Difference between revisions of "무엇"

Revision as of 06:34, 19 June 2010

This page is either a stub or incomplete. You can help the Korean Wiki Project by expanding it. 지금 이 사이트를 보시는 여러분들이 수정을 하거나 내용을 추가해 이곳에 있는 설명과 예들을 더욱 완벽하게 해 주심으로써 코리안위키프로젝트를 도와주실 수 있습니다.

Meaning

• What
• Something

As a question

Depending on the intonation, 머엇 and 뭐 can mean either 'what' or 'something.' If the sentence starts with a high pitch and ends with a downward intonation, then it is an interrogative pronoun meaning 'What ... ?' However if the rising intonation comes at the end, it is a indefinite pronoun meaning 'something.' See the examples below:

Used in Declarative Sentences

When 머엇 and 뭐 are used in declarative sentences it is a indefinite pronoun meaning 'something.'

무엇

• 무엇 is usually used in more formal situations and isn't colloquial.
• 무엇이 is 무엇 plus the subject marker 이.
• 무엇을 is 무엇 plus the object marker 을.

뭐

• 뭐 is the contracted version version of 무엇 and is used much more frequently in colloquial speach. It is oftened pronounced as 모 or 머 and also often spelled that way in informal usage, such as text messaging and instant messaging (with friends).
• 뭐가 is 뭐 plus the subject marker 가
• 뭘 is a contraction of 뭐를, which is 뭐 plus the object marker 를.
• 뭐 is sometimes used as a filler for when someone is thinking of what to say.

Sentence examples

As an interrogative pronoun:

As an indefinite pronoun

As a filler

Common phases

Common phrases using 무엇 or 뭐.

• 뭐야