이게 무슨 뜻이에요?
ige museun tteus-ieyo?
The English phrase "what does this mean?" is translated into Korean as 이게 무슨 뜻이에요? (ige museun tteus-ieyo?)
You can replace 이게 (this) with 그게 to ask "What does *that* mean?"
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase breaks down as follows: 이게 is a contraction of 이것이, meaning "this thing" as the subject. 무슨 is an adjective meaning "what" or "what kind of". And 뜻 is the noun for "meaning" or "sense".
Which one should you use?
Use 이게 무슨 뜻이에요? when speaking to strangers or people older than you. Use 이게 무슨 뜻이야? with close friends or people younger than you.
How do you pronounce it?
ige museun tteus-ieyo?
Did you know?
- The word 무슨 is a historical 'mistake'. It likely began as a hypercorrection of the Middle Korean word 므슴, where speakers accidentally applied a common grammatical rule to the word's ending.
- While you are asking for a 'meaning', you are using the word 뜻, which is a uniquely Korean concept of 'sense' or 'intent' that can be used to describe both a word's definition and a person's underlying purpose.
- The word 뜻 can mean 'meaning', but when Koreans refer to the 'meaning' of a word as a technical or conceptual definition, they often switch to the word 의미.
Examples in context
- 이거 한국어로 뭐예요?What is this called in Korean?
- 이건 "사과"라고 해요.This is called "apple".
- 이게 무슨 뜻이에요?ige museun tteus-ieyo?What does this mean?
Example conversation
A student asks a teacher about a word in a textbook.
- 도현 Do-hyeon선생님, 이게 무슨 뜻이에요?seonsaengnim, ige museun tteus-ieyo?Teacher, what does this mean?
- 수빈 Su-bin그건 '사랑'이라는 뜻이에요.geugeon 'sarang'iraneun tteus-ieyo.That means 'love'.
- 도현 Do-hyeon아, 그렇군요. 감사합니다.a, geureokunyo. gamsahamnida.Ah, I see. Thank you.
- 수빈 Su-bin도현 씨, 공부 열심히 하세요.Dohyeon-ssi, gongbu yeolsimhi haseyo.Dohyeon, study hard.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 무슨, 이게, CC BY-SA 4.0.
