Old information refers to what has already been presented and shared within a conversation. In contrast, new information pertains to what has not yet been disclosed or shared with the participants of the conversation. Here, ‘information’ may consist of a single word, a phrase, or a complete sentence.
Since Korean grammar does not use obligatory articles such as ‘a/an’ and ‘the’ found in English, it is common in Korean to present information in the order of old to new. Additionally, in everyday conversations, old information may often be omitted because it is more efficient to communicate using only the necessary information.
The typical word order in Korean follows a Subject-Object-Verb (S-O-V) structure with case markers. However, Korean word order is highly flexible and shifts dynamically based on the flow of conversation and the speaker’s intent.
In many cases, elements such as pronouns or even subjects can be omitted when they are contextually clear, making omission a natural part of Korean sentence structure. Therefore, rather than sticking to fixed structures, you should adapt to the natural rhythm of Korean when speaking.
In Korean, the word order remains consistent whether a sentence is a question or a statement, while the sentence type is indicated at the end of the sentence through sentence-final endings and intonation:
Question: [너는] 뭐 좋아해? – What do you like?
Response: [나는] 바나나 좋아해. – I like bananas.
“뭐 좋아해?” is a question with the subject ‘너는’ omitted. The subject is considered as old information because it has already been established in the conversation—either explicitly mentioned, implied by context, or understood through nonverbal cues such as eye contact or the presence of only two participants.
Similarly in the response, the subject “나는” can also be omitted, so saying “바나나 좋아해” suffices. Additionally, only “바나나” is enough because the verb “좋아해” has already been established, and “바나나” directly answers the question posed by “뭐(what).”
Question: 뭐 좋아해요? – What do you like?
Response: 바나나요. – I like bananas.
The short conversation revolves solely around new information. In the case of “뭐 좋아해요?” (literally “What like?”), the sentence presents only the new information the speaker is asking for, while the response consists solely of the answer to “뭐 (what).”
However, it’s important to note that using just the noun alone (e.g., saying only ‘바나나’) can be perceived as particularly rude or abrupt in Korean, depending on the social context.