안녕하세요, 오늘 어떠세요?
annyeonghaseyo, oneul eotteoseyo?
The English phrase "hello, how are you today" is translated into Korean as 안녕하세요, 오늘 어떠세요? (annyeonghaseyo, oneul eotteoseyo?)
안녕하세요, 오늘 어떠세요? is a polite way to initiate conversation with someone you are not intimately close with, such as a colleague or an acquaintance.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase consists of several parts: 안녕하세요 literally translates to "are you at peace?", 오늘 means "today" and 어떠세요? is the polite way to ask "how are you?"
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
For an even more formal expression, you can use 안녕하십니까?, which translates to "Are you at peace, sir/madam?" Conversely, the shortened form 안녕 is informal and used only with close friends or people younger than you. If you want to ask "How have you been?" informally, you would use 잘 지냈어?
How does it change in a sentence?
어떠세요? is the polite honorific form of the verb "to be" or "to be in a certain state".
How do you pronounce it?
annyeonghaseyo, oneul eotteoseyo?
Did you know?
- Depending on the relationship, a Korean speaker might replace 'how are you' with a question about whether the person has eaten yet.
- In Korea, a slight bow of the head or waist typically accompanies the phrase 안녕하세요 to show respect to the listener.
- In Korean, the word for 'today', 오늘, has a deep historical meaning of 'the day that has come'.
Example conversation
Ji-hoon and Min-ji meet at a cafe.
- 지훈 Ji-hun민지 씨, 안녕하세요, 오늘 어떠세요?Minji ssi, annyeonghaseyo, oneul eotteoseyo?Min-ji, hello, how are you today?
- 민지 Min-ji안녕하세요, 지훈 씨. 저는 아주 좋아요.annyeonghaseyo, Jihoon ssi. jeoneun aju joayo.Hello, Ji-hoon. I am doing very well.
- 지훈 Ji-hun다행이네요. 기분이 좋아 보여요.dahaeng-ineyo. gibuni joa boyeoyo.That is a relief. You look like you are in a good mood.
- 민지 Min-ji감사합니다. 지훈 씨는 어떠세요?gamsahamnida. Jihoon ssi-neun eotteoseyo?Thank you. How about you, Ji-hoon?
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 안녕하세요, 오늘, CC BY-SA 4.0.
