Anne's Korean lesson (1) - hang out with your friends

Have you heard Koreans say "I played with my friend last night" when they speak English?

Actually 'play with' meant 'hang out' even though you can't really find the meaning in the dictionary. This time we will learn '놀아요'(norayo:present tense) and 놀았어요(norat-ssuyo:past tense) 놀다(base form) means 'play, have fun, do nothing…in the dictionary.


A : 주말 잘 보냈어요?

(How was your weekend?)

B : 네, 친구하고 클럽에서 놀았어요.

(I hung out with my friends at a club)

A : 그래요? 클럽에 자주 가세요?

(Did you? Do you often go to a club)

B : 아뇨, 가끔 클럽에서 놀아요.

(No, sometimes I hang out at a club)

A : 재미있어요? (Is it fun?)

B : 네 정말 재미있어요. (Yes, it is really fun)


You can make various sentences using 놀아요 or 놀았어요.

어제 아이들하고 놀았어요 (I played with my kids)

주말마다 친구들하고 강남에서 놀아요 (I hang out with my friends in Gangman every weekend)

요즘 뭐 해요?(what do you do thesedays?)

그냥 놀아요 (I do nothing / I am unemployed : very casual expression)


We always use "놀다" but it doesn't mean anything inappropriate.

Now you can use '놀다' without feeling uncomfortable.

Just say to your friends " 주말에 강남에서 같이 놀아요"

Don't worry. It doesn't mean 'let's play with me on the weekend'.

It means 'let's hang out in Gangnam".


Written by our instructor Anne
in ELOQUENCE (the expat info magazine)