행복해요?
haengbokhaeyo?
The English phrase "are you happy?" is expressed in Korean as 행복해요? (haengbokhaeyo?)
This phrase is a question used to ask if someone feels a general sense of well-being and contentment in their life.
Which one should you use?
Use 행복해? when addressing someone you are familiar with. Use 행복해요? for most social situations with people you are not intimate with, such as acquaintances or colleagues. For formal contexts, use 행복하세요? or the even more polite 행복하십니까? to show respect to someone of higher status.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
행복하세요? is a common way to ask the question in a formal context, while 행복하십니까? is a more polite, highly formal version used in professional or very respectful settings.
How do you pronounce it?
haengbokhaeyo?
Did you know?
- Korean has a distinct word, 소확행, describing 'small but certain happiness'. It refers to the joy found in tiny daily rituals rather than the grand life contentment asked about in 행복해요?
- The word for happiness, 행복, is composed of two characters meaning 'good' and 'fortune'. This links the concept of emotional well-being directly to the idea of being lucky or blessed.
- When using the formal version 행복하세요?, the ending -세요 is actually a command form, so the question can technically function as a polite way of saying 'Please be happy'.
Examples in context
- 이제 행복하세요?Are you happy now?
- 오늘 행복해?Are you happy today?
- 요즘 행복해요?yo-jeum haeng-bok-hae-yo?Are you happy these days?
- 정말 행복해요?jeong-mal haeng-bok-hae-yo?Are you really happy?
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about their current lives.
- 도현 Do-hyeon민지 씨, 요즘 행복해요?Minji ssi, yojeum haengbokhaeyo?Minji, are you happy these days?
- 민지 Min-ji네, 저는 아주 행복해요.ne, jeoneun aju haengbokhaeyo.Yes, I am very happy.
- 도현 Do-hyeon다행이네요. 저도 행복해요.dahaeng-ineyo. jeodo haengbokhaeyo.That's a relief. I'm happy too.
- 민지 Min-ji우리 계속 이렇게 행복해요.uri gyesok ireoke haengbokhaeyo.Let's keep being happy like this.
