How to Say "Dad walks carefully because it is hungry" in Korean | -아/어요 Grammar

Quick Answer: "Dad walks carefully because it is hungry" in Korean is "아빠는 배가 고파서 조심해서 걸어요." (appaneun baega gopaseo josimhaeseo geoleoyo.). It uses the -아/어요 grammar pattern (Polite Ending (-아/어요)). Level: A1.

How would a Korean say "Dad walks carefully because it is hungry"? Exactly like this: "아빠는 배가 고파서 조심해서 걸어요.". Notice the -아/어요 ending — once you recognize it, you will spot it everywhere.

Category: 가족

What does "Dad walks carefully because it is hungry" mean in Korean?

The Korean sentence "아빠는 배가 고파서 조심해서 걸어요." translates to "Dad walks carefully because it is hungry." in English. "아빠는 배가 고파서 조심해서 걸어요." is a gentle, storybook-style way of saying "dad walks carefully because it is hungry". The "-요" ending gives it a polite, everyday tone — exactly how you would speak to a friend's parent or a shopkeeper.

Pronunciation guide: appaneun baega gopaseo josimhaeseo geoleoyo.

Grammar Point: Polite Ending (-아/어요)

The -아/어요 ending is the standard polite speech level in Korean. Use -아요 after bright vowels (ㅏ, ㅗ), -어요 after dark vowels, and 해요 for 하다 verbs.

가다 → 가요, 먹다 → 먹어요, 하다 → 해요. This is the most common speech level in daily Korean.

Korean Sentence Structure Breakdown

Korean follows a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) word order, which is different from English (SVO). In "아빠는 배가 고파서 조심해서 걸어요.", the verb comes at the end of the sentence. Here is the word-by-word breakdown: • 아빠는 (appaneun) • 배가 (baega) • 고파서 (gopaseo) • 조심해서 (josimhaeseo) • 걸어요 (geoleoyo)

Notice how Korean particles (은/는, 을/를, 에서) do the work that word order does in English. Once you master particles, word order becomes flexible.

Why This Korean Expression Sounds Natural

English might express "Dad walks carefully because it is hungry" with emphasis or exclamation marks. Korean achieves the same emotional weight through verb endings and particles — quieter tools, but equally powerful.

Cultural Insight

한국 식탁에서 밥은 단순한 음식이 아니라 관계의 상징이에요. '밥 한번 먹자'는 '다시 만나자'는 뜻이고, '밥 먹었어?'는 안부 인사입니다.

Examples

아빠는 배가 고파서 조심해서 걸어요. — appaneun baega gopaseo josimhaeseo geoleoyo. — Dad walks carefully because it is hungry.

아빠는 배가 고파서 조심해서 걸어요? — appaneun baega gopaseo josimhaeseo geoleoyo? — Dad walks carefully because it is hungry?

아빠는 배가 고파서 조심해서 안 걸어요. — appaneun baega gopaseo josimhaeseo an geoleoyo. — Dad walks carefully because it is not hungry.

Common Mistakes

Incorrect: 먹아요 → Correct: 먹어요. The stem 먹- ends in a dark vowel (ㅓ), so it takes -어요 not -아요. Match the vowel harmony.

Incorrect: 걸어요 아빠는 배가 고파서 조심해서 → Correct: 아빠는 배가 고파서 조심해서 걸어요. Korean uses Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) order. The verb must come at the end of the sentence, unlike English where it comes after the subject.

Quiz

How do you say "Dad walks carefully because it is hungry" in Korean?

The correct Korean translation is "아빠는 배가 고파서 조심해서 걸어요.". appaneun baega gopaseo josimhaeseo geoleoyo.

Fill in the blank: 아빠는 배가 고파서 조심해서 ___

The correct ending is "걸어요". The polite -요 form is essential for everyday Korean conversation.