You know what to say in Korean 🇰🇷

Sentence info.

The sentence 무엇을 말해야 할지 알고 있어요 can be broken down into three parts:

1. 무엇을 (mu-eot-eul) – “what”:
• 무엇 means “what” and 을 is the object particle marking it as the object of the sentence.

2. 말해야 할지 (mal-hae-ya hal-ji) – “should say”:
• 말하다 means “to speak/say.”
• 말해야 is the stem with the obligation marker –야 (from 아/어야 하다), indicating “should/ought to.”
• 할지 uses the indirect question marker –ㄹ지, which turns the clause into an embedded question “what should be said.”
This whole part forms an indirect question clause that functions as the object of 알고 있어요.

3. 알고 있어요 (al-go is-seo-yo) – “know”:
• 알고 있어요 is the present progressive form of 알다, meaning “to know,” often used to indicate a continuous state of knowing (i.e. “you do know”).

Tips to remember:
• Notice how the indirect question clause (무엇을 말해야 할지) comes before the main verb (알고 있어요). In Korean, the embedded or reported speech clause typically precedes the main clause.
• The marker –ㄹ지 is commonly used for indirect questions. Practicing with other verbs can help reinforce its usage (e.g. 어떻게 할지 for “how to do it”).
• Break down complex sentences into particles and verb endings to understand how meaning is layered.

Alternate ways to say “You know what to say” in Korean:
• 뭐라고 말해야 하는지 알고 있어요.
  (romanized: mwo-ra-go mal-hae-ya han-neun-ji al-go is-seo-yo)
• 뭘 말할지 알고 있어요.
  (romanized: mwol mal-hal-ji al-go is-seo-yo)

Each alternative uses a slightly different form of “what” (뭐라고, 뭘) and the same indirect question marker (–ㄹ지) to embed the clause “what to say.”

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