How to Say "The cat walks stride-stride" in Korean | -아/어요 Grammar

Quick Answer: "The cat walks stride-stride" in Korean is "고양이가 성큼성큼 걸어요." (goyangiga seongkeumseongkeum geoleoyo.). It uses the -아/어요 grammar pattern (Polite Ending (-아/어요)). Level: A1.

How would a Korean say "The cat walks stride-stride"? Exactly like this: "고양이가 성큼성큼 걸어요.". Notice the -아/어요 ending — once you recognize it, you will spot it everywhere.

Category: 동물

What does "The cat walks stride-stride" mean in Korean?

The Korean sentence "고양이가 성큼성큼 걸어요." translates to "The cat walks stride-stride." in English. Korean learners love sentences like "고양이가 성큼성큼 걸어요." because they are practical and memorable. Meaning "the cat walks stride-stride", it teaches core vocabulary and grammar in a single, elegant package.

Pronunciation guide: goyangiga seongkeumseongkeum 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 "고양이가 성큼성큼 걸어요.", the verb comes at the end of the sentence. Here is the word-by-word breakdown: • 고양이가 (goyangiga) • 성큼성큼 (seongkeumseongkeum) • 걸어요 (geoleoyo)

Korean uses postpositions (after the noun) instead of prepositions (before the noun). 'In the house' becomes '집에서' — house + at/in.

Why This Korean Expression Sounds Natural

The Korean phrasing sounds authentic because it avoids literal translation traps. Instead of mapping each English word to Korean, it repackages the meaning using Korean-native structures.

Cultural Insight

한국 설화에서 까치는 길조의 새로, 좋은 소식을 전해준다고 믿었어요. '까치가 울면 반가운 손님이 온다'는 속담이 있습니다.

Examples

고양이가 성큼성큼 걸어요. — goyangiga seongkeumseongkeum geoleoyo. — The cat walks stride-stride.

고양이가 성큼성큼 걸어요? — goyangiga seongkeumseongkeum geoleoyo? — Does the cat walks stride-stride?

항상 고양이가 성큼성큼 걸어요. — hangsang goyangiga seongkeumseongkeum geoleoyo. — Always, the cat walks stride-stride.

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 고양이가 성큼성큼 → Correct: 고양이가 성큼성큼 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 "The cat walks stride-stride" in Korean?

The correct Korean translation is "고양이가 성큼성큼 걸어요.". goyangiga seongkeumseongkeum geoleoyo.

Fill in the blank: 고양이가 성큼성큼 ___

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