What does it mean word for word?
무슨 means "what" or "what kind of" when it modifies a noun, and 말 means "word", "speech" or "language".
Which one should you use?
While 무슨 말이에요? uses the verb "to be", you can also use 무슨 말을 해요? which uses the verb "to do" (하다) to ask what words someone is currently speaking. For different levels of politeness, you may use 뭐라고? to mean "What?" or "What did you say?" or 뭐라는거야? to mean "What are you saying?" or "What's that you're saying?"
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
If you are speaking with friends or people younger than you, you can use the informal version 무슨 말이야? To show more respect to elders or superiors, use the polite version 무슨 말씀이세요?, which replaces the word 말 with the honorific 말씀. For even higher levels of formality, such as when speaking to someone of higher social status or authority, you can use 말씀하시는 것이 무엇인가요? or the highly respectful 무슨 말씀이세요?
How does it change in a sentence?
무슨 말이에요? uses the verb "to be", whereas 무슨 말을 해요? uses the verb "to do" (하다) to ask what words someone is currently speaking.
How do you pronounce it?
museun marieyo?
Did you know?
- The single word 말 is a versatile homonym that can mean 'speech' or 'language', but it also means 'horse' in a completely different context.
- The word 무슨 can be traced back to 1103 in the 계림유사 records, appearing as the characters 沒審.
- If you are confused or shocked by what someone said, you might use the blunt, informal 뭐라는거야?, which sounds much more aggressive than the polite versions.
Examples in context
- 무슨 말이에요?museun marieyo?What are you saying?
- 그게 무슨 말이에요?geuge museun marieyo?What do you mean by that?
- 지금 무슨 말이에요?jigeum museun marieyo?What are you talking about right now?
Example conversation
Two friends are discussing a misunderstanding about a meeting time.
- 지은 Ji-eun내일 못 온다는 거죠?naeil mot ondaneun geojyo?You're saying you can't come tomorrow, right?
- 도현 Do-hyeon네, 시간이 안 돼요.ne, sigani an dwaeyo.Yes, the time doesn't work.
- 지은 Ji-eun그게 무슨 말이에요? 약속했잖아요.geuge museun marieyo? yaksokhaetjanayo.What are you saying? You promised.
- 도현 Do-hyeon미안해요, 지은 씨. 급한 일이 생겼어요.mianhaeyo, jieun ssi. geupan iri saenggyeosseoyo.I'm sorry, Jieun. Something urgent came up.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 무슨, CC BY-SA 4.0.
