내 친구가 되어줄래?
nae chinguga doeeojullae?
The phrase "will you be my friend?" in Korean is translated as 내 친구가 되어줄래? (nae chinguga doeeojullae?)
This phrase is a request used to ask someone to start a friendship with you.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase literally translates to "Will you become my friend?", where 되어줄래 means "will you do the favor of becoming".
Which one should you use?
The default form 내 친구가 되어줄래? uses the casual word 내 for "my". In a more polite or formal setting, you should use the polite version 제 instead.
How do you pronounce it?
nae chinguga doeeojullae?
Did you know?
- While 친구 means 'friend', it is often used in Korea to describe people of the same age, even if they are not close. Asking someone to be a 친구 can sometimes be a way of confirming that you are the same age.
- The word 내 was once used to mean 'smoke', but it was eventually replaced by the Sino-Korean word 연기. This happened because 내 developed too many homophones, making it confusing.
- Asking to be friends is often replaced by the custom of exchanging KakaoTalk IDs. In modern Korea, the digital exchange of contact info is the practical equivalent of asking 내 친구가 되어줄래?
Examples in context
- 저와 친구가 될 수 있을까요?Can we become friends?
- 네, 좋겠습니다!Yes, that would be great!
- 친구가 되어주실래요?Would you like to be my friend?
- 친구가 될래?Wanna be friends?
- 우리 친구할래?Shall we be friends?
- 내 친구가 되어줄래?nae chin-gu-ga doe-eo-jul-lae?Will you be my friend?
- 혹시 내 친구가 되어줄래?hok-si nae chin-gu-ga doe-eo-jul-lae?By any chance, will you be my friend?
Example conversation
Subin approaches Minjun at a school after class.
- 수빈 Su-bin민준아, 내 친구가 되어줄래?Min-jun-a, nae chin-gu-ga doe-eo-jul-lae?Minjun, will you be my friend?
- 민준 Min-jun응, 좋아!eung, jo-a!Yes, I'd love to!
- 수빈 Su-bin정말 고마워.jeong-mal go-ma-wo.Thank you so much.
- 민준 Min-jun나도 반가워, 수빈아.na-do ban-ga-wo, Su-bin-a.Nice to meet you too, Subin.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 내, CC BY-SA 4.0.
