Finding the restroom during a class break | Learn Korean in English

Sentence explanations

1. 쉬는 시간은 얼마나 돼요?

   How long is the break?

   쉬는

   resting

   시간

   time

   얼마나

   how long

   돼요

   is; amounts to

   More detail

   쉬는 comes from 쉬다, “to rest” or “to take a break.” Here it is the form placed before a noun to describe it: 쉬는 시간 means “break time” or “the time for resting.” The final -는 is the attributive form used here; it does not mean that 시간 is the base form of the verb. 시간 means “time.” In 쉬는 시간, it refers to a period of time, namely a break. For a duration, Korean commonly uses a number plus a time unit, such as 10분 (“10 minutes”). 얼마나 asks about degree or extent. With a duration expression, as here, it means “how long.” It can also ask “how much” in other contexts, so the following expression determines the relevant type of amount. 돼요 is the polite present form of 되다. 되다 has several uses; in this sentence it asks what duration the break amounts to or is. The polite ending -요 makes the question suitable for ordinary polite conversation. The topic marker 은 presents 쉬는 시간 as the thing being discussed. The pattern N은 얼마나 돼요? can ask how long or how much N is, when N is measurable in the relevant context. The supplied continuation answers with 10분이에요, “It is 10 minutes.” Together, 쉬는 시간은 sets “the break” as the topic, 얼마나 asks for its extent in time, and 돼요? asks what duration it has: “How long is the break?”

2. 쉬는 시간은 10분이에요.

   The break is ten minutes long.

   쉬는 시간

   break time

   10분이에요

   is ten minutes long

   More detail

   쉬는 시간 means “break time.” 쉬는 is the present attributive form of 쉬다 (“to rest,” “to take a break”): 쉬다 → 쉬는 before a noun. Thus 쉬는 시간 is literally “time for resting,” or naturally “break time.” The same pattern is reusable with other action verbs, such as 공부하는 시간 (“study time”); this is a new example, not part of the supplied conversation. 10분이에요 gives the duration as ten minutes. 10분 is the time amount, and 이에요 is the polite present form of the noun copula after a consonant-ending noun: 10분 + 이에요. After a vowel-ending noun, the corresponding form is 예요, as in the new example 두 시예요 (“It is two o’clock”). With the noun 시간, however, the standard form is 두 시간이에요 because 시간 ends in a consonant. A duration may also be expressed with a verb, as in the new example 두 시간 걸려요 (“It takes two hours”). Together, 쉬는 시간 identifies the subject and 10분이에요 states its length: “The break is ten minutes long.” The earlier question 쉬는 시간은 얼마나 돼요? asks how long the break is, and this sentence supplies the duration. Here 은 marks 쉬는 시간 as the topic, while the polite ending keeps the statement suitable for ordinary conversation.

3. 화장실이 어디예요?

   Where is the restroom?

   화장실

   restroom

   어디예요?

   Where is it?

   More detail

   화장실 means “restroom” here. It is a noun and can be reused with location expressions, for example: 화장실이 2층에 있어요. — “The restroom is on the second floor.” 어디예요? asks “Where is it?” 어디 is the question word for a place or location. 예요 is the polite present form of the copula, used here in a location-identifying question. The subject marker 이 is attached to 화장실, so the full structure is 화장실이 어디예요? — “[The] restroom + where + is it?” Korean commonly uses this pattern to ask where a place or object is. For a person, the same question word can ask someone’s location, but the intended meaning here is the restroom’s location. Together, 화장실이 identifies the place being asked about, and 어디예요? asks for its location. The whole utterance means “Where is the restroom?”

4. 방에서 나가서 오른쪽으로 가세요.

   Go out of the room and turn right.

   방

   room

   나가서

   go out and then

   오른쪽

   right side

   가세요

   please go

   More detail

   방 means “room.” It is a noun; in 방에서, the particle -에서 marks the place from which the action begins, so 방에서 나가다 means “to go out of the room.” Example: 집에서 나가요. — “I go out of the house.” 나가서 comes from 나가다, “to go out” or “to leave.” The ending -아서 connects this action to the next one, commonly giving an “and then” sequence here: first go out, then continue in the next direction. Example: 문을 열어서 들어가세요. — “Open the door and then go in.” 오른쪽 means “the right side.” In the full expression 오른쪽으로, -으로 marks the direction of movement, so it means “to the right.” The corresponding opposite is 왼쪽, “the left side.” Example: 왼쪽으로 가세요. — “Go to the left.” 가세요 comes from 가다, “to go.” 가세요 uses the polite -(으)세요 ending, which makes this a respectful instruction or request: “please go” or “go.” Here it is the main action after the connected action 나가서. Example: 천천히 가세요. — “Please go slowly.” Together, 방에서 나가서 says “go out of the room and then,” 오른쪽으로 adds the direction “to the right,” and 가세요 gives the polite instruction “go.” The whole utterance therefore means: “Go out of the room and turn right.”

5. 찾을 수 있을 것 같아요.

   I think I can find it.

   찾을 수

   the ability to find

   있을 것 같아요

   seems possible

   More detail

   찾을 수 contains 찾다 (“to find”) in the form 찾을, followed by 수, which is used in the possibility pattern -(으)ㄹ 수 있다. On its own, this quoted part refers to the possibility or ability to find; the full “can find” meaning is completed by 있다 later in the sentence. The form 찾을 is the form of 찾다 used before 수. The polite present form is 찾아요; depending on context, it can mean “look for” or “find.” 있을 것 같아요 contains 있다 (“to exist; to be possible”) in the form 있을 before 것, followed by 것 같아요, a polite pattern expressing the speaker’s impression or judgment. Here, in combination with 찾을 수, it means that being able to find it seems likely, hence “I think I can find it.” The ending -아요 makes the expression polite. Together, the structure is 찾다 + -(으)ㄹ 수 있다 + -(으)ㄹ 것 같다: “it seems that [someone] can find [it].” The fixed translation identifies the understood subject as the speaker and the object as “it,” so the whole utterance means “I think I can find it.”

6. 수업이 다시 시작하기 전에 여기서 기다릴게요.

   I will wait here before class starts again.

   수업이

   class (as the subject)

   다시

   again

   시작하기 전에

   before starting

   여기서

   here

   기다릴게요

   I will wait

   More detail

   수업이 means “class” with the subject marker 이. Here, class is presented as the thing that starts. 수업 is the noun “class”; 이 marks a subject after a consonant-final noun. The marker itself does not mean “the class” or specify a number. 다시 means “again” or “once more.” Here it modifies the starting event, so the meaning is that class starts again. 시작하기 전에 expresses “before starting.” The verb is 시작하다, “to start.” Its -기 form turns the action into a noun-like form, and 전에 means “before” that action. This pattern is reusable: V-기 전에 = “before doing V.” Example: 자기 전에 이를 닦아요. — “I brush my teeth before going to bed.” 여기서 means “here” as the place where the waiting happens. 여기 means “here,” and 에서 marks the location of an action or event. This differs from a location used mainly as a destination or place of existence, such as 여기에 in a suitable context. 기다릴게요 means “I will wait.” The base verb is 기다리다, “to wait,” whose stem is 기다리-. The form combines that stem with the polite ending -ㄹ게요. In this sentence, -ㄹ게요 presents the speaker’s willing intention or commitment; it is not just a neutral future statement. Example: 여기서 기다릴게요. — “I’ll wait here.” Together, 수업이 다시 시작하기 전에 sets the time: before class starts again. 여기서 기다릴게요 states the speaker’s plan or commitment to wait here. The complete meaning is: “I will wait here before class starts again.”