Let's Learn Korean/ Hangul!! (한국어 / 한글을 배우자 !!) LEVEL1 [COMPLETE]

Lesson 12

In the previous lesson, we learned how to say "Please give me ..." or "I'd like to have ... please" in Korean. Do you remember the expression?

주세요 [ju-se-yo] = Please give me ... / I'd like to have ... 

  

And you can use this expression (주세요) to order something in a restaurant or to ask for more
side dishes while you are eating.   

김밥 주세요. [gim-bap ju-se-yo] = Kimbap, please. (when ordering in a restaurant) 

불고기 주세요. [bul-go-gi ju-se-yo] = Bulgogi, please. (when ordering in a restaurant)

김치 주세요. [gim-chi ju-se-yo] = Please give us some kimchi here.   (when asking for some (more) side dishes in a restaurant) 

In this lesson, let us have a look at how to say "It tastes good." "It is delicious." and also how to thank for a meal or food before and after the meal. 

맛 [mat] = taste 

맛 [mat] means "taste" in Korean. Now, do you remember how to say "there is" or "I have"? 

 
Yes! 있어요 [i-sseo-yo] is the expression. So by putting 맛 and 있어요 together, you get the expression 맛있어요 [ma-si-sseo-yo] which means "It's delicious." 

맛있어요 [ma-si-sseo-yo] = It's tasty. It's delicious. 

  

Examples 

이거 맛있어요. [i-geo ma-si-sseo-yo] = This is delicious. 저 케익 맛있어요. [jeo ke-ik ma-si-sseo-yo] = That cake is delicious. 

삼겹살 맛있어요. [sam-gyeop-sal ma-si-sseo-yo] = Samgyupsal (Korean barbecue) is delicious.  

뭐가 맛있어요? [mwo-ga ma-si-sseo-yo?] = What's delicious? 

Now, do you also remember how to say "there isn't" or "I don't have" in Korean? 

Yes, 없어요 [eop-seo-yo] is the expression. So by putting 맛 and 없어요 together, you get the expression 맛없어요 [ma-deop-seo-yo], which means "It doesn't taste good."   

맛없어요 [mad-eop-seo-yo] = It's not tasty. It's not delicious. It tastes awful. 

Note that the pronunciation of the last letter in 맛, which is ㅅ, changes according to the word that follows it. When it is NOT followed by any word, it's pronounced as [t], ending the word there. When it is followed by 있어요, it becomes an [S] sound, making 맛있어요 pronounced as [ma-si-sseo-yo]. When it is followed by 없어요, it becomes a [D] sound, making 맛없어요 pronounced as [ma-deop-seo-yo]. 

  

Examples 

이거 맛없어요? [i-geo ma-deop-seo-yo?] = Does this taste awful?

이 차 맛없어요. [i cha ma-deop-seo-yo] = This tea tastes awful. 

Now, you know how to say "It's delicious." and "It's not delicious." It's time to learn a phrase
that you can say to thank for a meal before and after you eat. This is very important especially
if someone is treating you or if you are invited to someone's house.

잘 먹겠습니다. [jal meok-ge-sseum-ni-da]

잘 먹겠습니다 [ jal meok-ge-sseum-ni-da] literally means "I am going to eat well." or "I will eat well." (Don't worry about the grammar that is used here yet. Just learn this as a set phrase for the time being.) And this expression is used very frequently among Koreans when they are about to start eating a meal, usually regardless who's paying for the meal. But in case someone in particular is paying for the meal for the other(s), the other(s) will say 잘 먹겠습니다 to the person who's buying. When you eat with your friends to whom you don't use polite/formal language, and when you want to joke that your friend should buy you food, you can also say 잘먹을게! [jal meo-geulge!] which implies that you are thanking them because they are going to treat you. 

잘 먹었습니다. [jal meo-geo-sseum-ni-da]   

Once you have finished a meal, if you want to thank someone for the meal, or just thank for
the meal in general, you can use this expression. 잘 먹었습니다 literally means "I have eaten
well" (Again, don't worry about the grammar here.) but it really means "Thank you for the food."