되고 싶어요
The English phrase "I want to be" is expressed in Korean as 되고 싶어요.
When expressing a desire to be a certain profession, such as 선생님이 되고 싶어요 (I want to be a teacher), you do not need to use an article like 'a' before the profession in Korean.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
되고 싶습니다 is a highly formal version used in presentations, interviews or to a superior. The polite version 되고 싶어요 is created by adding ~고 싶어요 instead of ~고 싶다. For casual situations, the informal/casual version 되고 싶어 is used with friends or people younger than you.
How does it change in a sentence?
To express a desire to perform an action, the grammatical structure is the verb stem plus –고 싶다. In the case of this phrase, the verb stem 되– (to become) is combined with the desire pattern –고 싶어요.
Did you know?
- When talking about someone else's desires, you cannot use 싶어요. You must use 싶어 해요 to indicate you are observing someone else's wish, as Korean grammar distinguishes between your own internal feelings and those of others.
- While 되고 싶어요 is for desires, the phrase 되었으면 좋겠어요 (I wish I became) is often used instead to sound softer and more indirect, which is a valued social trait in Korean communication.
- The root 되 in 되고 싶어요 is also the basis for the word 안 돼 (no/you can't). While one means 'to become', the other is the most common way to say 'that's not allowed' or 'it won't work'.
Examples in context
- 저는 선생님이 되고 싶습니다.I want to be a teacher.
- 멋진 사람이 되고 싶어요.meotjin sarami doego sipeoyo.I want to be a cool person.
- 가수가 되고 싶어요?gasuga doego sipeoyo?Do you want to be a singer?
Example conversation
Minjun and Seoyeon are talking about their dreams.
- 민준 Min-jun서연 씨는 나중에 뭐가 되고 싶어요?Seoyeon ssineun najunge mwoga doego sipeoyo?Seoyeon, what do you want to be in the future?
- 서연 Seo-yeon저는 유명한 가수가 되고 싶어요.jeoneun yumyeonghan gasuga doego sipeoyo.I want to be a famous singer.
- 민준 Min-jun정말 멋지네요!jeongmal meotjineyo!That is really cool!
- 서연 Seo-yeon민준 씨는요?Minjun ssineun-yo?How about you, Minjun?
