Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Drew345]

Here's the setting:
In class yesterday we were making questions using "..주시겠습니까?" to ask another student to do something for us.
The student next to me is a Japanese gyopo who joined the class late, after we all had wrote out or names (in Korean) and put them on the front of the chair. I heard her name a few times but could not pronounce it correctly.
So, in English we would often say:
"I'm not sure how to pronounce your name. Could you spell it for me?

So in Korean, something like
저는 (your) 이름을 말해지못해요. (you)는(your) 이름을써주시겠습니까?

But I could not find a word for the "your", so could not say these sentences.

- 제, 네 both refer to "my"
- 당신 is used only by intimate people or people "lower" than you
- often 선생님 is used for "you", but in this case the teacher was in front of the class, and I was not asking how to spell the teachers name.
- often the person's name is used for "you", but the point of the question is that I cannot pronounce the name.
- if I just leave out the pronoun then it is not clear whose name I am asking about, because there are 8 students and a teacher in the class.
- I could point my finger as I say "이름" but that seems a bit lacking.

How would you say "your" in this example.

I guess maybe I am just banging my head into a brick wall because I refuse to believe that a language can be missing the pronoun "you". Maybe I am hoping some Korean will tell me the secret pronoun for "you" that is not taught in books.

Thanks

[the_beaver]

You can drop it completely in this case so don't worry about it.

[kotakji]

Yup, drop the 'you' altogether. Perhaps use something simple like 'hokshi' or 'cheseonghandaeo" if you need a 'name' to broach the subject. (I apologize for the terrible translation I don't have a Korean keyboard at the moment and cant spell in any language to save my life anyway).

[Drew345]

It just seems like dropping the "you" altogether leads to such ambiguity. I believe you, I know you gave the right answer, just seems so hard to accept. Especially when "you" is such a common word in spoken English.

So you meet a girl for a date and just say "예뻐요". Could be talking about the girl walking past.
Three dates later you say "사랑해요". Seems a bit open ended.
English: I love you
Chinese: Wo aye ni
Korean: 사랑해요
??

I know I'm not going to get a different answer; the language is what it is. I know just drop the "you" is the answer. And I don't mean to be just complaining. I just run into a lot of ambiguity when I try to speak Korean and people say "누구" and I point to them and I haven't figured out a way around it.
Thanks

[Son Deureo!]

Yep, Koreans generally do not use their equivalents of the 2nd person pronoun. If there is any ambiguity, and you need to indicate who you're talking about, Koreans generally use either the name of the person the person they're talking to if they're equals or lower in status, or the appropriate honorific title.

Ex.

"You're pretty(, Eunmi)!" --> "은미 예뻐!"

(Talking to your teacher) "You're early!." --> "선생님 일찍 오셨어요!"

Hope that helps.

[komtengi]

you've got it wrong..
당신, 당신은, 당신의 is used for someone you've met once, are not considered friends or is of a "higher" level
넌, 너의, 너 is used for someone intimate or of a lower level

[the_beaver]

[komtengi]

[the_beaver]

[jvalmer]

[komtengi]

[Justin Hale]

You're both right. Yes, dang shin is the most formal way to say you, but it is indeed rude (or perhaps erroneous/inappropriate/abnormal rather than rude) to use it to a stranger or higher status context.

[komtengi]

[Cheonmunka]

[NightSky]