K-Talk Tuesdays: What’s Your Name?

Hey guys!

Hope you haven’t missed me too much! Hell month (aka exam/assessment month) is drawing to a close meaning that in two weeks from now, I will no longer be a full time student! Woo! This means only one thing – I can dedicate more time to this blog! Yay!

I have decided that K-Talk Tuesdays will now only happen every second week – otherwise I’m going to run out of material real quick!

So by now you’d know your Hangul and some popular Korean expressions (Pt. I & Pt. II), but let’s go back to the basics now because you’re going to need to know this phrase if you’re going to want to make any friends in Korea.

What's Yo Name?

Your other option is to be a socially awkward turtle (like me) and pretend to know someone’s name for weeks on end and just hope someone says it in front of you or you find it over Facebook. (True Story)

So in order to avoid awkward situations such as the above, this is how you say:

What’s Your Name?

Just some quick info on Korean culture – Korean’s usually ask for names using formal language. Otherwise, informal language is more than acceptable in everyday conversation. When asking for names, it is okay to use the informal form when speaking to someone younger than you.

Before you even ask for someone’s name you want to get their attention and you’ll do this by either saying Joesonghamnida (Jwae-song-ham-ni-da – ‘I’m sorry’) or Sillyehamnida (Shill-ye-ham-ni-da – ‘Excuse me’).

Excuse me miss girl. 😉

You’ll then go on by asking for their name by saying:

Seonghami eotteoke doeseyo? (Formal Polite form)
(Song-ha-mi ot-taw-kae dwae-sae-yo)
성하미 엍터게 되세요

or, alternatively

Ireumi mwoeyo? (Informal Polite form)
(Ee-rum-ee mo-ae-yo)
이름이 뭐에요

And that’s pretty much it. Once again I will reiterate that the formal polite form is used most often when asking for names, otherwise you can use the informal polite way when asking someone younger than you, or if you’re asking your friend’s friend.

To make your sentence sound even smoother, you can add the word “but” in between your ice breaker and your inquiry into their name. “But” in korean is “man” so if you wanted to say “Excuse me but what is your name?” You’d say “Sillyehamnidaman seonhami eotteoke doeseyo?”

Anyway, that’s all for this week. I’m pretty sure that’s right. Haha! If there are any mistakes, please feel free to correct me. 🙂

안녕~!