Breakfast grocery shopping | Learn Korean in English

Sentence explanations

1. 오늘 뭐 살까요?

   What should we buy today?

   오늘

   today

   뭐

   what

   살까요?

   shall we buy?

   More detail

   오늘 means “today” and sets the time of the proposed action. It commonly comes before the rest of the clause, as here. Example: 오늘 만나요. — “Let’s meet today.” 뭐 is the question pronoun “what.” In this sentence it asks what item or items the speakers should buy. It is a conversational form related to 무엇, which is more formal or written. Example: 뭐 먹어요? — “What are you eating?” 살까요? is the polite question form of 사다, “to buy.” The stem 사- combines with -ㄹ까요? to form 살까요?; the added ㄹ is used after a vowel-ending stem. This ending asks for a proposal or invites a joint decision, so it is naturally understood as “shall we buy?” rather than as a simple request for information. Example: 어디서 만날까요? — “Where shall we meet?” Together, 오늘 (“today”) + 뭐 (“what”) + 살까요? (“shall we buy?”) gives “What should we buy today?” The question proposes deciding together what to purchase today.

2. 내일 아침에 먹을 음식이 필요해요.

   We need things for tomorrow's breakfast.

   내일

   tomorrow

   아침에

   in the morning

   먹을

   to eat; for eating

   음식

   food

   필요해요

   is needed; need

   More detail

   내일 means “tomorrow.” It is a time word: 내일 만나요. means “Let’s meet tomorrow.” 아침에 means “in the morning.” 아침 means “morning,” and -에 marks a time when something happens. Together, 내일 아침에 means “tomorrow morning.” 먹을 is the attributive form of 먹다 (“to eat”) used before a noun. 먹다 → 먹을 gives the meaning “to eat” or “that someone will eat”: 먹을 빵 means “bread to eat.” It modifies the following noun rather than serving as the sentence’s main predicate. 음식 means “food.” In 먹을 음식, it means “food to eat.” The following 이 marks 음식 as the grammatical subject of 필요해요; the food, rather than “we,” is what is needed. The omitted person who needs it is understood as “we” from the fixed translation and context. 필요해요 is the polite present-style form of 필요하다, meaning “to be necessary” or “to be needed.” In this sentence, 음식이 필요해요 literally has the structure “food is needed,” while English naturally expresses the same situation as “we need food.” The sentence builds as 내일 아침에 (“tomorrow morning”) + 먹을 음식이 (“food to eat” as the needed item) + 필요해요 (“is needed”). Thus the intended meaning is “We need things for tomorrow’s breakfast.” In the surrounding exchange, this states what is needed for that breakfast.

3. 그러면 빵과 버터가 필요해요.

   Then we need bread and butter.

   그러면

   then; in that case

   빵

   bread

   버터

   butter

   필요해요

   is needed; need

   More detail

   그러면 means “then” or “in that case.” It connects the current statement to what was just established: “Then, …” In this sentence it is a transition word, not part of the noun phrase that follows. 빵 means “bread.” It is a noun and can be used directly in a list, as in 빵과 버터 (“bread and butter”). 버터 means “butter.” It is also a noun. The particle 과 links it to the preceding noun: 빵과 버터 means “bread and butter.” 과 is the form used after a noun ending in a consonant; the corresponding form after a noun ending in a vowel is 와. 필요해요 means “is needed” or, with an understood person or group, “need.” The base form is 필요하다, “to be necessary” or “to be needed.” 필요해요 is the polite present form. Korean commonly states the needed item as the subject, so 빵과 버터가 필요해요 literally has the structure “bread and butter are needed.” The subject particle 가 follows a noun ending in a vowel; after a noun ending in a consonant, 이 is used. The form itself does not identify who needs the items; here the fixed translation supplies “we.” Useful pattern: [needed item]이/가 필요해요 = “I/we/you need [needed item],” with the person understood from context. Example: 물이 필요해요. — “We need water.” Together, 그러면 빵과 버터가 필요해요 means “Then we need bread and butter.” The transition 그러면 leads into the list of needed items, 빵과 버터, and 필요해요 presents that list as necessary.

