-나요/-(으)ㄴ가요 Soft Questions: Meaning, Rules and Examples

What you'll learn

• Form -나요 questions from verbs and from 있다 and 없다.
• Form -(으)ㄴ가요 questions from adjectives and 이다.
• Say the nasal sounds in 있나요, 없나요 and 맞나요 correctly.
• Choose between soft, neutral and formal questions.

Before you start: you should know the plain yes-no question (see yes no questions in korean) and the polite 요 ending (see 해요체 polite speech -아요/어요). Time: about 25 minutes.

What Do the -나요/-(으)ㄴ가요 Soft Questions Mean?

The -나요/-(으)ㄴ가요 soft questions mean a polite question that sounds curious and indirect, as if the speaker wonders about the answer. A sentence ending is the last part of a Korean verb or adjective, where politeness and sentence type are marked. A soft question here means a question that avoids pressing the listener for an answer.

Compare the plain polite question 어디 가요? with the soft question 어디 가나요?. Both ask where you are going, and both are polite. The first can sound direct, like "Where are you going?". The second sounds like "Where might you be going?", a little more tentative and respectful of the listener's space. English shows this softness with words like "might", "could" or "I wonder", while Korean builds it into the ending.

The two endings split the work by word class. A verb names an action (가다, 먹다), and an adjective describes a state (크다, 예쁘다). Verbs take -나요, and adjectives take -(으)ㄴ가요. The copula 이다 ("to be") takes -(으)ㄴ가요 as well, in its short form 인가요.

A First Example

Listen to each sentence at normal speed, then slowly.

1. 어디 가나요? (eodi ganayo) "Where are you going?" or "Are you going somewhere?"

Pronunciation: [어디 가나요]. The spelling and the sound match. The verb 가다 ("to go") loses 다 and takes 나요. With the stress on 어디 and a falling or rise-fall ending, it means "Where are you going?"; a sharp final rise with 어디 unstressed can turn it into "Are you going somewhere?", as the lesson on yes no questions in korean explains for 어디 and 뭐.

2. 이게 맞나요? (ige mannayo) "Is this right?"

Pronunciation: [이게 만나요]. The final ㅈ of 맞 is pronounced [ㄷ] at the end of a syllable, and before the ㄴ of 나요 it turns into [ㄴ]. That nasal change makes 맞나요 sound like [만나요]. The word 이게 is the spoken short form of 이것이 ("this").

Both questions use -나요 after a verb stem. The next section gives the full formation rules, including the adjective ending.

How Do the -나요/-(으)ㄴ가요 Soft Questions Work?

The -나요/-(으)ㄴ가요 soft questions work by word class. Take the dictionary form, remove 다 to get the stem, and add 나요 to a verb stem or (으)ㄴ가요 to an adjective stem. The ending then closes with a question mark in writing.

For adjectives, the choice between ㄴ가요 and 은가요 depends on the last sound of the stem. A stem that ends in a vowel takes ㄴ가요, and a stem that ends in a consonant takes 은가요. The same rule governs the noun modifier ending, which is why this ending looks like the modifier plus 가요.

Pattern Table

Two more forms complete the picture.

• Past tense. For verbs, adjectives and 이다, the past soft question is stem + 았나요 or 었나요: 갔나요? ("Did you go?"), 먹었나요? ("Did you eat?"), 예뻤나요? ("Was it pretty?") and 학생이었나요? ("Were you a student?"). The 이다 past is 이었나요 after a consonant and 였나요 after a vowel: 의사였나요?
• Honorific. The honorific 시 comes before 나요 and shows respect for the person you ask about: 어디 가시나요? ("Where are you going, sir or madam?") and 드시나요? ("Do you eat it?", honorific). The lesson on honorific -(으)시- explains the marker.

Three details make the table easy to apply.

1. Word class decides the ending. Check whether the dictionary form describes an action (verb) or a state (adjective) before you choose.
2. Noun + 인가요 needs no choice. 학생인가요 and 선생님인가요 both use 인가요, whether the noun ends in a vowel or a consonant.
3. The 있다/없다 family follows verbs. Words built on 있다 and 없다, such as 맛있다 ("to be tasty") and 재미있다 ("to be fun"), take -나요: 맛있나요? and 재미있나요?.

The sounds of these endings change in predictable ways, which the next section covers.

How Are -나요 Questions Pronounced?

