Did you guys want to be dentists? in Korean 🇰🇷

Sentence info.

Sentence breakdown:
• Subject: "그들은" (geudeul-eun) means “they.” The topic marker 은 attaches to indicate what the sentence is about.
• Noun: "치과의사" (chigwa uisa) means “dentist.” When referring to a profession of becoming, it’s marked by the subject particle “가” (chigwa uisa-ga) to show it as the complement of the verb “되다” (“to become”).
• Verb phrase: "되고 싶어했습니까?"
 – "되다" (doeda) means “to become.” Its connective form "되고" (doego) links to the desire construction.
 – "싶어하다" (sipeoha-da) means “to want.” In this sentence it is combined with the connective “고” from 되다 to express “to want to become.”
 – The phrase is then put into the past questioning form “했습니까?” (haetseumnikka?) indicating “did [they] want.”

Tips to remember:
• The pattern to express “want to be” is: [Noun/Verb stem + 고 싶다]. To refer to a state or role, attach the appropriate subject marker to the noun when it becomes the complement.
• To change the desire expression into a past tense question, conjugate 싶다 to 싶어했습니까?
• Note that topic markers like 은/는 and subject particles like 가 have distinct roles: 은 highlights the overall subject while 가 marks the noun (here, 치과의사) as what they wanted to become.

Alternate expressions for “Did you guys want to be dentists?”:
1. 너희들은 치과의사가 되고 싶었어?
 Romanized: "Neohuideul-eun chigwa uisa-ga doego sipeosseo?"
 – Casual, using 너희들 for “you guys.”
2. 여러분은 치과의사가 되고 싶었습니까?
 Romanized: "Yeoreobun-eun chigwa uisa-ga doego sipeosseumnikka?"
 – Polite and slightly formal.
3. 치과의사가 되고 싶었나요?
 Romanized: "Chigwa uisa-ga doego sipeosseonnayo?"
 – Informal question when context already indicates “you guys.”

Each version uses the same structure for “want to become” but varies the subject pronoun and formality.

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