How to Say "The duck can open the door" in Korean | -아/어요 Grammar

Quick Answer: "The duck can open the door" in Korean is "오리는 문을 열 수 있어요." (orineun muneul yeol su iteoyo.). It uses the -아/어요 grammar pattern (Polite Ending (-아/어요)). Level: A1.

Struggling with how to say "The duck can open the door" in Korean? Here is the natural way: "오리는 문을 열 수 있어요.". We will unpack the -아/어요 grammar and show you exactly how it works.

Category: 동물

What does "The duck can open the door" mean in Korean?

The Korean sentence "오리는 문을 열 수 있어요." translates to "The duck can open the door." in English. The phrase "오리는 문을 열 수 있어요." translates as "the duck can open the door". What makes it stand out is how Korean packages the entire idea: the subject comes first, the context follows, and the action wraps it up at the end.

Pronunciation guide: orineun muneul yeol su iteoyo.

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 "오리는 문을 열 수 있어요.", the verb comes at the end of the sentence. Here is the word-by-word breakdown: • 오리는 (orineun) • 문을 (muneul) • 열 (yeol) • 수 (su) • 있어요 (iteoyo)

Listen for the rhythm: Korean syllables tend to be evenly timed, unlike English which stresses certain syllables. This gives Korean its distinctive flowing sound.

Why This Korean Expression Sounds Natural

This expression sounds like something from a children's animal story — and that is exactly the register Korean uses for warm, everyday communication.

Cultural Insight

한국 동화 속 동물들은 대부분 사람처럼 말하고 생각해요. 이런 의인화는 동물을 통해 인간의 모습을 비추는 거울 역할을 합니다.

Examples

오리는 문을 열 수 있어요. — orineun muneul yeol su iteoyo. — The duck can open the door.

오리는 문을 열 수 있어요? — orineun muneul yeol su iteoyo? — Does the duck can open the door?

저녁에 오리는 문을 열 수 있어요. — jeonyeoke orineun muneul yeol su iteoyo. — In the evening, the duck can open the door.

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: 있어요 오리는 문을 열 수 → Correct: 오리는 문을 열 수 있어요. 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 duck can open the door" in Korean?

The correct Korean translation is "오리는 문을 열 수 있어요.". orineun muneul yeol su iteoyo.

Fill in the blank: 오리는 문을 열 수 ___

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