When learning a new language, it is both

very natural and important to make a lot

“햄버거 먹고 싶어요”
of mistakes along the way, and many of
the mistakes come from direct translation
attempts. From the lessons in the series
How Not To Say It In Korean, you can
learn about some of the most common
mistakes among Korean learners and also
how to say the same things more
naturally and correctly.

In this lesson, you can learn how NOT to say

“I want it” in Korean and learn a more
correct and natural way to say it.

How Not To
Tap here to watch
the video lesson
Say It In Korean
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 How Not To Say It
“I want it”

INCORRECT USAGES The direct translation for “I want it” is

“저는 원해요” but in natural Korean, it is
1) 저 새로운 레슨 원해요. (x)
better to use the verb 갖다 (= to have, to
2) 저는 커피를 원해요. (x) possess) with the verb ending -고 싶어요,
making it 갖고 싶어요.
3) 저는 이 책을 원해요. (x)
So if it is about something you can
4) 저는 잠을 원해요. (x) physically possess, you can say the
name of the object, followed by the
5) 저는 아무것도 원해요. (x)
phrase 갖고 싶어요.

For example, if you want to say “I want this book.” in Korean,

you can say “이 책 갖고 싶어요.” which literally means “I want to
have this book.” Please take a look at some more sample
sentences using 갖고 싶어요 below:

1) 이 가방 갖고 싶어요. = I want this bag.

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2) 이 핸드폰 갖고 싶어요. = I want this (mobile) phone.

3) 이 카메라 갖고 싶어요. = I want this camera.

4) 갖고 싶은 거 있어요? = Is there anything you want?

5) 갖고 싶은 거 있으면 말해요. = Tell me if there is something

you want.

When you are talking about something with which other

verbs or actions are more natural, you can use that
particular verb as well. For example, if it is a certain
type of food or beverage, you can say 마시고 싶어요 (= I
want to drink) or 먹고 싶어요 (= I want to eat). Please note
that 원해요 would still make some sense, but most people
do not say it that way in everyday speech.

Examples:

1) 커피 마시고 싶어요. = I want coffee.

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And if you are talking about something that you can not 1) 니가 진짜로 원하는 게 뭐야? (What do you really want? =
just “acquire” by either buying or receiving from song title / lyric)
someone, you can also use the ending -았/었/였으면 좋겠어
2) 원하는 거 없어요. (I don’t want anything.)
요, the conditional phrase.
3) 원하는 대로 다 해 줬잖아요. (I did everything that you
Examples:
wanted me to do.)
1) 남동생이 있었으면 좋겠어요. = I want a younger brother.

2) 남자친구가 있었으면 좋겠어요. = I want a boyfriend.

3) 강아지가 있었으면 좋겠어요. = I want a puppy.

“But I’ve seen people actually using it!”

While it is unnatural to say 원하다 for things you want to

have, 원하다 is sometimes used in more ‘literary’
contexts, such as in advertisements, poems, song lyrics,
etc. And due to the influence of English and people’s
increasing exposure to “literal-translation-style” Korean
sentences, 원하다 is being used more and more often.

Some examples where 원하다 can be actually considered Learning with TalkToMeInKorean’s Level 1 lessons? You can also
natural are: practice and reinforce what you’ve learned with our workbooks!
Tap here to check out our workbooks on our store.

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