-나요 questions are pronounced with a nasal sound change when the stem ends in a stop sound, spelled for example ㄱ, ㅅ, ㅆ, ㅈ or ㅄ. The Standard Pronunciation Rules (표준 발음법, Article 18) say that a final ㄱ, ㄷ or ㅂ turns into ㅇ, ㄴ or ㅁ before ㄴ or ㅁ. Because 나요 begins with ㄴ, the stem's final sound becomes a nasal.

The adjective endings change only through the normal rules of liaison, where a final consonant moves onto a following vowel: 좋은가요 is [조은가요] and 많은가요 is [마는가요], with the ㅎ falling silent.

A reliable habit: when you read 있나요 or 먹나요 aloud, say the nasal first ([인나요], [멍나요]) and let the spelling follow. After the pronunciation, the next section compares the soft question with its neighbours.

How Are They Different from -아요/어요? and -ㅂ니까?

-나요/-(으)ㄴ가요 sits between the neutral polite question and the formal question. All three ask the same thing, and they differ in tone. Register is the level of formality of a word or style.

The formal question is covered in the lesson on formal question -ㅂ니까/습니까, and the neutral polite question belongs to 해요체 polite speech -아요/어요. The soft question is the one that signals "I do not know the answer, and I am asking gently".

An expert rule of thumb: use -나요 when you ask a stranger, a customer or a patient something you do not know. Use plain -아요/-어요? when you ask for information that you expect to be simple. After the comparison, the next section builds a full question.

Worked Example: Building "Is This Book Expensive?"

To ask "Is this book expensive?" softly, write 이 책은 비싼가요?. Put the topic first, then the adjective in its -(으)ㄴ가요 form. Use these steps to build any soft question.

1. Choose the topic. The topic is 이 책 ("this book"), and the topic particle 은 follows the consonant ㄱ: 이 책은.
2. Identify the word class. 비싸다 ("to be expensive") describes a state, so it is an adjective.
3. Remove 다. The stem is 비싸.
4. Add the ending. The stem ends in a vowel, so add ㄴ가요: 비싼가요.
5. Mark the question. Add a question mark in writing and a gentle rise in speech.

You'll know it worked when the adjective stem fuses with ㄴ가요 into one syllable block (싼). Common mistake at this step: adding 나요, as in 비싸나요. Adjectives take (으)ㄴ가요.

Pronunciation: [이 채근 비싼가요]. The final ㄱ of 책 moves onto the topic particle, so 책은 sounds like [채근].

When Do You Use Them, and When Not?

Use -나요/-(으)ㄴ가요 to ask a polite question that you do not want to sound pushy. Avoid them with close friends and in very formal announcements. Four situations cover most of what you will hear.

1. Service talk. Shop staff, bank clerks and restaurant staff ask 필요하신가요? or 더 필요한 거 있나요? ("Do you need anything else?") to stay polite and light.
2. Clinics and offices. Doctors and office workers ask 어디가 아프신가요? ("Where does it hurt?") and 괜찮나요? ("Is it all right?") to sound caring.
3. Meeting someone new. 혹시 학생인가요? ("Are you a student, by any chance?") sounds friendlier than a blunt 학생이에요? because 혹시 ("by any chance") and the soft ending both lower the pressure.
4. Written polite questions. Letters, forms and messages use the endings when they ask politely.

Honest limits of the soft question.

• Close friends. Between friends, 어디 가? is normal, and 어디 가나요? sounds distant.
• Formal announcements. News and public announcements use -ㅂ니까, not -나요.
• Suggestions. -나요 only asks. To suggest, use -(으)ㄹ까요?, as in 같이 갈까요? ("Shall we go together?").
• Embedded questions. Inside a sentence ("I wonder whether he goes"), Korean uses -는지, covered in the lesson on indirect questions -는지 -(으)ㄴ지.

The question pitch also matters. The page on korean polite question intonation explains how rising and falling pitch change the meaning of a question. These limits lead directly to the errors learners make most often.

What Mistakes Do Learners Make with -나요/-(으)ㄴ가요?

Five mistakes cover most errors. Each follows the pattern "learners often assume X, but actually Y, because Z."

1. Adding 나요 to an adjective. Learners often say 예쁘나요 because 나요 is the first ending they learn. Actually textbooks and careful writing give adjectives (으)ㄴ가요, so say 예쁜가요; 예쁘나요 is heard in casual speech but is best treated as a spoken variant. The exception is the 있다/없다 family, which takes 나요: 맛있나요, 재미있나요. The word 괜찮다 is also heard as 괜찮나요 in everyday speech.
2. Adding 까 after 요. Learners often write 가나요까 because a formal question ends in 까. Actually 나요 already marks the question, so write 가나요?.
3. Using -나요 for a suggestion. Learners often say 같이 가나요? to mean "Shall we go together?". Actually that sentence asks whether the person goes along, so say 같이 갈까요?.
4. Answering with -나요. Learners often reply 네, 가나요. Actually answers use plain statements: 네, 가요 or 아니요, 안 가요.
5. Forming the past of an adjective with -ㄴ가요. Learners often say 예쁜었나요. Actually the past uses -았/었나요 on the stem, so say 예뻤나요.

