2 · Sentence endings with attitude
What would you like? -(으)ㄹ래요
asking for and stating a wish
-(으)ㄹ래요 asks what the listener would like to do, and says what the speaker has decided they want.
At a glance
- Remember
- Llaeyo asks what you want and says what I want — never what somebody else wants.
- Form
- 가다 → 갈래요after a vowel
- Signal words
- -(으)ㄹ래요
- -(으)실래요
- 같이
- 뭐
- 저는
- Trap
- Wrong:동생은 피자를 먹을래요.Right:동생은 피자를 먹고 싶어 해요.
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
| after a vowel | 가다 → 갈래요 |
| after a consonant | 먹다 → 먹을래요 |
| a stem in rieul | 만들다 → 만들래요 |
| 듣다, a t-stem | 듣다 → 들을래요 |
| asking somebody you honour | 드시다 → 드실래요? |
| not wanting to | 안 갈래요 |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
In a question, -(으)ㄹ래요? asks what the listener would like to do.
주말에 같이 영화 볼래요?Do you want to see a film together at the weekend?
In a statement, it says what the speaker wants or has just decided.
저는 따뜻한 차 마실래요.I'll have a hot tea.
For somebody you honour, -시- comes first: -(으)실래요?.
선생님, 같이 가실래요?Would you like to come along?
With 안 in front, it says the speaker does not want to.
오늘은 피곤해서 안 나갈래요.I'm tired today, so I don't want to go out.
Example sentences
뭐 먹을래요?What would you like to eat?
저는 김치찌개 먹을래요.I'll have the kimchi stew.
같이 산책 갈래요?Do you want to go for a walk together?
음악 좀 들을래요?Would you like to listen to some music?
할머니, 뭐 드실래요?Grandma, what would you like to eat?
비가 와서 저는 집에 있을래요.It's raining, so I'd rather stay home.
8 more example sentences
창가 자리에 앉을래요?Would you like to sit by the window?
저는 그냥 물 마실래요.I'll just have water.
이 옷 한번 입어 볼래요?Do you want to try this on?
저녁에 뭐 할래요?What do you want to do this evening?
저는 지하철로 갈래요. 택시는 너무 비싸요.I'll take the underground. A taxi is too expensive.
같이 사진 찍을래요?Shall we take a photo together?
사장님, 점심 같이 하실래요?Would you like to have lunch with us?
오늘은 일찍 잘래요.I want to go to bed early today.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
A statement in -(으)ㄹ래요 reports the speaker's own wish; nobody can announce what somebody else wants. For a third person, Korean describes the wish from outside: -고 싶어 해요.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
After a vowel the stem takes -ㄹ래요: 가다 → 갈래요, 마시다 → 마실래요. After a consonant it is -을래요: 먹다 → 먹을래요. A stem that already ends in the letter rieul simply adds 래요: 만들다 → 만들래요. The irregular stems change as they do before any 으: 듣다 → 들을래요, 돕다 → 도울래요.
In a question it asks about the listener's own wish: 뭐 마실래요?, “what would you like to drink?”, 같이 갈래요?, “do you want to come along?”. It is the friendly, everyday way to invite somebody or let them choose. To somebody you would honour, the honorific -시- goes in front: 뭐 드실래요?.
In a statement it says what the speaker wants or has just decided: 저는 비빔밥 먹을래요, “I'll have the bibimbap”. The decision is about the speaker's own preference, so a statement is always about “I”, and a question always about “you”. A wish of somebody else is said with -고 싶어 해요.
Three endings are easy to confuse here. -(으)ㄹ까요? asks for the listener's opinion — “shall we?”; -(으)ㄹ래요? asks for their wish — “do you want to?”. And -(으)ㄹ게요 promises something with the listener in mind, while -(으)ㄹ래요 simply states what the speaker wants. A plain 안 갈래요, “I don't want to go”, can sound blunt, even childish; with somebody senior, a softer refusal is better.
A closer look
Shall we, or do you want to?
같이 갈까요? and 같이 갈래요? both invite. The first asks what the listener thinks of the plan — “shall we go?” — and the speaker is already half in it. The second asks whether the listener feels like it, and leaves more room to say no. Between friends and colleagues the two are interchangeable most of the time.
Among friends the 요 drops: 뭐 먹을래?, 나 먼저 갈래. In a shop or a restaurant, a customer saying 이거 할래요 is perfectly polite; what makes the ending sound rude is not the ending but a flat refusal to somebody senior.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
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the stem ends in the letter rieul (만들다, 놀다, 살다)
nothing is added before 래요: 만들래요, 놀래요, 살래요.
오늘은 집에서 쿠키를 만들래요.Today I want to make biscuits at home.
The ending begins with its own rieul, and a stem that already has one does not take a second.
Worth knowing (1)
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Ordering in a café
At a counter, 저는 아이스 아메리카노 할래요 is an ordinary way to say what you want to order, and the friend you are with will often have asked 뭐 마실래요? first.
저는 라테 할래요.I'll have a latte.
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