Korean word

어떤

Pronunciation

Romanizationeotteon

Meaning

  • determinerwhat kind of

Example

어떤 영화를 좋아해요?eo tteon yeong hwa reul cho a hae yo

What kind of movie do you like?

Illustration for 어떤 (what kind of)

More examples

파티에는 어떤 옷을 입을 거예요?pa ti e neun eo tteon o seul i beul keo ye yo

What kind of clothes will you wear to the party?

Core concept

A word placed before a noun to leave its type open while asking which kind it is.

Common phrases

  • 어떤 영화eo tteon yeong hwa

    what kind of movie

  • 어떤 옷eo tteon ot

    what kind of clothes

  • 어떤 음식eo tteon eum sik

    what kind of food

Similar words

무슨museun: Asks which group or kind a thing belongs to.
어느eoneu: Points to one thing within a known or suggested group.

Definition in Korean

명사 앞에서 그 대상의 성질이나 종류가 어떠한지를 묻거나 한정하기 위해 쓰는 한국어의 연체사myeong sa a pe seo keu tae sang ui seong ji ri na chong nyu ga eo tteo han ji reul mut kkeo na han jeong ha gi wi hae sseu neun han gu geo ui yeon che sa

Word origin

It developed as a shortened form of an older Korean expression meaning what sort of, which explains its use before nouns.

Usage tips

  • In questions, it asks about a type rather than a name, but in statements it can point to an unspecified example, so context matters.

Other meanings

  • somedeterminer

Opposites

  • 특정한teukjjeonghanspecificdeterminer

Related words

Word lists with this word