Making Short Sentences

Question 1

Word + (이)요

Answer 1

To make a short sentence without a verb, use (이)요 after any word (noun, adverb, particle, etc.)

Note: This is NOT 이다 (‘to be’), but a grammar form that can be used to make a sentence polite without using a verb.

Attach 이요 after a word that ends with a consonant.
Attach 요 after a word that ends with a vowel.
You’ll also attach 요 if the word ends with the consonant 리을 (ㄹ).

Ex: Question: 어디서 왔어요? ‘Where are you from?’
Answer: 미국이요. ‘America’
Not adding (이)요 to the noun 미국 can be rude depending on who you’re talking with.

Ex2: 저는요? ‘How about me?’ Or literally, ‘As for me?’
Ex3: 언제요? 어디요? 누가요? 정말요? ‘When? Where? Who? Really?’