Basic Greetings and Introductions | Learn Korean in English

Sentence explanations

1. 여러분, 좋은 아침이에요.

   Good morning, everyone.

   여러분

   everyone / you all

   좋은

   good

   아침

   morning

   이에요

   is / am / are

   More detail

   여러분 means “everyone” or “you all” and is used to address a group politely. It is a plural audience expression, not a form that identifies any one individual. Example: 여러분, 안녕하세요. — “Hello, everyone.” 좋은 is the form of 좋다 (“to be good”) used before a noun. The change 좋다 → 좋은 lets it describe 아침: “a good morning.” This is an attributive form, so it appears directly before the noun it describes. Example: 좋은 날이에요. — “It is a good day.” 아침 means “morning.” It is a noun referring to the morning period or, in expressions such as this one, a morning greeting. In 좋은 아침, it is the noun modified by 좋은. 이에요 is a polite form of the copula, roughly “is/am/are.” It follows a noun ending in a consonant; 아침 ends in the consonant sound represented by ㅁ, so 아침이에요 is used. After a noun ending in a vowel, the corresponding form is 예요, as in 학교예요 — “It is a school.” Together, 여러분 addresses the group, and 좋은 아침이에요 literally presents the situation as “It is a good morning.” In this fixed utterance, the natural English greeting is “Good morning, everyone.” The polite ending makes it suitable for addressing a group courteously.

2. 잘 지내세요?

   How are you?

   잘

   well

   지내세요?

   are you doing?

   More detail

   잘 means “well” here and is an adverb describing how someone is doing. It can modify many verbs: 잘 지내요 means “am/is doing well.” In the supplied next sentence, 저는 잘 지내요 means “I am fine,” showing the same adverb–verb combination with a first-person subject. 지내세요? comes from 지내다, “to spend time” or, in this expression, “to be/get along.” The form contains the honorific marker -시- and the polite ending -어요, which combine as -세요. Here it is a polite question addressed to the listener; the intended meaning is “are you doing?” rather than a literal request to spend time. The base form is 지내다; for example, 잘 지내요 means “I am doing well” or “someone is doing well,” with the subject supplied by context. Together, 잘 + 지내세요? asks whether the listener is doing well. In natural English, the complete utterance is “How are you?” It is a polite everyday greeting/question.

3. 저는 잘 지내요.

   I am fine.

   저는

   as for me

   잘 지내요

   am doing well

   More detail

   저는 means “as for me” here. 저 is the first-person pronoun used in polite or humble speech, and 는 marks the topic. The form 저는 does not itself mean “I am fine”; it identifies the speaker as the topic. A useful pattern is 저는 + ... (“As for me, ...”). 잘 지내요 expresses “am doing well” in this sentence. 지내다 is the base form meaning “to get along” or “to spend time/live,” and in this expression it means “to be doing” or “to be getting along.” 잘 is an adverb meaning “well,” modifying 지내요. 지내요 is the polite present form of 지내다; the ending -요 gives it a polite, conversational tone. For example, 요즘 잘 지내요. means “I’m doing well these days.” Together, 저는 sets the speaker as the topic and 잘 지내요 says that the speaker is doing well. Thus the whole utterance means “I am fine,” or more literally, “As for me, I am doing well.”

4. 만나서 반가워요.

   Nice to meet you.

   만나서

   meeting you

   반가워요

   nice to meet you

   More detail

   만나서 comes from 만나다 (“to meet”) plus -아서, a connective ending. Here it links the meeting situation to the following description: “having met you” or, naturally in this greeting, “to meet you.” The same pattern can connect an earlier action or situation to a result or description. Example: 집에 가서 쉬어요. — “I go home and rest.” 반가워요 means “is pleasant/glad,” and in this expression it conveys that meeting the other person is welcome or pleasant. It is the polite present form of the adjective 반갑다. This adjective has the ㅂ-irregular change 반갑다 → 반가워요; the observed form is not a verb meaning “meet.” For example, 다시 만나서 반가워요. means “It’s nice to meet you again.” Together, 만나서 반가워요 means “Nice to meet you.” The first part identifies the occasion—meeting the other person—and 반가워요 gives the speaker’s positive evaluation of that occasion. This is a polite greeting suitable for an introduction.

5. 좋은 하루 보내세요.

   Have a nice day.

   좋은

   nice; good

   하루

   day

   보내세요

   have; spend

   More detail

   좋은 comes from the adjective 좋다, “to be good/nice.” Before a noun, 좋다 changes to the attributive form 좋은: 좋다 → 좋은. Here it describes 하루, so 좋은 하루 means “a nice day.” 하루 means “a day,” understood as one day or the course of a day. It is a noun and is useful in expressions such as 하루 종일, “all day.” 보내세요 comes from 보내다, “to spend” or “to send.” In 좋은 하루 보내세요, it means “spend [it]” in the sense of experiencing the day. The ending -세요 makes the expression polite and gives it a courteous request or well-wishing tone. 보내세요 can also be used in other contexts with the sense “please send,” but that is not the meaning here. Together, 좋은 하루 (“a nice day”) and 보내세요 (“spend it / have it”) form the polite well-wish “Have a nice day.” The person being addressed is understood as the one who will spend the day; Korean commonly leaves that subject unstated when the context makes it clear.

6. 천만에요.

   You are welcome.

   천만에요

   You're welcome.

   More detail

   천만에요 is a conventional polite Korean expression meaning “You’re welcome.” In this use, it is a set response to thanks; do not interpret 천만 as the literal number “ten thousand.” The ending -요 marks a polite, conversational style. It appears in many polite Korean sentence endings, but it is not itself the meaning “welcome.” As a whole, 천만에요 is used after someone expresses thanks. The complete utterance therefore communicates a polite “You’re welcome.”