Adjusting a Chair's Height | Learn Korean in English

Sentence explanations

1. 이 의자는 너무 낮아요.

   This chair is too low.

   이

   this

   의자는

   chair

   너무

   too

   낮아요

   is low

   More detail

   이 points to a nearby or contextually identified thing and comes before the noun it describes. Here it modifies 의자, so 이 의자 means “this chair.” The demonstrative itself does not mark the noun’s number; the sentence does not specify whether there is one chair or more than one. 의자는 consists of the noun 의자 (“chair”) plus the topic particle 는. The particle presents the chair as the topic of the statement. After a noun ending in a vowel, as here, the topic form is 는; after a consonant, it is 은. Example: 책은 커요. — “The book is big.” 너무 means “too” here and strengthens the following description: the chair’s low height is more than is suitable. Its placement before 낮아요 makes it modify that description. Example: 이 가방은 너무 무거워요. — “This bag is too heavy.” 낮아요 is the polite present-style form of 낮다, “to be low.” The stem 낮- combines with -아요, giving 낮아요; the final 요 marks the common polite conversational style. 낮다 describes low position, level, or height. Its opposite is 높다 (“to be high”): 이 선반은 높아요. — “This shelf is high.” Together, 이 의자는 sets “this chair” as the topic, 너무 adds the meaning “too,” and 낮아요 describes its height as low. The complete utterance therefore means “This chair is too low.”

2. 높이를 바꿀 수 있어요.

   You can change the height.

   높이

   height

   바꿀

   change

   수 있어요

   can

   More detail

   높이 means “height” here, the noun referring to how high something is. It can also appear in other uses with a different function, but in this sentence it is the object being changed. The object marker 를 follows it, forming 높이를, “the height.” 바꿀 is the form of 바꾸다, “to change,” used before 수 in the ability/possibility pattern -(으)ㄹ 수 있다. The ending -ㄹ is not a separate meaning of “can”; it connects the verb to this pattern. For example, 읽을 수 있어요 means “I/you can read,” with 읽다 changing to 읽을 before 수. 수 있어요 expresses that something is possible or that someone is able to do it. 수 is a dependent noun meaning “way” or “possibility” in this construction, and 있어요 is the polite present form of 있다, “to exist.” The subject is omitted in the Korean sentence; the fixed translation supplies “you” as the intended actor. A negative contrast is 할 수 없어요, “cannot do it.” Together, 높이를 바꿀 수 있어요 means “You can change the height”: 높이를 is the thing changed, and 바꿀 수 있어요 says that changing it is possible for the intended subject. In the bounded context, this naturally applies to adjusting the chair’s height.

3. 어떻게 해요?

   How do I do that?

   어떻게

   how

   해요?

   do; carry out

   More detail

   어떻게 means “how” and asks about the manner or method of an action. It is a question word for method, distinct from 왜 (“why”), which asks for a reason. For example, 어떻게 가요? means “How do I get there?” 해요? is the polite conversational form of 하다 (“to do”). The form 해요 is used for a present action or a general action in the polite 해요체 style; the question mark makes it an informal-polite question. Here, the action’s object is understood from the fixed context and translation, so 해요? means “do that?” rather than naming the object again. 하다 can also mean “carry out” or “perform,” depending on what action is understood. Together, 어떻게 + 해요? asks for the method of carrying out the understood action: “How do I do that?” This is a short, reusable way to ask how to perform an action politely in conversation.

4. 좌석 아래에 있는 버튼을 누르세요.

   Press the button under the seat.

   좌석

   seat

   아래에 있는

   being under; located below

   버튼

   button

   누르세요

   please press

   More detail

   좌석 means “seat.” It is a noun. In this sentence, it is followed by 아래 (“below”), forming the location phrase 좌석 아래 (“below the seat”). 아래에 있는 describes something located below. 아래 is “the underside/below,” and 에 marks the location. 있는 comes from 있다, “to be located” or “to exist,” and its -는 form lets it modify the noun that follows: 있는 버튼 means “a button that is located ….” A reusable pattern is [place]에 있는 [noun], “the [noun] that is at/in [place].” 버튼 means “button.” It is the noun receiving the action here. The ending 을 after it marks it as the object of the verb: 버튼을 means “the button” as the thing being pressed. 누르세요 means “please press.” Its base form is 누르다, “to press.” The form -세요 makes a polite request or instruction addressed to the listener. For example, 문을 여세요. means “Please open the door.” Together, 좌석 아래에 있는 버튼을 means “the button that is under the seat,” and 누르세요 gives the polite instruction “please press.” The whole utterance is therefore: “Press the button under the seat.”

5. 더 나아요. 감사합니다.

   That is better. Thank you.

   더

   more

   나아요

   is better

   감사합니다

   Thank you

   More detail

   더 means “more” and increases the degree of the following description. It is reusable with adjectives or other descriptive expressions: 더 좋아요 means “It is better” or “I like it more,” depending on context. Here it contributes the comparative meaning “better.” 나아요 is the polite present form of 낫다, “to be better” or “to recover.” In this sentence it means “is better,” not “recovers.” The form changes from 낫다 to 나아요: the final ㅅ of this verb is omitted before the vowel-initial ending -아요. Compare the useful forms 낫다 (base form), 나아요 (polite present), and 나았어요 (polite past, “was better” or “has improved”). Together, 더 나아요 means “That is better.” Korean uses this expression to compare the current state with an earlier or alternative state; the comparison target can remain understood from context. 감사합니다 is the formal-polite expression “Thank you.” It is related to 감사하다, “to be thankful,” and uses the formal-polite sentence ending -ㅂ니다. This ending is also common in other formal-polite statements, such as 좋습니다 (“It is good”). The complete utterance is 더 나아요. 감사합니다.: “That is better. Thank you.” The first sentence says that the situation has improved relative to the relevant earlier or alternative state, and the second politely expresses thanks.

6. 아직도 괜찮지 않으면 말해 주세요.

   Tell me if it is still not right.

   아직도

   still

   괜찮지 않으면

   if it is not okay

   말해 주세요

   please tell me

   More detail

   아직도 means “still” here: the situation may have improved, but the speaker is checking whether it remains not okay. 아직 means “still/yet,” and 도 adds the sense of “also/even” or emphasis. For example, 아직도 아파요. means “It still hurts.” 괜찮지 않으면 is built from 괜찮다 (“to be okay”), -지 않다 (negation), and -으면 (an “if/when” condition). Thus, 괜찮지 않으면 means “if it is not okay.” The observed form 괜찮지 is not a separate adjective; -지 않다 negates 괜찮다. The conditional ending attaches to the negative expression. For example, 시간이 없으면 말해 주세요. means “Please tell me if you do not have time.” 말해 주세요 is a polite request meaning “please tell me.” 말하다 is the base form “to say/tell”; 말해 is its connected form before 주세요, and 주세요 makes the request courteous. The request pattern -아/어 주세요 can be reused with other verbs: 기다려 주세요. means “Please wait.” Together, 아직도 (“still”) modifies the condition 괜찮지 않으면 (“if it is not okay”), and 말해 주세요 (“please tell me”) gives the requested action. The complete utterance means: “Tell me if it is still not right.”