읽어주세요
ilgeojuseyo
읽어주세요 (ilgeojuseyo) is the Korean phrase for "please read".
The phrase is used when asking someone to perform the act of reading, whether it is reading a text aloud to an audience or reading a specific passage for the speaker's benefit.
What does it mean word for word?
읽어주세요 is composed of the verb 읽다 (to read), the auxiliary verb –어 주다 (to do something for someone) and the polite ending –세요 (please).
Which one should you use?
읽어 주시면 감사하겠습니다 translates to "If you could read (it), I would appreciate it." In much more casual settings, 읽어봐 is used to simply say "Read (it).", and 읽어 줄래? is a casual way to ask "Will you read (it)?"
How does it change in a sentence?
The informal version 읽어줘 is used when asking someone to "read (for me)" in casual speech. For very high formality, the phrase changes to the official 읽어주십시오.
How do you pronounce it?
ilgeojuseyo
Did you know?
- In Korean, the phrase 분위기를 읽다 describes the essential social skill of 'reading the atmosphere' to sense the mood of a room.
- The phrase 읽어주세요 uses the verb 주다, which literally means 'to give'. This structure frames the act of reading as a favor or a kind gift being given to the speaker.
- The highly formal 읽어주십시오 is so rigid that it is typically reserved for military commands or official news broadcasts rather than polite civilian life.
Examples in context
- 이 편지 좀 읽어주세요.i pyeonji jom ilgeo-juseyo.Please read this letter.
- 메뉴판을 좀 읽어주세요.menyubaneul jom ilgeo-juseyo.Please read the menu.
- 이 문장을 소리 내어 읽어주세요.i munjangeul sori nae-eo ilgeo-juseyo.Please read this sentence aloud.
Example conversation
Hyunwoo is asking Jieun to help him with a text.
- 현우 Hyeon-woo지은 씨, 이 쪽지를 좀 읽어주세요.Jieun-ssi, i jjokjireul jom ilgeo-juseyo.Jieun, please read this note.
- 지은 Ji-eun네, 알겠어요.ne, algesseoyo.Yes, I understand.
- 현우 Hyeon-woo내용이 너무 어려워요.naeyongi neomu eoryeowoyo.The content is too difficult.
- 지은 Ji-eun제가 천천히 읽어줄게요.jega cheoncheonhi ilgeojulgeyo.I will read it slowly for you.
