Aaliia
Break down of the question 친구가 어느 나라 사람이에요? Sorry if I didn't space it out right, guys! So the question I mentioned above translated to " Where is your friend from?" on the site I was studying from (Yonsei University) That bothered me since I saw the words which , country, and person. the 사람이에요? part really confused me. I know I am probably way off and there is some explanation. So could somebody explain and break down that sentence for me ? Thanks.
Feb 2, 2017 3:44 PM
Answers · 1
2
친구가 어느 나라 사람이에요? = 친구가 (S) [어느 나라 사람] (V Complement) 이에요 (V)? - 친구가 = Your friend (subject) - 어느 나라 사람 = 어느 나라의 사람 = a person of which country/nationality. - 이에요? = 이다 (is) in a polite question form. 이다 equates two nouns, as in 개는 동물이다 (A dog is an animal). Here's the declarative and interrogative form: - 친구는 미국 사람이에요. My friend is from the US. [is an American]. - 친구는 어느 나라 사람이에요? Asks the 미국 part of the above sentence using 어느(which) 나라(country). 미국 사람이에요 and 미국에 살아요(I live in the USA) are the common forms for "from some country/place". Nowadays people might also say 미국에서 왔어요, which is a direct translation of the English expression. But in Korean, it would be weird to say 미국에서 왔어요 when you're in 미국 at the moment. 한국 사람이에요 or 한국에 살아요 would be natural regardless of where you are.
February 2, 2017
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