Shopping
Ask about prices, sizes, and colors when shopping in Korea.
Korean shopping involves a few specific cultural patterns. At smaller stores and markets, you can negotiate prices by asking 깎아 주세요 (please give me a discount), though this is increasingly less common in modern fixed-price retail. At larger department stores and chains, prices are fixed. The key vocabulary: 사이즈 (size), 색깔 (colour), 입어 봐도 돼요? (can I try it on?), 더 큰 거 (a bigger one), 더 작은 거 (a smaller one).
A pattern worth noting: 이거 (this), 저거 (that, far), 그거 (that, near you or already mentioned) are essential for shopping because you'll point to items constantly. The polite version 이게 / 저게 / 그게 is used when these words function as the subject of a sentence ('this is what I want' = 이게 좋아요). Practice the pointing-plus-particle pattern with the 이거 family until it's automatic — you'll use it in every shopping interaction.
~아/어 보다 — Try doing
Verb stem + 아/어 보다 means 'to try doing something'. 먹다 → 먹어 보다 (try eating), 가다 → 가 보다 (try going). Add 도 돼요? to ask permission: 먹어 봐도 돼요? (May I try it?)
~(으)로 — By means of / With
Noun + (으)로 indicates means or method. Consonant ending → 으로, vowel ending → 로, ㄹ ending → 로. Used for payment method, direction, choice.
How It Works
-아/어 보다 is built from 보다 ('to see'), and the metaphor is the same one English uses in 'let's see how it goes'. Attaching it to a verb means attempting the action to find out what happens: 먹어 보다 is to try eating, 입어 보다 is to try wearing. It does not mean 'try hard'; it means 'give it a go'.
The form combines productively with other endings you know. 먹어 보세요 invites someone to try. 먹어 봤어요 says you have tried it before, which is how Korean expresses experience — 한국에 가 봤어요? asks whether you have ever been to Korea. And 먹어 봐도 돼요? asks permission to try, using the 도 되다 construction for 'may I'.
(으)로 does a lot of work in shopping contexts. You met it as direction in Lesson 2-6; here it marks means and choice. 현금으로 for 'with cash', 카드로 for 'by card', 검정색으로 for 'in black'. The underlying idea is consistent — 'by way of' — even when the English translation changes from 'with' to 'in' to 'by'.
The phonetic rule is the familiar one: 으로 after a consonant, 로 after a vowel or ㄹ.
Where You'll Hear It
Clothes shopping is where 입어 보다 earns its place. 입어 봐도 돼요? ('may I try this on?') is the question that makes a clothing purchase possible, and staff will point you to the 탈의실 (fitting room) in response.
Sizes in Korea often run smaller than Western equivalents and shops frequently stock a single 'free size'. 더 큰 사이즈 있어요? ('do you have a bigger size?') is therefore a practical necessity rather than an optional phrase.
Payment method comes up in every transaction. 카드로 할게요 and 현금으로 할게요 both work, and staff will often ask 일시불로 하시겠어요? ('single payment?') because Korean cards commonly offer instalment plans even on small purchases — an exchange that confuses visitors the first time.
할인 appears constantly in Korean retail, and 할인돼요? asks whether a discount applies. In traditional markets you can push further with the bargaining phrases from Lesson 3-10, but in department stores and franchises the price is fixed.
색깔 requests use (으)로 naturally: 다른 색깔로 보여 주세요 combines the particle with the request form from the previous lesson.
Cultural & Language Note
Haggling survives in traditional markets like Namdaemun but has no place in department stores or franchise shops, where prices are fixed and asking will only create awkwardness. 깎아 주세요 is the standard phrase where bargaining is expected. Reading which kind of shop you are in is part of shopping competence in Korea.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
아/어 보다 means 'try doing' in the sense of attempting, not 'try on' as a separate verb — 입어 보다 works because 입다 is 'to wear'. Learners sometimes use it for tasting food where Koreans would simply say 먹어 보세요, which is correct, but then overextend it to contexts where a plain imperative is more natural.
How to Practice This Lesson
Drill -아/어 보다 in its three most useful shapes rather than as one form: 해 보세요 (inviting), 해 봤어요 (experience), 해 봐도 돼요? (permission). Each does different work and you will need all three, but learning them as a set makes the pattern obvious.
The experience use is worth extra attention because it comes up in conversation constantly. Practise answering 한국 음식 먹어 봤어요? and asking the same about places and foods. This single pattern generates a lot of natural small talk.
For (으)로, build a short payment script and rehearse it: 카드로 할게요 — 일시불로 해 주세요 — 영수증 괜찮아요. Knowing the sequence means the instalment question will not catch you off guard.
Finally, note that Japanese speakers can map -아/어 보다 directly onto 〜てみる, which makes this one of the cheaper patterns in the lesson. Spend the saved effort on the shopping vocabulary instead.