English - Korean translation

Keeping English requests and quantities clear in Korean

The recipient changes the way a sentence ends

A neutral English message can leave social distance largely unstated. Korean sentence endings make choices about the relationship to the listener more visible. An informal English greeting to a colleague should therefore not be used as evidence that any casual Korean ending will be appropriate. Consider whether the message is a first contact, an established professional exchange or a conversation between close friends.

There is also a distinction between showing courtesy to the listener and honoring the person discussed. They may be different people. A message to a friend about that friend’s professor is not identical to a message addressed to the professor. Rather than searching for one Korean equivalent of English ‘you’, make the participants clear and let the sentence use suitable forms throughout. Adding a polite word at the beginning does not repair incompatible endings elsewhere.

Check the predicate before assuming a word is missing

Korean normally places its main predicate at the end. Information expressed through English be, a descriptive word and a pronoun may be organized differently. ‘I am busy’ can be ‘바빠요’ (bappayo) when the speaker is already understood. The Korean expression is not defective because there is no separately visible equivalent of each English word.

At the same time, this freedom to omit understood participants creates a practical risk when your message changes subject. If the first sentence describes your availability and the next describes a colleague’s, identify the colleague explicitly in the English source. Otherwise a short translated exchange can appear to continue describing the same person. This is particularly important when reporting who will send a file or attend an appointment.

An English number does not determine its Korean form alone

Korean uses native Korean and Sino-Korean number systems, with the choice influenced by what is being counted or measured. Counters also identify units such as people and cups. A translated number needs its surrounding noun or unit, rather than a standalone English digit whose intended use is unclear.

‘Two people’ can be ‘두 명’ (du myeong), while ‘two cups’ can be ‘두 잔’ (du jan). The counters differ because the counted items differ. A café order should distinguish cups of a drink from bottles or packages; a reservation should state whether a number counts guests, rooms or nights. Keeping that unit explicit is more useful than expecting the translator to infer it from a bare number.

Copy complete Korean syllables and words

Hangeul arranges letters into syllable blocks. One visible block is not necessarily one word, and a word can contain several blocks. Do not insert spaces after every block to make the text resemble a sequence of English words. Keep the copied spelling and spacing intact.

For a message combining a Korean sentence with an English booking code, preserve the code as an identifier and copy the Korean sentence as text. An improvised romanization can hide distinctions the recipient expects to read in Hangeul. Review the actual request, the named participant and the counted unit together; these are the places where a plausible-looking translation can otherwise leave a Korean recipient with a different task or quantity.