무엇을

A colloquial and contracted form of 무엇. Use it in casual conversation. 무얼 (mueol) is also a contraction, but less common than 뭐.

This is 'what' used as the subject of a sentence, not the object. The '이' is the subject marker. '무엇을' uses '을', the object marker.

This literally means 'to do what'. It's a common phrase for asking 'What are you doing?' (무엇을 하고 있어요?).

뭐 is a shorter, more casual form of 무엇 and is very commonly used in everyday conversation. Learners often struggle with when to use the formal 무엇 and when the informal 뭐 is appropriate.

뭐 is the colloquial contraction of 무엇. It's generally interchangeable in most casual contexts, but 무엇 is preferred in formal writing or very polite speech.

이게 뭐야? (What is this? - casual) 무엇입니까? (What is it? - polite/formal)

Both '무엇을' and '어떤' can be translated as 'what' in English, leading to confusion about when to use each. '어떤' asks about the type or kind.

'무엇을' asks for a specific object, while '어떤' asks about the nature, type, or characteristic of something.

무엇을 먹고 싶어요? (What do you want to eat? - asking for a specific food item) 어떤 음식을 좋아해요? (What kind of food do you like? - asking about the type of food)

'어느' also translates to 'which' or 'what' in English, but it's used when choosing from a limited set of options, which can be tricky for learners.

'무엇을' is general 'what', while '어느' implies a choice from a given set of items or options.

무엇을 살까요? (What should I buy? - general) 어느 것을 살까요? (Which one should I buy? - choosing from options)

Similar to '어떤', '무슨' also means 'what kind of' or 'what' and often causes confusion with '무엇을' and '어떤'.

'무슨' is used to ask 'what kind of' or 'what' when describing a noun, often implying a specific category or type. It's similar to '어떤' but can sometimes carry a nuance of surprise or emphasis.

무엇을 보고 있어요? (What are you looking at?) 무슨 책을 읽어요? (What kind of book are you reading?)

While '무엇을' means 'what (object)', '왜' means 'why'. Beginners sometimes mix these up, especially when forming simple questions.

'무엇을' asks about an object, '왜' asks for a reason or cause.

무엇을 했어요? (What did you do?) 왜 그랬어요? (Why did you do that?)