How to Ask Someone's Age in Korean: 9 Ways, and Who Each One Is Safe With
How to ask someone's age in Korean is not one phrase, it is a choice between about nine of them, and the wrong pick is the thing that makes you look rude. The reason beginners get this wrong is almost never the vocabulary — 몇 살 (myeot sal) is day-one material — it is that they attach it to the wrong ending, or point it at the wrong person. And you will need to ask. Korean makes you decide, usually within the first two minutes of meeting someone, whether you are going to speak 존댓말 (jondaenmal) or 반말 (banmal) to them, and whether you call them 형, 오빠, 누나, 언니 or 씨. You cannot make that decision without knowing roughly how old they are. So asking is normal between new adult acquaintances. What is not normal is asking the way a textbook taught you. Situation Asking someone's age How much politeness matters High — the phrase changes with the age gap, and one of the common forms is a fight opener Safe default 나이가 어떻게 되세요? (naiga eotteoke doeseyo?) If You Only Remember ...