Menu and Taste
Ask what a dish is and describe how it tastes — spicy, sweet, salty, delicious, or not.
이거 뭐예요? — asking what something is
뭐 means 'what,' and 이거 means 'this.' Put them together with 예요? and you can point at any dish, drink, or menu item and ask what it is: 이거 뭐예요? It's one of the most useful questions you'll ever learn in Korean — point, ask, and someone will tell you.
Point at the food or the menu while you say this — context does half the work.
맛있어요 pronunciation: [마시써요]
맛있어요 ('it's delicious') is written as four syllables, but the ㅅ batchim at the end of 맛 links straight into the next syllable's vowel — the same linking (연음) you trained your ear on back in Level 0. So instead of 'mat-i-sseo-yo,' it comes out smooth: [마시써요]. Say it in one breath and you'll sound natural.
The single most useful reaction word at any meal — use it generously, Koreans love hearing it.
Be careful with this one in front of a host or cook — it can come across blunt. Fine to say quietly to a friend, risky to announce to the chef.
매워요 — Korea's most important survival word
Let's be honest: a lot of Korean food is spicy, from 떡볶이 to 김치찌개, and spice levels vary wildly by dish and restaurant. 매워요 ('it's spicy') is the single word most likely to save your mouth — use it to ask '매워요?' before you order, or to warn a friend after you've already found out the hard way.
Say it as a statement (매워요) or raise your pitch at the end to ask a question (매워요?).
Asking about a dish and reacting to the taste
Say it out loud
Listen, then repeat aloud. Matching the rhythm matters more than perfection.