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Sentence explanations

1. 뭐 하고 있어요?

   What are you doing?

   뭐

   what

   하고 있어요

   be doing

   More detail

   뭐 means “what” and asks about an unspecified thing or activity. It is the conversational form commonly used in questions; the more formal equivalent is 무엇. Example: 뭐 먹어요? — “What are you eating?” 하고 있어요 expresses an activity that is in progress. 하고 is the connective form of 하다 (“to do”), and 있어요 is the polite-present form of 있다 (“to exist/be”). Together, -고 있다 forms the progressive pattern: 동사 + 고 있어요 means “be doing.” The ending 요 marks a polite conversational style. Example: 공부하고 있어요. — “I am studying.” The question combines 뭐 (“what”) with the progressive activity pattern 하고 있어요 (“are doing”). Thus, 뭐 하고 있어요? asks which activity the listener is currently doing: “What are you doing?”

2. 저는 지금 먹고 있어요.

   I am eating now.

   저는

   as for me; I

   지금

   now

   먹고 있어요

   am eating

   More detail

   저는 uses 저, the humble first-person pronoun “I,” followed by the topic marker 는. In this sentence, the speaker presents themself as the topic. The marker does not itself mean “as for” in every translation; here it helps frame the speaker as the one doing the action. 나 is the non-honorific first-person form, used in less formal settings, whereas 저 is the humble form used in polite speech. 지금 is an adverb meaning “now.” It places the action at the current time. For example, 지금 가요 can mean “I’m going now” when the speaker is understood from context; the subject is omitted in the Korean example. The time reference comes from 지금, while the verb form supplies the action. 먹고 있어요 expresses an action in progress: “am eating.” Its base verb is 먹다, “to eat.” The form 먹고 connects the verb to 있어요, and the pattern -고 있다 describes an ongoing action. 있어요 is the polite present form of 있다 in this construction. Thus, 먹고 있어요 focuses on eating that is currently taking place, rather than simply stating a general habit such as “I eat.” Together, 저는 + 지금 + 먹고 있어요 means “I am eating now.” The speaker is the topic, 지금 sets the action in the present moment, and 먹고 있어요 presents eating as ongoing. The polite ending -어요 makes the utterance suitable for ordinary polite conversation.

3. 저는 물을 마시고 있어요.

   I am drinking water.

   저는

   I (topic)

   물을

   water

   마시고 있어요

   am drinking

   More detail

   저는 identifies the speaker as the topic: 저 is the modest/polite first-person pronoun “I,” and 는 is the topic marker. In this sentence, the topic is also the person doing the drinking. A more casual first-person form is 나, but 저 is the appropriate polite choice here. 물을 means “water” as the thing being drunk. 물 is the noun “water,” and 을 marks it as the object of the action. After a noun ending in a vowel, Korean uses 를 instead; for example, 커피를 means “coffee” as the object. 마시고 있어요 expresses an action that is in progress: “am drinking.” Its lexical base is 마시다, “to drink.” The pattern -고 있다 attaches to a verb stem to show that the action is currently continuing: 마시- + -고 있다 → 마시고 있다. Here, 있어요 is the polite present form of 있다 within this progressive construction. The ending -어요 gives the sentence a polite conversational style. Together, 저는 sets the speaker as the topic, 물을 marks water as the object, and 마시고 있어요 says that drinking is currently in progress. The whole utterance therefore means “I am drinking water.”

4. 저는 저녁을 만들고 있어요.

   I am making dinner.

   저는

   I

   저녁

   dinner

   만들고 있어요

   am making

   More detail

   저는 means “as for me” or “I” in this sentence. 저 is the first-person pronoun used in polite speech, and 는 marks the topic. The form 저는 is reusable when introducing yourself as the topic: Example: 저는 학생이에요. — “I am a student.” 저녁 means “dinner” here. The same Korean noun can also mean “evening” in other contexts, so the surrounding verb and the fixed translation support the meal meaning in this utterance. Example: 저녁을 먹어요. — “I eat dinner.” The object marker 을 appears in that example because dinner is what is eaten; in the supplied sentence, 저녁을 is likewise the thing being made. 만들고 있어요 expresses an action that is in progress: “am making.” Its base verb is 만들다, “to make.” The form 만들고 있다 combines the verb stem 만들- with -고 있다, a construction for an ongoing action; 있어요 is the polite present form of 있다. In this sentence, 만들고 있어요 is not simply a general statement about making something—it presents the making as currently underway. Example: 책을 읽고 있어요. — “I am reading a book.” Together, 저는 identifies the speaker as the topic, 저녁을 identifies dinner as what is being made, and 만들고 있어요 presents that activity as ongoing. The whole utterance therefore means “I am making dinner.”

5. 저는 제 방을 청소하고 있어요.

   I am cleaning my room.

   저는

   as for me; I

   제

   my

   방

   room

   청소하고 있어요

   am cleaning

   More detail

   저는 presents the speaker as the topic: “as for me” or simply “I” in this sentence. 저 is the humble/polite first-person pronoun, and 는 is the topic particle. A useful contrast is 나는, which also means “I,” but uses the less formal pronoun 나. Example: 저는 학생이에요. = “I am a student.” 제 means “my” here. It is the commonly used contracted form of 저의: 저 + 의 becomes 제. The possessor is the speaker, while the owned noun comes after it. Example: 제 책이에요. = “It is my book.” 방 means “room.” It is a noun and can be combined directly with possessive forms such as 제 방 (“my room”). Example: 방이 커요. = “The room is big.” 청소하고 있어요 expresses an action in progress: “am cleaning.” The lexical verb is 청소하다, “to clean.” In this form, 청소하- takes -고 있다, literally a construction describing the continuation of an action, and 있어요 gives it polite present form. Thus 청소하고 있어요 describes cleaning that is currently under way, rather than merely saying that cleaning is a general habit. Example: 지금 책을 읽고 있어요. = “I am reading a book now.” Together, 저는 sets the speaker as the topic, 제 방 identifies the object as the speaker’s room, and 청소하고 있어요 says that the cleaning is currently in progress. The complete meaning is “I am cleaning my room.”

6. 저는 샤워하고 있어요.

   I am taking a shower.

   저는

   as for me; I

   샤워

   shower

   하고 있어요

   am doing; am in progress

   More detail

   저는 sets the topic as the speaker: 저 is the humble first-person pronoun “I,” and 는 is the topic particle. This form is appropriate when the speaker presents themself as the topic. A contrasting first-person form, 나, is less formal and is used in less formal contexts. 샤워 is the noun “shower.” Korean also uses it with 하다 to form the verb 샤워하다, “to take a shower.” Here, 샤워 is followed by the 하다 part of the ongoing-action construction rather than appearing as an isolated noun meaning only an object. 하고 있어요 comes from 하다 + -고 있다 in a polite present form. The construction -고 있다 presents an action as ongoing, so 샤워하고 있어요 means “am taking a shower” or “am showering.” The polite ending -어요 makes the statement suitable for ordinary polite conversation. The same pattern works with other action verbs: 저는 책을 읽고 있어요 means “I am reading a book.” Together, 저는 (“I,” as the topic), 샤워 (“shower”), and 하고 있어요 (“am doing; am in progress”) produce the complete meaning: “I am taking a shower.”