A1 Expression Formel

무엇을 할까요?

1740

What shall we do?

Phrase in 30 Seconds

Use '무엇을 할까요?' to politely ask for suggestions or propose an activity to someone else.

  • Means: 'What shall we do?' or 'What should I do?'
  • Used in: Planning dates, deciding on dinner, or asking for instructions at work.
  • Don't confuse: '무엇을 해요?' (What are you doing?) with '무엇을 할까요?' (What shall we do?).
Question mark + Calendar icon + Friendly smile = Productive planning

Explanation at your level:

This phrase is used to ask 'What should we do?'. You use it when you are with friends and want to make a plan.
This is a polite way to suggest an activity. It uses the -ㄹ까요 ending, which is a standard way to ask for someone's opinion in a social or professional setting.
The phrase functions as a deliberative question. It is essential for social navigation in Korea, as it allows the speaker to propose an action while deferring to the listener's preferences, thus maintaining social harmony.
Syntactically, it combines the interrogative pronoun '무엇' with the volitional-interrogative suffix '-ㄹ까요'. It is a cornerstone of consultative register, effectively balancing the speaker's agency with the listener's autonomy in decision-making processes.
This expression serves as a pragmatic marker of cooperative discourse. By employing the deliberative mood, the speaker invites the interlocutor to participate in the construction of a shared future action, thereby mitigating potential face-threatening acts in hierarchical or formal contexts.
The phrase is a quintessential example of Korean honorific-pragmatics. It functions as a modal construction that suspends the speaker's volition until the interlocutor's input is integrated. This linguistic structure is deeply embedded in the cultural paradigm of 'nunchi', where the avoidance of direct imposition is prioritized to sustain interpersonal equilibrium.

Signification

Asking for suggestions on an activity.

🌍

Contexte culturel

Emphasis on group consensus.

💡

Use '우리'

Adding '우리' makes it warmer.

Signification

Asking for suggestions on an activity.

💡

Use '우리'

Adding '우리' makes it warmer.

Teste-toi

Which sentence is correct for asking a friend for a plan?

A: ____ B: Let's go to the movies.

✓ Correct ! ✗ Pas tout à fait. Rponse correcte : 무엇을 할까요?

This is the standard way to suggest an activity.

🎉 Score : /1

Aides visuelles

Questions fréquentes

1 questions

Yes, it is polite.

Expressions liées

🔗

어떻게 할까요?

similar

How shall we do it?

Où l'utiliser

👋

Meeting a friend

A: 안녕! 무엇을 할까요?

neutral

Memorize It

Mnemonic

Think of 'What' (무엇) + 'Shall' (할까요).

Visual Association

Imagine two people standing at a crossroads, looking at a map, and pointing at it together.

Rhyme

무엇을 할까요, 우리 같이 놀까요?

Story

Min-su meets his friend. He doesn't know what to do. He asks, '무엇을 할까요?' His friend smiles and says, 'Let's go to the park!'

Word Web

하다우리뭐어떻게제안의견

Défi

Ask three people today what they want to do using this phrase.

In Other Languages

Spanish high

¿Qué hacemos?

Korean uses a specific grammatical ending for suggestions.

French high

Qu'est-ce qu'on fait ?

French uses a fixed phrase; Korean uses a verb conjugation.

German moderate

Was machen wir?

German is more direct; Korean is more consultative.

Japanese high

何をしましょうか？

The honorific levels are slightly different.

Arabic moderate

ماذا نفعل؟

Arabic is more formal in its standard form.

Chinese moderate

我们做什么？

Chinese lacks the specific 'shall' conjugation.

Korean high

뭐 할까요?

None.

Portuguese moderate

O que vamos fazer?

Portuguese uses a periphrastic future tense.

Easily Confused

무엇을 할까요? vs 무엇을 해요?

Present tense vs suggestion.

Use -ㄹ까요 for suggestions.

FAQ (1)

Yes, it is polite.

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