Conversation 2: Anna introduces Mark to Minjun

Mark is a friend of Anna, who is an exchange student from the USA. Anna is introducing Mark to Minjun.

민준: 안나 씨, 이분이 누구예요?

안나: 마크예요. 마크도 교환학생이에요.

민준: (To Mark) 마크 씨, 안녕하세요? 저는 민준이에요. 처음 뵙겠습니다.

마크: 민준 씨, 안녕하세요? 저도 만나서 반갑습니다.

민준: 마크 씨도 영국 사람이에요?

마크: 아니요, 영국 사람이 아니에요. 저는 미국사람이에요.

Minjun: Anna, who's he?

Anna: He's Mark. Mark is also an exchange student.

Minjun: (to Mark) Mark, hello. I'm Minjun. Pleased to meet you.

Mark: Minjun, how are you? I'm also pleased to meet you.

Minjun Are you British too?

Mark: No, I'm not British. I'm from the US.

Vocabulary and notes

이 is ‘this’; 그 is ‘that’ and 저 is ‘that over there’. In Korean these words always come before nouns e.g. 사람 person. Here 사람 is replaced by 분 which belongs to the Formal Style, as the person is not known. Note also that Korean tends to use ‘this person’/’that person’ where English would use he or she.

도 is a particle meaning ‘also’ or ‘too’. It comes after the word to which it refers.

누구 who

Note that 안나 addresses Mark as 마크 without 씨 because he is her friend. 민준 calls him 마크 씨 when they have just met each other due to their lack of familiarity.

교환 exchange + 학생 student = 교환학생 exchange student

아니요 no

아니에요. 안 is a way of making a Korean verb negative. When it comes before 이에요, the result is spelt 아니에요. Note that 아니에요 is usually preceded by the particle 가 ( 이 after a consonant), although 가 may be omitted in colloquial speech.