Korean Phrases: How To Say I WANT in Korean. Part 10

Hello Korean Junkies!

Welcome to Part 10! (Part 9 here)

What do you want to do in Korean? Eat? Sleep? Watch TV? Here you will learn how to say: I WANT in Korean. More specifically, you will…

Learn how to say “I want” in Korean
Learn some want phrases in Korean with English translations
Be able to say what you want (leave a comment)

And if you REALLY want to learn Korean with effective audio & video lessons by real teachers – Sign up at KoreanClass101 (click here) and start learning!

Saying what you want to do in Korean is pretty easy. You need to add 고 싶어요 (go shippeoyo) – 고 (go) 싶어요 (shippeoyo) – to any verb stem. In Korean, – 고 (go) is a connector and the auxiliary adjective, 싶어요, is used to express the a person’s wants.

Note: Koreans don’t really say “I want (NOUN).” They mostly “I want (VERB)+(NOUN).” So, “I want to eat cake” (good ✓). NOT “I want cake.” (bad x)

Got it? So for example, you want to say:

I want to learn Korean in Korean. How would you say that in Korean?

The verb “to learn” is – 배우다 – baeuda, right?
So, you drop the “다 – da” and get the verb stem – 배우 – baeu.
Then, add the “고 (go)” and add the word for “want” – 싶어요 (shippeoyo).
And you have: baeugo shippeoyo – I want to learn.

And the full sentence is… see below with list of 10 “want” phrases that you can use right now.

101. I want to learn Korean.

I want to learn Korean.
한국어를 배우고 싶어요.
Han-guk-eo-reul bae-u-go shi-ppeo-yo

102. I want to read a book

I want to read a book
책을 읽고 싶어요
chaeg-eul ilg-go shi-ppeo-yo

103. I want to live in Korea.

I want to live in Korea
저는 한국에서 살고 싶어요
jeo-neun hanguk-eseo salgo shippeoyo

104. I want to sleep.

I want to sleep
나는 자고 싶어요
naneun jago shippeoyo

105. I want to meet at Starbucks

I want to meet at Starbucks
스타벅스에 만나고 싶어요
seutabeogseue mannago shippeoyo

106. I want to eat a hamburger.

I want to eat a hamburger
햄버거 먹고 싶어요
haembeogeo meokgo shippeoyo

107. I want to make a lot of friends.

친구들 많이 사귀고 싶어요
chingudeul manh-i sagwigo shippeoyo
I want to make a lot of friends

108. I want to eat.

I want to eat
먹고 싶어요
meokgo shippeoyo

109. I want to see you (I miss you).

너를 보고 싶어요
neoleul bogo shippeoyo
I miss you

110. I want to become a great person.

훌륭한 사람 되고 싶어요.
hullyung-han saram doego sipeoyo.
I want to become a great person.

So, what do you think?

By now you should be able to say I want in Korean and express your desires. All you need now are the nouns and verb stems to add the go shippeoyo/sipeoyo to.

Remember this rule:

Verb Stem + 고 싶어요 (go shippeoyo) = Want to Verb

There are only 10 I want in Korean phrases here. Do you know any more? Now that you know the grammar rule, write down what you want in Korean in the comments!

I read them all and will add it to my list.

Hope you enjoyed this!

– The Main Junkie

P.S. I highly recommend this for Korean learners. If you REALLY want to learn to Korean with effective lessons by real teachers – Sign up for free at KoreanClass101 (click here) and start learning!