4. 요구르트도 필요해요?

   Do we need yogurt too?

   요구르트

   yogurt

   도

   also; too

   필요해요?

   need?

   More detail

   요구르트 is the noun “yogurt.” It is a loanword written in Hangul, and it can be reused as a regular noun: 요구르트를 먹어요. means “I eat yogurt.” The particle 를 marks it as the object in that example; in the fixed sentence, 요구르트 is the thing whose necessity is being asked about. 도 is an additive particle meaning “also” or “too.” It follows the noun or noun phrase it adds: 빵도 필요해요. means “We need bread too.” Here it marks yogurt as an additional needed item, alongside the bread and butter mentioned in the preceding context. 필요해요? comes from 필요하다, “to be necessary” or “to be needed.” 필요해요 is its polite 해요-style present form, and the question mark shows that it is being used as a question. Korean commonly omits a subject when the context makes it clear; the fixed translation identifies the understood subject here as “we.” The form itself does not encode that subject. Together, 요구르트 + 도 means “yogurt too,” and 필요해요? asks whether it is needed. The complete utterance therefore means “Do we need yogurt too?”

5. 그것을 딸기잼과 같이 먹고 싶어요.

   I want to eat it with strawberry jam.

   그것을

   it

   딸기잼

   strawberry jam

   과 같이

   with

   먹고 싶어요

   want to eat

   More detail

   그것을 means “it” as the object of the action. 그것 is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “that thing,” and 을 marks an object after a consonant-final form. The exact identity of “it” is not specified here. 딸기잼 means “strawberry jam.” It is a compact noun combination: 딸기 is “strawberry” and 잼 is “jam.” Korean commonly places the specifying noun before the main noun in such combinations. 과 같이 expresses doing something together with something or someone, here “with strawberry jam.” 과 is the “with/and” form used after a consonant-final noun; after a vowel-final noun, the corresponding form is 와. The construction N과/와 같이 can be reused for “together with N.” 먹고 싶어요 means “want to eat.” The lexical verb is 먹다, “to eat.” Its form 먹고 connects to 싶다, producing the pattern V-고 싶다, “want to V”; 싶어요 is the polite present-style form used here. For example, 커피를 마시고 싶어요. means “I want to drink coffee.” The speaker is the person whose desire is expressed in this sentence. Putting the parts together, 그것을 marks the item to be eaten, 딸기잼과 같이 adds strawberry jam as the accompaniment, and 먹고 싶어요 expresses the speaker’s desire: “I want to eat it with strawberry jam.”

6. 그러면 요구르트와 잼을 사요.

   Then let's get yogurt and jam.

   그러면

   then; in that case

   요구르트

   yogurt

   와

   and

   잼

   jam

   사요

   buy; get

   More detail

   그러면 means “then” or “in that case.” It connects the utterance to what has just been said and presents the following action as the next step. Example: 그러면 시작해요. — “Then let’s start.” 요구르트 means “yogurt.” It is a noun. In Korean, nouns do not need an article before them, so this form can refer to yogurt without marking whether it is definite or indefinite. 와 is a form of the connector meaning “and.” It is used after a noun ending in a vowel; after a noun ending in a consonant, the corresponding form is 과. Here it links 요구르트 and 잼: 요구르트와 잼 — “yogurt and jam.” 잼 means “jam.” It is a noun. Together with the preceding connector, 요구르트와 잼 names the two things involved in the action. 사요 is the polite-present form of 사다, “to buy.” In this sentence, the fixed translation uses the natural context-based meaning “get.” The ending -요 makes the utterance polite; it does not by itself mean “let’s.” In this utterance, the omitted subject and the context make it a proposal: “let’s get/buy …” Example: 빵을 사요. — “Let’s buy bread” in a suitable proposal context; the same form can also mean “buy/buy it” depending on context. Putting the parts together, 그러면 sets up the next step, 요구르트와 잼 gives the coordinated items, and 사요 supplies the polite action. The whole utterance means “Then let’s get yogurt and jam.”