don’t wanna be your gf/bf.
* 사귀다 : to go out, date (but it means “to be in a relationship with someone”, more seriously than just going out!)



Here’s the thing:
if you add “안 / -지 않다 (not)” to the sentences above, they still convey the same meaning. Check this out!


뭐 먹을래? Do you want to eat something? ( 뭐 has a meaning of “something” as well!)
= 뭐 안 먹을래? = 뭐 먹지 않을래? Don’t you want to eat something?
* 지 않을래 is more formal


집에 갈래? Do you want to go home?
집에 안 갈래? =집에 가지 않을래? Don’t you want to go home?


이거 살래? Do you want to buy it?
이거 안 살래? = 이거 사지 않을래? Don’t you want to buy this?




Comparison examples!


Should we/ I go? : 갈까요?
Do you want to go? : 갈래요? (listener focus)

Should I drive? : 내가 운전 할까?
Would you like to drive? : 너가 운전 할래? (listener focus)

Should I buy this?: 나 이거 살까?
Do you want to buy this? : 너 이거 살래? (listener focus)

Part 2,
Practice making sentences

1. When, where, at what time should we meet?
(when: 언제 / where:어디 / what time: 몇 시/ meet: 만나다)

2. Please give me a glass of water. I’m so thirsty.
(glass: 잔/ water: 물/ so: 너무(same as too) / thirsty: 목(이) 마르다)

3. Should I turn off the AC?
(turn off: 끄다/ AC: 에어컨)

4. Do you want to go to the exhibition with me this weekend?
(exhibition: 전시회/ this weekend: 이번 주말)

5. Please do your homework before the weekend.
(do homework: 숙제하다 / before: 전에 / the weekend: 주말)

6. Do you think it will snow on Christmas?
(snow: 눈(이) 오다 / Christmas: 크리스마스)

7. I don’t like romantic movies. I want to see an comedy movie. (casually!)
(romantic & romance: 로맨스/ movie: 영화/ comedy: 코메디)

8. Do you think it will be cold tomorrow?
(be cold: 춥다 / tomorrow: 내일)

9. Do you want to do the laundry or do the dishes? I want to do the dishes. casually!
(do the laundry: 빨래(를) 하다 / or: 아니면/ do the dishes: 설거지(를) 하다)

10. Do you want to see a horror movie or an action movie? (casually!)
(horror: 공포(or 호러) / action: 액션)

11. Should I leave work now?
(leave work: 퇴근하다 / now: 지금)

12. I’m not feeling well today, I’m going home early.(I want to go home)
(not feel well: 몸(이) 안 좋다 / today: 오늘 / early: 일찍)

13. Please have a seat here, Grandma. I’m fine.
(have a seat: 앉다 / here: 여기 / Grandma: 할머니 / be fine: 괜찮다)

Thy these on your own first, before checking the answers!

These are the answers:

1. When, where, at what time should we meet?
(when: 언제 / where:어디 / what time: 몇시/ meet: 만나다)

언제 어디에서 몇시에 만날까요?

* We put ‘에서’ after ‘어디’ (where) because it’s the particle for location, and ‘에’ after ‘몇 시’ (what time) to indicate the specific time.
* To say ‘Should we?’ or ‘Shall we?’, we use ‘ㄹ/을까요?’

2. Please give me a glass of water. I’m so thirsty.
(glass: 잔/ water: 물/ so: 너무(same as too) / thirsty: 목(이) 마르다)

물 한잔 주세요. 너무 목 말라요

* a glass = one glass, we say 한(native) 잔(glass, counting unit)!
two glasses = 두 잔. For a refresher, you can check out here!
* To ask politely, we use (으)세요. Please give me = give(주다) + 세요 = 주세요!
* 마르다 is a “ㅡ”irregular verb. It becomes 말라요!

3. Should I turn off the AC?
(turn off: 끄다/ AC: 에어컨)

에어컨(을) 끌까요?

* To say “Should I”, you can use ㄹ/을까요?

* Since 끄다 ends in a vowel, we will add ㄹ and 까요. 끌까요?
“to turn on” is 키다. Let’s take a look at some examples:
– Please turn on the light : 불 키세요. (불 is light!)
– Should I turn on the light: 불 킬까요?

4. Do you want to go to the exhibition with me this weekend?
(exhibition: 전시회/ this weekend: 이번 주말)

이번 주말에 나랑 같이 전시회(에) 갈래요?

* Such as ‘Do you want to’ or ‘Would you like to’, to ask someone’s preference, we use ㄹ/을래요.
* I include 같이(together)! In Korean, 같이 (together) is commonly used with ‘with’ to indicate doing something with someone else.
* You can say ‘나하고’ instead of ‘나랑’ as well!
* go ‘to’ = ‘에’ 가다. 에 is sometimes omitted in conversational speech.