A reliable self-check: before you add the ending, say the dictionary form aloud and ask "action or state?". Action takes 나요, and state takes (으)ㄴ가요.

Practice and Answers

Try all four items before you read the answers. Each answer has audio, normal and slow.

1. Choose the form. Which question means "Is it big?" (a) 크나요? (b) 큰가요?
2. Fix the error. 학생이나요? ("Are you a student?")
3. Translate. "Do you eat meat?" Use a soft question.
4. Write your own. Write one soft question about Korean (for example, whether it is hard), using an adjective.

Answer Key

1. (b) 큰가요? (keungayo) Sounds like [큰가요]. 크다 is an adjective, and its stem 크 ends in a vowel, so the ending is ㄴ가요.

2. 학생인가요? (haksaengingayo) Sounds like [학쌩인가요]. With the copula, the form is 인가요, not 이나요.

3. 고기를 먹나요? (gogireul meongnayo) Sounds like [고기를 멍나요]. 먹다 is a verb, so add 나요, and the final ㄱ turns into a nasal before ㄴ.

4. Sample answer: 한국어는 어려운가요? (hangugeoneun eoryeoungayo) "Is Korean hard?" Sounds like [한구거는 어려운가요]. 어렵다 is a ㅂ-irregular adjective, so 어렵 becomes 어려우 before ㄴ가요.

If an item went wrong, return to the pattern table and decide first whether the word is a verb or an adjective. Then continue with the next lessons.

Next Lessons and Where to Go from Here

After the -나요/-(으)ㄴ가요 soft questions, the natural next step is to compare them with their neighbours: yes no questions in korean for the plain question, formal question -ㅂ니까/습니까 for the formal one, and indirect questions -는지 -(으)ㄴ지 for questions inside a sentence. To hear how the pitch changes the meaning, see korean polite question intonation. All of these belong to the Korean questions hub.

For practice, use the grammar quizzes. This page uses Revised Romanization only as a learning aid; the Hangul is the reference. The whole lesson fits in one sentence: the -나요/-(으)ㄴ가요 soft questions turn a polite statement into a gentle question, with -나요 for verbs and -(으)ㄴ가요 for adjectives and 이다.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Does -나요/-(으)ㄴ가요 Mean?

-나요 and -(으)ㄴ가요 are polite endings that turn a statement into a soft, indirect question. 어디 가나요? asks "Where are you going?" and 비싼가요? asks "Is it expensive?" The speaker sounds curious and gentle, not demanding. The meaning is the same as -아요/-어요?, but the tone is softer.

How Do I Form -나요/-(으)ㄴ가요?

For verbs, remove 다 and add 나요: 가다 becomes 가나요, 먹다 becomes 먹나요. For 있다 and 없다, use 있나요 and 없나요. For adjectives, add ㄴ가요 after a vowel (큰가요) or 은가요 after a consonant (좋은가요). For 이다, add 인가요: 학생인가요?

What Is the Most Common Mistake with -나요/-(으)ㄴ가요?

The most common mistake is adding 나요 to an adjective, as in 예쁘나요, when textbooks and careful writing use 예쁜가요. A second mistake is adding 까 to a 요 ending (가나요까?). A third is using -나요 for a suggestion: 같이 가나요? asks a question, while 같이 갈까요? suggests going together.

Is It Wrong to Add -나요 to an Adjective?

Not always in speech, where forms such as 예쁘나요 and 괜찮나요 are heard often. Textbooks and careful writing still use -(으)ㄴ가요 for adjectives: 예쁜가요, 괜찮은가요. Learn -(으)ㄴ가요 first and treat adjective plus 나요 as a spoken variant. Words built on 있다 and 없다, such as 맛있나요, always take -나요.

Do I Use -나요/-(으)ㄴ가요 in Speech, Writing or Both?

Both. Speech uses it for gentle questions to customers, patients and acquaintances. Writing uses it in letters, surveys and messages that ask politely. The endings always carry the polite 요, so they do not fit casual talk with close friends, where a plain -아/-어? question is normal.