Let’s talk about a unique part of speech: the Pre-noun. As the name suggests, a pre-noun always comes right before a noun.
The first ones most beginners learn are “어느” and “무슨”.
Remember the classic beginner sentence: “어느 나라 사람이에요?” If we translate this literally, it’s “Which country person are you?” Since “사람” is a noun, the pre-noun “어느” can sit right in front of it.
Another example: “어느 게 좋아요?” (Which one do you like?)
Here, “게” is a shortened version of the dependent noun “거” and the subject marker “이.” It’s a fixed expression in modern Korean!
How about: “무슨 책 읽어요?” (What book are you reading?)
In English, you just use “What.” But in Korean, we have two: “뭐” and “무슨.” “뭐” is a question pronoun, while “무슨” is a question pre-noun.
Many people ask, “Doesn’t 무슨 always mean ‘What kind of…?’”
Well, not always!
Take “무슨 말이야?” (What are you talking about?)
You aren’t asking “What category of speech are you using?” You wouldn’t answer, “I’m using honorific speech!” You’re simply asking for the content of the words.
Finally, let’s look at “어떤.”
This is the pre-noun form of the adjective “어떻다.” It’s like a verb form of “How.” Because of its broad meaning, it can be translated as how, which, certain, any or ‘what kind of…’ depending on the context.
Let’s look at these examples:
- 저는 어떤 선생님이에요? (What kind of teacher am I?)
- 어떤 게 맛있어요? (Which one is tasty?)
- 어떤 사람이 이거 줬어요. (A certain person/Someone gave this to me.)
- 어떤 것도 다 좋아요. (I’m fine with anything/Any of them is fine.)
Pre-nouns are like the “styling” for nouns.
