Talking about family and a pet | Learn Korean in English

Sentence explanations

1. 가족과 함께 살아요?

   Do you live with family?

   가족

   family

   과 함께

   with (someone)

   살아요

   live

   More detail

   가족 means “family” here. It is a noun and can refer to family members as a group. Example: 가족을 만나요. — “I meet my family.” 과 함께 means “together with” or “with” someone. 과 is attached to a noun after a consonant; after a vowel, the corresponding form is 와. The following word or phrase identifies the companion. Example: 친구와 함께 가요. — “I go with a friend.” 살아요 means “live” here. Its base form is 살다 (“to live”), and 살아요 is a polite present-style form. The same verb can describe residing somewhere or living with someone, depending on the accompanying expression. Example: 서울에 살아요. — “I live in Seoul.” The ending -요 marks polite speech; it does not by itself make the sentence a question. Here, the question mark and spoken question intonation make the utterance a question. The reusable pattern is [person or group]과/와 함께 살아요? — “Do you live with [person or group]?” Together, 가족과 함께 (“with family”) and 살아요? (“do [you] live?”) produce the meaning “Do you live with family?” Korean commonly leaves the subject unstated when it is understood from context, so this sentence does not need a separate word for “you.”

2. 저는 제 아이와 함께 살아요.

   I live with my child.

   저는

   as for me; I

   제

   my

   아이

   child

   와 함께

   together with

   살아요

   live

   More detail

   저는 presents the speaker as the topic: “as for me” or simply “I” in this sentence. 저 is the humble first-person pronoun, and 는 is the topic marker; after a consonant-ending form, the topic marker is 은 instead. Example: 저는 학생이에요. — “I am a student.” 제 means “my” here. It is the possessive form of humble 저 (“I”): 저의 is commonly contracted to 제. This form marks the speaker as the possessor; it does not itself indicate how many children there are. Example: 제 집 means “my house.” 아이 means “child.” It is a noun and can refer to a child without specifying the child’s gender. Its plural can be 아이들 when a plural meaning needs to be made explicit. Example: 아이와 살아요. — “I live with a child.” 와 함께 expresses accompaniment: “together with” or simply “with.” 와 is the particle used after a vowel-ending noun; after a consonant-ending noun, the corresponding form is 과. 함께 adds the idea of doing something together. Example: 친구와 함께 가요. — “I go with a friend.” 살아요 means “live” here. It is the polite informal present form of 살다 (“to live”); the final -아요 gives this polite speech style. The same verb can describe residing in a place or living with someone, with the surrounding phrase supplying the relationship. Example: 서울에 살아요. — “I live in Seoul.” Together, 저는 sets up the speaker as the topic, 제 아이와 함께 identifies the companion as the speaker’s child and marks accompaniment, and 살아요 says that the speaker lives in that arrangement. Thus the whole utterance means, “I live with my child.”

3. 집에 반려동물도 있어요?

   Is there a pet at home too?

   집에

   at home

   반려동물

   pet

   도

   too; also

   있어요?

   is there?

   More detail

   집에 combines 집 (“home; house”) with the location particle 에. Here it marks home as the place where something exists: 집에 = “at home.” 에 can also mark a destination, as in 집에 가요 (“I go home”), so the surrounding verb determines whether it means location or destination. 반려동물 means “pet” or, more literally, a companion animal. It is a noun referring to an animal kept as a companion. In this sentence it is the thing whose existence is being asked about. 도 is an additive particle meaning “too” or “also.” It attaches directly to the noun or phrase it adds: 반려동물도 means “a pet too.” It adds this pet-related possibility to something already relevant in the context, without asserting a numeric count. 있어요? is the polite present form of 있다, “to exist; to be located.” With a place phrase such as 집에, it asks whether something exists or is present there. In this sentence, 있어요? expresses existence at the stated location, matching “Is there ...?” The polite question is formed here with the polite form and question intonation, marked in writing by the question mark. A useful contrast is 없어요 (“there is not”), the negative form of 있어요. Together, 집에 sets the location, 반려동물 identifies what is being asked about, and 도 adds “too.” The complete utterance means: “Is there a pet at home too?”

