저 사람 누구예요?
jeo saram nuguyeyo?
The Korean phrase for "who is that?" is 저 사람 누구예요? (jeo saram nuguyeyo?)
This phrase is used to ask for the identity of a person who is visible but unknown to the speaker.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of 저 (that), 사람 (person) and 누구예요? (is who?).
Which one should you use?
Using 저 사람 (that person) refers to someone at a distance from both the speaker and the listener, whereas 그 사람 would refer to someone previously mentioned in conversation.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
For a casual/informal version used with friends or people younger than you, use 저 사람 누구야? If you are referring to someone of higher status, you should use a more respectful form by replacing 사람 with 분 (honorable person) and using 저 분 누구세요? to make the question much more polite.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase uses the polite ending -예요, making it appropriate for most standard social situations.
How do you pronounce it?
jeo saram nuguyeyo?
Did you know?
- While 저 means 'that' in this phrase, it is also a completely different word for 'I' when used in a humble form.
- Korean has three different words for 'that' depending on where the person is located relative to the speaker and listener, unlike English which only uses 'that'.
- The word for 'chopsticks' in some Korean dialects is 절, which helps linguists prove that 저 is a native Korean word rather than a Chinese loanword.
Examples in context
- 사진 속 저 사람 누구예요?sajin sok jeo saram nuguyeyo?Who is that person in the photo?
Example conversation
Hyunwoo and Subin are looking at a crowd in a park.
- 현우 Hyeon-woo저 사람 누구예요?jeo saram nugu-yeyo?Who is that person?
- 수빈 Su-bin제 친구예요.je chin-gu-yeyo.That is my friend.
- 현우 Hyeon-woo정말 반갑네요.jeongmal ban-gap-neyo.It's nice to meet them.
- 수빈 Su-bin같이 인사해요.gachi insa-haeyo.Let's go say hello together.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 저, CC BY-SA 4.0.