5. Please do your homework before the weekend.
(do homework: 숙제하다 / before: 전에 / the weekend: 주말)

주말 전에 숙제(를) 하세요.

* When ordering politely, we use (으)세요.

* 전에 means ‘before’ and is used with nouns. It is placed after the noun, unlike in English.
– Before class : 수업 전에
– Before sunset: 선셋 전에



6. Do you think it will snow on Christmas?
(snow: 눈(이) 오다 / Christmas: 크리스마스)

크리스마스에 눈(이) 올까요?

* To make a guess or speculation, we use ㄹ/을까요!
* Don’t forget to put 에 after ‘Christmas’ to indicate a specific time!

7. I don’t like romantic movies. I want to see an comedy movie. (casually!)
(romantic & romance: 로맨스/ movie: 영화/ comedy: 코메디)

나 로맨스 영화 안 좋아해. 코메디 영화 볼래


* To say ‘want to’ casually, you can use ㄹ/을래요.
You can also use ‘고 싶어요’ or ‘고 싶어’; they convey the same meaning.
* I’d omit subject and object particles when talking casually.

* 싫다 (싫어요) is also very commonly used to express ‘I don’t like’ or ‘I don’t want.'”
– 로맨스 영화 싫어요 (I don’t like romantic movies)
– 초코 케이크 싫어요 (I don’t like chocolate cake)
– 이거 싫어 (I don’t want this)

8. Do you think it will be cold tomorrow?
(be cold: 춥다 / tomorrow: 내일)

내일 추울까요?

* To make a guess or speculation, we use ㄹ/을까요.
* 춥다 is a “ㅂ” irregular verb. Here, ㅂ changes to 우 and we add “ㄹ” at 우, becoming 울까요.

Check out more irregular verbs’ examples!

– 덥다(to be hot) – 더울까요? (Will it be hot?)
– 어렵다(to be difficult) – 어려울까요? (Will it be difficult?)
– 낫다(to get better) – 나을까요? (Will it get better?) *ㅅ irregular
– 짓다(to build) – 지을까요? (Should we build?)

9. Do you want to do the laundry or do the dishes? I want to do the dishes. casually!
(do the laundry: 빨래(를) 하다 / or: 아니면 / do the dishes: 설거지(를) 하다)

빨래 할래 아니면 설거지 할래? (나는) 설거지 할래.

* To say “Do you want to” casually, we can use ㄹ/을래요~

* 아니면 is used to present alternatives or choices. You use “아니면” when you want to indicate a selection between two options.

– 물 마실래, 아니면 주스 마실래? (Would you like to drink water or juice?)

But you can omit ‘아니면’ as well. It’s very common in casual conversations to simply say 빨래 할래, 설거지 할래?”

10. Do you want to see a horror movie or an action movie? (casually!)
(horror: 공포(or 호러) / action: 액션)

공포 영화 볼래 (아니면) 액션 영화 볼래?

* It’s the same context as the sentence above!
* To say “genre(장르),” we often use English words. Here are a few examples:
– Mystery: 미스테리
– Sci-fi : 에스에프(SF)
– Drama : 드라마
– Fantasy: 판타지
– Thriller: 스릴러



11. Should I leave work now?
(leave work: 퇴근하다 / now: 지금)

지금 퇴근할까요?

* To say “Should I”, we can use ㄹ/을까요?

* 퇴근하다 means “to leave work” or “to get off work”. It’s very commonly used! To go to work, we use 출근하다.
– 일찍 출근하세요 (please go to work early)
– 퇴근할래요 (I want to leave work)
– 출근 안 할래요( I don’t want to go to work)




12. I’m not feeling well today, I’m going home early.(I want to go home)
(not feel well: 몸(이) 안 좋다 / today: 오늘 / early: 일찍)

오늘 몸이 안 좋아요. 집(에) 일찍 갈래요

* I want to, I’d like to – we can use ㄹ/을래요.
* “I’m not feeling well” is in the present continuous tense in English, so you might wonder whether to use “고 있어요” or “는 중이에요” in Korean. However, we don’t use these conjugations with adjectives. 좋다 (to be good) is an adjective, so we use the simple present tense. 몸 (body) means “body.” So, 몸이 안 좋아요 literally means “my body is not good.”

13. Please have a seat here, Grandma. I’m fine.
(have a seat: 앉다 / here: 여기 / Grandma: 할머니 / be fine: 괜찮다)

여기(에) 앉으세요 할머니, 저는 괜찮아요.

* “Please have a seat” is asking politely, and we can use (으)세요.
* 여기 and 여기에 are both commonly used; either is fine. For me, adding “에” gives a bit more emphasis on “here.”
* Since we are talking to Grandma, it’s more adequate to say “저는” instead of “나는.”

Great job!
You’ve been doing an excellent job—keep up the good work!

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