4. 저희는 작은 개를 키워요.

   We have a small dog.

   저희는

   we

   작은

   small

   개

   dog

   키워요

   raise; keep as a pet

   More detail

   저희는 means “we” as the topic. 저희 is a humble form used for the speaker’s group; in this sentence, the fixed translation supports the reading “we,” while it does not identify every member of that group. 는 marks that group as the topic. A useful contrast is 저는 (“I,” humble/polite) versus 저희는 (“we,” humble). 작은 means “small” here and comes from the descriptive verb 작다 (“to be small”). Before a noun, 작다 takes the attributive form 작은: 작은 개 means “a small dog.” This form describes the dog’s size; it does not indicate how many dogs there are. 개 means “dog.” It is a general noun for a dog and can be modified directly by an adjective: 큰 개 means “a big dog,” while 작은 개 means “a small dog.” 키워요 comes from 키우다, meaning “to raise,” “to grow,” or, with an animal, “to keep as a pet.” In this sentence, the pet-related meaning is intended. 키워요 is the present polite form in the 해요 style. The subject is understood from 저희는, so the combination means “we keep/raise [it] as a pet,” naturally translated here as “we have.” Together, 저희는 작은 개를 키워요. has the pattern “we + topic, small dog + object, keep/raise as a pet”: “We have a small dog.” The form 를 marks 작은 개 as the object of 키워요; the sentence presents the dog as a pet cared for by the speaker’s group.

5. 둘은 잘 지내요?

   How do they get along?

   둘은

   the two of them

   잘 지내요

   get along well

   More detail

   둘은 consists of 둘 (“two”) plus the topic particle 은. Here, 둘 identifies a pair as the topic, matching “the two of them” in the translation. 은 marks what the question is about; it is a topic marker, not part of the number. A related contrast is 둘이, where 이 marks the pair as the subject in contexts that focus on who performs an action. 잘 지내요 uses 잘, “well,” with 지내요, the polite present form of 지내다. In this expression, 지내다 means “get along” or “fare,” so 잘 지내요 asks about a good relationship or harmonious state. The base-to-polite chain is 지내다 → 지내요; -요 gives the form a polite conversational ending. For example, 친구들과 잘 지내요. means “I get along well with my friends.” Together, 둘은 잘 지내요? means “How do the two of them get along?” or, more literally, “As for the two of them, do they get along well?” The question mark and the question context make this a question about their relationship, while 둘은 keeps the pair as the topic.

6. 둘은 매일 같이 놀아요.

   They play together every day.

   둘은

   the two of them

   매일

   every day

   같이

   together

   놀아요

   play

   More detail

   둘은 means “the two of them” here. 둘 is the native numeral meaning “two”; used on its own, it can refer to two people or things understood from context. It is not a counting word that must be followed by a separate counter. 은 marks 둘 as the topic. Because 둘 ends in a consonant, 은 is used; after a vowel, the corresponding topic form is 는. 매일 means “every day.” It is a time expression used directly with the action it describes. Example: 매일 공부해요. means “I study every day.” 같이 means “together” in this sentence. It describes how the playing is done. Here it is the adverb meaning “together.” 놀아요 is the polite conversational form of 놀다, meaning “to play” and, for people, also “to spend time” or “to hang out.” The ending -아요 marks this polite style and does not by itself mean that the action is happening at this exact moment. Example: 아이들이 공원에서 놀아요. means “The children play in the park” or “The children are playing in the park,” depending on context. Together, 둘은 sets “the two of them” as the topic, 매일 gives the frequency, 같이 says they do the action together, and 놀아요 supplies the polite verb. The complete meaning is: “They play together every day.”