Dialogue 1: How to call your friend!

A: 여보세요? Jenny집인가요?

   (yeoboseyo? Jenny jip ingayo? /

Hello? Is this Jenny’s residence?)

B: 네, 누구세요?  (ne, nuguseyo?/  Yes. Who is calling?)

A: 저는 Jenny 친구 Mike예요.    

    (jeoneun jenny chingu Mike yeyo. / I’m Mike, Jenny’s friend.

   Jenny 있어요?     (Jenny isseoyo? / Is there Jenny?)

B: 네, 잠시만요.     (ne, jamsimanyo/ Yes. Hold on, please.)

A: 감사합니다.  (gamsahamnida/ Thank you.)

…………………

Jenny: 여보세요? (yeoboseyo? / Hello?)

Mike: 응, 나야. Mike야.   (eung/naya/ Yep, It’s me, Mike.)

 

Dialogue 2: How to call in Korean formally!

A: 여보세요? Jenny씨 댁인가요?

   (yeoboseyo? Jenny ssi daekingayo? / Hello? Is this Jenny’s residence?)

B: 네, 누구세요?  (ne, nuguseyo?/  Yes. Who is calling?)

A: 저는 Jenny씨 회사 동료 Mike예요.    

    (jeoneun jenny ssi hoesa dongryo Mike yeyo. /

I’m Mike, Jenny’s colleague.)

   Jenny씨 계신가요?     (Jenny gyesingayo? / Is there Jenny?)

B: 네, 잠시만요.     (ne, jamsimanyo/ Yes. Hold on, please.)

A: 감사합니다.  (gamsahamnida/ Thank you.)

…………………

Jenny: 여보세요? (yeoboseyo? / Hello?)

Mike: 제니씨, 저예요. (Jenny ssi jeoyeyo/ Yep, It’s me, Mike.)

 

When you call to your friend casually or call to someone formally, you need to use somewhat different level of politeness in Korean.

Firstly, “Hello?” on the phone is “여보세요?”

When you pick up the phone, just say “여보세요?”

Koreans normally ask the question “Who is calling?” to the caller.

“누구세요?”(Who is calling?”) or “실례지만, 누구세요?” (Excuse me but who is calling?) can be used in Korean.

When you want to confirm whether or not you called to the right place or number, you can ask the question “~인가요?”

Like the examples, casually “제니 집인가요?” or formally “제니씨 댁인가요?” is used depending on the situation.

Two expressions ‘제니 집’ and ‘제니씨 댁’ mean the same “Jenny’s residence (house)” But depending on the situation, we need to choose the proper the level of politeness. ‘댁’ is an honorific word of ‘집’

         제니 집 (Jenny’s residence)      교수님 댁 (professor’s residence)

 

Just combine with a noun with ~인가요?

“제니 집 인가요?”               “교수님 댁 인가요?”

(Is this Jenny’s residence?)       (Is this the Professor’s residence?)

When you ask the telephonee to put you through to your friend, you can say “~있어요?” Like the example on the first dialogue, you can ask the question “제니 있어요?” It means “Is Jenny there?” or “Is Jenny in?” The expression is informal. When you ask the question formally, you can say “제니씨 계신가요?”

계시다 is an honorific expression of 있다.

     친구가 있어요(There is a friend).  어머니가 계세요(There is my mother).

 

Compare two sentences.

Questions	Informally	Formally
Is Jenny’s residence?	제니 집인가요?	제니씨 댁인가요?
Is there Jenny?	제니 있어요?	제니씨 계신가요?
It’s me.	나야.	저예요.

 

Just try to call your friends in Korean. Start from the easiest “여보세요?” J

Sarah Yong (Korean Teacher)